Chapter 216: Chapter 130: Sugar-coated Cannonball
Ten minutes later, the fatigue from cultivating the Great Power Realm had vanished, leaving Chen Cheng feeling revitalized. He casually raised a hand, and nearly imperceptible ripples disturbed the empty air before him.
The Qi Blood Power throughout his body suddenly surged. The ripples instantly intensified as a fierce wind howled around him, roaring like a tidal wave and carrying with it the immense, tyrannical force of the Power Dao.
As Chen Cheng waved his hand, that immense Power Dao suddenly converged on it. He then fiercely clawed at the empty air before him.
BOOM!
The air ten feet away was crushed, bursting apart with a tremendous explosive sound.
A single claw strike using the Great Power Realm far surpassed the might of a full-power strike using the Powerful Claw Stance. It was truly tyrannical.
However, the consumption was also enormous. Chen Cheng had used up nearly half of his Qi Blood Power; his face was slightly flushed, and his breathing grew ragged.
’As expected. As my Cultivation Progress in the Great Power Realm increases, I’m becoming more proficient at using it, and the amount of Qi Blood Power I need to channel is also decreasing significantly.’
An excited smile appeared on Chen Cheng’s face as he summoned his panel.
[Name: Chen Cheng]
[Realm: Muscle Strengthening (Great Success)]
[Skills: Iron Armor Skill • Muscle Strengthening (Great Success 489/10,000)]
[Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique (Great Success 3,253/10,000)]
[Powerful Eagle Claw Skill (Perfection) (Powerful Eagle Claw Stance) (First Layer of the Great Power Realm 31,660/200,000)]
[Wind Chasing Saber Technique (Perfection, Wind Chasing Saber Stance) (Deduction in progress. Current progress: 28/100. Upon completion, this Cultivation Technique can be advanced to a Superior Technique.)]
After his recent Cultivation, the Iron Armor Skill had finally reached the Great Success Level, and the Major Tendons throughout his body had strengthened considerably. But as his Major Tendons grew stronger and his physique became more powerful, his current training weights were no longer sufficient, causing his Cultivation of the skill to slow down dramatically.
At his current pace, a full day of diligent Cultivation would only yield a little over ten progress points. It would be difficult to gain even five hundred points in a month.
To cultivate the Iron Armor Skill from the Great Success Level to Perfection would take at least twenty months—nearly two years.
This rate of progress was clearly unacceptable. Buying Black Gold to increase his training weight had become a top priority.
As for the Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique, he had used two more Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pills recently, leaving him with only one.
In terms of Cultivation Progress, that too seemed to be gradually slowing as his Major Tendons grew stronger. Previously, absorbing the medicinal power of a Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill could increase his progress by about one thousand points, but now it only yielded around nine hundred—a decrease of nearly ten percent.
But there was nothing to be done about it. The Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique was such that the stronger one’s Major Tendons became, the more medicinal power was required to strengthen them further.
By cultivating both the Iron Armor Skill and the Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique simultaneously, Chen Cheng’s Major Tendons were strengthened to a degree far greater than that of other Martial Artists. The total amount of medicinal power from Muscle Strengthening Pills he would need to absorb would likely be much higher as well.
Of course, thanks to his panel, Chen Cheng absorbed Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pills without any hindrance, wasting almost none of their medicinal power. His efficiency was higher than that of other Martial Artists, so the number of pills required to reach the Perfect Level should still be less than what others needed.
All in all, he was still facing a huge shortage of Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pills. This couldn’t be rushed; he would just have to slowly figure something out.
Fortunately, his Cultivation Progress in the Great Power Realm was steadily increasing. In fact, as his Major Tendons strengthened and his physique grew more powerful, his progress in it was even accelerating.
’No matter what, my Cultivation Progress can’t be delayed. Once I’ve cultivated the First Layer of the Great Power Realm, I might just have to resort to some... no-cost business!’ Chen Cheng thought, his eyes narrowing.
This "no-cost business" was, of course, robbery. He already had a target in mind: the Zhou Family. A power as great as theirs would surely have a stock of Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pills.
Chen Cheng hadn’t gone to the Black Market to buy Black Gold recently, precisely because he was being watched again, both openly and in secret.
His watchers included people from both the Zhou Family and the Wang Family. If he dared to go to the Black Market, they would surely lose their patience and send experts after him.
For now, Chen Cheng couldn’t afford to provoke the Wang Family. But as for the Zhou Family... aside from Zhou Hongjun of the Bone Forging Realm, he considered the rest of them to be nothing but pushovers.
Even Zhou Hongjun—once Chen Cheng fully cultivated the Great Power Realm, he could eliminate him as well.
After breakfast, Chen Cheng headed for the Lishui Sub-Department.
Today was the Lishui Sub-Department’s year-end assessment, and nearly all the constables had gathered in the plaza before the two large Government Office Halls.
It was a tradition at the Lishui Sub-Department to assess all the Chiefs in front of all the constables, to demonstrate the fairness and impartiality of Chief Constable Ji Jingbei.
Even though all the Chiefs and constables had arrived, Ji Jingbei remained standing with a stern expression.
Below the platform, the constables were whispering amongst themselves, speculating on who would be ranked first in this year’s assessment of the Chiefs.
"Hey, Wang, who do you think will be named the top Chief of the Lishui Sub-Department this year?"
"Well, it should be one of the three: Chief Li, Captain Hu, or Chief Fang," Constable Wang replied with an air of certainty after a moment’s thought.
The constable who asked the question shot him a look and said in a hushed voice, "That’s the same as saying nothing! Everyone knows the top spot in the Chiefs’ assessment is always one of those three.
It’s obvious it’ll be one of them. I’m asking you, who among the three is the *most* likely?"
Embarrassed by the reprimand, Constable Wang said, "Then it’s got to be Chief Fang. Never mind that he’s the most junior of the three Chiefs. He hasn’t been picked for years, so it’s bound to be his turn."
"Heh, I’m afraid you’re wrong," the other constable said mysteriously. "This year, it’ll be Chief Li again!"
