Chapter 2: The Secret of the Forest

  "Time is running out, next it's your turn to inherit."

  The voice of the stele spirit awakened Zhang Shan from his contemplation.

  "What heritage? What does it mean by 'not much time'?" Zhang Shan asked in confusion.

  The stele spirit did not respond, but a faint light emanated from the surface of the stone tablet and shone on his head.

  After a few breaths, the light disappeared, and Zhang Shan's mind had an additional piece of information, which recorded a skill called "Senluo Wanxiang Jue".

  "All phenomena arise from the womb of heaven and earth; a hundred dharmas converge, transcending the boundaries of the three teachings."

  The beginning of Gongfa opens with a clear and explicit statement.

  It is learned from the information that Sen Luo Wan Xiang Jue is a divine-level skill.

  This technique can absorb all the primordial energy, energy, and even the true energy of warriors between heaven and earth to cultivate, and can also absorb and transform all martial arts and magical powers.

  "Divine technique? A technique that can be cultivated to become a Martial God?"

  Zhang Shan muttered to himself, today was really a series of surprises, and his nerves had already become numb.

  "Alright, time's up, let's stop here." said Ling Bei.

  "What does it mean?" Zhang Shan was taken aback.

  "When you fainted just now, I consumed soul power to enhance your enlightenment for you. Now I need to sleep in your sea of consciousness for a while to recover." The stele spirit continued.

  "When can you wake up?" Zhang Shan asked quickly.

  "Maybe in a month, I'll contact you then."

  The monument spirit said, and then its surface rippled like water waves.

  Zhang Shan's eyes turned black and he found himself out of that space.

  He slowly sat up and subconsciously touched his chest, the jade pendant had disappeared. He looked inward and found that there was indeed a stone monument floating in the sea of consciousness.

  Suddenly remembering Bei Ling saying it was his own Wu Soul, Zhang Shan's heart moved, and then he looked back.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, a virtual shadow emerged from behind, clearly a stone monument about one person high, with a grayish-white body.

  "This is indeed the Martial Soul, although its appearance is a bit off-putting, it looks like a tombstone no matter how you look at it. However, my Martial Soul has two sides to one body, and should be the only one of its kind in the world, right?"

  Zhang Shan was overjoyed after putting away his Martial Soul and suddenly remembered the Sen Luo Wan Xiang Jue he had just learned.

  "I don't know what this so-called divine technique is like, let's just cultivate it now and see."

  He thought and did it, he went out of the room and came to the backyard.

  The backyard is a very large training ground, with wooden stakes and stone pillars. When he was at home, Zhang Shan would cultivate here.

  Sitting cross-legged on the stone platform at the edge of the martial arts arena, he concentrated his mind and began to practice according to the method of the Senluo Wanxiang Jue.

  The primordial energy of the universe surged into Zhang Shan's body like a turbulent tide, circulating through his limbs and refining his flesh, nourishing his martial soul.

  Zhang Shan felt that his absorption and transformation into true qi was at a terrifying speed, several times faster than when he used the basic foundation techniques before.

  As the vast heavenly and earthly yuanqi transformed into true qi, it surged unceasingly through his meridians, constantly flushing his spiritual orifices. Zhang Shan felt that he was not far from breaking through.

  Two hours later, a clear and crisp sound was emitted from within his body, and a stronger aura than before was produced on him.

  "Sixth Layer of Qi Wu Realm!"

  Open your eyes, Zhang Shan's eyes are as bright as the stars in the night sky.

  "Finally broke through, after being stuck in the fifth layer of Qi Wu for two years without making any progress, now I've made a sudden breakthrough. The Sen Luo Wan Xiang Jue is indeed worthy of being a divine-level technique."

  A brilliant smile played on his lips.

  In the cultivation of Martial Boundary, the main focus is on tempering the physical body, condensing the True Origin, and forming Spiritual Apertures. Each time a Spiritual Aperture within the body is opened, one's cultivation advances to the next level.

  He was previously at the fifth rank of Qi Wu Jing, with five spiritual apertures already opened within his body. With the opening of the sixth aperture, he also advanced to the sixth rank.

  Zhang Shan jumped down from the stage and came to the middle of the martial arts arena, slowly displaying his Wudangquan skills, practicing repeatedly.

  The action became faster and stronger, the momentum grew more powerful, and finally a faint sound of dragon's roar, tiger's howl, phoenix's chirp, and turtle's hiss emerged from the fist wind.

