Perfection

"Master, you have a letter."

Just as Chen Mu was about to boil water and brew medicine in preparation for his midday Skin Tempering practice, the old servant's voice rang out from beyond the courtyard.

A letter?

Chen Mu paused slightly.

He then walked out into the courtyard and took a sheet of yellow paper from the old servant. One look at it, and he could not help but laugh.

The yellow paper was covered in crooked, slanting handwriting.

Brother, you lied. It's been over a month and you still haven't come to see me.

But I know Brother must be busy practicing martial arts, so I forgive you.

I'm doing very well here at the martial academy. All the older sisters here like me. Oh, and the master teaching me said my natural aptitude is good and my comprehension is high. He said I'll become very strong in the future—maybe even stronger than Brother. Hehe.

But don't be afraid, Brother. I won't bully you. Hehe.

"This girl..."

Chen Mu looked at the writing on the note, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Chen Yue had learned to write from him. During those two idle years, he had told her stories and taught her characters, but their family could not afford brushes or ink, so they had used branches to scratch words into the ground.

That dog-crawl handwriting was therefore easy to recognize. There was no doubt that Chen Yue had written it.

And it seemed his judgment back then had been correct. This girl's natural aptitude really was a little better than his. As for comprehension, he had never thought Chen Yue would be lacking in that regard. She often seemed dull and honest, but she was actually quite clever inside.

Her words might have been somewhat exaggerated, but in any case, she should be doing well now. She got along well with her fellow disciples and martial sisters, and she even had enough leisure to write him a letter and have someone deliver it. That too showed that she was in a good situation.

That put Chen Mu at ease.

Though he had not gone to the Inner City to see Chen Yue, he had always kept an eye on her situation. The news he received was that everything was peaceful.

Now that he had received Chen Yue's letter as well, he felt even more reassured.

After considering it, Chen Mu took the letter into the inner room, folded it and put it away, then went to boil water and brew medicine. Once the medicinal decoction was ready, he came to the sandpit he usually used for Skin Tempering.

The sand in this pit had now turned crimson, carrying a heavy medicinal scent. It had basically been completely saturated by the decoction, but the more so it was, the better the effect.

Chen Mu dug open the sand again, lay down in the pit, and buried himself with sand. He first poured the medicinal decoction over his lower body, then buried his upper body as well, leaving only his head exposed before pouring the rest over himself.

A scorching sensation immediately spread through his entire body.

Tingly and numb.

Once the medicine cooled, he poured more over himself. After repeating this several times until all the decoction had been used, Chen Mu abruptly crawled out of the sandpit.

Ever since reaching Major Accomplishment in Skin Tempering, the internal medicine and external application had not affected him as strongly as before. At first, his whole body had gone numb and he could not even get up for a short while. Now, after completing the tempering, he could rise easily, with only a faint soreness and weakness remaining.

Once Chen Mu had washed the mud and sand from his body, he recovered completely.

"Almost there."

Chen Mu took a deep breath and returned to his bedroom, adjusting himself to his best condition.

After roughly a month, this Gold Jade Mo Pi Fa was finally about to reach Perfection. It was the perfect time to see how much of a gap remained between him, after bringing Skin Tempering to Perfection, and Zhang Xiang Shen's son, who had been born with Copper Skin.

Buzzz!!

As he selected the enhancement on the System Panel, a surge of blazing hot blood and qi exploded within Chen Mu's body.

Like a boiling heatwave, it spread from within to without, directly seeping into the membranes of his entire body. It coursed in and out through his skin, as though hundreds of millions of steel needles were ceaselessly piercing every pore.

This was already the third time he had endured such agony. Chen Mu was in far better condition than during the previous two times. The first time, he had fainted outright. The second time, he had nearly bitten through his pillow, the pain leaving his entire body unable to move and rendering him incapable of making even the slightest sound.

This time, however, he was able to force himself to endure it.

Hundreds of millions of scorching steel needles pierced every inch of his skin without cease, leaving behind searing heat in his membranes. The skin all over his body became hot, then burning, until it flushed red and gave off a faint gleam like crimson jade.

He did not know how long this continued before the sensation of pain finally began to gradually fade.

It was as if old afflictions had been washed away and lead and mercury sublimated. Every inch of his body seemed to cry out in pleasure, as though after enduring the hardships of Skin Tempering, he had finally broken free of the cocoon and become a butterfly, completing his transformation.

When Chen Mu sat up from the bed and looked down at his body, he could see that his skin no longer had the slightest trace of roughness. Yet it possessed a resilience comparable to stone hide.

