A Golden Elixir Swallowed into My Belly—My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's!

The more Jiang Ning understood the extraordinary nature of Graded Martial Artists, the less certain he felt.

Skin Refining Great Accomplishment was like wearing bronze armor. Against Martial Artists below the Graded level, its defensive power alone created a gap like that between an adult and a child.

Not to mention the difference in strength and Blood Qi between them—the two represented a qualitative transformation.

Thus, progressing from Blood Qi Completion to Martial Dao Entry Rank was no simple road.

It required time to temper oneself, Secret Methods, and resources.

And right now, he knew neither any Skin Training Secret Method nor what external items were needed.

Information concerning Martial Path inheritances was not something he could learn about at his current level.

For any faction, such Secret Methods concerning the foundation of the human body would never be casually passed on, even if it was merely the Skin Training Method of the Martial Dao Ninth Rank.

So at this moment, he had little confidence in his heart.

Of course, if one had money, it would naturally not be difficult to buy information and Secret Methods in this regard.

Nor was this some secret that could never be passed on.

But Jiang Ning also knew that he did not need to do this to obtain a Skin Training Secret Method.

As long as he met Wang Jin's assessment requirements like Xiao Peng had—comprehending any one of the Five Animal Frolics Fist techniques to the Great Success Realm within six months of joining the Martial Arts Hall—he could become Wang Jin's Direct Disciple.

A Direct Disciple was a true disciple of the Martial Arts Hall, and also a disciple truly qualified to call Wang Jin "Master."

By then, he would naturally be able to come into contact with Wang Jin's inheritance and obtain the Skin Refinement Secret Method.

As for his current status, he could at most be considered an Outer Sect disciple, or perhaps a Nominal Disciple.

If he failed to meet the requirements within six months and could not pass Wang Jin's test, he could only pack up and leave.

At this moment.

Seeing Jiang Ning accept the Silver Notes he had given him, Cheng Ran also laughed and slapped Jiang Ning on the shoulder.

"Now that's more like it, Junior Brother Jiang!"

Then.

"Cough, cough—" His loud laughter tugged at his Five Viscera and Six Bowels, and he could not help coughing repeatedly. Fine threads of blood once again sprayed from his mouth.

"Senior Brother Cheng, are you all right?" Seeing this, Jiang Ning hurriedly supported his swaying figure.

A few breaths later, Cheng Ran suppressed the urge to cough inside his body, then waved his hand. "Help me go rest, Junior Brother Jiang. I need to recover!"

Elsewhere.

Xiao Peng watched Cheng Ran being supported away by Jiang Ning and could not help shaking his head slightly.

What a pity!

That boy rescued him halfway through. Otherwise, if Cheng Ran had hit the Enclosing Wall after taking my charge—even a mere injury to his tendons and bones or displacement of his Five Viscera and Six Bowels would have kept him down for more than a day or two.

That way, Cheng Ran, the person who poses the greatest threat to me, would have been greatly weakened.

What a pity. A real pity!

Xiao Peng slowly withdrew his gaze.

At that moment, amid the flattery of the people around him, the corners of his lips also lifted slightly, and he could not suppress the delight in his heart.

Jiang Ning's courtyard.

Cheng Ran slowly sat down on a small wooden stool.

"Bah!" He spat out the bloody foam in his mouth. "That damn Xiao Peng hit hard."

Jiang Ning also sat beside him. "How are you feeling now, Senior Brother Cheng?"

"Much better!" Cheng Ran nodded. "Fortunately, my Skin Refinement has made some initial progress. My Five Viscera and Six Bowels are only slightly shaken, so the injuries aren't too serious. At most, two or three days of recuperation should be enough. If I had some decent healing medicine, it would be even faster!"

After speaking, Cheng Ran looked at Jiang Ning again. "Junior Brother Jiang, your strength is over two hundred jin now, isn't it?"

"Senior Brother's probing really caught me off guard!" Jiang Ning smiled.

"Don't take offense, Junior Brother Jiang! I was simply too shocked and incredulous, so I tested you a little." Cheng Ran wore an apologetic expression.

"It's all right. But please don't spread this around, Senior Brother Cheng," Jiang Ning said.

Cheng Ran nodded. "Naturally! With the way that boy Xiao Peng thinks about striking from the shadows, if he knew Junior Brother Jiang had reached this stage in such a short time, who knows what underhanded tricks he might use in secret."

"Speaking of that boy Xiao Peng, I can't accept this!" Anger surfaced on Cheng Ran's face.

"Senior Brother, you're merely lacking combat experience. In terms of true strength, you're above Xiao Peng."

Cheng Ran nodded in considerable agreement. "It is indeed a lack of combat experience! I'll have to improve in that regard from now on. If I don't reclaim today's honor, the anger in my heart won't ease!"

He then looked at Jiang Ning again. "Junior Brother Jiang, when you have time in the future, why not spar with me regularly and build up your combat experience?"

Jiang Ning pondered briefly before nodding. "That works. I've never fought anyone before, so I'm lacking combat experience as well!"

"Good!" Cheng Ran nodded repeatedly. "Master Wang once said that the Martial Path is a skill for killing enemies. Mere practice alone cannot bring it to the peak. Although the two of us can't kill enemies, sparring can still increase our combat experience. If we get the chance to join the Patrol Office, combat experience will be even more important."

Hearing this, Jiang Ning also nodded in agreement. "Then once Senior Brother Cheng recovers, we'll spar again!"

"It's a deal!" Cheng Ran extended his right palm.

Jiang Ning understood at once and extended his right palm to clap against it.

Afterward, Cheng Ran rested for several hours. Once his breathing had settled, Jiang Ning escorted him out of the Martial Arts Hall's main gate.

"Junior Brother Jiang, rest assured! I'll do my best to investigate the matter you entrusted to me over the next couple of days and get to the bottom of it!" Cheng Ran said.

"Then I'll trouble you with everything, Senior Brother Cheng!" Jiang Ning cupped his hands and saw him off.

He then swept his gaze over the several stalls outside the Martial Arts Hall, but did not find anything.

The following day.

Early morning.

Sitting cross-legged in the small courtyard, Jiang Ning felt the cool breeze blowing toward him and quietly waited for the morning sun that was about to rise in the distance.

[Skills]: Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill (Not Initiated 91/100)

His Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill was now only nine Experience Points away from Initiation.

Jiang Ning looked forward to entering the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill's Initiation Realm immensely.

The fact that it required a full one hundred Experience Points just to initiate it showed that the grade of the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill was extraordinary.

As far as he knew, Martial Arts Techniques were divided into Lower Grade, Middle Grade, and Upper Grade.

Above Upper Grade Techniques, there were also Techniques of even higher grades.

Based on the changes in Experience Points, Jiang Ning had two guesses. One was that the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill was a Middle Grade Technique surpassing Lower Grade Techniques.

His Five Animal Frolics Fist was a Lower Grade Technique, and it required only ten Experience Points to initiate.

Thus, it was perfectly normal for the Experience Point requirement for initiating a Middle Grade Technique—one grade higher than a Lower Grade Technique—to soar dramatically.

His second guess was that the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill was a mysterious Technique ranked above Upper Grade Techniques.

Only a qualitative difference could cause the Experience Point requirements for breaking through a Technique to undergo a qualitative change as well.

And this guess was not merely because initiating the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill required one hundred Experience Points—a full ten times the amount required to initiate the Five Animal Frolics Fist.

The greater reason lay in the Technique and intent of the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill.

The Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill was an Internal Strengthening Method.

Strengthening the Five Viscera and Six Bowels internally was the path of internal refinement that Martial Artists of Martial Dao Rank 5 would take.

Such a method of internal refinement was bound to be exceedingly rare, and there was a high probability that its grade would not be low.

Moreover, the intent behind the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill left Jiang Ning marveling in amazement. It resembled not the Martial Path, but rather the Immortal Path from the myths he had learned about in his previous life.

It swallowed and exhaled the essence of the Great Sun to strengthen the Five Viscera and Six Bowels internally. Once the Technique reached the Perfected Realm, it even required drawing the Great Sun Fire at Wu Time into the body, turning the body into a furnace and refining a Golden Elixir within.

A Golden Elixir swallowed into my belly—my fate is mine, not Heaven's.

With such an intent, it deserved to rank above Upper Grade Martial Path Techniques.

Of course, this was only his guess.

Aside from these factors filling Jiang Ning's heart with anticipation, there was another important factor that made him look forward to it immensely.

That was the damaged page he had obtained. It recorded only the Initiation Method of the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill and contained no subsequent method.

As for the method to reach the Perfected Realm, it merely mentioned a thing or two.

In other words, under normal circumstances, relying on that damaged page, he could at most achieve Initiation in the Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill. It was impossible for him to reach the Perfected Realm recorded within it.

It was impossible for him to attain the Perfected Realm of a Golden Elixir swallowed into my belly—my fate is mine, not Heaven's.

What Jiang Ning looked forward to, however, was that with the mysterious power of the Panel, even if it was merely a damaged page, he could still accumulate Experience Points bit by bit and break through this Inner Alchemy Nourishing Life Skill to the Perfected Realm.

He would achieve a Golden Elixir swallowed into my belly—my fate is mine, not Heaven's.