Unrestricted Dao Lord

Lu Tianqing still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

For him, it was simply too stunning.

After all, he had languished in the Outer Sect for years, trying every method he could think of to achieve the Second Limit Breaking and cultivate a Thousand Threads of Qi and Blood.

Unfortunately, he had failed in the end.

He had been forced to develop Inner Strength before turning sixteen and advance to the Inner Sect.

In this regard, he was a failure.

But Zhang Su had succeeded!

A Thousand Threads of Qi and Blood!

And it seemed he had already developed Inner Strength.

Lu Tianqing took a deep breath, his voice trembling. "Junior Brother Zhang, you’ve developed Inner Strength?"

"Yes. I have to thank Senior Brother Lu for letting me experience true Inner Strength. Otherwise, I estimate it would have taken another three to five days to develop it."

"..."

Lu Tianqing fell silent.

The fact that Zhang Su could develop Inner Strength had little to do with him.

Even without him, Zhang Su would have developed Inner Strength.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Zhang, on developing Inner Strength. Your promotion to the Inner Sect is just around the corner!"

After a long moment, Lu Tianqing finally spoke.

His first words were of congratulations to Zhang Su.

Lu Tianqing was actually very envious of Zhang Su.

Although he had also developed Inner Strength, and had even done so earlier than Zhang Su...

...there was a difference between one person’s Inner Strength and another’s.

Inner Strength developed after the Second Limit Breaking was inherently stronger and built a profound foundation. The two couldn’t be compared.

The only pity was that Zhang Su was overage.

Being overage was a big problem.

Martial Arts was all about speed.

The faster, the better.

The faster one progressed and the younger one was, the greater the hope of reaching the Innate Realm.

The Innate Realm... One could establish a sect and become a hegemon!

The Guiyuan Sect could command respect from all directions only because it had an Innate Powerhouse watching over it!

If a Martial Artist failed to reach the Innate Realm by the age of sixty, their chances were basically gone.

The Guiyuan Sect’s entire purpose in selecting talented disciples was for that sliver of hope that one might reach the Innate Realm!

And Overage Disciples were considered to have fallen behind in the race to the Innate Realm.

Fall behind once, fall behind forever!

In the eyes of the Guiyuan Sect’s upper echelons, Overage Disciples were not actually worth cultivating.

However, Overage Disciples could still enter the Inner Sect.

After developing Inner Strength, as long as they could pass the Combat Power Assessment, they could become Inner Sect Disciples.

This was considered the only chance the Sect left for those Overage Disciples.

"When will you be taking the Combat Power Assessment, Junior Brother Zhang?"

Lu Tianqing asked.

"There’s no rush. It won’t be too late to go after I have a clear understanding of the specifics of the Combat Power Assessment."

Zhang Su, for his part, was not in a hurry.

He was confident in his strength, but he still needed to understand the Combat Power Assessment first.

He couldn’t just go into the assessment blind.

"If you have any questions, Junior Brother Zhang, you can come find me in the Inner Sect."

With that, Lu Tianqing stood up and took his leave.

Zhang Su watched Lu Tianqing’s retreating back, weighing things in his mind.

’This Lu Tianqing is a very proud man. But precisely because he’s so proud, by defeating him once, I’ve actually earned his respect.’

’Someone like that, with a pure heart, is worth getting to know better.’

Zhang Su remained on Golden Domain Peak to stabilize his Realm.

「A few more days passed in the blink of an eye.」

The Outer Sect was calm and peaceful.

There were no rumors about Zhang Su’s "Second Limit Breaking," "Thousand Threads of Qi and Blood," or "developing Inner Strength."

This meant that Lu Tianqing had indeed kept his mouth shut and not leaked any information.

’Without a Cultivation Technique for the Inner Strength Level, the efficiency of converting Qi Blood into Inner Strength is very low...’

Zhang Su muttered to himself.

He had spent the last few days focusing all his efforts on converting his Qi Blood into Inner Strength.

This Inner Strength was condensed from Qi Blood. Theoretically, the stronger the Qi Blood, the easier it was to convert it into Inner Strength.

But this was the crudest method of conversion.

To convert it faster, or even to make the resulting Inner Strength stronger, one still needed to practice an Inner Strength Level Cultivation Technique.

But the Guiyuan Sect had a rule: only Inner Sect Disciples were qualified to exchange for any Martial Arts at the Inner Strength Level.

Even Outer Sect Stewards at the Inner Strength Level needed to perform meritorious service for the Sect to use contribution points to exchange for Inner Strength Level Martial Arts.

Zhang Su focused his attention and checked his panel.

Host: Zhang Su (Early Stage)

Cultivation: Outer Force

Yang Extreme Blood Nourishing Technique: Compatibility 100% (Perfection)

Compatibility Value: 3

On the panel, Zhang Su’s Cultivation had already risen from the Ninth Layer of the Qi Blood Realm to the "Early Stage of Outer Force".

