Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Once discovered, the Black Lotus Mother would surely become infuriated with embarrassment.

From his understanding, although both the Blood and Flesh God and the Black Lotus Mother were divine beings, there was a high probability of significant differences between the two—the Black Lotus Mother's strength and standing in the divine hierarchy were far superior to that of the Blood and Flesh God.

There was no need to look any further than their titles to see it.

The Black Lotus Mother had a known title.

The Blood and Flesh God worshiped by the God Worship Sect was only referred to by authority and had no named title.

Therefore, in his view, should the Black Lotus Mother come knocking, once she saw through his true nature, she would be furious.

For him, that would spell disaster.

Thinking of all this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but think to himself,

"I hope the old woman from the Internal Affairs Office, referred to as Granny Bai by Hong Minghu, will arrive soon and not be delayed on the road like the others!"

With that thought, Jiang Ning vaulted over the high courtyard wall, stepped onto the ice to break it, and entered the water to wash away the fatigue and sweat from his martial arts practice.

...

The next day.

"Today is indeed good weather!"

Seeing the cloudless sky out the window and the moon still hanging in the east, a faint smile crossed Jiang Ning's face.

A clear day meant that his Inner Elixir Cultivation would progress even further.

This brought him another step closer to condensing his Inner Breath into solidity.

With this in mind, he glanced at his status panel.

[Skill]: Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill (small success 2013/5000)

The experience value for the Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill had now surpassed two thousand points, and he was less than three thousand points away from achieving great success with the technique and condensing his Inner Breath into solidity.

At his current rate, it would take less than a month to acquire the remaining experience points.

Afterwards, he threw off the covers, and wearing only a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, he headed outside.

He pushed open the front door, and a blast of cold air hit him in the face.

Jiang Ning, however, remained unfazed.

He had reached a point where he was truly impervious to the heat of summer and the cold of winter.

He looked up at the sky again.

Winter nights always lasted a bit longer.

The sky was now just beginning to brighten, showing a grayish hue.

But through the moon still hanging in the east, it was clear that today would be a sunny day, free of clouds.

And since he was accustomed to waking up early, the sky would always be just beginning to brighten when he got up.

On clear days, he could always see the bright moon, so the sight of it in the morning no longer surprised him.

Afterward,

he began his daily routine of washing up in the courtyard.

During his washing, he also heard the sound of fists and kicks from the neighboring courtyard.

That was Lv Yi practicing her martial arts.

A moment later.

"Young Master!" Lv Yi appeared before Jiang Ning, her face slightly flushed and a fine sweat on her forehead, as she heard him brushing his teeth noisily.

Jiang Ning looked up at her.

"How long have you been up?"

"Less than two hours!" Lv Yi said, looking downward.

"That's pushing it too much!" Jiang Ning shook his head.

"Young Master gave me the chance to practice martial arts, and I must seize it well!" Lv Yi replied, then turned and left.

In no time at all, she brought him water and a towel for washing his face.

After cleaning up,

Jiang Ning looked at her, "How is your progress?"

Lv Yi immediately beamed with excitement.

"Young Master, I've achieved Qi Blood Perfection!"

Jiang Ning nodded, unsurprised.

Lv Yi had started with a strength of four hundred pounds, and later obtained his support.

Additionally, judging by her progress in practicing martial arts, she was quite perceptive and could endure hardship, so it wasn't surprising that she had reached Qi Blood Perfection after just over half a month.

"Well then, you can begin Skin Refinement!"

"Go to Wanhua Building later on your own, and buy the resources you need for Skin Refinement."

"Just use my money!" Jiang Ning added as a reminder.

"Young Master, I still have money!" Lv Yi said with a stubborn expression.

"That little money of yours is no good for anything!" Jiang Ning shook his head and continued, "If you don't increase your martial strength quickly, you won't even qualify to stay by my side in the future."

"I understand!" Hearing this, Lv Yi immediately nodded.

Then, Jiang Ning began practicing his martial arts and Bone Forging in the courtyard.

[Five Animals Fist EXP +1]

[Five Animals Fist EXP +3]

[Five Animals Fist EXP +1]

[...]

