Three Tendon-Temperings! High-Grade Martial Arts! Ten Thousand Jin of Strength!

By the time Mu Yang returned to the small courtyard, the dim sky had gone completely dark.

Mu Yang tossed the bound Rat Demon Corpse onto the ground and shut the courtyard gate behind him.

Silver moonlight spilled down, casting mottled shadows across the ground.

Mu Yang did not rush to light a lamp. Instead, by the moonlight, he walked over to the Rat Demon's headless corpse.

"Equip, Rat Demon Corpse!"

[Ding! Rat Demon Corpse equipped!]

White trait · Sturdy Physique, loaded!

Single-arm strength +1,000 jin!

Total strength reached 9,500 jin!

At the same time, the white trait · Qi-Blood Abundance took effect as well.

In an instant, a familiar warm current surged up from his limbs and bones.

Mu Yang closed his eyes and skillfully guided this newly born Blood Qi, sending it rushing toward his tendons, which had long since become tough as steel.

That was right. Mu Yang was preparing to attempt the Third Tendon-Tempering.

Although Wu Cai had only said that Tendon Tempering and Bone Forging came in two rounds, since there was a second, there might well be a third.

In any case, there was no loss in giving it a try.

Very quickly, under Mu Yang's guidance, Blood Qi gradually enveloped his tendons and began trying to temper them.

The good news was that he truly could undergo a Third Tendon-Tempering.

The bad news was that the Blood Qi provided by a mere Second-Order Demon Corpse was a drop in the bucket compared to what the Third Tendon-Tempering required.

That vast Blood Qi, enough to allow an ordinary martial artist who had just entered the Tendon-Bone Realm to break through directly into the Bone-Forging Stage, vanished into his tendons like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to even raise a ripple.

In just a few breaths, all the Blood Qi brought by the Rat Demon Corpse had been consumed completely.

Clearly, the Third Tendon-Tempering required an absurd amount of Blood Qi.

If the total Blood Qi needed for the first round of Tendon Tempering and Bone Forging was one, and the total needed for the second round was three, then completing the Third Tendon-Tempering alone would require no less than four.

The Third Bone-Tempering would require even more Blood Qi.

Relying solely on Second-Order Demon Corpses would likely be difficult.

After all, he only had three Equipment Slots. Even if he obtained two more Second-Order Demon Corpses, the total Blood Qi still would not be enough.

Unless he had a Third-Order Demon Corpse, or High-Grade Martial Arts!

Thinking of this, Mu Yang did not hesitate. He immediately took out the High-Grade Martial Arts Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique that he kept close to his body.

[Equippable Item: Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique (High-Grade Martial Arts)]

[Grade: Third-Order]

[Equipment Effects: ① Perfection (White): Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique proficiency reaches the Perfection level.

② Blade Technique Affinity (Blue): Slightly increases affinity for blade-type martial arts and speeds up the cultivation of blade-type martial arts.]

[Permanent Solidification Condition: Equip this item for ten days, or while this item is equipped, kill any demon beast of Third-Order or above.]

Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique did not have many traits, only two, and their effects were fairly ordinary.

But Mu Yang did not care. What he needed was merely the Blood Qi boost brought by equipping this martial art.

"Equip, Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique!"

[Ding! Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique equipped!]

Boom!!!

As insights into all kinds of exquisite blade techniques appeared in his mind, a scorching torrent far greater than anything before erupted from Mu Yang's limbs and bones like a volcano exploding.

This time, it was no longer a gentle trickle, but a surging river bursting through its banks!

It was several times stronger than the Blood Qi brought by Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique and Iron Cloth Shirt combined.

Mu Yang did not delay for even a moment and immediately controlled the Blood Qi to begin tempering his tendons.

Under the repeated tempering of vast amounts of Blood Qi, every inch of his tendons trembled, contracted, and stretched, becoming tougher and more elastic than before.

The tendons, which had already carried a dark silver sheen, deepened further in color.

Then, a low sound like a great bow being drawn rang out. The dark silver completely faded away, and a faint gleam of radiant gold suddenly emerged.

The Third Tendon-Tempering was complete!

