At fifty days per pill, these five pills would keep him safe for most of the year.
"It's time to start breaking through to Transforming Strength."
With no more need to live in constant anxiety, Su Mu's days had finally returned to peace. He spent most of each day practicing in the residence he had rented on Sparrow Street.
Now that the Five Animal Frolics and Tiger Subduing Fist were both perfected, Su Mu used the two as warm-ups, running through them quickly once a day to stay sharp. Practice made perfect.
After that came Rock Shattering Fist, Startled Sparrow Steps, Gale Fist, and Torrential Rain Spear Technique.
Every time he finished practicing his fists, Su Mu found it easier to get into the flow when training with the great spear. The fist was the lead-in; the spear, its extension.
Su Mu had not yet devoted much time or effort to the Eighth Rank Adamantine Body. At this point, he needed to practice his fist techniques more. Aside from the boost to his comprehension that came with breaking through in his fist techniques, he also needed to keep tempering, strengthening, and purifying the strength within his body, and attempt a third round of Refined Strength.
Every night, Su Mu also used White Jade Savage Bone Paste to temper his bones. This time, he no longer applied it only to his left arm, but over his entire body. He was quietly building up strength for his eventual push toward the Eighth Rank Bone Forging Realm.
Torrential Rain Spear Technique, First Form: Clouds Gathering.
A bamboo broom swept an arc through the open sky, whipping up a gust of wind. Wind swirled, clouds gathered, and the strike stood poised to unleash.
Whoosh!
A moment later, a long spear thrust out from the rolling clouds and pierced through the air. With a thump, it plunged into the old locust tree like a sharp blade.
Crack!
Another crisp snap rang out, but it had not come from the old locust tree. The bamboo broom had failed under the strain, bursting into trumpet-shaped strips of bamboo.
Su Mu paused, then thought that he would go to the market today and buy a poplar wood shaft to use. As for a real spear, he would wait until his spear technique reached minor mastery.
He could now perform the first form of Torrential Rain Spear Technique. Although his thrust still seemed stiff, with a few traces of rigid, by-the-book formality, he did not seem far from minor mastery.
He began practicing martial arts at dawn. By the time the sun stood high in the sky, he had washed up, changed clothes, and gone to the market. He bought a box of Osmanthus Cake, then picked out another box of walnut pastries.
Carrying the two boxes of pastries, Su Mu arrived at the clinic. The Young Physician immediately hurried over to see what he had brought that day.
"Walnut pastries!"
A hint of delight crossed the Young Physician's face. His eyes curved into a smile. Su Mu now visited the clinic every day, partly to help the pharmacist study the Gu Poison in his body, and partly to let some poisoned blood out, so the Gu Worm inside him would not grow too strong.
From time to time, Su Mu also asked the pharmacist questions about medicine. Even when fully engrossed in his work, the pharmacist could answer them offhand.
When the clinic got busy, Su Mu stayed to lend a hand. As time went by, many people began calling him the Young Physician.
That evening, the clinic finally quieted down. The pharmacist brought out a pot of wine, and the three of them sat around in the study, eating pastries. That was when the Young Physician made a suggestion.
"Brother Su, why don't you move into the clinic? There are plenty of empty rooms in the courtyard... It would also make it easier for Master to study the Gu Poison."
The pharmacist, who had been enjoying his Osmanthus Cake, paused. Suddenly, the cake in his mouth didn't taste quite as sweet. Su Mu knew the Young Physician meant well, but he needed to practice martial arts, and he felt freer living on his own.
"Thank you for the kind offer, Young Physician, but I live nearby, on Sparrow Street, and I'm used to living alone."
"Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea for my young friend to move in. But I won't insist."
The pharmacist said this, though he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then he went back to eating his Osmanthus Cake.
The days flowed by as peacefully as still water. Ten days later—
Whoosh!
A fierce wind suddenly rose.
Beneath the night sky, a sparrow sprang three zhang into the air from the courtyard. As it descended, it lightly touched the tip of a slender branch no thicker than a finger. The leaves swayed gently, and the sparrow instantly changed direction, leaping away.
