20 Breaking Step

Lou Meng's method of training Fang Yun's Earth Step was by running laps around the settlement. Early in the morning, the first thing he did was try to improve his control over his movement technique. However, the results wasn't as he has expected.

He could feel his cultivation recovering as a slow but stable pace, yet this was exactly the reason why he couldn't properly control the output of his Earth Step. Every time he 'launched' forward using the Earth Step technique, he'd find that the power had increased without him even being aware of it. The results of which would lead him to fall over like he didn't know how to walk.

To solve this problem, he tried to consciously weaken Internal Qi that was intertwined with his Metal Ki as it strengthened his legs. This method backfired at him as he realised that the effects of ordinary Ki and Metal Ki were different. Fang Yun's Physique Force didn't have any Daos altering its power, but the Dao of Metal merged into Lou Meng's Ki changed its effects.

Metal Ki hardened the body in a way that made it mimic metal itself. This in turn caused it to have less muscle elasticity than regular hardening and weakened his ability to use Earth Step.

Lou Meng couldn't help but be disappointed in the fact that he seemed to be unsuitable for the 'true' Earth Step movement technique. He could only stumble along until he gave up on practicing the same way as Fang Yun taught him and improvised a little.

Instead of holding back his Qi, he decided to let loose everything and launch himself forward with everything he got. The kind of failures he made while practicing this way were so hilarious that the people watching out for Demonic Beasts chuckled secretly at the acrobatic trip-ups he made.

With every failure to control his movement technique, his understanding towards Metal Ki gradually deepened until he unknowingly stepped into the second level of Physique Force mastery. The first level of Physique Force mastery was pretty simple: Harden the flesh in areas reinforced by Ki. However, the second level was a lot more profound.

The second level of Physique Force mastery concerned controlling the weight of ones own body. It was something Fang Yun incorporates into his Flash Step in order to move his body almost weightlessly as he lunged forwards. Many martial artists of Earth were commonly able to use this level of Physique Force mastery in order to even step on stone spikes without falling from their lack of balance. The original method of using this ability to shift a martial artists own weight by spreading it all over their bodies.

Spreading one's own weight out allows martial artists to balance their body so that they could stand even on uneven surfaces. The benefits of weight control in martial arts was also mostly used in close combat as well to focus the power of their strikes into one particular area.

Normally, a Martial Artist who could control the weight of their physical body would incorporate this ability into making their strikes as heavy as hammers. Lou Meng didn't follow this orthodox route of using the ability and instead created a new ability from using the benefits of his Dao of Metal.

Oddly enough, Lou Meng's ability to control the concentration of his weight turned into the ability to increase his weight. This didn't mean he became fatter as he used the ability, but more like his body was mimicking iron. The ability allowed him to create his own method of movement that completely disregarded muscle elasticity and more on the manipulation of weight.

He increases the weight of his body and focused it all into his right big toe, then used recoiling force of the impact as a way to launch himself forward like bullet. The way he stopped himself from turning himself into a human cannon was through using the heel on his right foot as the brakes.

He called this movement technique Breaking Step because he always left a crater everywhere he used this method of moving around. The speed of this technique was faster than Earth Step technique but was a lot less flexible and wasn't able to be used in places that had floors that were too fragile. Though he wasn't dejected about this though since he was sure there wouldn't be a time where he'd need to 'step lightly'.

With his new movement technique, a smile formed on his face as he finally got to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. He laughed out loudly and jeered back at the soldiers who secretly enjoyed watching his failures with a look filled with pride.

Little did he know that the movement technique he created had potential even he himself was unable to uncover without going into combat... The power of his Breaking Step was something that would be talked about in history as the greatest attacking technique for Cultivators of the Azure Sky Continent!

As he was close to finishing his final lap around the settlement, he came across a scene that almost made him explode with fury. The scene of his young master being beaten down made him wary of the white-masked woman's strength as he used his Breaking Step to launch himself between them.

Lou Meng glared ferociously at Bai Lingyun as he used his own body as a shield to protect Fang Yun from anything she was to throw as them, but Bai Lingyun didn't move any further as she seemed lost in thoughts while looking at her recently injured hand. It was completely nonsensical in her mind that there would be a youth so weak at controlling Aura but so experienced in utilising Ki reflexively.

This was the first time she ever encountered a Dao Seeking Martial Artist with such a incredibly strong yet pure Aura which wasn't influenced by any of the the Dao of the heavens. She could even feel that Fang Yun had reached a realm where he was a one of a kind pseudo-Heaven Combatant.

Those who used a Dao to achieve the Perfection realm of their Four Forces would find themselves to no longer be

'Human' after becoming a Heaven Combatant. This was unavoidable to her as most training techniques weren't able to perfect one's four fundamental internal forces without any of the Daos.

Fang Yun was an anomaly to her and someone she didn't want to antagonise despite having beaten down. If she attacked to kill him here, she would be able to escape his later assault when he wakes up. However, this way of doing things wasn't her style as there wasn't many people she would consciously try to antagonise. A better way to solve a problem was by using brains instead of turning to kill at every opportunity.

