Outside the forge, Li Tie, the owner of the Iron Shop, silently watched the scene. Awe, relief, and conflict showed on his face.
At that very moment, a thought suddenly came to Li Tie.
His little Iron Shop could not hold on to Su Mu, this towering talent.
It wasn't that Li Tie wanted to drive Su Mu away. Su Mu had revealed a forging talent so astonishing that Li Tie's thoughts had changed again and again: first, he'd thought Su Mu was a promising youngster; then he'd wanted to train him to take over. Now, his thoughts had shifted once more.
He couldn't help thinking that a genius like Su Mu belonged somewhere broader, not in a little shop in Qingshui Town.
"Perhaps our shop might one day produce a true... Forging Master!"
"Not just another run-of-the-mill, skilled blacksmith..."
A Forging Master!
That was an honorific for a blacksmith capable of forging Ranked Weapons. Above Hundred Refinements Weapons were Ranked Weapons.
Li Tie's eyes filled with wistfulness and longing. It had once been his dream when he was young, but alas, his talent had its limits. Now he saw that hope in Su Mu.
If an apprentice from his Iron Shop could become a Forging Master, one of the regrets of Li Tie's life would finally be put to rest.
"Mm, I can't be too selfish... I should let the boy go see a wider world."
Li Tie sighed softly and stopped agonizing over it. He turned and went to his bedroom. After a long while, he wrote a letter of recommendation and planned to have someone deliver it to Qingyun County.
Qingyun County was home to the renowned Wu Family Armory, a workshop dozens of times the size of a blacksmith's shop. Its current owner, Wu Lie, had studied under the same master as Li Tie, and years ago, he'd owed Li Tie a favor.
"This is all I can do for him."
Rock Shattering Fist was a Ninth Rank boxing technique that had spread among the border troops of Great Yan. It was said to have been created by an instructor in the border troops to counter the Barbarians' heavy armor.
It focused on driving forward with fierce, unyielding force. Fist Force struck like a heavy hammer splitting a mountain. Once mastered, it could injure a man through his armor; combined with Hidden Force, it could deal considerable damage to those clad in armor.
Hidden Force!
After carefully reading through the manual once, Su Mu closed it, his eyes gleaming.
He'd searched high and low, only to find it without any effort at all!
By day, Su Mu had still been trying to figure out that soft, yielding force on his own. Now, at last, he'd found the right answer.
That soft, yielding force was called Hidden Force!
This Rock Shattering Fist had been created on the basis of Hidden Force. It was also the first time Su Mu had learned that the first refinement of strength was only the beginning—that there were second and even third refinements of strength to come.
According to the Rock Shattering Fist manual, a Qi Refining Martial Artist needed to complete at least two refinements of strength to advance to Bone Forging. But the second refinement was nowhere near the limit of strength refinement.
Strength was one of a Martial Artist's foundations in the martial path. Whether it was Ninth Rank Refined Strength, the subsequent Eighth Rank Bone Forging, or even Seventh Rank Muscle Tendon Transformation, all required strength to temper the body. The more solid and powerful one's strength, the more astonishing one's future cultivation speed—and even breaking through bottlenecks would become much easier.
But most people in the world were ordinary. Hampered by their aptitude, more than nine out of ten ordinary Martial Artists who practiced strength refinement chose to attempt Bone Forging after two refinements. After that, they wouldn't spend much time studying strength.
The more fundamental something was, the harder it became to make progress once it reached a certain level. Ordinary people couldn't accept spending so much time tempering their strength, only to "waste their years."
"Is this strength basically... internal energy from the wuxia novels of my previous life?"
Su Mu pondered.
According to the manual, the first refinement of strength was Manifest Force, which was fierce and powerful.
The second refinement was Hidden Force, soft and yielding, able to injure a man through his armor.
