135: Chapter 135 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (Chapter 83)

That's right! How could he have been so rattled by this little brat that he completely forgot he still had this leverage over him!

Heh heh heh...

"Little brat, did you think that just because you managed to break through to the perfection stage by some stroke of luck, you could escape my grasp? You still have to fall into your master's hands, don't you?"

Afterward, Peak Master Lieyang cleared his throat, a solemn expression appearing on his face. He leaned forward slightly, his tone turning serious.

"Naturally, there is. Since the Iron Skin Realm has a special perfection stage, then the next realm, the Copper Bone Realm, naturally has one as well. However, before we discuss that, you must first understand the essence of our Metal Martial Dao and the truth of this world."

He paused, his gaze drifting outside the hall, as if piercing through endless time to see the early days of the apocalypse, when Metal Qi raged and living beings were devastated.

"The essence of Metal Martial Dao is survival. Years ago, the world underwent a great transformation, and the old world was destroyed. The once ordinary world suddenly gained extraordinary energy, which is Metal Qi.

However, this Metal Qi is violent and far from peaceful. Ordinary flesh and blood are as fragile as paper in the face of Metal Qi. The mutated creatures eroded by Metal Qi have thick hides and immense strength; humans are utterly powerless against them.

To survive, our ancestors began to imitate those mutated creatures, guiding Metal Qi to transform themselves. From the day this martial system was born, it has had only one goal: to survive.

To survive, one needs stronger offensive power and greater survivability. Therefore, following the metallization properties of Metal Qi, our martial path evolves from the outside in.

The Body Tempering Realm polishes the blood and qi, tempering the physical body to the limits of a mortal frame; this is the foundation of everything.

The Iron Skin Realm draws qi into the body, completing a life-form leap, evolving the entire skin membrane, and achieving Iron-Orderization. Upon reaching this realm, ordinary swords and blades cannot harm you, and the sharp claws of low-tier demonic beasts cannot tear through your defenses, greatly enhancing your survivability."

Peak Master Lieyang withdrew his gaze and looked at Chu Shi: "Then, in your opinion, what must one do in the next realm, the Copper Bone Realm, to survive even better?"

Chu Shi fell silent upon hearing this. This was the first time he had so clearly understood the essence of the Metal Martial Dao and the origin of the world. No wonder this extraordinary cultivation system was so simple, even bordering on crude. There was no immortality, no ascending to become an immortal; from beginning to end, it was all just to survive.

He pondered for a moment, combining the knowledge from before his transmigration with the experiences of his multiple lives in this world, and slowly replied: "Strength. The Body Tempering Realm is the foundation, and the Iron Skin Realm is defense. With the foundation and defense in place, the next step naturally requires greater strength."

"Correct." Peak Master Lieyang nodded approvingly, a flash of surprise in his eyes. "It is indeed strength. Our ancestors evolved their skin membranes and could block the attacks of demonic beasts, yet they found they still couldn't damage them.

Those mutated creatures, which are the current Demon Race, have an innate advantage in size. Our fists hitting them were like tickles. Even slashing with swords and blades remained ineffective.

However, when they hit us, we were easily crushed by their strength, injured or killed by the force penetrating our Iron Skin. This is the gap in strength. Because the bones throughout our bodies remained mortal bones. Mortal bones cannot support massive output, nor can they withstand the powerful recoil of force.

Therefore, in this realm, we must evolve our bones. Just like transforming the skin membrane and flesh to complete Iron-Orderization, we use Metal Qi to temper the bones. We make them as tough as copper, better serving as the support for the human body, better for exerting force, and better for withstanding force. This is the essence of the Copper Bone Realm."

Speaking of this, Peak Master Lieyang looked at Chu Shi with a chuckle: "Then, in your opinion, where does the gap between people lie in this realm?"

Chu Shi frowned. True Qi? No, that wasn't right; the capacity of True Qi was already fixed in the Iron Skin Realm. Even if one later converted gaseous True Qi into liquid True Essence, the overall volume wouldn't change significantly, and it wouldn't create a fundamental gap between him and other perfected martial artists. Then what was it?

He looked at the "you definitely can't guess" expression on Peak Master Lieyang's face, his thoughts racing. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck, and the physics knowledge from before his transmigration welled up in his mind.

Metal Qi, Metal Martial Dao! The most important thing is naturally the metal, so what is the most important aspect of metal, where the biggest differences lie? Of course, it's the formula, the alloy formula! Can pure iron and steel be the same? Can pure copper and bronze be the same?

Chu Shi's eyes lit up, and he immediately blurted out: "It's the alloy, it's the formula! Pure Copper Bone and alloy bone are simply not the same thing!"

The smile on Peak Master Lieyang's face froze. He was stunned for a long time before slowly nodding, his tone carrying a hint of disbelief: "Not bad, the child is teachable."

Damn, is this little brat a monster? He could actually think of this. He actually guessed it correctly.

"The Iron Skin Realm is the first realm in the martial path to come into contact with Metal Qi; it requires stability and purity. Therefore, the core is 'order,' which is Iron-Orderization," Peak Master Lieyang continued.

"And for the Copper Bone Realm, in order to pursue greater strength, it naturally requires deeper transformation. Even with Copper Bone, some people have pure copper, some have bronze, some have brass, and others can refine even rarer alloys.

Different formulas result in bones with vastly different strength, toughness, and weight. This is the Copper Bone Realm, and it is the greatest gap between people. It is also one of the greatest foundations of our heritage."

After saying this, he looked at Chu Shi meaningfully.

Chu Shi was listening with great excitement and did not notice Peak Master Lieyang's gaze. He thought of the history from before his transmigration, recalled the magnificent Warring States period, and thought of the Great Qin.

In ancient times, pure copper could only be used to make coins, while bronze could be used to cast sharp weapons and heavy ritual vessels, becoming a symbol of an era. The strength of the two is worlds apart, more than tenfold!

This old guy really does have some substance. This time I've really hit the jackpot!

He looked at Peak Master Lieyang eagerly, his eyes filled with "give me the formula quickly." It wasn't that he lacked composure; it was just that he could tell from hearing it that the gap between having a formula and not having one was huge.

It wasn't that he didn't want to find formulas directly from his memories before transmigration; the key was that he didn't know them. Before he transmigrated, he was just a struggling web novel writer, and he didn't write historical novels, so who would memorize things like alloy formulas?

Moreover, this was something that acted on the human body, and it involved extraordinary power; messing around with it would lead to disaster.

Peak Master Lieyang looked at his expression and felt incredibly satisfied. Little brat, weren't you being quite capable just now, even daring to secretly jab at me? Aren't you having to beg me now?