“Zhao Danchen, if you want to capture me, go back and train for another fifty years,” he shouted before immediately burrowing back into the earth and continuing his advance.
……
In the soil, Teng Qingshan wasn't in a hurry. However, the ‘bullet-shaped light shield’ covering his body had lost its spiral configuration.
“Altering the body’s shape using Innate True Yuan! It seems it's not as I imagined.” Teng Qingshan understood clearly that maintaining the Innate True Yuan light shield itself didn't consume much Innate True Yuan. Of course, the shield had to stay very close to the body, unable to stray too far.
The farther it was, the more True Yuan was consumed.
The shield couldn’t be too large either; the larger it was, the more consumption! Actually, Teng Qingshan had guessed these basic principles.
But one thing he hadn't anticipated—
“I only wanted to utilize the soil's resistance through a helical structure. I never expected the True Yuan consumption to be even greater!” Teng Qingshan had originally intended to shape the light shield around his body like an ‘electric drill.’ But if it was an ‘electric drill,’ the threads would have to rotate when breaking through the earth!
Even if it was leveraging external force for rotation, the fact remained—
These threads were shaped by ‘Innate True Yuan.’ When stationary, Teng Qingshan could maintain the threads with ease. But when these threads began to rotate violently, the effort required to keep the structure from dissipating caused the consumption of Innate True Yuan to become astonishingly high. This forced Teng Qingshan to dissolve the ‘spiral’ structure.
He reverted to a purely streamlined bullet shape.
“I need to properly experiment with the transformations of Innate True Yuan to find its strengths and weaknesses.”
Teng Qingshan grasped a few key points—
The smaller the light shield, the less energy it consumes!
The closer the light shield is to the body, the less True Yuan it consumes!
‘Objects’ formed from Innate True Yuan are best kept fixed and unmoving. Once they move violently, the consumption of Innate True Yuan immediately spikes! Take this drill, for instance; as the threads rotated, True Yuan consumption surged instantly.
Furthermore, when objects formed by Innate True Yuan moved, there were two scenarios. One was movement caused by external forces. For example, the threads were pushed by the surrounding soil. Or when Teng Qingshan transformed into a fish, the movement of the tail was driven by his legs kicking up and down; the main propulsive force came from his legs. In this situation—the consumption of Innate True Yuan was significant, but it was still maintainable!
The other scenario was when the fish tail moved without leveraging the power of his legs; instead, it relied purely on controlling the Innate True Yuan to swing. Similarly, if the humanoid electric drill formed a propeller behind the feet, generating thrust through its rotation, rather than relying on Teng Qingshan’s leg strength... Controlling violent fluctuations of Innate True Yuan outside the body consumed a terrifying amount of Innate True Yuan! It could be said that in just a few breaths, it could completely deplete Teng Qingshan’s internal Innate True Yuan!
“I already knew the first two points. The third point is that the light shield outside the body is best kept stationary! If movement is forced, it’s best to use physical strength rather than True Yuan! If driven by True Yuan, at this rate of consumption, even a peak Innate Golden Core expert would probably exhaust their reserves within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.”
Teng Qingshan sighed internally!
For Innate experts, conserving Innate True Yuan was paramount. Because once their Innate True Yuan was depleted, even a peak Innate Golden Core expert would become no different from an ordinary person who could only eliminate air resistance. A sword strike delivering a force of a thousand or two thousand pounds didn't create much air resistance; even eliminating it offered little improvement to their actual power.
Therefore, without Innate True Yuan, Innate masters were just ordinary people!
“Last time, the light shield around my body turned into a fish! It moved extremely fast, reaching the Bottomless Pit in the time it takes to drink tea. But at that point, my Innate True Yuan was nearly exhausted,” Teng Qingshan mused. “Yet, just maintaining the shield statically for an entire hour was no issue.”
Teng Qingshan knew clearly—
This transformation of the light shield was crucial to him; he had to study it thoroughly.
