Elephant Armor Technique!

"This Elephant Armor Technique was actually a horizontal training method. Once cultivated to a profound level, a layer of scales would emerge over the body's surface, giving one a hide of bronze and bones of iron. Ordinary blades and swords would not be able to harm it in the slightest." After reading the introduction to the Elephant Armor Technique, Chen Huai'an felt fortunate. Luckily, that fellow had not mastered the Elephant Armor Technique. Otherwise, no matter how great Chen Hu'an's strength was, he would not have been able to break through the other man's defenses at all.

Once the other party had cultivated the Elephant Armor Technique to great mastery—no, even minor mastery—the one who had died just now would not have been him, but Chen Huai'an.

But now, this good thing had fallen into his lap.

Having broken through to the late First Stage of the Body Tempering Realm, the next step was to temper his tendons, membranes, bones, and flesh. The Elephant Armor Technique was precisely a method for tempering bones, flesh, tendons, and membranes.

This technique alone meant that Chen Huai'an had struck it rich today.

As far as he knew, aside from the Qingyun Sect's Basic Body-Tempering Formula, if Chen Huai'an wanted to cultivate a horizontal training method like the Elephant Armor Technique, he had to complete sect missions and exchange Contribution Points for it. Even buying one with Spirit Stones would cost a considerable sum.

Yet now, he had obtained it simply by killing Zhang Hu.

"This guy really was a fat sheep. Besides the technique, what other good things could he have on him?" Filled with anticipation, Chen Huai'an opened the coarse cloth bundle.

"Only five Low-Grade Spirit Stones and two mid-grade Body Tempering Pills. This guy really was poor." After counting his spoils, Chen Huai'an felt neither joy nor disappointment.

The haul was not especially good, but neither was it especially bad.

What Chen Huai'an did not know was that Zhang Hu was so poor because he had used up his resources to increase his strength a few days ago. Otherwise, his worth would definitely have been far greater than this.

Chen Huai'an was not the sort of person who greedily sought endless gains. With this much harvest, he was fairly satisfied.

Among the servant disciples around him, which one of them was not poor enough to have their pockets jingle with emptiness?

What Chen Huai'an valued most now was increasing his strength. The Elephant Armor Technique was quite good—it strengthened his defenses. Once cultivated to a high level, it would be as though he wore a layer of scales. People of the same realm simply would not be able to break his defenses. In other words, among those of the same realm, no one could pierce his defense, and naturally, no one could kill him.

In this world where the strong preyed on the weak, surviving was the greatest success.

On that point, Chen Huai'an had the most right to speak.

Only the living could talk about the future. Otherwise, no matter how arrogant or impressive you were, what did it matter? Did the dead have a future?

When Chen Huai'an had first entered the sect, Zhang Hu had been so arrogant. Yet now, he was nothing more than a cold corpse.

Chen Huai'an dug a pit and buried Zhang Hu's body. Later, he planned to find an opportunity to plant something over it.

Chen Huai'an had heard that upon reaching the Qi Refining Realm, one could cultivate certain immortal arts. He wanted to learn the Fireball Technique. That way, after killing someone, he would not have to worry about disposing of the corpse in his space. One fireball would burn it to ashes, and with a flick of his hand, they would vanish between heaven and earth.

"Strange. Wang Tong and Zhang Hu wanted to kill me. Didn't they consider that if the matter came to light, it would be detrimental to them? Why didn't they destroy the corpses and erase the evidence?" After finishing his work, Chen Huai'an could not help muttering.

Still, that was not something Chen Huai'an needed to worry about.

All he could do was quietly accumulate strength. If others did not cause him trouble, he would not stir up trouble either.

But enemies had already been made. All he needed to do was cultivate diligently. If those people dared come looking for trouble, they would be delivering resources straight to him.

With Zhang Hu dead, he could cultivate peacefully for a few days. Once the sect and the Zhang Family discovered Zhang Hu's death, they would certainly send people to investigate. He would be a prime suspect.

