Chapter 33: Iron Body Technique, Becoming a Grandmaster!

October 7th, quarterfinals—Zhang Ji once again defeated his opponent with a single move.

October 8th, semifinals—Zhang Ji faced Hu Chang from the Seven Peaks Alliance. Their palms clashed, and though Hu Chang’s technique was indeed formidable, Zhang Ji still overwhelmed him with sheer force, sending him flying out of the ring with a single strike.

With that, the finalists were set.

Wang Pinghong of the Northern Sect would face Zhang Ji of the Five Forms School.

Previously, Wang Pinghong had also secured a decisive victory over Su Yu of the Southern Sect.

His publicly acknowledged professional eighth-dan level seemed understated.

It was likely that he had already reached a professional ninth-dan level.

October 9th was a rest day, allowing everyone to recuperate and prepare for the final showdown on October 10th.

Zhang Ji, however, did not rest; he continued training.

He now possessed nine crystallizations of the "Iron Cloth Body" skill—nine refined essences.

Due to the recent competitions, he hadn’t been able to fully immerse himself in training; otherwise, he would have had ten crystallizations by yesterday.

But with today’s rest, he had enough time to refine the final essence.

The entire day, Zhang Ji devoted himself to practice.

By 10 p.m., a prompt appeared before his eyes—he had obtained another essence.

He extracted this essence into his Boundary Space.

Immediately, his consciousness descended into the Boundary Space.

In the pitch-black void floated a green essence of "Dragon Form Fist," an essence of "Raccoon Claw Technique," nine crystallizations of "Iron Cloth Body," and those ten refined essences, scattered like stars adorning the night sky.

With a thought, the ten refined essences of "Iron Cloth Body" merged into one, transforming into a new crystallization.

Now, his Boundary Space contained ten combat skill crystallizations of the same level.

[Prompt: Combine ten ordinary "Iron Cloth Body" combat skill crystallizations?]

“Yes!”

Upon confirmation, the ten crystallizations intertwined and fused, emitting a dazzling light.

“I wonder what kind of advanced skill crystallization can be formed from ten ordinary 'Iron Cloth Body' crystallizations,” Zhang Ji murmured.

He watched as the ten crystallizations melded into one, growing slightly larger and radiating a faint green glow.

[Prompt: Successfully synthesized one refined "Iron Body Technique" combat skill crystallization.]

Zhang Ji’s gaze rippled as he looked at the green crystallization.

From now on, by integrating it into his body, he would attain C-level strength.

With a slight thought, he extracted the crystallization from the Boundary Space and fused it directly into his body.

At the moment of fusion, his consciousness blurred, and a flood of memories surged through his mind.

These were memories of continuously refining and innovating the "Iron Cloth Body" martial art to its peak.

From the original one hundred percent pure "Iron Cloth Body," he had discarded the dross and retained the essence, innovating a higher-level technique, deducing from the outside inwards, creating a new combat martial art.

Its name was "Iron Body Technique."

This art no longer merely tempered the skin, flesh, and fascia, but through specific frequency vibrations, it penetrated deeply into the muscles, bones, and organs, transforming the entire body into a more resilient form.

Alongside enhanced defense, it also possessed a powerful counter-shock force, able to actively vibrate muscles and blood flow, accumulate energy, and release it explosively in an instant.

After digesting these memories, Zhang Ji sensed the transformation within his body.

It was like a water balloon being stretched bigger.

This sensation was stronger than before.

The qualitative leap in skill was a qualitative leap in strength; the bodily transformation was more intense.

It wasn’t simply about acquiring one or two skill crystallizations of the same level.

Zhang Ji knew clearly that even twenty "Iron Cloth Body" crystallizations couldn’t compare to this single "Iron Body Technique" crystallization.

After about ten minutes, the changes in his body ceased.

He stood before a bathroom mirror, examining himself.

His once bronzed skin had reverted to a natural flesh tone; the previously bulging muscles had become more proportionate and balanced.

Zhang Ji subtly adjusted his breathing, and his body emitted a humming sound.

“Buzzz~!”

His muscles vibrated; the skin on his body shimmered with a metallic hue, resembling yellow iron.

He struck his chest with his fist.

“Bang~!”

Not only did the metallic sound resonate on the skin’s surface, but it felt as though even his lungs and bones had turned to metal.

Zhang Ji stopped his cultivation and patted his chest again, sensing no difference from flesh and skin.

Yet, when applying force beyond a certain point, his muscles would automatically tense, and muscular memory would reflexively redirect qi and blood, instantly returning him to that metallic state.

He usually remained in a concealed, energy-saving mode but could erupt explosively under stress.

The thought alone was chilling.

No one would guess from his appearance that Zhang Ji was a rigorous practitioner.

Only in actual combat, when struck, would his opponents realize the truth—by then, it was already too late.

“Where’s the ‘Shock Skill’?”

Zhang Ji thought, circulating his qi and blood.

His muscles emitted tight humming and cracking sounds, like springs being stretched taut.

He stretched them to the limit, then threw a punch into the air.

“Boom~! Crack! Pfft~!”

The shockwave swept through, causing a mirror more than a meter away to fracture with fine cracks.

The damage was not from elemental energy but simply from the force of the punch’s wind.

Had that punch landed solidly...

Zhang Ji smiled slightly—rare for him.

At last, he felt a sense of security.

At least now, he no longer worried about some random person ambushing him like a minor foe.

But he could not relax—this was only the first step.

His path was still long.

...

At 7 p.m. on October 10th, the grand final was about to begin.

