Stealing a Skill

Lu Ren held the "Qi Tempering Body Strengthening Art" and began reading through it.

The Qi Tempering Body Strengthening Art was divided into four levels. Mastering all four meant reaching completion.

First level: Qi Nourishing Body Tempering!

Second level: Steel Bones and Iron Sinews!

Third level: Shatter Iron Rebirth!

Fourth level: Glazed Golden Body!

After reading the manual's introduction, Lu Ren was utterly stunned.

The reason the Qi Tempering Body Strengthening Art was classified as a Human Tier Low-grade Martial Skill was not because it lacked power, but because its first level, Qi Nourishing Body Tempering, was extremely difficult to cultivate.

This difficulty was not a matter of hardship, but of needing to spend an enormous amount of time guiding the spiritual energy within one's Spiritual Apertures throughout the entire body, tempering it over and over again.

So-called qi nourishing was much like health cultivation.

Without ten years of time, it would be difficult to cultivate.

No ordinary Martial Artist would spend more than a decade nourishing qi and tempering their body just to cultivate a Human Tier Low-grade Body Tempering Martial Skill.

Yet if this martial skill could be cultivated to the Glazed Golden Body, one would be invincible among those of the same level. No matter how powerful a martial skill was, it would be difficult for it to break the Glazed Golden Body.

"The true value of this martial skill definitely exceeds five hundred thousand!"

Lu Ren muttered to himself.

At present, if he cultivated normally, he could still cultivate in the Nameless Treasure Pagoda for more than a hundred and ten years. He might as well begin cultivating this Body Tempering Martial Skill and secretly learn it.

As long as he cultivated this Body Tempering Martial Skill to the beginner stage, he could slowly cultivate it in the future.

Lu Ren began reading through the manual and cultivated according to the method recorded within.

Lu Ren guided the spiritual energy from his seven Spiritual Apertures through his entire body, washing over it time and again.

With every washing, Lu Ren felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring, immensely comfortable.

However, because of the excessive consumption of spiritual energy, the premium Spirit Rice Lu Ren consumed was ten times what he normally needed, an expenditure even more frightening than cultivating the Spirit Burst Secret Art.

As it washed through him again and again, sticky grime seeped out from the pores of his skin.

According to the manual, these were impurities within the body. Once all the impurities had been expelled, one would have cultivated the first level, Qi Nourishing Body Tempering!

Lu Ren spent a full ten years relying on the spiritual energy replenished by premium Spirit Rice, circulating it through his body countless times before finally reaching the level of Qi Nourishing Body Tempering.

At that moment, Lu Ren felt that his body had grown somewhat lighter. He had also become thinner, but his skin had turned smooth as brocade, tough and dense, as though even blades and swords could not cut through it.

Lu Ren leaped into the air, his entire body rising a full zhang high.

"Although my body has become lighter, its strength has increased greatly, and my power has also surged!"

Lu Ren nodded inwardly. In terms of physical strength alone, even ordinary Martial Artists in the Spirit Stream Realm could not compare to him.

Now, the premium Spirit Rice could still sustain his arduous cultivation for more than twenty years. Lu Ren did not intend to continue cultivating, and with his current cultivation, he could not cultivate the second level, Steel Bones and Iron Sinews, either.

After emerging from the Nameless Treasure Pagoda, only a second had passed in the outside world. Lu Ren took the manual and returned it to the elder guarding the pavilion.

"Lu Ren, Human Tier Low-grade Body Tempering Martial Skills are things one may encounter but cannot seek. If you do not want it, perhaps one day I will sell it to someone else!"

The elder guarding the pavilion sat with his eyes closed, shaking his head as he spoke.

"This martial skill is too difficult to cultivate. Elder, you should save it for someone else!"

Lu Ren declined.

The elder guarding the pavilion abruptly stood up and stared at Lu Ren in disbelief. Yet he found that Lu Ren seemed somehow different, though he could not say exactly how.

"Are you sure you do not want it?"

The elder guarding the pavilion asked again.

Lu Ren shook his head. He had already secretly cultivated this martial skill to the beginner stage. Why would he waste money on it?

"How about this? I'll sell it to you for four hundred thousand?"

Lu Ren shook his head.

"Three hundred thousand?"

Lu Ren smiled and shook his head again.

"Two hundred thousand!"

The old man guarding the pavilion gritted his teeth and said painfully.

In his view, this martial skill manual was absolutely worth more than two hundred thousand.

"Elder, you should leave it for someone fated to have it!"

Lu Ren smiled. Just as he was about to leave, the old man guarding the pavilion grabbed his shoulder. In an instant, all the strength in his body seemed to be sealed away, and he could not move at all.

"Elder, what do you mean by this?"

Lu Ren frowned.

"Tell me, why do you not want this Body Tempering Martial Skill?"

