Immortal Martial: Pushing Across the Two Worlds from Reality

But Young Master Jiang... the kindness he had shown him over these past two months had been real enough.

Not a trace of disdain, and from time to time, he even brought him wine and food from the Outer City.

How could he bear to let someone like Young Master Jiang go empty filthy chamber pots?

He could just go himself.

It was not as if he came from any good background. He had done this sort of thing more times than he could count.

Feeling the concern in Old Man Li's voice,

Jiang Shu stood there, and in the end, many words remained unspoken.

"Kid, if you don't want to join the Green Snake Gang, then don't. Just go study and read. Every day you spend reading under Master Qin is one day less—make sure you treasure them."

"Alright."

Old Man Li did not take his usual route to the Escort Agency.

Jiang Shu watched Old Man Li leave, then cast a deep look back toward the entrance of Coiling Snake Alley before finally heading toward the Inner City.

Pingling County was divided into an Inner City and an Outer City.

The Outer City was Pingling County's slums, inhabited mostly by county commoners and migrant refugees. The County Office and wealthy households could not be bothered over such mosquito flesh, so they simply handed the Outer City over to the gangs to manage.

The Inner City was the true county seat of Pingling County.

A heavy city wall, built entirely from enormous blue bricks, rose high into the air like a gigantic beast crouching low. Beyond the walls ran a moat a full ten meters wide, clearly separating it from the Outer City.

By then, it was already the hour of the dragon.

Jiang Shu moved swiftly, crossed the drawbridge, and entered the Inner City.

Unlike the narrow, filthy alleys of the Outer City, the Inner City's streets were paved with stone bricks, broad and clean. Small vendors had already set up stalls along both sides of the long streets, selling everyday necessities and rare curiosities seldom seen in the Outer City.

Looking into the distance, he saw a vast square at the far end. At its center stood a huge stone wall, carved with every major event that had taken place in Pingling County from its founding to the present day.

Stopping there, Jiang Shu did not look at the county's great events. Instead, he looked toward a corner of the stone wall, where a simple map of the Inner City had been carved.

After identifying the direction, he headed east.

There were seven martial arts schools in the Inner City that Jiang Shu had managed to learn about. Each had its own specialty.

The White Crane Martial Arts School taught the White Crane Breathing Method and White Crane Cloud Entering Stance. With long practice, one's body would become light and graceful, one's form as ethereal as a crane.

The Spinning Turtle Martial Arts School taught the Spinning Turtle Breathing Method and Spinning Turtle Mountain Bearing Stance. With long practice, one's breath would become deep and enduring, with benefits for health and longevity.

The Antelope Martial Arts School taught the Antelope Breathing Method and Antelope Stream Leaping Stance. With long practice, one would gain swift speed and astonishing jumping power.

Unlike Mystic Star's martial path, the stances here were all paired with breathing methods, allowing one to develop Inner Strength faster and step into true martial arts.

White Crane, Spinning Turtle, and Antelope were all excellent martial arts schools.

The breathing methods and stances they taught should all surpass the Horse Stance he was currently learning.

White Crane in particular had an ethereal, immortal air about it, while Spinning Turtle might even extend one's lifespan by several years.

But no matter how good the image, no matter how long the lifespan,

how could they compare to true methods of slaughter?

Old Man Li's stumbling steps as he left that morning flashed through Jiang Shu's mind, along with the sight of Old Man Li nearly kneeling beneath Zhao Tai to beg for mercy. Jiang Shu narrowed his eyes and quickened his pace.

After crossing three streets and alleys, he reached a small square.

At the far eastern end, a sprawling courtyard of single-story buildings entered his sight.

Still more than twenty steps away, he could already hear wave after wave of fierce training cries.

"Joining the martial arts school costs ten taels of silver."

A boy of around ten stood at the entrance.

Eight words were written on the upright black pole with its white banner.

Beside it sat a scale, ready to weigh the silver brought by each visitor.

Jiang Shu glanced at the four characters on the courtyard's plaque. After confirming that he had come to the right place, he pieced together several scattered bits of silver from inside his padded coat.

The boy took them, weighed out exactly ten taels of silver, then pulled out a certificate from the side and waited for Jiang Shu to sign and press his mark.

Jiang Shu took the brush, dipped it in ink, and signed with practiced ease.

Then he stepped into the martial arts school.

Hungry Tiger Martial Arts School.

It taught the Hungry Tiger Breathing Method and Hungry Tiger Sitting Cave Stance. With long practice, one's breath would surge like a torrent, and one's fists and kicks would become fierce and savage.

