Chapter 76: Chapter 76: 2-Fold Blade Force
"Flex."
Luo Anning placed her small hand on Su Mu’s back.
Su Mu flexed slightly, and certain parts of his body swelled.
Her hand felt boneless and silky smooth. Su Mu could even feel the tickle of Luo Anning’s breath on his skin.
Luo Anning was completely oblivious to how ambiguous her actions and words were. Her face was earnest, her eyes filled with shock.
"Extreme Skin Tempering Realm... Extreme Flesh Tempering..."
Her fingers slid across Su Mu’s back to his arm, and she even poked his bulging muscles. "How did you do it?" she asked, her voice filled with astonishment.
She practiced what was arguably the best Body Tempering Martial Arts in Wuling City, had access to the city’s richest cultivation resources, and possessed outstanding talent herself.
Even so, she had never reached the Extreme Realm in any of the four stages of Body Tempering.
The Extreme Realm required either extraordinary innate talent or an immense amount of time spent on Body Tempering. The latter would severely slow down one’s overall cultivation speed, so most people didn’t do it.
It had been half a month at most since she had last seen Su Mu, yet he had now cultivated Flesh Tempering to the Extreme Realm as well.
His talent could only be described as extraordinary.
Su Mu put his clothes back on, his gaze subconsciously falling to Luo Anning’s small hands.
Her fingers were slender and long, her skin fair and smooth.
The skin of most Body Tempering Martial Artists would become coarse after Skin Tempering. Su Mu’s skin was less rough only because he had reached the Extreme Skin Tempering Realm and his body had returned to a state of natural simplicity. Even so, his complexion was much darker than before.
But Luo Anning showed no signs of Skin Tempering at all. He didn’t know if it was because of the Skin Tempering Technique she practiced or her own extraordinary talent.
His gaze traveled up and swept past her chest.
’Yep, definitely extraordinarily talented.’
"It’s nothing much. I just trained and trained. Perhaps it’s one percent talent and ninety-nine percent perspiration," Su Mu said casually as he tied his clothes.
He really had put in the effort, working a 996 schedule on the job.
"I see."
Luo Anning nodded, her expression serious.
"Since you have such talent, an ordinary Tendon Tempering Technique wouldn’t be worthy of you."
’No, don’t say that! It would be perfectly worthy! Just give me two or three Tendon Tempering Techniques, any will do.’
"The Taiping Bureau doesn’t have many Body Tempering Techniques, because most who join have already achieved a solid foundation in Body Tempering."
Luo Anning didn’t notice Su Mu’s expression. She thought for a moment, then said, "There is one Body Tempering Technique, but your merits are definitely not enough to redeem it."
She looked at Su Mu, her expression turning a little grim. "Mine aren’t enough, either."
Su Mu was speechless.
"Give me a few days. I will definitely get you a Tendon Tempering Technique that suits you!"
With that, before Su Mu could react, she had already rushed off.
Su Mu stood stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry laugh.
’This is good too. Now I don’t have to worry about a Tendon Tempering Technique.’
With his remaining silver and merits, he could redeem a few more Martial Arts.
...
A good while later, Su Mu left the Taiping Bureau.
He then made a trip to a Pawnshop in the Inner City, where he stayed for four hours.
Su Mu only returned to the Outer City just as the Inner City gates were closing.
After midnight, the system panel refreshed.
He had only slacked off today, earning just sixty Points.
However, his other gains for the day were very satisfying.
Cloud Rain Saber Technique, Broken Water Flow Saber Technique, Jade Wave Saber Technique, Wind-Chasing Swordsmanship, and Gale Swordsmanship.
Su Mu laid the five secret manuals out in a row before him.
These were the Kan Water Lineage saber techniques that he had brought back from the Inner City.
Aside from Cloud Rain Saber Technique and Gale Swordsmanship, which he had redeemed with merits from the Taiping Bureau’s Arsenal, the other three Martial Arts were all procured from the Pawnshop in the Inner City.
Two saber techniques and one Sword Technique, costing him a total of one thousand five hundred taels of silver!