With each repetition of his martial arts practice and Bone Forging, continuous prompts flashed by.

However, for him now, the progress accumulated by practicing the Five Animals Fist was no longer visible on the panel.

But he could feel that as he practiced the Five Animals Fist over and over again, and as the Experience Value grew,

the Qi Blood Power within his body became more and more magnificent.

These days, the Qi Blood Power occasionally surged like a tsunami within him.

In terms of quantity, compared to when he first achieved Qi Blood as vast as the ocean, it had almost doubled.

But he could feel that he was still far from the next step.

More than two hours later,

it was already the time of Chen.

He ate the meat soup and several white steamed buns prepared by Lv Yi, then continued to practice and cultivate.

Soon, the time reached Si.

Since the weather today was just right, with the warm sun lazily shining on people, he was not in a hurry to go to work at the Inspection Office.

With his current identity, it was not mandatory to go to the Inspection Office as it was for regular personnel who had to arrive on time.

Even if there were no missions to attend to, they could only practice Martial Arts within the Inspection Office during work hours, without the freedom he had.

Sitting cross-legged on the cushion in the courtyard, Jiang Ning assumed the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture and began Breathing and Releasing the Essence of the Great Sun.

...

On the other hand,

Xie Zhengtian reappeared at the entrance of the mansion.

"Second brother, is everything ready?" Xie Zhengtian looked back at the dark-faced man behind him.

The dark-faced man immediately nodded repeatedly, his voice deep and resonant, "Big brother, rest assured, I brought all sixty-six taels of Gold!"

After speaking, he hefted the redwood box in his hand and slightly opened a crack.

Sunlight passed through the gap, immediately shining golden light through it.

Seeing this ray of golden light, Xie Zhengtian felt somewhat relieved.

He knew that what was coming next was a moment that would determine the fate of the Xie family's future.

Eighty-six taels of Gold, with each tael worth a thousand taels of silver in value, amounted to sixty-six thousand taels of silver here.

In Great Xia, Gold was scarce and also consumable, so its actual value on the private market was even higher than its official rate.

If one were to calculate by the private value,

these sixty-six taels of Gold could be worth at least seventy thousand taels of silver.

Ten thousand taels of silver was the wealth of a great merchant or tycoon.

For the Xie family to gather these sixty-six taels of Gold, it was a painful and bone-straining task, and it took them more than ten days to liquidate many family assets to accumulate it.

Afterward,

Xie Zhengtian straightened his appearance again before knocking on the front door.

Thump thump thump—

...

A moment later,

Xie Zhengtian stood outside the east courtyard, quietly waiting for Jiang Ning's practice to end.

The sun was at its height; standing under the sun, beads of perspiration began to form on his forehead.

This was due to both the weather and more so, the tension he felt.

But at that moment, he had no mentality to wipe the sweat from his brow.

The more critical the moment, the more agitated he became in his heart.

Because Jiang Ning had said he would only give him one chance.

Today's visit would be the last opportunity for the Xie family to continue their legacy.

...

Within the east courtyard,

Jiang Ning continuously Breathed and Released the Sun Essence Qi, and the progress of the Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill was steadily increasing.

[Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill EXP +1]

[Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill EXP +1]

[Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill EXP +1]

[...]

With each breath he took, strands of Inner Breath were refined, merging into his Dantian, making the vision of Inner Breath in his Dantian ever more immense and impressive.

Sometimes it was like a dragon ascending to the heavens, winding through the clouds.

Sometimes it turned into a torrential river, rushing towards the distance robustly.

In the blink of an eye,

two hours had passed.

[This round of Breathing and Releasing the Great Sun Essence Qi, Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill experience increased a total of 115 points.]

Sigh—

Jiang Ning exhaled the last accumulation of impure energy in his abdomen, then slowly opened his eyes.

[Skill]: Inner Elixir Cultivation Skill (small success 2128/5000)

"I'm another step closer to the qualitative change of Inner Breath!"

He showed a smile and then looked towards the outer courtyard.

At the very start of Breathing and Releasing the Great Sun Essence Qi, he had sensed the arrival of the Xie family head, Xie Zhengtian.

"It seems he has made a choice!"

Jiang Ning smiled.