Chapter 11: Powerful

"You… you…" Lionman Tong San stared in disbelief at the massive magical beast skeleton. "Xueying, did you cut off all the meat and hide it somewhere? Where did you stash it?"

As he spoke, Tong San began searching around the dining hall, even getting down on his knees to check under the table and inside cabinets.

"Uncle Tong, I really did eat it all," Dongbo Xueying said helplessly.

"You ate it? Over ten thousand jin of meat? With that small body of yours, you ate it all?" Tong San's lion-like eyes widened. "How do you expect me to believe that? Even a Title Knight couldn't eat that much in one sitting!"

Dongbo Xueying sighed in resignation.

It was only because of his recent life evolution that every cell in his body had been desperately hungry, demanding such an enormous intake of energy. If he were asked to eat that much again, he doubted he could manage it.

"Uncle Tong, look."

Dongbo Xueying picked up a silver plate from the table. With a sudden application of force, he pressed down with both hands, and the plate instantly compressed. He then clenched it tightly twice, and within moments, the silver plate had been crushed into a smooth metal ball in his palm.

"This…" Tong San was utterly dumbfounded.

Still holding the metal ball in his right hand, Dongbo Xueying squeezed harder. To Tong San's astonishment, the silver metal began flowing like liquid between his fingers.

Then, with a quick motion, Dongbo Xueying rubbed his hands together. After just a few moments, the ball had transformed into a silver metal rod!

"How did you do that?" Tong San was in complete disbelief. He and Zong Ling were both powerful warriors, but neither of them could replicate this feat. Tong San could crush the silver plate with a single slap and even deform a metal ball with his grip, but making metal flow through his fingers and reshaping it so effortlessly was beyond comprehension.

"I told you—I really did eat all that magical beast meat," Dongbo Xueying said helplessly. "Now do you believe me?"

"I believe you! I'll believe whatever you say now!" Tong San exclaimed. "But… what on earth happened? How did you suddenly become this strong? This… this just doesn't make sense!"

He was completely baffled. Strength was supposed to progress step by step—from Human-rank Knight to Earth-rank Knight, then to Heaven-rank, and finally to Meteor-rank. But this kind of leap… it was unheard of!

"You haven't even cultivated Battle Qi yet—not even a Human-rank Knight—so how…?" Tong San was completely unable to understand.

"I am now!"

Dongbo Xueying stood up. "Uncle Tong, wait for me a moment."

With that, he began practicing his fist techniques right there in the spacious dining hall. His movements were smooth and fluid, like flowing water. Strength surged through his entire body, and the energy of the heavens and earth continuously poured into him. Within his muscles, a strange power began to form—this was Battle Qi!

In truth, after consuming all that magical beast meat, his body had already started generating some Battle Qi.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~

As Dongbo Xueying practiced the Flame Three-Step Technique, the amount of Battle Qi inside him rapidly increased. It spread throughout his muscles and bones, even permeating his skin and tendons. The mysterious forces of heaven and earth continuously poured in, transforming into Battle Qi. His body was like a bottomless abyss, endlessly absorbing energy.

He repeated the Battle Qi cultivation method over and over again.

At first, Tong San was stunned, confused, and uneasy. But after an hour, he gradually calmed down.

After two hours, he started feeling exasperated.

"…He's still going?"

"How long is he going to keep this up?" Tong San muttered, completely baffled as he watched Dongbo Xueying.

Battle Qi techniques weren't meant to be practiced endlessly. Before becoming a knight, most people could only practice two or three cycles at a time—their bodies simply couldn't absorb more than that. Even after becoming a knight, Battle Qi grew at a slow pace. There was always a limit to how much could be absorbed in a day, so training sessions were naturally limited.

Yet Dongbo Xueying had been cultivating for over two hours straight—this was highly abnormal.

Rumble~~~

Dongbo Xueying could feel Battle Qi surging through every part of his body. Finally, the flow of energy from the heavens and earth came to a halt—his body couldn't absorb any more.

"I never expected this. I hadn't broken through before, but now that I have… I've directly reached Earth-rank Knight."

But even though my Battle Qi is at the Earth-rank, my true strength far surpasses that level.

Normally, the moment one's body produced its first trace of Battle Qi, they would be considered a Human-rank Knight.

Afterward, the Battle Qi nourishes the muscles and bones. As these areas are strengthened, they begin to generate Battle Qi as well. The more places in the body that produce Battle Qi, the stronger one becomes. When it spreads throughout the entire body—bones, muscles, and tendons—that marks the advancement to Earth-rank Knight.

