Iron Cloth Shirt Breaks Through Again! Unprecedented!

Lu Changsheng fixed his gaze on the plus sign behind Iron Cloth Shirt.

The plus sign had completely turned green.

It meant it could be enhanced once more.

"Add points."

He hesitated no longer and willed it with a thought.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."

In an instant, Lu Changsheng felt his blood and qi surge madly within him, while what sounded like the evening drum and morning bell rang beside his ears.

His entire body began to swell rapidly. A bronzed glow flickered faintly over him, tinged with a thread of pale gold.

As time passed, that golden color continued spreading at tremendous speed.

After three years of arduous cultivation, you finally cultivated Iron Cloth Shirt to the point where there was no further room for improvement.

Yet you still refused to give up, seeking to cast off the old and bring forth the new, searching for another path...

You trained through winter's bitterest days and summer's fiercest heat, never stopping for ten years. At last, you found a trace of new insight...

After cultivating for another three years, that trace of insight gradually grew into a surging torrent...

After thirty years of cultivation, you finally broke through Iron Cloth Shirt's perfection and reached the realm of consummate mastery...

Lu Changsheng slowly opened his eyes, and a gleam of light flashed through them.

He clenched his fist. An incomparably powerful force surged forth, as though he could kill a tiger with one punch.

After this breakthrough, his strength had reached around eight thousand jin.

It was more than twice as strong as before the breakthrough.

Moreover, he discovered that he had yet to reach his limit. His strength could continue growing, which was truly terrifying.

An ordinary martial artist at the completion of Skin Refining possessed, at most, a little over two thousand jin of strength.

His power was enough to crush any Skin Refining martial artist at completion.

Even a Muscle Refining martial artist only possessed around eight thousand jin of strength upon first breaking through.

In terms of strength, they were merely evenly matched with him.

Combined with his perfected blade technique and secret art, he was no weaker than an ordinary Muscle Refining expert.

In just a few short months, Lu Changsheng had undergone earth-shaking changes.

He carefully examined his skin membrane.

His entire skin membrane seemed to have fused into one, radiating a faint golden glow. It was immensely mystical.

He took out a standard-issue longsaber from the Demon Suppression Department and squeezed the blade hard.

"Crack, crack..."

The blade was directly crushed into a curled shape. No pain came from his palm, and when he spread open his hand, it was completely unscathed.

"What terrifying defense."

Lu Changsheng's expression changed in surprise.

This defensive power was several times stronger than the Copper Skin realm. The two were simply not to be mentioned in the same breath.

Not only that, he sensed other wondrous changes within himself.

His entire skin membrane seemed like a single whole, wrapping him tightly within it without a single flaw.

Before his breakthrough, although Lu Changsheng had relied on the Attribute Panel to forcibly cultivate every inch of his skin membrane to Copper Skin, he had always felt there was a faint barrier.

That was because the skin membranes had not connected into a single whole, leaving behind many flaws.

After this breakthrough, all those flaws had vanished.

It was as though the skin membrane over his entire body had uniformly regrown. It was truly wondrous.

"Immaculate Body?"

At that moment, an inspiration suddenly struck Lu Changsheng, and this thought surfaced in his mind.

With no flaws in this skin membrane, it would lock in his essence, qi, and spirit, greatly reducing their consumption.

It would also be extraordinarily beneficial to his future martial cultivation.

He guessed that this was the path to becoming the strongest martial artist.

Even the add-point option on the system panel had turned gray, indicating that he had reached the limit of Skin Refining.

No martial artist in all of Changping County had ever attained such a Skin Refining realm.

"The host has broken through into an unknown realm. Would you like to name it?"

At that moment, another notification sounded.

Lu Changsheng thought for a moment, then slowly uttered two words.

"Immaculate."

"Recording new realm..."

A moment later, Lu Changsheng opened the panel to inspect his changes.

Host: Lu Changsheng.

Age: 21/120 years

Realm: Skin Refining Immaculate (cannot be enhanced).

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt, consummate mastery; Iron Leg Technique, consummate mastery; Iron Arm Technique, consummate mastery...

Skills: Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade, perfected; Blood Burning Secret Art, perfected...

Equipment: Pig-Slaughtering Blade Sharp Weapon (blue)

Status: Good.

Bound Exotic Beast: King Pangolin Red.

Source Energy Points: 8.