For a time, an invisible pressure settled onto Chen Huai'an's shoulders.

Chen Huai'an took out the Elephant Armor Technique and began studying it.

Now, Chen Huai'an not only had to cultivate the Qingyun Sect's Body-Refining Formula, but also the Elephant Armor Technique.

The Zhang Family would not let the matter rest. If his defenses improved, he would not have to fear their sneak attacks.

"Body Tempering and cultivating the Elephant Armor Technique are the same. This thing is a bottomless pit—it needs external aid to cultivate." After going over the cultivation method of the Elephant Armor Technique, Chen Huai'an's head began to ache.

This horizontal training method was a good thing, but it consumed far too many resources. It also required medicinal herbs that replenished blood and energy to assist cultivation. Trying to train it through brute force alone would get him nowhere.

It would be best if the herbs were spiritual medicine, as the results would be much better. If there was no spiritual medicine, ordinary herbs that replenished blood and energy could also assist cultivation, but their effects would be far worse.

He had medicinal herbs in his space. Every day he checked on them, they seemed to have changed completely.

If they continued changing like this every day, Chen Huai'an had no doubt that these herbs would become spiritual medicines over a hundred or even a thousand years old.

Especially when watered with the current Spirit Spring Water, their growth became even more vigorous.

Today, when Chen Huai'an began cultivating the Elephant Armor Technique, he discovered that his food intake could not keep up. At lunch, he ate twice as much as usual.

Yet even so, he still felt terribly hungry, as though he could never eat his fill.

His appetite grew larger by the day, giving Chen Huai'an a headache.

There were rumors in the mortal world that martial artists could eat an entire cow in a day.

When he had heard that rumor before, he had thought it exaggerated. But now, he felt that it was not exaggerated in the least.

Without sufficient nourishment and with insufficient Blood-Energy Force, cultivating the Elephant Armor Technique was simply courting death.

"Sigh, we servant disciples do the bitterest and most exhausting work, yet what we eat is pig slop. If only one day I could have a meal of Spirit Rice like the Outer Sect disciples eat—that would be truly satisfying." In the dining hall, an older servant disciple could not help sighing as he looked at the day's food.

When Chen Huai'an heard that the Outer Sect disciples ate Spirit Rice, interest immediately appeared on his face.

Chen Huai'an hurriedly stepped forward and asked.

"Senior Brother, do Outer Sect Servant Disciples and Outer Sect disciples really eat different meals? And what exactly is this Spirit Rice?"

The servant disciple glanced at Chen Huai'an. Seeing that he looked friendly, he smiled and asked in return, "You don't know?"

"Senior Brother, I am a new disciple who joined the sect this year. I have not been here long and am unfamiliar with these matters. I ask Senior Brother to enlighten me. I would be deeply grateful." Chen Huai'an cupped his hands, his expression exceedingly humble.

"This is no secret. I'll tell you about it today." The man was rather talkative, and Chen Huai'an was polite, so naturally he was willing to say more. It also showed off how knowledgeable he was.

"Why do we servant disciples sharpen our heads to a point just to squeeze into the Outer Sect? Apart from no longer having to complete the sect's assigned servant tasks every day, there is another major benefit: food treatment. The ingredients they enjoy every day are completely different from ours—like heaven and earth. They eat Spirit Rice, and they can eat as much as they want. Unlike us, who can only enjoy it once a month or during holidays."

After hearing the man's explanation, Chen Huai'an roughly understood the difference between servant disciples and Outer Sect disciples. They were merely ordinary people, and their treatment was only a little better than that of mortal commoners. Only after entering the Outer Sect did one truly enter the immortal sect. Even the food they ate had the effect of prolonging life.

Compared to that, the food they ate had not the slightest spiritual energy. It truly was pig slop.

"Senior Brother, since this Spirit Rice is so good, how can one get some?" Chen Huai'an asked.