Monsters! Body Tempering! Grappling!

Monsters! Body Tempering! Grappling! Once the tendons and bones had been forged, repeatedly tempering the tendons and reforging the bones could renew vitality and increase one's extraordinary strength.

Mu Yang had made that up on the spot. Wu Cai did not cultivate blade techniques anyway; he had barely practiced even the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique, much less its advanced version, the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique.

Sure enough, after hearing his question, Wu Cai did not press further. He paused, then explained directly:

"This involves a unique aspect of the Tendon-Bone Realm: Repeated Tempering!"

Mu Yang raised his brows. "Repeated Tempering?"

"Yes." Wu Cai nodded. "The Tendon-Bone Realm, the second realm of martial arts, lies between the first Skin and Flesh Realm and the third Blood-Marrow Realm. Not only does it increase strength, but it also serves as a bridge. It truly is the Martial Foundation Realm, and Repeated Tempering is its unique feature!"

"However, while repeatedly tempering the tendons and bones brings all sorts of wondrous benefits, its difficulty is comparable to climbing the heavens. Without exceptional talent, abundant resources, and extraordinary perseverance, it is impossible to achieve!"

At that, Wu Cai could not help but sigh.

Without exceptional talent, abundant resources, and extraordinary perseverance, it was impossible to achieve?

Mu Yang raised an eyebrow.

Am I really that outstanding?

Of course, that was only a joke.

Mu Yang knew his own talent very well.

He had painstakingly cultivated a low-grade martial art for three months without even entering the door. If his golden finger had not arrived in time, he would probably have become nourishment for the earth by now, returning to nature.

Perhaps thinking that Mu Yang had no concept of how difficult repeated tendon tempering and bone forging was, Wu Cai continued explaining:

"You know that the so-called Tendon-Bone Realm is essentially Tendon Tempering and Bone Forging. Though the process is agonizing and difficult, as long as you have an uninterrupted supply of meat and diligently train, grinding away bit by bit, there will always come a day when you finish. Take me, for example: three years of tendon tempering, seven years of bone forging. Now I am only a step away from the Blood-Marrow Realm. But repeated tendon tempering? That is practically the dream of a fool."

"This is not something time alone can solve. It requires ample resources and exceptional talent. Your body must be sturdy enough, and with all manner of secret medicines as catalysts, you must stimulate a vast amount of Blood Qi in a short time and forge your tendons and bones in one burst of momentum. You cannot stop midway. The moment you do, all previous efforts will go down the drain."

"My father said that the Blood Qi consumed in this step was nearly equal to the combined total needed for the first tendon tempering and bone forging. And that is only Second Tendon-Tempering. Second Bone-Tempering consumes even more terrifying amounts."

"Even descendants of the great families in Qinghe Prefecture City find it difficult to accomplish."

Hearing this, Mu Yang understood.

No wonder Wu Cai found it so difficult.

Judging from the conditions he had described alone, this was not something ordinary people could achieve.

Fortunately, none of these problems were difficult for Mu Yang.

With the "Sturdy Physique" traits naturally carried by all sorts of monster corpses, his physique was already exceptional.

And with the boost from "Qi-Blood Abundance," he did not lack Blood Qi either.

Thus, while others needed ceaseless hard cultivation and heavenly treasures to complete Second Tendon-Tempering and Bone Forging, he only needed to kill a few more Second Rank Monsters.

There was no difficulty at all.

Just as Mu Yang was pondering this, Wu Cai spoke again. "Speaking of that, I need to mention something. If you go out in the future and encounter someone whose body flashes with silver light when they fight, make sure to stay far away. That is the hallmark of Second Tendon-Tempering and Bone Forging."

"My father said that those who complete the first round of tendon and bone tempering are called Ox Tendon Tiger Bone, while those who complete the second round are called Steel Tendon Iron Bone. Their defense is astonishing, and their strength is comparable to that of the Blood-Marrow Realm."

"It is said that when one breaks through to the Blood-Marrow Realm with such tendons and bones, even the Blood Marrow inside the body will be tinged with silver-white. They are as strong as monsters."

Mu Yang: Brother Wu, your father was right. They really would be as strong as monsters.