In the courtyard, which covered three to four hundred square meters, more than thirty people trained without pause.

Fists, kicks, grappling techniques, stone discs held aloft.

With Jiang Shu's current insight, he could clearly see that apart from a small handful, all of these thirty-odd people had reached the realm of Qi and Blood Transportation.

At this realm, one no longer needed padded clothes to ward off the cold.

With every movement and stillness, their qi and blood rolled like waves. Their limbs and spine opened and closed in sweeping arcs, like a bow drawn to the full, displaying imposing force.

He watched for quite some time before taking off his padded coat. Carefully wrapping up his small bag of lime powder and electric baton, he placed them at the edge of the courtyard.

Though these fist and kick techniques could not be called exquisite, compared with the martial arts moves from his previous life and Mystic Star, they clearly carried a far stronger air of slaughter.

Jiang Shu learned as he practiced. Facing an empty patch of ground, his body spun sharply, closing in in an instant. His outstretched palm became a claw in one seamless motion.

"Elder Qiu has risen. Silence."

Suddenly, with a creak, the door to a room on the south side of the courtyard opened a crack.

A pretty maid hurried out from within, her voice rather soft.

Upon hearing her, all the apprentices training in the courtyard stopped at incredible speed, adjusted their breathing, and stood silently where they were.

Martial arts schools throughout the county rarely accepted formal disciples.

Most of those they took in were apprentices, dressed in ordinary training uniforms and practicing in the outer courtyard.

They paid ten taels a month in training fees and could only hear the master's instruction once every few days.

"This old man is surnamed Qiu. You may call me Master Qiu, or Elder Qiu."

The voice arrived before the man did.

The aged voice seemed to ring beside everyone's ears, stirring their eardrums.

Only then did the room's door fully open.

The old man slowly emerged, his body slightly stooped and standing only around one meter sixty tall.

Yet every step he took shook Jiang Shu to the core. He was like a gaunt, bony hungry tiger walking toward a sheep.

"The martial path is like scaling high mountains, like crossing deep waters. Without great perseverance and great courage, one cannot climb its heights or wade its depths. Even the first realm, the Skin Grinding Realm, requires long hours keeping stances, prolonged breathing, transporting qi and blood, and using Inner Strength to temper the skin."

"Today, I am in the mood to demonstrate. Someone, come forth."

The moment Elder Qiu finished speaking,

an apprentice dressed in black training clothes strode out and held a stone disc before his chest.

The stone disc weighed roughly five hundred jin. The apprentice circulated his stance, rooted himself into the ground, joined waist and horse as one, transported qi and blood, and with a loud shout, held the stone disc steady before his chest.

Amid the puzzled gazes of several new apprentices, Elder Qiu extended an arm that appeared little more than skin over bone. His five fingers formed a claw and struck the stone disc.

The stone disc did not change in the slightest. There was only a faint sound.

Without any pause, he struck a second time.

The stone disc trembled. At the spot near its edge where his fingers had landed, five finger marks appeared with absolute clarity.

A third strike.

Several cracks burst across the stone disc. At its center were five finger holes half an inch deep, a terrifying sight.

"All of you who came here know that stance training is divided into three stages: Qi and Blood Sensing, Qi and Blood Transportation, and Full Body Vital Energy Circulation. Their corresponding strengths are three hundred jin, six hundred jin, and nine hundred jin!"

"After the Qi and Blood Great Circulation, a mysterious, unfathomable strength will gradually arise within the body. Circulate this Inner Strength and temper the skin until it develops a membrane, and that is the first realm of martial arts—the Skin Grinding Realm. This realm is likewise divided into three stages: Oxskin, Stoneskin, and Ironskin. The newcomers may come up one by one to take a look and ponder carefully."

There was no need for much explanation of the differences between the minor stages. The stone disc had already provided the best answer.

Elder Qiu stood to one side with his hands behind his back.

Jiang Shu was the first to step forward. Touching the finger holes, he unconsciously inserted his own fingers into them.

A trace of warmth still lingered inside the holes. Feeling the real, coarse texture of the finger holes, fine stone dust clung to his fingertips.

In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, even Wang Chongyang, the greatest under heaven, could not carve words into a stone wall.

Yet in this world, piercing a stone disc with one's fingers was merely the first realm of martial arts.

If he possessed such a realm, he could kill Zhao Tai with a single punch on the spot. Even if the Green Snake Gang's leader came, would he dare utter half a word?

Skin Grinding.

Oxskin, Stoneskin, Ironskin.