A Thousand Pounds! Reforging! Tendon Tempering!

A Thousand Pounds! Reforging! Tendon Tempering!

[ Ding! Fox Demon Corpse equipped! ]

Boom!!

A warm current several times stronger than that of the Rat Demon Corpse instantly flooded Mu Yang's limbs and bones.

His muscles trembled, his tendons and bones roared, and the strength of his body, which had already reached Bone-Forging Perfection, surged once more.

"A thousand pounds of added strength. Sure enough, even among the same white-tier traits, the bonuses from a Second Rank demon corpse and a First Rank demon corpse are completely different."

The instant the Fox Demon Corpse loaded, Mu Yang distinctly felt his strength soaring.

His immense strength, which had already exceeded 3,500 pounds, abruptly climbed another level, reaching 4,500 pounds!

This had already surpassed the limits of the Second Rank Tendon-Bone Realm and reached the level of the Third Rank Blood-Marrow Realm.

When he had chatted with Wu Cai before, he had heard him speak of the Blood-Marrow Realm.

In the Blood-Marrow Realm, Blood Qi had to penetrate deep into the bone marrow and nourish the blood marrow. This realm was divided into four levels: early, middle, late, and Perfection.

Initial nourishment could add a thousand pounds of strength. Once all the bones in the limbs had been nourished, another thousand pounds could be gained, allowing one to enter the middle stage of the Blood-Marrow Realm.

If the bones of the torso were fully nourished, one would enter the late stage of the Blood-Marrow Realm and gain two thousand pounds of strength.

Once every bone in the body had been nourished and the tendons, bones, skin, and flesh throughout the body had fused into one, one could gain three thousand pounds of strength.

That would be Blood-Marrow Realm Perfection, where the strength of a single arm could reach ten thousand pounds!

Yet now, while only at the Second Rank Tendon and Bone Realm, Mu Yang had relied on the Fox Demon Corpse's enhancement to bring the strength of one arm to 4,500 pounds, making him even stronger than an ordinary early-stage Blood-Marrow Realm martial artist.

And this was only one Fox Demon. If he had a few more, perhaps standing shoulder to shoulder with—or even surpassing—Blood-Marrow Realm Perfection would not be impossible.

Sure enough, killing demons was the fastest way to improve!

Just as Mu Yang was thinking this, an even more vast, scorching sensation suddenly rose within his body.

Mu Yang recognized that feeling well. It was the white-tier trait, Qi-Blood Abundance, exerting its power again.

This was a Blood Qi enhancement far more immense than that of the Rat Demon Corpse. If he had a high-grade martial art in hand, breaking through to the Blood-Marrow Realm would probably be as easy as turning over his hand.

Unfortunately, it was already late, and the County Office had closed for the day.

On top of that, he had no Merit Points to use. Even if he wanted to exchange for one, he lacked the means.

He could only let this vast Blood Qi seep into his bone marrow and nourish his blood marrow at half the result for twice the effort...

"Hmm?"

Just as Mu Yang regretted wasting this burst of Blood Qi enhancement, he suddenly froze.

The Blood Qi that should have followed his meridians deep into his bone marrow to nourish the blood marrow did not do so.

Instead, just as when he had equipped the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique to nourish his tendons and bones during the day, it began following his tendon pathways and tempering his tendons.

Twanging—!!

A sound like a bowstring being drawn rang out from within Mu Yang's body.

His tendons and bones, which had already been fully tempered, showed signs of being polished and refined once more beneath the washing of that immense Blood Qi.

The process was much slower than it had been during the day, but Mu Yang could clearly feel his tendons becoming even tougher.

Even the surface of his skin took on an almost imperceptible metallic sheen.

At first, it only appeared faintly on his arms, but under the washing of that immense Blood Qi, the sheen swiftly spread across the skin of his entire body.

By the time the newly added Blood Qi had been completely exhausted, Mu Yang's entire body glimmered with a faint silvery-white radiance.

Under the moonlight, it shone brilliantly.

Fortunately, as the Blood Qi ran dry, the glow across his body faded away as well. Otherwise, Mu Yang would truly have had to consider getting himself a full-coverage mask.

"My strength increased again?"

Mu Yang clenched his fist, then swung the Feather-Command Broadblade a few times.

A thousand pounds!

He had gained another thousand pounds of strength, and the power of one arm had now reached 5,500 pounds!

