At the peak of Muscle and Tendon Refinement, all the vital energy and blood in the body have been condensed to an extremely high level. But at this stage, no matter how much one trains, it only tempers the surface muscles and bones, never penetrating into the marrow, let alone connecting the meridians.

The power of the fist is fierce but hard to sustain, like a wild horse without the might of a tiger.

Only by making the muscles and bones resonate together, using a single breath to break through the body's meridians, and shaking the internal organs with a 'thunder' sound from the lungs, can the force penetrate into the bone marrow and temper the five viscera and six bowels, thus reaching a whole new realm in martial cultivation.

This realm is also known as the seventh level, 'Condensing the Meridians'.

“Dragon Soars, Tiger Roars.”

Henry Young let out a low growl, his steps swift as the wind, like a fierce tiger. In his mind, he pictured a soaring dragon, his body moving like a swimming dragon, his breath like a raging tiger, and that surge of energy within him finally circulated into his internal organs.

In that instant, Henry Young became completely absorbed, forgetting both himself and the world.

All the impurities in his blood seemed to be refined along with this breath, gradually being expelled to the surface of his skin.

This is the effect of body tempering.

“Hoo~” Henry Young's body suddenly paused, his feet rooted to the ground like a great tree, as if he wanted to drive them deep into the earth. At the same time, a roar like a tiger's bellow burst from his mouth.

The roar grew ever more intense.

With the roar, Henry Young's muscles and bones vibrated, using the sound to temper his internal organs. His pores suddenly opened wide, and a small amount of foul blood was even expelled continuously through them.

Suddenly.

His heart gave a violent tremor, as if something inside was about to burst out.

“Again?” In an instant, Henry Young felt a sharp pain in his chest, and the breath that had just connected his muscles, bones, and organs was instantly scattered by the tremor of his heart.

It was as if, after all his efforts to climb to the mountain peak, he slipped and fell at the last step—what an unbearable feeling.

Bang~ Bang~

The violent throbbing of his heart did not stop at all, as if a giant hammer was pounding away. Each tremor brought piercing pain, and Henry Young's hands and feet couldn't help but curl up and twitch.

It hurt too much.

“Ah!”

Henry Young could no longer bear the pain. He fell to his knees, curling up completely, and as time passed, even his consciousness began to blur.

After a while.

The throbbing of his heart finally ceased. Henry Young was now covered in foul blood and sweat—the blood expelled from his body, but most of the sweat was from the pain.

“Hoo~”

Henry Young slowly stood up, his voice hoarse, but he let out a long breath: “I finally made it through again.”

Immediately, Henry Young smelled a foul stench. His skin was covered in pitch-black, stinking filth and blood, but he wasn't surprised. He went straight to the bath on the other side of the room and took a hot shower.

Hot water was supplied to every disciple in the Blazing Fire Hall around the clock.

After washing.

Henry Young felt incomparably refreshed.

He returned to his room.

“My physical strength and the power of my muscles and bones should have increased by a large margin compared to before.” Henry Young felt that even his heartbeat was much stronger, and he pondered, “But what exactly is going on with my heart and body?”

This strange, sudden throbbing pain in his heart had already happened three times.

The first time was half a year ago.

At that time, Henry Young was still at the fifth level of body tempering. Once, while practicing boxing at home, he suddenly experienced a heart tremor and immediately passed out from the pain.

It scared his older brother and sister-in-law badly—they thought Henry Young had a heart problem.

It wasn't until the next day that Henry Young woke up.

That time, the heart tremor also expelled a large amount of foul blood and impurities from his body. When Henry Young checked himself, he found that he had directly advanced from the fifth to the sixth level of body tempering, and was even at the peak of the sixth level.

Because of this, he was able to enter the Blazing Fire Hall and defeat three disciples in a row, making a name for himself and shaking the Martial Academy.

The first heart tremor was his stroke of fortune, allowing him to enter the Blazing Fire Hall in one leap.

The second heart tremor was similar to today. That was three months ago, when Henry Young truly reached the peak of the sixth level of body tempering. While practicing swordsmanship, he found the breath needed to break through to Condensing the Meridians.

But during the breakthrough, he was again suddenly interrupted by the heart tremor. The piercing pain nearly made Henry Young faint, and his breath naturally dissipated.

The breakthrough failed.

When he came to, he found himself covered in foul blood and filth again. Although his body remained at the peak of the sixth level, the strength of his muscles and bones had once again increased dramatically in a strange way.

Today, it was the same.

“Three times, always the same.”

Henry Young thought to himself, “What is the reason? Although I am still at the peak of the sixth level, after several consecutive mutations, my physical qualities are probably no less than those of an ordinary Condensing the Meridians martial artist, just that my endurance is not as good.”

The leap from the sixth to the seventh level is a qualitative change.

A seventh-level Condensing the Meridians martial artist has opened up the body's meridians, tempers the internal organs through the thunderous resonance of muscles and bones, and constantly expels impurities from the body. In terms of both strength and speed, they are far superior to those at the sixth level.

But Henry Young could feel that his meridians were not fully opened, and he was still stuck at the peak of the sixth level.

“The foul blood expelled from my body is clearly what the martial manual calls 'washing the marrow and changing the blood.' That's why my physical qualities keep soaring, and I digest food much faster than ordinary people.” Henry Young pondered, “The stronger the body, the more solid the foundation for martial arts, which is naturally a good thing. But every time I'm about to break through, a mutation occurs—it's truly strange.”

This matter—

Henry Young dared not tell anyone else.