180: Chapter 180 Breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm

Fifth Grade, Transcendent.

The three major Realms of a Martial Artist are the Bright Realm, Dark Realm, and Transcendent Realm; every step is as different as heaven and earth. The Bright Realm utilizes the strength of muscles and bones, with every punch and kick being pure physical power. The Dark Realm cultivates Internal Energy, which is generated from the Dantian and travels through the Meridians, making it easy to shatter mountains and split rocks.

The Transcendent Realm, however, merges the two forces of bright and dark into one, unifying them. From then on, one's strikes no longer distinguish between Bright Energy and Dark Energy; every single move and style is the sum of the body's entire strength. The kind of power that requires a Fourth-Rank Warrior to mobilize their Dantian's Internal Energy can be achieved by a fifth-grade warrior with a casual wave of their hand.

The gap between the two is not a cumulative difference in quantity, but a qualitative leap.

He raised his arm again and activated the Dragon Roar Iron Shirt—the layer of tough membrane under his skin, which was originally pale gold, was now tinged with an extremely faint green light. He tapped his arm with the spine of the autumn water sword. With a clanging sound, the blade vibrated and buzzed from the rebound, while not even a red mark was left on his arm. The Dragon Roar Iron Shirt at the Mastery Stage, coupled with the enhancement of Transcendent force, directly raised his defensive power by a whole level.

With his current strength, a Fourth-Rank Warrior would be completely vulnerable before him—it was no longer a matter of victory or defeat, but a question of how many moves they could withstand.

With his strength greatly increased, the primeval lake and the secrets at its bottom resurfaced in his mind. The last time he went, he had just broken through to the Fourth-Rank Late Stage. He had been chased miserably by that ten-meter Black Crocodile at the bottom of the lake, barely managing to escape to the shore by relying on the White Dragon in the Waves and the Cloud Shadow Step.

In hindsight, he had pondered over it repeatedly—that crocodile was a fifth-grade Vicious Beast with thick skin and tough flesh. It also held the geographical advantage in the water, so a head-on clash with a Fourth-Rank Late Stage cultivation was simply not enough. But things were different now. Transcendent against Transcendent, neither was inferior to the other.

Coincidentally, it was once again time for the monthly delivery of Treasure Fish back to the Sect. As usual, Lin Tian followed the black-awning boat back to the Qixia Sect. After handing over the goods, he asked the Senior Brother leading the team for leave, saying he had some private matters to attend to and they didn't need to wait for his return.

He left the Sect alone and rushed along the fork in the road he had taken last time, heading toward the lake hidden in the primeval forest. After breaking through to the fifth grade, his traveling speed was much faster; a journey that took him more than half a day last time was reached in less than half a day this time.

It was midday, and the lake reflected the surrounding steep cliffs and the year-round snow on the mountain peaks. The water was crystal clear, transitioning from light green near the shore to deep blue at the center. The surface was calm and undisturbed, without even a breath of wind.

Lin Xu stood by the lakeside, unstrapped the cold moon bow and quiver, and placed them on a dry reef. He then took off his outer robe, folded it, and pressed it on top of the bow case. He took only two things into the water—the autumn water sword at his waist and the thirty-two moyuan flying daggers tucked inside his cuffs. Taking a deep breath, he leaped into the lake.

The moment he entered the water, the Divine Turtle Breathing Technique activated on its own, and the White Dragon in the Waves Movement Technique was deployed. With a gentle kick of his legs, he shot down several Zhang deep. The underwater light shifted from bright to dim, from light green to deep blue, and finally submerged into that familiar, gloomy deep-water zone.

The rugged group of reefs at the bottom of the lake was exactly the same as when he last came. Deep within the stone crevices overgrown with water plants, a massive dark shadow was slowly cruising.

It was coming.

First came an abnormal fluctuation in the water currents as a powerful wake pressed in from the front-side, followed closely by two amber-colored vertical pupils lighting up in the darkness.

The Black Crocodile swam out from the shadows of the reefs, its massive ten-meter-long body gliding silently through the water, its scales gleaming with a cold, eerie luster in the dim light.

It clearly recognized this human who had once escaped from its jaws. With a sudden whip of its thick tail, its massive body turned into a black arrow, rushing straight toward Lin Tian. Its wide-open maw, filled with sharp, menacing teeth, was enough to bite a person in half.

Lin Tian did not retreat. He drew the autumn water sword with his left hand while simultaneously gripping three moyuan flying daggers in his right.