"Cultivating Steel Tendon Iron Bone can even enhance the Blood-Marrow Realm?" Mu Yang was delighted, and a look of amazement appeared on his face.

"Of course. Otherwise, why would the people of those aristocratic great families devote so much effort to this realm and call it the Martial Foundation Realm?" Wu Cai said.

The aristocratic great families were shrewd. For something this difficult, who would persist unless the benefits were great enough?

As the two chatted, they soon arrived at Clerk Liu's workplace.

Just as yesterday, he was holding a brush and annotating something.

When he learned why Mu Yang had come, he froze on the spot.

No, you did not leave the city yesterday either. Where did this monster corpse come from?

Only after Wu Cai explained what had happened did Clerk Liu come back to his senses and understand the situation.

Yet even with yesterday's achievements as a foundation, when he learned that Mu Yang had slain another Second Rank Fox Demon last night, he still could not suppress his amazement and repeatedly stroked his beard.

He had thought he had already overestimated Mu Yang's talent. Unexpectedly, he had still underestimated it.

This lad's talent likely far surpassed anything he had seen before.

If so, it would surely draw the attention of the Demon Slayer Bureau.

As long as the Demon Slayer Bureau sent someone, even if it was merely the lowest-ranked Demon-Seeking Captain, the calamity posed by Qingxi County's Three Great Families would be nothing to fear.

With this in mind, Clerk Liu swept his brush across the page and increased the original 300 Merit Points by more than half, awarding Mu Yang a full 500 Merit Points.

That amount was enough for Mu Yang to exchange for six or seven Mid-Grade Martial Arts. He could even exchange it for one High-Grade Martial Art worth 300 Merit Points.

After considering it, Mu Yang immediately spent 300 Merit Points to exchange for the advanced version of the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique—the High-Grade Martial Art Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique.

Mu Yang did not keep the remaining 200 Merit Points either. He exchanged them for a grappling-type Mid-Grade Martial Art called Tendon-Splitting Bone-Dislocating Hand, a body-tempering Mid-Grade Martial Art called Iron Cloth Shirt, and a throwing-technique Mid-Grade Martial Art called Hundred Shadow Flying Needles.

Tendon-Splitting Bone-Dislocating Hand cost 60 Merit Points, while Iron Cloth Shirt and Hundred Shadow Flying Needles each cost 70. The three martial arts added up to exactly 200 Merit Points.

With this, Mu Yang's close-combat abilities strengthened once more, and he also gained a means of fighting enemies from afar.

Though he did not think his strength would ever put him in a situation where he needed hidden weapons, it was never a bad thing to learn another skill for protection, just in case.

It was worth mentioning that both Tendon-Splitting Bone-Dislocating Hand and Iron Cloth Shirt shared a trait with the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique: once mastered, they would generate a great deal of Blood Qi.

Cultivating these two techniques simultaneously was equivalent to gaining twice the amount of Blood Qi needed for the first Tendon Tempering and Bone Forging.

He wondered whether equipping them would allow him to complete Second Bone-Tempering.

"Brother Mu, though your talent is extraordinary, martial arts are as vast as the sea. If you bite off more than you can chew, you will not be able to digest it all!"

After leaving Clerk Liu's place, Wu Cai hesitated for quite some time before finally being unable to resist offering a word of advice.

Any martial art, even merely a mid- or low-grade one, required no small amount of time to cultivate.

One or two books might not take much, but someone like Mu Yang, exchanging for several at once—if he wanted to master them all, it would likely take a very long time.

The more martial techniques one had, the better, naturally—but surely not this kind of more...

"Brother Wu, I understand. I am only looking into them for now."

Mu Yang did not explain further.

After all, his "learning ability" stood in a class of its own.

Seeing Mu Yang say this, Wu Cai did not offer further advice.

Once was goodwill. Saying too much would only make things unpleasant.

"Mm." Wu Cai nodded. Then, as if remembering something, he continued, "Come on. I happen to have time right now, so I'll take you to the Constable Office to pick some men. You have just become a squad leader; you need a few capable brothers under your command."

A squad leader was the head of a squad of constables. Without brothers under him, how could he be called a squad leader?