While King Cobra brought an uproar to Pingxi City, Yan Liqiang immersed himself in diligent training every day in Wuyang ViIlage...

On the 11th day of the ninth lunar month, which was the fourth day after Yan Liqiang eliminated w.a.n.g Haofei, Yan Liqiang's blow dart finally attained the fourth layer.

The first two layers of blow dart technique allowed Yan Liqiang to take out his enemies from a further distance away. The third layer allowed Yan Liqiang to hit moving targets accurately while moving. The fourth layer allowed Yan Liqiang to better perceive the airflow around him, thus turning the blow darts he released into living beings that could resonate with him. The moment the blow dart was shot out from the blowpipe, he could move the blowpipe to exert an additional force on the blow dart, allowing it to fly in a strange curved trajectory in which his opponents wouldn't be able to effectively guard against.

When the realm of his blow dart technique was at the third layer, the trajectory of the blow darts he released had always been straight. After attaining the fourth layer, to put it simply, Yan Liqiang could even hit a target within a forty meter range behind him if he willed for it.

Four days later, on the 15th day of the ninth lunar month, the realm of Yan Liqiang's blow dart technique had attained the fifth layer.

The realm of the fifth layer had not only caused more the blow darts to have more variations, but also enhanced its offensive power and range. Yan Liqiang's control over the blow darts had also reached an entirely new level. In this realm, Yan Liqiang seemed to have a deep comprehension towards everything related to blow darts in his mind. As soon as he saw a blowpipe, he would know which type of blow dart would work best with that blowpipe, to the details of the length of its needle and weight of its fletching, how much force to exert with his mouth and hands when blowing and how many variations it could take… Similarly, when he randomly created a blow dart, he would know which blowpipe would launch that blow dart most efficiently, to the details of its appearance, length, diameter of its opening and he could also predict the number of variations the blow dart could take form in midair… All the data and feelings would emerge in his mind...

When the realm of his blow dart technique advanced from the third layer to the fifth layer, Yan Liqiang received the Heavenly Bestowment twice. At the same time, upon attaining the fifth layer, Yan Liqiang could precisely sense that this was the highest realm he could attain for the blow dart technique by using blowpipes. From now on, regardless how hard he trained, as long as he was still using a blowpipe, his technique would not be further improved. If he wished to improve his technique, he would need to discard the blowpipe and break free from conventional methods. Only by doing so he could continue on towards another breakthrough.

This feeling wasn't told to him by anyone, but rather an enlightenment that had suddenly rose in his heart upon receiving the fifth Heavenly Bestowment.

From the 16th day of the ninth lunar month onwards, Yan Liqiang no longer used a blowpipe during his blow dart practices. He instead tried to launch the blow darts using his hands.

The new approach was indeed very difficult in the beginning. However, with the comprehension never leaving his mind, Yan Liqiang was able to grasp the key to launching blow darts without a blowpipe in just two days. This key could be summed up in just a sentence—'to visualize the pipe in your mind even without one in your hands'.

When he launched the blow dart, he visualized his own hand as a long blowpipe. His fingers, palm, arm, skin, muscles, bone, meridians were all parts which made up the blowpipe. The energy which surged forth from every inch of his flesh on his arm was akin to the energy which surged forth from his lungs. Through the appropriate amount of control and estimation, he managed to achieve things he could with a blowpipe through his arm, including even more variations to the blow darts he released.

On the 23rd day of the ninth lunar month, Yan Liqiang's blow dart technique had broken through the sixth layer. The sixth Heavenly Bestowment came as expected.

Yan Liqiang guided himself as he pursued the next breakthrough.

By this time, he was already completely wrapped up in his training. Apart from cultivating Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing and the two other external cultivations every day, he spent his remaining time cultivating the blow dart technique. Unbeknownst to even him, he had already quietly gotten into a positive yet mysterious cycle of abilities. After every Heavenly Bestowment, his arms, eyes, body, lungs were enhanced. These enhancements, in turn, laid the foundation to his next breakthrough, which would bring about another wave of enhancements...

Starting from the 24th day of the ninth lunar month onwards, Yan Liqiang removed the ring of empennage-like fairing which he had made out of paper as the fletching of the blow dart, leaving only an unaltered sewing needle in his hands for further training by hand. Yan Liqiang applied the past experience he had in his new training. He visualized the sewing needle without its fletching in his hand as a blow dart with a fletching so small that it could be disregarded. Through this method, he tried to continuously adapt and adjust his body and hands.

And reality had proven that this method was effective.

In merely six days later, on the 30th day of the ninth lunar month, Yan Liqiang once again welcomed his seventh Heavenly Bestowment.

Since his right hand could launch a flying needle and allowed so many variations to it in midair, then his left hand should be able to do the same...

Therefore, from the first day of the tenth lunar month onwards, Yan Liqiang started practicing releasing flying needles with both hands.