"Give this vial to him when he wakes up, it's what he wanted from me. Tell him that I want to talk to him about the Hunting Team we'll form." After leaving behind those words, she left swiftly. Lou Meng didn't try to stop her because he knew he wouldn't be able to anything to her if she could beat his young master with a single palm. He just caught the vial she threw before leaving and carried him to the Inn.

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Within Fang Yun's extremely vast sea of consciousness, the once floating figure of him was lying frozen onto the icy waters beneath him. He wasn't even able to manipulate his Psion or Aura to break free and could only wait patiently for her technique to wear off with time.

Fang Yun felt uncontrollable anger towards Bai Lingyun as he lay frozen in his consciousness. He couldn't believe that he'd lost so easily despite how special his Martial Dao had become. It just didn't make sense to him why his Aura was so inferior to Bai Lingyun's.

Just as he was deliberating over what he could do to improve his mastery over his Aura. He heard a sound coming from under the depths of his sea of consciousness. A figure could be seen swimming towards the icy surface of his sea of consciousness before digging itself out using its bare hands.

Two hands covered in calluses were the first Fang Yun saw as he helplessly watched on in horror. When the figure finally showed his appearance, he was practically shell-shocked. A dazed look appeared in his eyes as looked at the figure that appeared with disbelief.

"Impossible... Impossible...!" His face turned ugly as he repeated these words hysterically. There was no longer even a hint of composure on his face as he desperately tried to struggle out of the restraints made from foreign Ice Aura.

"Don't get so scared. You look like you've seen a ghost. I'm only here to take back what's mine now that you don't have the strength to fight against me. Trust me, waiting this long was extremely tedious." The man spoke calmly with eyes that seemed to have vested the test of time. He was like a wise sage that experienced much in life.

"You shouldn't even be alive- No, you can't be alive! There's no way you can exist!" Fang Yun retorted while glaring with eyes that seemed as sharp as swords as he looked the figure's face with growing hostility. The man didn't seem phased by Fang Yun's aversion at all as he casually walked towards him.

"Not true. I've been watching you ever since I awakened and saw how you used what belongs to me like it's your own. The funniest part of it all is that you actually thought you were me. Is that why you had the confidence to beat that Bai Lingyun woman? How stupid are you?" The figure mocked as he looked at Fang Yun with a face that he'd never forget, the face of the man named Alex Stuman from Earth!

"You're just an imposter. You don't have the right to judge me for what I did." Fang Yun retorted as his eyes flooded with an ocean of killing intent.

He reached out his hand and called the exaggeratedly large stone sword made out of the true Alex Stuman's Combat Instincts and used it to break out of the restraints made of Ice Aura. Although he hadn't regained his ability to control his sea of consciousness, just being able to move around was enough for him.

Fang Yun brandished the large stone sword towards Alex like it was as light as a feather and stabbed towards his chest. The stone sword in his hand sank into the figure's silhouette as he impaled the sword straight through!

Alex still looked as calm and cold as the icy ocean surrounding them while nonchalantly allowing the stone sword to sink deeper into him so that he could land a punch to Fang Yun's liver. Even though the figure of Fang Yun was merely an illusion in his own sea of consciousness, he still felt pained and out of breath after taking that hit. Alex didn't let Fang Yun off easily from there as he then threw him to the floor.

He then ripped out the stone sword from his chest and played around with it with one hand before moving on to using the large stone sword to nail Fang Yun onto the icy ground made of their frozen Psion. Fang Yun cried out in pain as black blood oozed out of the wound at unusually slow pace.

"Really? Is that what you think? Didn't you realise that despite your 'natural talent' for the Martial Dao, you still weren't able to use my Dao to its greatest potential? Why is it that the only feats of martial prowess you've shown up until now has always been from a style of martial arts? I don't remember needing a style of martial arts to beat grandmaster martial artists on Earth before. And last but not in any way least, why are you unable to stand this small bit of pain?" Alex coldly emphasised on his last question while twisting the sword in Fang Yun's chest.

Only when Fang Yun finally stopped struggling did Alex pull out the sword that nailed him to the icy ground. Alex then pulled out his own Primal Instincts from the stone sword and merged the black blood into it, allowing it to regain its completed form.

Fang Yun didn't stop attacking Alex because he was scared, but due to how he felt that his Aura had somehow improved thanks to his vicious way of extracting the impure elements that had been within him all along. Fang Yun's Primal Instincts weren't just laying around at the side and was instead hidden within him as soon as he saw Alex appear out of nowhere.

"You misunderstand my intentions for showing myself. I don't want to replace you. All I want to do is strike a beneficial deal." Alex then reached out his hand towards the teenage Medic.

Fang Yun looked at the hand that was reached towards him for a long time before sighing in defeat. He then dejectedly allowed Alex to pull him up while thinking about his past. He was a very perceptive individual and was able to see the sincerity in Alex's eyes.