Lifespan Soars!

Chu Feng swept his saber through Chen Yuan's neck, too lazy to waste words. Since he had come to hunt him down, he had to bear the risk of being killed.

Being waist-severed had ranked among the Ten Cruelest Tortures of the feudal dynasties precisely because the victim did not die immediately afterward.

A healthy person could retain consciousness for the time it took to drink half a cup of tea. During that period, they would continuously experience the ultimate agony of having their torso severed from their lower body.

A martial artist's body was even more robust. They could hold on for the time it took to drink a full cup of tea, doubling the pain.

Thus, when Chu Feng looked over, Chen Yuan was still struggling and screaming in agony. How could the word "tragic" possibly describe it?

Annoyed by the noise, Chu Feng gave him a swift end with one slash.

"Thank you..." Chen Yuan's pupils turned gray-white as he died peacefully.

"You're welcome, Steward Chen..." Chu Feng said expressionlessly.

The other man was merely a minor steward of the Fang Family. He was not worth venting his anger on.

Although slaughter could rapidly increase his strength, Chu Feng did not want to become a monster who enjoyed torturing and killing.

[Slain Late Skin Polishing Realm Martial Artist, plundered 3 years of lifespan.]

[Slain Early Muscle Tempering Realm Martial Artist, plundered 5 years of lifespan, plundered Savage Ox Muscle Tempering Art.]

"Things besides lifespan have such a low plundering rate. Still, having lifespan with which to deduce techniques is already the strongest cheat there is. I can't be too greedy." Chu Feng pondered inwardly.

Martial arts techniques were divided into training methods and combat methods. As their names implied, training methods mainly nourished qi and blood and tempered the body, while combat methods were purely for slaughter, existing only to kill people and destroy enemies!

The Savage Ox Muscle Tempering Art he had plundered was clearly a training method for the Muscle Tempering Realm.

"Quickly..."

"Steward Chen found that brat Chu Feng's whereabouts..."

"Kill him, and we won't have to play monkeys in these woods anymore..."

A burst of noisy voices drew nearer from afar.

The other Fang Manor guards had heard the Heaven Shaking Thunder and were all rushing over.

More than a dozen Fang Family Guards arrived with the voices, along with several wolfhounds.

When the Fang Family Guards spotted Chu Feng from a distance, excitement spread across their faces. After all, he was a walking reward of fifty taels of silver.

Most of these Fang Family Guards were at the Middle Skin Polishing Stage, with only three at the Late Skin Polishing Stage.

"Charge..."

The group rushed toward Chu Feng in a noisy wave.

Only after getting closer did they realize something was wrong. Why were there three corpses on the ground? One of them was Chen Yuan, the steward of the Fang Family Guards!

But greed still overwhelmed them. They had numbers on their side—how could they fear a mere youngster?

"Perfect timing!" Chu Feng grinned, revealing a row of chilling white teeth.

Facing more than a dozen enemies, he was utterly fearless. Without dodging or evading, he charged straight at them.

For a time, saber light crisscrossed as a bloody storm raged...

The moment they clashed, the two fastest men were pierced through by a single slash from Chu Feng.

Then began his very own performance of slaughter.

They were all in the same Skin Polishing Realm, but Chu Feng's perfected Breaking Edge Saber Technique cut through them as easily as chopping vegetables. In moments, more than half of the guards had fallen.

Only then did they wake up as if from a dream. Each of them bitterly wished their parents had given them two more legs, and they fled at top speed.

"Want to leave now? Don't you think it's a little late?"

Chu Feng gave a cold laugh, leaped after them, and became a merciless grim reaper harvesting lives.

Every facet of human nature revealed itself. Some knelt and begged for mercy, some gritted their teeth and threatened him, while others promised enormous benefits and even prepared to offer their younger sisters to him as slave girls.

Trying to test a martial artist with such paltry things?

Chu Feng remained expressionless. The only response they received was his icy blade.

[Slain Early Skin Polishing Realm Martial Artist, plundered 2 years of lifespan.]

[Slain wolfhound, plundered 1 year of lifespan.]

[Slain Late Skin Polishing Realm Martial Artist, plundered 3 years of lifespan.]

After killing every pursuer, Chu Feng glanced into the distance and saw that one fish had slipped through the net.

That fellow had probably arrived too late with reinforcements, but had instead escaped with his life.

Chu Feng paid it no heed. He and the Fang Family were already irreconcilable enemies. Whether anyone spread word of this made no difference.

[Name: Chu Feng.]

[Cultivation: Skin Polishing Realm Perfection.]

[Techniques: Dark Gold Marrow Polishing Technique, Breaking Edge Saber Technique Minor Accomplishment, Savage Ox Muscle Tempering Art—Not Yet Initiated.]

