Chapter Forty-Two: Ninth Level of Body Refinement and the Triple Wave-Cleaving Strike

The next day, there was still an hour before dawn.

The island jungle was shrouded in darkness, with only the remnants of the campfire casting a dim glow. All was silent.

Mo Ling, Gao Jian, Huang Yi, and the other martial artists were still asleep, leaning against the stone walls.

Ye Mo was already awake, standing outside the camp. He took a Yuan Qi Pill from the bottle he carried and swallowed it, sitting down to begin his body-tempering cultivation.

“The effect of the last Yuan Qi Pill was intense. I absorbed its power for three days, rising from the seventh level of body refinement to the peak of the eighth!”

“If I take another pill now, reaching the ninth level of body refinement should not be a problem.”

“Once I reach the ninth level, the pinnacle for martial artists, I’ll finally be able to master the last and strongest move of ‘Wave-Cutting Art’—the Triple Overlapping Wave Slash. Each slash carries nearly a thousand pounds of force! One thousand pounds—the ultimate limit of physical cultivation for a martial artist. With such power, I’ll be able to handle He An and won’t be as helpless as I was yesterday!”

Ye Mo’s heart stirred with excitement.

Yet what he longed for even more was to become a cultivator.

Once he crossed from the ninth level of body refinement to the path of cultivation, he could break through the thousand-pound barrier, gaining strength akin to moving mountains and overturning seas.

However, breaking through from martial artist to cultivator was no easy feat.

He would need to refine the essence of his blood and vitality, transforming it into a surge of Yuan Qi through ‘Essence Refinement into Qi’. This Yuan Qi must then merge with the soul in his Mud Pill Palace, ultimately giving birth to the Yuan Spirit—completing the crucial step known as ‘the carp leaping over the dragon gate’.

Countless martial artists across the Nine Provinces mainland spent their lives reaching the peak of the ninth level of body refinement, only to be stuck at this last hurdle, unable to break through before age and decline overtook them.

All this knowledge Ye Mo had gleaned from the ancient tome he had taken from the cultivator’s stone cave.

Ye Mo placed the fragrant Yuan Qi Pill in his mouth and swallowed it.

Drawing from his previous experience with the pill, he was more cautious this time, lessening the impact of the potent medicine on his body.

Yuan Qi Pills were exceedingly rare, tools for cultivators to refine their Yuan Spirit.

Using one to advance his martial artist rank was extravagant—bordering on wasteful.

Yet the situation on the island was dire; Ye Mo could not afford to worry about such things. Without rapid improvement, death would soon follow. If he died, the pill would be useless.

The medicine dissolved within.

Soon, a warm stream of Yuan Qi surged through his body.

Ye Mo was prepared, guiding the flow to all his limbs, blood vessels, and bones.

Vast quantities of Yuan Qi seeped into his marrow, nourishing his body, causing his blood essence to grow rapidly.

When the blood essence became dense enough, it began to convert in small amounts into Yuan Qi.

This cycle repeated, his blood shining brighter, glowing with a crimson radiance like blood jade.

Most martial artists used herbs for body-tempering. Few ever acquired a Yuan Qi Pill.

Taking such a pill not only greatly replenished the blood essence, but also tempered the physical constitution, healing hidden injuries from training and clearing the way for future cultivation.

With a flawless body, breaking through to become a cultivator would benefit all future progress.

Ye Mo’s fortune in using a Yuan Qi Pill for body-tempering was indeed rare.

His blood essence was nearly perfected, surging through him, filling his body with endless strength.

“As soon as I convert the last bit of ordinary blood into blood essence, I’ll break through to the ninth level of body refinement!”

Ye Mo rejoiced inwardly.

He had expected the pill’s effects would take several days to absorb before he could reach the ninth level.

But now, it seemed he was only a hair’s breadth away—a thin paper separating him from his goal. Just a little more effort, and he would succeed.

With a sudden tremor, Ye Mo felt his whole body shake, his marrow ringing, as the last trace of ordinary blood transformed into blood essence.

“Ninth level breakthrough!”

Ye Mo was overjoyed.

The essence in his body now shone red like blood jade. Each drop held far more energy than ordinary blood.

His base strength soared from just over two hundred pounds to three hundred.

This meant that even with a casual sword strike, without any technique, he could unleash three hundred pounds of force—enough to slay wolves, tigers, or any beast in the mountains with a single blow.

Moreover, the pill’s power had not been fully absorbed; the remaining effects would push him to the very peak of the ninth level.

