Five Animal Frolics Perfected, Silver-Eroding Needle Gu!

That night, news that the blacksmith shop had taken an order for a Thirty Refinements Weapon reached the Black Tiger Gang's hall.

"Hm? That Li Family Blacksmith Shop has a decent reputation around here. Since they dared accept the order, they must be confident... Li Tie might even take the hammer himself this time."

Wu Heng's first reaction to the news was surprise and suspicion, but as he thought it over, a flicker of delight crossed his eyes.

Two more months until Gang Leader Zhao Xuan's birthday feast. He'd been racking his brains over what gift to bring, and now the gift had come knocking on his own door.

A fine weapon was a treasure for any Martial Artist, capable of sharply boosting combat strength.

"Just what excuse should I use this time?"

As Wu Heng pondered, the sound of shattering porcelain and a maid's panicked cry came from outside. His train of thought broken, a vicious look flashed across his face as he pushed open the door and stepped out.

The maid's face went pale the moment she saw Wu Heng. She swallowed hard and dropped to her knees.

"Master, please spare me just this once. I, I didn't mean to."

She kowtowed frantically, begging for mercy.

Wu Heng's gaze fell on the broken dishes scattered across the ground. A sudden spark of inspiration struck him. He reached down and drew the saber at his waist—a blade forged by the Li Family Blacksmith Shop, fresh from the fire just last month.

Schlick!

Wu Heng pulled the long saber free. The moment its cold gleam appeared, the maid trembled violently, smashing her forehead against the ground until blood streamed down her face.

"That Li Family Blacksmith Shop has a new blacksmith with real skill lately... This long saber he forged is pretty good, heh heh."

Wu Heng looked at the blade in his hand, a crooked grin spreading across his face. His fleshy features quivered as he let out a chilling laugh.

"These dampness-dispelling, insect-repelling medicines are useless after all."

Su Mu had gone home the night before, decocted the herbs, and taken them. After a full night, there wasn't the slightest reaction—no medicinal effect at all.

To be honest, even now Su Mu knew very little about the poison inside him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

As two forging apprentices pulled hard on the bellows, the furnace flames turned a blue-green. News that Su Mu was going to forge a Thirty Refinements Weapon had spread through the forge since yesterday.

Today, Li Tie had assigned two forging apprentices to assist Su Mu with full effort. As they pumped the bellows with all their strength, their eyes were fixed on Su Mu swinging his hammer, faces filled with respect as they tried to learn some technique.

Clang!

"The furnace temperature isn't high enough. Both of you, put more muscle into it."

"Yes, Master Su."

Su Mu kept swinging his hammer. Forging a Thirty Refinements Weapon meant the early stage of hammering and folding the iron billet was especially critical—only through a hundred refinements could steel be born, and from steel, a weapon.

As he hammered, Su Mu alternated between the Tiger Subduing Fist and the Rock Shattering Fist. With the boost from his inner force, each strike made the entire anvil platform tremble and ring, leaving the two apprentices swallowing hard.

"Is Master Su blessed with divine strength?"

With a plan in mind, Su Mu's days became full and fulfilling. Ten days later, another quiet evening arrived.

Under the hazy sunset, Su Mu practiced the Five Animal Frolics as usual, loosening the muscles sore from a day of forging. The young man's body moved through the motions—tiger, deer, bear, ape, bird—each animal's posture vivid and lifelike.

Every move flowed like water, gradually taking on an unusual rhythm. The movements themselves were still simple, but in Su Mu's hands, they carried a beauty of returning to simplicity.

A passing villager glanced over casually and found himself rooted to the spot, watching in a daze. It wasn't until night had fully fallen that he snapped back to his senses.

"Strange... what's gotten into me?"

The villager muttered in confusion, then looked again. Su's boy was still the same Su's boy, still practicing the same old set of forms. Nothing special about it—just a bit more like the wild beasts in the mountains than before.

After the villager left, Su Mu sank into a mysterious state beneath the night sky. Every inch of flesh and blood in his body was utterly relaxed, his whole being floating. As his inner force circulated, his bones and sinews hummed, and his body slowly underwent a transformation.

A long time later, the young man let out a long breath in the darkness, his eyes bright.

