Chapter 44 Maximal Speed

"Buzz!"

There was a flash of purple light as Wang Bugui returned to the foot of the Purple Waterfall from the Palace of Purple Clouds. He could hear the crystal clear water crashing down again, and he turned to look at the stone platform. What had just happened seemed so dream-like now

"Bugui! Where did you go just now? I couldn't sense your presence at all!" Said an anxious voice, as Yun Jinghong appeared instantly in front of the boy, his eyes are full of worry.

"Master, I'm fine. I was taken to Palace of Purple Clouds by the array carved on the stone platform." Wang Bugui replied as he touched the back of the head, laughing sheepishly.

"What? You were brought into Palace of Purple Clouds by her?!" Yun Jinghong asked as he grabbed the boy's hand. He sounded extremely uneasy, and he seemed to be terrified of Palace of Purple Clouds and Zi Yuxiao.

"Yes, yes... Master, do you know Sister Ziyu?" Wang Bugui said, not really understanding why his master reacted in this way.

"It's really her!" Yun Jinghong replied, staggering backward by two steps.

"What's the matter, is there something wrong about Sister Ziyu? Isn't she the spirit in our founding father's artefact?" Wang Bugui asked.

"She isn't what you think she is, and she's someone that even I can't afford to offend... Bugui, go back and rest first." Sighed Yun Jinghong.

Wang Bugui was full of doubts and wanted to continue questioning his master, but he could only return back to his quarters reluctantly after Yun Jinghong rebuffed all of his queries.

"Zi Yuxiao, have you awoken again after several millennia? Did she take notice of Bugui's great potential, and motive does she have? Could it be that even her power is not enough to withstand this calamity?" Yun Jinghong frowned as he muttered to himself before the Purple Waterfall.

It has been a month since Wang Bugui came back from Palace of Purple Clouds, and the daily practice of getting up early and training till it was dark eventually bore him a little fruit. He would leave the jade bench at dawn and practice mindful breathing and cultivate his prana power at the roof of the Yuxu Palace. The spot allowed him to understand the principles of Tao more easily, and by this time, his Innate Prana Power was already as big as the size of a human head.

The faint golden glow surrounding him had grown a little more dense as his hands gestured continually. He recited the Divine Golden Light Chant silently and channeled his prana power, causing it to grow as it absorbed the divine aura of Heaven and Earth. Even though his progress was incredibly slow, it was imperative that beginners keep striving and train harder, thereby allowing their strength to accumulate till they were ready to scale the peak.

The blood from his vitals in his body began to grow gradually as well, along with his cultivation of his Innate Prana Power. This had direct effect on his blood vigour, and by cultivating both of them at the same time, he would become stronger on his training journey.

If one observed closely, one would notice that the blood in Wang Bugui's body was already beginning to glow brighter. The golden glow it emanated was considerably stronger, as if his blood was molten gold itself.

Wang Bugui stopped channeling the Endless Golden Body Manifestation skill and reabsorbed all of his blood prana power. With that, the golden glow and auras surrounding him began to dissipate slowly into the air again. He opened his jet black eyes, and their amazing clarity gave him a divine quality. He then turned and leaped off to begin his maximal strength training, not wishing to have any delay.

Wang Bugui held his stance underneath the waterfall as he pondered the true meaning of Tao. He remained motionless as the force of the Purple Waterfall, a few hundred kilograms strong, came crashing down upon his head. He no longer had to use his blood prana power to withstand the might of the waterfall, and used his toughened body to absorb the blow. He cleared his mind of thoughts and emotions, focusing on sensing everything around him in great detail.

After one hour later, he began punching and kicking at the Purple Waterfall, as they engaged in battle. His first punch hit the stream of water back upward by 15 meters, and the waterfall reacted as though it had a consciousness of its own and countered, continually forming huge balls of water to smash into Wang Bugui.

After an intense battle, Wang Bugui lay panting upon the grass patch away from the Purple Waterfall. Everyday, he would only stop battling the waterfall only after reaching or breaking through his limit. The Purple Waterfall could adjust the force of its attack in accordance with the practitioner's own power, and Wang Bugui maintained his power at maximum level so that he could achieve the breakthrough in his maximal strength. After the battle was concluded, he felt as though all of his limbs had been broken.

