Grant Clark thought to himself, You're just a useless person who has only activated three acupoints. Even if you change to another cultivation technique, even if you change a hundred or a thousand, you'll still be useless! But unlike Logan Clark, he didn't have a grandfather who was the clan head to back him up, so he only kept these words to himself.

With a casual wave of his hand, he said, "Then go pick one yourself. But don't forget the rules of the Martial Scripture Pavilion: you can only choose one book, and you must return it within a month. You are not allowed to pass it on to others!"

"Got it!"

Logan Clark began searching on the first floor, and found a copy of "Thick Earth Technique," a copy of "Sharp Metal Technique," and a copy of "Withered Wood Technique." He had an excellent memory, and after reading them a few times, he memorized all three techniques by heart.

After triple-checking that he hadn't missed a single word, Logan Clark took the "Thick Earth Technique," had Grant Clark record it, and immediately returned to his own courtyard.

He took out a demon core and activated the Chaos Furnace!

Buzz!

The purple cauldron in his sea of consciousness trembled lightly, and five cultivation methods operated simultaneously. Logan Clark's rate of refining the demon core instantly increased fivefold. Five core pills formed in his body, with the fire core being the largest, the water core second, and the other three as tiny as stars compared to the bright moon and blazing sun—utterly insignificant.

Originally, it would have taken Logan Clark four days to refine a seventh-grade demon core, but now, in less than a day, a seventh-grade demon core was reduced to a pile of fragments.

Five days later, Logan Clark's fire-element true essence reached the peak of the sixth postnatal layer, but he encountered a bottleneck and simply couldn't break through the constraints of the sixth layer to enter the Qi Explosion Realm!

"Grandfather said that the Qi Explosion Realm is a huge leap, where true essence can be projected outside the body. But to break through successfully, you must purify your true essence, undergo a complete transformation, and only then can you pass the barrier!" Logan Clark tried hard to recall all the cultivation tips Nathan Clark had told him before—these were all hard-earned experiences, exactly what Logan Clark lacked at this moment.

"For ninety percent of martial artists, the peak of the sixth postnatal layer is the end of their lives. That shows just how hard it is to break through to the Qi Explosion Realm! I shouldn't be impatient. Just over a month ago, I was still struggling at the second postnatal layer, and now I've already reached the peak of the sixth. I can't be too demanding!"

"I need to remove the impurities from my true essence, then accumulate and break through the barrier. Even with the Chaos Furnace, it'll take at least two months! But the New Year Festival is in just a month, so I definitely can't break through before then!"

"Although the New Year Festival is held every year, Grandfather said that every three years, there's a grand competition, and the top ten winners will receive a tremendous opportunity! Grandfather didn't go into details at the time, probably to spare my pride, but judging from his expression, it's a great fortune!"

"This time, it's exactly three years again. Even if it's just for Grandfather, I must secure a spot! If I reach the Qi Explosion Realm, I can definitely take first place. But among the younger generation in the clan, only three have reached the Qi Explosion Realm. With my peak sixth-layer strength, getting into the top ten is absolutely no problem!"

Although Logan Clark couldn't break through to the Qi Explosion Realm for now, his true essence in the other four elements was advancing rapidly. After refining the ninth demon core, all five of Logan Clark's elemental techniques reached the sixth postnatal layer!

However, except for the fire element, the other four elements' true essence was only at the early stage of the sixth layer. What disappointed Logan Clark was that the five elements' true essence conflicted with each other, so he couldn't operate more than one at the same time. Otherwise, instead of increasing his power, the conflict would actually weaken him, making him less effective than using a single element.

But the advantage was that Logan Clark's true essence reserves were far thicker than ordinary martial artists. When his fire-element true essence was depleted, he could use water, and when water was depleted, he could use earth... Using Tiger Shadow Fist, he could perform five times as many strikes as others at the same level!

Although this result didn't fully satisfy Logan Clark, at least it gave him another trump card.

On the other hand, the number of acupoints activated in his body had soared to thirty-one. This was only barely comparable to an ordinary sixth-layer martial artist, but it had taken Logan Clark thirty breakthroughs to reach this point, showing that his innate talent hadn't really changed.

Because of the incident with David Drew, Logan Clark disguised himself a bit when he went to the pharmacy to sell stone-root grass, and bought ten more seventh-grade demon cores, pushing all five elements' true essence to the peak of the sixth postnatal layer!

But when it came to removing impurities from his true essence, the Chaos Furnace was of no help—Logan Clark had to rely on his own strength. Fortunately, this process didn't involve innate talent or the number of acupoints activated; it was just a matter of time.

During the day, Logan Clark kept practicing Tiger Shadow Fist, repeatedly honing his control over true essence. This is the only way for a martial artist to become strong!

With every strike, he had to use just the right amount of force—too much was wasteful, too little was insufficient. Only by mastering true essence to the finest detail, making the complex seem simple and the heavy seem light, could one become a true expert.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Logan Clark kept swinging his fists, and one pine tree after another, each as thick as a bowl, fell after more than a dozen punches. Crack! With another punch, a section of trunk was actually smashed to powder, causing Logan Clark's next punch to hit nothing but air. The rebound of force made his blood surge, and he almost coughed up blood from the discomfort!

"What happened?"