229 Prowess

Alex tried a few times more, and the pain in his heart felt excruciating. He felt that he could not do that for a while. He confirmed the limit to do that was three times. Alex cleaned his body that full of sweat. He realized that Undying Fire Body was not an omnipotent technique, but it was useful at critical times.

After he cleaned himself up, he felt that his heart was pumping very stable. But every time it pumped and circulated the blood, he got far more energy than normal. He tried to throw a punch to the air.

He was shocked by what he found. Before, Alex can punch with a power of 500 bulls with the help of his Spiritual Energy. Then, he can throw a dragon strength punch if he used his 'Immovable Step'. Surprisingly, after refining this body, he can throw a dragon strength punch with just the help of his Spiritual Energy.

If he added his 'Immovable Step' which should be able to give two times of his power. That meant he had two dragons strength. Just this thinking alone excited him. He did not know if the 'Sky Movement', especially 'Immovable Step' had a limit.

If his 'Sky Movement' did not have any limit, that would be terrifying. If he had ten dragon strength, with his 'Immovable Step', it would become twenty dragon strength. He did not compare it with 'Heavy Step' which was the most powerful among the 'Sky Movement' because it had too many restrictions. Alex threw another punch to confirm it.

The punch was also contained a dragon strength. Alex leaped out of joy. He remembered that Charya had ten dragon strength. Of course, there was nothing like 'Immovable Step'. So, Alex tried to take his pure raw strength, one dragon strength, as the comparison.

He should be around mid Martial Grandmaster stage...probably. Since the strength from each star in Martial Lord Stage should increase exponentially.

Alex was not good with this, so he left it just like that. He thought it was better to see the comparison with another person. Alex then came out of his room to see Anna, who seemed to know that he will go out at any moment.

"Young Master"

Alex nodded, "How many days I used this time?"

"Two weeks."

Alex nodded again. The torture that he felt like an eternity was actually two weeks. If Anna answered with 'two days', he might snap.

Suddenly Anna gave a Space Ring to him. "That Song Yu gave this to me since you are training."

Alex was surprised. "Does not that mean you have met with Senior Sister Song Yu?"

Anna nodded, "When you refined your heart with 'Undying Fire Body Manual'. Young Master screamed loudly, and the others noticed it, so I stop them."

Alex nodded. Maybe he should make a sound insulation array first before he started the next refining. Song Yu and Putri had met Anna back in the Martial Arts Pavilion. After all, Alex did not really mind about that.

After receiving the Space Ring, Alex checked the inside. There were three hundred sets of Tempered Muscle Pill ingredients and twenty Flamming Sun Pill materials. Alex nodded, satisfied.

"Young Master, are you going to break through after this?"

"Yeah, After eating Fire Spirit Pills, I should be able to breakthrough to 9-Star Martial Master. Then, I will eat the Energy Pill that elder Su Hua gave me back in Limewatch Town. With that, I can break through to 10-Star Martial Master." Alex answered.

"Young Master should try to check your cultivation speed first. Now that you have refined your heart. Your cultivation speed should become a bit abnormal."

Alex frowned, he tried to check it immediately in front of her. When he gathered the Spiritual Energy in his surroundings, he finally found that his cultivation speed became twice...no thrice times faster than previously. Suddenly he felt something wrong, he noticed that the Spiritual Energy was racing to get inside his body. With the sudden influx, he felt very uncomfortable before finally.

"Cough Cough..." He coughed and broke his Cultivating posture.

"Now that you have refined your heart. Your heart should be like your Pure Fire. It would suck and refine the Spiritual Energy around you like crazy. If it was only a small increase in speed. Then, I'm sure that Young Master will be alright. But, because the difference is big. I suggest, after taking the Fire Spirit Pills and advancing to 9-Star.

Young Master should adjust your body first to get accustomed to your current Cultivation Speed. I'm sure that because of the change, Young Master felt uncomfortable when you absorbed the Spiritual Energy earlier."

Alex was surprised when he listened to her. Alex said, "You seem to be familiar with this Undying Fire Body Manual."

"... I will continue my explanation." Anna flustered a bit but chose not to answer his question. Seeing that he would not get the answer, Alex also did not press her. He continued listening to her.

"Heart, Meridians, Blood Vessels. This three purpose was to change your internal life flow to a fire flow. You will get a significant boost in your inner energy, such as your cultivation speed. Then the next would be your Tendons and Bones, it will significantly boost your body overall strength and controlling your inner bodies such as power and energy. The flesh refining and Skin would be the last refining, it will boost your strength to an unprecedented height. If you reached flesh refining, you could regenerate your limbs and organs except for heart and brain."

Alex was astonished. Hearing such an explanation, how can he not? There would be a bloodbath to get this Body Refining Technique if others knew about this. The system granted it to him just like that. Searching for the ingredients might be a hassle, but the reward was worth it.

Alex then said goodbye to her and said that they would be going out when he wanted to breakthrough. After all, there was still a matter about the Blazing Pond inside that cave. Maybe he will just reach the peak until he can not hold it, then went around that cave and finally breakthrough. He might want to make some distance from the cave to avoid ruining it.

