Correct Cultivation Method

Lianshan City.

Nancheng, Red Sun Gang headquarters.

In the study, a stack of account books lay beside Sun Tianxing's hand, containing this month's tax revenue summaries from the various districts of Nancheng.

After reading through the account books, he frowned slightly.

This month's tax silver had decreased again compared to last month.

"Gang Leader, news from Qingshi Town!"

A messenger from the gang entered the study and dropped to one knee.

"Speak."

Sun Tianxing set down the account books and reached for his teacup.

"Hall Master Chen has reclaimed Qingshi Town. He killed Liu Lie, the Blood Wolf Gang branch hall master, along with more than thirty gang members. Not a single one of our people was injured."

The messenger replied.

"Not a single casualty?"

Sun Tianxing's hand paused slightly as he lifted the tea.

"Yes." The messenger lowered his head. "Hall Master Chen acted alone. Within three breaths, he crushed everyone from the Blood Wolf Gang. Liu Lie had no power to fight back in Hall Master Chen's hands and was killed with a single punch."

The study fell silent for a moment.

Sun Tianxing put down his teacup, his gaze sharpening.

He had originally thought it would already be quite good if Chen Xuan could reclaim Qingshi Town. After all, the Blood Wolf Gang's new branch hall master was no weakling. He was an outer disciple of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect, with Body Tempering Realm seventh level cultivation.

But Chen Xuan had not only reclaimed Qingshi Town—Liu Lie, a Body Tempering Realm seventh level martial artist, had been completely unable to resist him.

The weight of that was entirely different.

It meant Chen Xuan's strength went far beyond Body Tempering Realm seventh level.

"Crushing over thirty people within three breaths, and Liu Lie at Body Tempering Realm seventh level was beaten to death without any power to resist..." Sun Tianxing muttered, a glint flashing through his eyes. "This kid had been hiding his strength."

In a place like Tiannan Prefecture, hiding one's strength was not a bad thing.

An outer disciple who had just arrived already knew not to reveal his trump cards. It showed that he was meticulous, not some reckless fool.

"Have Chen Xuan continue guarding Qingshi Town. Since he reclaimed it, I'll keep my word and award him a Great Merit. Also, withdraw three hundred taels of silver from the treasury and send it over as his reward."

"Yes."

After the messenger withdrew, Sun Tianxing picked up his teacup again and took a sip.

Body Tempering Realm seventh level?

Who was he trying to fool?

But the stronger this kid was, the more beneficial it was to him.

In Lianshan City, he needed more capable people.

Beicheng, Blood Wolf Gang headquarters.

Unlike the Red Sun Gang headquarters in Nancheng, the Blood Wolf Gang headquarters was built within a martial arts school. Two stone wolf statues stood at the entrance, baring their fangs and radiating a savage air.

Inside the main hall, a burly middle-aged man sat in a tiger-skin chair, rolling two iron balls in his hand. They collided in his palm, producing dull metallic clanks.

This man was the Blood Fiend Devil Sect's outer sect steward, as well as the Blood Wolf Gang's leader—Qin Sihai.

He was tall and broad, with rugged features. His thick beard stood upright like steel needles, while his tiger eyes carried an intimidating majesty even without anger.

"Gang Leader, something happened in Qingshi Town!"

A gang member rushed in, sweat still beading on his forehead.

"Speak."

Qin Sihai did not even raise his eyelids, continuing to roll the iron balls in his hand.

"Hall... Hall Master Liu is dead." The messenger swallowed. "Qingshi Town has been taken back by the Red Sun Gang."

The sound of the iron balls turning came to an abrupt halt.

"How did he die?"

Qin Sihai fixed the gang member with a sharp, eagle-like gaze.

"He... he was beaten to death by the Red Sun Gang's newly arrived hall master." The messenger said in a low voice, "That man is called Chen Xuan. He is an outer disciple of the Guiyuan Sect."

"An outer disciple of the Guiyuan Sect?" Killing intent flashed through Qin Sihai's eyes. Then he waved a hand. "I understand. Go."

