This punch had played out in his mind countless times. Whether it would succeed or fail rested on this single strike.

He felt the True Qi within him surge outward, rushing wildly to gather in his fist. That Qi swelled until it seemed ready to burst free, and the urge to release the blow gripped Tang Yan so tightly he could not hold back.

"Come out!" Tang Yan roared. His fist drove forward like a splitting bamboo, trailing a howling gale, and a heavy, muffled sound burst in the air.

"Bang!"

Delight flooded Tang Yan's eyes. His guess had been right after all.

Having grasped a fine martial skill, his heart felt light and free, so he simply stayed in the courtyard, working through every movement of the technique again and again.

"Bang, bang!" After the double strike rang out, Tang Yan drew back his Qi and did not throw a third punch.

A tower might rise a thousand chi, but to stand firm it must first rest on a solid foundation.

"Bang, bang!"

"Bang, bang!"

The twin strikes sounded over and over across the courtyard.

Now that he had proven his thinking sound, he would not try to leap up several steps at once.

Lay the groundwork well, and one could climb all the faster.

The sky slowly brightened. Through his ceaseless practice, Tang Yan grew ever more familiar with the two moves.

Zi Yun had long known this martial skill was only a fragment, and at first she paid it little mind.

But for the next three days Tang Yan drilled nothing but those two moves, day and night without rest, until even she could no longer bear it. Had this boy lost his senses?

"You've already mastered the same movement. Why keep practicing it over and over?" Zi Yun finally gave in to her curiosity and asked.

Tang Yan had just finished another double strike. Hearing her question, he gave no answer and simply began the Thousand Mountains Fist anew.

"Bang."

"Bang!" Still two moves, still two sounds.

Zi Yun frowned as she watched. Then, all at once, her eyes went wide.

This time Tang Yan did not stop as before. His body pressed forward another step, and his fist, carrying a tremendous gale, swung out once more.

"Bang!" The fist wind scattered in a violent rush of air. The power within this strike was actually a shade greater than the first two combined.

"Doesn't this technique only have two moves? How did you do that?" Shock stirred in Zi Yun's heart. Feeling the force of that third punch, she knew Tang Yan had not bought at a loss.

"Sharpening the axe does not delay chopping wood. Once the foundation is laid well, the road ahead is easier to walk," Tang Yan said as he withdrew his stance.

Zi Yun's body went still. Having already set foot in the Heaven Rank, she possessed an insight into the martial path few could match. Tang Yan's words sounded simple, yet the more she turned them over, the truer they rang.

She studied him with a complicated gaze. The longer she spent around this fellow, the less she could see through him.

From the day she had met him, the cultivation talent, the literary gift, the schemes Tang Yan revealed all far outstripped those of his age.

So it was in Yun City, and even in Purple Bamboo City, he would be counted a genius.

What made her more curious still was this: if his progress now came so swiftly, why had he been so worthless for all those years before?

Of course, so long as Tang Yan kept silent, no one in the whole world would ever understand that question.

Two more days passed. On the morning of the third, Zi Yun's eyes widened once again.

"Bang, bang, bang!" After three punches, Tang Yan once more did not stop, but raised his fist again.

"Bang!"

The fourth punch.

When Tang Yan threw it, an even more dreadful force erupted in the air.

"This fellow!" Feeling the power held within that strike, Zi Yun was shaken beyond words. The might of it had multiplied yet again.

"This Thousand Mountains Fist, how many moves does it have in all?" she asked, astonished.

"I don't know," Tang Yan answered honestly.

"You don't know?" Zi Yun's brows knit, thinking he was toying with her.

Seeing her at his side rolling up her sleeves and cracking her knuckles, Tang Yan started. Knowing this violent woman had surely read too much into it again, he hurried to explain. "This fist technique can keep going as long as the conditions hold. But a person always has limits, so who can say how many strikes one might throw."

Zi Yun was sharp as ice and snow. She chewed over his words a moment, then said in surprise, "This martial skill isn't a fragment at all?"

"That's right. It's whole and complete. One need only comprehend it fully," Tang Yan explained with a smile.

Though Zi Yun was the Third Miss of Purple Bamboo City, a glint still rose in her eyes. A martial skill this heaven-defying was likely no mere Yellow Rank Middle Grade. It had surely already stepped into the ranks of the Black Rank.

"Remember to guard the secret of this technique well. Do not spread it lightly, or it will draw covetous eyes," Zi Yun cautioned gravely.

"Mm." Tang Yan had no objection.

"Young Master, the Master asked me to bring this to you." No sooner had he finished than Xiaocui came pattering over in quick little steps.

"What's the rush?" Tang Yan smiled and took the wooden box she held out.

The Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron, until now quiet within his Dantian, suddenly stirred to life. Tang Yan's heart jumped. Could it be another spiritual treasure?

He opened the box. Three Beast Cores of differing colors lay quietly inside.

The sight jogged his memory. He had defeated the Liu Family at the Mid-Autumn Conference, and only today had these spoils finally been delivered.

After a word to Zi Yun, Tang Yan returned to his room, barred the door from within, and opened the box.

Three third-rank Beast Cores appeared, and the already restless Creation Cauldron grew more agitated still.

At a thought, the three Beast Cores vanished from his hand and passed into the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron.

A flame leapt up. The Beast Cores melted away at once, tempered into a pure spiritual liquid that spread out in even threads.

The lone Spirit Vortex Fruit sapling swayed faintly, then shot upward a notch, the growth plain to the naked eye.

He thought that was the end of it. Instead, a strand of pure Spiritual Qi flowed out from the Pill Cauldron and sank into his Vortex Dantian.

This Spiritual Qi was not only pure but wondrously gentle. Once inside the Dantian it brought not the slightest swelling, and he absorbed it in a breath.

Tang Yan wasted no time. He gathered his spirit, stilled his breath, and began to cultivate.

Before long he sank into deep meditation.

When Tang Yan opened his eyes again and felt the change within his body, he was struck speechless.

In a single night, his strength had broken through to Yellow Rank Seventh Grade.

What astonished him more was the small wisp of flame long hidden in his Dantian. It had grown noticeably more robust.

At a turn of thought, a ball of fire formed before him, pulsing with ever greater vigor, as though it held life of its own.

All this time he had labored bitterly at the Fire Control Art with little to show for it. So it had simply been that he had never found the way to advance.

Could it be that things rich in Spiritual Qi could strengthen both the chaotic space within the cauldron and the Heaven and Earth Creation Flame?

Could they even feed back a thread of Spiritual Qi to aid his own cultivation?

If that were truly so, then once he gathered enough heavenly materials and earthly treasures, his cultivation could advance a thousand li in a single day.

But the thought of what a third-rank Beast Core was worth quickly cooled him.

Far too costly. For now, he could not feed the cauldron so freely.