Even though bringing the skin-grinding method to perfection had only taken three months, there were still debts to repay.
Now that my skin-grinding is perfected, my Qi-Blood, stamina, and defense have all greatly improved. I don't know how many times a day I can attempt the skin-grinding method now, whereas originally I could only practice it once a day. If I can practice twice a day, even if the progress for each time is only 1%, I can pay off the debt for the Iron Robe Skin-Grinding Method in under two months, Li Feng thought to himself.
Skin-grinding perfected!
For ordinary people, this would require two or three years of bitter toil, yet he had achieved it within the span of a few months. Such progress was unimaginable to ordinary folks. If this were to spread out, would it invite jealousy and bring endless trouble?
Li Feng felt somewhat troubled.
After pondering for a long time, he decided not to consider these things for now and just hurry up to pay off the debt for the Iron Robe Skin-Grinding Method first.
He immediately took out the coarse burlap he had used before and began to rub it furiously against his skin. However, as the rough cloth swept across his body, there was not the slightest trace of pain, only a faint tactile sensation of the fabric.
"No pain at all?"
Li Feng was overjoyed. Having no pain meant that as long as he had the time and physical strength, he could practice crazily without limit. In this way, wouldn't he be able to quickly make up the progress and continue practicing the body-tempering method of the next stage?
Thinking of this, Li Feng felt as though he had been pumped full of chicken blood. He rubbed himself frantically in the courtyard for half an hour until his arms grew swollen, and only then could he bear to stop, calling up the panel full of expectation:
[Heavenly Dao Advance Panel] [Pre-advanced Project 1: Archery Mastery (100% completed)] [Pre-advanced Project 2: Water-Cutting Saber Art Perfection (Completed: 100%)] [Pre-advanced Project 3: Iron Robe Skin-Grinding Method Perfection (Completed: 0%)] [Currently available pre-advanced projects: 0] [Pending unlock pre-advanced projects: Calligraphy, Bedroom Arts, Culinary Arts...] [Current Realm: Qi-Blood Second Level Perfection]
"That shouldn't be right. Why is the progress still 0?"
Li Feng froze instantly, sinking into deep self-doubt.
Could it be that because his defense had skyrocketed, rubbing with this coarse burlap simply could not stimulate his skin membrane, or was it that he wasn't rubbing hard enough?
Having made zero progress despite a flurry of operations as fierce as a tiger, Li Feng understood that continuing to practice would be in vain. He could only wash up with resignation and head back to his room to sleep.
Early the next morning.
Just as Li Feng woke up, he heard the sounds of busyness coming from the kitchen. Pushing the door open, he saw that it was his sister-in-law making breakfast.
He immediately went up to share the good news: "Sister-in-law, just last night, my skin-grinding method reached perfection!"
Even if he couldn't let others know that he had perfected his skin-grinding within a few months, his sister-in-law was the closest person to him in this world, so he wanted to be the first to tell her this good news.
Hearing this, Lin Yanqiu paused the task in her hands.
She turned to look at Li Feng, nodded gently, and praised him with a smile: "It's good that you've mastered it. Little Feng truly is a martial dao prodigy."
Though she said that, in reality Lin Yanqiu didn't believe it. She herself had once practiced the skin-grinding method and had barely reached perfection after over two years of cultivation. How long had Li Feng been practicing now? By any calculation, it was a mere three months.
Three months was just right for mastering the basics. She simply figured that Li Feng had only recently started practicing martial dao and inevitably felt somewhat eager for quick success, mistakenly thinking that reaching the entry level of skin-grinding meant perfection, thus producing an illusion regarding the martial dao.
However, so as not to crush his fiery enthusiasm, she didn't intend to expose him. Anyway, as long as Li Feng continued to practice, he would definitely discover that he was actually just at the entry level.
Li Feng did not notice anything amiss and assumed his sister-in-law truly believed him, so he casually asked: "Sister-in-law, in the later stages of practicing this skin-grinding method, will continuing to use coarse burlap stop working? If it stops working, what kind of method should be used instead?"
