The waves beat against the shore with timeless rhythm, each crest blooming and vanishing on the golden sands.

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi looked at Qin Fen walking out of the sea with utter surprise. Among this group who entered the ocean, his Master was the strongest; how could he be the first to emerge? That... is that a...!?

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi raised his hand and rubbed his eyes hard, daring not to believe what he saw behind Qin Fen—the colossal sea creature Qin Fen was dragging out of the water.

A Silver Shark? Ji Zhen Xuan Yi, whose body had been half-reclined, straightened his spine and sat up, his eyes widening to an unprecedented size. That was one of Yang Lie Zhong's dominant beasts—the Silver Shark! Exactly! Looking nearly twenty meters long and weighing at least fifteen tons? This... this...

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi took several deep breaths, trying desperately to calm the overwhelming shock in his heart. Yang Lie Zhong in the sea was a completely different concept from on land.

If a martial artist's combat power on the ground was ten, then being able to exert even three points of that strength in the sea would already be an astonishing feat.

The Silver Shark, one of Yang Lie Zhong’s supreme beasts, a twenty-meter length and fifteen-ton weight, coupled with its tough hide and iron bones—if transformed into a land creature, it could easily crush an eleven-star martial artist! Furthermore, it was one of Yang Lie’s beasts? Even a twelve-star martial artist would turn tail and flee upon encountering it in the deep.

This Brooks King of the sea was actually dead? Ji Zhen Xuan Yi watched Qin Fen, who stood at the surface with half his body still emerging, muttering, "Is this real?"

Qin Fen turned his head to look at the Silver Shark lying in the sand. Before, utilizing the buoyancy of the seawater combined with his own strength, he could drag the fifteen-ton behemoth out of the depths. But at the surface, the friction between the corpse and the sand made the body feel even heavier than it naturally was. Ji Zhen Xuan Yi stood before him, his mind reeling. Guoguo stared at the twenty-meter-long creature; a wound the size of a washbasin gaped on the Silver Shark’s forehead, revealing bones beneath the tough skin that appeared far stronger than steel.

In the sunlight, the bones even emitted a slightly dazzling sheen. These were no longer bones composed merely of calcium; they were clearly alloyed with a dense metallic element.

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi did not possess the scientific mind to pursue the sudden appearance of mutated creatures. He only wanted to know the magnitude of power required to shatter the Silver Shark’s skull with a single punch.

In seawater, when any object is struck, it should naturally disperse some of the impact force by utilizing the surrounding water due to the relative density.

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi stared at the Silver Shark’s head, having a strange feeling: the moment this Brooks King of the sea was struck, it seemed it didn't even have time to use the water to buffer the force before its skull was utterly smashed.

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi stiffly turned his neck, his gaze fixed on the back of Qin Fen’s hand. To blast open such a solid skull, his fist showed not the slightest sign of damage?

“Master...” Ji Zhen Xuan Yi ventured tentatively, “Are you injured?”

“Injured?” Qin Fen smiled, gently flexing the fingers of his right hand, the one that had pulverized the Silver Shark’s skull. “When I first killed it, my hand was slightly numb, but now I feel nothing at all. Heh, my cultivation is still insufficient; the true qi can barely travel within the bones, much less flow freely.”

True qi traveling within the bones? Ji Zhen Xuan Yi shivered violently, his eyelids twitching repeatedly. He had only ever heard of true qi running through the meridians, and high-level martial artists could circulate true qi in their blood, stimulating the blood itself. Never had he heard of anyone whose true qi could move within the bones.

Once, Ji Zhen Xuan Yi had pondered how immensely powerful it would be if true qi could fuse with the bones, allowing it to move throughout the skeletal structure.

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi had attempted this experiment countless times.

But every time, the bones reacted to the intrusion of true qi as if rubber responded to electricity—a complete insulator—not allowing even a sliver of true qi to penetrate.

“Nothing to be shocked about,” Qin Fen patted Ji Zhen Xuan Yi’s shoulder. “The martial path is as vast as the sea. Once you complete the Marrow Replacement Nirvana and enter the Great Xiantian realm, you will naturally be able to circulate true qi within the bone marrow. If you work hard, I believe you can achieve it too.”

