External Martial Arts Mastery

After learning martial arts, the players shouted and hollered as they scattered off to spar with one another.

The native bandits were all dumbfounded, staring blankly at the players, who had only just learned martial arts yet were already fighting with decent form. Their expressions were a mix of shock and defeat.

Second Boss Xiong Ba sighed in admiration. "The Great Mountain Lord really has an eye for talent. Every one of these newly joined brothers is a martial arts genius. They actually managed to get started in martial arts within a single day. This kind of talent..."

Thinking back to his own past, Xiong Ba could not help but shake his head with a bitter smile. He had been far, far behind.

Inside the room, a solitary lamp flickered. Its light cast Jiang Dali's imposing figure onto the wall, making him seem even larger, like some colossal demon brimming with power.

Jiang Dali checked his current status.

Jiang Dali, Black Wind Stronghold Master (Inner Qi Realm Great BOSS), Qi and Blood 5200/5200, Inner Qi 300/300)

Realm: Inner Qi Realm (39/300)

Status: Black Wind Stronghold Master / Green Robe Pavilion Silver-Character Assassin

Jianghu Title Reputation: Notorious (680/1000)

Pet: Jianmen Pass Demon Eagle

Martial Arts: Hidden Weapons: Mortal Grade Mid-Rank "Sky Full of Flying Rain" (Realm 3, Slight Accomplishment)

Fist and Leg Techniques: Basic "Four Directions Fist," Basic "Six Paths Leg," Basic "Eight Directions Palm," Earth Grade Peerless Technique Fragment "Great Vajra Palm" (Realm 2, Initial Insight)

Saber Techniques: Mortal Grade Mid-Rank "Tiger Fiend Golden Ring Saber Technique" (Realm 4, Proficient)

Hardening: Mortal Grade Low-Rank "Iron Cloth Skill" (Realm 5, Mastery), Human Grade High-Rank "Golden Body Skill" (Realm 2, Initial Insight)

Movement Technique: Mortal Grade Low-Rank "Eight Steps Catching Cicadas" (Realm 2, Initial Insight), Human Grade Mid-Rank "Wild Goose Skill" (Realm 2, Initial Insight)

Internal Cultivation Method: Basic Internal Skill (Realm 4, Proficient)

Cultivation Points: 1920

Potential Points: 1930

After harvesting a wave of players, both his Cultivation Points and Potential Points had increased substantially.

There were still twenty players, including Hua Kai Jian Hong, on their way back.

Once he harvested this group of players as well, Jiang Dali felt that he would be able to break through to the Outer Qi Realm.

In other words, before setting out for Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold tomorrow, he could advance into a minor expert of the Outer Qi Realm.

"After breaking through, my Qi and Blood, Inner Qi, and physical attributes will all rise sharply. By then, my combat strength will naturally be completely different from what it is now."

Jiang Dali was quite looking forward to it.

As for taking down Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold and Chongfeng Mountain Stronghold, he did not think it would be much of a problem.

Bandit strongholds like these, including Black Wind Stronghold, were actually among the weakest factions in the Comprehensive Martial World.

In his previous life, once players had grown stronger and before they left their villages and county towns, they would form teams to attack the nearby mountain strongholds.

Quite a few player guilds even forcibly seized a mountain stronghold as a guild base.

Jiang Dali himself had once teamed up with some players to do similar things.

But in this life, he was already far stronger than he had been when he first left the county town and village. Moreover, he had a large number of brothers at his command. Success was practically guaranteed.

Steadying his thoughts, Jiang Dali stared at the Iron Cloth Skill, which was at Realm 5 with 67% progress. He directly spent 330 Potential Points to raise the Iron Cloth Skill to Realm 6, Outstanding.

Realm 3 was considered Slight Accomplishment.

Realm 6, Outstanding, was considered reaching major mastery of a martial art in the Comprehensive Martial World.

Jiang Dali felt that his understanding of the Iron Cloth Skill, this Hardening Technique, had deepened considerably.

At the same time, a notification flashed across the interface and vanished.

"Iron Cloth Skill has been cultivated to Realm 6, Outstanding. Passive resistance to sharp weapons permanently increased to 60%; active resistance to sharp weapons increased to 600%; Qi and Blood increased by 200. Additional effects: impervious to blades and spears, increased strength, increased endurance, increased stamina."

