"Uncle Tong wants to see it?"
Fu Juemin was slightly surprised, but he still readily handed the scripture to Li Tong.
Li Tong took the Buddhist Scripture and lightly touched its surface with his fingertips. He slowly examined it, flipping through the pages...
A mont later, he looked up and asked Fu Juemin, "Young Master, can you tell more about the person who gave you this Buddhist Scripture? What is their background?"
Fu Juemin could tell that Li Tong seed to have discovered sothing, so he didn’t hide anything and told Li Tong the details about Su Hui.
After Li Tong finished listening, a complex look that Fu Juemin couldn’t decipher appeared in his eyes.
He looked at the Buddhist Scripture in his hand and sighed softly. "So it’s the Su Family of Shenghai... In the previous dynasty, they held a position in the Grand Council... Then I suppose there’s no mistake..."
"What is it that’s not a mistake, Uncle Tong?"
Fu Juemin blinked, unable to resist asking.
Li Tong didn’t answer. Instead, he had the butler, Uncle Chen, and a few servants leave the room.
Once only Fu Juemin and he were left in the training hall, Li Tong walked over to a nearby huanghuali wood chest. He placed the Buddhist Scripture on its lid, picked up a random page, and pinched the bottom corner between two fingers. It was impossible to tell how he did it, but with a gentle rub, the page, which had seed to be a single, solid sheet, instantly split into two.
"This..."
Fu Juemin’s eyes were filled with disbelief.
He had flipped through the Buddhist Scripture himself. Each page was as thin as a cicada’s wing, and he’d been afraid of crushing them with even the slightest force. ’Who would have thought there were hidden pages underneath?’
He hurried forward to look at the page Li Tong had separated. It had words on it, too, but they weren’t from the Pharmacist Buddha Sutra.
—Four taels of Stoneless Fruit, five mace of Silver Sail Flower, Seven-Star Ganoderma...
A quick glance revealed what looked like a dicinal formula.
anwhile, Li Tong’s hands didn’t stop. He continued to rub page after page, gradually turning the single Buddhist Scripture into two separate books.
Fu Juemin looked through the new pages one by one. He discovered that the content of each was different. It was no longer a dicinal formula; instead, most pages contained illustrated diagrams with text, cultivation technique instructions, and more.
Hidden within the Buddhist Scripture was a Martial Arts Secret Manual!
Fu Juemin was truly dumbfounded and couldn’t snap out of it for a long ti.
’A scene I’ve only ever seen in wuxia novels and TV shows is now happening to in real life. It’s like I’m dreaming.’
"Uncle Tong..."
Fu Juemin subconsciously looked at Li Tong, whose "divine skill" had made all this possible. Before he could figure out what to say, he heard Li Tong let out a heartfelt sigh.
"Young Master, your martial fortune is flourishing. Heaven has bestowed a wondrous scripture upon you.
From now on, with this Pharmacist Buddha’s Glazed Body, I’m afraid there’s no need to practice the Iron Armor Technique anymore..."
"Pharmacist Buddha’s Glazed Body?"
Fu Juemin was still a bit dazed. He asked subconsciously, "What is that?"
Li Tong lowered his hands, his expression complex as he slowly explained, "In the previous dynasty, there was a legend of the Four Great Iron Body Strange Skills.
They are the Pharmacist Buddha’s Glazed Body, the Bright King Shackles Skill, the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Seal, and the Bodhi Vajra Formula.
Each one is a top-tier Iron Body Martial Art. Mastering any single one of them is enough to dominate the Martial Arts world.
Legend has it that if one were to master all four, they could break through the Celestial Human Barrier and reach a supre realm rarely achieved in all of history."
"Pharmacist Master Glaze, Bright King’s Shackles, Dragon Elephant Wisdom, Bodhi Vajra..."
Fu Juemin murmured the nas of the four Cultivation Techniques Li Tong had ntioned, then couldn’t help but ask, "Why do they all sound like they’re related to the Buddhist Sect?"
Li Tong nodded. "These four unparalleled techniques were all created by the Buddhist Sect’s Mahakala Ancestor Master, so naturally, they are all related to Buddhism.
A hundred years ago, a general from the previous dynasty led his troops to attack Celestial Blessing Temple. When he couldn’t conquer it after a long siege, he simply set a great fire and burned down the entire Celestial Blessing Mountain.
As a result, these four great techniques were scattered among the common people.
For decades, countless rumors about the Four Great Iron Body Strange Skills, both true and false, have surfaced in the martial arts world.
However, this one in your hands, Young Master... it should be the real thing."
"Mahakala Ancestor Master... Celestial Blessing Temple... Pharmacist Master Glaze..."
Fu Juemin still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock of this barrage of information. He took a deep breath and couldn’t help but ask, "Uncle Tong, how can you be so certain that the one I have is authentic?"