“Marrow Replacement Nirvana? Great Xiantian?” Ji Zhen Xuan Yi looked at Qin Fen with utter confusion. “Master, what are those? Aren’t you at the Blood Renewal True Xiantian realm? Why are you suddenly speaking words I don’t understand?”

Qin Fen plopped down onto the Silver Shark’s corpse, patted the spot beside him, signaling Ji Zhen Xuan Yi to sit down too. “Actually, Marrow Replacement Nirvana and Great Xiantian refer to another realm. True qi initially can only roam the meridians. As strength increases, it can gradually travel in the blood, stimulating the blood to form a unique synergy, but this is not the ultimate goal of the martial path.”

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi nodded slowly. He had only heard of the Blood Renewal True Xiantian realm before, vaguely sensing it wasn't the pinnacle, and today, his Master confirmed it.

Qin Fen braced his hands against the Silver Shark’s corpse, tilting his head back to look at the azure sky. “Through predecessors’ exploration of the martial path, they gradually discovered another layer beyond Blood Renewal True Xiantian: the Marrow Replacement Great Xiantian I currently inhabit. This allows true qi to no longer merely adhere to the bone surface but to fully integrate with the bone, forming an organic whole…”

“Bones can really…” Ji Zhen Xuan Yi was both startled and delighted. His previous speculation was correct, though this seemed incredibly difficult to achieve.

“Heh heh… Actually, Marrow Replacement Nirvana isn't the highest realm either,” Qin Fen lightly tapped the Silver Shark’s body with his legs, as carefree as a child kicking a large rock. “Meridians, blood, muscle, bone—I can currently only fuse true qi with one of them. Having completed the Marrow Replacement Nirvana, I have completed the solitary steps for these four areas, but there is still a long way to go, not to mention…”

“Marrow Replacement?” Yang Lie had just surfaced from the depths, shaking the water from his damp hair, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock. “Qin Fen, your true qi can move in the bones? What is this? A Silver Shark? Did you kill it?”

Yang Lie floated on the water, staring at Qin Fen with a serious gaze. Was he hallucinating due to prolonged oxygen deprivation underwater? A ten-star Qin Fen had achieved the Marrow Replacement Nirvana, the realm of a fourteen-star martial artist, entering the Great Xiantian?

“Yes, I completed the Marrow Replacement Nirvana.” Qin Fen raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. He had intended to keep a low profile, but being slightly distracted by the ocean’s presence had caused him to miss Yang Lie surfacing. It seemed Yang Lie had progressed significantly, or he wouldn't have been able to evade the detection of his martial presence despite the sea’s interference.

“Seriously?”

Yang Lie jumped out of the water in shock, his beautiful pupils rapidly scanning Qin Fen’s body up and down like a machine gun.

Marrow Replacement! Yang Lie had already forgotten about the Silver Shark; his mind was consumed by the shock that Qin Fen had completed Marrow Replacement Nirvana and entered the Great Xiantian.

“Not a shred of a lie…” Caesar surfaced with his hands on his hips, his face showing not shock, but utter dejection. “Qin Fen, are you even human? We struggled so hard to achieve Blood Renewal and barely entered the True Xiantian realm, and before we could even celebrate our pride, you completed Marrow Replacement Great Xiantian?”

“Marrow Replacement Nirvana? Oh my god…” Brooks poked his head above the water and let out a long, drawn-out wail to the heavens. “Qin Fen, you are only ten stars! Marrow Replacement Nirvana is a realm that only peak fourteen-star martial artists are qualified to attempt! How did you do it? Being with you, I truly don't know whether it’s fortune or tragedy.”

The slowly churning sea surface suddenly erupted in a column of water, as if a small whale were surfacing for air. Solomon burst through the water, naked, his eyes flashing with confidence and delight. What Caesar accomplished, he, Solomon, had accomplished too!

Simultaneously completing Blood Renewal True Xiantian, Solomon had also entered the ranks of ten-star martial artists! The depression weighing on his heart for days dissipated significantly with a sky-shattering roar that erupted from his throat!

Brooks rubbed his forehead, sighing as he watched Solomon, whose confidence had inflated to the point where he seemed ready to challenge Qin Fen to a spar to test his own strength. “Solomon, you just reached the Blood Renewal True Xiantian realm, and I should congratulate you, but now, I have to bring you back to earth: Qin Fen has completed Marrow Replacement Great Xiantian.”