Startled Sparrow Steps (Major Mastery 1%) Comprehension: 19 (Excellent Talent, Raw Jade)
In the blink of an eye, the sparrow's shadow touched down and became the figure of a young man. A warm current welled up in the youth's abdomen. He immediately closed his eyes. When the warmth faded, the fatigue from a day of hard practice vanished in an instant. His whole body felt as comfortable as if he had soaked in a hot spring.
"Startled Sparrow Steps has reached major mastery!"
Su Mu opened his eyes again and let out a soft breath. What he had just performed was Branch Bend Change, a move within Startled Sparrow Steps. It let him twist his body in midair by pushing off a tree trunk or wall.
Startled Sparrow Steps was the first Movement Technique Su Mu had mastered. When it advanced from minor to major mastery, his comprehension increased by two points.
At that moment, Su Mu once again faintly sensed the limits of his comprehension.
With a comprehension of 19, he had reached the limit of Excellent Talent, Raw Jade. One step further would take him into an entirely new realm of comprehension!
Su Mu settled back into the full days he had known before. Qingyun City was not entirely peaceful; the city's various factions and gangs clashed from time to time.
The Qingyun Army would also occasionally ride through the streets and out of the city to suppress bandits. People coming in from outside the city brought word now and then of the Black Mountain Rebel Army wreaking havoc across the region. The Black Mountain Army seemed to be growing stronger by the day.
But none of that had anything to do with Su Mu. He went between a residence and a clinic, his days following the same two-point route. To outsiders, his life must have seemed monotonous and dreary, but to Su Mu, immersed in it, every day felt full.
Time flew like a white horse flashing past a crack in the wall. In the blink of an eye, Su Mu had been living in Qingyun City for three months.
Autumn gave way to winter. The world was wrapped in white, blanketed in snow. This winter seemed colder than usual, and many shops in Qingyun City's small streets and alleys had already shut their doors.
The large shops on Qingyun Avenue kept their doors open, their indoor charcoal braziers burning day and night. From behind their red gates wafted the rich aroma of wine and meat.
There were no longer sparrows chirping on Sparrow Street. Flowers and trees had withered, and few pedestrians crossed the street. In a residence buried beneath the snow—
The young man seemed not to feel the winter chill. He still wore only a thin hemp robe.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Within a one-zhang circle around the youth's feet, not a trace of snow remained. The two utterly contradictory styles of fist—one slow, one swift—shifted seamlessly in his hands, without the slightest awkwardness.
One punch had been as light as a feather; the next came with a gale in tow, blasting snow from the old locust tree in the courtyard until it fell in a flurry like goose feathers.
Gale Fist (Major Mastery 1%)
Now three fist techniques had reached major mastery, one was perfected, and another was close to perfection. On top of that, he had the perfected Five Animal Frolics.
An ordinary martial artist might spend ten or twenty years, or even longer, studying a single martial art. Zhao Xuan, the strongest man in Qingshui Town, was a good example. He had spent twenty years on Gale Fist before reaching major mastery.
Few people of Su Mu's age had brought three completely different fist techniques to such a level.
At that moment, three streams of strength churned and surged through Su Mu's body: fierce strength, yielding strength, and condensed strength. Every martial art, when practiced to a profound level, produced its own strength, and fist techniques were among the best of all martial arts for refining strength and laying a foundation.
Each stream of strength within Su Mu represented a martial art that had reached at least major mastery.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The three streams of strength collided, intertwined, and merged, making a sound like rushing rapids. Beneath Su Mu's chest, his heart beat faster and harder. As the strength merged, the blood and qi in his body began to surge. For a moment, the torrents of strength and blood and qi played within him like a duet.
Then a flush spread across him in an instant, covering his entire body. A snowflake fell onto Su Mu and immediately melted into water against his scorching skin. At that moment, his body was like a furnace.
His blood and qi were the blazing flames roaring inside.
The three utterly different streams of strength were like three iron billets made of different materials. And the strength itself was also the furnace fire!
"Three fist techniques... three streams of strength. It's like forging iron. I need to fold and hammer these three streams together, merging them, keeping the essence and discarding the dross. Then I'll forge the iron into a weapon!"
"This weapon will be called... Transforming Strength!"
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