Tiger Bone

Thinking of improving his strength, Lu Chuan's first thought went to his Collection System.

He returned to his room and called up his Status Panel.

Code
[Name: Lu Chuan]
[Age: 16]
[Realm: First Qi and Blood · Minor Success]
[Martial Arts: Basic Archery · Perfection (Open a Stone Bow, within a hundred paces, no arrow misses)
Mountain Splitting Saber Technique · Minor Success (81/500)]
[Talent: Eagle Eye]
[Collectible Weapons: 3]

Seeing that the [Collectible Weapons] slot had returned to a count of three, Lu Chuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been worried that he could only collect those three weapons. Now, he could look for another chance to cheat.

"Minor Success Mountain Splitting Saber Technique—the Body Tempering speed has been falling short lately. I need to start from the martial art itself."

This revealed the drawback of his inadequate bone talent.

He had originally thought that with his aptitude, he could train the saber technique to Major Success within a year, but reality told him he was daydreaming.

On the Proficiency panel, the rate of improvement at the beginning and later stages was completely different.

Now, several days of hard training might not even increase Proficiency by a single point.

"No wonder Senior Disciple Brother Zhou said Major Success saber technique depends on talent and luck. He wasn't lying to me."

"Looks like I have to cheat. To get my Mountain Splitting Saber Technique to Major Success, I need to find a way to get a weapon from one of the Formal Disciples."

Among the Outer Disciples, very few had even trained the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique to Minor Success.

The Formal Disciples all had at least Major Success level, but weapons that had condensed their martial insights weren't easy to obtain.

The sabers on the Training Ground, for example, had basically never been touched by a Formal Disciple.

That was because Formal Disciples looked down on those junk pieces. Even Zhou Ming Chuan, who came from an ordinary family, used a Hundred Refinements Steel Saber that cost twenty taels of silver.

After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't come up with a good way to get his hands on a senior brother's weapon.

A fine saber was a Martial Artist's second life—who would just give it away?

"I'll ask Senior Disciple Brother Zhou in a few days."

Mountain Splitting Saber Hall.

After breaking through the Blood Pass, Lu Chuan had spent several days of hard work finally able to stabilize his surging Qi and Blood.

Only then did he dare come to the Martial Arts Hall.

Of course, he had to keep his breakthrough a secret.

Although this Martial Arts Hall was in Qinghe County, there might be Black Tiger Gang spies nearby.

He went to Senior Disciple Brother Zhou's side and watched his saber technique, which moved with fierce, wind-whipping momentum. Lu Chuan felt a pang of envy.

This was Major Success Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. Not only was the Body Tempering speed several times faster than his own, but its power in combat was also far greater.

Zhou Ming Chuan finished a set of saber forms and noticed him:

"You finally came to the hall, kid. What, saved up enough silver for a Qi and Blood Pill?"

"Almost. I mainly came to watch you practice your saber, Senior Brother."

"Heh! Good eye. This Major Success Mountain Splitting Saber of mine took a full five years to train. Otherwise, Master Zheng wouldn't have taken me as a Formal Disciple!" Zhou Ming Chuan wiped his saber, a proud look in his eyes.

"Five years—no wonder it's so formidable..." Lu Chuan stared at the precious saber in his hand, his gaze full of longing.

"By the way, Senior Brother, could you lend me that saber for a bit?"

"You want to use it? Here... be careful, don't damage it..." Zhou Ming Chuan generously handed it over.

If you can't find the book by searching the title, try searching the author's name—maybe it just changed names!

Lu Chuan had seen Senior Disciple Brother Zhou's saber before, but this was the first time he touched it.

Code
[Weapon: Hundred Refinements Steel Saber]
[Quality: Mortal Grade High-rank]
[Description: This is a precious saber soaked in sweat. Its owner may lack talent, but years of accumulated hard work have finally allowed the ordinary blade to condense its own edge.]
[Collection Effect: Obtain Martial Art · Mountain Splitting Saber Technique Major Success, Talent · Heaven Rewards Diligence]
[Heaven Rewards Diligence: No pain, no gain. Effort will always be rewarded.]

Lu Chuan stared blankly at the illusory text before him, then a surge of excitement rushed to his head.

"Heaven Rewards Diligence—effort will always be rewarded!"

He didn't need the system to explain; he already understood that this talent could solve his problem of poor training aptitude.

If I get this talent, then next time I hit a martial bottleneck—even without a weapon to absorb—I can power through on sheer "perseverance"!

"Senior Brother, are you selling this saber?" Lu Chuan's eyes lit up.

"What are you talking about? It's just an old blade. If you've got the coin, why not buy a new one?" Zhou Ming Chuan took it as a joke.

But when he saw the clear disappointment on Lu Chuan's face, he couldn't help scratching his head.

"What's so special about my saber anyway..."

Lu Chuan knew he couldn't force it for now, so he handed the saber back:

"Nothing, just pretend I was joking."

Zhou Ming Chuan had his doubts, but in the end, he kept quiet.

"By the way, Junior Brother Lu, you spend all your time in the mountains and know your way around... do you happen to have any at home, or know a way to get some Tiger Bone?" Zhou Ming Chuan asked after a moment.

"Tiger Bone?" Lu Chuan's heart tightened. "I don't think we have any at home. What do you need that for, Senior Brother?"

The tiger was the king of the mountains. Even in Qinghe County, where Exotic Beasts roamed, it ranked among the notorious fierce beasts. An ordinary Martial Artist might not even be able to take one down.

Zhou Ming Chuan sighed, a bitter smile creeping onto his face:

"To be honest with you, Junior Brother, I need it for myself. I've been stuck at First Qi and Blood Complete for a year now."

"I tried breaking through to Second Qi and Blood once before... but I wasn't prepared enough. I failed and damaged my meridians."

"Now that the injury's finally healed, I want to try again. Tiger Bone is hot in nature, heavy in substance, and rich in Qi and Blood—it's the perfect main ingredient to boost the momentum of a breakthrough. But it's just so rare on the market..."

Lu Chuan understood. Still, he really didn't know where to find it:

"I honestly don't know, but I can ask my father and the other old hunters in the village. They've hunted one before, I think."

Zhou Ming Chuan immediately jumped in: "If Junior Brother can help me look into it, whether it works out or not, I'll owe you one!"

Back home, Lu Chuan got busy right away.

Zhou Ming Chuan treated him sincerely—he was one of the few people at Mountain Splitting Saber Hall who genuinely cared about him.

Now that his senior brother was in trouble and had asked for help, Lu Chuan couldn't take it lightly.

So he told Lu Danian about it.

But this time, even his father—who'd crossed paths with Exotic Beasts—rarely looked troubled.

"My boy, why'd you suddenly think of getting that stuff? Tiger Bone... that's not easy to come by..."

"It's not for me. It's for a senior brother at the Martial Arts Hall who's been good to me. He needs it to break through to the next realm."

Lu Chuan explained. "Dad, do you really have no leads? Or have you heard of any place that has it?"

Lu Danian was silent for a while before speaking slowly:

"It's not that there's no way. Tracks of ordinary tigers have been getting rarer over the years, and I can't be sure. But..."

"There's one Mountain Lord whose general territory I know."

"Mountain Lord?" Lu Chuan's heart jolted.