Beating yourself up wasn't actually a simple matter.

Practicing the Nine Forces Shocking Dragon required immense force for the best effect, but at the same time, he couldn't destroy his own body, the very vessel containing it.

If, during the process of storing power, the force was too great and damaged his body—for instance, by suddenly punching a hole through his stomach—then that power would dissipate.

Ultimately, all his effort would be wasted, and he would have to start over from scratch.

But to ensure the best effect each time without destroying his body required constant testing of his limits.

As his body grew stronger through Body Refining, the amount of force required would also increase.

Once this Body Refining Technique was mastered, the stored power would be unleashed all at once in battle, after which he would need to store it all over again.

In reality, this Body Refining Technique had some significant limitations.

However, the cultivation process involved fewer steps and materials, making it relatively simple compared to other Body Refining Techniques.

In short, this Body Refining Technique couldn't help but remind Yang An of an anime he had seen in his past life—*One-Punch Man*!

The difference was, that guy was invincible with a single punch.

But with this Body Refining Technique, you could only throw one punch. After that one punch, all the stored power would be gone, and you would be left with a heavy price to pay.

If he were to use this Body Refining Technique's combat power while under the Pain Amplification of his Corpse Transformation, the subsequent price would be even more devastating.

But for now, with no way to find other materials, this was Yang An's most suitable choice.

'To practice or not to practice?'

'Of course I have to practice!'

Looking at the persistent information box before him, Yang An casually used Purification, intending to give it a try first.

"You little bastard! Move me farther away! Don't get any blood on me! Or I'll make you regret it!"

The Bow Lady had been the one to describe this Body Refining Technique, so she naturally knew how to practice it. Seeing Yang An's posture, she immediately shouted.

"…"

Helpless, Yang An casually tossed the Bow Lady into a corner of the bed, then got off it himself.

Once he was standing firm, he focused his mind, quieted his breath, and sensed his inner body. He began to follow the Nine Forces Shocking Dragon's Cultivation Method, using a portion of his Mana to construct the various nodes for storing power within his body.

This world had no concept of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians; a physical body was just a physical body. The so-called nodes were simply constructed in ordinary parts of the body with Mana, following the core tenets of the Cultivation Method.

Once he was ready, Yang An took a shallow breath to steady himself, then forcefully punched himself in the chest.

HISS—

He immediately sucked in a sharp breath as pain washed over him.

He'd put a bit too much into that punch. His sternum had fractured, but his skin and flesh were unaffected.

But for the current Yang An, pain was no big deal. He had tasted every kind of suffering since arriving in this world.

He had laughed at pain, questioned it, understood it, become it, and finally, transcended it.

Especially after undergoing the Corpse Transformation, his tolerance for it was gradually increasing.

It lasted only for the blink of an eye before his body healed itself, instantly returning to its original state.

Since his flesh hadn't broken, the force hadn't dissipated. Yang An had gained a bit of experience and tried again.

Outside, the sky had grown completely dark. Faint gasps could be heard intermittently in the quiet inn room. Soon, more than two hours had passed, and it was now 1:00 AM.

As he landed punch after punch on his own body, Yang An had completely found the limits of his endurance and adapted to the current pace of his Nine Forces Shocking Dragon cultivation.

In those two-plus hours, he had lost count of how many punches he'd thrown at himself, but his progress was obvious.

After a short pause, Yang An tested his body. Its strength had improved considerably.

When not in use, the power stored within him strengthened his body and enhanced his defense.

But once used, it would immediately erupt into a burst of power.

'I just don't know what level of cultivation strength this burst of power alone can compare to.'

'And with the amplification from the pain, how much power could it unleash?'

He had no way to test it right now.

It was still a long time until dawn, so Yang An decided to practice more. While he didn't expect to raise his body's strength to a sufficient level in a single night, every bit of progress counted.

His ability to conceal his secrets in the future depended entirely on these Body Refining Techniques.

A while later, just as Yang An was diligently practicing the Nine Forces Shocking Dragon, he suddenly stopped and looked out the window.

Within his perception, a faint, unusual aura had appeared in the distance, flickering in and out of existence.

Dropping his stance, Yang An calmed his breathing slightly, then deftly changed his clothes. The outfit he'd been wearing was already ruined by his own punches, riddled with large holes.

Even ordinary cloth garments couldn't withstand such abuse. Fortunately, Yang An had plenty of clothes in his Storage Magical Artifact and could change at any time.

Picking up the Bow Lady again, Yang An remained on guard. After all, he was currently within the Great Virtue Temple's sphere of influence.

He crept to the window and gently pushed it open a crack, peering outside.

At this moment, Buddha-Worship City was completely plunged into darkness. There were no lights, only dead silence.

