Ninth Rank Martial Artist, Tiger Subduing Fist Great Accomplishment!

"I've successfully refined my strength into force... I can now be considered a Ninth Rank martial artist!"

After a long while, Su Mu slowly opened his eyes. After advancing to the Ninth Rank and refining his strength, a sharp glint flickered in his eyes. His entire being felt renewed, as if he had undergone a complete transformation.

Refining strength into force is the first threshold for a Ranked Martial Artist. This realm requires years of tempering the physique, gradually increasing one's own strength, and finally achieving the flow of force through all acupoints.

For ordinary people, this process takes at least several years, and often more than a decade. In fact, over ninety percent of martial arts practitioners never manage to cross this hurdle in their lifetime.

This is because the attempt to refine strength into force is not a guaranteed success. Only when the body's vital energy and blood accumulate to the limit of an ordinary physique, and at the same time, the force is nurtured to a certain height, can one attempt the breakthrough. Once the attempt fails, the vital energy and blood, as well as the force, will be damaged to varying degrees. Some may even have to start cultivating their force all over again.

And after each failed attempt, continuing to try will only become more difficult.

Su Mu, at this moment, was unaware that it was rare for someone like him to succeed in refining strength into force on his first attempt. However, these details were not mentioned in the Tiger Subduing Fist manual.

The success rate of refining strength into force depends entirely on the martial artist's innate talent, comprehension, and their own accumulated foundation.

Being able to succeed in the first attempt was not only due to cultivating the Five Animal Frolics to the Great Accomplishment level, but also because his comprehension, enhanced by the system panel, surpassed that of ordinary people. Furthermore, the Body Strengthening Soup he had been taking daily for the past few months had been subtly improving his physique, making his foundation sufficiently robust, which ultimately led to his success!

"Let me try the real refined strength!"

After this breakthrough, Su Mu felt that the wisps of force within him, previously as fine as hair, had now transformed into a stream. The force flowed like gurgling water, circulating endlessly through his limbs and meridians.

Roar!

Su Mu struck a stance and began practicing the Tiger Subduing Fist on the spot. As soon as he threw a punch, his eyes lit up, as if a new world had opened before him, and the world felt completely different.

Tiger Subduing Stance.

Fierce Tiger Pounce.

Vajra Subdues Tiger!

The sound of fists breaking through the air was accompanied by a muffled tiger's roar. Afterimages trailed behind him, and the powerful fist wind caused the surrounding trees and leaves to sway and rustle.

A sound is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold!

Su Mu looked down at his fist with disbelief. After advancing to the Ninth Rank and refining his strength, a casual punch from him was several times more powerful than before.

His previous force was like loose sand, difficult to gather into a single strand. Now, Su Mu could do so with ease. Once the force within his body could be gathered into a single strand at will, the power of his punches and kicks naturally entered a whole new level.

"Let me test the power!"

Su Mu quickly walked to a large tree, about as thick as a person could encircle. Taking a deep breath, he activated the vital energy and blood within his body, and his force converged towards his right arm simultaneously.

The next second, Su Mu unleashed the Tiger Subduing Fist and struck out with a punch.

Bang!

The impact of flesh and blood against the tree trunk suddenly let out a booming sound, sending wood chips flying. The tree, which required one person to encircle, swayed violently, as if caught in a storm.

Rustling sounds echoed as leaves fell from the wildly shaking branches. Looking through the falling leaves, one could see that the spot where the fist struck had cracked like a spiderweb, and the fist imprint on the tree trunk had caved in by three inches.

Seeing the fist imprint that penetrated three inches deep into the wood, Su Mu couldn't help but gasp. He was startled himself, unable to imagine how terrifying this punch would be if it landed on a person's flesh and blood instead of a tree.

"The book doesn't lie. A refined strength martial artist can indeed shatter rocks with their bare fist without harming themselves... There is a chasm between unranked and ranked martial artists!"

Su Mu looked down at his fist again, his face filled with amazement. After delivering a punch that penetrated three inches deep, his fist was completely unharmed, not even a scratch.

The world is full of wonders. Su Mu believed that there might be people with innate divine strength who could achieve a punch that penetrated three inches deep without practicing martial arts. However, strength is a double-edged sword. Without the protection of refined force, this innate divine strength would inevitably harm oneself, resulting in superficial wounds at best, and broken bones at worst. The difference is obvious.

