My martial arts have no bottlenecks.

Chapter 30 Perfection

For the next three days, Liang Cheng traveled alone through the central region of Lieshan Valley. Using fragments of the Iron Palm Martial Arts School's map, he avoided useless and dangerous places and went straight into the depths.

During this period, he killed seven second-tier demonic beasts and collected eleven spiritual herbs, which was quite efficient.

At this moment, he was lying in ambush behind a boulder in the mountain stream.

Thirty feet away on the shallows, three Azure Wind Wolves were gnawing on half a corpse. They were disciples of the Sea Tide Martial Arts School. Beside them, a Seven-Leaf Silver Grass gently swayed, supporting a crimson fruit.

Vermilion Fruit, a rare and precious medicinal herb, is extremely valuable!

Just as the Azure Wind Wolves were engrossed in devouring the corpse, Liang Cheng made a move. He threw a stone into the water to attract their attention, and then leaped up and pounced straight at the Vermilion Fruit!

The alpha wolf howled and pounced. Zhu Guo had already succeeded. Liang Cheng flicked his wrist, and the dagger wrapped in the fierce ox's energy flashed. The wolf's belly was ripped open.

With a twist of his waist, he swept his leg across the second head, sending it flying and shattering it to pieces. Before the third head could even react, a dagger had already pierced its brain.

In just a few breaths, Liang Chengqian cleanly and swiftly killed all three wolves.

Next, the ear was cut open to extract the kernel, a skillful action.

However, when Liang Cheng was searching the corpses of the disciples of the Haichao Martial Arts School, he discovered a leather bag that was not completely destroyed.

Upon opening it, one finds several spiritual herbs, two first-tier demon cores, and a simple map half-soaked in blood, with a place marked by a red circle.

The label next to it reads: "Ling Shilin".

Clues to the Lieshan Iron Order.

……

He put away the map, stopped lingering, and quickly left the mountain stream area, heading towards the stone forest according to the map's directions.

He did not proceed in a straight line, but instead took a roundabout route, climbing to higher ground every so often to check if he was being followed or if there was an ambush ahead.

As noon approached, the trees ahead gradually thinned out, and a cluster of gray-white stone pillars appeared at the edge of the field of vision.

We've arrived at the Stone Forest.

Liang Cheng hid on a horizontal branch of a large tree, observing from a distance.

The Stone Forest covers a vast area, with rows of gray-white stone pillars rising from the ground. Some are over ten zhang tall, while others are only two or three zhang tall. The pillars are mottled and covered with wind-eroded holes.

The stone forest was shrouded in mist, obstructing visibility. What alarmed Liang Cheng even more was that he could already see more than one group of martial artists loitering and spying around the perimeter of the stone forest.

"It seems I'm not the only one eyeing this place."

As he pondered how to infiltrate, a suppressed gasp suddenly came from the dense forest behind him, followed by the sounds of clashing weapons and the roars of demonic beasts.

Not far away, about a hundred feet away, Liang Cheng originally didn't want to pay attention, but suddenly heard a voice say "Diamond Fruit", and his eyes narrowed.

The Vajra Fruit, a top-grade elixir for tempering the body and bones, has a remarkable effect on the Stone Armor Technique. Liang Cheng quietly climbed down the tree and crept towards the source of the sound.

Strength is the foundation of everything.

He bypassed several thick bushes and saw four warriors fighting a giant lizard with bone spurs on its back in a clearing in the woods.

The giant lizard was over two zhang long, with thick scales and armor, and it constantly spewed out scorching fire breath from its mouth. It was clearly a second-tier peak demon beast, the Fire Armor Lizard.

The four martial artists were all dressed in dark blue outfits with mountain patterns embroidered on their chests; they were disciples of the Zhenyue Martial Arts School in Qingshi Town.

Three of them stood by as support, while only the young man in the lead, wielding a spear, launched the main attack. He wielded his iron spear with such skill that water seemed to have no way to penetrate it, and the tip of the spear emitted a cold light, already showing the beginnings of mastering the art of unifying internal energy.

He is at the peak of internal strength, just one step away from reaching the level of external strength, and his spear skills are superb, making him a formidable fighter.

Liang Cheng hid behind a tree, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield before finally landing on a small tree with nine leaves behind the Fire Armor Lizard, bearing three golden fruits the size of longans.

Diamond fruit!

At this moment, the young man wielding the gun let out a loud shout, and his gun shot out like a dragon, aiming straight for the fire-armored lizard's left eye. The fire-armored lizard shook its head violently, and the tip of the gun grazed its eye socket, leaving a trail of sparks.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the other three attacked with swords and blades, striking the same spot on the giant lizard's neck, breaking through its scales and causing blood to gush out.