"Yes!"

The messenger bowed and withdrew.

"Liu Lie's death is no great loss. He was merely a Body Tempering Realm seventh level piece of trash. But his elder brother, Liu Feng, is an inner disciple who has reached the Zhuqi Realm. That makes things troublesome. He still needs to be informed."

Qin Sihai muttered softly to himself.

Before long, someone from the Blood Wolf Gang left Beicheng, riding at full speed on an urgent eight-hundred-li dispatch toward the Blood Fiend Devil Sect.

Qingshi Town.

Evening. The sun had set.

[Zhaoxi Value +1]

Host: Chen Xuan

Fate: Zhaoxi Bizheng

Realm: Body Tempering Realm ninth level (Huajin)

Martial Arts: Giant Whale Body Refining Technique / Ninth Layer, Mountain Crushing Fist / Mastery, Vajra Technique / Not Yet Initiated

Zhaoxi Value: 1

"Upgrade the Vajra Technique!"

[Consume 1 point of Zhaoxi Value to cultivate the Vajra Technique?]

[Yes/No]

"Yes."

Chen Xuan silently said in his heart.

Buzz—

In an instant, scenes of cultivating the Vajra Technique surged into Chen Xuan's mind like fragments of a film.

This time, the cultivation was no longer about accumulating inner force, but tempering the body.

Within those scenes, Chen Xuan guided the inner force in his body, following the Vajra Technique's mental method as he repeatedly tempered his skin and flesh. The inner force was like countless tiny blades, cutting and tearing repeatedly across the surface of his skin.

Yet the Chen Xuan in those scenes knew neither fatigue nor pain, cultivating over and over again.

Ten times.

A hundred times.

A thousand times.

Through repeated tearing and healing, his skin became increasingly tough and dense.

Its color also quietly changed, shifting from ordinary flesh tones to pale yellow, then to antique bronze.

The process continued for a full year.

[Vajra Technique / Second Layer]

A line of text flashed before Chen Xuan's eyes.

After a year of arduous cultivation, the Vajra Technique he practiced had reached the second layer.

The Vajra Technique had thirteen layers in total.

The first four corresponded to the Body Tempering Realm and were summarized in four lines.

Those four lines were: Inner force surges from within; the skin becomes copper skin; sinews and bones are like black iron; the organs are like a furnace.

The first layer of the Vajra Technique was to cultivate inner force.

Next came circulating that inner force to continuously temper the skin and flesh.

Chen Xuan lowered his head and looked at his arm.

A faint antique bronze sheen covered the surface of his skin. It felt hard and smooth beneath his hand, like polished bronze.

He took out a dagger he carried with him and lightly drew it across his arm.

The dagger scraped across his skin with a sound like metal grinding against metal, leaving only a faint white mark.

He applied a little more force, but the dagger still could not cut through his skin.

"So this is the Vajra Technique's second layer—Copper Skin!"

Chen Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

With Huajin-level inner force, without using any secret medicines, he had reached the Vajra Technique's second layer, Copper Skin, after a year of arduous cultivation.

The Vajra Technique was not as difficult as the manual claimed.

"Could this be the correct way to cultivate the Vajra Technique?"

Chen Xuan thought to himself.

A martial artist first cultivated other techniques until reaching Body Tempering Realm ninth level, Huajin, then cultivated the Vajra Technique. Using the powerful inner force of the Huajin level to hammer the physique could yield twice the result with half the effort.

The Vajra Sect's disciples over the past century, including its founding patriarch, had all misunderstood the Vajra Technique. Every one of them had cultivated it incorrectly.

The more he thought about it, the more Chen Xuan felt that his guess was correct.

The description of the Vajra Technique's first layer was: Inner force surges from within.

What it described was not the state of having only just cultivated inner force. Mingjin could never reach the point of inner force surging from within.

Only after breaking through to Huajin, when inner force was born from the dantian and spread throughout the limbs and bones, did it match the description of inner force surging from within.