The Might of the Secret Transmission Toad Skill

At noon, the children traded several hundred toads for a whole lot of malt candy from Chu Qing.

The children were happy.

Chu Qing was happy too.

You had eaten one thousand toads and completed the first condition.

Chu Qing smiled.

Now, he only needed a few hundred more Frog Jumps.

Easy enough. Time to get started.

That afternoon:

Shi Tiezhu heard that a young man in ragged clothes and tattered shoes had cracked under too much pressure and was hopping around everywhere like a toad.

Shi Tiezhu took a moment to look. When he spotted Chu Qing from afar, he immediately turned and left.

"Poor Chu Qing. Maybe I dealt him too harsh a blow."

"I hope he returns to normal soon!"

From the pavilion, Zhao Wuji watched Chu Qing and nodded to himself.

"No money for meat, so he eats toads to replenish his flesh and blood..."

"Leg work is also important for Mantis Fist. Training his legs this way is rather novel."

"What a pity... no matter how hard he works, he still won't be able to enter the Martial Academy."

980... 990... 1000

Ignoring the strange looks around him, Chu Qing performed Frog Jumps like a madman.

You had fulfilled the second condition.
Toad Skill upgraded.
Skill: Toad Skill, proficient—practice one hundred times daily, take one secret medicine every Ten Suns, master it in one thousand days. (Secret Transmission)
Promotion Condition: 1. Perform one hundred thousand Frog Jumps. 2. One portion of Toad Secret Medicine.

The Toad Skill had upgraded.

However, the Promotion Condition made Chu Qing frown.

One hundred thousand Frog Jumps—those were easy enough.

At worst, he could play the part of a mentally broken young man for a few more days.

But... Toad Secret Medicine? He had no idea where to get it.

"No rush. I can take it slowly later."

Chu Qing found a corner and cultivated the Toad Skill.

Croak! Croak!

His five viscera and six bowels trembled. His muscles, tendons, and bones vibrated.

He spat out black phlegm and went to the latrine.

Repeating this over and over, Chu Qing felt his body growing lighter and more agile, while his spirit and energy became increasingly vigorous.

After cultivating for a while, an idea struck him, and he switched to Perfected Mantis Fist.

Once...

Iron Sinew +0.2%

Chu Qing froze.

Previously, Perfected Mantis Fist only gave him 0.1%. Now it gave him 0.2%.

His progress had doubled.

"Could this be the effect of the Toad Skill?"

He continued practicing.

Once... ten times... his spirit and energy waned, and exhaustion swept over him.

Iron Sinew +0.15%
Iron Sinew +0.1%

An idea struck Chu Qing, and he cultivated the Toad Skill again.

His depleted spirit and energy surged back to life.

He focused solely on Mantis Fist.

As his spirit and energy were consumed, Iron Sinew increased by 0.2%.

"What a fine martial art."

"The Secret Transmission Toad Skill actually has such miraculous effects."

"Is this the power of a Secret Transmission?"

Chu Qing was delighted. "A proficient Secret Transmission already has such effects. Would a perfected Secret Transmission be even stronger?"

"Would Toad Skill plus secret medicine plus Perfected Mantis Fist produce even greater effects?"

"I'll get a portion of secret medicine and try it first."

More than ten minutes later:

In a corner of the training ground, Chu Qing first practiced the Toad Skill to raise his spirit and energy. Then he swallowed secret medicine, and finally unleashed Perfected Mantis Fist:

Iron Sinew +25%
Iron Sinew +25%

One portion of secret medicine had allowed him to cultivate seven whole Iron Sinews.

"These fifty taels were truly worth it."

He now had twenty-nine Iron Sinews. He only needed one more portion of secret medicine to reach the full thirty-six.

"In a couple of days, I'll borrow some more money from Fatty Jin."

Wu Feitu Leaves

In the blink of an eye, three or four days passed.

Chu Qing happily went to see Fatty Jin. The moment he entered the courtyard, he saw a Chief Subordinate with a face full of worry walking out.

"Hall Master."

Fatty Jin... I used to call you Godfather, and now I call you Hall Master? Just because you've clung to my wife, you look down on me like this?

Fatty Jin said unhappily, "What is it?"

Chu Qing cupped his fist. "I want to buy a Phoenix Head Hairpin and Phoenix Tail Tassel Earrings for my godmother."

Fatty Jin seemed to understand.

He remembered that his wife had wanted them a few days ago, but there had been too many matters in the gang lately, and he had not gotten around to buying them.

