Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Chapter 103: Chapter 30 Return@@novelbin@@

At the entrance to Luoshui County City.

After reading the bounty notice, Jiang Ning etched the six characters of ‘混江龙 Tian Buyi’ into his memory, and also firmly memorized the face described on the notice.

If he ever got the chance, he would be very interested in this Tian Buyi.

After all, capturing him meant a reward of a hundred taels of gold—too generous to ignore.

Moreover, Tian Buyi’s Martial Arts Eighth Grade strength was within his range of capability.

In a month, his own strength could advance further, and challenging someone of Martial Arts Eighth Grade was not out of the question.

[Name]: Jiang Ning

[Source Energy]: 2.4

[Skill]:

Reading and Writing (Second Limit Breaking 543/3000) (Trait: Unforgettable, Extraordinary Five Senses)

Five Animals Fist (Perfection 3/1000)

Chopping Wood Blade Skill (Third Limit Breaking 697/4000) (Trait: touch and understand, Quick as the Wind, God-like Blade Control)

Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill (Master 308/2000)

Canglang Blade Skill (Master 1/200)

Vajra Immortal Body (Entry 41/1000)

He glanced at the panel that had recorded his progress over this period, then shut the panel down.

After silently taking note of everything on the bounty notice, he headed toward the Inner City of Luoshui County.

At the same time.

Jiang Ning could feel many gazes at the city gate following his appearance, landing on him.

Soon after, there was a stir behind him.

Some turned to dash into alleys, obviously to pass on the information.

Others released homing pigeons as the fluttering sounds of their wings abruptly filled the air.

“Seems like there’s quite the silent attention on me!”

Sensing the movements behind him, Jiang Ning mused to himself, then smiled.

As the saying goes, treat a general three days absent as a stranger.

He had been away from Luoshui County for twelve full days.

That meant he should be looked upon with even greater change.

He was vastly different from before.

When he left, he had achieved Qi Blood Perfection, a full circulation of strength throughout his body.

His power was merely around seven to eight hundred jin.

Back then, he could, by himself, slay four skilled tailing followers.

Including two who had stepped into the ranks of Martial Arts Ninth Grade—among them, Hong Chengtao of the Green Gang, who had reached a small success in Martial Arts Ninth Grade and possessed skin as hard as rock.

Yet even so, that man could barely last three rounds against him at the time before he was slain.

With that kind of strength then, needless to say about now.

Now he not only stepped into the rank of Martial Arts Ninth Grade but had the strength of over a thousand jin in a single arm.

He had also made a breakthrough in the Five Animals Fist, reaching the level of Perfection.

Perfection in the Five Animals Fist meant his grasp on the skill was no less than that of Wang Jin.

With the Perfection of the Five Animals Fist, his movement technique was exceptionally outstanding as well, hardly a few among Martial Arts Eighth Grade experts could match his current ability.

Furthermore, Chopping Wood Blade Skill had undergone a Third Limit Breaking, increasing the explosive power of his blade.

Additionally, his physical prowess had greatly increased with the new layer of skin he had cultivated.

Just yesterday after his breakthrough, he tried and found that the first layer of the Canglang Blade Skill’s explosive power did not affect his physique at all.

Meaning, the first layer’s explosive force had become a regular technique for him.

He even attempted the explosion of the Dual Strength once, which only caused some tearing in the muscles of his right arm and skin lacerations.

The aftermath was somewhat present, but not unbearable.

In dire situations, he estimated that he could withstand more than five instances of explosive use of Dual Strength.

With enhancements in multiple aspects, Jiang Ning clearly felt a huge improvement in his strength compared to before he left the city, a difference as vast as heaven and earth.

If he were to face the him from more than ten days ago.

He could defeat, even slay, within ten moves.

Thus, even though he knew there were many informants around, notifying the people they stood behind, Jiang Ning wasn’t the least bit anxious.

His own strength provided him with this confidence.

Following the main road outside the city, it wasn’t long before.

Jiang Ning arrived at the familiar cottage enclosed by fences.

Upon seeing the faint smoke rising from the courtyard, a weight lifted from Jiang Ning’s heart.

As it neared noon and with smoke rising,

It indicated that his elder brother and sister-in-law’s family was business as usual, with no mishaps.

Although this was something he had already anticipated.

After all, since Shen Congyun took a stand for him last time, he’d become the main focus.

As long as nothing happened to him, normally no one would dare to move against his elder brother, sister-in-law, or his nephew and niece.

Pushing open the gate to the courtyard, Jiang Ning immediately saw Little Dumpling playing and Jiang Li fetching water from the well.

Although the area had been hit by months of drought, Luoshui County was next to the Luoshui River; therefore, they hadn’t lacked water.

This was also the reason why Luoshui County remained relatively peaceful.

At this moment.

Hearing the sound of the courtyard gate being pushed open, Jiang Li stopped fetching water midway and immediately looked up.

The next instant, his eyes shone with joy.

“Little brother!!!”

Jiang Ning smiled, “Big brother!”

On the other side.

Little Dumpling immediately tossed aside the hobbyhorse in his hands and ran toward Jiang Ning with open arms.

“Doot doot—”

“Doot doot—”

Excitement filled her face.

Upon witnessing this scene, Jiang Ning’s face instantly revealed a knowing smile.

