Fist and Blade

"Oh? The martial artists from Yuyang Village are quite capable?" Ning Gongdao's mind flashed with the images of Ren Yuan, Tang Long, and Jiang Yan.

"Could it be that Ren Yuan has just broken through?" he thought to himself.

"Cough..." He coughed softly. "Since there are no major issues over at Yuyang Village, let's go over to Xiaoqiu Village to provide some support."

"Tonight, we will definitely clear out all the Monsters that have infiltrated."

With that, he strode away, leaving like a shooting star.

Behind him, Hu Xing hurriedly rallied the patrol team and quickly followed.

Swoosh!

Jiang Yan flicked his long sword, a cold glint flashing as he sliced a Monster into dust.

Phew, phew, he panted slightly. There were simply too many Monsters tonight.

He glanced at his Monster points bonus.

Monster Points: 98

"Mmm... this time the gains are too great." Joy flowed through him. Coming to Qingshan Village this time was truly profitable.

The Monster points he had were partially from killing Monsters himself, but the majority were thanks to Ren Yuan.

After all, Ren Yuan was a Body Refining Realm martial artist, and his efficiency in killing Monsters was much higher than his own.

This incident had also thoroughly solidified Jiang Yan's path to accumulating Monster points.

First: Find a way to stick close to the sect's experts. They kill Monsters, and he can directly "pluck wool" (benefit from their efforts). This way, he can easily gain Monster points with little danger.

Second: Farm low-level Monsters. Although the Monster points gained this way wouldn't be high, the danger level would be lower, and it would be stable.

"Also, the improvement of my martial path should be put on the agenda. I need to find a martial cultivation method for the Body Refining Realm as soon as possible."

"If it's too difficult to obtain, I can consider supplementing my cultivation with External Cultivation. In any case, I cannot rely entirely on the power of talismans."

Talismans were, after all, external objects. When encountering a Monster, especially a Monster that attacks suddenly, there would be no time to react and use a talisman. At that moment, he would lose the ability to kill the Monster.

Ever since he learned that physical strength could also break through a Monster's Black Membrane, he had already planned his own upgrade path.

Cultivate Inner Qi, and simultaneously cultivate External Cultivation.

In fact, martial path Inner Qi cultivation methods also exercise the body, but they primarily cultivate the derived Inner Qi.

External Cultivation, on the other hand, primarily cultivates the body, enhancing physical strength, speed, and so on.

Every martial artist knows the benefits of cultivating External Cultivation, but not all martial artists deliberately cultivate it, for two reasons.

Firstly: Lack of time. Martial path cultivation requires vigorous progress. Just the Inner Qi cultivation alone makes people race against time to cultivate diligently. Adding External Cultivation would waste a certain amount of time, and in the end, cultivating both Inner Qi and External Cultivation simultaneously might delay a significant breakthrough in the martial path realm.

Secondly: Insufficient resources. Cultivating Inner Qi cultivation methods is already very resource-intensive. Cultivating External Cultivation on top of that would double or even more the resource consumption. Ordinary people simply cannot afford it.

Just as Jiang Yan was contemplating, cheers suddenly erupted from within Qingshan Village.

Huh?

Could it be that the Monster has already been eliminated?

Above the village, a jade willow appeared in the sky. Countless fine root-like tendrils grew and spread, forming a dome-like shield that covered Qingshan Village. Then, the jade willow faded, and all abnormal phenomena disappeared.

"Mmm... it's quite similar to the protection of the Big Carp Talisman Soldier."

"It seems the Talisman Soldiers of Qingshan Village have indeed resumed their defense."

"This means," Jiang Yan looked into the vast darkness, "the most dangerous moment has passed."

Whether it was the Sha within the village or the Monsters from the wilderness, both were dangerous. Now that the Talisman Soldiers' defense had been restored, it indicated that the Sha had been eliminated, and Monsters from the wilderness could no longer enter the village.

"As long as we deal with the Monsters that have infiltrated, the mission in Qingshan Village will be over."

He thought to himself. At this moment, Jiang Yan was eager to return to Yuyang Village and prepare to advance his martial path.

"Jiang Yan," Ren Yuan's voice called out at this moment, "Someone from the village just relayed a major order from Lord Ning. In half an hour, we will enter the village and conduct a thorough search for any Monsters that might have infiltrated."

"That Sha-level Monster is dead."

As expected, it was dead. His guess was correct.

Jiang Yan's expression remained calm. "Does Tang Long know about this?"

"Yes, I've already told him about it."

"In that case, let's continue patrolling for this last half hour."

Half an hour later.

Rustle!

Rustle!

The patrol team from Yuyang Village returned.

On the way, seeing that things were relatively safe, Jiang Yan quietly asked Ren Yuan a question.

"Chief, last time you said Body Refining Realm martial artists could shatter Monster Black Membranes with their physical strength, and also said Inner Qi is the most powerful force!"

"What do you mean?"

Ren Yuan looked at Jiang Yan strangely. This was common sense, and Jiang Yan was already a martial artist.

He didn't even understand this.

"Maybe he never encountered martial artists before, or maybe he advanced too quickly and just became a martial artist, so he might not know some common sense."

Thinking this, he patiently explained to Jiang Yan, "I said before that any power can break Monster Black Membranes, including physical strength."

"Also, you're not wrong, Inner Qi is indeed the strongest power for Body Refining martial artists."

Seeing Jiang Yan look serious, Ren Yuan thought for a moment. He looked around and saw a small tree by the roadside not far ahead.

He motioned for Jiang Yan to follow.

Walking to the small tree, Ren Yuan said, "See this small tree?"

"For example, if the small tree were a Monster, then its bark would be its Black Membrane."

He took off his saber and continued, "Why is Inner Qi said to be the most explosive force for Body Refining martial artists."

"You can compare your fist to a martial artist's physical strength, and the saber can be used to represent Inner Qi."

In other words, Inner Qi, this semi-illusory energy, is inherently stronger in attack power than physical strength.

Ren Yuan raised his hand, gripped the saber, and gestured to Jiang Yan.

"You can see, I'm using the same amount of force."

He lightly swung the saber and gently cut into the small tree.

Swoosh!

The saber cut halfway into the tree.

"Now, look again. Using the same amount of force, try hitting the small tree with your fist."

"See the result."

Thump! Similarly, Ren Yuan threw a punch, and a flurry of leaves drifted down.

On the trunk, there was a white mark, the trace left by hitting the trunk with his fist.

"Now, do you understand?" he looked at Jiang Yan. "Although both Inner Qi and your own strength have attack power, their energy levels are different."

"To shatter a Monster's defense directly with physical strength requires even greater power."

After speaking, he punched out, attacking the small tree, this time with much greater force than before.

Crack! The small tree snapped.

Jiang Yan was silent, saying nothing, merely cupping his fists slightly at Ren Yuan.

He pondered, "The greatest enemies of humanity in this world are Monsters, and Inner Qi is clearly more lethal to Monsters, so Inner Qi cultivation methods are truly the mainstream."

"Similarly, Inner Qi, this power derived from the combination of the body, blood, and the world's spiritual energy within a martial artist, has an incredibly explosive attack power."

"In Ren Yuan's analogy, Inner Qi is like swords and sabers, while physical strength is like fists and feet, meaning the energy level of Inner Qi itself should be higher than physical strength."

"Therefore, to shatter a Monster's Black Membrane with physical strength, one would need to exert much more physical power than the force of swinging a saber."

Unless he could cultivate advanced Body Refining methods, cultivating External Cultivation would only yield half the results for twice the effort.