“Whether I turn into a fish or a bullet shape, the primary driving force is relying on my legs!” Teng Qingshan let a faint smile surface. “With my level of bodily control, my muscles can rest anytime, offering a sustainability far surpassing that of other Innate experts!”
Facing ten thousand heavily armored soldiers!
Even an Innate Golden Core expert, if they didn't flee, would be worn down to death.
But Teng Qingshan could kill them one by one, taking more time, and completely wipe them out.
This was the difference between Innate True Yuan and physical strength!
“Currently, I can transform into a fish in water! The duration isn't long, but I can still swim several miles in the time it takes to drink tea.”
“If I’m beneath the earth in mud or rock layers, transforming into a bullet shape, using the ‘Reincarnation Spear tip’ as the leading point to pierce through mud and rock, leveraging my legs for propulsion, I can maintain it indefinitely!”
“If I jump off a cliff, I can fully spread my arms, forming a pair of ‘false wings’ to slow my descent! With this, I wouldn't fear jumping off even the highest cliff!”
“If I want to fly like a bird…”
Teng Qingshan frowned... Flight was indeed difficult! Even if Innate True Yuan enveloped his hands to form two ‘wings.’ But... has anyone ever seen someone fly just by putting wings on their hands? If so, everyone in modern society in his previous life could have flown.
“There are many types of birds in the sky; some fly very fast. But some can only circle weakly. Also, ducks and geese have wings, yet they fundamentally cannot fly!”
Teng Qingshan contemplated carefully.
However, through this line of reasoning, Teng Qingshan realized—having wings didn't guarantee flight!
“Even in his previous life, the wings on an airplane only maintained balance. I’ve never seen any flying machine that flies by flapping its wings like a bird,” Teng Qingshan suddenly understood that flight wasn't that simple. If it were, having wings and powerful propulsion would be enough to fly.
So why were there no flapping-wing flying machines?
“It seems I will have a very hard time flying!”
Teng Qingshan pondered.
“Firstly, to remain airborne, a person must at least be horizontal, maintaining a level posture. This is the so-called—maintaining center of gravity stability! However, maintaining this stability in mid-air like a bird is incredibly difficult for the human body.”
“When a bird flaps its wings while flying, the downward stroke generates lift! But the upward stroke creates a downward force! To fly, the lifting force must at least exceed the downward force! Therefore, the wings cannot be fixed! My ‘fixed’ wings formed by Innate True Yuan are absolutely out of the question.”
Teng Qingshan shook his head at this realization.
“There's also human weight, my own weight, plus weapons, etc.! Being so heavy requires substantial lift. It would probably demand very large wings! However, wings that large would consume even more astonishing amounts of Innate True Yuan!”
……
After only a moment of deduction, Teng Qingshan shook his head.
The few problems he deduced solely based on his own reasoning completely stumped him! Just forming wings that needed continuous, active flexion meant actively consuming True Yuan; his energy would likely be depleted in a few breaths. Furthermore, forming ‘large wings’ would demand tremendous energy.
“I suspect there are even more hurdles to flight! After all, in his previous life, society could even build nuclear weapons, yet we never heard of a ‘flying machine’ that flies by flapping wings,” Teng Qingshan sighed inwardly.
Compared to others on the Nine Provinces Continent, he was only ahead in terms of conceptual thought.
But in terms of actual theoretical knowledge, he couldn't compare to the scientists of his previous world.
In reality, Teng Qingshan was unaware that avian flight depended on far more than the superficial factors he considered; it was intimately connected to the bird's internal structure, respiratory system, and other complex elements. Even the wings... weren't simply about forming a fixed shape with Innate True Yuan.
The wing structure of birds capable of flight was itself exquisitely complex.
“I survived this time solely because of the transformation of my Innate True Yuan. Flight is impossible! But at least in water, underground, or near cliffs, my survivability has greatly increased,” Teng Qingshan remained confident. “I must study this thoroughly; perhaps there are other ways to utilize it!”
“Even just moving faster underground than they can would allow me to easily shake off any pursuit.”
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the events in Wucheng spread with astonishing speed.