Bang!

Chen Mu raised his hand and slammed it down on the table. His palm seemed to be covered by a thick layer of leather, producing a dull thud, while the table shook from the blow and cracks even appeared along its edge!

"So this is Skin Tempering Perfection."

Chen Mu let out a long breath. He could feel that his current transformation far surpassed his previous Major Accomplishment in Skin Tempering. The membrane covering his body appeared unchanged, but gold and jade lay concealed within it, as though he were wearing a suit of soft gold-and-jade armor.

Bandits who had never practiced martial arts, or who knew only a few crude fighting moves, would find it difficult to cut through his body's membrane even with sharp blades and swords. As for things like quicklime powder, unless it got into his eyes, he could basically ignore it.

Skin Tempering Perfection!

It meant that the strength of his skin membranes could now withstand the enhancement of his muscles.

First Skin Tempering, then Flesh Tempering. That order had not been arranged casually. If one practiced Flesh Tempering first and the muscles suddenly became too powerful, then when exerting force, one's own skin membranes might fail to withstand it and split open directly.

Thus, only with tough skin membranes supporting them could one further temper one's muscles and increase one's strength, allowing one to unleash it without restraint.

This realm already made one a capable hand outside. Anyone who could train to this level held a position within a gang no lower than someone who had reached Major Accomplishment in a skill, perhaps even higher than someone who had only attained Major Accomplishment in saber techniques.

After all, those who could bring Skin Tempering to Perfection had usually practiced skills such as saber or sword techniques to some extent. Yet those who practiced such skills might not have the opportunity to bring Skin Tempering to Perfection, because the former only required a blade to train, while the latter demanded a great investment of silver.

"Still, I really can't compare to Zhang Xiang Shen's son, with that inborn Copper Skin..."

Chen Mu clenched his fist and, after sensing the strength of his skin membranes, shook his head slightly.

If the skin membrane strength of Zhang Xiang Shen's son, with his Copper Skin, counted as "ten," then Chen Mu's current membrane strength was probably only around "seven." The difference was still quite obvious.

This was determined by one's constitution and had little to do with the Mo Pi Fa itself. For a method like the Gold Jade Mo Pi Fa, this level was its limit. Chen Mu guessed that even if he continued taking the medicine internally and boiling himself externally according to its method, it might no longer have any effect.

Because his skin membranes had already completely adapted to the two medicinal decoctions of the Gold Jade Mo Pi Fa.

Chen Mu summoned the System Panel to test it. Sure enough, Perfection was the limit of the Gold Jade Mo Pi Fa, and it could not be enhanced any further. This method could at most temper his skin membranes to this degree.

At this point.

If he wanted to further temper and strengthen his body's skin membranes, he could only switch to another formula.

But ordinary people would not do so. Even if they found another Mo Pi Fa and spent two or three years tempering themselves to another Perfection, they might only raise their skin membrane strength to "nine."

Though that seemed like a considerable improvement, spending another two or three years on it might mean they would never again have the chance to reach Tendon Transformation or even Bone Tempering.

Usually, only those born with Copper Skin, or truly gifted prodigies with excellent natural aptitude and rapid progress—people who had no worries about their future advancement—would be willing to spend extra time laying such a foundation.

"I don't have a Flesh Tempering method on hand for the next step yet, but as for Mo Pi Fa..."

Chen Mu took a thin booklet from the room.

"Iron Sand Skin Grinding Method."

For him now, obtaining a Lian Rou Technique was somewhat troublesome, but a basic Mo Pi Fa was extremely easy to acquire. He had obtained one directly during his spare time at the City Guard.

"It's still worth trying."

For ordinary people, cultivating several Mo Pi Fa at once only made their progress slower and slower. Once their skin membranes had reached a certain strength, using another Mo Pi Fa to produce further effects often meant twice the effort for half the result.

But he was different.

Judging from the cultivation process of the Gold Jade Mo Pi Fa, his improvement speed would only grow faster and faster. The stronger his skin membranes became, the greater the Medicinal Power they could withstand. He might even be able to force the process through within a single day!

If that was the case, then it was worth trying no matter what. After all, even someone who had entered Initial Accomplishment in Flesh Tempering might not be able to gain an advantage against someone who had forged Copper Steel Skin.

Someone like Zhang Xiang Shen's son, born extraordinarily gifted with Copper Skin and ferocious beyond compare, was exceedingly difficult to kill unless he encountered someone at Lian Rou Completion whose Sword Force was fierce enough to break through his defenses with a single slash.