"The Five Animal Frolics is complete!"

Su Mu understood in his heart. After more than a year of hard training, he had finally cultivated his first skill to perfection.

"My body seems to have changed somehow?"

Su Mu slowly extended his right arm. As his flesh shifted, the arm thickened slightly, the muscle lines carved like knife and chisel, radiating power.

Smack!

Su Mu lashed out a punch. Without even using inner force, the blow produced a wind and a crisp crack in the air.

"This feeling is similar to the Twin Tiger Stack, but I'm not using that technique right now... I see. Completing the Five Animal Frolics, created by Divine Physician Hua Tuo, has greatly enhanced my control over this body. Now that control is nearly perfect."

"This means I can adjust my body to its peak state at any time, and even temporarily break my limits like with the Twin Tiger Stack, unleashing this body's full potential beyond normal."

"I'll call this move 'Limit Break' from now on... In the Limit Break State, the power of my fists and feet has increased by at least half."

Su Mu threw several more punches before stopping. He quickly realized that the Limit Break State was indeed very similar to the Twin Tiger Stack. The difference was that the Twin Tiger Stack placed immense strain on his body—after just a few punches, he couldn't sustain it and would lose combat capability.

But the Limit Break State, achieved through the perfected Five Animal Frolics, could be maintained for a considerable period of sustained combat, and the side effects were greatly reduced. The former essentially exceeded his control over himself, while the Limit Break remained firmly within his absolute command.

Thinking this over, Su Mu's face showed satisfaction and delight.

"Tomorrow is my day off. Time to head to Qingyun County."

Qingyun County was the central hub of the region, governing thirteen towns including Qingshui Town. It lay seventy li north of Qingshui Town, nearly a hundred li from the village.

Qingshui Town had oxcarts that traveled to the county seat, charging two hundred coppers per person per trip. They left town at dawn, and if all went smoothly, they would arrive at the county seat by noon the next day; if they ran into rainy weather, it would be delayed until evening.

Compared to oxcarts, the merchant convoy's horse-drawn carriages were considerably faster, but even so, the seventy li of road still took a full day.

Among the dozens of households and over a hundred villagers in Dongbian Village, the number of villagers who had been to the county seat could be counted on one hand. The sights and stories from a single trip to the county seat often became talking points for a lifetime.

"Set out earlier tomorrow. A hundred li shouldn't take too much time."

Before the rooster crowed, a waning crescent moon hung high in the sky. Su Mu tucked several silver notes into the front of his robe, threw on a straw rain cape and a bamboo hat, and left the village.

On the mountain path, a figure streaked past with afterimages, sending gravel flying as the fierce wind whipped the wild grass into a frantic sway.

With the Five Animal Frolics perfected, three Ninth Rank martial arts in his grasp, and a long-term regimen of Three-Complete Body Strengthening Soup, Su Mu's physique was astonishing—even ordinary Martial Artists at the same Refined Strength level could not compare.

His powerful body gave Su Mu a long, steady breath and strong internal organs. With the perfect Five Animal Frolics granting him near-flawless control over his flesh, Su Mu could sustain a sprint at a hundred-meter speed—surpassing the limits of his past life's human body—for dozens of li.

In less than an hour, just as a sliver of fish-belly white appeared on the horizon, Su Mu arrived outside Qingyun County town.

The county town's city wall was nearly twenty meters high. Above it, soldiers of the Qingyun Army patrolled in leather armor, spears in hand. From a distance, it looked like a gray giant beast crouched upon the land.

The hour was still early. The Qingyun Army guard at the gate glanced at Su Mu's coarse linen clothes and casually asked a few questions. After Su Mu answered, he paid fifty coppers and entered the city.

Passing through the city gate, the clamor of noise reached his ears, and the view opened up before him. The county town's streets were wide enough for three or four horse-drawn carriages to travel side by side. Merchants and pedestrians flowed through the crowd, and the tall walls and large courtyards on either side made Su Mu take several extra glances.

"What a fine county town, Qingyun!"

Su Mu sighed in admiration. Qingyun County's prosperity was several times greater than Qingshui Town's. Compared to this county seat, Qingshui Town was nothing but countryside.