Comparable to a middle-stage Blood-Marrow Realm martial artist!

"So this was a second round of tendon tempering?"

Mu Yang sheathed his blade and fell into thought.

Since tendon tempering could be repeated, could bone forging be repeated as well?

The first tendon tempering had added 500 pounds of strength, the first bone forging had added 1,500 pounds, and the second tendon tempering had added 1,000 pounds. Then how much could the second bone forging add?

2,000 pounds? Or 3,000 pounds?

And just how many times could this repeated tendon tempering and bone forging be performed?

For no reason at all, Mu Yang recalled the protagonist of some webnovel he had read in his previous life, who seemed to have cultivated Qi to one hundred thousand layers. It had been absurdly exaggerated.

Unfortunately, he had no demon corpses left. Tomorrow, he would ask around the County Office and see where people had gone missing.

Thinking as he walked, Mu Yang entered the house and casually picked up two arm-thick strips of Air-Dried Pork from beside the bed, stuffing them into his empty Equipment Slots.

The bonuses from Air-Dried Pork were small, but even a mosquito's leg was still meat. Rather than leave the Equipment Slots empty, he might as well make the best use of everything.

Drops of water gathered into a river. Over time, it would still become a considerable improvement.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning.

As he had the day before, Mu Yang carried the burlap sack containing the Fox Demon Corpse and arrived at the County Office on time to check in.

The moment he entered the Constabulary, he saw the broad-shouldered, thick-waisted Wu Cai approaching with a grin. He held a brand-new copper Squad Leader Waist Token in his hand. "Brother, congratulations, congratulations! Starting today, you're the fifth squad leader of our Constabulary. This is your official token. Take it!"

This copper token looked much the same as yesterday's wooden one, likewise bearing the characters for "Constabulary" and "Five."

However, compared to yesterday's temporary wooden token, this copper one was clearly of much better quality. It felt cool in his hand and sat comfortably against his palm.

"Thank you, Brother Wu. Sorry to make you run around for this," Mu Yang said.

"What are you thanking me for? It was nothing!" Wu Cai patted his shoulder, then noticed the burlap sack in his hand and continued, "Come on, I'll take you to Clerk Liu to exchange it for merit. While we're at it, I'll tell you a little about the Tendon-Bone Realm."

Wu Cai had seen the condition of that Fox Demon Corpse last night. A Fox Demon capable of concealing its features and taking human form was without question a Second Rank demon.

Clearly, Mu Yang's talent far exceeded anything he had imagined.

He had not expected Mu Yang to be far from newly entering the First Rank. It was more likely that he had reached First Rank Perfection long ago, then used the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique he had received yesterday to break through into the Tendon-Bone Realm in one stroke and begin tendon tempering.

He had only realized this after sobering up yesterday, once his head had cleared.

Three months to go from an ordinary person to the Second Rank Tendon-Bone Realm—such talent was simply unreasonable.

In the future, Mu Yang would surely join the Demon Slayer Bureau and become a mighty, awe-inspiring Demon-Seeking Captain.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Wu!"

Mu Yang naturally saw that his former superior was trying to befriend him, but he did not mind.

Wu Cai was not only his superior; he was also an old friend of his father's, and he had looked after Mu Yang quite a bit before.

He had even stepped forward to help handle his father's funeral arrangements.

On the way, Wu Cai led Mu Yang toward Clerk Liu's workplace while telling him about some precautions and tricks for the Tendon-Bone Realm.

For example, before tempering one's tendons, it was best to eat plenty of meat and ensure sufficient sleep. If one had medicinal herbs or pills that promoted Blood Qi, that would be even better.

And during each tendon tempering session, one should not be greedy. It had to be done little by little; otherwise, it would backfire, and one might even suffer internal injuries.

Mu Yang, who had already cultivated to the Bone-Forging Stage and had even undergone a second round of tendon tempering, could naturally hear Wu Cai's sincerity.

In truth, having consecutively cultivated two mid-grade martial arts to Perfection, he already knew every precaution regarding tendon tempering and bone forging by heart.

The only thing that puzzled him was probably the inexplicable second tendon tempering from yesterday.

As he thought about it, Mu Yang asked, "Brother Wu, when I went back and looked through the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique last night, I saw a line recorded inside: 'After the tendons and bones are perfected, repeatedly temper the tendons and reforge the bones; life will be renewed, and extraordinary strength may be gained.' What does that mean?"