CHAPTER 257: CHAPTER 241: TIGER ROAR LUNG TRAINING, FLEXIBILITY LIMIT BREAKING!

As Meng Chuan walked, he observed that the overall body refinement trend was quite average, not just at Northern United University, but across the entire Quad-University Alliance.

The hard skills section of the horizontal training skills mostly consisted of rubbings, with few originals, unlike Shaolin or Wudang.

However, his goal was to find a simple and easy-to-cultivate hard skill that worked internally, without chasing after originals.

Following the administrator’s guidance, Meng Chuan stopped in the hard skills area.

He saw a student in front of him flipping through something, with muscles bulging from his sleeve, clearly another horizontal training enthusiast.

Not wanting to disturb, Meng Chuan borrowed a glance past him.

The other person sensed the movement and looked up, thinking that this person seemed familiar but couldn’t recall the name...

"Hello, I’m Qiming from the new Second Class this year. What hard skill are you looking for? Let me help you check."

The enthusiasm of the other person surprised Meng Chuan a bit.

He had thought that all the students, like those in the Grandmaster Class, would practice individually without speaking.

Moments later, Qiming helped Meng Chuan take down two hard skills books from the shelf and handed them over:

"See how these two are; are they what you’re looking for?"

"Thank you so much."

After expressing his gratitude, Meng Chuan flipped through them to get a general idea before returning one to its original place.

The one he kept in his hand was a second-tier hard skill named [Tiger Roar Lung Training], a modern cultivation technique created in recent years.

"Brother, are you really going to practice this?"

Qiming asked in surprise.

This method was one of the few original hard skills at Northern United University, but not many practiced it, thinking it a waste of time.

Most people, even if they found full-body training like Iron Cloth Shirt painful, would choose local hard skills like Vajra Palm or Iron Finger Skill.

Because the effects of Tiger Roar Lung Training are not obvious; in today’s times, aside from a few enthusiasts, most practice horizontal training to gain an edge in actual combat.

"No problem, I’ll take it."

Meng Chuan actually found this method quite useful, and the difficulty wasn’t high, suitable for him.

Upon flipping through it earlier, he learned that Tiger Roar Lung Training is inspired by the roaring tiger in the forest, using sound to vibrate the lungs and channel energy throughout the body.

Once mastered, one’s breath could be as deep as an abyss, inhaling and exhaling like thunder, achieving lungs as strong as iron.

But he understood that this had a bit of the "bragging" nature of previous practitioners.

If it were truly so impressive, it wouldn’t lack practitioners.

Just like what he read online before, similar to the netizens’ comments about Doma Iron Crotch.

However, he was different from ordinary people and might gain the traits through Limit Breaking, turning dreams into reality!

Seeing his insistence, Qiming didn’t persuade further; everyone has their own ideas.

"Let’s add each other as friends. It’s rare to meet a fellow horizontal training enthusiast. I’ll invite you to our school’s hard skills group. All the students like us are there; we can spar when there’s time.

You might not know this, but finding a teacher to supervise sparring at school costs too many study points. I completed two tasks just to have enough points to get a Second Limit teacher to supervise for a few days."

"Sure, I’ll scan you."

Meng Chuan sighed; life for ordinary class students is indeed tough.

Everything requires study points, forcing students to complete tasks and grow through practical experience, a positive cycle within the university.

Though thinking that none of the students in the group combined could take a punch from him, he still joined the group.

Since they’re all from the same school, having casual chats couldn’t hurt.

Having achieved his goal, Meng Chuan didn’t delay and prepared to leave.

"Don’t leave yet. The originals we got require a 5-point study deposit to borrow. Upon returning, one point will be deducted as a depreciation fee."

Meng Chuan felt speechless. Why borrow a cultivation technique and still get a study points deduction...

point wasn’t much, so he could accept it.

With Qiming, he queued for a bit at the checkout. When it was his turn, Meng Chuan took out his privilege card for the deduction, but the staff gestured for him to go ahead.

Seeing the big red card Meng Chuan took out, Qiming was utterly shocked.

"Holy crap, brother, are you from the Grandmaster Class?"

Out of over two thousand martial arts students in the entire school, there are only nine in the Grandmaster Class, usually hidden among the crowd, truly rare sightings.

Nodding, Meng Chuan’s brain worked quickly as Qiming pondered.

"This year, the school recruited three Grandmaster Class students: one girl and two boys, who enjoy practicing hard skills..."

He was stunned for a moment, quickly opening the group chat.

At this point, the chat already had a rain of red envelopes, and even the Silent Seniors from eight or nine years poured in to send them.

"Welcome Meng God to the group for guidance!"

Someone even @mentioned him, directly calling him godfather, marveling at getting the True God of body refinement into the group.

Qiming closed his phone and looked up, stammering:

"Bro...you’re Meng God..."

Meng Chuan was startled, understood, and smilingly waved his hand:

"What god, we’re all brothers."

Returning to his senses, Meng Chuan heard the Hidden Martial Pavilion’s administrator remind him:

"No need for the study points deposit or the depreciation fee. Just remember to return it within a month."

"Thank you, teacher."

Leaving the Hidden Martial Pavilion, Qiming followed, visibly excited, asking many questions about hard skills martial arts.

Unknowingly, he had become someone’s "teacher" who could offer enlightenment to others.

