Chapter 35: Chapter 33: Copper Skin
With the perfection of his Skin Toughening, Chen Mu felt much more at peace. In the following days, he spent most of his time practicing the Skin Toughening Method and Blade Technique in his own backyard, rarely visiting the City Defense Division or meddling in its affairs.
And just like that, nearly half a month flashed by.
As Chen Mu was about to buy more Medicinal Powder after running out again, he had just stepped out of the door when he saw several servant enforcers hurrying by, busily transporting corpses.
Upon seeing Chen Mu come out, although he was not dressed in his servant’s uniform, they immediately recognized him and paid their respects.
“My lord.”
“What has happened?”
Chen Mu asked with a slight frown as he glanced at the corpses being carried by the men.
This area belonged to the central region of the Ninth District, not only was it very close to the City Defense Division, but there were also patrol enforcers day and night. Furthermore, the locals were all fairly wealthy and influential gentry, and homicides were generally not expected to happen here.
“It’s the family of Zhang Xiangshen, all twenty-three of them dead.”
One of the enforcers whispered.
Chen Mu knew Zhang Xiangshen, who had visited him not long ago and brought some gifts to congratulate him on his new residence. It was said that his ancestors were government officials, though the family fortune had declined over the last two generations, they were still considered a prosperous household in the area.
Moreover, they lived just across the street from him. The sudden death of the entire family couldn’t help but make Chen Mu frown. Had the chaos of the world reached his doorstep?
Just as he intended to ask for more details.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared.
“Brother Chen.”
Min Baoyi, dressed in his servant’s uniform, walked over leisurely from not too far away, apparently also here because of the incident with Zhang Xiangshen’s family. He greeted Chen Mu as he walked up.
Chen Mu responded and then walked side by side with Min Baoyi, asking, “Brother Min, this family of Zhang Xiangshen…”
“Nothing serious, they probably angered someone, I guess.”
Min Baoyi spoke casually, then waved at the enforcers carrying corpses by the roadside to beckon them over.
The four enforcers were carrying a very robust corpse, whose skin was a bronze color, appearing quite tough. There were no visible blood stains on the body, except for a slight one around the heart on its chest.
“Look.”
Min Baoyi pointed at the wound and said to Chen Mu, “This man was Zhang Xiangshen’s third son, born with Copper Skin. After achieving perfection in his Skin Toughening, it was three times stronger than that of an ordinary person, making him hard to injure with sharp blades and swords. Such naturally strong individuals could often withstand attacks from five or six peers of the same level without faltering.”
Chen Mu’s gaze was grave as he observed the wound, saying, “And yet, he was killed with a single blow.”
“Yes.”
Min Baoyi sighed, “This is a sword wound, a lethal strike without hesitation or delay. It must have been inflicted by someone at least proficient in Sword Momentum and whose muscles had reached the state of Perfection, capable of unleashing fierce and unrivaled power to achieve this.”
Chen Mu nodded slightly.
This was a feat for someone of Min Baoyi’s level, not something some wandering bandits or criminals could achieve. After all, if they could choose to serve any power, they would be treated with respect. The modest fortune of Zhang Xiangshen was unlikely to attract such a formidable foe.
Chen Mu stepped closer to the corpse and drew his Servant’s Knife to slash casually. Although he did not use any Blade Momentum, nor did he exert much force—a cut that would ordinarily slice through cowhide and tendon easily—it only left a white mark on the body.
“Such a tough membrane of skin.”
Chen Mu sheathed his Servant’s Knife, his eyes flickering slightly.
He had achieved perfection in his Skin Toughening, but compared to the toughness of this person’s skin, he was far from a match. He feared that even if he perfected the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, he would still fall short. Min Baoyi’s mention of ‘Copper Skin’ was indeed no falsehood.
“Right?”
Min Baoyi smiled and said, “This is a natural gift, difficult to replicate. For common people like us who practice martial arts, unless we cultivate several kinds of Skin Toughening Methods, we can never achieve this true Copper-Steel Skin.”