The arena was packed, and the livestream’s popularity was at its peak.

The judges, all masters, were engaged in discussion.

“Wang Pinghong is currently the most outstanding new disciple of the Northern Sect. His elemental energy cultivation is very high; he is expected to achieve master rank before thirty. Zhang Ji is relatively younger; although his strength is formidable, his fighting style so far lacks technique—purely brute force. I still think Wang Pinghong has the higher chance of winning,” said a master from Mount Li Sect.

“On the contrary, I believe Zhang Ji has a better chance. So far, he hasn’t met a single opponent worthy of using a second move against. His strength is undeniable,” a master from the Seven Peaks Alliance replied.

“What do you think, Brother Li and Preceptor Shao?” asked a master from the Southern Sect.

“Of course, I support Wang Pinghong’s victory. But the outcome is secondary; the main goal is mutual exchange to improve our martial arts,” Ma Rui gave a diplomatic answer.

“Zhang Ji is still young and a bit hot-tempered. I think if he loses this time, it might be better—it will let him realize there are always stronger people out there...” Li Long added politely.

Zhang Ji’s past rude behavior was brushed aside with the excuse of youth and impulsiveness.

If he did lose, he could still save some face.

It was clear Li Long genuinely cared for Zhang Ji.

Given his past temperament, he would never have said such things before.

It seemed the trip to Shanli Island had truly calmed his restless heart, revealing the demeanor of a master.

Standing beside Li Long, Yan Ruifeng looked on with satisfaction, increasingly confident in the Five Forms School’s rise.

With Li Long’s talent, it was only a matter of time before he comprehended the Five Forms Unification and stepped into the Earthly Immortal realm.

Zhang Ji, Li Long’s disciple, was no less gifted, so it was possible that this generation of the Five Forms School would have two Earthly Immortals existing simultaneously.

A single school with two Earthly Immortals?

Such a phenomenon had rarely appeared in thousands of years of history.

As the discussion continued, the prelude performance concluded.

After the host finished announcing sponsors and opening remarks, Zhang Ji and Wang Pinghong were called to the stage.

“This is the final of the 8th Martial Arts Tournament. Let us welcome Zhang Ji of the Five Forms School!!!”

Zhang Ji slowly ascended the stage, the spotlight following him to the arena.

As the host introduced Zhang Ji’s past record—all victories by single strike—his many fans cheered loudly.

A few pranksters had even nicknamed him “One-Punch Zhang” because of his numerous one-hit knockouts.

Next came Wang Pinghong’s entrance.

He wore the Northern Sect’s updated plain-colored robe, a gentle smile on his face, exuding calmness and kindness.

This demeanor attracted many fans, especially a large number of female admirers.

Once both arrived at the arena and faced each other, Zhang Ji could clearly feel Wang Pinghong’s aura.

It was a self-sustaining cycle.

The Northern Sect’s elemental energy martial art was not dynamic but static training; once moderately developed, it could circulate automatically through walking, sitting, and lying down, constantly enhancing elemental energy.

Compared to Zhang Ji’s "Dragon Form Fist," it was far more advanced and efficient.

Of course, Wang Pinghong’s “Nine Yin Divine Art” was a blue-tier (excellent) skill, one rank higher than Zhang Ji’s skill.

Zhang Ji thought to himself: I must visit the Northern Sect someday to check it out.

“Contestants, salute!” the host called.

“Wang Pinghong of the Northern Sect!” Wang Pinghong cupped his hands and bowed to Zhang Ji.

“Zhang Ji of the Five Forms School,” Zhang Ji returned the salute.

For once, out of respect for Wang’s martial art, Zhang Ji was polite.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the battle was about to ignite.

“Bang~!”

An ear-splitting explosion sounded as Zhang Ji’s fist struck the empty air beside Wang Pinghong’s head.

The wind from the punch swept past Wang Pinghong’s right ear, causing sharp pain and a buzzing that nearly blanked his mind.

He hadn’t reacted in time; his protective elemental energy barely brushed the fist before breaking.

Zhang Ji restrained his punch, landing it in empty air instead of smashing Wang Pinghong’s delicate face.

He considered that he might want to borrow Wang’s martial art later, so they could afford to show some courtesy now.

Wang Pinghong stood motionless, disbelief flooding his eyes.

He knew he had lost.

But the defeat was utterly absurd...

Top-tier peak? No, he was a master, wasn’t he?

Such a young master?

The audience was equally stunned.

Those more knowledgeable had already discerned Zhang Ji’s realm.

Even Li Long’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

He knew better than anyone how difficult it was to leap from top-tier peak to master rank.

Martial cultivation is easy at the start but grows ever harder.

This threshold had taken him five years to cross.

Yet Zhang Ji seemed to have done it without any obstacle?

Besides being amazed at Zhang Ji’s master-level strength, Ma Rui was even more shocked by the technique he used.

“The ‘Shock Skill’ from the ‘Diamond Invulnerable Body Divine Art’?” Ma Rui’s expression shifted.

The Diamond Sect had been removed first because their martial art was the most dangerous to society, aside from their conspicuousness.

Ordinary fighters, even professional seventh or eighth-dan, would dodge a handgun.

But the Diamond Sect’s practitioners at professional third-dan and above could withstand small-caliber firearms; those above seventh-dan could even resist submachine gun fire.

If such a hardened expert went berserk, their threat surpassed that of multiple fighters at the same level.

The authorities had confiscated the related martial arts thoroughly.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Ji had re-emerged as a remnant of that legacy.

It remained to be seen whether the authorities would trouble the Five Forms School over this.