“The first tier, encompassing the Buddhist Sect, Daoism, and my own Internal Martial Arts, revolves around ‘Internal Strength’!” “In the second tier, the Buddhist Sect has ‘Buddha Origin,’ Daoism has ‘Innate True Essence,’ and my Internal Martial Arts strength shall be named ‘Innate Gang Strength.’ Teng Qingshan could feel faint wisps of Gang Strength lurking deep within every cell of his body!” Teng Qingshan threw out his right fist. “Whoosh!” A finger-length streak of earth-yellow light shot away from his fist, followed by a “Thud!” as it left a fist-sized, bottomless crater in the grass nearby.

“This is Gang Strength!” “When dormant, it nourishes the body, lurking in every part—muscle, bone, sinew, and the five viscera. But once unleashed, it is astonishingly fierce!” A slight smile played on Teng Qingshan’s lips.

“Furthermore, this Gang Strength integrates with the body perfectly!” “The cycle of the Heavenly Dao is utterly fair!” “Daoism’s innate level has three stages: Void Core, Solid Core, and Golden Core! Similarly, the Buddhist Luo Han realm is divided into early, middle, and late stages, ranging from common multicolored relics up to the ultimate seven-colored relics!

My Internal Martial Arts Gang Strength must also have three tiers!” This was Teng Qingshan’s hypothesis. …… He walked steadily northward across the vast Great Prairie.

Six months after setting foot on the grassland, although his journey of arduous cultivation had not been swift, this passage of time brought Teng Qingshan to the northern expanse of the prairie. He was now less than a thousand li from the North Sea coast.

“It truly is like this! It truly is like this!” On a snow-capped mountain, Teng Qingshan was overcome with excitement.

While he had not developed any deeper fist techniques in the ‘Earth Element Fist’ over the last two months, Teng Qingshan’s physical strength increased subtly every single day. He could perceive this marginal growth.

In just two months! Teng Qingshan’s physical power had likely increased by a tenth!

Considering his current physical strength, approaching seven hundred thousand jin, any improvement was exceedingly difficult. To gain one-tenth in two months was astonishing.

But this was merely a byproduct; the most crucial finding was— “Innate Gang Strength indeed possesses a higher, deeper layer!” A streak of earth-yellow light pulsed around Teng Qingshan’s arm, forming a complete ring encircling it! “The previous state of Internal Gang Strength, where the energy flashed individually like streaks of light, must have been the early stage of Gang Strength!

Now, after this metamorphosis, it can condense into a ring! The power has also doubled.

This should be considered the middle stage of Gang Strength!” Teng Qingshan was immensely excited. Through these two months of cultivation, he had reached several definite conclusions!

“The Buddhist Sect places the utmost importance on the ‘Spirit’ aspect of essence, energy, and spirit, as the relics form within the ‘Mud Pill Palace.’” “Daoism values both Internal Strength and Spirit. If the Spirit is weak, one’s strength is difficult to improve!” “But mine is different… I prioritize the Body above all else!

Secondly are Internal Strength and Spirit! The stronger the body, the faster the cultivation!” Teng Qingshan had observed that during his cultivation over these two months, his physical power was steadily increasing.

As physical strength rose, the rate at which the Gang Strength was refined also accelerated! “My rapid ascent from the early to the middle stage of Gang Strength is likely due to my excessively strong body!” Teng Qingshan was certain that even on the Nine Provinces Continent, an Internal Martial Artist who had just reached the Grandmaster realm generally possessed only about one hundred thousand jin of strength!

Early-stage Gang Strength users might reach a physical strength of perhaps two hundred thousand jin, with their power amplified further by the Gang Strength’s amplitude. Middle-stage Gang Strength might correlate with a physical strength around four hundred thousand jin.

Late-stage Gang Strength should bring physical strength close to eight hundred thousand jin! It was precisely because his body was so powerful that he transitioned from early to middle-stage Gang Strength in a mere two months!

“From what I know, the requirement for ‘Spirit’ increases more significantly with each tier of Buddhist cultivation than in the Daoist lineage!” “Yet, my Internal Martial Arts emphasizes the physical body itself, meaning the requirement for ‘Spirit’ is the lowest among the three systems!” Teng Qingshan discovered during his practice that only upon achieving Grandmaster control over his entire body could one truly practice the ‘Earth Element Fist.’ Otherwise, it remained an empty form! During the practice of the Earth Element Fist, one’s spirit and body merged into one.

Internal Strength and Spirit were transforming within every part of Teng Qingshan’s muscles, bones, and organs—metamorphosing into Gang Strength! “These three major systems: one relies on the ‘Mud Pill Palace’ to convert Internal Strength and Spirit into Buddha Origin.

Another relies on the Dantian to convert Internal Strength and Spirit into True Essence. The last one relies on the entire body to convert Internal Strength and Spirit into Internal Gang Strength!

However, the proportions differ. Buddha Origin contains the largest proportion of ‘Spirit,’ while Internal Gang Strength contains the least.” Teng Qingshan felt a sudden enlightenment!

It was like cooking; the ratios of ingredients used were different. Of course—the difficulty of the three paths varied!

“Internal Martial Arts demands the highest aptitude! Simply entering the threshold is extremely difficult.” “Reaching the Grandmaster realm is even harder than climbing to heaven!” “After that, practicing this ‘Earth Element Fist.’ Even with my guidance, one would need to grasp that essence of intent to truly manifest Gang Strength!” Teng Qingshan understood this clearly.

Whether Buddhist or Daoist, sitting cross-legged, allowing Spirit and Qi to harmonize, allowed one to cultivate Innate True Essence—it was simple. But Internal Martial Arts required cultivation to be done through the act of striking and fighting.