“`
“But practicing multiple Skin Toughening Methods is indeed more formidable after stepping into Body Refinement. However, it takes up a lot of time and effort. If one lingers too long at the Skin Toughening level, it might become even harder to enter the Tendon Changing Realm.”
Min Baoyi said this as he patted Chen Mu’s shoulder and then waved his hand, signaling several servants to carry away the corpse.
Upon hearing this,
Chen Mu showed a thoughtful expression.
For ordinary people, pursuing the Skin Toughening, Body Refinement, Tendon Changing, and Bone Tempering path is desperately urgent, fighting against every minute and second. Once they pass the age of thirty, they start getting diminishing returns, and beginning from forty, it’s basically harder to make any progress, and they even gradually decline.
Practicing several Skin Toughening Methods and delaying for a few more years, one might never have the chance to step into the Tendon Changing Realm.
However, because of the existence of the system panel, age doesn’t affect him much, and his cultivation speed is far beyond ordinary people by an unknown factor. This means he has more spare time to push each realm to its limit.
Just as Min Baoyi said.
With a natural physique, cultivating a Copper-Steel Skin, one cannot withstand a strike from someone with Body Refinement Perfection, but if facing someone with only Major or Minor Body Refinement Achievement, they might find it difficult to deal with such robust Copper-Steel Skin.
But because no one would spend their precious time on cultivating Copper-Steel Skin or Iron Muscle, delaying their progress in Tendon Changing and Bone Tempering, such individuals are rare. Those who do exist, like Zhang Xiangshen’s third son, have innate talents that do not delay the regular progress of Body Refining.
But he…
could cultivate a Major Achievement in Skin Toughening in half a month, and reach Perfection in just over a month!
“Maybe I can also refine each realm to the extent that man has, achieving Copper Skin and Iron Bones, a Mysterious Golden Body.”
Chen Mu entertained some thoughts vaguely.
After making up an excuse to take his leave from Min Baoyi, Chen Mu hurried to the pharmacy, bought more internal and external Medicinal Powder needed for the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, and then returned home to continue practicing his Blade Technique and Skin Toughening.
The extinction of the Zhang Xiangshen family seemed indeed to be an accident. Over the following half a month, no similar incidents occurred. The people, who initially talked about it frequently, gradually put it out of their minds and forgot about the Zhang family.
Chen Mu, on the other hand, stayed at home, only occasionally visiting the City Defense Division, spending the rest of his time in closed-door diligent practice, Skin Toughening, and practicing his blade.
…
“This Gale Blade Technique has now reached Major Achievement.”
Chen Mu swung a Servant’s Knife in the backyard for a while and, after exhaling a breath of white mist, slowly stopped and nodded.
He hadn’t used experience points to improve the Gale Blade Technique since he obtained it, preferring to rely purely on his own ability for practice. As he had already mastered the Raging Wind Blade Technique and was an individual who had achieved Blade Momentum, learning another Blade Technique and mastering it to Major Achievement with his own skill was quite easy.
[Martial Arts: Raging Wind Blade Technique (Perfection), Gale Blade Technique (Major Achievement)]
[Experience Points: 1246]
“With the foundation of Raging Wind Blade Technique Perfection, my experience points increase much faster when practicing this Gale Blade Technique. In just over a month, I’ve accumulated over a thousand points of experience. This means, at most, it won’t take three months to master another Blade Momentum.”
Chen Mu looked at the data on the system panel and nodded internally.
It took him nearly half a year to raise the Raging Wind Blade Technique from Major Achievement to Perfection originally, but now to bring the Gale Blade Technique to Perfection would take at most three months. This indicates that the increase in experience points is also related to his own Realm.
With a thought,
he switched the system panel to another section.
[Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique (Major Achievement)]
[Experience: 996 points]
In this short period, the experience for the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique also soared quickly, now just one session short of a thousand points.
Chen Mu looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky and estimated the time. He had practiced the blade for half the day, and it was about noon now, the right time for another round of Golden Jade Skin Toughening Method practice.
“`
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