Practicing the Disguise Art

Today, after digging up so many medicinal herbs in the little mountain village, Lin Fan could not help thinking of those novels he had read in his previous life, where the protagonist crouched in the beginner village until he became invincible under heaven.

He smiled and gently shook his head.

Lin Fan knew that neither gathering herbs nor hunting could last forever.

The medicinal herbs in the nearby mountains were limited. The more distant mountains and forests, where few people ventured and no human habitation could be found, were no less dangerous than outside the village.

When Lin Fan and his younger sister had fled to this mountain village, they had followed the narrow trail trodden out by the village hunting party as they went out to sell their prey.

Lin Fan estimated that once he had dug up all the herbs in the several mountains around the village and hunted some more prey, he should soon reach the peak of the Bone Tempering Realm.

At that point, if he took his sister beyond the town, he would already count as a first-rate expert. According to what Lin Fan's former self knew, as well as what he had learned from his usual chats with Uncle Wang and the others, the strongest cultivators in this town were only in the Bone Tempering Realm.

The current Zhao Kingdom had more than thirty prefectures. Beneath each prefecture lay anywhere from a hundred to several hundred or even a thousand small towns.

The little mountain village Lin Fan had fled to belonged to a relatively remote prefecture. Therefore, the strength of the experts in its towns was not particularly high.

Within the Zhao Kingdom, however, Bright Force Realm experts were still frequently seen in the capital. According to his former self's memories, there were dozens of Steel Force Realm experts in Zhao Kingdom, hundreds of Transforming Force experts, and nearly several thousand Manifest Force experts.

Yet most of these experts held posts in the imperial court, or served as sect elders within various martial arts factions. Most of their days were spent in secluded cultivation, striving to break through to higher realms. They rarely roamed the martial world.

Thus, the peak of the Bone Tempering Realm could also be called the level of a first-rate expert in the martial world.

Once a martial artist produced Inner Qi and broke through into the Bright Force Realm—thus stepping into the Three Qi-Force Realms—a kind of Inner Qi would arise within their body.

According to certain martial arts books, this Inner Qi had many uses. It could be used to kill enemies, defend oneself, and even take shape as all manner of objects.

The use Lin Fan looked forward to most was that this Inner Qi could help others raise their cultivation, much like an empowerment. By consuming one's own Inner Qi, one could allow someone else to break through to the Skin Tempering Realm, the Muscle Refinement Realm, or even higher.

Of course, almost no one in the martial world used such a method. Only a small number of powerful experts within certain Lineages would empower their descendants in this way when their end was near, raising their cultivation.

Ordinary people would absolutely never do such a thing. Consuming one's own Inner Qi to raise another person's cultivation was equivalent to causing one's own cultivation to regress.

On the path of martial arts, everyone felt that they never had enough time. Who would waste their own time helping others raise their cultivation?

When a martial artist reached the Bone Tempering Realm, their bodily strength, power, endurance, mental fortitude, and other aspects would all receive tremendous improvements. However, their lifespan remained no different from that of ordinary people.

Only after stepping into the Three Qi-Force Realms and producing Inner Qi within the body would that change.

The Bright Force Realm increased one's lifespan by thirty years, the Transforming Force Realm added another thirty years, and finally, the Steel Force Realm added thirty more.

The Three Qi-Force Realms could increase a person's lifespan by nearly a hundred years in total.

Moreover, once martial artists entered old age, they would not grow feeble like ordinary people. With martial cultivation protecting their bodies, they almost never suffered the sluggish movements and severe decline common among ordinary mortals.

Martial artists would still age, but their strength would only be somewhat weaker than at their peak. Other than that, even when their lifespan was nearing its end, their daily movements would remain almost no different from those of their vigorous prime.

This was the charm of martial arts in this world.

After cultivating martial arts, the human body also became less prone to illness and injury.

As for Innate Realm martial artists, they were already legendary existences. No new Innate Realm martial artist had appeared in the Great Zhao for nearly a thousand years.

Of course, Lin Fan's former self had merely been an ordinary person and did not know of hidden matters. Perhaps Innate Realm martial artists had appeared within certain martial arts factions during the past thousand years, but their existence had not been made public.

Such matters were beyond what Lin Fan could know at present.

Lin Fan summoned the pale blue light-screen panel.

"System, consume thirty taels of silver to activate the three-hundredfold cultivation effect boost."

Having gathered so many medicinal herbs this time, Lin Fan decided to quickly break through to the Muscle Refinement Realm first. After reaching the Muscle Refinement Realm, if he had any silver left over, he would practice the Disguise Art.

After all, these medicinal herbs were worth quite a lot. If possible, Lin Fan still wanted to personally accompany the group and sell them at least once.

First, to guard against wild beasts on the road that the hunting party could not handle. Second, to prevent too much silver from attracting villains and bandits.

Cultivation knew no passage of days.

In the blink of an eye, it was deep into the night.

A sudden tremor rang through the meridians within Lin Fan's body, and his strength surged dramatically once more.

Lin Fan knew that he had finally reached the Muscle Refinement Realm.

In the Muscle Refinement Realm, the muscles and skin across the body became even firmer. If he slipped and fell while hunting now, not even his skin would be injured.

An ordinary person who had not cultivated martial arts possessed roughly one hundred jin of strength. Once a martial artist entered the Skin Tempering Realm, their strength would soar to three hundred jin. Upon entering the Muscle Refinement Realm, the meridians throughout the body became stronger still, allowing one to lift a thousand-jin weight with both hands.

In the later Bone Tempering Realm, the bones became as hard as divine iron forged in a furnace. The entire body would turn into a humanoid suit of steel armor, difficult to harm with blades, swords, or firearms.

A Bone Tempering Realm martial artist's strength would surge once again, exceeding three thousand jin. An ordinary tree could be snapped with a single punch.

Though the Bone Tempering Realm appeared to possess only the strength of thirty ordinary people, in actual combat, even three hundred ordinary people would find it difficult to take down a Bone Tempering Realm expert.

Within the Zhao Kingdom's army, every Bone Tempering Realm martial artist commanded at least several thousand men.

After practicing a set of fist techniques to adapt to his body's strength, Lin Fan began cultivating the Disguise Art.

Since he had decided to accompany the hunting party next time to sell the prey and herbs, the Disguise Art had been placed on the agenda.

The night deepened.

Lin Fan washed up, shut the door, and fell into a deep sleep.

Over the following days, under the lead of Mao Mao, the golden-furred rat, Lin Fan dug up medicinal herbs worth several hundred taels of silver. By his rough estimate, he already had nearly three hundred taels of silver.

Of course, Lin Fan had calculated the value according to the prices in the medicinal herb guide. The actual selling price might be somewhat lower, but not by much.

After several days of cultivation under an extraordinarily high multiplier, Lin Fan gradually mastered the Disguise Art.

Although he could only alter some of the muscles in his face and could not yet change his bones as profound Disguise Arts could, it would be enough for going into town.

Circulating his cultivation technique, Lin Fan's face changed from its original handsome and refined appearance into an ordinary, forgettable face one might see anywhere on the road.

Having discussed matters with Uncle Wang and the others from the hunting party, they decided to bring the medicinal herbs and some of the prey caught over the past few days to the town for another sale. At first light, Lin Fan rose early and began sorting through and taking stock of the herbs.