Inner Strength was divided into Outer Force, Inner Force, Huajin, Pill Force, and Gang Force!

Zhang Su was now an Outer Force Martial Artist.

An Outer Force Martial Artist’s Inner Strength was very weak and could not leave the body.

Once it left the body, even if it entered an opponent’s, it had no real killing power.

For example, when Zhang Su had previously felt Lu Tianqing’s Inner Strength, it had no killing power.

Outer Force could only act upon one’s own muscles, bones, skin, and so on.

When Outer Force erupted, it could elevate all aspects of one’s physical condition far beyond that of an ordinary person.

For Inner Strength to have killing power, one had to cultivate it to the Inner Force stage.

However, Zhang Su was an Outer Force Martial Artist who had undergone the Second Limit Breaking.

His Inner Strength naturally had its advantages.

First was quantity.

Although he was at the Early Stage of Outer Force, the amount of Inner Strength he possessed was likely comparable to that of other Martial Artists at the Mid-Stage of Outer Force.

Second was quality.

If Zhang Su were to unleash his Outer Force, its Extreme Yang nature would manifest in his physical attributes, allowing his body to produce a stronger reaction and greater power.

If he cultivated it to Inner Force, the advantage would be even greater.

This was the Supreme Foundation forged by the Second Limit Breaking, far surpassing that of other Martial Artists!

For now, Zhang Su was only aware of these two advantages.

But "Second Limit Breaking" was something countless geniuses flocked to.

Perhaps there were other, even greater advantages.

It was just that Zhang Su hadn’t cultivated any Inner Strength Level Martial Arts yet, so he wasn’t sure.

"Senior Brother, we’ve found out the details about the ’Combat Power Assessment’."

Just then, Chu Dachuan and the other two returned.

For the past few days, Zhang Su had sent the three of them to inquire about the "Combat Power Assessment".

It had taken them considerable effort, and they had only just returned.

Zhang Su stood up and walked out of the Quiet Chamber.

"Tell me, what exactly is this ’Combat Power Assessment’?"

Zhang Su asked.

"Senior Brother Zhang, the ’Combat Power Assessment’ is held in the Inner Sect. Overage Disciples from the Outer Sect who have developed Inner Strength must pass it to be promoted to Inner Sect Disciple."

"Overage Disciples taking the ’Combat Power Assessment’ only need to defeat three Same Realm Puppets."

"However, disciples participating in the ’Combat Power Assessment’ are not allowed to use Inner Strength Level Martial Techniques. If discovered, their eligibility will be immediately revoked, and they will be expelled from the Sect."

Zhang Su was a little surprised.

Theoretically, only Inner Sect Disciples could exchange for Inner Strength Level Martial Arts.

But the disciples in the Outer Sect had complicated backgrounds.

It wasn’t difficult for some disciples with powerful connections to obtain some Inner Strength Martial Techniques from outside the Sect ahead of time.

That was why the Guiyuan Sect had such a rule.

If a Martial Artist wasn’t allowed to use Inner Strength Level Martial Techniques, they would be at a great disadvantage against a Same Realm Puppet.

Let alone having to defeat three of them.

However, this was probably the Guiyuan Sect’s goal.

They wanted to screen for disciples with powerful combat abilities.

After all, most Overage Disciples had basically exhausted their potential.

The Guiyuan Sect had only one requirement for Overage Disciples: combat power!

The stronger, the better!

"Alright, I understand the basics. You’ve worked hard these past few days. Take these Blood Replenishing Pills and cultivate well."

Zhang Su waved his hand, generously handing over some Blood Replenishing Pills.

He was no longer short of Blood Replenishing Pills.

Chu Dachuan and the other two were diligent and conscientious, so it was only natural for Zhang Su to give them some benefits.

The three were overjoyed.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

The three immediately accepted the Blood Replenishing Pills.

"By the way, Senior Brother, if there are any other preparations you need, you can leave them to us."

Chu Dachuan asked.

"Preparations?"

Zhang Su shook his head.

"There’s no need. If I can’t even pass the Combat Power Assessment, wouldn’t that just prove the rumor that my title of ’Outer Sect First’ is from the Guiyuan Sect’s weakest generation?"

He knew that rumors were spreading in the Outer Sect that he had become Outer Sect First by "lying down".

That he had lucked into it.

Although he didn’t care much and wouldn’t go out of his way to explain...

...he knew very well in his heart that he hadn’t become first by "lying down."

He had defeated Lu Tianqing; he was the genuine Outer Sect First!

Therefore, for this "Combat Power Assessment," he really didn’t need to make any more preparations.

"Let’s go. We’re going to take the Combat Power Assessment and get promoted to the Inner Sect!"

Zhang Su said decisively.

Chu Dachuan and the other two exchanged a glance, a flicker of excitement in their eyes.

"Yes, Senior Brother!"

And so, the group of four left Golden Domain Peak and headed straight for the Inner Sect.