Inside the room.
After Old Daoist Changbai left, Jiang Dao frowned.
"Father, was that old bastard telling the truth? He isn't deliberately trying to deceive us, is he?"
"Whether it is true or false, we can only rely on him now."
Jiang Dalong's expression was grim. "Dao'er, don't wander around these next few days. I'll go speak with the county magistrate again today. No matter what, I have to make him relent and send you out of the city. Our Jiang Family cannot all die here!"
Jiang Dao fell silent, the pressure in his heart growing even heavier.
After breakfast, Jiang Dao sought out Pang Lin again.
"Master Pang, do you have any other martial arts?"
"Other martial arts? Young Master, are you no longer practicing the staff art?"
Pang Lin was slightly taken aback, then seemed to understand in an instant.
That made sense.
After all, he was a young master who had never suffered hardship. The process of practicing martial arts was agonizingly painful. Having tried it once, how could he possibly persist?
Pang Lin merely assumed that Jiang Dao was afraid of hardship and wanted to switch to another martial art. After pondering briefly, he said, "As for other martial arts, what I have left are merely minor skills, utterly incomparable to the Mad Demon Staff Art. The Mad Demon Staff Art is the supreme art that made my name. Every move and stance contains countless principles. Once you have mastered it, there is no need to learn those minor skills at all."
"Then, Master Pang, do you have internal cultivation techniques or mental arts?"
Jiang Dao asked.
"Internal cultivation techniques or mental arts?"
Pang Lin froze, revealing a strange expression. "I do not know where Young Master heard of such things, but they are not easy to obtain. Of all the martial artists I know, almost none possess them.
I have heard that only some large sects have them, yet even within those sects, such things are incomparably precious. Only people like Cult Leaders and gang leaders may come into contact with them. Someone once spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and still failed to obtain even a single manual."
"I see."
Jiang Dao revealed a regretful expression.
Still, this was a direction to pursue.
At the very least, he now knew that internal cultivation existed in this world.
"By the way, Master Pang, don't martial artists in this world have cultivation realms?"
Jiang Dao suddenly asked.
"Of course they do. But in our Hengzhou City, realms are not all that important, because there are not many people practicing martial arts in the entire city. In the central regions of the Great Ye Dynasty, martial arts are divided into several levels: Body Tempering, Blood Forging, and Divine Strength."
Pang Lin explained carefully.
"Take me, for instance. I have practiced the Mad Demon Staff Art for thirty-eight years, yet I am still only at the middle stage of Body Tempering. At my strongest, I can exert four hundred jin of force. In Hengzhou City, I already count as a first-rate expert, but as for the stronger realm of Blood Forging, I fear I will never reach it in this lifetime!"
Jiang Dao was secretly astonished.
Body Tempering, Blood Forging, Divine Strength.
Pang Lin was actually only at the middle stage of Body Tempering!
The middle stage of Body Tempering was already enough to make him a first-rate expert in Hengzhou City.
Then what about himself?
He was certainly stronger than Pang Lin by an unknown amount now.
"Then, Master Pang, do you know what other martial arts can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Mad Demon Staff Art?"
Jiang Dao asked.
"Other martial arts?"
Pang Lin thought for a moment. "There are two others in our Jiang Family with fairly good martial arts. Both were recruited by the master a few years ago and had once made names for themselves in the martial world. However, their arts are somewhat inferior to the Mad Demon Staff Art. One is Fang Biao, who practices the Blood Shadow Saber Art, a total of seven times seven, forty-nine forms. The other is called Wang Xing, and he practices the Eagle Claw Iron Shirt."
"Blood Shadow Saber Art, Eagle Claw Iron Shirt."
Jiang Dao's eyes flickered.
If he could learn these two arts, then with the system's modifications, his strength would surely become even greater.
"Thank you, Master Pang."
Jiang Dao thanked him.
He then left the place.
Thanks to his father Jiang Dalong's standing, Jiang Dao quickly found Fang Biao and Wang Xing, the courtyard guards.
These two were also minor leaders within the Jiang Family estate.
After Jiang Dao buttered them up for a while, the two readily agreed at once—after all, neither believed Jiang Dao could persist for long. They would simply treat it as playing along with him. Why not?
