Suppressing his overwhelming elation, Du Fei took a deep breath, quickly regaining his composure.

Such an unexpected breakthrough was beyond his anticipation. If he were to be emotionally affected by such a miraculous advancement, it would bring no benefits to his future cultivation.

"I should continue!"

Taking a slight breath internally, Du Fei swiftly controlled the flow of true breath within his body. With a slight tremor in his frame, the Soft Fist flowed out, as smooth as drifting clouds and flowing water.

In the following three months, Du Fei was immersed in a profoundly monotonous training regimen, and he had mastered the Body-forging Fist to the point of perfection. However, this almost ceaseless cultivation wasn't without its merits.

With every execution of the Body-forging Fist, Du Fei felt the true breath within him growing stronger. It seemed there wasn't much time left before advancing to the ninth level of body tempering...

"Thump—"

A fierce punch struck the air, causing a resonating sound within, reminiscent of a sweeping gust of wind that shook one to the core.

This sensation made Du Fei's heart skip a beat...

Three months had passed, and for the first time, he felt the opportunity for another breakthrough, and he couldn't afford to let such a chance slip away.

Slowly exhaling the stale air from his chest, Du Fei rapidly completed a set of the Soft Fist. Then, with a gentle pat of his right hand over his left, a pill glowing with a faint milky luminescence appeared in his palm.

Gazing at this Concentration Pill, Du Fei smiled faintly. The aroma from the pill instantly rejuvenated his spirits.

Tossing the pill in his hand, Du Fei threw it into his mouth without any hesitation.

The moment the pill entered his mouth, it instantly melted into a warm liquid. Following Du Fei's breathing rhythm, the liquid slowly flowed into his body.

A gentle warmth trickled down from his throat to his abdomen. Moments later, centering on his energy center, this warmth rapidly spread throughout Du Fei's entire body.

"Hum—"

Du Fei's entire body seemed to tremble in an instant. At the same time, his skin momentarily turned crimson, and a light white mist began to envelop him from head to toe.

"What a strong pill! But as expected from a finished pill, while its strength was formidable, it wasn't excessively violent. It was several times stronger than the elixir I prepared myself!"

This thought flashed through Du Fei's mind, but moments later, he cast it aside. After taking a deep breath, the Soft Fist was gradually executed as the true breath circulated within him.

With the Soft Fist in motion, the trembling sensation in his bones seemed to diminish slightly, and Du Fei's complexion improved as his rapid breathing gradually steadied.

The white mist that originally emanated from his body was inhaled back as he moved. Under Du Fei's conscious control, the true breath within him began to circulate slowly, constantly seeking out the medicinal strength spread throughout his body, then gradually refining it.

In the secluded canyon, the once still air slowly began to stir, and the center of this movement seemed to be Du Fei. Subsequently, a mysterious form of energy emerged with the stirring. After revolving around Du Fei for a moment, it entered his body along with his breathing.

"Urgh—"

Upon the entry of this pure energy, Du Fei, who was completely focused on refining the medicinal strength, couldn't help but shudder. A sweetness surged in his throat, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

However, Du Fei's willpower was beyond ordinary. After a brief moment of stagnation, his Soft Fist was once again unleashed.

"Thud thud thud thud—"

This time, Du Fei's movements were slightly faster and more agile than before.

With his actions, the true breath within his meridians also accelerated the refining of the medicinal strength, creating some room within the channels to accommodate the energy that had broken into his body.

Once these energy forms entered Du Fei's meridians, they clearly distinguished themselves from the pure medicinal strength. Although they coexisted, they did not blend. Even so, under the circulation of Du Fei's true breath, both were gradually refined...

Even if Du Fei's refining speed was so swift, the pure medicinal strength and the pure energy form seemed almost endless. It looked as though they could burst him apart at any moment.

"Pff—"

"Boom—"

As Du Fei spat out a mouthful of blood, his entire body jolted, and tiny beads of blood oozed out from him. Yet, his complexion seemed to have improved slightly.

"Finally, I've reached the ninth level of Body-forging!" This transformation brought a hint of joy to Du Fei's heart, and he couldn't help but murmur to himself.

However, before his joy could fully set in, there was a slight twitch in his energy center, and a sensation of intense pain instantly spread throughout his meridians...

Following that, an even stronger medicinal strength surged from his energy center.

"It's not over yet!"