Then I'll let Chu Qing buy them in my place.

Fatty Jin readily approved a loan of seventy taels.

Chu Qing had barely stepped out with the silver tucked away when a hulking, broad-faced man came toward him.

Chief Subordinate Liu Jun.

His nose was bruised, his face was swollen, and his expression was ugly.

When he saw Chu Qing, he snarled, "Brat, wait here for me."

Chu Qing cupped his fist with a smile. "Chief Subordinate, may I ask what this is about?"

Liu Jun grinned viciously. "Later, you'll explain to me what happened with He Xiaogou and Liu Hai."

After saying that, he hurried into the main courtyard.

Chu Qing's smile faded.

He Xiaogou? Liu Hai?

Has my murder been exposed?

No. If the matter had been exposed, the Punishment Hall would have come, not Liu Jun.

Liu Jun had no evidence.

But... he suspected him.

Chu Qing sighed inwardly. I only wanted to be a good person.

"Why are you forcing me?"

Instead of waiting for Liu Jun, he headed straight for the Martial Academy.

Money Hall headquarters:

"Hall Master Jin, I want to borrow one thousand taels of silver." Liu Jun, all brawn and meat, stood with lowered brows and submissive eyes.

Fatty Jin sipped his tea and said lazily, "How much money does the gang even have? You people borrow money every day?"

"Not lending it!"

Thud!

Liu Jun dropped to his knees and begged, "Hall Master, the Seventh Young Master Hejiwu is demanding tribute from me."

"Three thousand taels of Snowflake Silver... I scraped together loans from everywhere and only managed two thousand."

"Now I'm only short one thousand."

"Please save me, Hall Master."

"Otherwise, if I can't gather enough silver, Seventh Young Master Hejiwu will definitely skin me alive and pull out my tendons."

Fatty Jin sighed inwardly.

More and more Fortified Village Disciples were arriving. Those country clans acted with wild arrogance. They did not dare demand money from the gang leader, so they had set their sights on the gang's Chief Subordinates.

One Chief Subordinate had to offer three thousand taels of Snowflake Silver as tribute.

These past few days, everyone had come to borrow money.

Damn it, to join a gang and end up like this.

"What a disgrace!"

"Luckily, they still have enough shame not to ask Hall Masters for money. Otherwise... I'd have to bleed heavily too."

Fatty Jin said irritably, "What did you say outside just now?"

Liu Jun froze for a moment, then explained how he had threatened Chu Qing.

Fatty Jin snorted. "Chu Qing is my wife's godson."

"How could he have killed those two mud-legged peasants?"

"And even if he had killed them, what could you do?"

Liu Jun muttered, "I wouldn't dare pursue it. I absolutely wouldn't dare."

Hall Master Jin was satisfied.

He wrote out two loan notes.

One was in the gang's name: one thousand taels.

The other was in Fatty Jin's name: fifty taels.

Liu Jun obediently signed and pressed his fingerprint.

When he left, he saw Ling Hao, another Chief Subordinate built like a bear with knotted muscles, entering with worry written across his face. The two exchanged a glance and smiled bitterly to themselves.

Outside the gates, Liu Jun did not see Chu Qing. His expression darkened.

"Bastard, even if Fatty Jin's wife is backing you, you can't slight me like this."

"Just wait. Once I survive these bitter days, I'll make you regret it."

In a corner of the training ground:

Iron Sinew +25%

You had cultivated one Iron Sinew.

Crack! Crack!

The Iron Sinews wriggled.

Chu Qing's strength surged, and his body became even lighter and more agile.

His shifts, turns, leaps, and dodges were more nimble than those of a real mantis.

His fists and fingers changed forms, sometimes like blades, sometimes like hooks—fierce and sinister, far more formidable than when he had possessed twenty-two Iron Sinews.

"Mantis Fist's Iron Sinews are fully cultivated."

"Without secret medicine, Toad Skill progresses too slowly."

"Either I find another common martial art, or I promote Mantis Fist and see whether Ultimate Mantis Fist can cultivate additional new Iron Sinews."

"Right, there's Liu Jun too."

"He has already begun suspecting me and wants me dead."

"A gang member insists on playing constable and investigating cases?"

"Since you refuse to mind your own business... then stop doing anything at all."

Beneath his ragged clothes, thirty-six Iron Sinews faintly appeared, outlining a lifelike mantis brimming with murderous intent.

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