A Very Good Painted Skin, Turning Me Into a Green Dragon

"Let me confirm first—these three are all first-rank Puppet Devices, right?"

"Of course."

"Azure Underworld Painted Skin, you mentioned before. What are the Great Dream Mystic Pivot and the Suspended Thread Ligament?"

"The first-rank Suspended Thread Ligament enhances your body's flexibility. Your joints will be able to twist at any angle."

"Can I do the splits?"

"Hehehe, hahahaha! Forget the splits—even if you treated your thighs like axles, you'd have more than enough flexibility."

Lu Li raised his eyes to the ceiling and pictured it in his mind. The first thing that came to mind was a Hu dancer's acrobatic act: he could hold a cup between his teeth, support himself upside down with both hands, clamp a wine jug between his jade feet, and pour into the cup below.

His slender waist twisted in a bizarre arc, drawing a chorus of cheers from the audience.

Hey, hey, aside from acrobatics and certain strange, niche ways to play, does this thing have any other use?

As though she had sensed what Lu Li was thinking, Elder Duan continued explaining.

"Your body will become like a bow or crossbow, brimming with elasticity. Every gathering of strength will be like drawing a bowstring, giving your fists and kicks greater explosive force."

Lu Li imagined again: himself with a graceful figure, standing on one leg in a full split, then using his body as the bow and a spear as the arrow, firing wildly in every direction.

Somehow, that felt really girly...

Damn it, why have my mind been full of these weird images lately?

"Forget it, forget it. Tell me about the Great Dream Mystic Pivot."

"The first-rank Great Dream Mystic Pivot's basic function is simulated combat. You can spar with others in your mind and practice, deduce, and refine all kinds of body arts, cultivation methods, and Puppet Devices. Whether you witnessed them with your own eyes or input jade slips inscribed with cultivation methods and Puppet Device diagrams, you can simulate them in your mind and speed up your cultivation."

"Then here's the question: where am I supposed to buy jade slips containing cultivation methods?"

Some days ago, Lu Li had visited the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. It mainly sold books related to clamping and welding techniques, as well as blueprints for mundane-path mechanisms. The latter were especially expensive.

As for jade slips containing cultivation methods or Puppet Device diagrams, he could forget about even dreaming of them.

The Suspended Thread Ligament sounded pretty good. It was said to increase the power of body arts, but Lu Li had thought of one fatal issue: no matter how explosive his fist was, it had to be within what his own body could endure.

After all, every force had an equal counterforce. No matter how strong his explosive power became, he still wouldn't dare clash head-on with a Puppet Device like the Mountain Ape Strength Arm.

When the time came, he could throw one little pink fist; the opponent's shell might remain unbroken while the bones in his forearm snapped first. Wouldn't people laugh themselves to death?

That wasn't to say those two Puppet Devices weren't powerful. It was just that Lu Li felt his current circumstances were insufficient for him to unleash their true strength.

Having tasted the benefits of the Qi-Combining Cauldron, Lu Li no longer felt the same initial resistance toward this kind of loan.

After this experience, he had also realized something: a loan wasn't merely for obtaining funds, but for using leverage to pry open productive assets.

To put it bluntly, the Puppet Devices he obtained by mortgaging his organs had to provide real, tangible benefits during the repayment period.

Faced with a limited repayment deadline, he had no room to pursue so-called long-term returns. Living one day at a time was all he could manage. Only the most direct conversion into combat strength could guarantee his survival over the next month.

Instead, he should first obtain the Azure Underworld Painted Skin and make his fists harder. Only then would the Suspended Thread Ligament have room to shine.

After thinking it over again and again, Lu Li suddenly had an idea.

"Can I hold off on taking the loan for now? I'll go gather spiritual materials first, then come back and choose once I've collected them all."

"Hehehe, preparation time counts too. The clock started ticking the moment you refined the Qi-Combining Cauldron."

"Huh?"

"I can't quit halfway?"

"Sure you can. You're the one who'll die in a month, not me. You can refuse to believe what I said and try it with your own life."

"What? What kind of tyrannical contract is that?"

"From the moment you decided to set foot on the path of cultivation, there was already no turning back. Better yet, cultivators like us have never had any retreat to speak of. Still, you needn't worry too much. If you can't refine it, your master will help you refine it."

"Ah!"

Lu Li was truly convinced. He had played it safe for nearly half his life and had once resisted spending beyond his means. Who would have thought he would stumble in a place like this?

"Good disciple, have you decided?"

"First of all, I'm not your disciple. I... I choose the Azure Underworld Painted Skin."

"As you wish."

The instant her words fell, a burst of white light erupted all over Lu Li's body, accompanied by a painful itch as though ten thousand ants were gnawing at his heart.

"OH HOO HOO HOO HOO!"

Lu Li let out a miserable scream. Fortunately, the process did not last long. When the white light faded, he looked down and discovered there was absolutely nothing beneath him...

No, where's my little brother? We agreed to change the skin—how did my little brother disappear too?

Lu Li instantly turned pale with shock. He hurriedly groped about, only to touch two soft, warm, moist pieces of jade pressed together, symmetrical and exquisite.

"NO—"

Lu Li wailed at the top of his lungs and abruptly sat upright in bed. Staring at the inn's shabby ceiling, he finally realized that what he had just seen had only been a dream.

So he had merely passed out from the pain.

Even so, Lu Li reached down with an uneasy heart to feel around. Thank goodness that thing was still there... no, wait!

How could his skin be this smooth?!

So smooth that not a single hair remained.

Lu Li finally understood: the "Azure" in Azure Underworld Painted Skin was not only the azure of the Azure Underworld Demon Fox, but also the azure of the Azure Dragon. In the land of desolation, he had awakened a world-shaking bloodline and transformed into a little azure dragon.

"Old bastard, get out here! You said I was mortgaging my skin—how did you swipe all my hair too?"

"It is only a few strands of hair. What is there to fuss over? Strip away the skin, and all that remains are two hundred and six bones, flesh, blood, filth, hair, and intestines."

Lu Li was struck speechless. That was true enough, but it still felt like something was stuck in his heart.

Not only down there—even his armpit hair and body hair had vanished without a trace. Lu Li raised a hand to feel around and found that his hair and eyebrows were still there, though the latter seemed somewhat thinner.

He had nearly thought he had turned into a little nun—ah, no, a little monk.

"Old thing, if you have the guts, swipe my hair too!"

"Oh, those three thousand strands of vexation come at a different price."

"You can mortgage that too?"

"Of course. I told you long ago: everything on your body can be mortgaged with me. It is merely that, for some parts, the corresponding crafted implements are things you cannot use or forge for the time being. Still, I did replace your scalp for you."

At that, Lu Li was so angry he nearly laughed.

"What use is replacing my scalp? Can I practice Iron Head Skill?"

"Mhm. If you want to practice it, you can. And you will not grow ringworm or warts, either."

The corner of Lu Li's mouth twitched. He got up and walked to the table, untied his sash, slipped off his coarse linen outer garment, and picked up the bronze mirror on the table.

But the instant he saw himself in the mirror, he froze on the spot. It took him a long while to recover. Swallowing hard, he muttered:

"So men can be this beautiful too?"