He sat up and began to meditate to restore his body back to its original condition, trying to figure out if Zi Yuxiao was controlling the force of the Purple Waterfall. After taking a brief rest, he resumed training again, this time with the giant stone slabs. He went to the training ground to continue his practice and by this time, he could already handle weight of up to 4.5 tons.

He used the same extremely mysterious technique as before, only this time his training had become more intense. Each time he entered the colorless realm, the surroundings would begin to shake, and the tiny spiritual beasts absolutely loved it, as they would be knocked into the air every time Wang Bugui made the ground shake. As such, they would come scuttling over to the training ground to offer him encouragement everyday, and had become his most loyal fans.

Yun Jinghong appeared when Wang Bugui was training, at about four o'clock in the afternoon. He signaled to the boy from afar, telling him that he could stop. Wang Bugui put the stone down and looked at his master. "Alright, I can see that you've already passed the test. You can begin training of the third level now, follow me." Yun Jinghong said as he walked toward the boy.

He brought his young disciple to the foot of Yuxu Palace, and it was an area that Wang Bugui had seldom explored after going up to the palace, aside from the gathering of herbs and flowers. Yun Jinghong turned and used his magic to reveal a flight of stairs made of white jade which extended all the way up to the Pure Land.

"Listen carefully. Maximal speed training is also divided into two phases. First, you have to run three laps around the Yuxu Pure Land, constantly maintaining your maximum speed. Then, you have the run up the Yuxu Heavenly Stairs. There are a total of 81 steps, and the gravity you will encounter will be increase with each step you take, especially the last ten."

"At your Prana Body level, being able to run up three flights of stairs will equate to the initial stage of your training, while the ability to run up five and seven flights of stairs will mean that you're at the middle and clearance stages. If you can run up nine flights of stairs, you'll have come Perfect Realm in your training." Yun Jinghong explained.

Wang Bugui gazed at the Pure Land before turning back to the heavenly stairs. "How would you know if I'm running at full speed or not? Can you feel it if I'm unable to keep up the pace and slow down?" He asked.

"Rest assured, there's an ancient magic formation left behind in the Pure Land that I've modified. Any practitioner who doesn't run at full speed during training will be sent back to the starting point, and he or she will have to withstand the maximum amount of crushing force at his or her level for one hour. I wouldn't worry about not hitting my maximum speed if I were you."

"As for the jade steps, you can be even more assured that you won't be able to climb it without moving at your maximum speed. It's being controlled by the principles of Tao, and no matter how great your strong you are, as long as you're not an immortal, most of your achievement in Tao will be stripped away, and you can only rely on your innate speed and blood prana power to ascend." Said Yun Jinghong with an indifferent smile.

Wang Bugui's face grew dark as he heard his master explain. He felt that Yun Jinghong was really being mean, and he became extremely afraid of the consequences of not maintaining his speed at its maximum during his training.

"Remember, don't step foot on the restricted area— you'll just have to circle around it. Fine, you can begin training." Yun Jinghong instructed his disciple before leaving the boy.

"So, there's a restricted area in this ancient forest..." Said Wang Bugui as he wrinkled his nose. He felt that his master was unconcerned about his safety, to be telling him about the forbidden zone only at this stage of his residency.

Wang Bugui scanned the entire Pure Land before shouting. He began to sprint around its outskirts, and the speed at which he ran and the sound he gave out made him look like a lone wolf of the plains.

Soon, however, he understood how difficult his training was going to be. If he slowed down for even a little bit, he would be sent back to the starting point, and an immense force would come crushing down upon him. He nearly turned flat as a pancake from the pressure, but still, he had to continue sprinting.

Even if Wang Bugui could maintain top speed throughout the run, he would be forced to slow down as he passed through the ancient forest. Many times, he could see a flash of white light drawing near to drag him back to the starting point, and he would force himself to run through whatever obstacle was in front of him.

There were even cliffs to be scaled by hand only, and if his hands did not move as fast as they possibly could, the flash of white light would come hurtling toward him again.

