Da Xuan Martial Saint

"Skin Toughening and Body Refinement, Tendon Changing and Bone Tempering all have their limits, and thus, the Five Viscera Realm undoubtedly also has a limit. Previously, very few people could reach that limit, hence the belief that the maximum is only nine or ten times."

Chen Mu sensed his Five Viscera Inner Breath, a trace of light flickering in his eyes.

Several days ago, his Five Viscera had completed the tenth natural tempering, a height which naturally was reached after entering the Five Viscera Realm based on the four limits of Skin Toughening, Body Refinement, Tendon Changing, and Bone Tempering, without any deliberate effort needed.

After the tenth tempering was completed, he had been able to clearly sense these past few days that no matter how the Five Viscera Inner Breath inhaled and exhaled the Heaven and Earth's Yuan Qi, it could no longer bring any further tempering or change to the viscera.

It was as if forging a weapon, where the iron had been forged into Hundred-Refined Steel, which was already its limit. No matter how much more it was smelted and cast, no matter how much more it was hammered, it was impossible to alter its nature.

However,

though natural inhaling and exhaling of The Power of Heaven and Earth had reached its limit, and even Chen Mu speculated that even swallowing 'Earth Element Pearl,' a type of Heaven and Earth Spiritual object, would hardly further temper the Five Viscera… the system panel told him that this wasn't the limit.

Because he tried to upgrade it via the system panel, it was still possible, there was just not enough 'Experience Points'.

"For the previous ten temperings, I had tested them with the system panel; they increased progressively, from 100 Experience Points to 1000 for the tenth tempering. But this eleventh time requires 2000 points—a doubling of the requirement," he recalled his previous knowledge.

How many more times could the system panel define temperings for the Five Viscera Realm?

One, two?

By his judgment, the tempering of the Five Viscera Realm also inevitably had a limit, just like extracting the purity of gold from ninety percent to ninety-nine percent, then to ninety-nine point nine percent... the closer to the limit, the harder it becomes, but there is always an end.

Ordinary people, even those who like him had pushed the first four realms to their limits, could nearly never touch the limits of the Five Viscera Realm because, after the tenth, the difficulty of further tempering is unimaginably great. The system panel itself needed 2000 Experience Points for just the eleventh tempering; what about others?

You must know, the system panel is a hundred percent lossless in its tempering.

For others, after the tenth, even swallowing a hundred 'Earth Element Pearls' might result in less than one percent actual effect. In such a case, for ordinary people, one would need to consume Heaven and Earth Spiritual Items as one consumes meals to possibly complete the eleventh tempering. Even a Great Sect like the Seven Profound Sect could not sustain such consumption.

This is already beyond what ordinary martial artists could achieve, or rather, something that can't be achieved by ordinary means, as this is limited by the concentration of Heaven and Earth's Yuan Qi, beyond what human effort can surpass.

But,

he could.

Though he is human, the system panel is not.

To him, two thousand Experience Points are merely about four to five 'Earth Element Pearls,' and even if the demand were to double, he could still obtain and sustain it.

And to Chen Mu, the true limit of the Five Viscera Realm was perhaps only two or three more temperings.

The demanded resources, even if they doubled step by step, were within his ability to endure.

"If I can refine the Five Viscera Realm to its limit, then stepping into the Six Viscera Realm, I can naturally reach unprecedented heights," Chen Mu muttered to himself.

Five Viscera, Six Viscera.

These two realms are extremely close, their connection even greater than that between Skin Toughening, Body Refinement, Tendon Changing, and Bone Tempering.

The foundation of the Five Viscera Realm directly determines the upper limit of the Yuan Gang in the Six Viscera Realm!

Six Viscera Realm.

Viscera, also means a house, a place for storage.

When a martial artist first steps into the Six Viscera Realm, awakens the 'Divine Spirits' in the viscera, and initially tempers the Six Viscera, using them to store Yuan Gang True Essence, one could easily double one's Yuan Gang relative to the Five Viscera Realm!

Like Meng Danyun, who probably stepped into the Six Viscera Realm with 'three portions' of Yuan Gang Force, her current Yuan Gang Force is about 'six portions.' Guitar: And once she brings the Six Viscera Realm to Perfection, it'll be roughly 'nine portions.'

This is also her limit.

Whereas stepping into the Five Viscera Realm with a better foundation, tempered up to nine or ten times, having 'four portions' of Yuan Gang Force, then as one steps into the Six Viscera Realm, they start directly with 'eight portions,' and after Perfection, it reaches 'twelve portions.'

The current Chen Mu is a bit more, about 'four and a half portions.' If he were to enter the Six Viscera Realm now and temper for a month to initially refine the viscera, his Yuan Gang Force would directly reach 'nine portions.'

Tempering the Six Viscera to its Perfection would be between thirteen and fourteen portions.

Skin Toughening, Body Refinement, Tendon Changing, Bone Tempering, Yuan Viscera... each step is a stair, a process of accumulation. Falling behind at any step means falling behind at every step, and as the Realm continues to rise, the subsequent impact becomes greater and greater.

This is why the gap between the upper and lower limits of the Six Viscera Realm can be so vast; the weakest may not even defeat the true genius of the Five Viscera Realm, while the strongest can almost overcome some weaker Marrow-Cleansing Grandmasters.

And Chen Mu,

might be the only person since the birth of Martial Arts who could see the limits of both the Five Viscera and Six Viscera Realms.

"Just perfect, in two more days the Sand Catastrophe will completely recede, the Earth's Veins will weaken and I can explore the periphery of the desert. If I can gather enough Spiritual Objects for the eleventh tempering, good; if not, I'll head back to Spirit Profound Peak to collect some more..."