The elder guarding the pavilion said, "Your bloodline is trash. This Body Tempering Martial Skill is most suitable for you to cultivate slowly!"

Lu Ren smiled. "Elder, to tell you the truth, several years ago, I received guidance from an expert who passed down a Body Tempering Martial Skill to me. It was precisely this Qi Tempering Body Strengthening Art!"

"Impossible!"

The elder guarding the pavilion shook his head and said, "This Qi Tempering Body Strengthening Art was obtained by this old man in a secret realm. It is a martial skill truly passed down from a thousand years ago. Aside from this old man, there has not been a second person capable of cultivating it!"

Lu Ren extended his arm. His skin was tough like soft silk, gleaming with a faint luster.

"Qi Nourishing Body Tempering!"

The elder guarding the pavilion froze on the spot. Shock filled his eyes, and for a long while, he could not speak.

For this martial skill, only the first level required an enormous amount of time. Once the first level was cultivated, the remaining three levels would be easy to cultivate as long as one's cultivation rose high enough.

This Lu Ren was only sixteen or seventeen years old, yet he had already reached Qi Nourishing Body Tempering. His future achievements would surely be immeasurable!

Was he trash, or was he a genius?

"Elder..."

Lu Ren's voice directly interrupted the elder guarding the pavilion's thoughts.

The elder guarding the pavilion coughed, then said with a dry laugh, "Lu Ren, may I ask how long you cultivated before reaching the level of Qi Nourishing Body Tempering?"

"Perhaps a few months!"

Lu Ren replied.

He could hardly say that he had spent ten years. Besides, one had to open Spiritual Apertures before one could nourish qi and temper the body, and only three or four months had passed since he opened his first Spiritual Aperture.

"Only a few months? How is that possible?"

The old man guarding the pavilion was so shocked that his eyes nearly popped out.

But after calculating the time, Lu Ren had not opened his Spiritual Apertures long ago. Could it be that because Lu Ren was a Person of Divine Enlightenment, his cultivation speed was so fast?

But that made no sense either!

Qi Nourishing Body Tempering required spending a great deal of time controlling the spiritual energy within the body to circulate throughout it. Haste makes waste; if it circulated too quickly, it would fail to achieve the effect of nourishing qi.

And the lower one's bloodline talent, the more impurities their body contained, and the longer it would take.

How had he reached the level of Qi Nourishing Body Tempering in just a few months?

"Elder, if there is nothing else, I'll be leaving first!"

Ignoring the elder guarding the pavilion's shock, Lu Ren turned and left.

"This Nameless Treasure Pagoda has quite a few wonderful uses at critical moments!"

On the way back, Lu Ren thought to himself.

After returning to his courtyard, Lu Ren swung the Fire Spirit Sword and freely unleashed his sword techniques. Because his body had become stronger, the power of his swordsmanship had also risen enormously.

"Now that I have reached Qi Nourishing Body Tempering, my physical strength has increased greatly. Combined with the spiritual energy of my seven Spiritual Apertures, if I unleash all my power at once, I'm afraid I could easily defeat even a Martial Artist who has opened eight Spiritual Apertures!"

Lu Ren's face was filled with wild joy. Such strength filled him with confidence for his journey to the Tuoshe Cave Mansion.

Only Martial Artists in the Aperture Opening Realm could enter the Tuoshe Cave Mansion. Even if he encountered a Martial Artist who had opened eight Spiritual Apertures, Lu Ren would not take them seriously.

If disciples from the three great sects truly dared to come looking for trouble, he would kill them one by one. He would absolutely show no mercy.

Over the next few days, Lu Ren simply ate and slept, then slept and ate. After cultivating bitterly in the pagoda for so many years, he did not care about wasting a few days.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

At the summit of a towering peak in Qingyun Sect's inner sect, Yun Qingyao, dressed in cultivation robes and holding a long sword, swung it again and again, her voice bursting forth like thunder.

Yun Qingyao's figure was slender and appeared frail enough to be toppled by the wind, yet every strike of her sword was incomparably fierce and sharp.

"Wind Sweeps Clouds!"

Yun Qingyao let out a soul-stirring cry. The long sword in her hand churned relentlessly, sweeping out like a violent gale and crashing into a great mountain.

Boom!

That great mountain was blasted directly into pieces.

Yun Qingyao sheathed her sword and nodded. "I've finally created the fifth move. If my disciple can cultivate this move, his strength will rise considerably!"

With that thought, she turned and headed toward Tianzi Mountain!

Upon arriving at Tianzi Mountain's halfway point, Yun Qingyao looked toward Lu Ren's courtyard and thought to herself, My disciple should be cultivating bitterly. Since he has resolved to enter the Tuoshe Cave Mansion, he should be raising his strength to its peak!

At that thought, the corners of Yun Qingyao's lips lifted slightly.