"Let’s chat later, I have some business to attend to. If you have questions, just post in the group; I’ll reply when I see them."

Because suddenly, he felt an unbearable itch on his body, and looking at the panel, he realized that his Iron Cloth Shirt was about to break limits.

"Thanks so much, Meng God!"

When Meng Chuan parted ways from the access control at Huaqing Pool, Qiming leaped three feet high with joy.

As a typical student who wished to split a single study point into two, he exclaimed that today was his lucky day.

...

Returning to the villa, Meng Chuan changed into a bathrobe and slid into the hot spring pool, silently feeling the changes brought by limit breaking.

Just as he was lost in thought, his phone rang by the pool.

[Meng Chuan! There’s an outer live broadcast about the Chen Cang Demon Nest tonight. Come over to Xu Qingfeng’s place so we can watch together. The beer is ready.]

On the other end of the phone came the voice of Meng Jiaolong.

[... There’s no signal inside the demon nest, what’s so interesting about the outside?]

In the end, not to disappoint them, Meng Chuan agreed.

[But I’ll come later; you guys start watching, and I’ll join soon.]

[Why? I see the lights are on at your place.]

Meng Jiaolong was worried about interrupting Meng Chuan’s martial practice but called upon seeing him return.

[Made some progress on hard skills; I want to break through first.]

[... Freak.]

Beside him, Xu Qingfeng felt upset hearing that his good brother had grown stronger again, even the beer tasted off.

Hung up the phone, Meng Chuan regained focus on limit breaking.

...

He closed his eyes and submerged fully into the hot spring pool, letting the warm sulfuric water envelop him.

The residual medicinal power from the ointment seeped into his pores along with the steam, causing his skin to tingle, as if thousands of ants were crawling beneath.

This was a sign that the Iron Cloth Shirt was about to break its limit.

Meng Chuan took a deep breath and held it, his subcutaneous fascia trembled like guitar strings, emitting a faint hum, while the warmth from his abdomen spread throughout his body.

The pool water, without wind, started forming tiny vortices around him.

The next moment, he glanced at the panel:

[Iron Cloth Shirt: Perfection (100%) Limit Broken]

[Acquired Limit Breaking Trait: Flexibility (Basic)]

Shrrip——!

From the neck down, countless fine cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of Meng Chuan’s skin.

The old skin cracked like a dried riverbed, and with a resonating force throughout his body, it revealed new warm yellow skin beneath.

This new layer of skin, under the moonlight, shone with a jade-like luster.

When touched with the fingertips, it felt silky smooth, but when pressure increased, a metallic texture instantly emerged from beneath the skin.

Like a non-Newtonian fluid experiencing impact, it became incredibly solid in an instant.

"Splash!"

Meng Chuan rose from the pool, creating a spray of crystal water droplets.

At this moment, most of his old skin had peeled off, with only a little left on his feet.

To avoid damaging the Star Soup, he jumped out of the pool, stomping his feet in mid-air, letting the remaining old skin scatter with the wind.

While suspended in the air, Meng Chuan glanced at his wavering reflection in the water and suddenly chuckled.

In the reflection, though his figure remained large and sturdy, his overall outline was now sleek like a leopard.

His muscle contours no longer bulged excessively but presented a restrained symmetry.

Overall, he had transformed from an oversized bodybuilding champion to a hefty fitness coach.

Yet, within this seemingly softer body, flowed the power to crush granite bare-handed.

As Meng Chuan tensed his muscles and exerted strength, his veins and muscles surged, causing the reflection to swell significantly.

The familiar sensation returned once more...

"So this is the Flexibility trait? Though it’s basic, it quietly resolved one of my previous physical issues."

[Trait: Flexibility (Basic)]

Effect One: Absorbing force, slightly improving the resistance to blunt force impacts, allowing the surface to dissipate a small amount of power.

Effect Two: Adaptive defense, where the skin and fascia can adjust their hardness instantly upon impact, softening against blunt instruments and becoming rock-hard against sharp objects, thereby slightly reducing the penetrative force of any attack.

"Both effects are quite useful. Although the improvement isn’t vast, as long as my body is strong enough, the effects will become increasingly apparent with a larger base."

He had just tested it earlier, and in terms of numbers, his overall defensive capability had increased by at least 10%, which is a significant boost.

Moreover, this Flexibility trait even adjusted his physique, which was like getting an extra bonus, a major win.

Though it’s a basic trait, Meng Chuan felt it was much stronger than the sporadic Doma traits he’d acquired before.

He remembered that he still had two limit breakings left to fully gather the Doma set.

"I need to get a set effect please..."

Anyway, he decided to prioritize the Great Chu’s hard skills in the future.

The trait effects from the Western Regions’ hard skills seemed somewhat insignificant in comparison.

The rocky feeling was somewhat useful, which had previously helped in the battle against Zheng Chengcheng.

But the most important counter-shock force is far from his previously imagined "counter-damage set".

No point in counter-shocking when you can’t win, and when you can, its role isn’t even an embellishment.

Hopefully, collecting all these Doma traits will lead to a qualitative leap...

Feeling the renewed skin once more, Meng Chuan dressed and headed across the street.

Xu Qingfeng came running to open the door and exclaimed upon the first glance:

"Wow Meng, how did practicing make you more handsome..."