He shook out his slightly numb arm and rolled his neck, a series of crisp pops cracking through his bones.
"Don't just take hits." Mu Ye's voice sounded in his mind. "Remember to cultivate the Innate Secret Method."
Arthur took a deep breath, pressing down the surging blood energy in his chest, his eyes gradually sharpening into something fierce.
"Understood."
His entire body suddenly accelerated through the seawater, his form shooting forward like a cannonball fired from its chamber, straight toward the Deep Sea Demon Whale.
This time, he didn't simply choose to defend. Instead, he fused his Soul Power and physical strength together perfectly, his right fist slowly clenching.
One punch, thrown with everything he had!
No flashy Soul Skills, just the purest strength and speed.
Boom!
Fist and whale's head collided head-on in the seawater with a thunderous crash.
A terrifying shockwave spread outward from the two combatants, the seawater violently pressed into a massive hollow.
Man and beast locked in a frenzied life-or-death struggle.
Arthur recalled the Innate Secret Method.
The hardest part of the Body Sect's Innate Secret Method was always the first step: Body Forging.
The Innate method of Body Forging essentially tore the human body apart completely, then reassembled it in the optimal way. This process required countless spirit medicines.
But Arthur didn't need this step. Its purpose was to raise the body's upper limit, and as mentioned before, his body was already perfect, so perfect its limit couldn't even be seen.
So he could skip the process entirely and cultivate straight to the result.
The core essence of the Innate Secret Method was to channel the mighty power of heaven and earth through oneself, to cleanse oneself with it, and to reshape oneself through it.
These three combined together were Body Forging.
The human body received a fresh cleansing from the power of heaven and earth, making itself even more perfect.
"The power of heaven and earth..."
If there was one thing Arthur never lacked, it was exactly this.
Plane Consciousness! Hook me up!
A magnificent, heaven-shaking might descended. Strange phenomena appeared across the entire region centered on Arthur.
Far off, people aboard the two great ships all turned to look in this direction.
Above the sea, the once-calm sky suddenly darkened for an instant, and then a dazzling golden waterfall poured down from deep within the clouds, plunging straight into the waters where Arthur was.
"What is that?!"
"A Soul Skill? Or... a divine miracle?"
Startled cries rose one after another on the decks.
The golden waterfall connected sea and sky, like an inverted river of stars hanging in the heavens, lighting up the entire stretch of ocean in brilliant clarity.
The powerhouses on the Xingluo Continent's side were baffled and alarmed. "What in the world is that."
The powerhouses on the Douluo Continent's side had furrowed their brows at first too. But once they recalled that Mu Ye had just taken Arthur out to sea to train, they relaxed.
Ah, it's Arthur. No wonder.
The strange phenomenon arrived quickly and vanished just as fast. Because Arthur had already finished cultivating.
Body Forging was divided into three steps... no, four: Body Permeation, Marrow Cleansing, Reshaping, and Golden Body.
Body Permeation? The power of heaven and earth was already overflowing to the brim.
As for Marrow Cleansing and Reshaping, Arthur's already-perfect body had no need for either.
So.
Following the method for condensing the Golden Body, Arthur bellowed, "Golden Body! I command you!"
"Condense!"
At Arthur's fierce shout, the power of heaven and earth that had already filled him to the utmost suddenly surged to a boil.
Golden radiance burst forth from every inch of his skin, as though his entire body had transformed into a small golden sun.
The deep sea was dyed a brilliant gold under that light, and even the surface far above shimmered faintly with a thin golden glow.
The power of heaven and earth churned wildly along the path laid out in the "Golden Body" chapter of the Innate Secret Method, condensing within him into ancient golden markings, like densely woven runes, slowly surfacing across his limbs and body before finally settling back beneath his skin.
"Hmmm-"
A low, resonant hum echoed through the seawater.
There wasn't much visible change. Arthur's skin simply became finer and firmer, as though freshly polished, and his already handsome features grew even more striking and magnetic.
Arthur clenched his fist.
His baseline strength, speed, defense, and recovery were all climbing at a terrifying rate.
"Come on!"
He charged forward with excitement, grappling with the Deep Sea Demon Whale once more.
Compared to before, when he'd been at a disadvantage and coughed up blood with every collision, Arthur could now stand toe to toe with the Deep Sea Demon Whale without needing the power of the earth's veins at all, fighting with wild abandon.
And bear in mind, this was the deep sea, home turf for a Sea Soul Beast.
The Deep Sea Demon Whale roared again and again, its massive body thrashing wildly through the water, every swing of its tail and every charge whipping up towering waves.
But Arthur's figure didn't retreat an inch, meeting force with force, matching brutality with brutality.
Boom!
Arthur slammed a punch into the Deep Sea Demon Whale's jaw, its head snapping upward, its massive teeth clashing together in the water with an ear-splitting metallic screech.
"Again!"
He pressed forward rather than retreating, a faint golden glow surfacing across his skin.
Fists, palms, elbows, knees, shoulders: every part of his body was a weapon.
Each strike landed on the Deep Sea Demon Whale's body.
To the people watching from the distant ships, that stretch of ocean looked as though it were churning.
The seawater roiled as though stirred by some invisible giant hand, forming a massive whirlpool, flashes of golden light occasionally flickering at its center, accompanied by muffled booms rising up from the seafloor.
"That stretch of ocean... it's moving."
"Looks like something's fighting down there."
The powerhouses from the Xingluo Continent wore grave expressions. "Make sure the ships are protected."
The powerhouses from the Douluo Continent's side, by contrast, were fairly relaxed. They could sense Arthur's utterly unconcealed presence, and someone sighed helplessly.
"Of course. It's Arthur."
Mu Ye, right there on the scene, had long since been stunned into a daze.
What had he just seen?
Arthur had achieved the Golden Body in an instant?
He must be dreaming.
After all, it had taken him decades to reach this same stage back in his day.
From Body Forging, to Marrow Cleansing, to Reshaping, and finally to condensing the Golden Body, every single step had come with unimaginable suffering and drawn-out time, not to mention the countless spirit medicines piled on top of it all.
And the Arthur standing right in front of him had condensed his Golden Body in the span of a few breaths?
"This... this is way too absurd."
Mu Ye ranted wildly inside his own head.
He'd known Arthur's cultivation would be fast, but he hadn't expected it to be this fast!
Fast enough to make even a Body Sect powerhouse who'd lived the better part of his life start questioning his own existence.
"This kid..."
The corner of Mu Ye's mouth twitched. He'd originally thought he'd still have several more years to guide Arthur down the path of the body.
But as it turned out, the boy had just turned his own decades-long road into a shortcut measured in mere breaths.
It wouldn't be long before he surpassed him entirely.
"Ah, forget it."
In the end, Mu Ye burst out laughing, thoroughly pleased with himself.
"Good thing I swallowed my pride back then and insisted on teaching him the Body Sect's secret methods. Hahaha!"
Deep beneath the waves.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fists crisscrossed through the water, every strike Arthur threw carrying the ringing clash of gold on iron.
He'd abandoned defense entirely, using offense as his shield, every punch smashing directly into the Deep Sea Demon Whale's body with brute force.
Its massive form was driven back again and again under his assault, its once-impenetrable hide torn open in deep gashes down to the bone, blood spreading rapidly through the seawater.
"Roooar-!"
The Deep Sea Demon Whale had been pushed completely over the edge, a flicker of madness flashing through its pitch-black slit pupils.