Xie Shangxian Qitian Alliance Master

Zhang Rongfang did not dwell on it. That box had been a junk box to begin with, so it was perfectly normal for it to contain things Xiao Qingying had thrown away.

He returned to his quarters with Zhang Xintai, reheated the decocted medicine, and drank down a large bowl.

In one go, he ate several large chunks of braised pork leg meat.

Streams of warm current continuously gathered within his chest and abdomen.

Zhang Rongfang raised a hand and focused his gaze on his palm. The Attribute Panel immediately surfaced again.

Zhang Rongfang—Life 15-15.

Skills: Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic—Yue Type Talisman (Breaking Limits) (Breaking Limit Skill: Heavy Mountain), Guanxu Skill (First Layer Essence Aperture).

Available Attributes: 1.

"Still no changes to Life or the skills."

To raise his rank, he had to begin a second Talisman Art. But with the Vitality Talisman, even with Master teaching him hand in hand, he could forget about getting started within less than a month.

Leaving such a long stretch of time completely idle would be rather wasteful. After all, new attributes would come in by then.

Zhang Rongfang gave it some thought.

"I'll save it for now. Once I get started, I'll fill the Vitality Talisman up in one breath."

He lowered his hand.

In truth, the abilities displayed by the attributes were mainly useful for looking at himself.

Using them to look at others was somewhat tasteless.

After collecting data for so long, he could already see the Life attributes of most people in Qinghe Temple.

But skills were truly difficult to gather.

After all, whatever martial arts or Talisman Arts others knew, it was impossible for them to understand them and demonstrate them before you.

"Besides... what exactly does the Life Attribute affect?"

Zhang Rongfang had been thinking and analyzing that question for some time.

He had already felt that as his Life Attribute increased, his stamina, energy, strength, and explosiveness all rose along with it.

His body had also become far less prone to illness. Clearly, his immunity had improved as well.

In his Previous Life, if he was chilled for just ten minutes, he would certainly catch a cold.

But here, even showering directly with icy well water did nothing to him.

At that thought, Zhang Rongfang suddenly recalled Senior Sister Zhao Dacong's attributes.

'Her Life is 15-19. Her upper limit is terrifyingly high. Is that the reason she was innately so strong?'

'If so... perhaps this Life Attribute can greatly enhance one's overall physical condition. If I raise it high enough... could I become innately godlike in strength?'

'No.'

Zhang Rongfang suddenly thought of something. He quickly walked to the desk and took a sheet of kraft paper from the drawer.

It was covered in data he had collected on many people, written with a charcoal pencil.

All of it was in simplified characters. No one but him could understand it.

Soon, he found the information he wanted.

'Zhang Chunxi, Life 22-27. Skill: Guanxu Skill (Nascent Soul Realm).'

"Old Palace Master Zhang is a purely civilian cultivator. His Life has already exceeded twenty, yet a fall and collision nearly knocked him unconscious. Clearly, Life does not affect strength, explosiveness, and the like.

"The greatest possibility is that Life affects longevity. The rest of my improvements were most likely brought by the Yue Type Talisman."

"By that logic... the realms and levels of martial arts can raise the body's strength, explosiveness, stamina, speed, and so on. Immunity remains uncertain for now and needs to be verified.

"After all, the difference between Old Palace Master Zhang and a Martial Cultivator lies in martial arts. One is a purely civilian cultivator, while the other has cultivated martial arts in addition."

Zhang Rongfang felt that this analysis was closest to reality.

"In that case, perhaps I can cultivate several more martial arts and use different techniques to build up and stack my physical qualities?

"My choice of martial arts need not be limited to the Great Dao Sect's teachings."

The moment that idea surfaced, Zhang Rongfang's heart stirred.

If every martial art could improve his body, then once he piled a whole body's worth of martial arts onto himself, how far could he rise? Just thinking about it made his blood boil! Since arriving at Qinghe Temple, his status had suppressed him at every turn, leaving him stifled and aggrieved everywhere he went.

If he could carve out a path through martial arts, then in the future... would he not be far freer and more unrestrained?

If there were not so many people he could not beat, he would never be willing to swallow this damned frustration.

Zhang Rongfang promptly put the paper away, rose to his feet, and impatiently headed out again.

The room he had moved into was right next to Zhang Xintai's.

Zhang Xintai had arranged that himself.

He followed the corridor around a corner and arrived at Zhang Xintai's door.

After knocking and entering, Zhang Rongfang explained his idea.

"Hmm? You want to look at some other, lower-grade martial arts to broaden your horizons?" Zhang Xintai was cultivating the Guanxu Skill in his room. Hearing this, he nodded in agreement.

"That really is necessary. Sooner or later, you'll encounter Martial Practitioners skilled in all sorts of martial arts. Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy can help you avoid quite a few dangers."

"Wait here." He turned and rummaged through the room.

Within minutes, he came out holding two thin parchment booklets.

"Here. These are two pieces from my Father's collection. He took them from opponents he casually killed back in the day. Speaking of which, it's a pity. That old man killed plenty of opponents when he was young, but only two of them carried manuals on them.

"Otherwise, he could have gathered quite a few more manuals. As for other martial arts routines, later on you can have the old man explain them and demonstrate the tactics for dealing with them. That will do."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Zhang Rongfang cupped his fists.

"We're brothers. Why be so polite? Go on. I still need to continue cultivating my Civilian Skill. Whether I can live to ninety depends on this." Zhang Xintai was clearly extremely concerned about his Civilian Skill.

Zhang Rongfang took the two parchment booklets back to his room. Under the candlelight, he focused his eyes and looked closely.

On the first booklet, black characters on yellow paper read: 'Taichang Eagle Claw Skill.'

