Breaking the Gate! Skin Tempering! (Please Follow)

"When I was young, I once heard that there was a genius youth at the Martial Lecture Hall. He tempered his skin for two years and reached the Skin-Tempering Apex ten times. From then on, Gate-Breaking was as easy to him as drinking water, and in three years he broke through the Three Gates..."

Shen Gangfu withdrew his gaze and came back to himself. Then he pulled a booklet from his robes and said,

"This Form-Intent Blade Secret Art contains the Fundamental Skin-Tempering Method. Though it is only a copied version, you must not pass it on. Memorize it, then return it to me."

"This disciple understands."

Lu Li accepted it with both hands and asked, "Master, what is the difference between a 'Secret Art' and an ordinary blade technique?"

Shen Gangfu said, "Every Secret Art contains a Fundamental Skin-Tempering Method. At the same time, a Secret Art can break the skin membranes of martial artists who have tempered their skin fewer than six times.

After skin tempering, a martial artist's defense undergoes an earth-shaking transformation.

Simply put, before becoming a martial artist, a punch landing on one is no different from scratching an itch. If one deliberately guards against it, even ordinary blades and swords cannot break through a martial artist's skin membrane.

And at that point, only a Secret Art can easily break through a martial artist's skin membrane."

Hearing this, Lu Li impatiently began flipping through the Form-Intent Blade Secret Art.

"What I am about to teach you, you must remember well.

In actual combat, there is a saying: 'An inch longer, an inch stronger. An inch shorter, an inch more dangerous.'

A blade is an extension of your arm, and even more so, an extension of your vital weak point."

Shen Gangfu strode to the weapon rack and took down two blades.

"Feel their weight."

Lu Li took the blade and asked, "Master, does this blade technique also involve channeling Internal Force through the blade's edge?"

Shen Gangfu shook his head and said blandly, "Fists and feet are extensions of the body. They emphasize 'listening force' and 'redirecting force'—borrowing the opponent's strength and striking it back at them.

But a blade is different. With these several pounds of iron in your hand, your center of gravity, footwork, and the points where you exert force must all change."

At this point, Shen Gangfu stepped back half a pace, loosely gripped the hilt with one hand, and extended the blade point straight ahead, holding it steadily three inches before Lu Li's throat.

"If your fist misses, at worst you take a punch. But if your blade edge goes astray, what you lose is your life.

When boxing, you are used to holding back thirty percent of your strength, leaving yourself a path of retreat. But once a blade is drawn, there is no turning back. The moment you strike is the moment you decide."

Lu Li fell silent inwardly. In truth, he had long since trained the Eight Trigrams Saber to mastery.

"How to train your blade until it changes in a thousand ways, with attack and defense as one—that is the path you must take next."

Having said that, Shen Gangfu removed his outer coat, revealing a dark yellow vest beneath.

After unfastening the vest and turning open its inner side, Shen Gangfu said, "The three small pouches on the left contain chili powder mixed with quicklime."

Bang.

Shen Gangfu tossed a pouch of lime powder over. Lu Li caught it neatly, but tears instantly surged into his eyes, and he could not stop himself from sneezing wildly.

This lime powder truly was far from ordinary.

Shen Gangfu continued, "This row on the right contains concealed throwing darts. There are thirteen coin darts hidden inside. Do not use them unless absolutely necessary. When you do, remember to strike only vital points. Do not leave behind future trouble."

Lu Li coughed until tears streamed down his face. It took him a long while to recover, but inwardly, he felt that with these two things, his sense of security was completely filled.

"Do you think using lime and concealed throwing darts is beneath notice?"

Of course not!

Master, not only will I learn them, I will learn them fiercely!

I'll train the lime and darts to the very limit!

Before Lu Li could reply, Shen Gangfu continued, "Fists, feet, and weapons are things displayed openly. These underhanded things are the real life-preserving talismans.

At critical moments, they can save your life. When practicing martial arts, you cannot only think about how to win. More importantly, think about how to survive!"

Hearing this, Lu Li immediately nodded.

Next, Shen Gangfu, having gained a disciple in his old age, transformed into a master lecturer and passed down everything he had learned from his days escorting shipments.

Afternoon.

Lu Li read the martial arts manual while practicing the Form-Intent Blade Secret Art with Shen Gangfu.

Lu Li already had a foundation in the Eight Trigrams Saber, and he could verify something once and retain it forever. Coupled with Shen Gangfu's detailed explanations, he entered the beginner stage in just one hour.

Form-Intent Blade Secret Art: Beginner (1/1500)

After reaching the beginner stage, Lu Li temporarily set aside blade practice and began tempering his Internal Force in one sustained push.

Cultivation knew no passage of time. Three days slipped away in the blink of an eye.

For those three days, Lu Li stayed in the training room in the rear courtyard, practicing his fists without stepping out the main gate or even the inner gate.

Bang!

Bang bang bang!

