The night was black as ink as Su Haoran made his way along the paths of Prajna Temple's back mountain, finally slipping silently back into his own dilapidated woodshed.
The air still carried the mingled scent of rotten wood and dry straw, a stark contrast to the bloody stench he had just experienced.
Without a moment's hesitation, Su Haoran bolted the wooden door of the woodshed behind him.
Ignoring the bloodstains and pain on his body, he went straight to the corner and took out the oil-paper packet from his bundle.
Qi Replenishing Powder!
He skillfully lit a small fire, set up a broken clay pot, poured the medicinal powder into water, and slowly decocted it.
The fragrance of medicine soon filled the cramped woodshed.
While the medicine brewed, he took out the several dozen pounds of meat.
A fresh bloody smell rushed into his nostrils. Not only did it fail to make him uncomfortable, it instead stirred the deepest hunger in his body.
Su Haoran drew his saber and swiftly cut up most of the meat, sprinkling it with coarse salt to cure it.
This would be his food for the coming days, as well as the foundation for breaking through his realm.
After finishing all that, Su Haoran set aside another three or four pounds of the freshest tenderloin, skewered it on wooden sticks, and roasted it over the fire.
" This will be tonight's replenishment for my Qi and Blood!"
A sharp gleam flashed through Su Haoran's eyes as he waited for the medicinal soup in the clay pot to boil.
A moment later, the water was boiling. Su Haoran lifted the scalding clay pot, let it cool slightly, then drained the bowl of dark brown medicinal soup in one gulp.
"This tastes truly awful!"
Su Haoran frowned faintly.
But soon, a warm current rose from his abdomen like a trickling stream, swiftly flowing into his limbs and bones.
The Qi and Blood depleted by that fierce battle was being replenished and filled at an astonishing rate.
Compared to before, his Qi and Blood was not only more abundant now, but also carried an indescribable heat and vitality. It was as if a force surged beneath his skin, eager to break through some invisible shackle.
"Good!"
"But it's still not enough!"
Su Haoran's eyes shone as he grabbed the skewers of meat beside him, already sizzling with oil, and began wolfing them down.
There were no seasonings, only the raw fragrance of meat and Qi and Blood. Yet to Su Haoran at this moment, it surpassed every delicacy in the world.
Large amounts of essence were swiftly absorbed by his stomach and intestines, transformed into the purest energy, further catalyzing the medicinal effects of the Qi Replenishing Powder.
After devouring all the roasted meat like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, Su Haoran felt his entire body burning hot, a vast force rampaging through him.
He did not waste that strength. He immediately rose to his feet and assumed a stance in the center of the woodshed.
Iron Cloth Shirt!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Using his hands as hammers, he continuously struck his chest, back, and limbs.
Every blow contained the force of Arhat Fist. Dull thuds echoed through the silent night, like a tireless blacksmith hammering a piece of stubborn iron.
Sweat quickly soaked his Monk Robe, but Su Haoran paid it no heed.
The Meditation Scripture circulated, clearing his mind and focusing every shred of his will on tempering his skin through a thousand hammers and ten thousand strikes.
Medicine and nourishment worked together like twin horses pulling a cart, becoming fuel that made the blazing fire of his cultivation burn even fiercer!
He spent the entire night without sleep.
Near dawn, Su Haoran suddenly opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.
The soreness and bruises from last night's desperate fight had vanished without a trace overnight! His entire body brimmed with Qi and Blood, like a blazing furnace!
"The bottleneck has already loosened!"
The next day, Su Haoran repeated the same process.
Brewing medicine, eating meat, cultivating.
The third day was the same.
The fourth day was still the same.
In the mountains, one lost all sense of days and months.
He seemed to have become a tireless cultivation machine, squeezing his will and potential to their utmost limits.
Those several dozen pounds of meat and the entire packet of Qi Replenishing Powder all became part of his body.
Beneath his skin, it seemed as though countless fine threads were being rewoven and tightened, becoming tougher and denser by the moment.
Finally, late on the fifth night, when Su Haoran once again poured a force of Qi and Blood into the skin across his body for one final round of pounding, a sudden change occurred!
Buzzz—
Su Haoran felt a thunderous boom erupt in his mind. Inside his body, it seemed that an incomparably sturdy dam, battered by the floodwaters accumulated over four days and four nights, suddenly collapsed with a roar!
An unprecedentedly powerful force, like a river bursting through its banks, instantly surged across every inch of his skin and every inch of his fascia!
Numbness, soreness, swelling, scorching heat... all kinds of sensations intertwined, ultimately becoming an indescribable sense of ease and power!
A faint golden sheen actually appeared over the surface of his skin. Under the dim firelight, he resembled a gilded Arhat statue in a temple.
It was done!
Technique: Iron Cloth Shirt (Major Accomplishment 1%) Because your technique has broken through, your comprehension has increased! Comprehension: 15 (Extraordinary Bones)
A string of information surfaced in Su Haoran's mind.
He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. The breath was so long that it left behind a faint white line in the air.
Feeling the power surging through his body, Su Haoran's eyes shone brilliantly.
He lowered his head to look at his fist. Even the texture of his skin seemed to have changed, becoming finer and tougher.
He extended a finger and scraped it forcefully across his arm. It produced a creaking sound, like scraping old cowhide, yet it was difficult to leave even a pale mark.
"So this is Iron Cloth Shirt at Major Accomplishment?"
Su Haoran's heart stirred. He walked over to the wall, where a hardwood stake reinforced the structure, its surface studded with several protruding iron nails.
In the past, he would never have dared try this lightly.
But now...
He took a deep breath and suddenly threw out his right fist!
He did not use the force of Arhat Fist, only pure physical strength!
Thud!
A dull boom rang out, and the entire woodshed trembled.
Su Haoran withdrew his fist. A shallow fist mark had appeared on the hard wooden stake, while the iron nail at its center had been smashed more than half an inch into the wood!
There was only an almost negligible red dot on his knuckles. His skin had not even broken!
"What terrifying defense!"
Wild delight burst from Su Haoran's eyes.
He felt that his body now was like a stubborn rock scoured by river waters for a thousand years—indestructible and immensely resilient!
At the same time, he vaguely sensed that his martial realm had entered a new level along with the Major Accomplishment of Iron Cloth Shirt.
"First Skin Tempering... Second Skin Tempering..." he muttered.
The Ghost Face Mask man he had killed before had been a Martial Artist at Second Skin Tempering.
Yet he now felt far stronger than that man by more than a single level. Could this be Second Skin Tempering?
"But what is the fundamental difference between First Skin Tempering and Second Skin Tempering?"
"Other than being stronger and tougher, what else is different?"
Clearly, he could not find the answer to this question through solitary contemplation alone.
The eastern sky began to pale with the color of a fish's belly.
Su Haoran pushed open the woodshed door and breathed in the slightly cool morning air. The Killing Intent and killing intent in his heart had long since been washed clean by the joy of his breakthrough.
After tidying up a little, he headed toward the Martial Monk Courtyard.
He wanted to find Zeng Qiu and seek an answer.
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