Chapter 95: Unexpected Wealth

Chapter 95: Unexpected Wealth

In the depths of the forest, Jiang Ning glanced at Xu Yunfeng's corpse.

"Finally, he's been completely dealt with!" he thought to himself.

The pent-up frustration he had been holding in for so long was finally released.

Then, with a thunderous boom, he stomped his foot, causing the earth to crack, and his body soared towards the two others who had just fled.

Meanwhile, in the dense foliage, the leopard-skinned woman asked, "Yuan Ge, are we safe now?"

"Not yet, we've only run a few hundred meters. Jiang Ning might still find us. Keep running, don't stop!" The man with the sinister gaze urged.

"Yes, Yuan Ge!" The woman in leopard skin replied, then asked, "But Yuan Ge, how can Jiang Ning be so formidable? With just one sword, he severely injured Hong Bangzhu, and his right hand was directly disabled!"

"I don't know!" The man with the sinister gaze said as he ran.

"Yuan Ge, it's really strange! Jiang Ning has only been practicing martial arts for a little over a month. How can he be so terrifying?" The woman in leopard skin voiced her confusion again.

"He might be a true genius! That's why Shen Congyun values him so much!" The man with the sinister gaze casually replied, then continued to focus on his frantic escape.

At that moment, they suddenly heard a noise coming from behind, growing louder as it approached.

The branches shook, rustling loudly.

They turned around abruptly and saw Jiang Ning's figure darting through the trees.

Jiang Ning moved like a white ape in the forest, leaping effortlessly from one tree to another.

In just a few jumps, he covered a distance of several dozen zhang.

So fast!

The man with the sinister gaze's pupils constricted at the sight.

"Yuan Ge, Jiang Ning is catching up!" The woman in leopard skin exclaimed in terror.

"Split up and run!" The man with the sinister gaze glanced at Jiang Ning and immediately made a decision.

The next moment, he turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.

He fled through the forest, heading towards a complex terrain with dense shrubs.

"Please, gods, let me escape alive today!" He prayed silently in his heart.

A moment later, a desperate scream echoed from behind.

Hearing the scream, his heart trembled.

He knew that he was the only one left now.

Less than ten breaths later, he heard distinct noises coming from behind again.

He turned around and saw Jiang Ning within ten zhang.

Despair filled his eyes.

Facing Jiang Ning's slashing sword, he could only muster all his strength for a final attack, aiming directly at Jiang Ning's vital points without any defense.

The next moment,

Jiang Ning's horizontal slash sent the man's longsword flying.

With another swift move,

Whoosh—

A head flew into the air.

Looking at the corpse on the ground,

"Finally, it's all over!" Jiang Ning relaxed, and his heightened state dissipated.

As his state subsided, his rapid heartbeat slowed.

His elevated body temperature cooled down, and his flushed skin returned to normal.

Jiang Ning also felt a wave of weakness spreading through his body.

"The side effects are indeed significant!" He sighed to himself.

Then, he took out a wild ginseng from his pocket, broke it in half, and popped it into his mouth.

As the ginseng entered his mouth, Jiang Ning began to chew, and a sweet essence mixed with his saliva, sending warm currents throughout his body.

After thoroughly chewing the ginseng, Jiang Ning swallowed the crushed remnants.

As the fragments entered his stomach, he felt the medicine's effects truly kicking in, and his weakness gradually subsided.

He glanced down at the corpse beneath his feet and noticed that the blood had already stained the surrounding soil red.

"I've killed, and I've killed four people in a row, yet I don't feel any different," Jiang Ning wondered to himself.

Then,

He chuckled and slowly shook his head.

"Forget it! No point in dwelling on this!"

"Let's see if they have any unexpected gains on them!"

"With their status, they should have some surprises!"

With that thought, Jiang Ning knelt down and searched the man's waist.

Soon, he pulled out a money pouch.

"Indeed, a reward!" Jiang Ning weighed the heavy pouch in his hand, his face lighting up with joy.

Money was undoubtedly valuable to him; it represented the growth of his source energy points, the measure of his energy absorption.

The more precious the medicinal herbs and elixirs, the more energy they generally contain, providing him with more source energy points, but also making them extremely expensive.

Therefore, he needed money, especially since his martial arts training required the assistance of medicinal herbs, making his need for money even greater.