The third refinement was Transformation Force. It didn't directly enhance the power of a martial art. Instead, it was used to deflect an enemy's attacks in battle, using one's strength to turn aside their assault. It was said that a Qi Refining Martial Artist who reached Transformation Force could even fight a Bone Forging Martial Artist of a rank above them.
The manual didn't mention any further realms of strength refinement. Perhaps the border-troop instructor who had created the boxing technique had never reached them either.
"Manifest Force... Hidden Force... Transformation Force!"
Su Mu's eyes shone. His guess had indeed been right. The Black Bear Scoundrel who'd died at his hands that day had most likely been on the verge of his second refinement of strength.
Gulp, gulp!
He tipped his head back and downed a large bowl of Three-Complete Body Strengthening Soup. Beneath the night sky, the youth began practicing Rock Shattering Fist. He took a deep breath, sank into a horse stance, and drove both fists out in spirals from his waist, channeling his strength into his knuckles.
Mountain Splitting Style.
Rock-Crushing Style.
Armor-Breaking Style.
Rock Shattering Fist (Beginner 1%)
Another night passed. At cockcrow, Rock Shattering Fist appeared on Su Mu's attribute panel as well.
Su Mu wiped the sweat from his brow, joy showing on his face. He loved the feeling of growing stronger; it made him feel grounded.
Having returned from the Black Market with two manuals and learned the path of cultivation beyond strength refinement, Su Mu was full of motivation. His life once again became busy and fulfilling.
When a person poured their heart and soul into something, time seemed to speed up, flying by in the blink of an eye. Before long, cicadas buzzed in a deafening chorus.
Early summer became midsummer, and a month passed.
Early one morning, after a heavy downpour the night before, the trees on the mountain behind Dongbian Village stood lush and green. The muddy forest breathed the fragrance of the earth.
Without warning,
Birds burst from the trees, beating their wings as they soared.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
In a single breath, a figure sprang up three times among the dense trees. Each leap carried him easily across three zhang. He moved too fast for ordinary eyes to follow, like a swift little sparrow darting through the forest.
The wind brushed past both sides of his face. A look of intoxication spread across the youth's face.
Looking back, he had crossed more than ten zhang in a single breath.
"Three consecutive leaps are my current limit, but they're not the limit of this technique..."
Su Mu murmured. Thanks to the Scoundrel's generous contribution, he'd been drinking medicinal soup without pause and eating his fill of meat to replenish his vitality. After a month, he'd grown sturdier, but the change in his legs was even more remarkable. They were a whole size thicker than before, their every muscle defined with strength.
Rock Shattering Fist (Minor Mastery 1%)
Startled Sparrow Steps (Minor Mastery 1%)
The instant Startled Sparrow Steps advanced to Minor Mastery,
Bzzzz—
A scorching, searing stream of warmth welled up in Su Mu's abdomen. It flowed through his limbs and veins, circulating through the acupoints across his body. For a moment, Su Mu felt as if he were immersed in a hot spring.
Then his muscles and bones rang out together.
With a series of cracking sounds, Su Mu's whole body slowly began to grow taller.
The warm current then surged upward, flowing into his brow. This time, the reaction was more intense than ever before. At that moment, Su Mu's mind became exceptionally clear.
In an instant, his already keen senses—far sharper than those of an ordinary person—surged to a new level. The world before his eyes grew clearer and brighter.
A hundred paces away, the veins on the poplar leaves swaying in the mountain wind stood out in sharp detail.
Su Mu suddenly recalled the sharpshooters from the history books of his previous life, the ones said to be able to pierce a willow leaf from a hundred paces away. He'd always thought it was an exaggeration, but now he felt that if he practiced archery in this life, he could surely do it!
Su Mu's mind was exceptionally clear. He knew full well that, with both Rock Shattering Fist and Startled Sparrow Steps reaching Minor Mastery, his potential had finally reached the limits of his current comprehension, breaking through its constraints.
Quantitative change had brought about the final qualitative transformation he was experiencing now.
After more than half a year, his comprehension had broken through once again!
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