One must recall the two loud shouts Teng Qingshan let out—
“Hahaha, you trash from Qinghu Island, you think you can capture me, Teng Qingshan?”
“Zhao Danchen, the other three must be the Enforcement Elders from the Yu Imperial Sect... Hahaha, Zhao Danchen, if you want to capture me, go back and train for another fifty years.”
Both shouts were heard by every person in Wucheng. The Yu Imperial Sect and Qinghu Island could not keep the matter quiet!
Teng Qingshan, a prodigious talent who defected from the Guiyuan Sect, had severely humiliated Qinghu Island and numerous other sects in the Great Yan Mountain range. Qinghu Island had subsequently issued a massive manhunt across the world for him... This had already garnered widespread discussion among everyone. His achievement of reaching Innate Solid Core at the age of seventeen was even more astonishing.
But no one had anticipated—
That Qinghu Island’s ‘Zhao Danchen’ and the three Enforcement Elders from the Yu Imperial Sect, joining forces within Wucheng, would still let Teng Qingshan escape!
This was utterly ludicrous!
As the saying goes, ‘Good deeds rarely travel far, but bad news spreads across a thousand miles’!
The disgrace suffered by the high-and-mighty ‘Yu Imperial Sect’ and ‘Qinghu Island’ spread even faster than ordinary ‘bad news.’
……
At the epicenter of the world, in Yu City, one of the two Royal Cities!
Although Qin Wang City was also a Royal City, due to its location in the northwest Yong Province, further blocked by the three thousand miles of Qinling Mountains, not many people from the outside world traveled there. Only the local Yong Province residents took immense pride in ‘Qin Wang City,’ which housed the largest population. In reality, however—
Yuzhou lay in the center of the Nine Provinces, and Yu City was at the very heart of Yuzhou!
This absolute center made trade and commerce exceptionally prosperous, with countless outsiders passing through daily.
On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year Festival, at noon.
“Brother, you are mistaken! What caliber of person is Teng Qingshan? He reached Innate Solid Core at seventeen! Why did Qinghu Island only send Zhao Danchen this time? Why not send an Innate Solid Core expert from the island to assist? As far as I know, Teng Qingshan possesses sufficient strength to kill an ordinary Innate Solid Core expert. Therefore, to kill him, one must be an Innate Golden Core expert!” A lean old man was pontificating loudly in a restaurant.
“The three Enforcement Elders sent by the Yu Imperial Sect should also be Innate Golden Core experts, right?”
The lean old man chuckled, “This isn't just my speculation! Rumor is already circulating with detail outside that one of them is even ‘Du Xuan,’ a powerhouse on the ‘Heavenly Ranking.’ Four Innate Golden Core experts laid siege to Teng Qingshan, yet he still managed to escape—tsk tsk!”
“This Teng Qingshan is ruthless; which of the Eight Great Sects has he not offended?”
“If you must offend, offend them all! If I could provoke the whole world to hunt me down one day, it would be worth dying for! Moreover, since the four Innate Golden Core experts couldn't hold Teng Qingshan, who can capture him? Mark my words, the Eight Great Sects definitely won't catch Teng Qingshan!”
This year’s New Year was incredibly lively.
As this news spread, everyone discussed it. The Eight Great Sects couldn't suppress the chatter; after all, the law cannot punish the masses. If the entire world is discussing it, what can they do?
In a corner of the restaurant.
Two middle-aged men dressed ordinarily sat listening to others discuss Teng Qingshan, their faces alight with excitement. These two were personnel stationed in Yu City by the Guiyuan Sect!
“This happened on the 28th of the twelfth month! Today is the New Year Festival, and the news has already reached here in just two days.”
“The Commander is too incredible!”
The two were deeply thrilled because, in their hearts—Teng Qingshan was forever their Commander from the Guiyuan Sect!
“When we return, we must tell the Master immediately. This news absolutely must be relayed back to the sect as fast as possible!”
“I wonder what the Sect Master will say when he hears this.”
The two couldn't wait any longer. They quickly paid their bill and hurried towards their station.
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