Inner Refinement Fourth Layer!

"Grave, very dangerous? Could there be ghosts inside?"

Hearing that, Su Ti asked with a smile.

But Xu Lao and the other four did not laugh. Each of them looked more solemn than the last.

"There may really be ghosts. We haven't gone inside, so we don't know yet."

"But even if there are no ghosts, that tomb is still extremely dangerous."

Hearing them say that, Su Ti frowned as well.

In his previous life, he had dismissed talk of ghosts and gods with scorn. But in this life, even bizarre things like Cursed Antiques existed. With professionals like Xu Lao taking it so seriously, he would rather believe it existed than believe it did not.

"So you want to bring me along to explore this tomb?"

"That's right."

Xu Lao nodded slightly.

"With your martial skill traveling with us, I think things would be much safer. If you are interested, we can split the tomb's profits thirty-seventy. You get thirty percent, and we get seventy."

Su Ti shook his head.

"Sorry, you should find someone else for this. I do like Cursed Antiques, but I also hate trouble."

"Since you say ghosts exist in this world, I doubt my martial arts are particularly useful against them. I'd better not go."

Seeing him refuse, Xu Lao wanted to persuade him further, but Su Ti flatly declined.

"There's no need to say more. I won't go. But if you bring back anything good, I can buy it at a high price."

Seeing that they truly could not persuade him, Xu Lao and the others did not force the matter.

After exchanging contact information with Su Ti and agreeing to trade again if they found any Cursed Antiques, they said their goodbyes.

On the drive home, thinking back on everything he had seen and heard today, Su Ti found it quite interesting. It had truly broadened his horizons.

As for why he had refused Xu Lao's request in the end—

He felt that if something could be bought with money, there was no need to take risks for it. Especially when it came to ghosts and monsters. Though he had never seen them, he still held them in awe. He could not rely on a little fist-and-foot skill to challenge such mysterious things.

Professional work like tomb raiding should be left to professionals. It was like someone who enjoyed honey: they could earn money and buy it, but there was no need to harvest it themselves and risk getting stung by bees in an unfamiliar field.

The car headed all the way home and soon arrived downstairs at his residential complex.

Su Ti did not return to Long Yuanzheng's villa.

His Copper Skin Skill had gone from beginner when he left that morning to mastery when he returned at noon. He truly had no idea how to explain that to Long Yuanzheng.

It would be better to stay home for a few days before going back. Besides, he had not been home in several days. He had spent the past half month training martial arts at Long Yuanzheng's place, only rushing home briefly to let them know he was safe before leaving again. This time, he could stay a little longer.

"Mom, I'm back."

It was Sunday again. The moment Su Ti entered, he smelled the fragrance of food. As he lowered his head to change shoes, he noticed several extra pairs on the floor.

"Honestly, this child came back without saying a word. Zimo, keep stir-frying. I'll go downstairs and buy a few more prepared dishes."

Su's Mother's voice came from the kitchen. Before long, the hurried Su's Mother arrived at the entrance.

"Your eldest uncle came today, and he brought your older and younger cousins. Knowing you've been busy lately, we didn't call you. Hurry up and change your shoes before going in. I'll head downstairs and buy a few more prepared dishes."

With that, she hurried downstairs. Su Ti ate a lot now, and the little food steaming in the kitchen would definitely not be enough. She had to buy more food.

When Su Ti entered, he indeed found Su Qiaoqiao and Su Yuwei sitting in the living room. His nominal younger sister was nowhere to be seen, so she had probably gone to her kendo class. Su Zihao was in the kitchen talking with Su Zimo. After Su Ti went in and greeted them, he sat down in the living room as well.

"Hello, Cousin."

Seeing Su Ti arrive, Su Qiaoqiao took the initiative to greet him.

"Hello, Qiaoqiao."

Su Ti looked at Su Qiaoqiao in surprise. Compared to the last time he had seen her, Su Qiaoqiao had changed completely.

Her delinquent-looking blond hair had been dyed black again, and all the earrings had been removed. Her crop top and miniskirt had been replaced by a puff-sleeved dress. She looked innocent and cute, and she was even holding a math exercise book in her hands.

Su Ti looked at her suspiciously. The change was simply too drastic, making him wonder whether she had transmigrated like him and become a completely different person from the root up.

"Don't look at me like that."

