Ranked Martial Arts

[In the first year, you continued cultivating the Fierce Tiger Fist, constantly tempering the tiger's intent within your punches. In just half a year, you wielded it with ease, your fists transforming into fierce tigers.]

[You seemed to gain some insight, yet could never grasp the chance for a breakthrough. So, you decided to enter the mountains in search of tigers.]

[In the second year, you had already lived in the mountains for a full year, keeping company with tigers every day. You learned how they lay, mimicked how they walked, fought them, and snatched their food.]

[Now, every move you made had become that of a fierce tiger, every motion and stillness containing tiger intent. At last, the Fierce Tiger Fist reached the realm of Great Perfection!]

[At this point, your skin and flesh were powerful, tough as a drumhead. Blades and swords found them hard to pierce; your skin had been tempered like copper.]

One prompt after another drifted before his eyes.

Mo Chen watched himself in the Martial Arena, as though he were witnessing the growth of a young tiger.

As year after year passed, that immature fierce tiger finally grew into the king of the mountains.

[In the third year, you continued your relentless tempering and kept studying the Fierce Tiger Fist.]

[One day, you suddenly thought of the breathing method used in stance training. On a whim, you wondered, why couldn't breathing and fist techniques be combined in a marvelous way?]

[Thus, you began researching it. In the end, by coordinating it with the stance-training breathing method, you comprehended a ranked cultivation art—Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force.]

[Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force, low-grade. (Not yet initiated)]

"Holy shit! A ranked cultivation art?!"

Mo Chen abruptly opened his eyes, wild with delight.

Sure enough.

He was a martial arts genius!

Something like comprehending a cultivation art on his own had actually happened to him.

Mo Chen impatiently continued pouring in money.

"System, exchange for three years of cultivation time for Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force!"

[Ding, exchange successful!]

His consciousness shifted.

The simulated training began once more.

[In the first year, with the Great Perfection Fierce Tiger Fist as your foundation, you needed only one year to initiate the Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force. A mysterious force arose within your body, leaving you tremendously excited.]

[In the second year, you wanted to take the Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force a step further. However, because your body had not been fully tempered, it could not withstand the tyrannical power of that mysterious force, and you suffered severe injuries.]

[In the third year, you recovered from your injuries. Having learned your lesson, you decided to temporarily stop cultivating the Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force.

Haste makes waste. You adjusted your mindset and changed direction without rushing or growing restless, beginning to cultivate the White Snake Nine Transformations Palm. White Snake Nine Transformations Palm, initiated!]

The three years of cultivation progress ended, and a trace of enlightenment rose in Mo Chen's heart.

"So the purpose of Body Tempering is to forge a foundation. Only when the foundation is solid can one raise a tall tower."

The Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force was a ranked martial art.

The trace of force he had cultivated within his body was Astral Qi.

Only after reaching the Great Perfection of Body Tempering, Fifth Stage could one condense Astral Qi.

Yet Mo Chen had condensed a wisp of Astral Qi ahead of time. Not only did it offer him no benefit, it had instead injured him.

"Body Tempering! What I should be doing now isn't reaching for the stars, but forging my foundation!"

With that thought, Mo Chen exchanged for another year of cultivation progress.

[Three months later, because of your understanding of the Tyrant Tiger Heavenly Dipper Force, you drew inferences from one instance and grasped the whole from a single clue. Cultivating the White Snake Nine Transformations Palm became nearly effortless, and you broke through to Minor Accomplishment.]

[Six months later, White Snake Nine Transformations Palm, Major Accomplishment!]

[At the end of the year, you captured all kinds of snakes in the mountains, not even sparing their eggs. You observed them closely and devoted yourself to imitation. Your sinews became like snake sinews—bending and pressing down, then springing like a great bow. The White Snake Nine Transformations Palm reached the realm of Great Perfection!]

His consciousness returned to reality, and Mo Chen suddenly opened his eyes, cold and devoid of emotion, like a giant python descending upon the world.

At that instant, all the servant disciples who had been chatting suddenly fell silent as one, shuddering in unison.

"What happened? Why am I suddenly so panicked?"

"Me too. I got chills for no reason."

"I feel like a ferocious beast is staring at me."

"Strange! It should be getting hotter and hotter at this temperature..."

Mo Chen promptly withdrew the intent of the white snake and laughed inwardly.

"I never expected the Great Perfection White Snake Nine Transformations Palm to possess such might."