When Battle Qi fully saturates the body, it condenses and eventually forms a Battle Qi reservoir in the abdomen—the Dantian Qi Sea. This is the hallmark of a Heaven-rank Knight.

Once the Battle Qi in the Dantian Qi Sea condenses into a liquid state, the knight reaches the Meteor-rank. Liquid Battle Qi undergoes a fundamental transformation—it is no longer just a forceful, explosive power but becomes both hard and soft, flexible and firm. This Battle Qi can even form a protective layer over the body, allowing Meteor-rank knights to withstand countless arrows. The defensive capabilities of this Battle Qi barrier are incredibly high. At the same time, the liquid Battle Qi penetrates deeper into the body, further strengthening it.

When the liquid Battle Qi condenses into a pseudo-core, it reaches an even more mysterious and powerful state. Due to its extreme flexibility, it can even seep into the most delicate internal organs, altering the body at an even deeper level—this marks the Silver Moon-rank Knight.

As for Title Knights?

They must reach the state of oneness with heaven and earth. Only by borrowing the power of the world itself can they break through into the Title-rank! Title Knights completely surpass Silver Moon Knights, with an overwhelming power gap. A single strike from a Title Knight can easily obliterate a Silver Moon Knight!

Title-rank Knights represent the absolute peak of mortal strength. Some of the most monstrous individuals at this level can even fight Transcendent beings and survive. They are just one step away from becoming Transcendent themselves.

"My body, muscles, and bones were already in a perfect state, so I didn't need to go through a slow nourishment process—I advanced directly to Earth-rank Knight," Dongbo Xueying thought to himself. "The next step is to open my Battle Qi reservoir, but that requires time and accumulation… I need to build up enough Battle Qi."

"Xueying! Xueying!" Seeing Dongbo Xueying stop, Tong San immediately called out.

"Haha! Uncle Tong, come with me."

Dongbo Xueying grinned, then turned and leapt out of the main hall. Tong San hurriedly followed, jumping after him.

In no time, they arrived at the training ground, which was currently empty.

"Xueying, what are we doing here?" Tong San asked, puzzled.

"Be patient, Uncle Tong," Dongbo Xueying said with a smile.

He walked over and picked up a long spear—his personal favorite, weighing a full fifty jin. It was the finest spear in the entire Snowrock Castle.

Holding the spear, Dongbo Xueying fixed his gaze on the alchemy training dummy in front of him.

Tong San held his breath, realizing that his nephew was about to demonstrate his strength. He was eager to see just how powerful Dongbo Xueying had become.

Whoosh!

The spear moved—turning into a phantom blur.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The spear struck the alchemy dummy in rapid succession.

In just an instant, Dongbo Xueying had already retracted his spear.

"So fast! Xueying, your spear is so fast I wouldn't even be able to block it!" Tong San was shocked by the sheer speed of Dongbo Xueying's spear techniques.

Then, he turned to look at the alchemy dummy—and his eyes widened in disbelief.

The dummy was covered in countless tiny holes, and among them, three characters had been perfectly carved:

"Impressive, huh?"

"You… You actually pierced through it?" Tong San was completely stunned.

That alchemy dummy—below the Star-rank, no one could even scratch it!

"Let me show you something even more amazing!"

Dongbo Xueying suddenly unleashed his hidden power. Around his body, faint red energy currents emerged, and an overwhelming aura exploded into the sky, sending a wave of fear through Tong San.

Dongbo Xueying swung his spear.

Boom!

The spear shaft bent into an exaggerated arc as it smashed into the alchemy dummy.

Boom!

With the first impact, cracks spread across the dummy.

Boom!

With the second impact, the dummy's body shattered, its fragments scattering across the training ground. Only its lower half, which was fixed to the ground, remained standing.

Boom!

With the third impact, Dongbo Xueying's spear slammed into the dummy's foundation.

Crack!

The spear snapped in half—and the remaining lower half of the dummy completely disintegrated.

Dongbo Xueying stared at the broken spear in his hands, momentarily stunned.

"This spear… I've used it for so long. I didn't think it would actually break from my strength…"

"Brother! I'm back!"

From a distance, a clear, youthful voice rang out—it was his younger brother, Qingshi.

Dongbo Xueying looked up at the sky—it was already getting dark.

"Uncle Tong, Qingshi and Uncle Zong are back too. Let's go have dinner first. After we eat, I'll tell you everything."

Dongbo Xueying smiled.

If it were anyone else experiencing something like this, they would likely be completely confused.

Luckily, he had read enough books—one of them had a brief mention of this very phenomenon.