The second booklet's cover bore red cinnabar characters: 'Dragon Snake Movement Technique.' Behind them were two smaller words: True One.

"Good heavens... could this be a martial art of the True One Sect?" Zhang Rongfang's heart shivered.

In Great Ling, the True One Sect was a great Daoist sect with influence far more formidable than the Great Dao Sect's.

Great Ling had two Daoist sects: True One and Great Dao.

Its Zhenyi Patriarch was one of the Ming Mountain Five Sons, greatly valued by the Great Ling Imperial Court. By imperial decree, he had established the Assembled Sages Institute and commanded the Daoist sects under heaven.

Compared with it, the Great Dao Sect merely occupied several upper-level seats in the Assembled Sages Institute. Its overall strength was vastly inferior.

"To even get his hands on True One Sect martial arts, this bargain Master truly is..." What else could Zhang Rongfang say? He immediately opened the manuals and read.

The first, the Taichang Eagle Claw Skill, contained rather brief material.

Its training was divided into several stages. First, place brown rice in a basin and repeatedly stab into it with the fingers, tempering the skin.

Second, mix pebbles into the basin of brown rice and repeat the above process until pain was no longer felt.

Third, tap stones with the fingers to train the solidity of muscles and bones.

Fourth, hook and lift heavy objects with the fingers, using the point when the hands no longer felt pain as the standard.

Fifth, use a basin of Tie Sha, plunging the fingers into it in the shape of an eagle claw while increasing the weight of the objects lifted.

Sixth, choose trees or rocks for actual strikes, and begin practicing the accompanying techniques.

At the end, there was also a detailed regimen. It required special Trauma Relief Pills and Red Umbrella Medicinal Wine for hot washing after every training session, lest hidden injuries be left behind.

The manual also detailed the standards each stage had to reach before one could proceed to the next.

The combat techniques revolved around how to maximize the power of the successfully trained eagle claws.

The combat techniques were of a very low grade, and their routines were simple. For Zhang Rongfang, whose Yue Type Talisman had broken its limits, a single glance was enough for him to understand them thoroughly.

The key was still training the eagle claws.

'According to the manual, Eagle Claw training does not depend on aptitude. As long as one has perseverance and determination, and all ten fingers are intact, anyone can cultivate it.

'This Eagle Claw Skill can achieve initial success in three years. After that, it is easy to learn but difficult to master. If one has a method to harmonize the eagle claw's qi and blood, one may perhaps step into a higher realm.'

"Eagle Claw Skill..." Zhang Rongfang imagined it. When he truly had no martial arts left to practice, perhaps he could use this to break through his rank.

Its main problem was that it lacked practical use.

Between opponents of the same level, you used eagle claws, while the other person could use a poisoned dagger and achieve the same power as you.

If the opponent wore a full suit of thick leather armor, this Eagle Claw Skill would be crippled by more than half. After all, his fingers were only so long. "It can only supplement my cultivation."

He shook his head slightly and turned to the other manual.

Dragon Snake Movement Technique.

When he opened it, the characters were all written in cinnabar, and the paper was far more refined. Clearly, it was not in the same class as the Eagle Claw Skill.

At the very least, its writer had far more money.

The contents of this martial art were not difficult either. It described a set of footwork and its accompanying Mind Method.

The footwork was named Dragon Snake Movement, apparently taking its meaning from the slithering and stealthy movement of dragons and snakes.

Its description mentioned that after mastering this art, one could walk without sound, come and go like the wind, treat steep muddy ground as level earth, and even climb trees freely like a true giant snake.

'This is the one!' Zhang Rongfang was delighted. The Vitality Talisman was too slow to get started with in the short term, while this Dragon Snake Movement was perfectly suited to him.

The footwork was not difficult, and getting started with the Mind Method was simple as well.

Though it was easy to learn but difficult to master later on, who was he?

So long as he could get started, even if it was a lump of shit, he could point it into gold! Zhang Rongfang immediately studied Dragon Snake Movement carefully. The entire text was only a few thousand words. After finishing it, he set down the book and began trying it back and forth around the room.

To initially get started, he merely had to memorize the foundational footwork of Dragon Snake Movement: sixty-four steps in total, all completed in one breath without a single mistake or omission.

That counted as getting started.

After Dragon Snake Movement was mastered, it had three realms.

First Snake Swim.

Second Dragon Swim.

Third Dragon Snake Unity.

With the difficult foundation of the Vitality Talisman, along with his own overall stamina and breathing foundation—

Zhang Rongfang repeatedly familiarized himself with and memorized the footwork. Then, after some ten attempts, he happened to succeed once.

Though it had only been by chance, the Attribute Panel did not care about anything else. Once he succeeded a single time, Dragon Snake Movement Technique immediately appeared among his skills.

"It worked!"

Zhang Rongfang wiped the sweat from his forehead and showed a smile.

With the foundation of other martial arts, practicing a technique one grade lower made getting started remarkably easy.

After sitting down to rest for a while, he drank a few mouthfuls of water.

Then he lowered his head to look at his hand, and the Attribute Panel appeared within his field of vision.

Zhang Rongfang—Life 15-15.

Skills: Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic—Yue Type Talisman (Breaking Limits) (Breaking Limit Skill: Heavy Mountain).

Guanxu Skill (First Layer Essence Aperture).

Dragon Snake Movement Technique (Beginner).

Available Attributes: 1.

Without any hesitation, Zhang Rongfang immediately focused his attention on the plus sign after Dragon Snake Movement Technique.

Imagining a light tap—

With a whoosh, Available Attributes changed from 1 to 0. The word Beginner in the brackets after Dragon Snake Movement Technique swiftly vanished, blurred for a moment, then became clear again, changing to Mastered.