After being stared at by Su Ti for so long, Su Qiaoqiao became embarrassed too.

Girls matured early to begin with. After what happened last time and her sister's guidance, she had thought things through and returned to the right path.

But the change had come too quickly. Aside from the sister who had guided her, even her father, Su Zihao, had been utterly shocked. If Su Yuwei had not repeatedly stopped him, he would have rented out a restaurant and thrown a huge celebration banquet for Su Qiaoqiao's return from the wrong path.

And now that Su Ti, the cause of her transformation, was looking at her as if she were an alien, even with her early maturity, she was still unbearably embarrassed. She used her book to cover her cheeks.

"Su Ti, come here."

Seeing this, Su Yuwei smiled and pulled Su Ti by the arm. She took him to a corner and explained the whole story.

Only then did Su Ti understand.

"So that's what happened. This is a good thing. No matter what, the fact that she could return to the right path shows that she has made an effort herself."

Su Yuwei covered her mouth and smiled.

"So don't look at her so strangely. Treat what happened before as embarrassing history and don't bring it up. Just pretend it never happened."

"All right."

Su Ti shrugged. He had not had any relatives in his previous life and did not know how to get along with them. Since Su Yuwei said so, he would simply do as she said.

"You all sit in the living room for a while. I just came back from outside and I'm covered in sweat. I'm going to take a shower."

"Okay."

After Su Yuwei left, Su Ti walked through the hallway and entered the bathroom.

Naturally, he had not entered the bathroom to shower. After receiving the energy from the Cursed Antique, he was already impatient to raise the level of his martial arts.

He took off his clothes, revealing a body of solid muscle.

The young man in the mirror had black hair and fair, delicate skin. He looked like an office worker who had never done any physical labor.

"After Copper Skin Skill reached mastery, I didn't expect my skin to become even whiter than an ordinary person's."

Su Ti glanced at his skin. This was actually an advanced state of camouflage. Only when attacked would the effects of Copper Skin Skill reveal themselves.

Then Su Ti opened his martial arts panel and examined his martial arts.

Copper Skin Skill (Mastery) Outer Refinement Fourth Layer

Golden Snake Molting (Mastery) Inner Refinement Second Layer

Dragon Shape Comprehensive Fist (Mastery) Integrated Strength

Golden Python Four Forms (Minor Mastery 4%)+

Bodhisattva Practice (Beginner 10%)+

Energy: 660%

Su Ti now had quite a few martial arts, five in total. Three of them had already reached mastery and could advance no further. Now that he had energy, he naturally had to allocate points immediately.

"After Copper Skin Skill reached mastery, what does this Outer Refinement Fourth Layer mean? Judging from the words, it should be a level for strengthening defense, corresponding to the Inner Refinement levels."

Su Ti made a guess, intending to ask Long Yuanzheng about it later.

Then he turned his attention to the two martial arts he had yet to max out: Golden Python Four Forms and Bodhisattva Practice.

One was a combat art, and one was a cultivation method. Without question, these were the two martial arts he would focus on next.

Su Ti first allocated points to Bodhisattva Practice. Inner refinement was the core of a martial artist, after all. It could strengthen the body, while combat arts were merely methods of fighting. Besides, once his body became stronger, his combat power would rise as well.

As his gaze focused on the plus sign, Bodhisattva Practice's progress began to rise rapidly!

Beginner 20%

Beginner 60%

Beginner 90%

First Layer 1%!

As Bodhisattva Practice reached the First Layer, a line of text instantly appeared before Su Ti's eyes.

Notice: The cultivation results of Golden Snake Molting and Bodhisattva Practice overlap. Their advantages will be automatically combined through fusion overwrite.

Notice: Fusion overwrite complete. Energy consumed: 50%.

After the fusion overwrite, Golden Snake Molting's inner refinement completely disappeared, leaving only Bodhisattva Practice.

And at this moment, Bodhisattva Practice became—

Bodhisattva Practice (Third Layer 1%) Inner Refinement Third Layer

Boom!

The moment the text vanished, a surge of heat exploded from within Su Ti's body and rushed throughout his entire body.

The familiar pain of inner refinement advancement spread through him. Su Ti clenched his fists, feeling every cell in his body undergo a transformation.

But this improvement in inner refinement seemed different from before.

The heat did not merely flood into his muscles in huge quantities. It was even more violent than the previous two times, strengthening his muscles while arranging them more efficiently.

