Su Yun’s suddenly head felt dizzy.
She could barely process what she was hearing.
Su Wang stepped toward her.
"Now, you need to come with me."
Su wang reached out his hand.
"Let’s go."
But before his hand could touch Su Yun, Su Wang suddenly stopped.
His gaze shifted toward Chen Feng.
Something was wrong.
Chen Feng was still standing exactly where he had been.
His eyes were closed.
His body was still frozen in the same fighting stance.
But the aura around him...
Had changed.
Su Wang’s eyes narrowed.
Earlier, he had deliberately released a portion of his Inner Energy.
A Martial Expert possessed Inner Energy, a power that could strengthen the body, protect the skin against weaker attacks, and suppress weaker opponents through sheer pressure.
That was one of the reasons there was such a massive difference between a First-Rate Martial Artist and a Martial Expert.
Su Wang had used his Inner Energy to suppress Chen Feng earlier.
He had expected Chen Feng to remain frozen because of fear.
But this wasn’t fear.
Chen Feng wasn’t trembling.
He wasn’t trying to resist.
He simply stood there like a statue.
His eyes were closed.
His entire body remained completely motionless.
Yet something about his presence was becoming increasingly strange.
Su Wang’s instincts warned him that something was wrong.
His expression became serious.
Slowly, his hand moved toward the sword at his waist.
Clang!
He drew the simple sword from its sheath.
The blade itself looked ordinary.
But the moment Su Wang’s Inner Energy flowed into it, a faint blue radiance appeared across the sword.
The surrounding air seemed to become heavier.
Su Wang suddenly disappeared from his position.
His body shot toward Chen Feng at terrifying speed.
Su Yun’s expression changed.
"Master!"
She rushed forward without a second thought.
Throwing herself between them, she prepared to shield her master with her own fragile body.
SWISH!
The razor-sharp, blue-glowing sword came slicing through the air, heading straight for her.
Suyan squeezed her eyes shut in sheer terror.
But... the blade never touched her.
Suddenly, a strong hand encircled her waist.
Before she could even process what was happening, a powerful arm yanked her backward into a warm, familiar embrace.
At that exact split second—
CLANG!
The screech of grinding steel echoed through the room. The sword stopped dead in its tracks.
Suyan slowly fluttered her eyes open. Her breath hitched in her throat.
Chen Feng was standing right behind her.
His eyes were still closed, yet an unyielding aura radiated from him. One of his arms was securely wrapped around her, shielding her completely from harm.
And his other hand?
It was raised casually in the air.
Between just two fingers—
He had caught and halted Su Wang’s lethal sword.
The entire room plunged into a suffocating, dead silence.
Su Wang’s expression shattered completely. His eyes bulged out of his head in sheer disbelief.
That sword strike—reinforced with the terrifying Inner Energy of a Martial Expert—had been stopped cold.
Slowly, majestically, Chen Feng opened his eyes.
Both of Chen Feng’s eyes had turned completely, brilliantly crimson. It looked as though two raging, divine flames were burning fiercely in the depths of his pupils, staring down at the traitor like a god looking at an insect.
At that exact moment, a system notification flashed right in front of him:
[Host has mastered the Heavenly Eagle Transformation Technique.]
[Host has reached the Martial Expert Realm.]
[Host has broken through the Martial Expert Realm!]
[Host has reached the Martial Master Realm!]
Right then, a gorgeous red lotus made entirely of fire—an illusory lotus—began to bloom right above Chen Feng’s head. It wasn’t fully opened yet, blooming slowly, petal by petal, as intense heat radiated from his entire body.
Suwang, the senior elder of the Su family, stared in absolute horror, his eyes bulging out of his head.
"You... you... you are breaking through to the Martial Master Realm?! How is that even possible?!" He instinctively stumbled back a few steps in sheer disbelief.
Chen Feng looked at him and smiled faintly, his voice carrying an icy edge. "Now you know, don’t you? How does it feel when your opponent completely skips a stage right in front of your eyes?"
By activating the Martial Arts Mastery Card, Chen Feng had instantly absorbed a full 100 years of experience in the Heavenly Eagle Transformation Technique.
This wasn’t just a couple of months of progress; it was a century’s worth of profound mastery.
Within him, he had completely absorbed the might of a Heavenly Eagle, a majestic mythical beast that looked intensely fierce—resembling a blazing, divine Phoenix. Every single movement he made now mirrored the supreme grace and dominance of a Heavenly Eagle.
Along with this breakthrough, he had awakened brand-new, terrifying skills.
Flame-Infused Claws: Anything Chen Feng grabbed and threw would instantly ignite into fierce flames.
Fire Palm Strike: A devastating palm attack fueled by concentrated spiritual fire that could scorch anything it touched.
Heavenly Eagle Eyes: His vision had evolved to a supernatural level. A distinct, glowing third eye materialized right on Chen Feng’s forehead—the Heavenly Eagle Eye. Once activated, everything around him slowed down to an extreme crawl, allowing him to perceive even the slightest, micro-movements of his enemies in absolute slow motion.
Fire Eagle Summoning (Ultimate Attacking Skill): This was his most powerful offensive technique. By burning his entire body with his inner energy and wrapping himself in roaring flames, he could summon a colossal, fully realized Heavenly Eagle made entirely of blazing fire. This was one of the supreme, god-tier techniques of the Martial Master Realm(but the drawback is that his skin and muscles can get burn)
Through this rapid evolution, Chen Feng finally understood the true gap between the different realms of martial arts:
Third-Rate to First-Rate: When a practitioner steps into the Third-Rate and First-Rate Martial Artist realms, they primarily rely on physical training, martial techniques, and developing raw physical strength where their own body acts as their primary weapon.
Martial Expert Realm
A Martial Expert is someone who has fully mastered their martial technique and taken their understanding of martial arts to a much higher level.
At this realm, a martial artist can sense the Inner Energy flowing through the world around them. They can absorb this energy into their body and store a considerable amount of it within themselves.
This Inner Energy can then be circulated through their body and channeled into their martial techniques, greatly increasing their strength, speed, defense, and destructive power.
Martial Master Realm
A Martial Master could no longer be considered an ordinary human.
After reaching this realm, their body and existence undergo a fundamental transformation. They have stepped beyond the limits of ordinary humanity and become a completely different kind of being.
The most important difference was that a Martial Master could develop a unique connection with an elemental force.
For example, after Chen feng reached the Martial Master Realm, his Heavenly Eagle Transformation Technique allowed him to gain powerful fire-related abilities such as the Fire Palm Strike, Flame Wings, and Fire Eagle Summoning.
Other Martial Masters might awaken completely different elemental abilities depending on their techniques and talents. One might control fire, another might manipulate ice, while another could develop abilities related to wind, lightning, earth, or another elemental force.
The first requirement was a High-Grade Martial Technique.
Anything below a High-Grade technique was simply not enough. No matter how much someone trained or how powerful their body became, a Low-Grade or Mid-Grade Martial Technique could not provide the foundation needed to naturally reach the Martial Master Realm.
But possessing a High-Grade Martial Technique was only the beginning.
The second requirement was even more difficult.
A martial artist needed a teacher capable of giving them Enlightenment.
Simply possessing a powerful technique did not mean that they understood it.
They needed someone who had already walked that path.
A true master could guide them, reveal the hidden principles of the technique, and give them the Enlightenment necessary to understand its true essence.
Even Chen Feng would not have been able to accomplish it under normal circumstances.
His breakthrough was only possible because of the opportunities provided by the system.