The requirements for natural talent and comprehension were higher than the other two lineages. Yet, conversely—with higher difficulty came greater power!

Even in the early stage of Gang Strength, the combination of physical strength plus the Gang Strength meant one’s combat power would far surpass opponents of the same level. Once reaching the ‘Late Stage of Gang Strength,’ even masters who had achieved the peak of Innate Golden Core or late-stage Luo Han might be inferior.

Of course— Teng Qingshan, as the progenitor of this path for Internal Martial Arts, faced a much harder cultivation journey than his future successors! His descendants might have the fist techniques Teng Qingshan created to learn, but he had no teacher.

He had to perceive heaven and earth and forge a path entirely on his own! Difficult!

Creating the third cultivation lineage was incredibly arduous. However—if Teng Qingshan truly succeeded in perfecting the Internal Martial Arts system, then in the future, within the same rank, Internal Martial Arts would possess an absolute advantage!

Those who reached Late-Stage Gang Strength would certainly rank at the forefront of the Heavenly Ranking! Heaven is fair!

Difficult cultivation naturally leads to greater achievement! “Hahaha, so what if it’s difficult!” An inexplicable light shone in Teng Qingshan’s eyes.

“I, Teng Qingshan, will dedicate my entire life force to forging a path belonging exclusively to Internal Martial Arts! So that my lineage may be passed down for ten thousand generations across the Nine Provinces!” …… High above on the Nine Provinces Continent, the supreme Eight Great Sects had no inkling that in the distant northern reaches of the Great Prairie, a young man was charting an unprecedented course.

* The sun shone high, yet the wind across the prairie remained biting; the temperature in the far north of the Great Prairie was extremely low. “Don’t move, be good, don’t move.” Outside a felt tent, a child dressed in thick sheepskin coats gently stroked the wool of a young lamb he was cradling.

The child’s nose was frozen crimson. He suddenly noticed a figure appearing in the distance.

“Huh? Just one person?” The child looked surprised; traveling alone on the perilous Great Prairie was dangerous.

He watched as a bearded man, wearing a tattered padded jacket and carrying a square bundle, walked towards him. Teng Qingshan, immersed in arduous cultivation, paid no mind to his appearance.

After half a year of solitude, his beard had grown long. “Do you have food at your place?” Teng Qingshan asked the child with a smile.

“I have silver.” As he spoke, he produced a piece of broken silver weighing two liang. At that moment, several adults from the small tribe, who had been herding sheep or busy outside, also noticed Teng Qingshan.

Several prairie men, wrapped in thick hides and wearing large fur hats, walked over. “Wait here a moment, I’ll call my father.” The child turned and shouted loudly, “Father, there’s a guest!” Soon, a tall, broad-shouldered man with two thick braids emerged from the felt tent.

Men on the Nine Provinces Continent rarely wore braids, but they were common on the prairie. “Welcome, traveler from afar, to our Qilian tribe!” The prairie giant smiled with rustic sincerity.

“Father, this uncle wants food,” the child said quickly. “Please, come in quickly.” The prairie giant chuckled.

“We were just about to prepare lunch ourselves.” Teng Qingshan was immediately invited into his felt tent. “Haha, Chab, you’re going to make a profit today.” “You owe us drinks tonight.” The men who had approached earlier turned and left.

In the prairie, some small tribes were hospitable, but… if a guest ate and drank extravagantly without paying silver, and if the guest happened to be in a bad mood, the host might not care. But if they took it for granted, trouble would ensue!

Prairie men were quick to action. Teng Qingshan had gained considerable experience during his six months of cultivation within the prairie.

Silver had higher purchasing power on the prairie than on the Nine Provinces Continent! Two liang of silver was enough to pay for a single meal for an ordinary prairie family—it was like finding treasure.

Inside the tent—which was, in fact, similar to the yurts of Teng Qingshan’s past life on the steppe, a portable dwelling for easy dismantling— “My name is Chab. May I ask the guest’s name?” The giant sat facing Teng Qingshan on sheepskin mats, with a low table between them.

“My name is Huhe!” Teng Qingshan replied with a smile. When traveling on the prairie, it was customary to adopt a local name.

For instance, Arada meant the most terrifying demon among the prairie folk! In truth, the prairie was still in a semi-tribal era compared to the Nine Provinces Continent, which had long since moved past the tribal era after Emperor Yu unified the land.

“Brother Huhe, forgive my delay! My wife is preparing hand-pulled mutton.” Chab smiled.

“That’s why it took a little longer.” “No hurry, I’m fine,” Teng Qingshan replied pleasantly. “Come, let’s first drink some hot milk tea to warm up.” Chab picked up the milk tea pot and poured a cup for each of the three seated.

“Uncle Huhe, aren’t you cold? Your padded jacket is torn,” the child observed Teng Qingshan.

Teng Qingshan glanced down at his own ragged coat. He had received it from a small tribe as a gift after eating there previously, but he hadn't taken care of it during his journey of cultivation, so it had naturally become dilapidated.

“Haha,” Chab lightly touched his son’s head. “Your Uncle Huhe is a master; he doesn’t fear this little bit of cold.” In the chaotic Great Prairie, who lacked perception?

“Ah, the hand-pulled mutton is here!” the child exclaimed excitedly. As a woman brought a bronze basin and set it on the table, Chab said, “Before we eat, let us first give thanks for the bounty of the Heavenly God!” Chab closed his eyes and put his hands together.

His son did the same. “Heavenly God…” Teng Qingshan understood perfectly well.

The southern edge of the Great Prairie was the sphere of influence of the Snow Eagle Sect. The central region was controlled by the Three Great Kingdoms.

But in the northern part of the Great Prairie stood a mountain known as Heavenly God Mountain! This Heavenly God Mountain held a terrifying influence over the tribal residents.