In the mountain forest.
Jiang Ning glanced at Xu Yunfeng's corpse.
"Finally, I've dealt with him completely!" he thought to himself.
The pent-up frustration in his heart was finally released.
Then
Boom
He kicked off the ground, causing the soil to explode, and his figure shot forward, charging toward the two who had fled earlier.
Meanwhile, in the dense forest.
"Brother Yuan, are we safe now?" the woman in the leopard-skin outfit asked.
"Not yet. We've only run a few hundred meters. Jiang Ning could still find us. Keep running, don't stop!" the man with the sinister expression urged.
"Yes, Brother Yuan!" the woman in the leopard-skin outfit replied. Then she asked, "But Brother Yuan, how is Jiang Ning so strong? With just one strike, he severely injured Gang Leader Hong and crippled his right hand!"
"I don't know!" the man with the sinister expression said as he ran.
"Brother Yuan, it's strange! Jiang Ning has only been practicing martial arts for a little over a month. How can he be so terrifying?" the woman in the leopard-skin outfit voiced her confusion again.
"Maybe he's a true genius! That's why Shen Congyun values him so much!" the man with the sinister expression said casually, then continued to focus on fleeing for his life.
At that moment, the two suddenly heard movement approaching from behind.
The branches shook, rustling loudly.
They turned their heads and saw Jiang Ning's figure darting through the forest.
At this moment, Jiang Ning was like a white ape leaping through the mountains, effortlessly jumping from one tree to another.
In just a few leaps, he covered dozens of feet.
So fast!!
Seeing this, the man with the sinister expression's pupils contracted sharply.
"Brother Yuan, Jiang Ning is catching up!" the woman in the leopard-skin outfit said in terror.
"Split up and run!" the man with the sinister expression said decisively after glancing at Jiang Ning.
In the next moment, he turned and ran in another direction.
He fled through the forest, heading toward an area with complex terrain and dense shrubs.
"May the gods protect me and let me escape today!" the man prayed silently in his heart.
A moment later
Ah
A desperate scream came from behind.
Hearing the scream, the man's heart trembled.
He knew that now he was the only one left.
Less than ten breaths later, he heard movement behind him again.
He turned his head and saw Jiang Ning within thirty feet of him.
His eyes filled with despair.
Facing Jiang Ning, who was wielding a sword, he could only strike at Jiang Ning's vital points with all his strength, focusing solely on offense and not defense.
In the next moment
Clang
Jiang Ning swung his sword horizontally, knocking the man's sword out of his hand.
With another strike
Swish
A head flew into the air.
Looking at the corpse on the ground, Jiang Ning relaxed.
"Finally, it's all over!" he thought.
He then deactivated his enhanced state.
His heart rate returned to normal, his body temperature dropped, and his reddened skin returned to its usual color.
Jiang Ning immediately felt a wave of weakness wash over him.
"The side effects are severe!" he muttered to himself.
He then took out a wild ginseng from his pocket, broke off half, and popped it into his mouth.
As he chewed, a sweet and refreshing sensation spread through his mouth, and a warm current flowed from his stomach to his limbs.
After thoroughly chewing the ginseng, Jiang Ning swallowed the crushed pieces.
As the ginseng entered his stomach, he felt its medicinal effects begin to take hold, and the weakness in his body gradually subsided.
He looked down at the corpse at his feet and saw that the blood had already dyed the surrounding soil red.
"I've killed people, four of them in a row. Why don't I feel any strange emotions?" Jiang Ning wondered silently.
Then, he chuckled and shook his head.
"Forget it, no point dwelling on it."
"Let's see if they have any unexpected treasures on them."
"With their status, they should have some good stuff!"
Thinking this, Jiang Ning crouched down and began searching the man's waist.
A moment later, he pulled out a money pouch.
"Indeed, there's loot!" Jiang Ning weighed the heavy pouch in his hand, his expression brightening.
Money was undeniably important to him. The growth of his energy points depended on the amount of energy he absorbed.
The more precious the medicinal herbs and pills, the more energy they contained, and thus the more energy points they could provide. However, they were also extremely expensive.
So, he needed money. Moreover, since his martial arts training required medicinal herbs, he needed money even more.
