Li Pingcan shifted his body, and five spirit beast shadows surged up behind him. The five divine auras flowed over him, ultimately merging into a harmonious, unending, and wondrous force field that firmly protected him.

“Boom!”

The spear tip clashed violently against the multicolored force field.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a dull, extreme boom.

Li Pingcan felt an overwhelming power surge toward him, as if struck by lightning. His blood qi churned violently, and the five spirit shadows behind him shook intensely, almost collapsing.

But he still managed to hold firm!

The halberd in the Army Specter's hand stopped just three inches from his forehead.

“Good, very good!”

The Army Specter slowly withdrew the halberd. In its blood-red eyes, a trace of approval appeared. “Your martial way has already carved its own path. This inheritance is yours;

do not disgrace your lord’s reputation.”

After saying this, its massive body began to slowly dissolve, turning into specks of black light that merged into the earth beneath its feet.

Only the pitch-black long halberd and the shattered heavy armor fell to the ground with a clatter.

“Thank you, Senior, for your kindness.” Li Pingcan respectfully bowed in the direction where the Army Specter had vanished.

He knew the other party had held back at the end.

After a brief moment of recovery and ordering the spectral soldiers to stand guard around, Li Pingcan finally turned his gaze to the “remnants” lying quietly on the ground.

He hurried forward and first picked up the pitch-black halberd.

As soon as he grasped the halberd, a heavy and icy sensation instantly spread through his hand. Its weight far exceeded that of his heavy sword forged from Star Iron.

Beneath the halberd’s blade was a natural sharpness capable of tearing through everything, as if condensing the killing intent of thousands of troops.

“A formidable treasure!” his golden martial eyes shone brightly.

He could feel that the halberd’s material was extraordinary, seemingly forged from some celestial fallen iron, mixed with battlefield killing energy, and refined through countless hammerings. Only due to long-term corrosion by yin energy had its surface developed pits and holes.

If he could take it back to find a forging master to reforge and consecrate it, its power would likely surpass that of an abnormal first-tier low-grade magical implement!

Next, he picked up the intact heavy armor. Although the plates were damaged, each piece was still indestructible, with sword and blade scars remaining underneath.

“Those armor plates could be dismantled and made into several protective chest mirrors for my family’s outer guards. They might save lives in critical moments.”

Li Pingcan calculated in his heart and collected all the spoils.

After finishing, he cast his gaze on the gigantic tomb.

Without the Army Specter's protection, the martial tomb seemed slightly less imposing, but the ancient aura from a lower antiquity still caused a shudder of reverence.

Jin Yingying took a deep breath, walked to the back of the tomb, and respectfully bowed eight times.

“Martial descendant, I mean no disturbance. I seek only the inheritance. If I fail to achieve greatness in the future, I will surely tarnish your lifetime reputation.”

After speaking, he reached out to push open the tomb door made from a single giant stone slab.

The stone door of the martial tomb was surprisingly light, like a mountain.

Li Pingcan exerted the full power of his Divine Martial Realm physical body, muscles bulging and veins popping, using all his strength to slowly push open a crack.

A thousand-year-old ancient aura mixed with a faint medicinal fragrance rushed out from the crack.

He squeezed inside. The tomb chamber was dimly lit but not damp.

In the center stood a stone coffin carved from a single piece of cold jade, surrounded by a dozen wooden boxes of various sizes.

Inside the boxes were not gold, silver, or jewels but pills of various colors exuding strong medicinal power.

[Dragon-Tiger Pill]: Refines muscles and bones, enhances blood qi.

[Nine-Turn Life-Extending Pill]: Revives the dead, nourishes flesh and bones, with the power to overturn fate.

[Barrier-Breaking Pill]: For martial artists, helps break through bottlenecks.

...

Any one of these pills placed in the outside world would cause bloody chaos.

Yet here, they were casually arranged like ordinary candies.

Li Pingcan suppressed his wild excitement and carefully gathered all the pills.

Finally, he found an ancient jade slip in a corner of the stone coffin.

His divine consciousness probed inside.

