Once Lin Feng left, Jiang Fa was alone in the training grounds again.
He stood where he was, an indescribable sense of reassurance welling up within him.
Ten taels a month.
For a Ming Jin martial artist, the terms of this Attendant position were generous indeed.
Lin Feng's trust in him and regard for him were genuine.
But he also knew that Lin Feng valued his potential. Someone who could reach Minor Achievement after practicing the saber for only a few months possessed potential far more valuable than an ordinary Ming Jin martial artist.
He pushed these thoughts aside, turned, and returned to his room.
After nightfall, the martial arts school gradually quieted down.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Jiang Fa took a celadon medicine bottle from the wooden chest beneath it, pulled out the stopper, and poured out a Body Tempering Pill.
The dark gold pill gleamed with a cold luster beneath the oil lamp, its medicinal fragrance spreading.
Over the past few months, he had taken no fewer than ten Body Tempering Pills, supplemented by medicinal baths of crimson blood grass.
He had successfully cultivated the first level of the Seven-Colored Glazed Glass Art to Perfection.
More importantly, the second level of his Mountain-Breaking Stance had reached its final bottleneck the previous night.
He closed his eyes and sank his awareness into his mind.
The panel quietly appeared.
[Talents: Heaven Rewards Diligence, Learning Inevitably Bears Fruit] [Realm: Peak Ming Jin] [Cultivation arts: Mountain-Breaking Stance (Mid Yellow Grade) · Second level (499/500), Seven-Colored Glazed Glass Art (Heaven Rank, Upper Grade) · Second level (25/3000)] [Martial arts: Mountain-Breaking Fist (Mid Yellow Grade) · Major Accomplishment (788/1000), Cloak Saber (Mid Yellow Grade) · Major Accomplishment (302/1000), Wind-Chasing Steps (Yellow Rank Upper Grade) · Minor Achievement (89/800)]
After months of uninterrupted, arduous cultivation, the second level of his Mountain-Breaking Stance was only one final point away from Perfection.
His Seven-Colored Glazed Glass Art had even broken straight through to the second level.
It was worth noting that after breaking through to the second level of the Seven-Colored Glazed Glass Art, Jiang Fa's flesh had become extremely tough.
Ordinary blades could only leave a white mark on his body. Only a Ming Jin martial artist delivering a full-force slash reinforced with Jin could truly breach his defenses.
Beyond that, his physical strength and recovery had also become extremely formidable.
Jiang Fa estimated that his physical body alone could now contend with an Early An Jin martial artist, or even hold a slight advantage.
"The Seven-Colored Glazed Glass Art truly deserves to be a Heaven Rank, Upper Grade body-refining art. It really is overwhelmingly powerful!"
And this was after cultivating only the first level to completion.
If he cultivated all nine levels to Perfection, how powerful would his body become?
Jiang Fa marveled inwardly.
But formidable as a Heaven Rank cultivation art was, its difficulty was anything but ordinary.
With his inferior aptitude,
if he had not possessed the Heaven Rewards Diligence talent, he probably could not have cultivated even the first level to Perfection if he practiced until he died.
Meanwhile, both of his Mid Yellow Grade martial arts, Mountain-Breaking Fist and Cloak Saber, had broken through to Major Accomplishment.
Wind-Chasing Steps progressed relatively slowly because of its higher grade, and had only recently reached Minor Achievement.
In just a few months,
he had cultivated two Mid Yellow Grade martial arts to Major Accomplishment and one Yellow Rank Upper Grade martial art to Minor Achievement. If word of this spread, it would absolutely shock the world.
Take the inner court disciple Sun Yi, for instance. His aptitude was average and his comprehension was not poor, yet after practicing Mountain-Breaking Fist for years, he had only barely touched the threshold of Major Accomplishment.
And the school master, Zhao Zhong, had cultivated for decades before bringing Mountain-Breaking Fist to Perfection.
As for most people in the world,
they probably could not truly cultivate a single martial art to Perfection in their entire lives.
That alone showed how difficult cultivating martial arts was.
This was also why Jiang Fa had deliberately concealed from Lin Feng that his Cloak Saber had already reached Major Accomplishment.
For now, he did not want to attract too much attention.