He needed money now, and he would need even more in the future!
For now, he had the help of Wang Jin and Shen Congyun, so he didn't have to worry about money for his martial arts progress.
But in the future, when he became stronger and advanced further, they wouldn't be able to help him anymore.
All the expenses for his martial arts training would have to come from himself.
After thoroughly searching for the man, Jiang Ning took the money pouch and left.
He hadn't forgotten the three others he had killed in the forest.
With the scent of blood spreading, if he didn't search them soon, wild beasts might drag their bodies away.
If that happened, it would be difficult to find their corpses and loot them.
Not long after, Jiang Ning had thoroughly searched all the bodies.
He placed the loot and silver in front of him.
A martial arts manual Iron Sand Palm.
This was the manual he had taken from Hong Chengtao.
A dagger, taken from the woman in the leopard-skin outfit.
And two swords Xu Yunfeng's sword and the other man's sword.
Jiang Ning drew the two swords and examined them. The blades had notches, clearly caused by his earlier strikes.
After a moment of thought, he tossed them into the bushes.
For now, he didn't want anyone to know that he had killed these people.
If he took their weapons back to sell, it would leave clues that could easily lead others to him.
Moreover, notched swords wouldn't fetch much money. The two swords combined were only worth about a hundred taels of silver, and the risk of being discovered wasn't worth it.
Then, Jiang Ning turned his attention to the pile of gold and silver.
Two gold leaves, a pile of shiny silver fragments, several heavy silver ingots, and five silver notes.
He quickly counted them and muttered to himself.
"Two gold leaves. One gold leaf is equivalent to one tael of gold. According to the Great Xia's gold-to-silver exchange rate, one tael of gold is equal to a thousand taels of silver. So, this is two thousand taels of silver!"
Jiang Ning couldn't help but click his tongue. "This Gang Leader Hong is really rich! Carrying two gold leaves on him. His wealth must be substantial!"
Then he picked up the five silver notes and examined them carefully.
"Three hundred-tael notes and two fifty-tael notes, totaling four hundred taels of silver."
He then weighed the silver fragments. "This is about twenty taels."
"So, the total is roughly two thousand four hundred and twenty taels of silver!"
"What a windfall!" Jiang Ning exclaimed.
He then sighed. "As the saying goes, 'Wealth comes from windfalls, and horses grow fat from night grazing.' If it weren't for this unexpected opportunity, how could I have gotten so much silver?"
Looking at the wealth before him, Jiang Ning's eyes sparkled with joy.
With this wealth, he wouldn't have to worry about money for a while.
Moreover, with this money, he could buy a large house in the inner city and move his elder brother and sister-in-law's family there as repayment for their past kindness.
He had been thinking about this for a while.
After packing up the loot, Jiang Ning picked up his sword and continued deeper into the forest.
He didn't plan to return today or in the next few days.
About an hour later, he reached the top of a mountain.
He was carrying a rabbit he had caught along the way.
He looked up at the sky. The sun was now just a faint glow, slowly sinking behind the distant mountains. The temperature in the air had also dropped.
"Let's eat first. After eating, I'll start tempering my skin. Once my skin is tempered, I'll officially be a ninth-rank martial artist of Great Xia and truly have the qualifications to join the Inspectorate."
Jiang Ning muttered to himself.
He then tossed the rabbit aside and began gathering dry grass and preparing tools to start a fire.
The area around Luoshui County hadn't seen a drop of rain in months.
Soon, Jiang Ning had everything he needed.
A moment later, a flame slowly rose, casting a red glow on Jiang Ning's face.
"Starting a fire by rubbing sticks is easy for me now!"
"In my past life, I tried so many times but never succeeded. Now, I can do it effortlessly. Having a stronger body makes a difference!" Jiang Ning sighed to himself.
After starting the fire, he took the dagger and the rabbit he had caught and walked to a nearby stream.
He quickly skinned and cleaned the rabbit.
Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Ning had the rabbit roasting over the fire and began recalling the [Indestructible Golden Body] manual he had read in the afternoon.
After a while, he finished reviewing it.
He opened his bundle, and a pile of jars and bottles appeared before him.