The corner of Du Fei's mouth twitched. He immediately realized that this feeling was due to the Concentration Pill's strength that he hadn't finished refining. Although his internal true breath had grown stronger, the power of the Concentration Pill was likely even mightier.

With that thought, Du Fei wasted no more time in delight and quickly executed the Body-forging Fist again.

"There's no effect!"

At this moment, even though Du Fei executed the Body-forging Fist, the collision of the true breath, medicinal strength, and the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi entering his body had caused utter chaos. Even if he used the Body-forging Fist, he still couldn't control the rampant true breath.

And if things continued this way, the outcome was clear to Du Fei! His meridians would rupture bit by bit. If he was lucky, he would become crippled like Du Qing. But if he was unlucky, he would be completely obliterated, turning into a mound of dirt in the mountains.

"What should I do? What should I do next?" For a moment, Du Fei's mind was in chaos, but he soon calmed down.

While he was different from others and did not have a mentor, he had an unreliable system.

"Little Bai! What should I do now?"

A loud shout almost instantly echoed in Du Fei's mind.

"Beep—"

"Detected a rampage of true breath within the host. The system cannot restrain it, but there is a solution. Would you like to read—"

"Nonsense!"

"Command not accepted, please re-enter!"

"Read!" Du Fei, angered by the unreliable system, almost spat out a mouthful of blood in exasperation and shouted sharply.

"Command accepted, loading data—"

With the cold electronic sound coming to an end, a stream of complex information immediately surfaced in Du Fei's mind.

"Heart as clear as ice, unmoved even if the sky falls... This is the Ice Heart Technique!"

"Gather the true breath, forge the Qi, form a Qi vortex, and break through to become a Ninth-grade Martial Artist!"

Du Fei almost instantly caught on.

Quickly going over the method of the Ice Heart Technique in his mind, Du Fei hesitated no more. With a fierce stomp, he shot up into the air. While in mid-air, he swiftly crossed his legs, and his hands formed an incredibly intricate sign.

"Thud—"

Upon landing, Du Fei's hand sign changed once again. As he moved, the originally raging true breath inside him calmed down a bit. Under Du Fei's guidance, there was a moment of resistance, but then it began flowing in a manner entirely different from the Body-forging Fist.

Strangely enough, this time, although the flow of the true breath was peculiar, the medicinal strength and the energy from the heavens and earth became somewhat more docile. Surprisingly, they began to flow in harmony with the true breath, and throughout this process, this medicinal strength and energy were gradually refined...

Though this refining process was slow, it seemed genuinely effective...

As time passed, the true breath had almost entirely consumed all the medicinal strength and energy inside Du Fei. The hue of the true breath itself also underwent a change, transitioning from an intangible color to a faint white glow.

Above Du Fei's head, a white aura began to slowly form. Upon careful observation, one could see that it seemed filled with pure energy from the heavens and earth.

"Sigh—"

Exhaling a long breath, Du Fei's hand signs changed rapidly, pressing down towards his lower abdomen. With this motion, the true breath within his body's meridians swiftly surged towards his energy center. The concentration and quantity of this true breath were so immense that it almost ruptured Du Fei's energy center.

"This feeling is..."

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Without any hesitation, Du Fei's hand signs scattered rapidly, and immediately, a brand new seal appeared, pressing down forcefully towards his Dantian Qi ocean!

As Du Fei's hand signs changed, the originally dense true breath inside him was instantly compressed together, all converging at the center of Du Fei's Dantian Qi ocean, forming a small Qi cluster.

"Condense breath into heaven, transform rotation into Qi, change!"

With a loud shout, Du Fei's hands changed once more. As he moved, the originally condensed true breath trembled slightly, and then, following a peculiar rhythm, began to rotate slowly...

Under this rotation, the dense true breath began to transform bit by bit. As time passed, it diminished more and more until, in the end, the true breath had completely disappeared, replaced by a slightly transparent white aura...

This was Qi!

The Qi that emerged in Du Fei's Dantian had completely replaced the true breath.

"It's time! Condense!"

As a resounding cry echoed in his heart, Du Fei's hands changed again. The Qi, which was originally just rotating slowly, underwent a sudden transformation, spinning rapidly...

"Is this... the Qi vortex?"

With the formation of the vortex, Du Fei's whole body relaxed. The previously overwhelming exhaustion vanished instantly, replaced by a sense of lightness that spread throughout his body...

Taking a deep breath, Du Fei suddenly lifted his head. Immediately after, peals of wild laughter erupted!

After years of cultivation, he had finally become a Martial Artist!