He squatted down and opened his arms.

Then he firmly caught Little Dumpling, who hurled herself at him.

The five-year-old Little Dumpling was practically weightless in the hands of today’s Jiang Ning; with a slight effort, he placed her on his shoulder.

Then he headed towards Jiang Li.

“Brother’s back!!” Watching Jiang Ning stride over, Jiang Li sized him up and his face showed a smile that came from his heart.

Jiang Ning also had a faint smile on his face, “I’m back!”

“Did you encounter danger while you were away?” asked Jiang Li.

Jiang Ning shook his head, “There was no danger, just practicing in the mountains and forests! Big brother knows I practice the Five Animals Fist, and to advance further, I need to observe the daily habits and fights of animals like tigers, apes, and bears in the wild.”

Hearing Jiang Ning’s words, realization dawned on Jiang Li’s face, “So that’s why, no wonder little brother suddenly disappeared for so long. You went to practice your boxing.”

Jiang Ning smiled, “That’s right!”

At this moment, Little Dumpling sat on Jiang Ning’s shoulder, happily swinging her legs.

“Just let me know if you’d like to have lunch here or go back to the Martial Arts Hall,” Jiang Li said at this juncture.

Jiang Ning replied, “We’ll eat at home!”

“Yay—” Little Dumpling, seated on Jiang Ning’s shoulder, cheered upon hearing his response, her little short legs swaying.

The smile on Jiang Li’s face became warmer.

He nodded immediately, “Alright, then I’ll go tell your sister-in-law to cook extra for lunch today. I’m off now to buy some roast chicken and duck.”

“Hold on!” Jiang Ning interrupted.

As he spoke, he swiftly stopped Jiang Li’s movements.

“What is it?” Jiang Li turned to look at him.

Jiang Ning walked a few steps over to a stone table nearby, where he placed his pack on the surface and spread it open; then he took out a purse and walked towards Jiang Li.

“Big brother, you take these.”

Jiang Li looked at Jiang Ning in surprise.

First, he accepted the purse, and his eyes immediately betrayed a look of shock.

“It’s so heavy?” he exclaimed in astonishment.

Then, after loosening the drawstring and taking a glance, he saw that inside the purse, under the overhead sunlight, it all shimmered with a silver-white gleam.

“Where did you get so much silver?” he asked.

Jiang Ning replied, “It’s not much, just over twenty taels of silver. You take these for now, big brother.”

Jiang Li immediately shook his head, “This won’t do. You can’t just give me money once you have it! A man needs a financial foundation when traveling outside. You can’t leave yourself without money.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning smiled, “Big brother, this is just a very small part of what I have!”

Immediately, he pulled out four silver notes from his waist.

“Here’s another four hundred taels of silver!”

Then he took out two gold leaves.

The moment the gold leaves were pulled out, they reflected a dazzling golden light in the sunshine, instantly drawing Jiang Li’s attention.

“Is this… gold leaves??” Jiang Li couldn’t help but gape open-mouthed.

“Yes!” Jiang Ning nodded and then said, “So don’t worry, big brother, I still have a lot of money! This afternoon, let’s go to the Inner City together, and buy a house. Then you and sister-in-law can move and live there with me.”

“This… this….” Hearing this, Jiang Li was so taken aback that his eyes widened and mouth opened wide, unable to utter a word for a long while.

After a moment,

he swallowed hard and once again glanced at the gold leaves and four silver notes in Jiang Ning’s hand.

“Where on earth did you get all this money?”

Jiang Ning replied, “On the day I left the city, several thieves followed me. So I took care of them in the wild mountains and forests, and after a search, I came upon this unexpected windfall.”

Thieves?

Jiang Li: “…”

His heart filled with speechlessness.

He really wanted to retort, what kind of thieves would carry two gold leaves and four hundred taels of silver notes?

Staring blankly at Jiang Ning for a moment, Jiang Li eventually let out a long sigh.

“My little brother has truly grown up! I can’t measure up to you anymore!”

Then, picking up the purse Jiang Ning had just handed to him, he continued, “Well, since little brother is so wealthy, I’ll accept these twenty or so taels of silver!”

“I will go tell your sister-in-law right now, then head out to buy roast chicken and duck!”

At this moment, Little Dumpling couldn’t contain her excitement and cried out,

“Yay—”

“We’re going to have roast chicken soon!!!”

Meanwhile,

hearing the commotion in the courtyard, Liuu Wanwan, who had come out early, looked on with a complex expression at the scene in the courtyard.

She had heard the whole conversation between the two.

Looking at all that Jiang Ning had taken out, she too was immensely shocked.

Two gold leaves amounted to two taels of gold.

Even before she had eloped with Jiang Li, her monthly allowance was not more than that.

For an average family, this was an enormous fortune that they could not attain in a lifetime.

With her understanding, of course, she knew that those with two taels of gold could not possibly be mere thieves.

They must have been Martial Arts Entry level.

Without considerable strength or status, it was impossible to possess such wealth.

For ordinary people, even accidentally acquiring this fortune could result in fatal trouble.

Undoubtedly, the person her younger brother-in-law had killed was no ordinary thief.

He must have been someone skilled in Martial Arts Entry.

To kill someone of such skill, her younger brother-in-law must have relied on something with strong lethal power, probably a formidable external object.