Just one cold, sinister glance had filled everyone around him with fear.

During his cultivation, Mo Chen had once again spent day and night alongside snakes. He had long since integrated every movement and mannerism of snakes into himself.

After the White Snake Nine Transformations Palm reached Great Perfection, he directly achieved success in sinew tempering.

It could be said that Mo Chen's strength had now undergone earth-shaking changes.

Whether it was the muscular strength and toughness of his skin and flesh, or the sinews throughout his body, he was no longer the Mo Chen of a few days ago.

Even his height had increased by a great deal.

"Now, with the Fierce Tiger Fist at Great Perfection and the White Snake Nine Transformations Palm at Great Perfection, even without the critical-strike boost of the Black Iron Firewood Knife, I could easily kill that man in black!"

A smile appeared on Mo Chen's lips.

After the Fierce Tiger Fist reached Great Perfection, his muscles and skin had undergone tremendous transformation.

Now, with the White Snake Nine Transformations Palm also at Great Perfection, he had entered the Sinew Tempering Realm of Body Tempering, Third Stage.

In Mo Chen's view, there probably wasn't a single guard in the Lu Residence who could defeat him.

"When I first secretly learned the Fierce Tiger Fist and saw Hong Tieniu practicing martial arts, he truly seemed like a martial arts master. But looking back now, his movements were like a toddler learning to walk—full of openings, every move soft and powerless."

Mo Chen understood that this was a change in perception brought about by the improvement of his strength and vision.

Perhaps once he entered a higher realm, he would look back at the present and feel that his current self was pitifully weak too.

Thinking this, Mo Chen laughed soundlessly.

"I still have to leave the residence tomorrow. Better get some sleep first."

Shaking his head, he turned over.

Before long, he gradually drifted into dreamland.

The next day.

As the first ray of sunlight rose in the east, Mo Chen bade farewell to Little Five and the others before leaving the Lu Residence.

He first ate six baskets of meat buns on the street and drank two bowls of tofu pudding.

Only then did he find a carriage shop, hire a horse-drawn carriage, and set off toward Rice Terrace County.

Near noon.

Mo Chen arrived at Rice Terrace County.

Watching the endless stream of carriages, horses, and people at the city gate, Mo Chen felt rather moved.

"I've been in this world for three and a half months now, and this is the first time I've left the Lu Residence."

Even within Yunyi County, he rarely had the chance to come out and wander around.

In the nation of Great Mystic, slaves had absolutely no human rights or freedom.

Everyone else seemed to have long grown accustomed to such a system.

But Mo Chen was different. He had transmigrated from twenty-first-century Earth. To endure the exploitation and abuse of slave owners without freedom was, to him, no different from stealing his wealth and taking his life.

"I'll exchange the gold first, then find a bookstore or martial arts hall to ask about the cultivation realms."

Thinking this, Mo Chen spotted a Prosperity Bank and strode inside.

"Ah! Esteemed customer, what do you need?"

The attendant greeted him with a beaming smile.

"Exchange money!" Mo Chen said directly.

"Certainly! This way, esteemed customer!"

The attendant's eyes lit up, and he warmly led Mo Chen to a tea table.

The time it took to drink a cup of tea later.

Mo Chen walked out of the bank with a pained expression.

"This bank is fucking crooked!"

They charged him two strings of cash in handling fees just to exchange one tael of gold. It hurt him to the bone.

But if he did not exchange it, he would have a hard time finding another major city throughout the surrounding villages and countryside.

Compared to the trouble, he would rather spend money for convenience.

"Forget it. This exchange will at least let me upgrade the system. After the system upgrades, I'll figure out how to increase my income!"

Finding an empty corner, Mo Chen inconspicuously turned into it.

"Upgrade!"

As the gold entered his inventory, Mo Chen immediately summoned the system.

[Ding-dong! Would you like to consume ten taels of silver and one tael of gold to upgrade the system?]

"Confirm!"

[Ding! Congratulations, upgrade successful!]

The next moment, Mo Chen saw a flash of golden light before his eyes, and the transparent attribute panel appeared once again.

[Name: Mo Chen]

[Level: Second Rank]

[Martial Arts: Fierce Tiger Fist (Great Perfection), White Snake Nine Transformations Palm (Great Perfection), Firewood-Chopping Knife Technique (Initiated)]

[Wealth: Six taels and seven hundred coins]

[Exchangeable martial arts cultivation progress: Six months.]

[Number of equippable items: Two]

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