A whole day passed.
The two taught Jiang Dao all of their respective martial arts.
Jiang Dao only looked through them once before the two martial arts appeared on his panel.
At dusk.
He returned to his room and immediately allocated points to the two martial arts.
Just as before, in less than half a minute, the Blood Shadow Saber Art and Eagle Claw Iron Shirt were both enhanced to sixty years later.
The entire panel changed once more.
Swish!
Name: Jiang Dao Strength: 1.5 Speed: 1.3 Spirit: 1.2 Martial Arts: Mad Demon Staff Art (sixty years later) Cannot be modified Blood Shadow Saber Art (sixty years later) Cannot be modified Eagle Claw Iron Shirt (sixty years later) Cannot be modified
In an instant, a huge amount of information surged into Jiang Dao's mind. At the same time, his body underwent changes, as though he had truly trained bitterly for decades. His body and muscles all transformed.
The Eagle Claw Iron Shirt in particular provided an immense enhancement to his body.
Jiang Dao's body had already developed quite a bit of muscle, but now those muscles became even more pronounced. Beneath his skin, there was even a thick layer of membrane, like cowhide.
If someone stabbed at his body with a dagger, they would definitely feel enormous resistance. The dagger would seem to strike stone, making it difficult to penetrate any deeper.
"It has reached Grand Completion again!"
Jiang Dao was stunned.
This was too monstrous.
It was practically a realm that ordinary people could never reach in an entire lifetime.
Putting aside everything else, throughout all of Hengzhou City, Jiang Dao was definitely the true number one expert!
But!
He stared at the panel, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
"Can it only be enhanced to sixty years later? Can it not be enhanced to a hundred years?"
Gurgle, gurgle.
Suddenly, intense hunger rose from his stomach again.
A powerful wave of dizziness washed over his mind.
"Hungry, so hungry..."
Jiang Dao shook his head, opened the door, and walked outside.
This was undoubtedly a sign that his body's energy had been overdrawn too severely.
"Bi Yu..."
Jiang Dao called out, telling Bi Yu to prepare dinner.
Half an hour later.
Jiang Dao transformed into a ravenous glutton. Like a gale sweeping away fallen leaves, he once again devoured an entire table of delicacies beneath the dumbfounded gaze of the maid Bi Yu.
"Young Master, you... are you really all right?"
The little maid asked in horror.
"Burp..."
Jiang Dao let out a full belch. "I'm fine. Clean this up."
He rose to his full height and headed outside, intending to move around a little.
Right now, he felt better than ever.
Every limb and bone in his body brimmed with power.
When he reached the courtyard, he looked at the stone table to one side. Suddenly, he thrust out his hand like an eagle's claw, grabbing lightning-fast. Without exerting any effort, he tore a piece straight off the hard marble table.
The exceptionally tough marble became like tofu dregs beneath his hand. As his five fingers squeezed, it crackled and popped, slowly crumbling into stone chips.
"Could this kind of strength still be unable to deal with a Malevolent Spirit?"
Jiang Dao pondered.
His three martial arts had all reached Grand Completion, each cultivated to the realm of sixty years later. Even marble was like tofu in his hands—could he still be no match for a Malevolent Spirit?
And that Old Daoist Changbai—what was his true strength, and what methods did he possess?
Jiang Dao felt it was time to probe this old Daoist's depths.
Otherwise, if he allowed him to manipulate the Jiang Family at will, the Jiang Family would sooner or later be finished.
Even if they were not killed by the Malevolent Spirit, this old Daoist would gradually bleed them dry through all manner of means.
A trace of killing intent had long since arisen in his heart toward the old Daoist.
A guest overpowering the host was a taboo!
"Young Master, the master has returned. He wants you to come over."
Suddenly, a servant rushed over and spoke hurriedly.
"All right, I'll go at once."
Jiang Dao casually tossed aside the limestone in his hand and headed toward Jiang Dalong's quarters.
Smack!
As soon as he neared Jiang Dalong's courtyard, he heard the sounds of things being smashed one after another.
At the same time came furious roars, along with painful cries.
Jiang Dao frowned and quickened his pace toward the courtyard.
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