  "Overdoing things will lead to regret"

  Zhang Shan let out a loud shout and his body flashed to the front of a stone pillar like a shooting star, his fist bursting with explosive energy as it struck out.

  "Boom!"

  After a loud crash, the stone pillar in front of him turned into a pile of stone powder. The fist's momentum, accompanied by the sound of a dragon's roar, continued unabated and struck another stone pillar five feet away from behind.

  With a loud crack, the stone pillar snapped in two at the waist.

  "The power of this punch is estimated to have exceeded 8,000 catties, and it's not inferior to a general Qi Wu Realm eighth-level martial artist."

  Zhang Shan stood up with his fists clenched, looking a bit dazed as he thought.

  The Nine Layers of Qi Wu Realm, each time a layer is upgraded, it can increase its strength by a thousand kilograms.

  According to his current cultivation of Qi Wu Jing Liu Chong, his strength should be around 6,000 catties, but now his power has reached 8,000 catties.

  "Just now while practicing boxing, many places that were previously unclear became clear and I grasped the meaning of the fist, so I was able to bring out the sound of the elephant when punching."

  Zhang Shan couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

  "It's said that after grasping the intent of boxing and producing a sound like an elephant, the power of Sì Xiàng Quán will surge violently, it should be because of this reason."

  "But when did my comprehension ability become so strong? Ah, I remember, Ling said that using soul power enhanced my wisdom, so my comprehension ability became super high!"

  Thinking of this, Zhang Shan's face revealed a faint smile.

  "Bai Shaohai, next time we meet, it will be your death date!"

  He clenched his fists tightly, and a daunting light flickered in his eyes.

  "Mountain!"

  "Ah, young master, you...are you alright?"

  The sudden shout awakened Zhang Shan from his contemplation, and he turned to see his mother, Xiao Suhui, and the housekeeper, Zhang Cheng, appearing in the backyard, hurrying towards him.

  Xiao Suixin's face still had tear stains on it, obviously having just cried.

  "Mountain boy, are you okay?"

  Just as he was hesitating, Xiao Su had already appeared in front of him, embracing him tightly and saying with a choked voice.

  Looking at his mother who was tightly hugging herself with tears in her eyes, Zhang Shan felt a bit at a loss.

  Although he perfectly merged with another Zhang Shan's memory, and felt the blood connection between him and the woman in front of him, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

  "It's good that you're alright, young master. Your classmates Gao Peng and Lei Meng found Madame and told her that you were beaten to death by Bai Shaohai... which caused Madame to be so heartbroken that she fainted upon hearing the news."

  Housekeeper Zhang Cheng also said with concern at this time.

  "Mountain boy, where did you get hurt? Is it serious?"

  Xiao Su's crying stopped abruptly as she hastily examined Zhang Shan's body.

  Zhang Shan coughed and said: "I'm fine, I just fainted at the time, woke up and checked, nothing serious."

  Although he said so, Xiao Su still didn't feel at ease, and took off his jacket, carefully checking him all over with her hands.

  It wasn't until she finally confirmed that her son was okay that Xiao Su Xin let out a long sigh of relief.

  As soon as she saw Zhang Shan's embarrassed face, her eyes widened: "I'm your mother, what part of you haven't I seen?"

  "You child, Bai Shaohai is a wicked man with strength greater than yours, and he has also awakened his martial soul. What's the point of engaging in a life-or-death duel with him? If something were to happen to you, how would I explain it to your mother?"

  Xiao Su's heart ached as she blamed herself, and her eyes sparkled with tears again.

  Feeling her deep concern, Zhang Shan couldn't help but feel a little dazed. He had lost his parents in his previous life when he was still in elementary school and had never really experienced motherly love. Xiao Su's concern moved him in a way that was hard to describe.

  "Mother..."

  It was as if there was a force in his subconscious mind that made him involuntarily blurt it out.

  As he called out, Zhang Shan felt that another Zhang Shan's consciousness had dissipated into nothingness with a sense of satisfaction. His body and mind merged with this physical form, becoming indistinguishable from each other.

  "Girl, don't worry, I won't let you be frightened or worried again. I will become stronger."

  He snapped back to reality and gave his mother a confident and radiant smile.

  Xiao Su's heart was filled with a faint sigh: "Whether or not you're strong, mother doesn't care, mother just wants you to live a healthy and peaceful life, it's just..."

  "Didn't I enter the Spiritual Martial Realm before the age of 20? Mother, don't worry, I've already awakened my martial soul, so the obstacle to advancing to the Spiritual Martial Realm is gone."

  Zhang Shan smiled slightly and said calmly.

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