Li Tong thought for a mont before saying, "The general who attacked Celestial Blessing Temple back then was nad Jia Muhe. He was single-handedly promoted by the Su Family, who at the ti held a First Grade official rank..."
Fu Juemin understood imdiately.
He looked at the Secret Manual in his hands again, flipping through it carefully. Indeed, it contained everything from specific training thods and key instructions for circulating qi, to formulas for supportive dicated Baths... Everything was there, making it extrely difficult to fake.
However, as Fu Juemin looked at the tiny, fly-speck characters and the nurous technical terms and diagrams, he just felt dizzy. He couldn’t help but give a wry smile. "Even if it is real, I can’t understand it. I’ll still need your help, Uncle Tong."
"Of course."
Li Tong nodded. "I will teach you the initial thods step by step, Young Master.
But as I’ve said before, any Iron Body Martial Art is easy to start but difficult to advance in. This is especially true for a top-tier Iron Body Martial Art like this one. The effort and ti required will far exceed that of ordinary Martial Arts.
Young Master, you must not think that just because you have the Cultivation Technique, you’ll instantly beco a top expert. The path ahead will be far more arduous and long than you can imagine..."
’You won’t be saying that after I reach the Entry Level and add my points...’
Fu Juemin thought to himself, but on the outside, he nodded solemnly. "I know."
Then he pointed to the Buddhist Scripture in his hand and said, "Will you practice it with , Uncle Tong?"
Although he had already completed Bone Forging, he was still a complete rookie on the path of the Martial Dao. He couldn’t even understand the Secret Manual when it was right in front of him, so there was no way to get around needing Li Tong as his "translator." Rather than being secretive, it was better to be open and share it.
’Besides, no matter who practiced with him, their progress could never possibly surpass his.’
Unexpectedly, Li Tong just shook his head. "If this were twenty years ago, I might have practiced it.
But now... my own martial arts have already taken shape. If it were Fist and Foot Martial Arts, I could still practice them, but for this kind of Iron Body Martial Art, I have neither the will nor the strength..."
Fu Juemin looked into Li Tong’s eyes and saw only frankness.
He had a gut feeling that Li Tong held no selfish intentions, but the reason didn’t seem to be what he claid about his skills having taken shape. It felt more like he was hiding sothing.
Of course, he couldn’t press the issue.
"...With the fall of the previous dynasty and the ironclad ships of the Western World at our gates, the current Martial Arts world is no longer what it once was. For many people, Martial Arts are no longer that important."
Li Tong added a solemn warning, "But Young Master, you must still be careful. Do not let the news that you possess the Pharmacist Buddha’s Glazed Body get out, or there will surely be endless trouble."
"I understand."
Fu Juemin nodded.
"Also, you need to prepare the ingredients on this dicated Bath formula as soon as possible, Young Master."
Li Tong said, "A top-tier Iron Body thod often ans a top-tier consumption of resources..."
Fu Juemin thought for a mont and said, "Uncle Tong, please copy the formula for . I’ll go find people to arrange for it right now."
Fu Juemin imdiately left the training hall, called for soone to bring paper and a brush, and sent soone else out to invite people.
Half an hour later, the head shopkeepers of all the major pharmacies and businesses in Luan River County had gathered at the Fu Family estate.
Several old n, whose combined ages nearly reached several hundred years, huddled together, studying a single formula for a long ti. Finally, they sent one of them to report to Fu Juemin.
"Young Master Fu, the dicinal ingredients listed on this formula you’ve given us... every single one is a rarity..."
The speaker was the head shopkeeper of Xing’an Hall, who was an old acquaintance of Fu Juemin’s. He wore a magua jacket from the previous dynasty, a small skullcap, and still kept a queue at the back of his head.
"And the required ages for each of them are not low..."
Fu Juemin sat in his chair, nibbling on sliced fruit that Little Locust Flower kept bringing him, and waved his hand dismissively.
"Money is not an issue."
"It’s not entirely a matter of money."
The old man gave a wry smile and said, "The other ingredients are manageable. Although they’re rare, if our shops pool our resources and search elsewhere, we can probably find them all..."
The old man took out the formula and pointed to one of the nas on it, saying helplessly, "It’s this Centennial Mire Lotus Seed. There’s truly nothing we can do about this one.
Young Master Fu, you probably don’t know what a Mire Lotus Seed is..."
The old man was in the middle of speaking, intending to give Fu Juemin a proper lesson on the subject.
But he saw Fu Juemin, who looked thoughtful, suddenly pick up a small box beside him. He took out three pitch-black, Buddhist Bead-like objects from within and tossed them directly to him.
"Take a look. Is this it?"
The old man fumbled to catch them, then brought the three Buddhist Beads close to his eyes for a look.
Half a breath later, he let out a long "Aiiii—"
"That’s right, that’s right! This is it!!"
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