Breaking Through to the Heaven-Man Realm!

Chen Fan watched the silhouettes of Shen Si and the others as they departed. In that moment, the thought of silencing them flashed through his mind.

However, it was only a fleeting thought. Indeed, the more people who knew about today's events, the higher the chance of exposure. But if he had saved them only to kill them later for a Divine Demon-grade martial art, it would be a complete betrayal of his own principles.

Another point, and the most important one: he had sufficient confidence in his own strength. Even if the truth came out one day, the Song Clan might not necessarily be able to do anything to him.

The auras of Shen Si and the others grew more distant until they completely vanished from his perception. Chen Fan turned around, scanning the surroundings to ensure no one was eavesdropping before fixing his gaze on Song Gang. He asked, "What kind of martial art is the Liu Shen Jue? How much do you know?"

Song Gang obediently recounted:

"The Liu Shen Jue is rumored to have been created by six Gods and Buddhas. It consists of Jin Gang Jie, Lei Shen Ji, Luo Han Jie, Pu Sa Mie, Guan Yin Luan, and Ru Lai Po. Each move possesses earth-shattering combat power, especially the final move, which is the strongest killing strike in the Liu Shen Jue and also the counter to the first five moves.

Unfortunately, since the Ancient Era, the sixth move has been lost. Only the first five have been preserved by various great clans. However, there is another theory that the sixth move is hidden within the first five. If one can collect all five and master them, they can comprehend the sixth move..."

Hearing this, Chen Fan's eyes brightened slightly.

Song Gang continued:

"Of the five moves passed down, my Song Clan possesses the complete first move, Jin Gang Jie, and half of the third move, Luo Han Jie. I once caught a few glimpses of the first move and immediately felt my True Qi becoming chaotic, showing signs of Qi Deviation. Thus, I never dared to look at it again."

"Just a few glimpses caused signs of Qi Deviation?" Chen Fan asked in surprise.

"Yes." Song Gang nodded. "The elders in the clan once said that to practice this martial art, the minimum martial cultivation must be the Heaven-Man Realm, and this is only one of many basic requirements."

"Anything else?" Chen Fan asked curiously.

"One also needs supreme martial comprehension, a steadfast and righteous heart, a superhumanly strong physique, and a karmic affinity with Buddha. Otherwise, most efforts will be in vain."

"The requirements are indeed very high." Chen Fan nodded. Realm, physique, comprehension, mindset, and karmic affinity—each was harder than the last. Especially karmic affinity, which could only be encountered and not sought.

"Fortunately, these conditions are not a problem for me," Chen Fan thought. His problem was finding a way to collect them all.

"You've only seen the first move? You haven't seen the other parts?" Chen Fan asked, still somewhat unwilling to give up.

Song Gang shook his head. His ability to see the martial art before was due to various coincidences. Now, even with his status in the clan, seeing it again was impossible unless he performed a great service for the family.

"Fine then." Chen Fan sighed softly. One part was better than nothing, right? Besides, if he hadn't changed his method of questioning, he might not have even gotten this much. "Then tell me the part you know."

"Yes," Song Gang said honestly. "The first move, Jin Gang Jie, involves combining the surrounding worldly power with the True Essence in the body, concentrating it in the palms or fists to launch an attack. Its power is immense, enough to split mountains and shatter rocks. Aside from the five common techniques, there are two secret techniques: Jin Gang Jie Ti and Jin Gang Jie Jia."

"Oh?" Chen Fan asked. "What are Jin Gang Jie Ti and Jin Gang Jie Jia?"

"Jin Gang Jie Ti transmits the power of the move directly into the opponent's body, bypassing all defensive measures. Jin Gang Jie Jia directly dissolves the opponent's defense, shattering it from the front," Song Gang replied.

"So that's it. Continue," Chen Fan said. If he learned this, even the defense of a King-level Fierce Beast would be as thin as paper before him. Unfortunately, the person before him had only seen it a few times; forget the secret techniques, he likely hadn't even unlocked the common moves.

