Muscle Relaxing Ointment

In the end, Lu Ming bought the long saber in his hand for fifty-five taels. Rather than hurrying back, he detoured to a herbal medicine shop.

He wanted to buy an ointment to soothe sore muscles.

In order to settle his grudges as soon as possible, he had increased the number of times he practiced saber techniques each day lately, leaving his body aching all over. Even now, it had yet to ease.

He had to take this seriously. Otherwise, hidden injuries would accumulate throughout his body and erupt all at once in the future.

"Sure enough, scholars may be poor, but martial arts demand wealth."

Before long, Lu Ming emerged from a medicine shop with a pained expression. The shop he had chosen carried an especially large selection of plasters, pills, and other remedies for Martial Artists.

They were just absurdly expensive.

Yet he had no choice but to buy them. After finding something suited to his condition, he gritted his teeth and bought the cheapest bottle of Muscle Relaxing Ointment in the shop, spending a full fifty taels.

Of the hundred-odd taels of silver he had just obtained, seven or eight tenths had vanished in the blink of an eye.

That was why his heart ached.

"Well, well, Lu boy, you're back. And you're carrying a saber too. Where'd you get the money to buy that?"

The sky had already gone completely dark. Old Man Zhao was still lying in the courtyard, seemingly waiting specifically for Lu Ming to return.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Ming asked, "Old man, tell me honestly. Have you been following me?"

He knew Old Man Zhao was no ordinary man. He was likely not merely in the Inner Qi Realm or True Qi Realm, but perhaps even in the Gangqi Realm, on par with that Inner Sect Elder from the seventh-rank sect.

And if such an expert followed him, he would never notice.

"Following you?" Old Man Zhao snorted, then pointed at the copper basin on the table.

Lu Ming did not understand. "What do you mean?"

"It means there's water inside. Take a look at your reflection and see which side of your face is clean enough for this old man to spare the effort to care what you're up to."

"Still, this old man can smell a trace of blood. What, did you kill someone?"

He looked utterly curious.

Hearing that, Lu Ming considered it. Given his current relationship with Old Man Zhao, there seemed to be no need to hide anything anymore.

Besides, he felt that aside from his origins, Old Man Zhao probably knew his circumstances extremely well.

That included the Heavenly Saber Art. After all, he practiced saber techniques in the courtyard every day.

So he recounted everything from beginning to end, holding nothing back.

As for how he had cultivated inner energy despite being illiterate at first, he gave a half-true, half-false explanation. He said there were illustrations in the manual, and after trying to meditate on them, he had somehow muddled his way into cultivating it.

The secret of the Jade Pendant absolutely could not be revealed. Even if he married a wife in the future, he would not tell her.

The matter was simply too significant. Who knew what terrifyingly powerful existence might take an interest in it?

"Who would have thought you used to be a penniless little beggar? Yet your luck was not bad, to receive Old Man Heavenly Saber's inheritance."

As expected, Old Man Zhao was only surprised by Lu Ming's background, and he let out a sigh.

Luck my ass. The original owner was long dead.

After grumbling inwardly, Lu Ming asked curiously, "Old man, do you know Old Man Heavenly Saber?"

"Of course I do."

"Old Man Heavenly Saber was a saber expert, renowned throughout the entire Zhao Kingdom. He was in the Early Gangqi Realm, and his Heavenly Saber Saber Art was exceptionally fierce and domineering."

"He appeared in Shuofeng City more than a decade ago. I simply never expected that he had come to find a place to bury his bones."

"And fate toys with men. You happened to encounter him. This old man recognized it when you first began practicing saber techniques a few days ago."

Lu Ming silently thought that the old man really had known all along, then asked,

"Then would you like to take a look at this cultivation method?"

"You're a filial boy, but there's no need."

Old Man Zhao smiled and waved his hand. "This old man's cultivation method is no worse than the Heavenly Saber Art. I have no use for it."

Lu Ming's eyes flickered at those words. "Then compared to Old Man Heavenly Saber, who was stronger?"

