Chapter 34: Perfection
Chapter 34: Perfection
"Sir, you have a letter." The old servant's voice echoed from the courtyard as Chen Mu was about to boil water and prepare medicine for his midday skin-tempering practice.
A letter? Chen Mu was slightly startled.
He walked into the courtyard and took the yellow paper from the servant's hand. Reading it, he couldn't help but chuckle.
On the paper were some slanted and crooked words.
"Big brother, you're tricking me. It's been over a month, and you haven't come to see me."
"But I know big brother must be busy practicing, so I'll forgive you."
"I'm doing well at the Martial Academy. The sisters here all like me. By the way, the master teaching me martial arts said I have good natural talent and high comprehension. My skills will become very strong, maybe even better than big brother's, hehe."
"But don't worry, big brother, I won't bully you, hehe."
"This little girl..." Chen Mu couldn't help but smile at the words on the note.
Chen Yue's writing was taught by him. During those two years when they had free time, he would tell her stories and teach her how to write. Since they couldn't afford ink and brushes, she practiced by scratching on the ground with twigs.
The chicken-scratch handwriting was unmistakably Chen Yue's.
As he had guessed, her natural talent was indeed slightly better than his. He never thought Chen Yue would be lacking in comprehension; she often seemed absent-minded, but she was actually quite smart.
Although the little girl might have exaggerated, it seemed she was doing well. She got along with her fellow disciples, and she even had the leisure to write a letter and have it delivered, indicating her situation was excellent.
Chen Mu felt relieved.
Although he hadn't visited Chen Yue in the Inner City, he had been keeping an eye on her and heard that she was safe and sound.
Now, with Chen Yue's letter, he felt even more at ease.
Chen Mu took the letter into the inner room, folded it carefully, and put it away. Then he went to boil the medicine and prepared the infusion. Once everything was ready, he went to his usual sand pit for skin tempering.
The sand in the pit had turned a deep red and was permeated with a strong medicinal scent, almost entirely saturated with the infusion. The more saturated it was, the better the effect.
Chen Mu dug into the sand, lay down in the pit, and covered himself with the sand, leaving only his head exposed. He poured the infusion over his lower body, then covered his upper body, and finally poured the infusion over his head.
A scorching sensation immediately spread throughout his body.
It felt tingly and numb.
After the infusion cooled down, he poured it off and repeated the process several times until it was all used up. Then Chen Mu climbed out of the sand pit.
Since he had mastered skin tempering, the internal and external application of the infusion didn't affect him as much as it did initially. At first, he felt completely numb and couldn't even get up for a short while. But now, after the practice, he could easily rise, feeling only a slight soreness.
After washing off the sand and mud, Chen Mu's body fully recovered.
"That should do it," he said, taking a deep breath and returning to his bedroom to adjust his state.
After about a month, the Jade-Gold Skin Polishing Technique was finally perfected. It was time to see how much stronger his skin was compared to Zhang Xiangshen's son, who had copper skin.
Boom!
Along with the selection on the system panel, a scorching surge of qi and blood exploded within Chen Mu's body.
It was like a boiling hot wave, spreading from the inside out, permeating every inch of his skin and membrane. It felt like millions of hot steel needles piercing every pore, leaving a scorching sensation on his skin.
This was the third time Chen Mu endured this intense pain, and he was in a much better state than the previous two times. The first time, he had passed out, and the second time, he had nearly bitten through his pillow, unable to move or even make a sound due to the pain.
But this time, he managed to endure.
The millions of hot steel needles continued to pierce his skin, leaving a scorching sensation on his membrane. His skin became hot and scalding, turning red and glowing with a faint jade-like luster.
After an unknown amount of time, the painful feeling gradually subsided.
It was as if all the impurities had been washed away, and his body had been refined. Every inch of his muscles seemed to exude a joyful sound, as if, after the arduous skin tempering, he had finally broken free from his cocoon and transformed into a butterfly.
