Muscle Relaxing Ointment

Finally, Lu Ming bought the long saber in his hand for fifty-five taels. He didn't rush back immediately but instead went to a medicinal herb shop.

He needed to buy some ointment to relieve muscle soreness.

In order to settle his grievances as soon as possible, he had increased his daily saber practice sessions during this period, which had caused his body to ache all over, and it hadn't subsided yet.

This had to be taken seriously, otherwise, it would leave hidden injuries that would erupt later.

"It's true that scholarly pursuits are cheap and martial arts are expensive."

Soon, Lu Ming walked out of a pharmacy with a pained expression. The pharmacy he found had a wide variety of ointments and pills specifically for Martial Artists.

However, the prices were outrageously expensive.

But he had no choice but to buy. Targeting his symptoms, he gritted his teeth and bought the cheapest bottle of Muscle Relaxing Ointment in the store, which cost him a full fifty taels.

The more than one hundred taels of silver he had just obtained were almost all spent in the blink of an eye.

This was the reason for his heartache.

"Yo, young Lu is back, and you're carrying a saber. Where did you get the money to buy that?"

Night had completely fallen, and Old Man Zhao was still lying in the courtyard, seemingly waiting specifically for him to return.

Lu Ming thought for a moment and asked, "Old man, tell me honestly, have you been following me?"

He knew Old Man Zhao was not simple. He was likely not even in the Inner Qi Realm or True Qi Realm. He might very well be in the Gangqi Realm, just like that Inner Sect elder of a seventh-rank sect.

If such a master were following him, he would absolutely not be able to detect it.

"Following you?" Old Man Zhao snorted lightly, then pointed to the bronze basin on the table.

Lu Ming was confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean there's water in it. Look at yourself and see which side of your face is clean, making it worth the old man's while to care about what you're up to."

"However, I can smell a hint of blood. What, did you go kill someone?"

He looked curious.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming pondered for a moment. Given his current relationship with Old Man Zhao, there seemed to be no need to hide anything anymore.

Moreover, he felt that apart from his background, Old Man Zhao was absolutely well-informed about his situation.

This included the Heavenly Saber Art, as he practiced saber techniques in the courtyard every day.

So, he told him everything.

As for why he could cultivate Inner Qi despite being illiterate at first, he vaguely explained that the manual had pictures, and he tried to meditate, which somehow led him to cultivate it.

In any case, the secret of the Jade Pendant must never be revealed, not even to a future wife.

The stakes were too high; who knew what extremely powerful beings might be interested.

"I didn't expect you were just a penniless little beggar before. You've got quite the lucky streak to receive the inheritance of Old Man Heavenly Saber."

As expected, Old Man Zhao was only surprised by Lu Ming's background and sighed.

Lu Ming thought, Lucky streak, my foot. The original owner is long gone.

After a silent retort, he curiously asked, "Old man, do you know Old Man Heavenly Saber?"

"Of course, I do."

"Old Man Heavenly Saber was a master of the saber, famous throughout the entire Zhao Kingdom. His realm was in the early stage of the Gangqi Realm, and his Heavenly Saber Saber Art was extremely sharp and domineering."

"He appeared in Shuofeng City more than ten years ago. I didn't expect he was looking for the burial ground."

"And fate is ironic, leading you to encounter him. When you first started practicing the saber art a few days ago, I recognized it."

Lu Ming inwardly acknowledged that the other party had known all along and asked:

"Then, do you need to see this cultivation technique?"

"That's thoughtful of you, but no need."

Old Man Zhao smiled and waved his hand. "The cultivation technique I practice is no worse than the Heavenly Saber Art; I don't need it."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming's eyes darted around. "Then, compared to Old Man Heavenly Saber, who is more powerful?"

"Heh heh..."

Old Man Zhao pointed a finger at Lu Ming. "You're trying to trick me into revealing information. If it were that easy, wouldn't my old age be in vain?"

Lu Ming gave a sheepish smile. "If you don't want to say it, then don't. You peerless experts all like to be mysterious."

