Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt at Mastery!

Lu Changsheng came before the woman's corpse. After searching for a moment, a manual and a stack of banknotes came into view.

Willow Leaf Blade

Another high-grade blade technique manual.

With this one, he already had several blade technique manuals in hand. The next fusion was not far off.

He then headed down the corridor behind him.

He was preparing to search the old woman's lair.

Before long.

Lu Changsheng passed through a stretch of dense woods and arrived at a rear courtyard.

A well stood in the middle of the courtyard ahead, looking rather conspicuous.

He walked to the edge of the well and looked down.

Several skeletons lay piled haphazardly at the bottom, with several pitch-black round stones beside them.

"Soul Stones?"

Delight flashed across Lu Changsheng's face, and he immediately jumped down.

Unknown energy source detected. Absorb?

As soon as he picked up a Soul Stone, a prompt sounded.

"Absorb."

Source Energy Points +6.

Source Energy Points +6.

He did not stop until he had absorbed five of them.

He opened his panel to check.

Source Energy Points: 85.

Apart from what had been used to unleash the Blood Burning Secret Art, he was well supplied again.

He looked at the plus sign behind Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt.

Without further hesitation, he willed it and tapped it directly.

"Rumble, rumble..."

The qi and blood within his body erupted madly like a volcano, and a surge of vital essence shot from the bottom of the well straight into the sky.

His entire body began to swell as vast amounts of qi and blood coursed through his muscles.

Source Energy Points: -40.

After years of arduous cultivation, Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt has finally reached mastery...

Who knew how long passed.

Lu Changsheng slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam shooting straight into the void.

He clenched his fist, and a powerful sense of strength surged through him.

With this breakthrough, his realm was equivalent to Muscle Refining at mastery.

His strength had increased by roughly another five thousand jin, reaching a staggering twenty-five thousand jin of tremendous force.

It was already a height ordinary Muscle Refining martial artists could never reach.

An ordinary martial artist at Muscle Refining mastery could reach at most eighteen thousand jin, and that was only if they were exceptionally gifted.

Most people could not even achieve that.

Moreover, Lu Changsheng felt that he could continue improving. This was also one of the benefits brought by perfect Skin Refining.

Since Skin Refining could be cultivated to transcendence, then Muscle Refining presumably could as well.

He looked behind Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt, and sure enough, there was still a gray plus sign.

This meant it could still be improved, but he did not have enough Source Energy Points.

At that thought, his heart stirred.

For him, this was also enormously good news. As long as he had Source Energy Points, he could improve without limit, breaking through perfectly again and again. Naturally, he would only grow stronger.

If not for his deep foundation this time, he likely would have found it difficult to kill Matron Cao.

Seeing that he still had forty-five Source Energy Points left.

Lu Changsheng did not hesitate either, preparing to raise his blade technique to mastery as well.

For the next few days, he intended to stay properly within the city, so there was naturally no need to unleash secret arts for the time being.

The situation was becoming more and more tense. He had to seize every opportunity to improve his strength.

Besides, his Exotic Beast clone had been exploring the deep mountains and old forests all along, gathering resources every day. He was no longer as strapped as he had once been.

"Add points."

He tapped the plus sign behind Overlord Blade.

"Buzz..."

In Lu Changsheng's mind, it was as though an unparalleled blade master was demonstrating blade techniques.

Endless insights welled up in his heart.

After years of arduous cultivation, Overlord Blade has finally reached mastery...

A moment later.

A prompt sounded, and this enhancement officially came to an end.

Lu Changsheng gripped the Pig-Slaughtering Blade in his hand tightly, as though he could feel the blade breathing.

He had a premonition that whenever he drew his blade, there would not be the slightest sound. Moreover, it would strike the target with perfect precision, and its power could be controlled flawlessly.

"So this is a blade technique at mastery?"

"I wonder what kind of might transcendence will possess at the next stage?"

Expectation filled Lu Changsheng's eyes.

Source Energy Points: 5.

Only the last few points remained after this enhancement, but the transformation in his strength was also astonishing.

Nine Spiral Transformations still had not been improved.

He urgently needed vast amounts of resources to transform his martial arts once again.

The Blazing Fire Ants' tactics had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

Relying on a single clone to search was ultimately far too slow.

He then gathered his thoughts, lightly leaped upward, and jumped out of the well.

Seeing that it was already late, Lu Changsheng returned to the inn.

The next day, at noon.

Lu Changsheng returned to the county town. After handing over proof of slaying the demon, he received five minor merits.

He then turned and headed toward the Scripture Repository.

Now that he had minor merits, he planned to exchange them for manuals and quickly make up for his shortcomings.

By his own reckoning, he was still lacking a top-tier defensive manual.

Only by perfectly complementing Iron Cloth Shirt could he cultivate the most supreme defensive power.

Only after cultivating both defensive arts to the pinnacle would he have any hope of achieving his dream of tearing demons apart with his bare hands.

Before long.

Lu Changsheng arrived before the Scripture Repository.

He lifted his foot and stepped inside.

Ahead was still the white-haired old man, his face lazy and listless.

Lu Changsheng cupped his hands, then passed directly by him and headed to the second floor.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

The moment he arrived on the second floor, he saw Xing Zhaolin lying leisurely in a rocking chair, a book covering his face.

At the sight of the visitor, Xing Zhaolin lifted his eyelids, instantly perking up.

"So it's Brother Lu. Please, come in..."

He sprang to his feet and walked toward Lu Changsheng, his face piled with smiles.

He did not dare neglect the God of Wealth.

Lu Changsheng understood the rules well. He directly tossed out a silver ingot, then got straight to the point. "Brother, do you know of any good defensive manuals?"

For professional matters, it was never wrong to seek out a professional. He did not beat around the bush.

"Yes, yes..."

Xing Zhaolin stepped forward with a broad smile and led the way.

Before long, the two arrived before a large bookshelf.

"These defensive manuals are the finest among low-grade cultivation arts. They require three minor merits to exchange."

Xing Zhaolin explained with a smile.

"I recommend this one to you, Brother."

As he spoke, he directly took out a yellowed ancient book from the shelf.

He handed it to Lu Changsheng.

Golden Bell Shield.

Lu Changsheng's expression shifted slightly as he looked at the three large characters on the manual.

"I'll take this one. Find me another defensive manual worth two minor merits."

He had long heard of the famous Golden Bell Shield.

If it were not so extremely difficult to cultivate, with strict requirements for a martial artist's physical constitution, this art likely would not be found in the first-floor pavilion at all.

But such difficulties meant nothing to Lu Changsheng. All he needed were Source Energy Points, then he could simply pour them in like mad.

After maxing it out in the future, he could fuse and transform it, combining it with his Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt to directly max out his defense.

When that time came, his ability to survive would rise greatly as well.

At that thought, he grew somewhat impatient.

Before long.

Following Lu Changsheng's request, Xing Zhaolin brought over a copy of Thirteen Grand Protectors Horizontal Refining Art and handed it to him with a smile.

"This cultivation art only requires two minor merits."

"Many thanks, Brother."

Lu Changsheng smiled faintly and accepted the two manuals.

All five minor merits in his possession had been used up.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, then Lu Changsheng took his leave.

After copying down the manuals with the old man downstairs, he returned directly to his own small courtyard.