Friends, Please Hear My Defense!

Croak!

Croak!

The Secret Transmission Toad Skill kept circulating, and Chu Qing's Spirit and Energy remained at their absolute peak.

Who knew how much time passed before his ears and eyes suddenly twitched faintly.

The next second:

Keen ears and sharp eyes:

The footsteps in the distance entered his ears clearly; some people were using Lightness Skills, while others walked with heavy steps.

But he could not hear smaller movements such as breathing.

His eyesight had also improved greatly: beneath the night curtain, he could see people a hundred meters away as though it were broad daylight.

"Is this the special trait of a secret martial art?"

Chu Qing was surprised.

Ten minutes...

One hour...

Two hours...

Amid a chorus of frog calls, Black Harbor flourished once more.

What surprised Chu Qing was that this Secret Transmission Toad Skill not only gave him keen ears and sharp eyes, but also seemed to conceal his aura.

As he cultivated in the grass, several Black Harbor people passed within five or six meters of him, yet none discovered him.

"Unfortunately, activating the Toad Skill makes noise."

"Otherwise... this would be a perfect concealment art."

More and more lights appeared in Black Harbor.

Chu Qing found an opportunity and slipped inside.

Black Harbor remained bustling, utterly unaffected by the deaths.

Dressed in rough cloth, Chu Qing moved through the crowd.

His goal was clear. He first looked for the Eagle Claw Technique's secret medicine.

His luck was good.

Before long, he found three or four vendors selling secret medicine.

In light of the Nirvana Qi Grass incident, he told the stall owner:

"I want to taste a little and verify whether it's genuine."

A strange voice came from beneath the stall owner's mask.

"Friend, two days ago, someone selling fake medicine was beaten to death and dragged away. In the end, he was stripped naked and thrown into the wasteland."

"I don't want to die bare-assed!"

Chu Qing...

This seemed to be his doing?

Even so, he pinched off a tiny bit of the secret medicine and swallowed it to verify its authenticity.

You consumed a small amount of secret medicine. The second condition has been partially completed.

"Give me one portion!"

A few minutes later:

With the secret medicine tucked away, Chu Qing ran into a small grove outside Black Harbor.

The grove was quiet. There was not even a single frog call.

Chu Qing swallowed the secret medicine in one gulp.

His attribute panel flickered:

Martial Art: Eagle Claw Technique, Great Completion—Daily Hundred Practice; consume secret medicine; Perfection in one thousand days

Promotion Condition—1: Three portions of Eagle Claw secret medicine.

"Huh? This time, advancing to Perfection only requires secret medicine?"

Chu Qing's heart stirred. Using Grass on Wings, he ran straight back to Black Harbor.

He wanted to buy another three portions of secret medicine, reach Perfection in one breath, and then cultivate Iron Sinew.

After he left, a burst of exhalations came from the grove.

"Black Harbor has just started up. Why is someone already running into the grove?"

"Did he discover us?"

"Don't know!"

"Brother, should we change locations?"

"No. This is the location my lord specified."

A few minutes later:

Chu Qing returned to the grove once more.

He swallowed the secret medicine.

Martial Art: Eagle Claw Technique, Perfection—Daily Hundred Practice; those of extraordinary talent may break the limit in one thousand days

Promotion Condition—1: Ten portions of Eagle Claw secret medicine. 2: Rotate stone balls with both hands one hundred thousand times.

Chu Qing let out a long breath.

Even if Chief Constable Shi refused to sell him secret medicine, his Eagle Claw Technique had still reached Perfection.

Joy filled his heart.

What delighted him even more was this:

Breaking the Eagle Claw Technique's limit did not require Bright Pearls.

It only required secret medicine and rotating stone balls.

Compared with Mantis Fist and Red Snake Leg, these two conditions were truly simple.

At that moment, the secret medicine took effect.

Time to train!

His ten fingers formed claws like eagle talons; his arms swept out like a mighty eagle's wings.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

His fingers tore through the air.

Streams of heat flowed through his fingers and arms.

Iron Sinew +25

Iron Sinew +25

You have cultivated one Iron Sinew!

His fingers grew hot and swollen.

Chu Qing had a feeling:

The first Iron Sinew had been born, and it had appeared in his fingers.

In an instant, his fingers became hard, as though forged from iron.

Yet their flexibility did not decrease.

On the contrary, his finger joints flicked and danced up and down with even greater agility.

Tap!

Tap!

The second...

The third...

One Iron Sinew after another was born, all of them in his fingers.

Very quickly:

Each of his ten fingers possessed an Iron Sinew.