This time, Old Man Zhao didn't refute the term "peerless expert" but said, "When the time comes, you'll naturally know."

Lu Ming understood clearly that "when the time comes" was entirely up to him.

However, he didn't dwell on it. After chatting for a few more sentences, he returned to his courtyard with his saber.

Back in his small courtyard, Lu Ming first boiled a bucket of hot water and took a comfortable hot bath.

After bathing, he proceeded with his daily, non-negotiable Inner Qi cultivation.

It wasn't until more than an hour later that he finished his practice and closed his fist. After the cultivation session, his Inner Qi in his dantian had grown a bit more.

This time, he didn't rush to sleep. Instead, he stripped off his clothes and took out the bottle of Muscle Relaxing Ointment he had bought earlier.

The Muscle Relaxing Ointment was like fish oil and emitted a faint fragrance.

He had already checked with Old Man Zhao to make sure he hadn't bought the wrong thing, so he confidently applied it all over his body.

After applying it, a cool sensation soon spread through him, bringing him a wave of comfort.

"As expected of a fifty tael ointment, the effect is obvious, but there's just too little of it."

After applying it all over his body once, Lu Ming noticed that more than half of the ointment in the bottle was gone. The remaining amount would only be enough for three more applications at most.

Ordinary families couldn't possibly afford such a consumption rate.

"The path of martial arts is long and arduous."

With a sigh, he fell directly into a deep sleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Lu Ming woke up to find that the soreness in his body had completely disappeared. He couldn't help but sigh again at the effectiveness of the Muscle Relaxing Ointment.

The money was well spent.

With the soreness gone, he could now practice his saber art better.

Furthermore, relying on the Muscle Relaxing Ointment, he decided to push his body's flexibility to its limits. After all, saber arts are rigid, but a person is fluid.

When fighting an opponent, one must adapt to the situation; he wouldn't be foolishly stubborn.

Therefore, his body's flexibility was extremely important.

He also pondered whether he could deliver a saber strike from an unbelievable angle.

This way, he could achieve a surprise effect.

Thus, in the days that followed, Lu Ming immersed himself in diligent training, and he didn't forget to read books to broaden his knowledge.

This might save his life at some point in the future, so he couldn't afford to underestimate it.

Gale Style!

Pouring Rain Style!

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed since he settled his past grievances. In his small courtyard, Lu Ming was wielding the long saber he had bought, practicing the Heavenly Saber Art.

The entire courtyard was filled with flashing saber light and imposing energy.

As for Lu Ming himself, under the enhancement of the Heavenly Saber inner energy, only streaks of afterimages could be seen.

Slash!

Suddenly, Lu Ming's figure reappeared. He was in a stance, gripping the saber with both hands, poised to strike downwards from the sky. This was the third stance of the Heavenly Saber Art, Flying Sky Slash.

The target this time was a wooden stake, which was directly split in half from top to bottom.

There was no pause in the middle of the strike.

"No, I've already trained these three stances to their limit. There's no further room for improvement. It's time to head to the Shuofeng Mountain Range to hone my practical combat skills."

Despite the significant results, Lu Ming wasn't particularly satisfied.

Over the past twenty-odd days, his progress in martial arts had been nothing short of miraculous.

Firstly, his cultivation technique had already reached the highest level of the Inner Qi Realm, the sixth level. The inner energy within him circulated through the Lesser Heavenly Cycle, greatly increasing the speed at which he refined it.

Secondly, his realm had also broken through rapidly. He was now a Martial Artist at the fifth level of the Inner Qi Realm.

Lastly, his martial skills. The first three stances of the Heavenly Saber Art were already practiced to an unparalleled degree of proficiency. In addition, he had also mastered the acquired movement technique, Cloud Soaring Skill, to a level commensurate with his cultivation realm.

With his current cultivation at the fifth level of the Inner Qi Realm, he could leap up to nine meters at his highest and fifteen meters at his furthest.

It could be said that apart from his cultivation realm, his current strength had reached its peak.

Moreover, he was running out of supplies and urgently needed to earn money.

Therefore, the Shuofeng Mountain Range naturally became his first choice.