I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 119: Chapter 55: An Ning 2

In Fang Rui’s eyes, this was far superior to techniques like the *Nine Yang Divine Skill* from the novels of his past life. Those were fierce, fiery, and immensely powerful, but they came with a fatal flaw: break through a critical juncture, or die trying.

’For an Immortal like me, stability trumps all!’

’Whatever, no more overthinking. Time to break through! Last time, reaching the Sixth Grade cost 500 Tribulation Points, so this time it should be 1,000...’

Fang Rui muttered to himself, focusing his consciousness on the panel and tapping the ’+’ next to "Nourishing Body Skill."

BOOM!

The familiar cool current reappeared, surging from the void and pouring into his body.

A tiny fraction of it settled into his physique, but the vast majority coursed through him, weaving through his bone marrow. It brought a refreshing coolness, accompanied by a faint, tingling itch.

This was the Fifth Grade Realm: Marrow Cleansing!

As the cool current circulated, nourishing his body, a new kind of Power—distinct from the Power of the Enlightenment Realm—began to form.

...

After about a hundred breaths, the cool current gradually dissipated, and the breakthrough came to an end.

"Success!"

Fang Rui opened his eyes and looked at the panel.

[Name: Fang Rui]

[Tribulation: 253]

[Cultivation Technique: Nourishing Body Skill (Peak of Perfection)]

[Realm: Fifth Grade (Marrow Cleansing)]

[Skills: Fang’s Medical Skill (Mastery) (+), Beast Taming Technique (Uninitiated) (+), Feng Shui Skill (Uninitiated) (+), Life-taking Saber Technique (Uninitiated) (+)]

[Divine Technique: Immortality (Gray)]

...

’The Fifth Grade Marrow Cleansing Realm... I’ve finally reached it!’

Pleased, Fang Rui closed the panel.

’So, what’s changed since the breakthrough?’

After a moment’s thought, he got up, went out into the courtyard, and found a stack of bricks in the corner. He placed his palm on top and silently channeled the Power he’d gained from his Marrow Cleansing breakthrough.

PFFT! PFFT!

Amidst a series of soft popping sounds—

And he saw that:

The topmost brick in the stack was completely unharmed, while those beneath it had been pulverized.

’If the Power born from the Sixth Grade Enlightenment—direct, expansive, and powerful—can be called Bright Force, then the Power born from the Fifth Grade Marrow Cleansing is Dark Force. It’s stealthy, highly penetrative, and utterly insidious!’

Fang Rui felt the two distinct energies within him—Bright Force and Dark Force—and nodded in satisfaction.

He experimented further and discovered something else: when used to bolster his body, Dark Force provided a greater boost to his physical attributes—about twenty to thirty percent more than Bright Force.

That was a twenty to thirty percent boost across the board. In a fight, that meant complete domination.

’Also, unlike Bright Force, Dark Force can be projected three inches from my body!’

Fang Rui raised his right hand slightly. Holding it about three inches from the top brick, he silently channeled his Dark Force. With another soft PFFT, he blasted the brick to dust.

’The only drawback is that since there is much less marrow in the body than there are apertures, my total reserves of Dark Force are only about thirty percent of my Bright Force...’

But that was a minor issue!

’Bright Force is enough to handle the small fry. Only against a fellow Sixth Grade or a Fifth Grade Martial Artist would I need to play my trump card—Dark Force.’

But how many Fifth Grade Martial Artists were there in all of Changshan City?

Rumor had it that only the Lin and Xia Families had any, and they were the heads of their respective branches—and even then, not all of them were at that level. Even if you included the Taiping Bandits in the city, you could count the total number on two hands!

As for the Fourth Grade, the realm above the Fifth Grade?

The Lin Family Patriarch was one. The Xia Family’s Old Master was another. And then there was the bandit chief, Li Xuantong.

Beyond them, there were probably no others.

’Hiss! That ratio of Fifth Grade to Fourth Grade seems a bit off...’

But after a moment’s thought, Fang Rui understood why.

’The number of Fifth Grade Martial Artists is actually about right. It’s the number of Fourth Grade Martial Artists that’s abnormal!’

’The Lin Family Patriarch and the Xia Family’s Old Master have monopolized the resources of the entire county, an area hundreds of miles wide. They also have outstanding talent. It’s like they were artificially boosted to their level...’

’And Li Xuantong is another story entirely. His innate talent is probably one-in-a-million, his constitution for the martial arts is superb. A ruthless warlord the likes of which is rarely seen, supplied by all the resources plundered by the Taiping Bandits...’

In other words, all three were special cases.

And as for the realms beyond that?

The Third Grade was a major bottleneck. Besides insight and talent, one likely needed special resources to lower the difficulty of breaking through.

Fang Rui, however, wasn’t too worried about that.

The bottleneck to the Third Grade Realm was already notoriously difficult to begin with. And because the Nourishing Body Skill emphasized health preservation with its balanced and gentle nature, its greatest disadvantage was an even higher breakthrough difficulty.

It was piling difficulty on top of difficulty—so much so that even so-called "geniuses" would be left staring in helpless frustration.

But for Fang Rui, what was the difference? No matter how much insight it required or how high the difficulty, as long as it had a price in Tribulation Points, it wasn’t an issue.

’The Third Grade Realm is still a long way off. No need to think about it so soon. Better to focus on the here and now...’

’Huh. Speaking of which, at the Fifth Grade, I’m already one of the most powerful people in Changshan City—second only to a handful of people, but above all the rest!’

If reaching the Sixth Grade meant Fang Rui had one foot in the door of Changshan County’s upper echelon, then now, he had firmly planted both feet inside.

’Thinking back to when I first arrived... I had an Innate Body Weakness, so weak I couldn’t even truss a chicken. I had to force a smile and grovel just to survive in front of Lord Hu... After a mere three months, I’ve finally made it to this point...’

Fang Rui stood with his hands clasped behind his back, centering his breath in his Dantian. He wanted to recite a dramatic, scene-setting line, something like, "A golden elixir swallowed whole, my fate is my own, not for the heavens to control." But after holding it in for a moment, he opened his mouth and found he couldn’t think of a single verse that fit the occasion.

Defeated, he gave up. The grand emotion eventually distilled into a simple, unadorned sigh. "It really hasn’t been easy, this whole cultivation journey!"

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