When Chen Mu sat up on the bed and looked at his body, he noticed that his skin was no longer rough but had a resilience comparable to stone.
Bang!
Chen Mu raised his hand and slammed it onto the table, his palm covered in a thick layer of leather, emitting a dull thud. The table shook, and cracks even appeared at its edges!
"This is Perfect Skin Tempering."
Chen Mu exhaled slowly, feeling the changes within himself. Compared to Mastered Skin Tempering, his current transformation was far greater. Although his skin membrane seemed unchanged, it concealed a hidden strength, as if he had donned a Jade-Gold Soft Armor.
Those untrained bandits or those with only basic unarmed combat skills would find it difficult to cut through his skin membrane, even with sharp blades. Even substances like lime powder would be ineffective unless they got into his eyes.
Perfect Skin Tempering!
It meant his skin membrane's strength could now support the enhanced muscles.
The sequence of skin tempering before muscle training was not arbitrary. If one trained muscles first and they suddenly became too powerful, the skin membrane might not withstand the force and tear during exertion.
Thus, a robust skin membrane was necessary to support further muscle training and power enhancement, allowing for unbridled performance.
In the outside world, this level of mastery would make one a formidable fighter. Within a gang, this level of skin tempering was as valuable as mastering a skill, perhaps even surpassing the mastery of blade techniques alone.
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
Those who could perfect skin tempering often had some training in blade or sword techniques. Conversely, those skilled in martial arts might not have the opportunity to perfect skin tempering, as the former only required a blade for practice, while the latter needed significant financial investment.
"However, it's still not comparable to Zhang Xiangshen's son, who was born with copper skin..."
Chen Mu clenched his fist, feeling the strength of his skin membrane, and shook his head slightly.
If Zhang Xiangshen's son's copper skin was a '10' in strength, Chen Mu's skin membrane was probably a '7', a noticeable difference.
This was determined by one's physique and had little to do with the skin tempering method itself. The Jade-Gold Skin Polishing Technique had reached its limit at this level. Chen Mu guessed that even if he continued to follow the method, taking the medicine internally and externally, it might not yield further results.
His skin membrane had fully adapted to the two recovery potions of the Jade-Gold Skin Polishing Technique.
Chen Mu summoned the system panel to test it, and indeed, perfection was the limit of the Jade-Gold Skin Polishing Technique, and it couldn't be further improved. This technique, for him, could only temper his skin membrane to this extent.
At this stage,
To further enhance his skin membrane, he would need to switch to another method.
However, most people wouldn't do this. Even if they spent two to three years practicing another skin tempering method and achieved perfection, they might only improve their skin membrane strength to a '9'.
While this seemed like a significant improvement, for them, the two to three years spent might mean they would never have the chance to break through to Sinew Transformation or even Bone Forging later on.
Only those born with copper skin, or with truly exceptional constitutions and rapid progress—the Heaven's Pride—would dare to invest more time in foundation training, unafraid of future setbacks.
"I don't have a muscle cultivation method for the next step yet, but for skin tempering..."
Chen Mu took out a small booklet from the room.
"Iron-Sand Skin Tempering Technique"
For him now, obtaining a muscle cultivation method was slightly more complicated, but a basic skin tempering method was easy to come by. During his free time at the City Guard, he managed to acquire one.
"It's still worth a try."
For most people, practicing multiple skin tempering methods simultaneously would slow their progress. As their skin membrane strengthened, using other methods to achieve results often became increasingly inefficient.
But he was different.
Based on his progress with the Jade-Gold Skin Polishing Technique, his improvement would only accelerate. The stronger his skin membrane, the more potent medicine it could withstand, and he might even be able to force a breakthrough in a single day!
If that were the case, it would be worth trying, as even those who had achieved minor success in muscle cultivation might not fare well against someone with a steel copper body.
Zhang Xiangshen's son, with his natural copper skin and formidable strength, would be a challenging opponent, especially if he encountered someone with perfect muscle cultivation and lethal sword skills.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