"Hehe..."

Old Man Zhao pointed a finger at Lu Ming. "You brat are trying to pry information out of me. If I let you succeed so easily, wouldn't I have lived to this age for nothing?"

Lu Ming laughed awkwardly. "Fine, don't say it. You peerless masters just love playing mysterious."

This time, Old Man Zhao did not refute the words "peerless master." Instead, he merely said, "When the time comes, you'll naturally know."

How could Lu Ming not understand? Whether the so-called time had come or not was still up to the old man.

He did not dwell on it. After chatting a little longer, he carried his saber back to his own courtyard.

Upon returning to his small courtyard, Lu Ming first heated a full bucket of water and took a wonderfully comfortable hot bath.

Afterward came his daily, unshakable routine of cultivating inner energy.

Only more than an hour later did he finish and withdraw his power. After a round of cultivation, the inner energy in his dantian had increased by another measure.

This time, he did not hurry to sleep. Instead, he stripped naked and took out the bottle of Muscle Relaxing Ointment he had bought earlier.

The Muscle Relaxing Ointment had the consistency of fish oil and gave off a faint fragrance.

He had already asked the old man to verify it, so he knew he had bought the right thing. At ease, he spread it over his entire body.

Soon after applying it, an icy cool sensation spread through him, making him feel immensely comfortable.

"As expected of an ointment worth fifty taels. The effect is obvious, but there's far too little of it."

After covering his whole body once, Lu Ming found that nearly half the ointment in the bottle was already gone. What remained would be enough for three more applications at most.

At this rate of consumption, how could an ordinary household possibly endure it?

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

With a sigh, he went straight to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Lu Ming awoke to find that the soreness in his body had completely vanished, prompting him to marvel at the efficacy of the Muscle Relaxing Ointment once more.

The money had been well spent.

Now that the soreness was gone, he could practice his saber techniques even better.

And with the Muscle Relaxing Ointment supporting him, he decided to further develop his body's flexibility. After all, saber techniques were dead, while people were alive.

When fighting others, one had to adapt to the circumstances. He would not be wooden-headed and inflexible.

That made bodily flexibility exceptionally important.

He was also considering whether he could strike someone with a saber from an unimaginable angle.

That would achieve the effect of catching them off guard.

Thus, in the days that followed, Lu Ming once again immersed himself in grueling cultivation. He also did not forget to read and broaden his knowledge.

It might save his life at some point in the future, so he could not 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 grudges. In the small courtyard, Lu Ming held the saber he had bought and performed the Heavenly Saber Saber Art.

Saber light flashed throughout the entire courtyard, its forceful energy pressing down on everything.

As for Lu Ming himself, bolstered by Heavenly Blade Inner Energy, all that could be seen were streaks of afterimages.

Slash!

Suddenly, Lu Ming's figure emerged. He was gripping the saber in both hands and chopping down from above—the third move of the Heavenly Saber Saber Art, Flying Sky Slash.

This time, his target was a wooden post, which was split from top to bottom into two halves with a single chop.

There was not the slightest pause midway.

"No. I've already practiced these three moves to their limit. There's no possibility of further improvement. It's time to head to the Shuofeng Mountain Range and hone my practical combat skills."

Although the result before him was striking, Lu Ming was not particularly satisfied.

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

First was his cultivation method. He had long since cultivated the Inner Qi Realm portion to its highest, sixth layer. The inner energy within his body now circulated in a Lesser Celestial Circuit, increasing the speed at which he refined inner energy once again.

Second was his realm, which had also advanced at breakneck speed. He was now a fifth-layer Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist.

Last came his martial techniques. He had already mastered the first three moves of the Heavenly Saber Saber Art to an extraordinary degree. As for the movement technique he had acquired, the Cloud Soaring Skill, he had also cultivated it to a level matching his cultivation realm.

With his current fifth-layer Inner Qi Realm cultivation, he could leap as high as nine meters at most and as far as fifteen meters at most.

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

Besides, he was nearly out of food and urgently needed to earn money.

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