At that moment, Ye Mo noticed the stench of sweat emanating from his body and hurried toward the rear mountain.

“Luckily I tempered my body outside the cave—otherwise everyone would have suffered!”

Ye Mo ran to the back mountains, leapt into a brook to wash away the sweat, and after cleaning himself returned to the camp to begin a new day of practicing the ‘Wave-Cutting Art’.

His golden spirit sword, still wrapped in coarse cloth, was carried on his back.

Ye Mo wielded a newly made spiritwood sword, as the camp lacked iron weapons. He had hastily crafted a batch of spiritwood arms for the martial artists.

...

Gao Jian awoke at the first light of dawn outside the cave, hearing the sound of swordplay from outside.

“Who’s up practicing swords so early?”

He was puzzled, stood up, and walked out to see Ye Mo wielding a spiritwood sword, practicing moves.

It was Ye Mo!

Yet Ye Mo’s sword technique was oddly simple. He repeated a single move—Wave-Cutting Slash—over and over, slashing forward again and again.

At first glance, Gao Jian paid it little mind, but then he froze.

Something was off.

The moment Ye Mo swung his sword, every muscle in his body coordinated perfectly, his speed and strength reaching the pinnacle of martial arts. This was a natural instinct formed from immense, long-term training.

The slash was flawless.

Gao Jian was shocked to realize that if he stood just ten feet before Ye Mo, even this simplest Wave-Cutting Slash would be impossible to defend against with any sword technique.

Even knowing the move was simple, there was no way to block it. It was a return to simplicity, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary—a masterful realm.

“Transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary!”

“Yes! This is indeed the realm of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary!”

Gao Jian stared intently at Ye Mo’s sword move, astounded.

He had been gifted from childhood, backed by his family, trained in the best sword arts. By eighteen, he had reached the seventh level of body refinement, becoming a formidable martial artist; by his early twenties, he broke through to the ninth level and became a renowned young master in Yan.

His advanced sword art had thirty-six moves, with the strongest only reaching the ‘unparalleled mastery’ stage, five more at ‘burning perfection’, and the remaining thirty at ‘skilled proficiency’.

With such skill, he had still been defeated by He An.

“No wonder Ye Mo could wound He An, the greatest martial artist of Zheng, with the Green Edge Sword! Without such miraculous sword technique, even if his sword was poisoned, he could not have harmed He An in the slightest.”

Gao Jian was amazed, watching in silence.

Having Ye Mo, a top martial artist, in the cave camp was fortunate.

After all, Zheng Yiqing’s side still had several late-stage martial artist masters. With Ye Mo apparently breaking through to the ninth level and gaining even more strength, he would be more assured facing He An next time.

...

Ye Mo paid no mind to Gao Jian watching from the side, wholly focused on cultivating his Wave-Cutting Art, slashing three thousand times to complete the day’s practice.

The Wave-Cutting Slash was the foundational move, needing daily rigorous practice—the purer, the better.

The Triple Overlapping Wave Slash was a combination of three Wave-Cutting Slashes, essentially still the basic move, but executed three times in an instant, with explosive force nearing a thousand pounds—extremely difficult!

Triple strikes were the ultimate limit of what a martial artist’s body could achieve, and also required mastery of foundational sword arts.

Even among peak ninth-level martial artists, those able to perform triple strikes were extremely rare. All who could were recognized as peerless masters.

Ye Mo stood tall, eyes focused on the tip of the spiritwood sword, feeling its every subtle tremor.

He leaned, muscles taut, then suddenly leapt.

A fierce flash shot out, its force arriving before the sound.

“Triple Overlapping Wave Slash!”

Ye Mo shouted, slashing with his sword.

In that instant, three nearly overlapping sword shadows burst forth, slashing downward, captivating the soul.

Whoosh!

Ye Mo rushed forward ten feet, landing.

“Success!”

Ye Mo gripped the spiritwood sword, his body trembling.

“The Triple Overlapping Wave Slash is the ultimate move of ‘Wave-Cutting Art’! The vendor who sold me this skill book once said no one had ever mastered this lowest-level art to its peak—but I did!”

“Father, Mother, can you see me? I’ve done it. Not only have I become a peak martial artist, but the strongest peerless master!”

Ye Mo fell to his knees, tears silently streaming down his face, the spiritwood sword planted in the earth before him.

For ten years, his relentless daily efforts had been to prove he could fulfill his parents’ last wish—and realize his own dream.