Jiang Che decided to run so tests.
He went to his room and retrieved a hand spike from under his bed.
His previous hand spike had broken, so this was a new one he’d had forged.
The blade of the spike was covered in twisted black patterns, giving it a bizarre appearance.
This ti, it was forged from the much harder Secret Iron.
It was an alloy said to be made from a tal refined from a fallen teorite and then mixed with iron.
It was incredibly rare and extrely expensive.
Just a small amount had cost Jiang Che fifty taels of silver.
But the results were impressive. It could pierce through ordinary blades without sustaining any damage itself.
Holding the hand spike in his right hand, Jiang Che lightly pricked his left forearm.
He imdiately felt a slight, unusual sensation in his arm, but no pain.
Jiang Che slowly increased the pressure.
Only after using eighty percent of his strength did he finally break the skin.
Jiang Che was shocked.
His physical strength had already reached five hundred jin.
Eighty percent of that was four hundred jin.
’Four hundred jin of force with an incredibly sharp Secret Iron hand spike just to barely break the skin...’
Jiang Che felt his Defense Power was already approaching that of the Stone Skin Realm!
Of course, this was just his base strength.
If he used the Cloud-Stacking Fist, the Strength he could generate would far exceed that number.
One reason was the thod of force generation. Martial Techniques allowed one to gather the power of the entire body, ultimately reaching an astonishing level.
The better one executed the Fist Techniques, the less power was wasted, and the more could be concentrated.
This was also why Jiang Che had been able to shatter the heart of a Stone Skin Realm Black Beast with a single punch right after he broke through to the Bull Skin Realm.
Although his raw strength was weaker back then, the Heart Stream State combined with his proficient Fist Technique magnified his power countless tis over.
Furthermore, explosive power and gradually applied pressure were naturally incomparable.
Power without speed has very limited destructive potential.
Jiang Che lifted his arm and began to examine the wound.
A few beads of blood erged from the wound before it quickly staunched.
Then, the flesh around the wound began to heal at a visible rate, and a scab quickly ford.
Jiang Che gently picked off the scab, revealing a small patch of pale, new skin underneath.
’A small wound, healed in less than a minute!’
Jiang Che was very pleased with this regenerative ability.
’I wonder what its limits are...’
Next, he picked up the hand spike again and, using the force generation thod of the Cloud-Stacking Fist, viciously stabbed his own arm.
HISS—
The hand spike instantly plunged about an inch into his arm, the pain causing Jiang Che to suck in a sharp breath.
This ti, the wound healed more slowly, but it was completely recovered after an hour.
After that, he steeled himself and, avoiding the bone, ran the spike completely through his forearm.
This ti, the wound’s recovery was even slower.
Jiang Che waited two days for it to heal completely.
’It seems ordinary cuts will heal in half a day. A severe piercing wound, however, will take two to three days.’
Jiang Che ca to a conclusion.
However, he hadn’t tested it on his internal organs or bones.
He had a faint feeling that if his organs or bones were injured, the outco would not be so favorable.
Still, he was already very satisfied with this ability.
Additionally, as his Qi Blood increased, Jiang Che discovered that his consumption of Exotic Beast at had also grown.
Previously, when his Qi Blood was low, a small amount of Low-Grade Exotic Beast at was enough to sustain him, and eating a little more would allow it to continue growing.
Now, however, he needed to eat large quantities of Low-Grade Exotic Beast at just to maintain his current level of Qi Blood.
To keep improving, he would need to eat large amounts of Low-Grade Exotic Beast at for all three als a day.
Of course, if it were Middle-Grade Exotic Beast at, a small amount would still produce excellent results.
But the five jin he received each month was nowhere near enough, so Jiang Che could only eat a mix of both types.
’After breaking through to Stone Skin, I’ll need even more Middle-Grade Exotic Beast at. The amount I get from the Shao Mansion is far from sufficient...’
Jiang Che sighed. He knew the path of the Martial Dao was difficult, but he hadn’t expected it to be this hard!
It wasn’t just a matter of Root Bone and perseverance; it was also a battle of resources.
Of course, the rewards for becoming a Martial Artist were correspondingly imnse.
That was why, no matter how difficult, people still flocked to it.