[Plundered Lifespan: 25 years]

Chu Feng stripped off his tattered clothes and looked at his unharmed body, his heart surging with boundless pride.

He had been able to kill more than a dozen Fang Family Guards of the same realm because he relied on his formidable defensive power.

Even when blades and swords struck his body, they could not break through his defenses. One could imagine how desperate those guards had felt at the time.

"This extreme skin membrane is indeed formidable. If it were another martial artist, even one with a perfected saber technique, they might not be able to kill so many martial artists of the same level without suffering the slightest injury."

Chu Feng casually stripped a well-fitting set of clothes from one of the corpses, found some dry rations and silver, and headed deeper into the forest.

These Skin Polishing Realm guards were bottom-tier among the Fang Family's forces, equivalent to the security guards watching the gates of a company in his previous life. Although they possessed some martial strength, it was only enough to bully ordinary people.

The Fang Family's true high-end combat power was its Attendants. They were at least martial artists above the Muscle Tempering Realm and were worlds apart from these household servants and guards.

The Fang Family would never have imagined that a mere household slave could be so troublesome. But now that so many guards had died, they would certainly begin taking him seriously.

Now that he had a Muscle Tempering Technique, he needed to advance into the Muscle Tempering Realm as quickly as possible to face the crises ahead.

Chu Feng dashed more than ten li in a single breath. In the woods, he found a luxuriant tree and leaped into it.

"Lifespan, deduce it for me!"

Leaning against the tree trunk, Chu Feng spoke in a deep voice.

[After five years of painstaking cultivation, Savage Ox Muscle Tempering Art reached Initiation. Tempered 126 muscles, reaching the Early Muscle Tempering Realm and able to unleash a thousand jin of force.]

Chu Feng had not expected that after five years, the technique would have only reached minor accomplishment. Was this really that difficult?

He guessed that initiating the Savage Ox Muscle Tempering Art required a massive amount of energy. Although he could use lifespan to deduce it, without sufficient nourishing medicinal materials, he could only progress at a snail's pace.

The saying that poor scholars and rich martial artists were indeed no empty words. No wonder so few of the Fang Family Guards broke through into the Muscle Tempering Realm. With their wealth, they simply could not afford it and could only slowly grind away through painstaking effort.

Where could Chu Feng find nourishing medicinal materials now? He could only eat all the dry rations he had found, then continue the deduction.

Strength was the ultimate truth. Once his lifespan was gone, he could acquire more.

Now that he was being hunted by the Fang Family, he would not stupidly hoard it and wait until he found nourishing medicinal materials before making deductions.

If some overwhelmingly powerful fellow came and killed him, having any amount of lifespan would be useless.

Chu Feng steeled his heart. Whatever happened, he would go all in!

[Tenth year: Your Savage Ox Muscle Tempering Art reached minor accomplishment. Tempered 133 muscles and could unleash up to a thousand jin of force.]

[Twentieth year: Savage Ox Strength Refining Art reached perfection. Tempered 360 muscles and could unleash three thousand jin of force.]

[Twenty-fifth year: After spending five years without increasing your strength, your control over the muscles already tempered by your body greatly improved. You could freely change the shape of your muscles.]

His lifespan had been squandered to the last drop, leaving Chu Feng aching with pain and regret.

The results of this deduction had fallen far short of his expectations, and the lack of medicinal nourishment was not the only reason.

The human body had 639 large and small muscles in total, yet he had tempered only 360—not even half.

The Savage Ox Strength Refining Art was too low-level. It could temper only 360 muscles. Bound by the technique, he had wasted far too much lifespan.

After tempering 360 muscles, the breakthrough would produce only the weakest Muscle Tendon Realm Martial Artist. It would be difficult to make up for the deficiency afterward.

He possessed lifespan deduction. Others needed countless years of bitter training, while he needed only an instant.

With such excellent conditions, he naturally had to become the strongest. Not one of the 639 muscles could be omitted. As a modern man, Chu Feng understood the importance of a foundation all too well.

He wondered how many muscles the Fang Family's hereditary Tiger Demon Body Tempering Art could temper. It was surely far stronger than his Savage Ox Muscle Tempering Art, right?

If he could obtain it and then use lifespan deduction to comprehend it, he might be able to achieve mastery through comprehensive understanding and temper even more muscles.

The Tiger Demon Body Tempering Art was impossible to obtain for now, but Chu Feng actually knew where he could acquire a superior Muscle Tempering Technique.

However, he would need to return to Yong'an City to obtain it.

His current strength was still insufficient to contend with the Fang Family, so he had to act cautiously.

"It's already very good. My strength has improved tremendously, far surpassing the slow progress I made practicing at dawn in Fang Manor before."

Chu Feng calmed his emotions and let out a long breath.

The more crucial the moment, the more he had to guard against arrogance and impatience and act steadily.