Note: The host's Iron Cloth Shirt has surpassed its creator and reached an unprecedented height. The technique has reached its limit and cannot be enhanced further. Begin fusion evolution?

"No."

Seeing that the fusion button was gray, Lu Changsheng naturally rejected it at once.

His remaining Source Energy Points were insufficient to begin fusion deduction.

According to what the panel said, his Iron Cloth Shirt had already surpassed its founder and forged a new path.

That was also the reason his strength had soared so dramatically.

He vaguely gained a certain insight as well.

Furthermore, several of his other techniques had automatically broken through to consummate mastery. Since his entire skin membrane had fused into one, there was naturally no need to break through each one separately.

Not only that, he discovered that his lifespan had increased substantially, reaching an astonishing one hundred and twenty years.

This was likely the limit of lifespan an ordinary mortal could attain.

Even if he broke through Muscle Refining and Bone Forging again, it would no longer increase.

Once his entire skin membrane fused into one, external filth could not invade his body. Naturally, he would not fall ill, and he could easily live to a mortal's limit.

Moreover, he felt that his peak condition could last for a very long time. Before the age of one hundred, there would be no danger of his blood and qi declining.

This completely surpassed other martial artists. It was one of the benefits of the Immaculate Realm.

The most perfect skin membrane brought the strongest foundation.

For the first time, Lu Changsheng clearly sensed that he possessed the foundation to contend for the pinnacle of martial arts.

Next, he needed a large number of Source Energy Points to deduce a new technique from Iron Cloth Shirt and break through to Muscle Refining.

"Looks like I'll need to properly explore the Cangyun Mountain Range."

Lu Changsheng silently settled on his next plan.

Just as he was pondering, faint footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard.

A man dressed as a servant in green hurried over, carrying a black wooden box in his hands.

The man was thin, with a rather conspicuous hooked nose.

"May I ask if you are Lord Lu?"

The man walked up to Lu Changsheng, bowed, and wore a respectful expression.

"I am Lu Changsheng."

Lu Changsheng smiled faintly.

"This is this month's salary..."

The hooked-nosed man raised the wooden box high and presented it to Lu Changsheng.

"Thank you."

Lu Changsheng smiled and accepted the wooden box.

The Demon Suppression Department's salary for this month had finally arrived.

After delivering the item, the man immediately headed out of the courtyard.

Once the other man had gone far away, Lu Changsheng immediately opened the wooden box and looked inside.

Three pitch-black lumps lay quietly within the box, giving off a fragrant scent.

Lu Changsheng guessed that they were likely refined from medicinal herbs, intended for making medicinal baths to assist martial artists in cultivation.

As a Grade C trainee, he could receive three portions. Those Grade A trainees presumably had even more resources.

When one first joined the Demon Suppression Department, martial artists were divided into three ranks according to the cauldron-lifting test.

He had only learned this after joining the Demon Suppression Department.

Lu Changsheng could not wait to test this item's effects.

An hour later, he boiled a large vat of water, took out a black ball, and dropped it into the water.

The black ball rapidly dissolved in the water.

Before long, the entire vat had turned glossy black, with steam rising from its surface.

"Splash..."

Lu Changsheng removed his clothes and jumped in.

The scalding water caused him not the slightest pain.

With the strength of his skin membrane, even ordinary blades could hardly cut him. Naturally, he was not afraid of such heat.

Taking advantage of the medicine's effects, he began absorbing it rapidly.

Before long, the water in the vat gradually faded.

"That's it?"

After absorbing all the medicinal effects, Lu Changsheng wore a stunned expression.

The effect was extraordinarily weak. One medicinal bath had not increased his strength by even a trace.

Perhaps this was because his realm was too high.

Yet most ordinary Demon Suppression Department martial artists also used these things. They were already treasures that outsiders dreamed of obtaining.

He had not expected the effects to be so underwhelming.

Compared to his Attribute Modifier, they were not even worthy of carrying its shoes.

"Looks like these things are completely useless to me."

Lu Changsheng thought to himself.

He received three portions every month, and it would be a pity to leave them sitting unused.

Selling them for silver was even less possible. For one thing, he did not lack money for the time being, and these things would not fetch a high price. For another, it would be easy for someone to trace them.

If he did not use medicinal baths yet could still advance by leaps and bounds, that would be far too conspicuous.