Soon enough, his left hand became just as agile as his right hand. Whatever his right hand could do, his other hand could do as well. Not only that, Yan Liqiang also discovered another change in the flying needles he released with both hands— apart variations caused by using both hands, unexpected variations would also happen to the flying needles from colliding or brus.h.i.+ng against each other.

On the seventh day of the tenth lunar month, the eight Heavenly Bestowment came again.

By this time, Yan Liqiang had already managed to release flying needles with both hands. Yet, he was still unsatisfied.

Smaller and lighter objects were actually harder to control. Since he could easily control object as tiny as a sewing needle, it shouldn't be too challenging for him to increase the size of the flying needles and replace it with something else altogether, like throwing knives.

On the eighth day of the tenth lunar month, Yan Liqiang replaced the sewing needles he had been training with to two throwing knives. When he held those throwing knives on his hand, he visualized them as sewing needles of a larger size...

A few days later, he was able to control the throwing knives in his hands as well as he could with sewing needles. Not only that, since the weight of the throwing knives were heavier and thus easier to control, he could launch the flying knives over longer range with more formidable force. Even without dipping those knives in venom, they could easily take someone else's life.

By the 13th day of the ninth lunar month, Yan Liqiang's throwing knives became as fast as lightning and as invisible as ghost lights within the range of a hundred meters. The ninth Heavenly Bestowment came...

At this point of time, not only throwing knives but also anything Yan Liqiang could hold in his hands, be it as small as a rock or as big as an axe, he could almost instantly find the best way to handle and control them in order to launch them as soon as he weighed them in his hands.

After the ninth Heavenly Bestowment, Yan Liqiang could sense that his hidden weapon technique had already reached a very high point now. Beyond this point was an invisible ceiling which seemed to have a final realm behind it. However, Yan Liqiang couldn't pinpoint exactly what was that final realm. He only had a hunch that he would require some kind of opportunity or comprehension to break through this ceiling and that he couldn't rush into this.

With this comprehension, Yan Liqiang put down the training of hidden weapons and got started with his other techniques.

On the 14th day of the tenth lunar month, Yan Liqiang chopped nine pine trees on the mountain then drove nine wooden stakes two meters high into the ground in the small courtyard he rented, arranging them into a nine palace square. These nine wooden stakes were necessary tools for advancing the Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps to the realm of the third layer as one would need to train the third layer of Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps on wooden stakes two meters above the ground.

From this day on, Yan Liqiang started cultivating Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps and Tiger Roaring Consecutive Fist technique in his courtyard.

After nine rounds of Heavenly Bestowments, the strength, agility, and speed of reflex in Yan Liqiang's arms had reached an inhuman level. Similarly, through the great enhancements brought about by the nine Heavenly Bestowments, the current agility and speed of his body compared to before was like the difference between day and night. Whenever he ascended or descended the mountain, he felt as though he was breezing through the journey and his footsteps felt light and airy.

Agility and reflex speed of the hands were exactly what the Tiger Roaring Consecutive Fist technique required as they were the essence of the word 'consecutive' in this technique's name. Similarly, for the 'wind and shadow' in Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps, this technique required an agile body.

With enhancements from both Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing and nine Heavenly Bestowments, Yan Liqiang's two external cultivations went very smoothly the following few days and the speed of his advancements was so fast that even Yan Liqiang found it hard to believe.

After cultivating for merely two days, by the 15th day of the tenth lunar month, Yan Liqiang's Tiger Roaring Consecutive Fist technique had already broken through the fourth layer, attaining the highest realm of this fist technique— the fifth layer.

On the 16th day of the tenth lunar month, the Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps, which had been stagnant for over a long time, had also broken through the second layer, reaching the third layer.

In the following days, Yan Liqiang spent only nine days, with the speed of breaking through one layer every three days, and trained in the Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps secret manual which Qian Su had given him to the highest realm— the sixth layer.

The sixth layer of Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps didn't only allow Yan Liqiang to move so fast that his figured was blurred on the nine palace stakes, but also enabled Yan Liqiang to achieve the speed of a running horse when he ran.

Although the secret manual that Yan Liqiang trained wasn't really that powerful and the Tiger Roaring Consecutive Fist technique was the most common fist technique everywhere, the speed of his cultivation was enough to shock many if word got out.

Spending more than a month to diligently practice, Yan Liqiang successfully made an unimaginable transformation to his strength with the most unimaginable speed.

A youth nearly fifteen years old possessing flying needles, a hidden weapon technique of the ninth layer, Tiger Roaring Consecutive Fist technique of the peak fifth layer and Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps of the peak sixth layer was enough to make a bunch of people's jaw drop. Even Yan Liqiang didn't expect his diligent training for just more than a month could improve himself to such extent.

By now, it was almost time for him to return to Pingxi City again...