10,000x Cultivation: I Gain Power by Adopting Training Acolytes

Unaware of the chaos he'd unleashed across the sect, Zhang Yun basked in the euphoria of his breakthrough.

His cultivation surged through the layers of Foundation Establishment Peak – First Extreme Layer, Second, Third… all the way to the Fifth. Only then did the boiling energy in his veins begin to stabilize.

**Crackle!**​

Zhang Yun flexed his fingers, watching sparks of condensed spiritual energy dance between them. The explosive power thrumming in his muscles made him grin like a wolf who'd stumbled into a sheepfold.

"So the Extreme Physique Codex isn't just breaking through cultivation layers," he mused, examining arms that now held the tensile strength of dragon sinew. "It's shattering the very limits of Foundation Establishment."

Though his cultivation realm remained nominally at Foundation Establishment Peak, the raw force contained in his flesh could now crush the Golden Core cultivator he'd once been. The realization made him chuckle darkly. If that weasel Meng Zhong dared provoke him again…

"M-Master…?"

Wu Xiaopang's trembling voice snapped Zhang Yun from his bloodthirsty reverie. The chubby disciple gaped at him like a peasant witnessing a mountain god descend.

"Ah, just a minor breakthrough," Zhang Yun waved dismissively. "A sudden insight, you might say."

"Sudden insight?!" Wu Xiaopang's chins quivered as he gestured at the cave walls still glowing from residual energy. "You sucked up enough spiritual energy to drown a city!"

Zhang Yun's lips twitched. The boy wasn't wrong – the floor still steamed where surging qi had scorched the stone.

But Wu Xiaopang's shock soon morphed into awe. Though Zhang Yun's aura remained anchored at Foundation Establishment, the pressure radiating from him surpassed even the Golden Core elders Wu Xiaopang had glimpsed during sect ceremonies.

"Master, what is this energy?" The chubby disciple extended a palm where golden light swirled like liquid sunlight. "It feels… tyrannical."

"Tyrant's Quintessence," Zhang Yun declared, pride coloring his tone. "The key to awakening your dormant physique. Congratulations, Xiaopang – you're among the rare few born with a Tyrant's Saint Physique."

The revelation hit Wu Xiaopang like a celestial hammer. Tears welled as he kowtowed so hard his forehead cracked stone. "This unworthy one thanks Master for seeing worth where others saw only… only…"

"Enough." Zhang Yun hauled the weeping disciple upright. "Your gratitude is better spent cultivating. Now go – meditate on your new power. We've a sect event in five days where you'll need it."

Alone again, Zhang Yun tested his enhanced physique. Punches sliced through air with thunderclap force. When a practice sword shattered in his grip, he laughed aloud – the brittle steel couldn't withstand energies meant for Nascent Soul artifacts.

"Meng Zhong," he purred, envisioning the Tenth Elder's sneering face. "You'd better start practicing your groveling."

Summoning Xu Ming via communication jade, Zhang Yun prepared to test his eldest disciple's combat skills. The youth arrived still radiating traces of draconic aura from his earlier breakthrough.

"Show me your Cloud Treading Steps," Zhang Yun ordered, Celestial Eyes flaring to life. Golden text superimposed reality:

**[Cloud Treading Steps]**​

**Flaws:**​

Overcommitted weight distribution at 3rd/5th/8th steps

Predictable leftward pivot at sequence end

**Optimization Path:**​ Convert steps 3/5 to feints; reverse final pivot direction

Xu Ming moved with liquid grace, his footwork weaving illusions. To ordinary observers, the technique appeared flawless. To Zhang Yun's enhanced vision, it might as well have been a child's hopscotch diagram.

**Snap!**​

On the third step, Zhang Yun's foot hooked Xu Ming's ankle with surgical precision. The disciple crashed down hard.

"Impossible!" Xu Ming rubbed his bruised tailbone. "Elder Chen praised these steps as 'near-perfect'!"

"Elder Chen needs his eyes checked." Zhang Yun tossed a healing pill. "Again. Third step as a feint this time."

The recast footwork fared better – until the fifth step met identical humiliation. By the eighth failed attempt, sweat drenched Xu Ming's robes, but his eyes burned with revelation.

"Master's perception…" he breathed between gasps. "It's like he sees three moves ahead!"

Zhang Yun smirked. If only the boy knew – with the Celestial Eyes, he saw thirty