After pondering, Lin Yanqiu replied: "I'm not very clear on this either. The City Guard Office has several skin-grinding methods. The one I practiced before wasn't this type, and the damage to the skin wasn't that severe. With different cultivation methods, the practice methods are bound to be different."
"Wasn't this skin-grinding method passed down to you by Constable Jiang? She is, after all, an aristocratic scion from the Inner City; her martial insight and foundation far surpass mine. Even if she hasn't practiced this skin-grinding method, she should still understand how it ought to be cultivated. Later when you go on duty, you might as well go ask her."
"Alright, I understand." Li Feng nodded.
Moments later, Lin Yanqiu had finished simmering the morning porridge, and the two of them sat down around the dining table.
With his mind solely focused on the skin-grinding method, Li Feng was absent-minded while eating his porridge, causing a few grains of rice to drop onto his clothes.
He hurriedly finished his porridge and wanted to head out: "Sister-in-law, then you stay at home, I'm off to report for duty first!"
"What's the rush?" Lin Yanqiu grabbed him by the arm.
She raised her chin slightly, her gaze falling on the lapel of Li Feng's chest, and let out a helpless, light laugh: "Look how old you are, still so rash even when eating breakfast."
As she spoke, she reached out with her jade-white hand and casually brushed away those few grains of rice, smoothing out the wrinkles on his lapel while softly urging him:
"When going to see your superior, how can you be this sloppy? No matter what, Constable Jiang is still your superior. If you go to ask for martial arts guidance looking so unkempt, you'll simply make people laugh. When you're on duty outside, you always need to tidy yourself up decently, you know?"
After meticulously arranging his lapel, she only then pushed him back half a step with satisfaction. "There, that's better. Go report for duty, and be careful on the road."
Li Feng froze slightly in a daze. After perfecting his skin-grinding, his senses seemed to have become much sharper as well. The moment his sister-in-law drew close, a warm, intoxicating, faint body fragrance drifted straight into his nose.
Inhaling this familiar fragrance, the Qi-Blood within Li Feng's body surged and churned turbulently.
"Cough... Thank you, sister-in-law, I'll pay attention."
Li Feng gave a dry cough, attempting to conceal his unnaturalness. Then, forcing down the agitation in his heart, he flurriedly grabbed his saber and, leaving behind a "I'm heading out," strode out of the house.
Leaving Lin Yanqiu behind to sigh helplessly and amusingly.
Because of the little episode in the morning, Li Feng arrived somewhat late today. When he reached the City Guard Office, most of his colleagues in the courtyard had already arrived.
With his mind lingering on the cultivation method, the moment he stepped into the courtyard, he bumped straight into Zhang San and Chen Song.
"Brother Feng, what's wrong? Did you run all the way over early in the morning, drenched in sweat?"
Seeing that Li Feng's sweat had soaked his clothes and that he was still panting heavily, Zhang San asked with curiosity.
"I have some urgent business and need to find Constable Jiang."
As he spoke, Li Feng hurried toward Jiang Yue's administrative office.
Zhang San and Chen Song exchanged glances, not stopping Li Feng.
"What do you suppose it is, making him so rushed?"
"Not sure, but seeing him run in such a panic, it shouldn't be anything small."
"Could it be that he's offended Constable Jiang somewhere again? This kid is always so reckless, probably rushing over to make amends."
"Who knows how many months of salary will be docked this time."
"Brother Feng is too miserable."
The two of them chatted casually, not thinking in the direction of martial arts guidance at all. After all, in their view, although Li Feng had a little bit of talent in martial dao, he was just a white runner like them, still a far cry from a chief constable. Lacking any family background or connections, how could Constable Jiang possibly give him private guidance on a cultivation method?
If she were truly guiding him in a cultivation method privately, wouldn't Brother Feng be jumping for joy!
Upon entering the gates of the City Guard Office, there was a large open space. Walking further ahead, there was a large row of administrative offices where the chief constables of the City Guard Office handled their affairs.
"Li Feng? What are you doing here?"
Just as Li Feng was about to walk toward Jiang Yue's administrative office, someone stepped out from an administrative office on the right and asked coldly.
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