In an instant, Jiang Dali felt that his physique had been significantly strengthened.

The fat beneath his skin seemed to have transformed into a kind of fascia, as tough and elastic as cowhide.

A wave of heat suddenly seemed to surge from within his body, spreading through his limbs, bones, meridians, and hidden acupoints. He was immediately drenched in sweat.

Compared to the Iron Cloth Skill at merely Realm 5, the effects of the Realm 6 Iron Cloth Skill were far more formidable.

Its passive defense without activating the technique had increased by another ten percent, while its defense after activation had risen by a full hundred percent. His Qi and Blood had also increased by 200.

He opened the interface.

Seeing that his Qi and Blood had reached 5400, Jiang Dali could not help but grin.

He was truly going farther and farther down the path of becoming a blood tank.

Compared with him, players of the same realm had at least ten times less health.

Seeing that he still had 1600 Potential Points remaining, Jiang Dali pressed on in one go. He spent all 1600 Potential Points to raise the Human Grade skill Golden Body Skill to Realm 3, Slight Accomplishment.

Human Grade skills were, after all, different from Mortal-tier skills. The Potential Points needed to improve them were twice those required for Mortal-tier skills.

The Golden Body Skill had originally only been at 20% progress.

After Jiang Dali spent 1600 Potential Points, the remaining 80% progress of the Golden Body Skill was directly filled.

Another notification flashed across the interface.

"Golden Body Skill has been cultivated to Realm 3, Slight Accomplishment. Passive resistance to blunt-force attacks permanently increased to 60%; active resistance to blunt-force attacks increased to 600%; Qi and Blood increased by 100. Additional effects: reduced blunt weapon damage, reduced qi technique damage, increased strength, increased endurance, increased stamina."

Jiang Dali kicked aside the meditation cushion and rose to his feet. He drew a deep breath and activated both the Iron Cloth Skill and the Golden Body Skill.

Huff—

His eyes suddenly widened. The stream of air he inhaled passed through his abdomen and burst from his throat, producing a sound like a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl.

Puff—

The lamp on the table went out at once, then was blown over by that breath.

Jiang Dali's skin also changed color, turning dark greenish-blue streaked with faint dusky gold. Every movement of his limbs made his bones ring like metal striking iron, while the pull of his tendons and bones sounded like the twang of a fully drawn bowstring.

His thick palm suddenly chopped toward the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber at his side.

Clang!

When his palm struck the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber, it was like a spring-mounted iron block wrapped in rubber crashing into it.

The Nine-Ringed Golden Saber was sent flying far away.

Jiang Dali raised his hand and looked. The thick callused edge of his palm bore only a pale mark.

That palm strike, delivered with seventy percent of his strength, had made contact with the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber without even cutting his skin.

Even though the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber was merely a third-grade sharp weapon, such defensive power was already astonishing.

"Train a breath within, train sinew, bone, and skin without! My external martial arts are already quite good now."

A smile appeared on Jiang Dali's face.

Even by the standards of his previous life, his external martial arts were now exceptionally solid.

He shifted his hips, shook his shoulders, and lightly trembled his hands and feet. A numb, tingling force coursed through his entire body with his movements.

He planted his feet in a horse stance.

Boom!

The floor throughout the room seemed to tremble beneath his feet.

He raised his right hand upright.

The muscles in his arm bulged, and the dark bluish veins looked terrifying. Jiang Dali slightly pressed his single palm forward.

A vast palm force immediately gathered in his hand. Even the empty space more than a meter before him seemed to be swept up by a terrifyingly violent pressure.

Great Vajra Palm—Vajra Bow!

This palm strike drew strength from the waist and legs, channeling force throughout the entire body, as though the power of a vajra had gathered in his palm.

Enhanced by the two Hardening Techniques, the force of this palm was enough to split steles and shatter rocks.

"Huff..."

He withdrew his palm and held his breath. In the dark room, the atmosphere was oppressive. Jiang Dali's eyes shone like cold stars, filled with confidence and ambition.

At the same time.

More than fifty li away, within Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold, three groups had gathered to discuss how to deal with Black Wind Stronghold. At that very moment, they had also begun discussing how to personally kill Black Wind Stronghold Master Jiang Dali.

There were not many recommendation votes today.