Furthermore, since he had maxed out another of his Skills and had yet to break through to the Stone Skin Realm, he couldn’t practice his Cloud-Stacking Fist or Flying Swallow Step.
This left him with only one Skill to practice: Calligraphy.
But after several consecutive days of practicing Calligraphy, Jiang Che hadn’t made any significant progress.
’I can’t just keep working in a vacuum. I should go see if I can find any master-level calligraphy for sale...’
Having made up his mind, Jiang Che headed to West Market Street in the West District.
However, compared to before, there were far fewer people on the street.
Only a third of the vendors who usually lined the street remained.
He rembered there used to be stalls selling candied fruit skewers and people with performing monkeys, but now they were nowhere to be seen.
The once-bustling street now felt sowhat desolate.
Jiang Che continued forward and arrived at Miaoxin Studio.
He found that the studio was now completely abandoned, its signboard gone.
The main door was ajar. Jiang Che peeked inside and saw that it was a ss, with everything long since moved out.
"Young man, the shopkeeper of this place went missing several months ago."
An old man sitting by the neighboring doorway spoke up, seeing that Jiang Che seed to be looking for soone.
"Sir," Jiang Che asked, approaching him, "wasn’t this street always crowded? Why is it so deserted now?"
The old man shook his head. "Sigh, they’ve all disappeared! No one knows what’s going on. You see soone one day, and they’re gone the next! Gradually, people beca too scared to co out!"
Jiang Che nodded and turned to leave.
He went to the notice board and found that missing person cases were becoming more and more frequent. The board was almost completely covered with them.
Jiang Che couldn’t help but think of the green-eyed monster he had encountered before, and of Li Yuanwai’s Mansion.
Although he was stronger now, he still didn’t dare to be overconfident.
Li Yuanwai’s Mansion, in particular, was unfathomable. It might even harbor experts at the Iron Skin or even Force Integration Level.
But aside from Calligraphy, his other Skills were either maxed out or restricted from improving by his Qi Blood level.
Jiang Che wanted to get stronger, but he found himself in a state of limbo, with nothing he could actively work on.
That day, Jiang Che made another trip to the Inner City and finally found a place that sold calligraphy and paintings.
However, one look at the pieces the shop displayed told Jiang Che they were fakes, so not even up to his own standard.
"Do you have anything better?"
Jiang Che asked.
The shopkeeper shook his head. "This is the best in the city. You’re looking for authentic pieces, aren’t you, Sir? For that, you’d have to go to Cangzhou. In a small place like ours, only the Five Great Noble Families are likely to have any genuine works."
"The Five Great Noble Families..."
Jiang Che murmured.
Currently, the only one he could contact was the Shao Mansion.
However, such authentic works were precious, and he didn’t know if they would be willing to show them to him.
’Oh, well. I might as well go and ask. My pride doesn’t matter right now.’
After so thought, Jiang Che decided to seek out his Second Senior Brother, Shao Jianbo.
Soon, he arrived at the Shao Mansion.
After he presented his Guest Minister’s Waist Token, a servant led Jiang Che to the edge of a lake.
There, a handso Young Master in white robes was scattering fish food into the water.
It was Shao Jianbo.
"Young Master, Young Master Jiang is here to see you."
the servant reported.
"Well, well, if it isn’t Junior Brother Jiang! Worried your Senior Brother was lonely, so you ca for a chat?"
Shao Jianbo turned with a smile.
"I..." Jiang Che was a little taken aback by his Second Senior Brother’s casual manner and didn’t know how to respond.
Shao Jianbo found Jiang Che’s awkwardness amusing.
"I’m just ssing with you. Co on over!"
Jiang Che shook his head, starting to get a feel for his Second Senior Brother’s personality.
He slowly walked over and stood beside Shao Jianbo.
He saw Shao Jianbo toss another handful of food, and imdiately, a dozen or so massive red koi leaped from the water, scrambling for the food.
"These fish are fed every day. They never have to worry about going hungry or being caught and eaten. Yet, they are trapped in this lake, never to see the vastness of the world."
Shao Jianbo paused mid-sentence and turned to look at Jiang Che.
"Tell , do you think these fish are happy?"
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