He had also asked about Tendon Tempering Techniques. The cheapest one cost several thousand taels of silver—far beyond what an ordinary person could afford.
If he hadn’t come into a few windfalls recently, he probably wouldn’t have been able to afford even these Martial Arts manuals.
The poor pursue literature while the rich pursue martial arts. Without enough silver to support it, the path of the Martial Dao was nearly impossible to walk.
’I’ll still need a lot of silver in the future. I’ll wait and see what Luo Anning comes up with for the Tendon Tempering Technique. For now, I’ll practice these Martial Arts and master a few more types of saber and sword momentum. It would be even better if I can comprehend a Realm.’
Looking at the saber and sword manuals before him, Su Mu pondered for a moment before making his choice.
Logically, since he possessed the Xunfeng Realm Map, learning a Sword Technique from the Xunfeng Lineage would make it easier for him to grasp a Realm.
But saber techniques were the skills he displayed openly.
’I need to keep my Sword Technique as a trump card and not reveal it easily. I’ll learn the saber techniques first. My overt strength needs to be a little stronger, too.’
Su Mu thought to himself, picking up the Cloud Rain Saber Technique manual and beginning to study it closely.
...
When the sky began to show the pale light of dawn.
In the courtyard.
Su Mu sheathed his long saber, wiped away his sweat, and summoned the system panel.
[Name: Su Mu]
[Identity: Constable / Taiping Bureau White Clothes (Ninth Grade)]
[Points: 100]
[Realm: Second Stage of Body Tempering (Extreme Skin Tempering Realm, Extreme Flesh Tempering)]
[Cultivation Techniques: White Ape Marrow Refining Skill (Perfection), Wild Elephant Marinating Flesh Skill (Perfection)...]
[Martial Arts: Cloud Rain Saber Technique (Initiate/+), Submerging Wave Saber Technique (Perfection), Wind-Breaking Swordsmanship (Perfection), Archery (Initiate/+)]
After a night of hard practice, he had actually reached the Initiate level in the Cloud Rain Saber Technique.
Su Mu looked at the system panel in pleasant surprise. Perhaps because of his foundation in the Submerging Wave Saber Technique, his progress in practicing the Cloud Rain Saber Technique had been so smooth it was almost unbelievable.
Without hesitation, he pressed the "+" sign after Cloud Rain Saber Technique.
...
Several days passed in a flash.
The Hu Family still hadn’t caught Peng Li. They gradually withdrew from South City, seemingly having given up on capturing the person who killed Hu Yuxing.
Wang Guan still had not arrived to take up his post.
Su Mu went about his business as usual, diligently carrying out his duties as a constable.
At midnight, Su Mu was practicing his saber technique in the courtyard.
Suddenly, his saber technique changed, and the light from his blade seemed to transform into shimmering jade water.
Endless flashes of the blade, like a drizzling rain or the gentle ripples of the ocean, filled the space within a ten-foot radius from all directions.
The saber forms were like countless silken threads, fine and supple to the extreme.
"Finally. I’ve done it."
A smile appeared on Su Mu’s face.
He had finally mastered his second saber momentum: the Cloud Rain Saber Momentum.
The saber techniques of the Kan Water Lineage emphasized flexibility, changeability, and using softness to overcome hardness. The Cloud Rain Saber Technique, in particular, took the concept of "coiling silk" to its peak.
Once he formed the Cloud Rain Saber Momentum, Su Mu felt his saber technique become like a nimble water snake, able to coil around his enemies at will.
With the explosive power of the Submerging Wave Saber Momentum combined with the coiling force of the Cloud Rain Saber Momentum, Su Mu’s strength took another leap forward.
’Mastering two types of momentum still isn’t enough.’
Su Mu thought to himself. He still had no feeling for the Kan Water Realm; it seemed he hadn’t mastered enough types of momentum yet.
However, he believed that as long as he practiced multiple types of momentum, even without a Mental Realm Map, he could trace them back to their source and comprehend the Kan Water Realm.
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