Chapter Seventy: Driven by the Current

Because this was a private ship belonging to a Celestial Martial Artist, it was naturally equipped year-round with a dedicated training room.

The air was thick with the fragrance of rare incense, worth a king’s ransom—just the scent alone could settle the mind and focus the spirit. Even among Celestial Martial Artists, such incense was a precious commodity; Mingyue would only use it at critical moments—such as now, to ensure Liu Tian’s breakthrough.

Unconsciously, I had already reached this point.

In just four years, I had come to the end of the path of Secret Martial Arts. When I first crossed into this world, I never imagined I would advance so quickly.

Sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, Liu Tian sighed with emotion.

All of this could be traced back to my own efforts and resolve. If I hadn’t decisively confronted the Heavenly Way at the start and gained its assistance, my journey would never have been so smooth and exhilarating.

Of course, besides my talent, diligence, and a touch of luck, the assistance of "Effort" was indispensable as well.

Now, I was about to utterly surpass the limits of Secret Martial Arts and step onto an entirely new path.

With a thought, Liu Tian opened his status panel. Having reached the utmost limit, even though his Source Points were insufficient, he had already calculated his next move.

He could either continuously stack various martial arts, searching for the optimal art to enhance his physical prowess, then force a breakthrough with Source Points, improving physical qualities and increasing vital energy. When his vigor condensed enough to reshape his form and feed back into his body, he would finally shatter the human limit.

Celestial Martial Way—this martial art, derived from the Celestial Martial Killing Way but stripped of murderous intent and domineering will, was created by Liu Tian for this very purpose.

Or, he could endlessly strengthen his self-control, creating a martial art that constantly improved mastery over his own body—from the organs to the muscles, from the muscles to the cells, from the cells down to the genes, delving ever deeper into the microscopic level.

This was not mere fantasy. Even in his days as a martial artist, he had already reached the state where strength obeyed his will. By now, as a King of the Century, he could precisely control any part of his body, down to the muscle fibers. With this unparalleled command, Liu Tian could even shrink his three-meter-tall frame down to 1.8 meters as if by magic.

Yet, whichever path he considered, Liu Tian’s instincts told him neither was truly orthodox, and both would be difficult to ascend further.

So, even though he had nearly a hundred Source Points—enough to take significant steps down one path—Liu Tian made no final decision. He tried each a little, only to find the progress was meager and the consumption of Source Points too great; the effort was disproportionate to the reward, so he stopped.

If the Prism could provide infinite Source Points, then he could simply invest the time. But Liu Tian disliked staking his entire future on such uncertain possibilities.

Now, however, through his battle with Senior Brother Bai Cinan, a peculiar and wondrous sensation revealed to Liu Tian another path—a path that seemed to be more orthodox.

In fact, Liu Tian had nearly set foot upon it.

Liu Tian felt it—if the fight had continued, and he had utterly defeated Bai Cinan, devouring everything he had, he would have naturally stepped onto this orthodox path.

Of course, if Bai Cinan had seized his one-in-ten-thousand chance to strike Liu Tian down, the same would hold true.

Otherwise, how could their battle have grown so wild, so frenzied?

It was because both of them sensed it!

Yet with the Heavenly Way present, this battle—which should have been a life-or-death struggle to decide who would open the gate to a new world—ended anticlimactically.

At that moment, both felt as if a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had slipped away. Even if they fought to the death again, it would be nearly impossible to re-enter that state.

An ordinary person would have accepted this as fate.

But was Liu Tian an ordinary person?

The path had already taken shape, and with an unprecedented seven hundred Source Points, what obstacle in this world could he not shatter, what road could he not forcibly tread?

Source Points—let’s go!

Clutching at the last strands of that sensation, Liu Tian began his operation. Using the Celestial Martial Way as his foundation, in an instant, he fused into it all the Secret Martial Arts focused on enhancing physical qualities that he had mastered as a Fighter: Shadow-Seeking Dragon Step, Thunderclap Hand, Thirteen Grand Guardians’ Iron Body, Kabul Giant Serpent Combat, Myriad Beast Fist, Forest’s Embrace.

A hundred Source Points spent, and in return, the Celestial Martial Way was utterly transformed:

??? Level 8. Special Effects: Full Body Attributes Enhanced (Level 8), Self-Mastery (Level 8)

A host of special effects vanished, traded for the simple yet overwhelming enhancement of all physical qualities—including reaction speed—and a far greater mastery over himself, now able to cross the boundaries of muscle and simply command at the cellular level. Even the name “Celestial Martial Way” became a question mark.

It had been said before: there was no Secret Martial Art in this era that trained every part of the body to perfection. But clearly, this rule did not apply to “Effort.”

For Liu Tian’s extraordinary talent, with enough Source Points, not only perfection but even breaking through the limits was a trivial matter.

But this was not enough—this merely filled his shortcomings and raised his strength another level.

To seize that sensation, Liu Tian needed to be even stronger.

Simply renaming the martial art Celestial Martial Way and wholly immersing himself in the precious sensation he’d preserved, Liu Tian closed his eyes.

All along, “Effort’s” simulation had been guided not only by the intent of the martial art itself but also by my own will. Now, let’s see if that is truly the case.

Again!

Unconcerned with another hundred Source Points vanishing, within the sensation, Liu Tian touched a clear barrier—ethereal yet undeniably present.

It bound himself, bound humanity, bound the future.

But now, it was time to break it—to shatter those chains and rush toward the future.

Again!

Another two hundred Source Points vanished, and the shackle was utterly broken. No longer needing to dive into the sensation, Liu Tian’s self-mastery activated. The cells within his body began to move, to rub together.

Gradually, the friction grew more intense, the motion faster, until, at some unknown moment, a faint invisible spark of electricity was born between the cells. This electric spark was so weak that even the most precise voltmeter today could not detect it.

Yet the instant it appeared, it spread contagiously to the surrounding cells—one, two, four, eight, sixteen...

The infected cells multiplied exponentially. Within a minute, the spark had spread from a small point to a region, then from one organ to the next, until it covered the entire body, finally emerging on the skin as surging electricity. The current then began to feed back into the cells, generating even greater power.

Unlike Bai Cinan, who had implanted electric eel genes and could at most reach one hundred thousand volts by generating electricity with his muscles, as Liu Tian’s cell-electricity-cell system formed, the electricity on his body kept growing stronger.

One thousand, two thousand, five thousand, ten thousand, fifty thousand, one hundred thousand...

The insane surge in power continued for a long while before finally slowing, as if reaching a temporary limit—a limit of five hundred thousand volts.

“Now, I’m at least three times as strong as before—twice as strong as Bai Cinan. I could crush my old self with one hand,” Liu Tian judged, using his most suitable rival as a benchmark. He took a deep breath, resisting the urge to spend all his remaining three hundred Source Points at once.

He was already strong enough—more than twice as strong as yesterday’s world champion. For now, there was nothing that could threaten Liu Tian’s existence. Therefore, saving enough Source Points to restore his state in case of emergencies was necessary—especially when facing a cunning old schemer.

“This brand-new power... Well, perhaps I shouldn’t revoke my senior brother’s patent just yet—Electric Propulsion, yes, let’s call it Electric Propulsion...”