Rapid Progress, Fingers Like Refined Steel

Realm: Mortal Transformation Realm First Layer Mid Stage

Technique: [Pine Crane Longevity Technique: Initial Glimpse 32/80]

In barely ten days or so, the progress of the Pine Crane Longevity Technique had already surpassed one-third.

As he continuously cultivated the Pine Crane Technique, Lin Xuankong's Mortal Transformation Realm had also steadily risen. He had reached the mid stage of the First Layer, and his body had undergone an enormous transformation!

Especially his arms—they had long since surpassed a thousand jin in strength, with skin and flesh tough as leather! The first layer of Mortal Transformation focused on tempering the arms with Mortal Transformation Vitality. Once the muscles, tendons, flesh, and skin of both arms and hands were tempered to perfection, the First Layer would be complete!

One-third in ten days.

At his current cultivation speed, by the time the Young Lady returned ten days later, he would probably have reached the late first layer, only one step away from First Layer Perfection!

What expression would the Young Lady have then?

However, the Young Lady had said that when she first began cultivating the Pine Crane Technique, her entry-level speed had been about the same as his. He wondered whether that was true. If her talent was really that terrifying, then she probably would not be too surprised to see him advance to the late first layer!

That is far too outrageous. She could actually keep pace with me, even with my fiftyfold cultivation speed bonus.

Fortunately, he was now over fifty years old and had a fiftyfold cultivation speed bonus. When he turned sixty next year, he should have a sixtyfold speed bonus. By then, his cultivation speed would become even faster—far faster than the Young Lady's!

Lin Xuankong marveled for a while before looking toward the bluestone in the courtyard.

Looking at the finger holes the Young Lady had left in the large bluestone, he silently thought, Once I reach First Layer Perfection, I too will be able to use the Spirit Crane Finger as the Young Lady demonstrated—one finger thrust, piercing straight through hard bluestone!

As for now... he turned to glance at the old willow tree in the courtyard, then circulated his vitality and leaped to its side.

The next moment,

With a soft "shhk," the old willow tree trembled slightly.

His right hand had already pierced into the old willow tree's tough trunk.

After easily withdrawing his right hand, a hole several inches wide and half a foot deep appeared in the trunk!

Lin Xuankong nodded in considerable satisfaction.

Now that he was at the mid stage of Mortal Transformation Realm First Layer, he still could not easily pierce through bluestone. But when he circulated his vitality into his arms and fingers, their toughness approached that of refined steel.

With one finger thrust, he could already effortlessly pierce an exceptionally hard tree trunk!

If this power struck the Lin Xuankong of ten days ago, that former self absolutely would not be able to withstand a single finger. He would surely die on the spot!

Moreover, as his progress in the Pine Crane Technique increased, his use of the Spirit Crane Finger had become increasingly proficient.

With such an exquisite martial skill at hand, if everyone fought barehanded, even facing Zhang Wu's dozen or so fierce subordinates would be no more than a matter of poking them a dozen times!

Just as he was musing to himself,

A knock suddenly came from the old Wooden Building.

Lin Xuankong set aside his thoughts and quickly entered the Wooden Building. He headed for the outer room and opened the door, only to find an unfamiliar man dressed in servant's clothes and wearing a household servant's cap.

Upon seeing Lin Xuankong open the door, the man asked, "Are you Old Lin, the flatbread seller?"

Lin Xuankong searched his memories but could not recall who the man before him was. "You are?"

The household servant said, "I am Li An, a servant of the Li Mansion on East Water Street! Tomorrow, our Li Mansion is holding a birthday banquet for the Third Young Master and preparing a flowing banquet. I heard you are skilled at making flatbread, so we intend to have you come make flatbread, fried dough sticks, and other staple foods."

Only then did Lin Xuankong understand.

In his memories, because the previous owner of this body had been quite skilled at making flatbread, he had often taken on work preparing flowing banquets for wealthy households.

The servant continued, "The flowing banquet will last a full six days, and quite a lot of flatbread will be needed. But this job pays two taels of silver. You can find four or five helpers and give them a share!"

Two taels of silver! When he sold flatbread, he had to work busily for over a month just to earn one or two taels of silver!

Of course, preparing a flowing banquet for such a wealthy household would certainly be exhausting. An ordinary old man absolutely would not be able to bear it and would need several more helpers. Split two taels among four or five people, and the earnings were not really that great!

But with his current physique, doing this bit of work alone would be utterly easy and pleasant!

Thinking of the thirty-odd taels of silver Li Xiaolan had given him, he silently thought, I should earn more money too. How can I keep living off a woman?

"Well? If you agree, I will not look for anyone else," the servant asked.

"Yes, I will head over early tomorrow morning! Brother Li, would you like to come in and rest for a while?" Lin Xuankong asked with a nod.

Seeing that he had agreed, the servant nodded and turned away, clearly uninterested in chatting further with such a poor old man.

After the Li Mansion servant left, Lin Xuankong closed the door and returned to the backyard to continue tempering his Spirit Crane Finger.

After leaving Wutong Alley, the servant headed straight toward the Li Mansion.

Once he had gone far away, Ma Xiong emerged leisurely from a wine tavern by the roadside, carrying a birdcage. He gazed from afar in the direction servant Li An had departed, his eyes flickering.

A Black Tiger Gang member beside him said, "Brother Ma, it looks like Old Man Lin accepted the Li Mansion job."

Ma Xiong teased the little bird in the cage, then nodded with a smile at the corner of his lips.

Ever since he had agreed to his elder brother's request to get rid of Old Man Lin, that old bastard had not left his home for more than ten consecutive days. It was rather strange.

But money could make ghosts grind millstones. There were plenty of ways to lure Old Man Lin away from that beautiful Young Lady!

At this moment,

There were quite a few pedestrians passing by, but whenever they saw Ma Xiong by the roadside, fear showed on their faces and they detoured far around him.

Even some richly dressed merchants and young masters surrounded by attendants would respectfully greet Ma Xiong, the right-hand man of the big boss Zhang Wu, when they saw him.

After standing there for a while, Ma Xiong said in a deep voice, "To get from Wutong Alley to the Li Mansion, he will definitely have to pass that little path through the dense forest. Find two brothers with tight lips and ruthless hands, and have them wait there early tomorrow morning! Also, bring the Hu Brothers along!"

The gang member frowned. "The Hu Brothers? For such a chance to earn merit, we are bringing those two along too?"

Ma Xiong smiled. "How could we keep such a chance to earn merit all to ourselves?

"The Hu Brothers are exceptionally talented. A few days ago, they entered Mortal Transformation Realm First Layer! They cultivated for only five short years before entering martial cultivation through Mortal Breakthrough, reaching the early first layer even before I did after six or seven years of cultivation.

"With talent that good, those two will surely have great prospects in the future.

"They may even go farther than Brother Zhang. When you conduct yourself in this world, you must think more about the future!"

The gang member froze for a moment, then smiled ingratiatingly. "Impressive! Brother Ma is indeed Brother Ma—you see farther than anyone!"

But Ma Xiong merely narrowed his eyes. Bringing the Hu Brothers was not just to befriend them.

The Lin Family Young Lady was that powerful, yet his elder brother wanted him to crush Old Man Lin to death. He could not refuse this job, but he had to leave himself a way out! If the Hu Brothers acted together with him, then if something went wrong in the future, those two "tall men" would make the best shields!

When you mixed in the martial world, brute strength alone was not enough. You had to use your brain!

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