Solomon’s excitement instantly froze. He looked toward Caesar nearby, the fellow genius from Europe, who was looking back with a helpless, wry smile and nodding repeatedly.

Solomon expressionlessly raised his right hand and gave a thumbs-up. “Truly strong.”

The other young men could only manage bitter smiles and nods. This news was not only astonishing but overwhelmingly disheartening!

M sighed towards the sky repeatedly. “No wonder, no wonder I couldn't even block one of your moves. Marrow Replacement Great Xiantian, hah hah…”

“It’s still not perfectly smooth,” Qin Fen patted the Silver Shark he was sitting on. “If the true qi integration with the bones reached one hundred percent, my hand shouldn't have felt any sensation when I smashed its head just now.”

No one among the listeners could manage a smile upon hearing Qin Fen’s answer. A body protection technique fully integrated with the bones? Reaching that level meant one could already be called a Martial Arts Master.

Of course, usually, very few peak sixteen-star martial artists could fully merge their techniques with their bones.

“Monster… truly a monster,” Caesar walked over to the dead Silver Shark, looking up at Qin Fen sitting on its back. “After the Rookie Competition, many called you Monster Qin Fen; it seems that nickname was entirely appropriate. Your martial path completely defies normal progression. Your realm is almost at the Master level, yet your strength is only ten stars. In a real fight, perhaps even a twelve-star martial artist wouldn't be your match.”

“Monster.”

Solomon nodded in strong agreement, immediately prompting a string of nods from the proud young martial artists.

Monster? Qin Fen jumped down from the Silver Shark and shook his head. “It’s not just me. Xue Tian also completed Marrow Replacement not long ago.”

“Damn it!”

Solomon, who rarely spoke, spoke for the third time that day, letting out a phrase that shocked everyone, yet perfectly captured the inner thoughts of many young martial artists. Having one monster like Qin Fen was enough to be discouraging; who would have thought there would be two such freaks appearing at once! Did this leave anyone else room to practice martial arts?

Qin Fen leaned against the Silver Shark. “I also have the method for Marrow Replacement. If you’re interested, you can try it.”

“Really?”

An excited gasp erupted from the crowd. Under their gazes, Qin Fen felt less like he was standing in the ocean and more like he was surrounded by countless greedy, predatory wolves in a primeval forest.

“I must state a condition first,” Qin Fen shrugged. “Marrow Replacement Nirvana is completely different from Blood Renewal. I calculated that if I hadn't suffered severe injuries and my body hadn't been in a very specific state, I, as a ten-star martial artist, wouldn't have even sensed the existence or control of the bone marrow. If you can’t sense it but still wish to attempt Marrow Replacement Nirvana, you might need to challenge a Divine Beast martial artist to hit you with a palm strike—one that doesn't kill you.”

A palm strike from a Divine Beast? Caesar managed a weak smile. Why would a Divine Beast strike someone randomly, and conveniently just enough to cripple them instead of killing them? Who among the Divine Beast martial artists hadn't killed a large number of people?

“However, I do not recommend doing it this way,” Qin Fen’s expression turned serious. “If the body is wrecked, even if Marrow Replacement Nirvana succeeds, you might not be able to recover.”

Yang Lie paced back and forth in front of the Silver Shark’s gaping mouth, examining the damage caused by the Dragon Cannon while speaking. “Why make it so complicated? If you can’t sense it, just wait until you reach fourteen stars. There are no other freaks in the world like Qin Fen who have a method. With the method, we can certainly advance, maybe Qin Fen will be a bit slower than us, but compared to others? Haha…”

The crowd burst into laughter. Following the normal route to the top, they wouldn't necessarily end up weaker than Qin Fen, nor was it certain they couldn't catch up.

“This punch…” Yang Lie reached out to touch the wound on the Silver Shark’s skull, clicking his tongue. “There’s some deep insight here! Qin Fen, did you create a new fist technique?”

“Yes,” Qin Fen also walked over to the Silver Shark’s skull. “Martial Emperor Dragon Fist, Third Style: Dragon Cannon.”

“Dragon Cannon?” Yang Lie gave a thumbs-up. “Interesting. This move is for breaking through formations and engaging clustered enemies, right? If we encounter that situation again, you can break the siege and strike directly at the enemy leader?”

