Cheng Ran's Alarm

Cheng Ran's Alarm

More than two hundred jin of strength in a single arm.

Though not a terrifying figure in Cheng Ran's eyes.

After all, ever since his blood and qi had reached perfection and flowed freely through his entire body, the strength in one of his arms had already exceeded five hundred jin—more than twice Jiang Ning's current strength.

But more than two hundred jin of strength on someone who had only practiced martial arts for a short time left Cheng Ran deeply shocked.

At this rate of growth, it would not be long before Jiang Ning caught up to him.

Though actual growth could not be calculated that way.

The further one progressed, the harder it became to increase one's strength.

That was why, despite his blood and qi reaching perfection and flowing freely through his entire body, his strength had only surpassed five hundred jin.

Yet strength exceeding two hundred jin still allowed him to roughly estimate the level Jiang Ning's blood and qi had reached.

His blood and qi had at least reached minor accomplishment; perhaps he had even achieved blood and qi flowing through both arms.

Moreover, given his friendship with Jiang Ning, he knew perfectly well that Jiang Ning's only supplements had been the wild ginseng Zhou Xing had given him and the medicinal soup provided by the martial arts hall.

Other than that, there had been nothing else.

With such ordinary training conditions, yet strength that had risen to this extent, there was only one possibility in his mind.

Jiang Ning's martial talent was extraordinary. Relying solely on the Five Animals Fist, a foundational martial art, he could condense an immense amount of blood and qi.

Furthermore, Jiang Ning's progress in fist techniques had to be astonishingly rapid—likely at the proficient level, perhaps even minor accomplishment.

Thinking of this, Cheng Ran's heart surged like stormy waves.

Having personally witnessed Jiang Ning's changes, he understood Jiang Ning better than anyone present.

He had never imagined that a friend he had casually made would possess such exaggerated martial talent.

Such talent stood above all others; even across all of Luoshui County, it was exceedingly rare.

At that moment.

After pondering briefly, Cheng Ran chose not to make it known.

He then smiled and cupped his hands again. "Thank you, Junior Brother Jiang, for stepping in!"

"Senior Brother has already thanked me." Jiang Ning smiled.

Cheng Ran laughed as well. "As the saying goes, injuries to sinews and bones take a hundred days to heal. At such a critical juncture, if I had hurt my sinews or bones, Junior Brother Jiang would have spared me the misery of being bedridden for a long time. How could a mere word of thanks express my gratitude?"

"How about this?" Cheng Ran said. He fumbled around inside his clothes, then pulled out a banknote. "Junior Brother Jiang, this is the last fifty taels I have on me. It may not be much, but it is a token of my appreciation. Please accept it."

Jiang Ning looked at Cheng Ran in some surprise.

Then a faint smile appeared on his face. "Senior Brother Cheng is so generous. I certainly won't refuse. Just don't secretly regret it later!"

Cheng Ran immediately burst into laughter. "What I like about Junior Brother Jiang is precisely this unreserved, straightforward nature of yours!"

As he spoke, Cheng Ran stuffed the banknote into Jiang Ning's hand. "Anything I, Cheng Ran, give away is given sincerely. Why would there be any regret?"

"Besides, though I do not come from a wealthy family, I can still afford this little money for a good friend. Not to mention that Junior Brother Jiang helped me, sparing me wounds to my flesh, pain in my sinews and bones, and the misery of being bedridden!"

"Compared to that, what are a mere fifty taels of silver? If Junior Brother Jiang refuses to accept it, that would mean you look down on me!"

Jiang Ning smiled. "In that case, I'll accept it without further ceremony!"

He then tucked the fifty-tael banknote into his pocket.

At this moment, the people in the distance watched the scene.

Their eyes were filled with envy, especially the several respectable family children from the outer city, whose envy was even more pronounced.

"He gave fifty taels of silver just like that. Cheng Ran really is generous!"

"Of course. Cheng Ran is the only male heir in his family. His family owns several thousand mu of fertile land and even a restaurant. Naturally, Senior Brother Cheng is wealthy and thick-pursed. Otherwise, how could he have reached the level of blood and qi perfection, with it flowing freely through his entire body? The silver spent on that was no small amount!"

"Jiang Ning is truly lucky to have befriended Senior Brother Cheng and gained his favor."

"Earning Senior Brother Cheng's favor is his own merit. He spared Senior Brother Cheng an injury to his sinews and bones. There are only about three months until the Inspection Office opens in Luoshui County. If Senior Brother Cheng wants to compete for a place in the Inspection Office, even a few days lost to recuperation would matter far more to him than fifty taels of silver."

"That's true. For people from Luoshui County like us, entering the Inspection Office would be like a fish leaping over the Dragon Gate. Our futures would be completely different."

Elsewhere.

Jiang Ning accepted the fifty-tael banknote quite naturally.

He had no intention of putting on a show by refusing it over and over.

At present, fifty taels of silver would help him greatly, while to Cheng Ran it was insignificant.

He was also at a time when he desperately lacked resources.

Without resources to aid one's martial path, progress and efficiency would be greatly affected.

Ever since he had run out of wild ginseng, the number of times he practiced his fist techniques each day had dropped considerably, and his daily income of source energy points had likewise decreased.

With these fifty taels of silver, he could return to his previous level of efficiency.

That would speed up his progress in fist techniques and allow him to accumulate blood and qi even faster.

It would greatly increase his chances of joining the Inspection Office three months from now.

He had long since made up his mind to join the Inspection Office.

But whether he could actually succeed, he did not know.

After all, he did not have much time left. Three months was far too short.

In three months, he had to achieve major accomplishment in blood and qi, attain martial rank, and pass the practical examination for entry into the office.

As for the first requirement, he was confident now. It would not be a problem.

But regarding the second—attaining martial rank—he had no confidence at all.

On the martial path, even if one's blood and qi reached perfection and flowed freely through the entire body, one was still merely an ordinary person—an ordinary person who had yet to break past the limits of the human body.

Only by attaining martial rank could one be considered to have truly stepped onto the martial path.

As far as he knew, to enter the ninth martial rank, one had to circulate the blood and qi throughout the body, supplement it with secret methods and external materials, tempering both inside and out to forge a layer of skin membrane beneath the skin—a membrane connected to the flesh.

Once the skin membrane was formed, the entire body became without leakage, like the layer of membrane beneath a hide after it had been flayed, linking the flesh throughout the body.

Only then had one attained martial rank: a Skin Tempering martial artist, who could be called a ninth-rank martial artist.

Upon first entering the ninth rank, the transformation in strength was not particularly obvious. It merely increased the intensity of one's blood and qi and physical strength to a certain degree, while slightly improving resistance to blows. Even so, this increased resilience still offered little obstruction against weapons and sharp blades.

But once one advanced further in the Skin Tempering realm and reached minor accomplishment—where the skin membrane became hard as stone, the level known as Stone Skin—it was entirely different.

Not only would ordinary weapons find it difficult to inflict much harm on martial artists of this level, but their resistance to blows would increase greatly.

More importantly, their blood and qi and strength would grow even further.

If such martial artists donned armor, wielded weapons, and formed an army, they would become nightmares on the battlefield. Ten could defeat an ordinary thousand troops; a hundred could defeat an ordinary ten thousand troops.

If one reached major accomplishment in the Skin Tempering realm, one would transform even further.

The skin membrane, connected to the flesh, would rival bronze. Ordinary blades and swords could scarcely wound it.

At major accomplishment in Skin Tempering, even dressed in a single layer of clothing, one would be as though clad in armor.

Such was the strength of a ranked martial artist.

(End of chapter)