Unless necessary, keeping a low profile would allow him to improve his strength more effectively.
He took a deep breath.
The second level of his Mountain-Breaking Stance was now only a little short. He should be able to cultivate it fully to Perfection tonight.
And once he cultivated the second level of Mountain-Breaking Stance to Perfection,
his realm would break straight through to An Jin.
Qin Xuan had merely gotten there a few days ahead of him.
His mind made up,
Jiang Fa carefully put away the Body Tempering Pill in his hand and took out a Blood Condensation Elixir.
This was his last Blood Condensation Elixir.
The several hundred taels of silver he had possessed had also been exhausted over these past few months.
Lin Feng's offer of an Attendant position today had truly been charcoal delivered in the snow.
The pill slid down his throat, and a scorching surge of medicinal potency exploded within him.
But his sinews, bones, skin, and membranes were no longer what they once were. This medicinal potency, unbearable to an ordinary Ming Jin martial artist, caused only a warm discomfort within his body.
He stirred his blood and, following the formula for the second level of Mountain-Breaking Stance, slowly lifted the Jin that had sunk into the earth.
Sinking Jin.
Lifting Jin.
Once, twice, three times...
On the fifth cycle, an unprecedented current of heat suddenly surged up from beneath his feet.
Unlike before, this current was no longer weak and indistinct. It felt as clear as a stream of scalding lava rising from his Yongquan acupoints, traveling up his calves, knees, thighs, waist, and hips, through his spine and past his shoulder blades, before finally flowing into his arms.
Immediately afterward, this Jin swept up the medicinal potency of the Blood Condensation Elixir and poured with it into his arms, penetrating his skin and flesh to reach his bone marrow.
Jiang Fa's eyes snapped open.
Now.
He drew a deep breath. In an instant, it felt as though an enormous invisible hand had fiercely clenched and released all the sinews, bones, skin, and membranes in his body. A rapid series of sharp cracks rang out, as dense as the popping of frying beans.
A surge of Penetrating Jin born of An Jin coursed like a mighty river through all three hundred and sixty channels throughout his body.
He felt his body grow lighter.
It was not that he weighed less, but rather an indescribable sensation.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
He clenched his fists, his knuckles giving off a series of crisp cracks.
He sank his awareness inward, and the panel appeared again.
[Talents: Heaven Rewards Diligence, Learning Inevitably Bears Fruit] [Realm: Early An Jin] [Cultivation arts: Mountain-Breaking Stance (Mid Yellow Grade) · Second level, Perfection (500/500), Seven-Colored Glazed Glass Art (Heaven Rank, Upper Grade) · Second level (30/3000)] [Martial arts: Mountain-Breaking Fist (Mid Yellow Grade) · Major Accomplishment (788/1000), Cloak Saber (Mid Yellow Grade) · Major Accomplishment (302/1000), Wind-Chasing Steps (Yellow Rank Upper Grade) · Minor Achievement (89/800)]
Jiang Fa walked over to the window and pushed open its wooden panels.
A cold wind swept snowflakes into his face, yet he felt no chill at all.
The blood within his body surged ceaselessly like a river.
He gently clenched his fist, and the frost coating the windowsill instantly shattered into tiny fragments.
"So this is An Jin..."
Jiang Fa murmured, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.
An Jin centered on "penetration." Its Jin could penetrate the internal organs within and metal and stone without.
Ordinary Ming Jin martial artists injured their opponents through direct clashes of technique and strength, but An Jin could pass through the skin and strike directly within, making it all but impossible to guard against.
He raised his right index finger and lightly pointed through the air at the oil lamp on the corner of the table.
There was no rush of wind, nor any shrill whistle of Jin Qi tearing through the air, only an extremely faint "pfft."
The next instant, the flame in the oil lamp shuddered, then twisted strangely. Most of it actually went out without anything touching it, leaving only a wisp of blue smoke curling upward.
Jiang Fa lowered his head and looked at his fingertip. There was not even a red mark on it, yet the wick had been snapped.
"It really is different." He withdrew his hand in satisfaction.
Back when he was at Peak Ming Jin, this finger strike would at least have left a fingerprint on the tabletop, or even pierced straight through it. But he could never have transmitted Jin through an intervening object with such effortless ease.