At the same time, his joints, ligaments, and nerves were greatly strengthened. They became more flexible, more explosive, and faster at transmitting sensations!

Part of the heat even flowed toward his brain.

Su Ti could feel his mind growing clearer and clearer under the effects of the heat, while his eyes became increasingly bright.

Before long, the enhancement came to an end.

But just then, Su Ti suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

His chest felt tight and uncomfortable.

And that discomfort was becoming stronger and stronger.

Pfft!

Su Ti suddenly vomited a mouthful of foul-smelling black blood into the sink before him.

After vomiting the blood, Su Ti did not feel the slightest discomfort. Instead, it was as though he had pulled out the root of an old illness. His entire body felt refreshed, and even the air he breathed seemed full of freshness.

After rinsing his mouth and wiping his lips, Su Ti looked at the foul, black blood in the sink and understood.

"So this is Bodhisattva Practice's detoxification method. It has the same underlying principle as Golden Snake Molting's shedding method. Both expel the filth and impurities left behind after inner refinement."

And at that moment, Su Ti's attributes became—

Strength: 1.6, Constitution: 1.5, Agility: 1.6, Intelligence: 1.5

Strength had increased by 0.2, and Constitution had increased by 0.2. That was not much.

But Intelligence had increased by a full 0.3! Agility had increased by a full 0.4!

His attributes, which had once been somewhat uneven, had now become incredibly balanced!

Su Ti looked at his remaining energy. There was still 370% left.

In other words, advancing inner refinement to the Third Layer once had cost 240% energy, forty percent more than last time. And that was with the ten percent progress he had already possessed.

But Su Ti was not surprised. During this period of rigorous training at Long Yuanzheng's place, he had learned many secrets of martial arts and filled a major gap in his knowledge.

Inner refinement was originally a process of refining the internal organs again and again while strengthening the body. Naturally, each advancement would be harder than the last.

The first inner refinement might take half a year. The second might take a year, and by the third, it might take a year and a half. That was perfectly normal.

Furthermore, each stage of inner refinement had its own shackles and bottlenecks.

Some people even got stuck at a breakthrough point, unable to advance. Being held back by that final little bit for months or even over a year was far from uncommon.

Otherwise, senior brothers and sisters like Wang Gengyuan and Yao Juan, who had started early, would not still be only at the second or third layer of inner refinement after so long.

For Golden Snake Molting's inner refinement method, one's innate physique determined the upper limit, while comprehension determined cultivation speed. Thus, although this inner refinement method was superior, it relied heavily on talent.

Those with good talent cultivated quickly and had high potential.

Yao Juan and the others had above-average innate physiques, but their comprehension was rather ordinary, which was why they cultivated slowly.

Bodhisattva Practice was different. This inner refinement method, which Long Yuanzheng had kept hidden away as his trump card, required only one kind of talent: exceptionally powerful willpower! Even freakishly powerful willpower!

Without sufficient willpower, one could not even get started!

Not only that, all of its self-torturing cultivation methods were meant to strengthen one's willpower!

Thus, this inner refinement method was commonly seen among extreme ascetics in Mi Country. Those without great enlightenment and great perseverance could not cultivate it!

Moreover, people like that were all fanatical believers. Supported by their faith, their willpower was naturally extraordinary.

And cultivating this inner refinement method also required luck, because many people pushed their willpower training too far and simply died from it.

According to Long Yuanzheng, out of a hundred people who practiced Bodhisattva Practice, ninety were ascetics with faith, while the remaining ten were people who believed their willpower was exceptionally strong.

In the end, around twenty would quit before even getting started. Thirty could reach the First Layer, twenty the Second Layer, and ten the Third Layer. Of the remaining ten, the vast majority would die at the Fourth Layer, with only a very small number able to break through to the Fifth Layer.

That was because Bodhisattva Practice demanded greater willpower at every layer. By the Fourth Layer, its training method used drowning to temper one's willpower. It was no longer something as simple as basking in the sun or sleeping on a Needle Bed. The mortality rate was extremely high.

Without the modifier, Su Ti did not think he could cultivate Bodhisattva Practice to a very high level.

But with the modifier, things were simple.

With a thought from Su Ti, his energy plummeted to 60%.

Boom!

Bodhisattva Practice (Fourth Layer 1%) Inner Refinement Fourth Layer!