He needed money now, and in the future, the need would only increase!

Currently, with the help of Wang Jin and Shen Congyun, he didn't have to worry about finances for his martial arts journey, at least for the time being.

But in the future, when he becomes stronger and progresses further...

They won't be able to help him anymore.

In the future, all the expenses for his martial arts training would have to be shouldered by himself.

After searching their bodies, Jiang Ning turned around and left with the money bag.

He hadn't forgotten that he had killed three people in these woods.

With the bloody scent spreading, if he didn't search their bodies quickly, jackals and wild beasts might carry away their corpses.

By then, it would be too late to search their bodies.

Soon after, Jiang Ning had thoroughly searched their bodies.

He placed the items he found and the silver coins in front of him.

A martial arts manual and an Iron Sand Palm technique.

This manual was obtained from Hong Chengtao.

A dagger from the leopard-skin-clad woman.

Two swords, one from Xu Yunfeng and the other from another man.

Holding the two swords, he drew them out and examined them. Both blades had a noticeable notch, clearly created by his recent strike.

After a moment of thought, he tossed them into the bushes.

For now, he didn't want others to know that he had killed these people.

If he sold their weapons, it would leave a trail leading back to him. It would be too easy for others to discover his involvement.

Moreover, the damaged swords wouldn't fetch much money. Together, they were worth only around a hundred taels of silver, and it would be easy for others to trace them back to him, making it not worth the risk.

Then, Jiang Ning turned his attention to another pair of yellowish-white items.

Two golden leaves, a pile of silver coins, several ingots of silver, and five silver notes.

He quickly counted them, muttering to himself.

"Two golden leaves, each worth one tael of gold. In Great Xia, one tael of gold is equivalent to one thousand taels of silver, so this is worth two thousand taels of silver!"

Jiang Ning couldn't help but exclaim, "This Hong Bangzhu is indeed wealthy! Carrying around two golden leaves, one can imagine how substantial his assets must be!"

He carefully examined the five silver notes.

"Three notes of one hundred taels each, and two notes of fifty taels, totaling four hundred taels of silver."

He picked up the silver coins and weighed them, "There's probably over twenty taels here."

"So, in total, it's around two thousand four hundred and twenty taels of silver!"

"What a windfall!" Jiang Ning exclaimed.

He sighed again, "As the saying goes, wealth comes to those who are bold, and horses grow fat on night grass! If it weren't for this coincidence today, how could I have obtained so much silver?"

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Jiang Ning's eyes shone with joy at the sight of the wealth.

With this fortune, he didn't have to worry about money for the time being.

Moreover, with this money, he could buy a large house in the inner city and move his older brother, sister-in-law, and their family there as a way of repaying them.

He had been thinking about this for a while.

After gathering his items, Jiang Ning held the sword and ventured deeper into the woods.

He didn't plan to return today or in the next few days.

After more than an hour, he reached the top of a mountain.

In his hand, he held a rabbit he had caught.

Looking up at the sky, the sun was setting, leaving only a faint glow as it slowly sank behind the distant mountains. The air was also getting cooler.

"First, let's have a meal. After eating, I'll start tempering my skin. Once the skin membrane is trained, I'll become a Ninth Stage Martial Artist of Great Xia and truly earn my ticket to join the Patrol Bureau."

Jiang Ning muttered to himself.

He then tossed the rabbit aside and gathered some willow catkins, dry grass, and tools to start a fire by friction.

The area around Luo Shui County hadn't seen a drop of rain for several months.

Soon, Jiang Ning had everything he needed.

Moments later, a flame slowly rose, reddening Jiang Ning's cheeks.

"Starting a fire by friction is indeed incredibly easy for me now!"

"In my past life, I tried so many times without success, but now it's so simple. With my enhanced physique, everything is truly different!" Jiang Ning sighed to himself.

After building the fire, he took the dagger and the rabbit and walked to one side.

Reaching a pool, he quickly skinned and cleaned the rabbit.

After a quarter of an hour, Jiang Ning began roasting the rabbit over the campfire and recalled the Vajra Unshakable Body technique he had studied in the afternoon.

A little while later, as he finished reminiscing, he untied his bundle, revealing numerous bottles and jars.

