Longevity Martial Arts: I have a Mysterious Water Snake Avatar

[Myriad Silence Origin Skill +27]

[Myriad Silence Origin Skill +27]

[Cultivation Technique: Myriad Silence Origin Skill (Proficient 973/1,000) → (Master 27/2,000)]

When the Myriad Silence Origin Skill advanced to the Master Realm, Hong Yuan felt the Sea of True Essence within his Aperture begin to surge tumultuously. Silver Flower True Essence fluttered out of the Aperture, continuously bombarding an Aperture membrane.

Achieving this breakthrough would allow Hong Yuan's cultivation to advance from the Second-Tier Intermediate Realm to the Second-Tier Advanced Realm!

A sixteen-year-old at the Second-Tier Advanced Realm! Anyone who saw this would have to exclaim that he had the makings of a Martial Saint. How terrifying!

Hong Yuan sat calmly on the Taoist Mat.

Legs crossed, hands arching upwards, fingers forming an orchid gesture, he assumed the posture of the Myriad Silence Origin Skill, one conducive to breaking through.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

The Silver Flower True Essence, carrying the attributes of both ice and water, impacted the Aperture membrane with even greater ferocity.

The sound of waves crashing against the shore rose as the Aperture membrane was pummeled until it was riddled with holes, like a sieve.

Despite such violent impacts, the True Essence within the Sea of True Essence did not decrease in the slightest, still maintaining its fullness at ninety-five percent.

It turned out that Hong Yuan, by activating the Master Realm of the Myriad Silence Origin Skill, rapidly refined Essence Qi from the outside world, replenishing the True Essence in his Sea of True Essence.

Through this cycle of increase and decrease, a perfect balance was achieved where the gain outstripped the loss. The quality of the Sea of True Essence even began to deepen, transitioning from Silver Flower True Essence toward Bright Silver True Essence.

The simple training room suddenly became shrouded in mist, as if a north wind had arisen.

WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~

The howling north wind was unsettling.

When Disciples in other courtyards felt the disturbance and tried to trace the source of the sound, they found that the noise had vanished without a trace.

"Is this what the Second-Tier Advanced Realm is like?"

Hong Yuan's orchid fingers transformed into sword fingers, and he closely observed the speck of Bright Silver True Essence on their tip.

After observing for a moment, Hong Yuan dissipated the speck of Bright Silver True Essence.

He took out a black notebook and an ebony pen from his storage bag and started summarizing the breakthrough experience. His main purpose was to identify patterns, making future breakthroughs smoother and avoiding repeating past mistakes.

[Second-Tier Intermediate Realm, Silver Flower True Essence, the Aperture begins to autonomously generate a trace amount of ice-attributed True Essence.]

[...]

[Second-Tier Advanced Realm, Bright Silver True Essence, the Aperture autonomously generates a small amount of ice-attributed True Essence, making up a one-to-nine ratio with water-attributed True Essence.]

[Compared to breaking through to the Second-Tier Intermediate Realm, the disturbance created when advancing to the Second-Tier Advanced Realm is much larger. The courtyard is already insufficient for subsequent training. Do I need to find a cultivation paradise?]

Hong Yuan looked at the last analysis point, twirling the ebony pen as his mind raced.

A cultivation paradise? Should I rent a training chamber at the Concentration Pavilion for future breakthroughs?

No, that won't do. The Concentration Pavilion has a fixed supply of Essence Qi for each training chamber. If I go there, my progress as a Martial Artist will become clear to the Sect. It wouldn't be good if certain people with ulterior motives exploited this information.

It seems I can only rely on myself to provide for my needs.

Hong Yuan made a mental note: once the Ice Armor Python evolved, he would not only need to collect high-tier Worm recipes but also delve into the study of Talisman Arrays. Еnjоying thе stоry? Find mоrе аt МV-LЕМРYR.

Having settled his thoughts, Hong Yuan stood up and walked over to the copper-iron stake to test his current strength.

He activated his True Essence and lightly slapped the stake with his palm.

CRACK~

The copper-iron stake instantly turned to dust, accompanied by flecks of ice.

Hmm? Something's not right. Why is it so exaggerated? This attack power is almost on par with a Third-Tier Martial Artist! Hong Yuan furrowed his brows and hurriedly checked the proficiency panel.