Enraged by the pain, the Fire Armored Lizard swung its massive tail, nearly sending the two warriors flying. The three of them quickly retreated.

Only when the young man wielding the gun regained his momentum and tightly entangled the giant lizard, slowly moving away from the location of the Vajra Fruit, did the two sides become evenly matched.

The opportunity is fleeting.

Liang Cheng finally made a move.

He darted out from behind the tree like a ghost, heading straight for the golden fruit tree!

"Who?!" The young man with the gun saw it out of the corner of his eye, and was filled with shock and anger.

The fire-armored lizard sensed that someone was coveting its treasure. It abandoned the young man wielding the gun, turned around, and pounced on Liang Cheng, its blood-red maw opening wide and spewing forth scorching fire breath.

Liang Cheng neither dodged nor avoided, pushing his Stone Armor Technique to its limit, revealing the gray-white stone patterns beneath his skin.

He braved the flames and rushed to the Vajra Tree. With his right hand, he plucked three Vajra Fruits and, without hesitation, put them directly into a jade box and hid them close to his body.

At the same time, Liang Cheng pushed off the ground with both feet, flying backwards. With a backhand swing of his left hand, the cold iron dagger transformed into a streak of cold light, directly slashing towards the fire armor lizard's open mouth.

The fire-armored lizard's scales were hard, but they couldn't cover its mouth. It instinctively closed its mouth, but it was too late, and blood flowed freely.

Not wanting to get entangled, Liang Cheng seized the opportunity to quickly retreat.

"Leave the spirit fruit!" Upon seeing this, the young man wielding the gun shouted loudly and thrust his spear at Liang Cheng with fierce force.

Liang Cheng dodged to the side, and with a burst of brute force, he punched the gun barrel with his right fist.

"Thump!"

A dull, resounding thud.

The young man felt a powerful and domineering force coming through the shaft of the spear, and his entire arm went numb and weak. He almost dropped the spear and had to take three steps back to dissipate the force before he could regain his balance. His eyes were filled with horror.

Using the force of the recoil, Liang Cheng retreated again, reaching the edge of the dense forest. In an instant, he disappeared into the forest.

The Fire Armored Lizard roared and gave chase, but was stopped by the young man wielding the gun. The Vajra Fruit was already lost, and the Fire Armored Lizard was at its last gasp. If the beast escaped, they would lose both their prize and their army.

"Go to hell!"

Enraged, the young man brandished his spear, and the Fire Armor Lizard, surrounded by the four, finally collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

The young man did not collect the demon cores; the three people beside him did it for him. He stood with his gun in hand, looking in the direction where Liang Cheng had disappeared, his expression changing.

The force of that punch just now...

This person's strength is definitely no less than his.

"Senior Brother Jin, are you alright?"

After cleaning up the fire-armored lizard, one of his companions came over and asked a question.

"fine."

The young man shook his head, put away his iron spear, and said, "Pack your things and leave as soon as possible. This place is not safe to stay."

……

Liang Cheng went several miles away from the battlefield and found a secluded place. He then took out three Diamond Fruits, which felt warm to the touch. He swallowed them in one gulp. The fruit flesh melted in his stomach and turned into a warm torrent that spread to his limbs and bones.

This heat was different from the burning pain when the Stone Armor Technique tempered the bones; it was gentle and mellow. Wherever it passed, the muscles and bones felt numb and itchy, as if it were quietly strengthening them.

The flowing gray-white stone patterns beneath the skin no longer shimmer, but have completely settled, becoming one with the skin, flesh, and fascia, returning to their original, natural color.

However, the entire arm and even the torso are hard and dense, as if they were cast from refined steel. If ordinary swords were used against it, it would probably not even leave a white mark.

Deeper inside, the bones hummed incessantly, their density increased dramatically, and the transmission of power was seamless with every movement, with an inner force of recoil.

At this point, the known realm of the fragment has reached its limit. The skin is like stone, the muscles like iron hoops, and the bones like steel. It is likely that even ordinary attacks of neutralizing force will have difficulty harming the root of the body.

However, if you want to go further, you need to find subsequent techniques or other paths.

Liang Cheng looked at the few lines of small words that appeared deep in his consciousness and was extremely satisfied.

[The Hunyuan Stance is now complete]

【The Great Perfection of the Wild Bull's Strength (1863/2000)】

[The Stone Armor Technique (Fragment) Completed]