As it turned out, he was right. Song Gang stopped after saying a few mnemonic verses and stood motionless.

"Is that all?" Chen Fan was stunned. He nervously looked at his skill bar.

[Jin Gang Jie (0.8%): Uninitiated (0%)]

He immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the martial art was there, even if the content was less than 1%. Moreover, there was no prompt for completion in his mind.

"It seems the Peerless Martial Arts I possess are still too few. I'm far from being able to complete Jin Gang Jie," Chen Fan thought. At the same time, he was curious. The Liu Shen Jue was a Divine Demon-grade martial art, that much was true. Jin Gang Jie was only a small part of it, likely just the entry level. Could it still be considered a Divine Demon martial art? Probably not. He strongly suspected that the reason Liu Shen Jue was ranked as a Divine Demon martial art was because of the sixth move, Ru Lai Po.

However, no matter how inferior Jin Gang Jie might be, it was at least at the level of a Supreme Martial Art.

"It will be a long time before I can unlock this," Chen Fan sighed. His gaze fell on Song Gang again. For safety, he asked the other party to repeat it several times. It actually had some effect. The opponent seemed to recall a few more memories and spoke a few more lines. Thus, the progress of Jin Gang Jie jumped from less than 1% to about 3%.

"That's enough." Chen Fan exhaled. So far, the harvest wasn't bad. One Bing Po Blade and three complete Peerless Martial Arts. Plus a tiny portion of a Divine Demon martial art.

A moment later, he reached out and tapped the other party twice before lifting the mental control over Song Gang. The latter slowly woke up, looking around in confusion, seemingly unaware of what had happened. But soon, his memories returned, making him instantly alert. He gnashed his teeth and glared at Chen Fan. "You... what did you just do to me?"

There was a hint of fear in his voice. He discovered that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember what happened in the last minute or two. It was as if a segment of his memory had been erased.

"Haven't you already guessed?" Chen Fan said with a half-smile.

"You!" Song Gang's pupils dilated, his eyes filled with intense dread. "You... you actually used the Soul-Shifting Art on me?"

"What else? Here." With a thought, a deep blue weapon appeared in Chen Fan's hand.

"The Bing Po Blade!" Song Gang cried out, the shock on his face beyond words. His voice trembled. "No... that's my Bing Po Blade! How? Why is it in your hands?"

"Your Bing Po Blade?" Chen Fan sneered. "Wrong. This is my Bing Po Blade. And this."

In his left hand, a manual appeared. On the cover were four bold characters: *Bing Po Han Dao*.

Song Gang was completely dumbfounded. At this point, how could he not understand? Everything he owned had fallen into the hands of the person before him. In this moment, he was truly terrified—terrified to his very core. Losing the Bing Po Blade wasn't the scary part. What was scary was that the *Bing Po Han Dao* manual was also in the opponent's hands. This was the complete version of a Peerless Martial Art. Once it leaked out, the clan would never let him go.

"I beg of you, return the manual to me," Song Gang wept. "I can give you anything else, but this manual... no, the manuals in my item space, I truly cannot give them to you."

"You didn't have this attitude before," Chen Fan sneered repeatedly. "If I don't return it, what can you do to me?"

Song Gang opened his mouth, speechless. Indeed, his life was currently at the mercy of the other party's whim. Let alone demanding the manual back.

"Oh, right. There's one more thing I forgot to mention." Chen Fan stored the items back into his space.

"What... what thing?" Song Gang's heart pounded with a bad premonition. But he felt, what could be more terrifying than those three complete manuals falling into the hands of the person before him?

"I heard your Song Clan has two Divine Demon-grade martial arts, right?"

Song Gang was startled. In the Yan Country, anyone with a bit of strength knew this news; some even knew the names of those two martial arts. But that didn't affect the big picture. Wait! Song Gang's pupils shrank, and in an instant, all color drained from his face. He remembered clearly that at the age of twenty, he had once peeked at one of them, even if only a few fragments. But that time, the impression was so deep that he had dreamed of mastering it countless times. Could it be?

"That's right." Chen Fan smiled and slowly uttered three words: "Jin. Gang. Jie."