Upon looking at it, a stunned and incredulous expression crossed Hong Yuan's face, quickly followed by ecstatic joy.

A new category had appeared on the proficiency panel:

[School: Ice Tao (Ordinary)]

The Martial Saint's Gate has opened for me? It has opened!

Hong Yuan hopped and skipped, throwing two punches at the void.

One of the essential conditions to become a Martial Saint was to achieve Master-level proficiency in a certain school and possess that school's Tao Marks while still at the Martial Artist stage.

It was known that the hierarchy of school proficiency, from lowest to highest, was: None, Ordinary, Master, Grandmaster, Grandmaster, and Supreme Grandmaster.

At that moment, Hong Yuan was already at the Ordinary level in Ice Tao, just one step away from reaching the Master level required for the Martial Saint Realm.

Although this one step had stumped countless individuals, Hong Yuan wasn't panicked at all.

This was because an adult Ice Armor Python possessed the strength of a Fourth-Order Demon Beast and inherently bore a nascent form of ice-attribute Tao Marks!

In other words, Hong Yuan essentially had the key to unlocking the Immortal Aperture!

That day, Hong Yuan treated himself to two extra dishes!

...

...

「Phoenix Imperial Peak.」

Xiao Youjun was analyzing the intelligence purchased from the Tianji Pavilion, finally understanding Hong Yuan's recent movements.

When she saw the information describing the close relationship between Hong Yuan and Le Congsheng, a sick smile appeared on her face.

"Hong Yuan, I've said it before, you can't escape the palm of my hand, hee hee~"

Having refocused on her target, Xiao Youjun's eyes lit up with renewed vigor. She immediately stood up and went to the courtyard where her Senior Brother Xu Haisheng lived. She had Xu Haisheng use his authority as a former top-thirty arena master to place her in Group C-Seven with Le Congsheng and Tang Baiwei.

「Two days later.」

In the first round of Group C-Seven, Xiao Youjun faced Tang Baiwei.

The moment she saw Tang Baiwei, Xiao Youjun let out a chilling laugh.

The fight was one-sided. Tang Baiwei was not only beaten to the point of questioning her existence but was also viciously ridiculed and insulted by Xiao Youjun.

「That night,」

Le Congsheng braved a blizzard to visit Hong Yuan. His demeanor was serious and furious.

In the hall, Hong Yuan offered hot tea to Le Congsheng, but Le Congsheng had lost his usual composure.

"Yuan, can you help me quickly increase my strength in a short period? I don't care even if there are side effects!"

Le Congsheng's expression was fierce, his teeth clenched, as ferocious as a wounded beast.

Just yesterday, he had watched as the woman he loved was brutally beaten and insulted by that madwoman from the Spirit Beast Hall, Xiao Youjun. He could accept Tang Baiwei's defeat, but he could not tolerate Tang Baiwei being humiliated by Xiao Youjun in such a manner.

I have to get revenge for Tang Baiwei!

After roughly understanding the situation, Hong Yuan felt no anger. Instead, joy bloomed within him.

This means I've truly cultivated my own allies. Future enemies targeting me will instinctively divert some of their strength to deal with Le Congsheng and Tang Baiwei.

If enemies target me because of them, I can just flee.

Heh, another way to divert enemy firepower. My safety is greatly enhanced!

"What?! Such a woman exists? Don't worry, Brother Cong Sheng, I will do my best to help you improve your strength in these next two days," Hong Yuan said gravely.

Over the next two days, Hong Yuan, full of enthusiasm, taught Le Congsheng how to deal with snake-type Demon Beasts.

As a Mysterious Water Snake himself, he was acutely aware of both the limitations and advantages of snake-type Demon Beasts.

And to help Le Congsheng better draw enemy fire, Hong Yuan specifically took out nearly three hundred Energy Stones to buy and gift Le Congsheng four Second-Order Fireball Talismans.

However, Le Congsheng, not wanting to damage his relationship with Hong Yuan, insisted that he was only borrowing these four Fireball Talismans and would definitely return them.

In the courtyard, Hong Yuan watched Le Congsheng walk alone into the snowstorm, a look of profound 'respect' on his face.

What a good man.

He's always telling me not to be too honest, yet here he is, knowingly playing the part himself.

Brother Cong Sheng, don't let me down. I hope you can teach Xiao Youjun a harsh lesson and draw a huge wave of hatred onto yourself for me.