Then Iron Sinews emerged in his palms and on the backs of his hands.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

His twin claws danced, tearing through the air with mournful howls.

Vaguely, the distorted air resembled a soaring eagle.

Crack!

His fingers raked across a large tree. Wood chips flew everywhere, and several deep marks were left behind.

Crack!

Both hands formed claws and sank entirely into a tree trunk as thick as a thigh.

"What a tyrannical claw art."

"It feels even more powerful than Mantis Fist."

Crack!

Crack!

He practiced the martial art and tempered his Iron Sinews, leaving hole after hole in the trees.

His claws pierced into tree trunks and crushed chunks of wood as easily as pinching tofu apart.

"The Eagle Claw Technique has thirty-two Iron Sinews. I've only cultivated twenty-eight. I'm still four short."

With that thought, he turned around to buy more secret medicine.

A rustling sound came from the grove.

"Brother, let's go!"

"This man's claw art is terrifying. If those claws grab our heads, we might end up with a few extra holes in our foreheads."

After a moment of silence, the other man said, "Do you think he could be the killer who murdered my lord's brother-in-law?"

"Impossible, right? My lord said the killer cultivated arts like Mantis Fist and Iron Hand, as well as Iron Cloth Shirt."

"This man should have Great Completion Eagle Claw Technique, and he's very young. He has no guards or servants with him."

"He definitely came from the lower classes, not from the powerful and noble or the Fortified Village Disciples. So he has neither the resources nor the ability to cultivate several Great Completion martial arts at once."

After a brief silence, the elder brother said, "Go."

"If we don't leave, I'm afraid something will go wrong."

They prepared to leave, but just as they were about to exit the grove, they saw a figure whistling toward them.

There was no time to retreat, so they hid where they stood.

The two brothers concealed themselves behind a tree.

Chu Qing came whistling over atop Grass on Wings.

He swallowed a dose of secret medicine:

The first condition for breaking the Eagle Claw Technique's limit has been completed. Keep up the good work.

Croak!

Croak!

Chu Qing activated the Toad Skill and adjusted his Spirit and Energy.

Behind the tree, the two burly men were puzzled:

Why were there suddenly frog calls?

At that moment, the secret medicine took effect.

Chu Qing began cultivating again.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

His ten fingers formed claws like a mighty eagle's, ripping through the air.

Crack!

Crack!

Tree after tree was clawed into fragments by him.

One...

Two...

Iron Sinews continued to form.

An eagle's cry rang out.

The thirty-second Iron Sinew was cultivated.

The Eagle Claw Technique possessed thirty-two Iron Sinews in total, none overlapping with those of his other martial arts.

Wonderful.

Chu Qing only felt his strength surge once more.

He almost wanted to throw back his head and howl at the sky.

"My Iron Sinews have surpassed one hundred."

"I now have the qualifications to clash head-on with the Martial Academy's veteran students."

His heart roiled with excitement.

"Let me see just how powerful this Eagle Claw Technique, with its thirty-two Iron Sinews, truly is."

Chu Qing let out a low roar. His left hand formed a claw and viciously raked at an intact tree as thick as a person not far away.

An eagle's cry rang out.

Pfft!

His left hand, formed into a claw, pierced through the tree trunk.

Crack!

His fingers seemed to have stabbed into something hard again.

Chu Qing's expression changed slightly, and he yanked his hand back.

Blood flowed from his fingers.

But this wasn't his blood.

This was... someone else's blood.

Chu Qing moved behind the tree and saw a burly man crawling on the ground, the back of his head punctured by five holes, red and white spilling out.

There was someone in the grove?

Chu Qing scanned his surroundings. At last, his gaze settled on a massive tree thicker than a man's waist.

Behind the tree, a burly man held his breath, feeling as though his poor little heart was about to leap out of his chest.

Step! Step! Step!

The footsteps faded into the distance.

He let out a long breath. "He's finally gone."

"That scared the hell out of me..."

The next second:

A figure suddenly appeared before him.

The burly man's pupils contracted, and his entire body went rigid.

"Damn... I've been discovered."

He opened his mouth and said rapidly, "Friend, please listen to my... explanation!"

Squelch!

An eagle claw pierced his chest, tore through white bone, and punched through his heart.

"Sorry, you might have discovered my secret."

"So I won't listen!"

The burly man's eyes widened, his face full of confusion.

"What secret could a lowly jianghu nobody possibly have?"

"Could it be bigger than the secret of me sleeping with the boss's wife?"

"Luckily, I kept that... secret too."

Thud!

The corpse hit the ground.