His passage along the Divine Lake was even more tragic. There were controls set around it, and he could only scale the walls of the rock garden in the lake or walk across its surface. He was still unable to walk along stone walls, and his speed was not fast enough for him to walk across water. As such, he kept falling into the lake.

The instant he fell into water, Wang Bugui could see the flash of white light coming from behind to wrap him up. He hurriedly swam away in freestyle, and could not even lie down for a rest as he climbed back to shore— it was still following closely behind. After completing three rounds around the Pure Land, he flopped down onto the ground, unable to move.

Soon after, Yun Jinghong walked slowly up to him and said, "Hehe, I was just testing you earlier on and didn't teach you the technique to train your maximal speed. I'm really pleased, as your master, to see such results."

"You, you..." Wang Bugui was extremely angry but could only curse the old man silently. "The teaching methods of this master are really unique. It wasn't easy for Father to have endured his training. No wonder he is so skilled," He thought.

"Don't be angry, this is to better hone your will." "I'll teach you the technique now, pay attention!" Yun Jinghong laughed, before infusing it into the boy's primordial spirit.

In the next instant, various unique techniques appeared in Wang Bugui's mind. He sat up slowly to meditate and understand these incredibly profound martial arts, while Yun Jinghong channeled his qi to help his disciple recover at a faster rate. The pendant glowed slightly again, as it channeled auras to replenish the boy's pool of qi.

Wang Bugui opened his eyes after two hours and frowned slightly. The martial arts of the Eight Limits were really profound, and he could not completely understand any of them. He could also sense that he had not even begun to comprehend even half of the three skills that he had picked up.

"Don't be hasty. It's already an achievement for you to be able to progress up to this stage. My advice is still the same to you— do things step by step. I believe that you'll be able to break through the Prana Body level within a year, with your talent and magic artifact. I wanted you to slow down so that you could build a foundation that no one had ever seen before for millennia."

"Spend 12 years to build up and draw in your prana power, and another three to solidify your grasp on the Prana Body stage. This'll ensure that your future will be smooth sailing."

Yun Jinghong's earnest explanation made Wang Bugui feel at ease. He believed what his master had told him after careful consideration. He agreed that it was truly important to build a solid foundation for himself.

Wang Bugui gave a toothy smile and was no longer troubled by his slow progress. He had even found a way to console himself. He felt that his speed of progress was already that of a genius in the era of late arts, even his Sister Ziyu had claimed that he was a once in a generation talent. With the aid of the ancient pendant, he was sure that he could be truly powerful.

"Ah hahaha..."

The boy laughed confidently as he thought about it, and resumed cultivating his maximal speed again.

Yun Jinghong did not know how to react to Wang Bugui's quick change of mood. Eventually, he nodded in satisfaction before leaving the boy to his training. Wang Bugui became extremely excited and consumed by his training. He sprinted across the Pure Land, drawing the attention of his little spiritual beast friends who soon came out of hiding to watch him.

Wang Bugui channeled the mystical power of his skill as he ran, causing his speed to increase considerably. Images of the moves kept appearing in his mind, and he tried to understand the meaning behind the stances and attacks. Even with the aid of the technique, he could not let up, as his maximal speed would only increase if he kept pushing himself. As he was unfamiliar with the terrain and preoccupied with learning the footwork of his newly acquired skill, he bashed his way through his runs.

This could not keep Wang Bugui feeling down for long, as it was his nature to face any obstacle confidently, and his resilient character was also his biggest advantage. No matter how many bumps and falls he had during his sprints, he still got back up and continued. To become a practitioner of Tao was to go against the will of the Heavens, and if he could not even overcome such minor obstacles, what hope did he have of going against the Heavens?

"Man will overcome the will of the Heavens!"

The voice of Wang Bugui reverberated throughout the Pure Land. This was his life creed and answer to all difficult things he faced.

He always believed that nothing was impossible to accomplish in this world, and that while most of one's fate was pre-destined, there was still a little portion that was still up to one's will and actions.

This life line, if seized by anyone, would result in countless possibilities, as long as one put in the requisite hard work.