Qin Fen nodded repeatedly. Through mutual exchange of martial arts insights these days, and given Yang Lie’s background in the Dragon Fist path, judging the execution method of this move merely from the wound wasn't too strange for someone of his cultivation level.

Caesar patted the corpse of the Silver Shark. “Qin Fen, you killed this thing and dragged it out of the sea—is it just for showing off? Do you have other plans?”

“Of course, to eat it,” Qin Fen replied as if it were obvious. “I read some old materials before that mentioned the Silver Shark. Although it’s a mutated creature, eating it doesn't cause genetic mutation. Moreover, its meat is even more delicious than fugu, and it’s non-toxic. The only reason few people get to eat it is that it’s ferocious and cunning, making it extremely difficult to capture.”

“Comparable to fugu?” Ji Zhen Xuan Yi swallowed hard. People from Hezhou had a particular fondness for fish due to their geography. Every year, some people died from mistakenly eating toxic fugu just to taste its delicacy.

Caesar looked at Qin Fen strangely. This man was truly a monster. Everyone else spent their time cultivating, while he was practicing firearms, operating mechanized armor, engaging in espionage, and learning various special forces combat techniques. Now, he knew about other knowledge too—where did this person find the time and energy?

A true genius! Little Dragon King Yang Lie looked at Qin Fen with admiration, silently assessing him. “Qin Fen’s speed in learning things is definitely far inferior to Xue Tian’s; even compared to myself or Caesar, there’s nothing exceptionally superior. His most terrifying quality is his ability to extrapolate and innovate based on what he learns. Others only learn; he studies and then develops and deduces further.”

Brooks kicked the Silver Shark’s corpse. “I also heard that rumor, but…”

Everyone looked at Brooks curiously as he questioned with confusion, “Among us, who knows how to cook?”

…

Caesar shook his head, Yang Lie also shook his head, and Solomon likewise shook his head. Morad Cechik, who maintained a half-antagonistic stance toward Qin Fen, put aside everything else and shook his head repeatedly.

Brooks spread his hands. “That’s the problem. None of us can cook, and this thing weighs at least fifteen tons…”

“I can.”

Qin Fen’s single sentence detonated the entire group again.

“You can?”

“Seriously?”

“You can cook too?” “Yes.” Qin Fen smiled casually. “My early life was very difficult; I had to do everything myself to survive, which honed some minor culinary skills. Later, when I joined the army, I learned from an instructor for a while. I can manage a fish soup.”

“That’s perfect!” Yang Lie snapped his fingers crisply. “Let’s try Qin Fen’s cooking today.”

“Master,” Ji Zhen Xuan Yi stepped forward and whispered, “What ingredients and tools do you need?”

“One stockpot, one wok…” Qin Fen rattled off a long list of materials and tools, finally pointing at Caesar and the others. “Ask them for the material and tool fees.”

The crowd laughed and reached for their wallets, only to hear Qin Fen’s voice carry over again: “Besides the material and tool fees, please remember to pay the bill for the last round of beer, and today’s meal fee, thank you.”

Paying, dressing, and helping drag the fish.

The fifteen-ton Silver Shark was too heavy for Qin Fen to drag alone; working together made the task light and cheerful.

Ji Zhen Xuan Yi returned from shopping and immediately began building a fire to cook. The others gathered around the bonfire, exchanging notes on their cultivation experiences underwater.

“Ouch~ good timing, coming early is not as good as coming just right~” Xue Tian’s irritating voice sounded from not far away. He wore a iaijutsu sword of unknown origin dangling from his waist and sat down among them as if he owned the place. “Mmm~~ I can smell it; that’s definitely something good! Old Qin’s cooking is truly unmatched.”

Just as Xue Tian reached a ladle toward the pot, a cluster of hands slapped down, hitting the back of his hand heavily.

Slap slap slap…

A series of crisp smacks rang out. Xue Tian looked at everyone in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Yang Lie, Caesar, and the others glared fiercely at Xue Tian and shouted in unison, “Pay up!”

…

Xue Tian froze for two seconds before shouting, “You guys have all been infected by Old Qin…”

“Hahahaha…”

Over the beach, waves of hearty laughter erupted from the young martial artists, finally letting loose their spirits.