A technique named “Heaven and Earth Furnace Body Tempering Art” instantly surged into his mind.

This technique was different from his created “Five Spirit Play.”

It lacked many subtle variations and focused on only one core principle—refinement!

It drew the power of the Five Elements of Heaven and Earth into the body, using oneself as the furnace and blood qi as the fuel, hammering the flesh and body repeatedly until reaching the supreme realm of “method cannot invade, golden body unbreakable!”

“What an overwhelming technique!”

Li Pingcan was shocked in his heart. “This was tailor-made for me!”

He knew that reaching the Divine Martial Realm was already a bottleneck for human martial arts. Even with countless methods and many martial talents, no one had pioneered a new martial path.

Although “Five Spirit Play” had potential to break the pinnacle of martial arts, it was not that easy to execute. He often felt clumsy and insufficient in power.

With the Dragon Palace Five Elements stone tablet, he lacked no Five Elements spiritual energy. Combined with the complementary refinement of “Heaven and Earth Furnace Body Tempering Art” and “Five Spirit Play,” his body would reach an unprecedented terrifying state!

“Thank you, Martial God Senior.”

Li Pingcan bowed respectfully to the stone coffin.

Receiving this inheritance and the kindness, he naturally felt grateful.

Time waited for no one, so he immediately secluded himself.

Old Yin Mountain was rarely visited and was a forbidden zone for humans. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators rarely ventured here. For Li Pingcan, who could command yin beings, it was an ideal place for breakthrough seclusion.

Everyone knew what lay behind the Martial God;

if there were unusual movements during breakthroughs, even Spirit Mountain could hardly conceal them completely.

He stuck the flag of the Martial Way Golden General One-Star Formation into the ground behind him and ordered the spectral soldiers to guard the tomb’s perimeter before his worries truly began.

He sat cross-legged, took out a Dragon-Tiger Pill, and swallowed it.

“Boom!”

The pill entered his stomach, and the overwhelming medicinal power burst through his body, a hundred times more violent than when he had broken through to the Divine Martial Realm.

At that moment, Li Pingcan felt as if he was about to explode.

His entire skeletal system groaned under unbearable pressure, every inch of flesh was being torn apart and reformed.

He guarded his mind fiercely, circulating the mind methods of “Heaven and Earth Furnace Body Tempering Art” and “Five Spirit Play.”

The power of the Five Elements rampaged inside him, as if trying to tear his body apart completely!

“Using myself as the furnace, refine!”

Li Pingcan let out a low roar. The formidable physical body of the Divine Martial Realm revealed incredible toughness at this moment.

He endured the heart-wrenching pain and guided the power of the Five Elements, repeatedly washing his limbs and bones along a specific trajectory.

The process was excruciating, as if he were in hell and his soul trembled.

But with each wash, his body became a bit more resilient.

Time slowly passed in agonizing torment.

After an unknown length of time, Li Pingcan’s body began to emit a faint multicolored treasure light.

His skin was smooth as jade, glowing with a pearly luster, yet contained the hardness of metal and stone.

Finally, when he refined the last trace of the Five Elements energy into his body, a power a hundred times stronger than that of the Divine Martial Realm erupted from within him!

“Meow!”

The rocky ground beneath him could not bear the pressure and cracked inch by inch!

Li Pingcan slowly opened his eyes. A substance-like five-colored divine light burst forth, shooting a bottomless hole in the stone wall ahead.

His physical strength had reached an incredible level,

His every move carried the power to cleave mountains!

Li Pingcan even had the illusion that with a single thought, he could perfectly fuse divine consciousness and physical blood qi, unleashing terrifying combat power far beyond before!

Feeling the new power within him, he was both joyful and assured.

He was confident that now, even facing the sword cultivator’s divine consciousness, he could fight with just his body without using spells!

“This... is the Martial Way Golden Body?”

He murmured and slowly clenched his fist.

“Crack!”

A crisp sound rang out as the air around him was crushed into nothing by his clenched fist!

At the same time, the drop of liquid True Essence in his dantian fully transformed into a golden solid.

Martial Way Golden Body!

Entering the Dao through martial arts!

