Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Chapter 99: Chapter 26: One Can’t Get Rich Without Windfalls – 2

A cultivation technique, the Iron Sand Palm.

This was a cultivation technique scoured from the body of Hong Chengtao.

A dagger, from the leopard-skin-clad woman.

Also, two swords, one from Xu Yunfeng and another from a different man.

Holding these two swords, he drew them and glanced at their blades, both of which had a notch clearly inflicted by him just moments before.

He pondered briefly then tossed them into the bushes.

...

He did not want others to know yet that he was the killer of these people.

If he were to take their weapons and sell them, he would inevitably leave clues that could easily lead back to him.

Moreover, the nicked blades wouldn’t fetch much money, combining both would only bring in around a hundred and some taels of silver, hardly worth the risk of discovery. @@novelbin@@

Subsequently,

Jiang Ning turned to look at another pair of gold and white items.

Two gold leaves and a pile of blindingly white broken silver along with several heavy silver pieces, and five silver notes.

He counted them briefly, muttering to himself,

“Two gold leaves, each worth one tael of gold. With Great Xia’s conversion rate of gold to silver, one tael of gold is equivalent to a thousand taels of silver. That makes two thousand taels of silver here!”

Jiang Ning couldn’t help but click his tongue, “This Gang Leader Hong is really wealthy! Carrying two gold leaves on him, one can only imagine how rich he must be!”

Then he picked up the five silver notes and looked at each one.

“Three of a hundred taels, two of fifty, totalling four hundred taels of silver.”

He then weighed the silver pieces: “This is about twenty or more taels.”

“So, the total is roughly two thousand four hundred twenty or so taels of silver!”

“What a fat haul!” Jiang Ning clicked his tongue.

Then he sighed again, “Indeed, a man doesn’t get rich without windfalls, and a horse doesn’t get fat without grazing at night! If not for today’s chance, how could I have gathered so much silver!”

Looking at the wealth before him, a glint of joy flashed in Jiang Ning’s eyes.

With this wealth, he would not need to worry about money for a short period.

And with this money, he could buy a large house in the Inner City and bring his older brother and sister-in-law’s family to the Inner City as repayment for past debts.

He had thought about this long ago.

After packing these items, Jiang Ning carried the knife and went deeper into the forest.

He did not plan to return today and would not do so for a few days.

…

Over 2 hours later, he reached the summit of a mountain.

He also carried a rabbit caught on the way.

He looked up at the sky, where the sun had only a little warmth left as it slowly descended towards distant mountains, and the air’s temperature also began to drop.

“First to eat, after eating I start refining skin. Once my skin membrane is refined, I will be a Ninth Grade Martial Artist of Great Xia and truly have the entry ticket to join the Inspection Office.”

Jiang Ning murmured to himself.

He then threw the rabbit aside, gathered some willow fluff and dry grass, and prepared tools for making fire by friction.

Luoshui County had not seen a drop of rain for several months.

Soon, Jiang Ning prepared everything he needed.

Moments later,

The flames slowly rose, casting a glow on Jiang Ning’s cheeks.

“Making fire with friction, for me now, is indeed extremely simple!”

“In my previous life, I tried many times without success, but now it can be done effortlessly. After becoming physically stronger, it’s completely different,” Jiang Ning reflected silently.

Then, after letting the fire grow, he took the dagger and the recently caught rabbit and walked to one side.

Arriving by a pool, he quickly skinned and cleaned the rabbit.

A quarter-hour later.

By the fireside, Jiang Ning began to roast the rabbit as he recalled the Vajra Immortal Body technique he had reviewed that afternoon.

After a short while,

Having recalled everything,

He opened his pack, exposing an array of bottles and jars.

“With these refining sands, I should have enough for a while!”

Looking at the heavy packs of refining sand in front of him, Jiang Ning silently thought.

This step of Skin Refining, he was already well aware of.

Using sandpaper, he continuously rubbed his entire body until his skin turned red, damaging the skin surface so that the medicinal power within the sandpaper could merge into the skin’s interior.