"After advancing to the Ninth Rank and refining my strength, besides the increase in force, my own strength and speed have also improved... by about thirty percent."

Su Mu's eyes lit up. A thirty percent increase was not small. The process of cultivating force was about gradually approaching the limit of an ordinary physique. This thirty percent was the thirty percent that broke through that limit!

After testing the improvements from his advancement, the young man showed a look of satisfaction. It had been nearly a year since he transmigrated to this world, and he had finally reached the threshold of becoming a martial artist.

As far as Su Mu knew, there were only a handful of Qi Refining Martial Artists in the entire Qingshui Town. He now possessed a certain degree of self-preservation ability.

Taking a deep breath to calm his excited heart, Su Mu brought up his current status panel to check.

[Name: Su Mu (14 years old)]
[Lifespan: 52 years]
[Skills: Five Animal Frolics (Great Accomplishment 76%), Blacksmithing (Great Accomplishment 41%), Tiger Subduing Fist (Great Accomplishment 1%), Alchemy (Beginner 51%)]
[Comprehension: 9 (Slight Potential)]

"My lifespan has increased by a full five years."

"After reaching Great Accomplishment in Tiger Subduing Fist, my comprehension also increased by two points... 10 points of comprehension should be the next breakthrough limit."

When he advanced just now, Su Mu had a premonition that once his comprehension reached 10 points, he would be able to break through the current comprehension bottleneck and reach a higher level.

Su Mu carefully examined his status panel. The speed of skill proficiency increase had slowed down after Five Animal Frolics and Blacksmithing reached Great Accomplishment.

This was easy to understand. It was easy to start, but difficult to master. In anything, the closer one gets to the limit, the more difficult each incremental breakthrough becomes, requiring more time and effort.

Su Mu narrowed his eyes slightly. Calculating the time, half a year had passed, and his supervisor was due to return. It would still take some time for the Five Animal Frolics to reach Perfection.

"Now that I am a Ninth Rank martial artist, why not go to the Black Market? Tomorrow is the twenty-sixth."

After the supervisor returned, Su Mu would be under surveillance again. He did not want to miss this opportunity and planned to go to the Black Market to purchase a Ninth Rank martial art to cultivate.

He figured that cultivating a Ninth Rank martial art to minor success would undoubtedly be easier and take less time than cultivating the Five Animal Frolics to Perfection.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

In the blacksmithing room, Su Mu used tongs to take a long sword out of a bucket of water. As the sword emerged from the water, it emitted a cold glint. The sword's body was as smooth as a mirror. Su Mu lightly flicked the blade.

Clang!

First, a crisp and pleasant metallic sound, followed by a fine humming. After carefully inspecting it by hand, Su Mu's face showed a hint of satisfaction.

"This is already the third Ten Refinements Weapon Blacksmith Su has forged this month. Truly, the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves before, and the younger generation is to be feared."

Seeing this scene, a blacksmith master couldn't help but sigh. He was still in the process of forging the iron billet for his second Ten Refinements Weapon, while Su Mu had already completed forging his third, and the quality of all the Ten Refinements Weapons he forged was top-notch.

"Alas, it seems I'm old and useless... Comparing oneself to others truly can drive one to death!"

Many blacksmith masters lamented their own obsolescence and felt inferior to Su Mu.

After finishing his day of forging, Su Mu found the shop owner, Li Tie, and asked for a day off. Li Tie readily agreed. Su Mu had already forged three Ten Refinements Weapons this month, and their quality was excellent. Many customers had specifically requested Su Mu to forge for them recently.

Even if Su Mu didn't come to work for the rest of the month, it would be fine.

"Is one day enough?"

Li Tie asked with a smile. He was increasingly optimistic about Su Mu. His own son, Li Xiaohu, would likely have a hard time taking over his business, and perhaps Su Mu would need to take over the shop in the future.

"Shop owner, one day off is enough."

"Alright, your leave is approved."

The following evening, under the setting sun, a guest arrived from the east. A man wearing a bamboo hat, a straw cloak, and a white fox mask walked into the woods behind Black Stone Village.

As night fell, a waning crescent moon hung high in the sky. The not-so-bright moonlight illuminated the desolate mountain. A gust of mountain wind blew, making the tree shadows sway like eerie ghosts.

The man, who had been resting with his eyes closed, waited for a long time before stepping into the desolate mountains.