"Gak!" An unintelligible sound came from Song Gang's throat. A foul odor wafted from his lower body. His eyes lost their pupils, and even his aura vanished.

"Scared to death?" Chen Fan reached out to feel the other's breath. As expected, there was no movement. "Truly scared to death."

Chen Fan withdrew his hand and sneered. He was a man who repaid grudges. If the opponent had cooperated earlier, he would have given him a quick, painless death. But if the opponent made him uncomfortable, he would return the favor. Like the Song Gang before him, who had acted as if he welcomed death. Thus, Chen Fan would kill the heart first.

To be safe, he directly pulverized the body with a punch. This way, even if the Song Clan followed the trail, it would be difficult to investigate. Of course, he didn't rule out the possibility that the Song Clan had other methods. However, if the Song Clan truly came looking for him, Meng Xue would surely give him a warning. Even if he couldn't win for now, escaping wouldn't be a big problem.

"From another perspective, Meng Xue's ability is like a safety net for me," Chen Fan thought, somewhat amused. He didn't want to cause trouble. But often, trouble found its way to his door, just like this time when Shen Si and the others were surrounded by the people of the Feng Country. He could have chosen to ignore it, but his conscience wouldn't allow it. And once he interfered, offending the Song Clan was inevitable.

"Whatever. We'll deal with those things later." Chen Fan focused his mind and looked deep into the rainforest. More and more people were entering; it seemed the treasure was about to appear. Since he was already here, he might as well take a look...

Jiangnam City.
The starry sky stretched for ten thousand miles. Only above the headquarters of the Martial Dao Association did a patch of thunderclouds appear, spanning over ten miles. Lightning flashed within, and thunder rumbled occasionally. Pedestrians stopped, looking up at the sky, many taking photos with their phones.

"How strange. Why is there thunder in the middle of a clear day?" someone muttered.

"Isn't that why they call it a bolt from the blue?"

"It seems you're all too young. What 'bolt from the blue'? I'm telling you, someone is undergoing a tribulation!"

"What! A tribulation!" Suddenly, everyone around looked at the speaker.

"Heh." The man looked smug. "Why else? Haven't you read cultivation novels? When those cultivators break through their realms, they attract Heavenly Tribulations. Only by passing the tribulation can they succeed; otherwise, they perish."

"Is that for real? Isn't that just in novels?"

"Exactly. And it's been so long, yet we haven't seen any lightning strike down, have we?"

"Is that guy just talking nonsense?"

As the crowd on the street debated, many big figures in the city also looked at the thunderclouds above the association headquarters with complex expressions.

"To cause such a worldly phenomenon, the one being condensed must be a First Grade Martial Dao True Dan, right? To think he actually took this step. Not simple at all." Someone sighed.

"That kid was already able to match Heaven-Man Realm warriors while at the True Essence Realm. Now that he's reached the Heaven-Man Realm and condensed a First Grade Martial Dao True Dan, even as a newcomer, his ability to borrow worldly power is comparable to a mid-stage Heaven-Man Realm warrior. In time, he will be another world-renowned powerhouse." Someone narrowed their eyes, their expression grim.

"The Jiangnam branch of the Martial Dao Association has gained another Heaven-Man Realm warrior today. Jiangnam City's defense is even stronger. There is hope for our Human Race's revival." Some were overjoyed.

The thunderclouds above the association weren't a Heavenly Tribulation that would strike down lightning to hinder a breakthrough. Rather, it was a worldly phenomenon triggered by someone breaking through their realm. Breaking through from the Meridian Refining Realm to the True Essence Realm naturally wouldn't cause such a stir. Only condensing a Martial Dao True Dan to enter the Heaven-Man Realm could trigger such a phenomenon. And breakthroughs within the Heaven-Man Realm were the same.

Much later, the thunderclouds above the association slowly dispersed. Sunlight shone down as if nothing had happened. The pedestrians scattered, still marvelling at the sight. Several Elite Clans had already begun preparing gifts, intending to visit and offer their congratulations.