The ultimate barrier that had troubled countless martial masters for thousands of years was completely broken at this moment.

His current strength was already comparable to a genuine peak Refining Qi cultivator, about to step into Foundation Establishment!

“Thank you, Martial God Senior!”

Satisfied, he bowed again and retracted his aura, preparing to head home.

Just as he left the Martial God tomb, a pressure descended.

“Roar!”

An angry roar echoed from the deepest part of Old Yin Mountain, shaking the entire valley with a rumble.

Li Pingcan looked sharply and saw a huge undead stiff covered in bone spikes charging in his direction like a tank. A dragon aura radiated with dazzling brilliance above its head.

With every step the undead stiff took, the ground trembled. Its lifeless gray eyes locked firmly onto Li Pingcan.

Seeing the familiar dragon aura, Li Pingcan’s face instantly turned green.

“Damn! The victim has come looking for me!”

The black pot he had casually thrown to escape before had today been returned by the real owner for “settling accounts.”

Looking at the bone-chilling, fierce undead stiff, only one thought flashed in Li Pingcan’s mind.

“Brother, listen to my explanation!”

“This really isn’t my fault! I’m also a victim!”

He instinctively wanted to activate [Dream Language] to communicate with this “fall guy” reasonably, appealing to logic and emotion.

But the other party clearly didn’t give him the chance.

The undead stiff roared again, seemingly convinced that Li Pingcan was the culprit causing it to be harassed by dragon aura, unable to sleep day and night!

Its massive body suddenly arched, pushing off its hind legs like a moving mountain, charging with the momentum to crush everything toward Li Pingcan!

“Damn! You undead stubborn fellow, why won’t you listen to reason!”

Li Pingcan gave up on explaining, stepped lightly, and floated backward like a ghost, narrowly avoiding the thunderous charge.

“Boom!”

The undead stiff hit the air and crashed heavily into the mountain wall behind, punching a huge hole with flying debris.

“What tremendous brute strength!” Li Pingcan’s heart shuddered.

The undead stiff’s physical toughness probably exceeded even his Martial Way Golden Body!

Or rather, zombies are naturally known for their tough bodies!

“Roar!”

Missing its strike, the undead stiff became even angrier. It violently shook its bone-spiked head like a battering ram, smashing toward Li Pingcan again.

“Do you think I’m stupid to fight you up close?”

Li Pingcan watched the huge beast charging like a siege engine, thoughts racing, but he did not dare slacken his steps.

His Divine Martial Realm body instantly erupted with amazing speed, activating the [Windriding] talent to the extreme, weaving left and right in the bloodstained wind stirred by the undead stiff.

“The undead’s mind is chaotic, only fighting instinct remains. It is not a refined demon or ghost, so even using ‘Dream Language’ is useless.”

“Then it’s time to fight!”

Li Pingcan’s eyes narrowed, abandoning all illusions. He pulled out a handful of talismans from his storage pouch and scattered them toward the undead stiff without checking their grade, like throwing flower petals.

“This guy has a strong body;

ordinary spells won’t work well. I’ll test its real power with talismans first and wear it down.”

Suddenly, the valley exploded with flashing spiritual light and constant booms.

Crimson fireballs, pale white ice spikes, and cyan wind blades struck the undead stiff’s massive body like New Year fireworks.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The blast waves sent surrounding stones flying, filling the air with dust.

Li Pingcan’s brows furrowed slightly.

The undead stiff still stood majestically in place, only a few parts of its body blackened and covered in harmless frost, completely unscathed!

It even shook its huge head, as if puzzled why the spectacle had been all bark and no bite.

“As expected, first-tier talisman power is like a mere scraping massage. Its defense far exceeds ordinary spirit beasts.”

Seeing the talismans were ineffective, Li Pingcan’s mind spun quickly, instantly changing tactics.

He raised the Spectral Soldier Command Token at his waist and shouted sternly, “Spectral soldiers, hear my order! Block it!”

At his command, the spectral soldiers previously waiting outside the valley instantly transformed into a gust of yin wind and surrounded the undead stiff.

