Chapter 32: Rapid Breakthrough
The evening sky glowed with soft orange and crimson hues as the world exhaled after a long day. A gentle breeze whispered through the trees, rustling the leaves of the ancient oak with a calm, steady rhythm.
Beneath its shade, Su Tianhao sat still as stone, lost in profound silence.
The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the courtyard. Time passed quietly, broken only by the distant chirping of evening birds and the whisper of wind through leaves.
Then his eyelids fluttered.
Su Tianhao's eyes opened slowly, clear and focused. Without hesitation, he extended his right arm and clenched it into a firm fist.
"Raging Dragon Fist... Initial Mastery!" He couldn't suppress the thrill in his voice as he rose from his meditative posture.
His gaze turned toward the familiar patch of bark on the massive oak tree—the spot he had struck countless times over the past year, now bearing the scars of every one of those sessions.
"Let's test its might," he murmured, cracking his knuckles.
Taking a deep breath, Su Tianhao pressed his feet firmly into the earth, spine straightening, muscles coiling like compressed springs.
"Raging Dragon Fist!"
His voice rang out like a battle cry, shattering the stillness of dusk.
Something stirred within him—an echo from his awakened bloodline. A low phantom dragon roar surged from deep within his body, resonating perfectly with the first layer of the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique and aligning with the violent, primal essence of the Raging Dragon Fist.
Whoosh!
Su Tianhao launched forward like a released arrow. His foot struck the ground with explosive force, his figure blurring with speed. Wind howled in his wake as his fist ignited with surging power—raw, untamed, and furious. His entire body twisted with momentum as he drove his punch into the massive oak tree.
BOOM!
The impact rang like a thunderclap across the quiet courtyard. The bark splintered outward, cracks webbing across the surface like a spider's nest. A gust of dust and displaced air exploded from the point of contact, sending leaves raining down from every branch.
The air itself seemed to pulse with residual force as Su Tianhao slowly pulled back his fist, trembling slightly—not from pain, but from the aftershock of unleashed power. A slow smile spread across his lips.
"Almost 700 pounds of strength... and that's just initial mastery," he murmured, a glint of satisfaction dancing in his golden eyes. The phantom echo of the dragon's roar still lingered faintly in the evening air.
He paused thoughtfully. "I can feel I'm close to breaking through to the 3rd level of Martial Apprentice Realm. When that happens, my raw strength will reach 800 pounds. With the Raging Dragon Fist behind it, even 9th level Martial Apprentice cultivators won't be my match."
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"Jumping multiple realms to defeat an enemy..." Su Tianhao's lips curled into a confident smile.
Fueled by determination, he settled back beneath the oak tree and began cultivating the Supreme Dragon Body Tempering Technique once more, pushing toward the 3rd level breakthrough.
Only when darkness fully settled over the courtyard did he finally retreat into his humble house. A breakthrough hadn't come that night, but he could feel it—one step away.
---
Early the following morning, Su Tianhao bathed quickly and returned to his position beneath the massive oak tree.
Spine straight, eyes closed, expression tranquil. He guided spiritual energy into his dantian, refined it, and circulated it throughout his body according to the Supreme Dragon Body Tempering Technique's patterns, tempering every aspect of his physical essence with each passing cycle.
The spiritual energy entered in gentle waves, pushing steadily toward the next realm as though his very physique hungered for the breakthrough. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours.
Then a pulse resonated from within his dantian—a critical junction.
His brow tightened. He recognized the moment.
"Devour," he muttered.
Immediately, the dormant vortex within his body surged to life as he activated the innate ability of his Heavenly Devouring Dragon physique.
Whoosh!
Spiritual energy rushed toward him from all directions. The courtyard trembled with violent wind as the surrounding energy was drawn inward like metal filings to a magnet.
"Focus!" Su Tianhao concentrated his mind on guiding the flood of energy through the technique's patterns, his awakened bloodline greedily absorbing every last wisp.
A few minutes later—
BOOM!
A resonant sound echoed within his dantian, followed by a phantom dragon roar. Spiritual energy surged through his body like a carp leaping through a dragon's gate—a fundamental transformation that elevated his entire being.
Su Tianhao's eyes opened. Profound light flashed within their golden depths.
"3rd level Martial Apprentice Realm! Successful breakthrough!"
He laughed heartily, his voice carrying across the empty courtyard. "So what if I have no cultivation resources? With my devouring ability, I can still achieve swift breakthroughs!"
The night before, he had discovered what was holding him back—no cultivation pills to aid the final push. He had gone to bed frustrated, but an idea had surfaced before sleep claimed him: why not use his devouring ability?
'Who would have thought it would work this well?' he thought with satisfaction. 'Without it, this breakthrough would have taken several more days.'
He took a deep breath to suppress his excitement. "Let me test my current strength!"
He walked to his usual spot on the massive oak tree and cracked his knuckles.
"Raging Dragon Fist!"
Su Tianhao launched forward like a cannonball, a phantom dragon roar resonating within him. His fist connected with the bark in an explosion of force.
BOOM!
The massive oak trembled from root to crown. Leaves rained down from the treetop like golden snowfall.
CRACK!
Deep fissures split across the bark in web-like patterns, as though the tree had been struck by a sledgehammer.
Su Tianhao smiled wryly at the damage. "Almost 900 pounds of force in that punch..."
He studied the deep cracks for a moment before murmuring, "I'm afraid I can't keep training on this tree, or else..."
He didn't finish the thought. He had grown genuinely fond of the ancient oak over the past year and had no desire to see it destroyed because of his growing strength.
From that day forward, Su Tianhao practiced the Raging Dragon Fist by striking empty air during the mornings, reserving his evenings for cultivation and mastering the Supreme Dragon Body Tempering Method.
---
The following days settled into a steady rhythm—martial arts in the mornings, cultivation in the evenings.
Five days later, on a peaceful night, Su Tianhao sat cross-legged beneath the oak tree. Spiritual energy swirled around him, drawn inward by the invisible pull of his devouring ability.
After days of practice, activating the ability was no longer the violent, uncontrolled surge it had once been. Spiritual energy now flowed into his dantian in massive but controlled waves, his body absorbing each one without strain.
His eyes remained closed, his mind fully immersed in the Supreme Dragon Body Tempering Method. He guided energy through established pathways with mechanical precision, his instinctive understanding of the technique deepening with each cycle.
Several minutes passed.
The swirling vortex in his dantian suddenly spun faster, circulating energy throughout his entire body at an accelerated pace. Then—
BOOM!
Su Tianhao's eyes snapped open as a phantom dragon roar echoed from deep within him.
His gaze was calm, yet carried a quiet flicker of accomplishment.
"4th level Martial Apprentice Realm... Supreme Dragon Body Tempering, Small Success!"
After days of unwavering dedication, Su Tianhao had achieved two remarkable milestones at once. His cultivation had advanced to the 4th level of Martial Apprentice Realm, and the first layer of the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique had reached Small Success—one significant step closer to perfection.
He remained still for a moment beneath the ancient oak tree, letting the result settle.
In just nine days since his bloodline awakening, he had gone from complete inability to cultivate to the 4th level of Martial Apprentice Realm. His strength now rivaled peak-stage Martial Apprentices, and his foundation grew more solid with every passing day.
The path ahead was long. But for the first time, every step forward felt inevitable.