Mu Yang slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and opened his eyes, a flash of delight passing through his black-and-white pupils.

As expected of the Third Tendon-Tempering, completed only after consuming enormous amounts of Blood Qi. The strength boost alone was twice that of the second tendon-tempering, adding a full 2,000 jin!

Mu Yang's single-arm strength thus directly broke past the ten-thousand-jin mark, reaching 11,500 jin!

His strength was even more formidable than that of a martial artist at the Perfection of the Third-Order Blood-Marrow Realm!

He wondered how much his strength would increase after completing the Third Bone-Tempering.

"The Third Tendon-Tempering alone required the Blood Qi boost of one High-Grade Martial Arts technique plus one Second-Order Demon Corpse. The Blood Qi needed for the Third Bone-Tempering will only be greater!" Mu Yang inwardly sighed.

The Blood Qi consumed by the second Bone-Tempering was twice that of the second tendon-tempering, so the Third Bone-Tempering would probably require twice as much as the Third Tendon-Tempering.

In other words, if he wanted to complete the Third Bone-Tempering, he would need to prepare at least two High-Grade Martial Arts techniques plus two Second-Order Demon Corpses, or two Mid-Grade Martial Arts techniques.

No, considering that he only had three Equipment Slots, he should need three High-Grade Martial Arts techniques, or three Third-Order Demon Corpses.

The demand was a little too great!

"Unfortunately, the same martial art cannot be equipped repeatedly." Mu Yang secretly felt regret.

The same martial art—or rather, the same type of equipment—could not be equipped repeatedly.

This was something Mu Yang had only discovered last night.

After equipping the Fox Demon Corpse yesterday, he had suddenly had an idea and copied out a version of Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique in his spare time.

He had thought he could exploit a loophole, but when he silently tried to equip it, there was no response at all.

Clearly, the same type of equipment—at least the same martial arts manual—could only be equipped once.

Although Mu Yang found this regrettable, he did not care too much.

It was only martial arts. At worst, after exchanging his merit tomorrow, he could simply redeem more.

Pulling his thoughts back, Mu Yang took out Hundred Shadow Flying Needles and equipped it.

Countless memories flooded into his mind: the precautions for selecting flying needles, the techniques and tricks of launching them, concealing his aura before making a move, as well as scouting and tracking.

Combined with the "Keen Sense of Smell" trait he had gained from equipping the Rat Demon Corpse, Mu Yang felt that every rustle of wind and blade of grass within a hundred meters was under his control.

If he returned to the entrance of Li Village now, he would not need to wait for the Rat Demon to attack. He could directly locate it and take the initiative.

At this point, all three of Mu Yang's Equipment Slots were filled. If he wanted to equip anything else, he either had to kill demons or wait for time to pass.

"If only a Third-Order demon appeared in my courtyard right now."

After putting away the Rat Demon's head, Mu Yang thought greedily.

Such an absurd thing was obviously impossible even to imagine.

At the same time.

Outside Qingxi County.

Within Yellow Wind Mountain, a hundred li away from Huang Village and Li Village.

Lush trees blanketed the hills, and at one cave entrance stood a centuries-old tree with roots entrenched there.

Strangely, though the ancient tree was flourishing, there were few signs of animals in the surrounding area.

Under the cold moonlight, the verdant ancient tree appeared especially eerie.

If Mu Yang, with Keen Sense of Smell loaded, were here, he would definitely be able to smell the rich, pungent stench of demons drifting out from the cave.

This was the lair of Yellow Wind Mountain's ruler, the Yellow Wind King!

At this moment, several tall figures, resembling the two Rat Demons Mu Yang had slain, were conversing at the cave entrance.

"Second Brother, it's already been two days and two nights, but there's still no news from Xiao Jiu."

"Lao Wu also seems to have been down the mountain for several days."

"Those two worrywarts. Father King's birthday is almost here, yet they're still running around everywhere." The Rat Demon addressed as Second Brother furrowed his brow slightly. "Forget it. I'll go down the mountain and investigate at the Wang Family. Those two fools are probably addicted to fresh meat and forgot to come home."

With that, he slipped into the shadows and vanished into the darkness.