"With these skin-tempering sands, I should have enough to use for a while!"
Looking at the skin-tempering sands in the bundle, Jiang Ning thought to himself.
He already knew about the skin-tempering process.
It involved using skin-tempering sands to repeatedly rub the skin until it turned red, breaking the surface and allowing the medicinal properties of the sands to penetrate the skin.
Then, he would circulate his Qi and blood according to the specific method of his cultivation technique to temper the skin and absorb the medicinal properties.
This process would be repeated until a membrane formed beneath the skin, connecting the entire body, like the membrane beneath cowhide.
Once this membrane was fully formed and connected throughout the body, it would signify that he had reached the ninth rank of martial arts.
This stage was known as the Skin-Tempering Realm.
The main purpose of this realm was to enhance the body's resistance to blows and its defensive capabilities.
At the initial stage of the Skin-Tempering Realm, the skin's strength would be comparable to cowhide, greatly increasing resistance to blows.
Ordinary strikes from wooden sticks or stones would no longer be a threat.
It would also bring a slight increase in strength.
Martial artists at this stage would generally gain over a hundred jin of strength.
After reaching the initial stage, the next level was the minor success stage of the Skin-Tempering Realm.
At this stage, the membrane would transform, and the skin would become as hard as stone.
Resistance to blows would increase significantly.
Weapons not made of refined iron would find it difficult to harm martial artists at this level.
Even weapons made of refined iron would struggle to cause fatal injuries to martial artists at this stage.
Additionally, achieving minor success would bring another increase of one to two hundred jin of strength.
At this stage, the benefits of the Skin-Tempering Realm would begin to show.
Attacks that would be fatal to ordinary people would only cause superficial injuries to martial artists at this level.
After minor success came major success in the Skin-Tempering Realm.
At major success, the membrane would undergo another transformation, and the skin would become as hard as bronze.
Reaching this stage would be like wearing a layer of bronze armor, making one impervious to blades and arrows.
Weapons not made of hundred-fold refined iron would find it difficult to cause harm.
Strength would also increase significantly. Any martial artist who achieved major success in the Skin-Tempering Realm would have a single-arm strength of over a thousand jin.
If armored, they would be even more formidable.
Such experts would be welcomed as honored guests by any faction.
Normally, a major success in the Skin-Tempering Realm was the limit for most martial artists at this stage.
Beyond this, most martial artists would focus on mastering martial techniques and the mysterious force known as "Jinli."
By combining Jinli with Qi and blood, they could begin tempering the muscles in their bodies.
Through continuous tempering, the muscles would become stronger and harder, leading to a significant increase in strength.
Thus, the eighth rank of martial arts was known as the Divine Strength Realm.
The defining characteristic of this realm was a rapid increase in strength.
With each small advancement, strength would increase by several hundred jin.
The top experts in this realm could easily unleash over two thousand jin of strength with a single arm. Those with exceptional natural talent, such as those born with divine strength, could unleash over three thousand jin of strength.
However, based on Jiang Ning's previous understanding, major success in the Skin-Tempering Realm, where the skin became as hard as bronze, was not the true end of the Skin-Tempering Realm.
There was a higher level beyond it.
From what he had read in the [Indestructible Golden Body] manual, he now understood.
Major success in the Skin-Tempering Realm, where the skin became as hard as bronze, was not the true end.
There was a higher level beyond it.
The true end of the Skin-Tempering Realm was the formation of the Golden Body, the Immortal Golden Body.
This was the true pinnacle of the Skin-Tempering Realm.
The [Indestructible Golden Body] manual he now possessed was one of the core martial arts of the Golden Temple. If he could achieve perfection, he could indeed form the legendary Immortal Golden Body.
However, the manual he had was missing the sections on major success and perfection.
Thinking this, Jiang Ning smiled.
"That's fine. With my panel, as long as I accumulate enough experience points, I can naturally break through to the major success and perfection stages and form the Immortal Golden Body."
This thought filled Jiang Ning with joy.
If he could truly achieve this, he would far surpass most martial artists.
Only the most talented disciples of the Golden Temple could receive the teachings of the temple's core martial arts and have the chance to form the Immortal Golden Body like him.
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 370+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader