Bronze Skin Realm Minor Accomplishment

Time passed day by day.

Ten days later, Xie An discovered a new problem:

He had initially thought that with the foundation of the Health Cultivation Technique, breaking through to the Bronze Skin Realm would be simple.

Cruel reality made Xie An realize he had overthought things.

The Health Cultivation Technique only strengthened physical power and enhanced the five senses and qi and blood. It did not change martial arts talent. After ten days of strenuous martial arts practice, Xie An discovered he had no exceptional talent in martial arts.

Furthermore, the Lifelong Legacy only benefited the Health Cultivation Technique. It offered no enhancement to martial arts at all.

This discovery left Xie An depressed for quite some time.

Fortunately, Xie An had never expected himself to be a martial arts prodigy, and he quickly adjusted his mindset.

If talent was insufficient, then time would make up for it.

Three months passed in a flash.

At dawn one day, after his usual patrol of the Blood Ridge Black Market, Xie An returned to his courtyard to practice the Health Cultivation Technique.

He only stopped when his body and mind were exhausted, wiping the sweat from his body and bringing up his status panel:

[Current Lifelong Legacy: Level 1!]

[Five Animal Play: Internal Organ Strengthening (98/100)]

[Fetal Breathing Technique: Yin-Yang Convergence (47/100)]

[Remaining Years: 30 years]

After practicing the Health Cultivation Technique for such a long time, Xie An had a reasonable expectation of his progress. Although the current progress was relatively slow, it was within his estimations.

"Although Internal Organ Strengthening isn't maxed out yet, my strength has truly increased significantly."

Xie An walked into the courtyard, found a 700-jin stone lock, and with a slight exertion of strength, lifted it over his head, swinging it freely for over ten breaths without feeling too strained.

Four months ago, Xie An had found it difficult to lift even 700 jin with just one arm.

Now, the increase was obvious.

"Let me try the 800-jin stone lock."

Xie An walked to the 800-jin stone lock, gripped the handle, and began to find his feel for it.

This was a good aspect of joining the Tiger Wolf Gate; they lacked nothing in terms of training equipment. Although these didn't belong to Xie An personally, it was fine to use them.

"Hah!"

With a shout from Xie An, his right hand suddenly exerted force, and the 800-jin stone lock was lifted over his head by Xie An with a bang.

After holding it for three breaths, Xie An felt his muscles contracting intensely, and they began to tremble and twitch. He had to put it down. When the stone lock landed, it caused the ground to tremble slightly.

"It seems lifting 800 jin with one arm is likely my current limit."

Although he had only increased his lifting capacity by 100 jin in over three months.

This figure was actually quite astonishing.

Even martial artists who had reached great accomplishment in the Bronze Skin Realm could only lift around 600 jin. And those who had just entered the Muscle Realm could only lift around 800 jin.

Xie An, relying on the Health Cultivation Technique, reaching the lifting capacity of a martial artist who had just entered the Muscle Realm was truly monstrous.

Xie An fetched well water from the courtyard, removed his clothes, and disregarding the cold weather, poured the cold water directly onto his body.

"Splash!"

The cold well water slowly slid down Xie An's skin. It was as if it were sliding off oiled paper, failing to wet his skin. After the water slid off, his skin became dry, leaving only fine water droplets clinging to the fine hairs on his bronze-colored skin.

This was a sign of minor accomplishment in the Bronze Skin Realm.

The skin membrane was as tough as cowhide, impervious to cold and heat, unscratchable, and unwettable.

That's right.

After three months of strenuous practice, Xie An had entered the minor accomplishment stage of the Bronze Skin Realm.

During this period, Xie An had obtained another set of Tiger Hide Elixir and spent his own money to buy over a dozen more sets. Only then did he reach the minor accomplishment stage.

For ordinary people, it would take at least a year and a half to initially enter the Bronze Skin Realm. To reach minor accomplishment in the Bronze Skin Realm would require at least two years.

The reason Xie An could achieve this progress in three months, besides the extraordinary physical strength enhanced by the Health Cultivation Technique, was more due to... his sheer hard work.

He practiced martial arts during the day and cultivated the Fetal Breathing Technique while sleeping at night.

The alternation of day and night allowed for highly efficient use of time.

Moreover, due to the Fetal Breathing Technique, his body did not easily fatigue, and his mindset was stable.

This was what led to his current achievements.

After rinsing his body, Xie An did not put on clothes. He directly picked up his saber and practiced the Fuyang Saber Technique in the courtyard.

Swish.

As he executed a saber strike, a sharp whistling sound echoed through the air.

After the initial stance, the saber moved like a nimble snake, fluid and unpredictable, sometimes slashing horizontally, sometimes chopping down, sometimes lifting upwards... each move and stance was natural and flowed like a mighty river.

The layers of fallen leaves scattered on the ground were swept up by the blade wind, scattering everywhere.

"As expected, after cultivating martial arts and combat techniques, my combat power has soared. Even if I encounter a martial artist at the peak of the Bronze Skin Realm, I won't be at a disadvantage."

Previously, Xie An cultivated the Health Cultivation Technique, possessing brute strength but nowhere to unleash it.

Now, after practicing saber techniques, he could finally unleash the true power of the Health Cultivation Technique.

Moreover, the Fuyang Saber Technique was not a beginner's saber technique; for the Tiger Wolf Gate, it was considered intermediate. After all, it was from the third floor of the library.

It was divided into three forms: Basic, Tiger Subduing, and Scorching Sun.

The basic stances were nothing more than saber techniques like chopping, slashing, lifting, thrusting, and striking. The basic forms of the Fuyang Saber Technique were divided into four: direct thrust, horizontal slash, lifting slash, and returning slash.

After three months of tempering the basics, Xie An did not rush to cultivate the Tiger Subduing form. Instead, he solidified the four basic stances, striving to cultivate each one to its extreme.

Although the Fuyang Saber Technique combined the basic stances into four forms, the variations within them were numerous.

Just the direct thrust included side thrusts, single-handed thrusts, double-handed thrusts, and so on.

It was truly a thousand variations.

Just mastering these basics was extremely difficult.

Xie An knew very well that these basic saber techniques were the foundation of all saber techniques and were universally applicable. Xie An also harbored thoughts of cultivating the Heavy Mountain Saber in the future.

It wasn't that Xie An was overly ambitious, but rather that ever since he had seen that notebook, he couldn't forget it. He felt that it was suitable for his Health Cultivation Technique.

When dawn broke, Xie An finally stopped practicing his saber techniques and sat on a stone stool in the courtyard to rest. He took out a dry cloth and wiped the dew from his saber.

"With my current strength, even if I encounter the Great Steward Lin Yun, I might still have a chance to fight. If I can develop steadily for another year or so, I won't even fear the Incense Master."

Xie An did not like to be aggressive or seek conflict. He just wanted to develop quietly and gain the strength to protect himself. He also wanted to see the outside world and, with his Lifelong Legacy... achieve longevity.

For an old man who was once on the verge of death, nothing could make him more passionate than longevity.

However, everything had to be done step by step. In the martial world, without sufficient strength to protect oneself, one would die if they encountered a bandit or enemy. How could they talk about longevity?

Let alone the distant future, just considering the Blood Ridge Black Market. Wei Dian was severely injured by the Plum Blossom Monster, and the Black Market was also coveted by another Incense Master named Zhang Hengshui. Previously, Xie An did not know who Zhang Hengshui was.

He later learned that Zhang Hengshui was Zhang Biao's backer and also Zhang Biao's uncle.

This made Xie An feel uneasy, as if a thorn was in his back.

If he wanted to develop steadily in the Tiger Wolf Gate, he needed to grow quickly. Once things changed, he would become like fish on a chopping board.

Once you enter the martial world, it's like diving into a deep sea.

He truly couldn't afford to be negligent in the slightest.

Xie An withdrew his thoughts and focused on wiping his saber.

"This standard-issue saber is still too light. I have great strength and am suited for a heavy saber. When I have money, I need to find a blacksmith in the Black Market to forge a heavy saber."

Speaking of money, Xie An's head began to ache again.

The money that Li Shaoyun had given him before was all spent.

Plus, he hadn't seen that Night Pot Lad recently. Relying solely on the stewards' monthly allowance was simply not enough.

He was still... poor.

"That's right, isn't Li Shaoyun quite wealthy? Back then, he had his father take a hundred and eighty taels from me... Maybe I should go and take some back?"

He recalled the conversation Li Shaoyun had with Zhang Biao outside the Feiyun Restaurant last time... He had beaten his own disciple soundly and almost tortured a confession out of him, nearly causing a death.

Xie An also felt angry in his heart.

If it weren't for Madam Li, with Xie An's temperament... Li Shaoyun would already be dead.

Taking from him twice would be a lesson for him.

Xie An changed into his uniform and silk robe and called for the accountant, Liang Zhi.

"Liang Zhi, how has Li Shaoyun been recently?"

Liang Zhi glanced at the masked Xie An, vaguely guessing something, and said, "Li Shaoyun has been doing odd jobs for the past few months. He's been dispirited and dejected. During this time, he repeatedly begged me to take him to see the steward, but I thought the steward was focused on practicing martial arts and didn't want to be disturbed, so I didn't agree."

Xie An said calmly, "Go and give him a hint..."