The leader, a Spectral Lieutenant, fearlessly charged first, wielding his yin energy long knife and slashing at the undead stiff’s lower leg bone.

“Clang!”

A crisp clang of metal rang out as the lieutenant’s blade broke on impact, while the undead stiff’s leg showed not even a white mark.

The undead stiff seemed thoroughly enraged by these reckless “little brothers.” It lowered its head and opened its abyssal giant mouth, letting out a silent roar.

A visible gray sound wave spread out like ripples.

The once fierce spectral soldiers instantly turned into wisps of blue smoke and vanished the moment they touched the wave.

Even the Spectral Lieutenant, comparable in strength to a mid-stage Refining Qi cultivator, lasted only two more breaths before following suit.

Li Pingcan watched his “cannon fodder squad,” whom he had just subdued less than half a day ago, be completely wiped out and took a sharp breath.

“The power gap is too great. Even the Spectral Lieutenant cannot withstand a blow. The undead stiff seems to have some form of resistance or absorption against yin killing energy.”

He calculated rapidly in his mind;

this undead stiff’s strength was far more terrifying than he had expected!

Physically immune to attacks, talisman attacks are mere scratches, even spectral soldiers were eaten like snacks.

Rushing in blindly was not a wise choice.

“Brute force won’t work;

I must use intelligence. Fortunately, I set up a formation in advance.”

Li Pingcan began casting [Seven-Star Maze Formation]!

“Hum!”

“Roar?”

The undead stiff’s consciousness flickered with confusion and hesitated, stopping in place.

It could sense the hated person nearby, but no matter how it charged, it seemed to spin in place, unable to reach him at all.

“Its mind is chaotic—this is the perfect time to drive it away.”

A gleam of determination flashed in Li Pingcan’s eyes;

this was the moment he had been waiting for.

“In the name of nature, cleanse the filth!”

[Nature’s Divine Blessing]!

A soft and warm emerald-green light, like a newborn sun, instantly illuminated the entire formation space!

The light contained the purest life and purification power—an ultimate nemesis to such yin-evil creatures!

“Roar!!!”

The undead stiff let out an unprecedentedly mournful scream upon contact with the light.

Its once indestructible bony body seemed doused in concentrated sulfuric acid, emitting black smoke and terrifying sizzling sounds.

The massive yin killing energy parasitic within it was rapidly purified and dissolved by this divine blessing!

“Get out of here!”

Li Pingcan poured the power of the testing site fully into the blessing, making the light even more dazzling.

The undead stiff could no longer endure it, eyes filled with fear as its massive body suddenly shrank back, then vanished without a trace after a few leaps.

Disappearing with it was the entwined tracking dragon aura, which had not weakened at all after multiple battles, proving the dynasty’s profound foundation.

The valley finally returned to calm.

Li Pingcan exhaled a long breath, only then noticing his back was soaked with cold sweat.

Battling a fiend comparable to Foundation Establishment, even with formation advantages, consumed enormous mental and magical energy.

“Finally drove it away.”

He collapsed to the ground, pulled out a divine berry from his storage pouch, and tossed it into his mouth, savoring the sweet energy nourishing his parched meridians. He finally felt revived.

“But...”

He looked toward where the undead stiff had disappeared, a strange light flashing in his eyes as he pondered.

“If such a fiend could be tamed as a companion, it would be a great help. But its fierce nature is hard to control, and its mind unopened. Forcing a contract carries great risk and high chances of backlash.”

He recalled his [Animal Companion] skill, the contract slot still empty, and felt somewhat intrigued.

“Also, I don’t know what bloodline talent it has.”

He stroked his chin, lost in thought.

“The undead’s body is strong and tremendously powerful. Could it possess ‘ten-thousand-jin strength’ or ‘indestructibility’? Or perhaps that strange talent to control yin killing energy? If it’s the latter, it might be a bit of a double-edged sword.”

“Enough, this matter requires long-term planning.”

Li Pingcan shook his head and forcibly suppressed the tempting idea.

This undead stiff’s strength was too great, its soul full of violent resentment. With his current cultivation, forcibly contracting it was almost impossible.