The White Dragon in the Waves Movement Technique was unleashed to its fullest in the water. Just a split second before the crocodile's jaws reached him, his body flipped sideways, sliding perilously through the gap between the two rows of sharp teeth. With a backhand strike, the lightning of the Thunderclap Sword Technique exploded in the water—five thunderous sounds overlapping,

The sword light, wrapped in Transcendent force, dragged a blazing white electric arc underwater, slashing fiercely onto the Black Crocodile's flank scales. Last time, this strike had only left a white mark,

but this time, under the enhancement of the Transcendent force, the scales were sliced open to reveal a gap, and a pale red mist of blood gushed from the wound, diffusing into the water.

Pain-stricken, the Black Crocodile whipped its tail in a violent sweep, sending a torrent of water wrapped with crushed stones crashing toward him. Lin Tian kicked his legs, sliding away close to the lakebed reefs like a turning flood dragon, and threw the three flying daggers in his right hand simultaneously—

The three daggers flew silently through the water in a triangular formation, precisely piercing into the thinnest gaps of the Black Crocodile's abdominal scales. Although the three flying daggers did not penetrate deeply, the sharp piercing force caused the Black Crocodile to let out another muffled roar of pain.

He locked in combat with this giant beast in the water for nearly half an hour. Alternating between the Xiaguang Sword Technique and the Thunderclap Sword Technique, his White Dragon in the Waves shuttled back and forth among the reefs at the bottom of the lake,

and his Dragon Roar Iron Shirt withstood the aftershocks of the Black Crocodile's tail sweeps several times. After reaching the Transcendent Realm, his Internal Energy flowed endlessly;

after nearly half an hour of fierce battle, not only was he not exhausted, but his movements became smoother and smoother. He finally found a perfect opportunity—a extremely brief moment of stiffness after the Black Crocodile swept its tail. He did not let it slip by.

The autumn water sword, enveloped in the lightning of five overlapping thunders, pierced into the thinnest gap of the Black Crocodile's hindneck scales, sending Transcendent force surging through the blade.

The Black Crocodile let out a sky-shaking roar, its massive body twitching violently in the water a few times, its movements visibly slowing down.

It was heavily wounded. Although not fatal, the wild beast nature that had been sustaining its violent attacks was cut in half by this strike.

It began to retreat, fear appearing in its amber vertical pupils for the first time—this human, who had been chased into a panicked escape last time, had actually defeated it head-on this time. Dragging its injured body, it turned, wanting to flee into the deep-water zone.

Lin Tian had been waiting for this exact moment.

With a flip of his right hand, he sheathed the autumn water sword, and a speck of deep purple light lit up at the tip of his index finger.

A spiritual thread as thin as hair emerged from his fingertip, extending silently through the water. It precisely pierced into the crack of the wound on the Black Crocodile's hindneck, probing all the way along its spine into the depths of its brain.

The moment the spiritual thread entered its brain, a wild willpower surged back along the thread—the beastly instinct of a fifth-grade Vicious Beast was by no means comparable to that of a wild rabbit or an otter. That will was like an enraged beast, biting crazily at the spiritual thread, trying to drag Lin Tian's mind down with it.

Lin Tian was well-prepared. Having practiced the Beast Taming Technique all this way—from wild rabbits to otters, wildcats, and then to fourth-grade Vicious Beasts—he had figured out the trick to suppressing beastly nature:

subdue them through combat first before taming them, as an injured Vicious Beast has the weakest willpower. His Transcendent force poured continuously into the Black Crocodile's body along the spiritual thread, not to attack, but to envelop—

using his own dense Internal Energy to wrap, compress, and lock down that wild will in the Black Crocodile's mind layer by layer. The spiritual thread established a silent resonance between him and the Black Crocodile; he was no longer an enemy, but the controller.

This silent struggle lasted for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Finally, the tyrannical, fierce light in the Black Crocodile's amber vertical pupils extinguished bit by bit, replaced by a numb, obedient blankness.

It no longer struggled, nor did it try to bite the spiritual thread. Its massive body floated quietly in the lake water, like a black reef floating in the water.

Lin Tian was dripping with sweat, his head spinning as if it had been emptied, but the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

He tentatively transmitted his first command through the spiritual thread—turn around. The Black Crocodile slowly turned its massive ten-meter-long body. The second command—swim forward.

It whipped its tail, gliding forward silently for a distance, and then stopped, waiting for the next command.

The black-armored vicious crocodile of the Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm level was completely tamed by him using the Beast Taming Technique. From now on, the underwater depths of this primeval lake were no longer his forbidden zone, but his home turf.

This Black Crocodile was not only the overlord of the waters, but also his strongest trump card hidden in the dark—in the future, whether fighting in the water or guarding his Immortal Cave, this Transcendent-level Vicious Beast would be a trump card that no opponent could ever anticipate.