With his True Eye active, Yang An's gaze froze. Within his field of vision, near the edge of Buddha-Worship City, a faint black shadow had appeared.

If he hadn't fully extended his perception, Yang An probably wouldn't have been able to spot that black shadow in time.

It was like a shadow that had melted into the dark night. At first glance, you couldn't see anything. At second glance, it still looked perfectly normal. But if you stared intently at that spot, you might notice something was amiss.

Seeing the black shadow floating slowly in the night, as if dancing on unseen waves, Yang An immediately recalled the information he'd gotten today.

The Thirteenth of the Seventh Month, the Lion Buddha Festival. Awaiting the blessings bestowed by Lion Buddha Mita.

'Could that be the Lion Buddha these people were talking about?'

Yang An didn't know what the Lion Buddha was, but he was certain it was connected to the Great Virtue Temple.

He watched as the black shadow swiftly drilled into various buildings in the city, only to quickly re-emerge. The originally indistinct figure gradually solidified, and Yang An finally got a clear look at it.

It was a small figure, no more than a meter tall, with a large hole torn open from its chest to its abdomen. Its flesh was peeled back, and a ferocious lion's head protruded from the cavity.

But behind the small figure was not the body of a lion. Instead, there was a long torso covered in golden arms.

It looked as if countless Buddha statues had been stacked up behind it, forming a long body, their hands raised above their heads with palms pressed together in prayer.

It was an extremely bizarre sight.

'If this is the legendary Lion Buddha, then these so-called Buddhas are more like Demon Fiends. There's no difference at all.'

Back at the Life Crane Sect, he had witnessed the people from the Great Virtue Temple in action.

Those Buddhist Cultivators weren't good people either.

Yang An's eyes were fixed on the Lion Buddha as it drifted among the city's residences, occasionally diving into a building before quickly coming back out.

Logically, these were all followers of the Great Virtue Temple, so the Lion Buddha couldn't possibly be killing everyone in the city. But Yang An couldn't figure out what exactly the Lion Buddha was doing.

As the Lion Buddha drew closer and closer to his inn, Yang An's perception picked up on its aura. It was ethereal and illusory; he couldn't sense any trace of a Cultivation Level. Instead, it seemed to be formed by some kind of Technique.

When it was near, the Lion Buddha drilled into another room. Yang An immediately amplified his perception to its maximum, wanting to see what this thing was up to.

Inside a dark, silent room, the Lion Buddha passed through the wall without a sound and floated before a bed set against the wall.

A man was on the bed, his eyes shut tight, snoring like thunder. He was deep in sleep, completely unaware.

The small figure with the lion head on its torso glanced at the man, then opened its mouth. A tentacle, like a long tube, suddenly extended from its mouth and probed into the man's head.

The man on the bed shifted slightly but didn't wake up. Instead, a smile suddenly appeared on his face. A moment later, a corner of the blanket covering him visibly tented upward.

The tentacle retracted from the man's head, but it now seemed to be coiled around a dark, murky mass.

The lion head on the small figure's body opened its mouth, and the tentacle placed the object inside, where it was swallowed in one gulp.

The Lion Buddha's body visibly solidified a little more. Then, on the torso behind it, a pair of praying hands slowly opened, stretching out to the sides. A golden flame bloomed from their palms.

Having done all this, the Lion Buddha silently left the room, returned outside, and began searching for a new target.

"You little bastard! That's not a Cultivator or a Demon Fiend—it's a Soul Body!"

Yang An was staring at the Lion Buddha's every move when the Bow Lady's voice sounded in his ear, making him pause.

'No wonder I couldn't sense any Cultivation Level from it. So it's a Soul Body.'

"You'd better be careful. That thing might be able to touch your soul directly and probe your memories."

The Bow Lady chuckled softly. Yang An's eyebrows shot up as he suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. 'Of course nothing good would come of being in the Great Virtue Temple's territory.'

'If I kill this thing, it'll probably attract the Great Virtue Temple's attention. But if I don't kill it, I can't just let it do as it pleases.'

'It's best not to engage it at all. I need to get out of here before it discovers me.'

Having made his decision, Yang An immediately left the room and summoned both Wen Yin and Zhou Quan.

The Lion Buddha was already very close, so Yang An had no time to explain. He led the two of them out the back window of the inn, leaping into the air and flying toward the city outskirts.

It didn't take long for the three of them to fly out of Buddha-Worship City in the darkness and reach the desolate outskirts.

Only then did Yang An inform the other two about the Lion Buddha, continuing to fly away from the area without stopping.

About half an hour later, the Bow Lady's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"You little bastard, stop! Don't you want to get information about the Treasure Temple Domain? There's a pretty boy up ahead!"

Leading the three to land in an open area, Yang An sensed a strange aura in the distance. A knowing smile immediately spread across his face.