After spending some silver to ask around, Su Mu soon arrived at a quiet medical clinic courtyard on the east street of the county town.

"Cloud Crane Medical Hall. This is the place."

But the clinic's bamboo gate was tightly shut, with a small wooden sign hanging on it: "Master is traveling; clinic closed."

Seeing the words on the sign, Su Mu was dumbfounded. He had traveled a hundred li to reach the county town, only to hit a dead end. He then asked around again and soon arrived at an imposing three-story medical hall on the central avenue of the county town.

"Renji Medical Hall."

Su Mu walked inside. A young Pharmacy Apprentice greeted him, but upon seeing Su Mu's coarse linen clothes, the smile on his face cooled by a few degrees. "Here for a consultation or to get medicine?"

"A consultation."

After waiting nearly half an hour, the apprentice led Su Mu to the second floor. When Su Mu described his symptoms, the middle-aged physician before him, about forty years old, wore a look of doubt.

He began to take Su Mu's pulse. After a series of examinations yielded nothing, the physician opened a pack of silver needles, heated them over a flame, and inserted them into Su Mu's acupoints.

Before long, the physician pulled out the first silver needle. Seeing no change, he furrowed his brow and began to suspect that Su Mu had been lying to him earlier.

One by one, he removed them. The silver needles still showed no change.

It was only when he withdrew the needle from between Su Mu's nipples that the physician's pupils suddenly contracted. That several-inch-long silver needle was pitch black, and it exuded an abnormally foul, rancid stench.

Seeing the blackened needle, Su Mu felt a surge of joy. Perhaps there was hope for a cure.

"This is the Shanzhong Acupoint on the Ren Meridian, close to the heart... Strange. Why did only this needle change color?"

The physician stared at the blackened needle in his hand. It was so dark and viscous that it didn't seem like a recent poisoning. Then a horrifying sight followed: the silver needle began to melt before the naked eye. The physician hurriedly threw the needle to the ground. The black blood hit the floor, which immediately sizzled. Amid wisps of black smoke, a small pit was corroded into the wood.

"Hiss, such fierce toxicity..."

The physician's face was filled with terror. He recalled the symptoms Su Mu had described earlier and spoke in a low voice, "What you've contracted might be some kind of Gu Poison. This Gu Poison has taken root in your heart and lungs. There are countless strange Gu Poisons in the world, and I have little knowledge of them. Never mind me—even the ordinary physicians of Qingyun County likely cannot cure such a fierce Gu Poison..."

"Perhaps only Pharmacist Lin could give it a try. But your timing is unlucky; Pharmacist Lin went on a journey yesterday."

"Doctor, do you know how long Pharmacist Lin's journey will take?"

"A few days at the shortest, several months at the longest. I can prescribe you some detoxifying medicine, but I can't guarantee it will work."

"Alright. Thank you, Doctor."

Leaving the medical hall, Su Mu's mood couldn't help but grow heavy. But this trip had actually yielded something—at least Su Mu now understood that what was inside his body was likely a Gu Poison of strong toxicity, lodged near his heart.

"Let's head back first."

After leaving the city, Su Mu walked along the road. When he had gone six or seven li, he snapped out of his brooding and a look of alertness suddenly appeared on his face. He heard a series of strange noises coming from the woods not far ahead—but they didn't sound like wild animals such as rabbits or pheasants.

Su Mu fixed his gaze and saw the bushes suddenly shake. A man in leather armor, covered in blood, stumbled out from the forest.

"That gear... this man is from the Qingyun Army?"

Someone actually dared to hunt down a Qingyun Army soldier outside Qingyun County?

Su Mu was shocked. He saw that the Qingyun Army man was covered in wounds. Just then, the man noticed Su Mu not far away. His expression shifted sharply, but upon seeing that the youth was not one of his pursuers, he let out a breath of relief.

Then a sharp shout of warning came from his mouth. "Get out of here!"

Su Mu's heart immediately sank. He knew the Qingyun Army man meant well, but after that shout, it would be even harder for him to slip away.

Sure enough, the thicket stirred, and several burly figures emerged.

"After him! He's over there!"

The pursuers behind had arrived.