He then started to mobilize his Qi-Blood, and based on the cultivation technique he practiced, he began the special process of tempering his skin to absorb the medicinal power.

He repeated this process until he formed a coherent skin membrane throughout his body in the inner layer of the skin, similar to the layer found beneath cowhide.

Once the skin membrane was fully formed and continuous throughout his body, it signified that he had stepped into the ranks of Martial Arts Ninth Grade.

The keys to this process included linking the Qi-Blood throughout the body and the aid of both medicine and cultivation techniques.

This level was also known as the Skin Refining Realm.

This realm mainly enhanced the body’s ability to resist blows and its defensive power.

Upon entering the Skin Refining Realm, the skin’s strength was comparable to cowhide, significantly enhancing its resistance to blows.

He would not fear ordinary hits from wooden sticks or stones.

It also slightly increased his strength.

Martial artists who reached this level would typically increase their strength by more than a hundred pounds.

After reaching the entry level of the Skin Refining Realm, the next stage would be small success.

At this stage, the skin membrane transformed, turning as hard as stone.

His resistance to blows greatly increased.

Blades not made of refined iron could hardly injure a strongman at this level.

Even wielding a refined iron blade would unlikely cause fatal injuries to a martial artist at this level.

After achieving small success in the Skin Refining Realm, his strength would increase by another one or two hundred pounds.

Reaching this level, the effects of the Skin Refining Realm would begin to show.

Attacks that could cause fatal wounds to ordinary people would only result in superficial skin injuries to a martial artist at this level.

After achieving small success in the Skin Refining Realm, the next level would be Refining Skin Mastery.

At the Skin Refining Mastery level, the skin membrane would transform again, becoming as hard as copper.

Reaching this level, he seemed to wear a layer of bronze armor, making him virtually invulnerable to swords.

Blades that weren’t forged with a hundred layers of refined iron could hardly cause him any harm.

His strength increased tremendously again, and any Martial Arts Strongman who mastered Refining Skin could exert a force of over a thousand pounds with one arm.

If armored, he would be even more formidable.

Such a strongman, regardless of which faction he joined, would become a distinguished guest.

Normally,

Refining Skin Mastery was the utmost limit for most martial artists at this level.

Beyond this, most martial artists would choose to painstakingly master martial techniques and master the marvelous power known as Power.

Using this Power, in conjunction with Qi-Blood, one could begin to temper the muscles inside the body.

Through continuous tempering, the muscles’ strength and hardness would increase, enhancing his strength further.

Thus, Martial Arts Eighth Grade was also termed the Divine Power Realm.

A typical characteristic of this realm was a particularly rapid increase in strength.

Each time they surpassed a minor level, their strength would surge by hundreds of pounds.

Among the top specialists, a single swing of an arm could easily unleash more than two thousand pounds of strength. If one had extraordinary innate talent and innate divine strength, they could exceed three thousand pounds of force.

However, according to Jiang Ning’s previous understanding, after achieving Refining Skin Mastery and having copper-hard skin, there was a higher level.

Previously he was not very clear about this, knowing only a little.

Today, after seeing the Vajra Immortal Body, he truly understood.

Refining Skin Mastery, with skin as tough as copper, was not the true pinnacle of the Skin Refining Realm.

There was still a higher level above it.

The ultimate end of the Skin Refining Realm was the condensation of a Golden Body, an Immortal Golden Body.

This was the true pinnacle of the Skin Refining Realm.

The Vajra Immortal Body cultivation technique he now mastered was the central martial arts heritage of the Vajra Temple, and if he could break through to Perfection, he could also condense the recorded Immortal Golden Body.

However, the current mastery of this technique and the states of Mastery and Perfection were missing.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning smiled slightly.

“This is no issue, relying on the panel, as long as I accumulate Experience Value, I can naturally break through the subsequent states of Mastery and Perfection and condense an Immortal Golden Body.”

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning couldn’t help feeling pleased.

If he truly accomplished this step, he would naturally far outpace most Martial Arts Strongmen.

Only the most talented disciples within the Vajra Temple could possibly receive the transmission of central martial arts and achieve condensing an Immortal Golden Body like he did.