"With all this skin abrasive powder, I should have enough to last me for some time!" Jiang Ning thought to himself as he looked at the heavy bundle of skin-refining powder.

He was already familiar with the skin-refining process, which involved vigorously rubbing the powder all over his body until his skin turned red, damaging the surface and allowing the medicinal properties to penetrate.

Then, by manipulating his Vital Energy, he would refine his skin and absorb the medicinal power, following the unique methods of his cultivation technique.

Repeating this process would eventually lead to the formation of a skin layer beneath the surface, connecting his entire body like the hide beneath a cow's skin.

Once this skin layer was fully developed and interconnected throughout his body, he would officially enter the Ninth Stage of the Martial Dao.

The key to this process was the Vital Energy circulating throughout his body, along with the assistance of the medicine and his cultivation technique.

This stage was also known as the Skin Tempering Realm.

The primary focus of this realm was to enhance the body's resilience and defensive capabilities.

Upon entering the Skin Tempering Realm, one's skin would become as tough as cowhide, significantly improving their resistance to strikes.

Ordinary wooden clubs and stones would pose no threat.

Additionally, there would be a slight increase in strength.

Warriors who reached this stage often gained over a hundred pounds of additional strength.

After achieving the initial stage of the Skin Tempering Realm, the next level was the Minor Skin Refinement.

At this stage, the skin would transform, becoming as hard as stone.

The body's resilience to strikes would greatly increase.

Weapons made of ordinary iron would struggle to injure those at this level.

Even weapons crafted from refined iron would find it challenging to inflict fatal wounds on warriors at this stage.

Furthermore, upon reaching Minor Skin Refinement, strength would increase by another one or two hundred pounds.

Only at this level would the benefits of skin tempering become apparent.

Attacks that would be fatal to ordinary people would only result in superficial injuries to warriors at this stage.

After Minor Skin Refinement, the next stage was Major Skin Refinement.

In the Major Skin Refinement stage, the skin would transform again, becoming as hard as bronze.

At this level, one's body would be like a suit of bronze armor, impervious to blades and swords.

Only weapons forged from hundred-fold refined iron could harm them.

Strength would increase significantly, and any warrior who had achieved Major Skin Refinement would possess over a thousand pounds of strength in a single arm.

If they wore armor, their power would be even more formidable.

Such individuals would be highly sought after by any faction they joined.

Typically, Major Skin Refinement was the upper limit for the majority of warriors at this stage.

Beyond this, most warriors would choose to focus on honing their martial skills and mastering Vital Force, a mysterious power that complemented Vital Energy.

By combining Vital Force with Vital Energy, they could begin tempering their muscles internally.

As the muscles were tempered, their strength and hardness increased, leading to a significant boost in power.

Thus, the Eighth Stage of the Martial Dao was also known as the Divine Strength Realm, characterized by rapid strength enhancement.

With each minor breakthrough, strength would surge by several hundred pounds.

Exceptional practitioners could effortlessly unleash over two thousand pounds of force with a single swing of their arm, and those with innate strength could even exceed three thousand pounds," Jiang Ning recalled from his previous knowledge.

However, he had learned that there were even higher levels beyond Major Skin Refinement, where the skin became as hard as bronze.

Previously, he had only a vague understanding, but after reading the Vajra Unshakable Body manual earlier that day, he finally grasped the full picture.

Major Skin Refinement, with its bronze-like skin, was not the true pinnacle of the Skin Tempering Realm.

There were even higher levels beyond it.

The ultimate goal of the Skin Tempering Realm was to forge an immortal golden body, as described in the records.

This was the true culmination of the Skin Tempering Realm.

The Vajra Unshakable Body technique he had acquired was the cornerstone martial art of Vajra Temple. If he could achieve perfection in his cultivation, he would indeed be able to forge the immortal golden body mentioned in the records.

However, the two crucial stages of Major Refinement and Perfection were missing from the technique he had learned.

Jiang Ning smiled slightly as he pondered this.

"That's not a problem. With the help of the system panel, as long as I accumulate enough experience, I can break through to the Major Refinement and Perfection stages and forge the immortal golden body," he thought, feeling a surge of joy.

If he could truly achieve this, he would be far ahead of most martial artists.

Only the most talented disciples of Vajra Temple would have the opportunity to learn the cornerstone martial art and achieve the immortal golden body, just as he had.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end