"Junior Brother, even if your talent is poor, there's no need to lose heart. Diligence can make up for a lack of talent. If you train hard, you'll eventually see results!"
Cui Hao looked at Su Xian and offered him some encouragement.
Su Xian nodded, then asked:
"Senior Brother, what does it take for the Pavilion Master to pass down a Muscle Forging Realm technique?"
At the moment, Su Xian had no other way to obtain a technique for the next stage, so he could only ask his senior brother about it.
"Well..." Cui Hao hesitated when he heard the question, then said in a low voice:
"Skin Grinding Realm techniques are easy enough to find. You can learn one outside the school if you spend some silver."
"But Muscle Forging Realm techniques are different. To have Master pass down one, you'd at least have to be accepted as his disciple!"
"However!"
Cui Hao changed tack:
"On the outskirts of Blackwater City, there's a Black Market. Muscle Forging Realm techniques circulate there from time to time. They even have some for the Tendon Refining Realm!"
"One hundred taels of silver! That's all it takes to get a Muscle Forging Realm technique!"
"But the techniques circulating in the Black Market are almost all secret copies made by other people. They aren't the originals!"
"They may contain omissions. If you recklessly practice one, you could damage your body! I wouldn't recommend it."
Cui Hao explained.
"If you want a Muscle Forging Realm technique, Junior Brother, then work hard over the next month!"
"Bring your Pure Yang Stance to perfection and break through to the early Skin Grinding Realm! Then Master will accept you as his disciple!"
Cui Hao looked at Su Xian and encouraged him.
Su Xian nodded slightly. Then Cui Hao chatted with him for a while before leaving.
"One month?"
Su Xian thought to himself. One month was far too long. He couldn't wait that long!
Su Xian planned to search for about half a month first. If he still hadn't obtained a technique for the next realm by then,
he would reveal his early Skin Grinding Realm cultivation and take the Blazing Sun Pavilion Master as his master.
As for putting the fifty years of lifespan he had left into the Pure Yang Art to see if he could push it to the second-grade realm,
Su Xian had no intention of doing that. He already knew how terrible his talent for cultivation was.
He'd better not waste those fifty years of lifespan.
With those fifty years, Su Xian could push several first-grade martial skills to the second grade!
Using them to derive the Pure Yang Art would be far too wasteful!
Near noon, Su Xian ate lunch at the martial arts school. It was pretty good—there was even meat!
That afternoon, he handed the Pure Yang Art and Blazing Sun Fist manuals to Cui Hao,
then prepared to leave the school and ask around elsewhere for ways to obtain a technique for the next realm!
"Junior Brother! Don't lose heart! Take your time! You still have a whole month!"
Cui Hao looked at Su Xian and tried to comfort him, thinking that he was leaving because he'd taken a blow to his confidence.
"Thank you, Senior Brother! Something came up at home, that's all!"
Su Xian smiled and cupped his hands in farewell.
Watching Su Xian walk away, Cui Hao shook his head with a sigh.
He knew that for someone as poor as Su Xian, scraping together five taels of silver had already been a tremendous struggle.
If the school didn't provide three meals a day, people like them would never enter the Skin Grinding Realm in their entire lives.
The school had taken five taels of silver, but the treatment was already generous. The midday and evening meals even included meat, enough to fill the disciples' stomachs!
Only when they were full could they build up their qi and blood. Only then would they have any hope of breaking through to the Skin Grinding Realm!
If the school didn't provide those three meals, many poor people wouldn't even be able to afford food after paying the five taels.
"He's probably gone home to earn some money!"
Nearby, Song Zheng watched Su Xian walk away, a trace of mockery curling at the corner of his mouth.
Someone as poor as him actually thought he could break through to the Skin Grinding Realm?
He was dreaming!
In Song Zheng's view, Su Xian had probably gone home to scrape together more money for next month's tuition!
Su Xian left the Blazing Sun Martial Arts School and hurried toward home, but someone stopped him not far from his house.
Looking at Zhang Zuo, who had blocked his way, Su Xian remained expressionless and asked coldly:
"What do you want?"
"Su Xian! I can't believe you borrowed my silver just to go train in martial arts!"
Zhang Zuo sneered, his face full of mockery. The two lackeys accompanying him wore the same derisive expressions as they watched Su Xian.
"Did you really think you could learn anything in two months?"
"With your talent, after four years you've only reached Minor Accomplishment in External Arts?"
Zhang Zuo gave a scornful laugh. He'd been wondering what Su Xian wanted the silver for. So it was to train in martial arts?
He was going to die laughing!
He'd known about Su Xian's talent for a long time: four years to reach Minor Accomplishment in External Arts.
With that kind of talent, even forty years might not be enough for him to reach Outer Strength Perfection!
It looked like Su Xian's inability to repay him was already a foregone conclusion!
He could contact that person from the Li Family tonight!
Looking at Su Xian, Zhang Zuo couldn't help laughing.
"Remember, two months! Thirteen taels of silver!"
In a great mood, Zhang Zuo reminded him, then left with his two lackeys, laughing loudly.
Watching the three of them leave, Su Xian wondered whether he should follow them and take care of them.
Just then, the door beside him opened, and someone stepped out, staring at Su Xian.
"Zhou Shen?"
Su Xian glanced at Zhou Shen as he came through the door, ignored him, and headed straight into his own home.
Back home, Su Xian began thinking over his next move.
His top priority now was, of course, to obtain techniques for the Muscle Forging Realm and even the Tendon Refining Realm.
The Black Market demanded at least one hundred taels of silver, and there was no guarantee the techniques were accurate. Su Xian ruled that option out first.
Right now, he couldn't tell whether a technique he bought had any traps in it.
Buying one at the Black Market was too risky, and one hundred taels of silver was no small sum.
Su Xian's entire fortune currently came to only about seven taels.
"Right! I should test the standard for entering techniques and martial skills into Demon Strategy."
Su Xian suddenly had an idea! He pulled a wooden box out from under the bed. Inside were two manuals.
They had been left behind by his father. The manuals were the Five Tigers Breaking Gate Saber and the Grand Ancestor Long Fist.
Both were common goods and not worth much.
Back then, Su Xian had only practiced the Five Tigers Breaking Gate Saber. He hadn't even glanced at the Grand Ancestor Long Fist.
That Grand Ancestor Long Fist was just right for testing the standard Demon Strategy used to enter techniques and martial skills.
Su Xian picked up the Grand Ancestor Long Fist manual and skimmed it quickly, without even stopping to think.
Then he looked at Demon Strategy. The Grand Ancestor Long Fist had been entered into it!
"Is the standard for entering techniques and martial skills into Demon Strategy really this lax? All it takes is one read-through!"
Looking at the Grand Ancestor Long Fist listed in Demon Strategy, Su Xian was astonished.
"I wonder if fake techniques, or ones with mistakes in them, can be entered too?"
A thought stirred in Su Xian, and he grew curious.
If he could use Demon Strategy to tell whether a technique or martial skill contained errors, or even distinguish genuine ones from fakes,
then a trip to the Black Market might not be out of the question!
Bang, bang, bang!
Just then, a series of knocks sounded at Su Xian's door.
"Who is it?"
Su Xian was a little puzzled. He didn't expect anyone to come looking for him at this hour.
"It's me, Zhou Shen!"
Before you continue