Inside the training room, Lu Li's coarse cloth short outfit had long been soaked through, clinging damply to his body. His qi and blood, filled to the limit, were refined into Internal Force through the perfected Eight Trigrams Moving Stake.

Lu Li entered a state of self-forgetfulness, his breathing long and rhythmic.

"Ha!"

"Yi! Cough! Heng!"

"Heh! Ha! Hng!"

These were the "Eight Sounds" that emerged unconsciously when Internal Force reached its peak.

He sank his waist and exhaled. With a long cry of "Hei!" the qi and blood throughout his body were immediately stirred, surging forth with a thunderous roar.

A faint buzzing seemed to arise from his limbs and bones.

Like mountains collapsing and seas roaring, yet also like blazing fire scorching him.

Light gleamed in Lu Li's eyes. His chest rose and fell slightly. With a thought, he entered his Sea of Consciousness.

Eight Trigrams Saber Technique: Mastery (568/1200)

Eight Trigrams Fist Technique: Complete (800/800)

Eight Trigrams Moving Stake: Complete (800/800)

Eight Trigrams Embracing-Circle Stake Art: Complete (500/500)

[Realm]: None (Sinking Force Peak)

At this moment, his qi and blood were condensed like iron, his strength heavy and enduring as a mountain, his foundation deep as an abyss and inexhaustible.

His muscles tightened, and the strength throughout his body seemed to unite into one whole. Boundless power surged endlessly from within him.

With every movement of hand and foot, his aura carried an inherent oppressive force, ceaseless and unbroken.

He arrived before the first gate of martial arts.

This gate had stumped countless hopeful youths. Without delay, he eagerly began practicing the Fundamental Skin-Tempering Method contained within the Form-Intent Blade Secret Art.

He began Gate-Breaking!

Very soon.

Bang!

Without the slightest ripple, the obstruction seemed not to exist. He easily stepped across the first gate of martial arts.

Just then.

A strange change suddenly occurred.

At this moment, Lu Li's skin membranes turned crimson. A faint azure sheen appeared on both arms. He clenched his fists, and his tendons and bones suddenly rang in unison. The Internal Force within him wrapped around his qi and blood and burst out through his pores, tempering his skin membranes as though breathing.

The feeling was as though the pores all over his body were breathing, while explosive breaths coursed and flowed through them.

"This burning sensation feels far too good!"

His skin membranes swelled at times, then contracted again. Between each expansion and contraction, restless sounds rang out like drumbeats.

His fists continually clenched and relaxed, relaxed and clenched again, repeating over and over.

His hands began to heat up, growing scorching, then boiling hot.

Lu Li kept his eyes closed as qi and blood and Internal Force continuously surged and washed through him. The strange phenomenon of his skin repeatedly swelling and contracting continued without pause.

Half an incense stick's time passed.

Lu Li's eyes suddenly flew open, and the sight before him abruptly brightened.

Inside the room, the swaying lamplight was no longer merely a wavering mass of yellow light. The flame dancing atop the candlewick seemed like countless particles of starlight sparks. Every minute shift between brightness and darkness lay fully revealed before his eyes.

He lowered his gaze. The faint rise and fall of his blood vessels pulsing was clearly visible. Even the tiny movements of every upright hair as pores opened and closed to breathe were reflected in his eyes.

At the same time.

The qi and blood within him merged as one with Internal Force. The combined current of force flowed from his limbs toward every part of his body before finally gathering at his Dantian. Like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, it swirled and condensed, transforming into a round and flawless, endlessly self-renewing Primordial Unity vortex.

[Realm]: First-Gate Martial Artist, Skin Tempering Once (Primordial Unity Force)

Lu Li had never experienced such a feeling before.

His five senses seemed to brighten. The noisy wind at his ears, the rustling whisper of leaves rubbing together, the low hum of night insects beating their wings, their rising and falling flights—all were crystal clear to him. Distance, height, and direction could all be distinguished.

Primordial Unity Force flowed gently through the meridians throughout his body, like a thin spring passing through channels, dense and unceasing.

Primordial Unity Force circulated through his body, rounded, harmonious, and upright.

A faint azure hue showed through the crimson of his skin membranes, while his muscles surged like tides beneath a special rhythm of breathing.

With every movement, his entire body exuded a resilient force, as though wrapped in a layer of invisible soft armor. Ordinary fists, kicks, clubs, and staffs would have their impact dispersed by that force.

This was the unmistakable sign of successfully tempering the skin once.

At this stage, ordinary blades, spears, clubs, and staffs could no longer harm him.

Between the textures of his skin, there was a rough and solid air, a sturdy coarseness as though it had been worn by sand and stone. One look was enough to know it was hard.

"Success."

A trace of joy surfaced in Lu Li's heart.

"So this is a skin-tempering martial artist?"

After practicing martial arts for only one month, he had successfully broken through the gate. At last, he had become a true First-Gate Martial Artist.