In this hype, he can not wait to break through to Grandmaster Stage. He took out two Fire Spirit Pills from his Space Ring and swallowed them.

The last time he used two Fire Spirit Pills was a few months ago. Back then, he used almost a week of time to refine the two pills, causing him to change his approach with Spirit Stones. He wanted to try it again after entering 8-Star Martial Master stage, and with his refined heart, will there be any difference? Hypothetically, there should be a difference.

Alex swallowed the pill as the fire energy inside the pill burst out. Alex's enhanced heart finally played its might. Revolving like crazy, the heart refined the energy at such speed he had ever seen before. Alex continued refining it and unknowingly, a feeling that he can not hold anymore as Spiritual Energy sparked.

'9-Star'

Alex did not open his eyes. Instead, he continued refining the pill and absorbed all of the energy from within the pill. He felt that it was only a few hours after he started absorbing the pill's efficacy. Happy with the result, Alex pumped his fist.

After reaching 9-Star Martial Master, Alex did not forget about Anna's advice. He tried absorbing the Spiritual Energy around him. Just like before, he felt that something clogged up and made him very uncomfortable. He coughed again.

He did not give up. He tried it again and again. On the first day, he could see his progress from a few seconds to a few minutes. On the second day, he managed to cultivate for an hour. On the third day, he could do it for a whole day. Then, on the fourth day, he tried to go for three days straight.

If he can do that, he will stop and eat the Energy Pill. Fortunately, he was able to do that. On the last day, he opened his eyes and took out the Energy Pill from his Space Ring. If he absorbed this pill, he would be able to breakthrough to 10-Star Martial Master.

Before eating the pill, Alex frowned as though he was weighing something in his mind. In fact, Alex was thinking about his progress. If he really went all out for cultivating, he should be a Grandmaster at this point. He made a breakthrough to 8-Star Martial Master a few days before the tournament, around a month ago. Then, broke through to 9-Star. Not long after this, he will be able to breakthrough to 10-Star Martial Master. After consolidating his foundation, he will advance to the Grandmaster stage.

Well, he was not complaining about it, but his speed was really astonishing. Looking at the people around him, he felt a bit more confident in himself. Putri had not broken through to 8-Star Martial Grandmaster or Song Yu also still in 4-Star Martial Lord. But of course, considering that they were at a far higher level than him, he did not know their difficulty. According to his system, his speed came from his Pure Fire Element and his way of earning Spirit Stones.

Alex finally swallowed the pill. The energy started gushing out from the pill as the pill slowly melted on his mouth. He was shocked by the amount of energy contained inside that single tiny pill. Having that much energy that needed to be refined, Alex was smiling.

After three days, Alex finally opened his eyes as he finished absorbing all of the energy. Surprisingly, he did not manage to advance to 10-Star Martial Master. The energy was not enough. Alex checked his body with a dumbfounded but agitated look. He never expected this. All he knew about the pill that he will breakthrough after he ate the pill. Sadly, it did not happen. Alex was disappointed.

"System, why I did not break through to 10-Star after eating the pill?"

[Host, the amount of Spiritual Energy you need to advance even a single star was far more than regular people. From the look of it, you need around three times. All of it comes from your Pure Fire Element. Although Pure Fire Element needs a few times more, it also gave you a big strength and some occasional benefits like unlimited use of Fire Spirit Pill. Of course, it might only work when your cultivation stage was not that high along with the limit each month. That was the reason why Host did not use Fire Spirit Pills anymore]

"..." Alex looked down, seeming to ponder something. "How about Energy Pill?"

[You can only use one for that. But, considering the amount of energy. It should fill more than half of your energy. For this rank 2 energy pill, you just need to fill the rest with your Spirit Stones. With Host's current speed, it will not take a long time]

Alex sighed. He went to his Spirit Gathering Array. Pouring ten thousand Spirit Stones to the array. His record was when he broke through to 7-Star Martial Master. In a month, he managed to use a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. In other words, he managed to absorb ten thousand Spirit Stones per three days.

If other people needed a hundred thousand Spirit Stones just to breakthrough, it would take them forever. Not to say their absorption speed was far slower than Alex. They also did not have enough resources to do that. Took Evelyn as an example, if she needed that many resources, she will not be the famous genius princess. The kingdom might choose to cultivate others since they will be more useful.

Alex started cultivating again. He managed to break through to 10-Star Martial Master after absorbing thirty thousand Spirit Stones. At first, he was shocked when he managed to use ten thousand Spirit Stones in a single day. He was thankful to Undying Fire Body.

He had cultivated for a month already. According to the System, with his current cultivating speed, he can consolidate his foundation with only a month. After hearing that, Alex did not immediately fully consolidate his cultivation. Instead, he left some spare time to refine Tempered Muscle Pill. Of course, for his own cultivation resources. He never expected anything from the sect.

He remembered that the sect gave that jade token as resources for him. And that was not enough. Although that three month free cultivation might be useful for him. He did not know the rank of the Spirit Gathering Array inside that place. If it was rank 3 Spirit Gathering Array. Then he already had one in front of him.