Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 166 - 128: Branches Become Swords, Second Yijin

Su Mu's eyes lit up slightly, feeling a sense of enlightenment. He closed his eyes to carefully digest it, and not long after, he reopened them with a trace of surprise.

He discovered that in this short time, the proficiency of the martial arts at the level of four doors of Great Success had increased by three percent.

"Not bad, not bad."

At this moment, the aura around Su Mu changed suddenly, and the thin clothes on his body began to flutter, sounding like the indestructible Iron Cloth Shirt that could resist swords and spears.

His arms were even more astounding. As the flesh and blood moved inch by inch, the muscles on his arms swelled, looking much bulkier. As Su Mu stretched his body, a crackling sound erupted all over him.

This was the result of Su Mu obtaining the last two Eighth-Grade Cross-Training Martial Arts from Qingfeng Gang Leader Gu Feng, "Iron Cloth Shirt" and "Iron Arm Skill".

"Iron Cloth Shirt", an Eighth-Grade Cross-Training Martial Arts on par with the Vajra Body, emphasizes internal breath control and external strengthening of muscles, bones, and skin. When mastered, it can resist blades and spears, be impervious to water and fire, and withstand punches and kicks.

"Iron Arm Skill", an Eighth-Grade Cross-Training Martial Arts, seeks to make the arms like whips, externally strong, and capable of breaking through ingenious defenses. This martial art was the one wielded by Iron Pine Lu Heng during the Banquet of Hongmen.

From Su Mu's current level of the Perfection Vajra Body, the "Iron Cloth Shirt" and "Iron Arm Skill" are not as good as the "Vajra Body" from Vajra Temple.

Both martial arts require special tools to temper the body at the beginning, and Su Mu plans to combine them into a set of training tools, but he is currently studying the Spiritual Infusion Art and plans to personally forge a set to be placed in the courtyard later.

At present, Su Mu is temporarily practicing with the Vajra Body's method. To him, there are three thousand paths in Cross-Training Martial Arts, but they all lead to the same destination.

Su Mu's palms smashed onto his own body like heavy hammers, each strike containing the power of the Perfect Iron Sand Palm, while the power of the Iron Cloth Shirt and Iron Arm Skill circulated within him, forming two protective horizontal training powers.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The flesh-and-blood palms constantly struck the flesh-and-blood body, yet it sounded like the clashing of metal and iron.

The sound of iron forging continuously emanated from the courtyard at the end of North Street, echoing over Yanque Street, causing a pair of chopsticks in a child's hand to fall during a meal.

A woman picked up the chopsticks, looked outside, and murmured, "Could it be... a new blacksmith shop has opened on North Street?"

Once his whole body was flushed red and every inch of muscle was hot and burning, Su Mu slowly stopped his hands. He exhaled lightly and felt a sense of exhilaration and ease.

The youth in the courtyard then got up and walked towards the woodshed nearby.

After practicing martial arts, the body is exhausted but it's the best time for tendon transformation, as the fully stretched and active meridians are most suitable for a medicinal bath.

For convenience, Su Mu had moved the bath tub into the woodshed early on, just waiting for a pot of boiling water to be poured into the bath.

Su Mu pulled out several logs as thick as an arm, his palm emitted a high-temperature torrent with a hiss, instantly igniting the wood in contact with his hand, flames rising up.

"The Melting Gold Technique is truly useful."

Su Mu thought to himself, realizing that after mastering the Vajra Body, his flesh could endure the high temperatures activated by the Melting Gold Technique in a short period, meaning he could directly use the technique with his flesh and blood.

"If I practice a few more Cross-Training Martial Arts, perhaps the Melting Gold Technique will become a trump card against enemies too."

As one of the exclusive skills of the Forging Workshop, the Melting Gold Technique can easily ignite wood; its high temperatures can even melt the iron materials used in forging treasure artifacts.

Such terrifying heat is enough to melt the armor and weapons of a strong enemy in battle, catching them off guard. The consequences of such a powerful strike on flesh and blood are unimaginable.

Since discovering this, Su Mu often uses the high temperatures of the Melting Gold Technique to start fires, which is much more convenient than any flint and steel and can be used anytime and anywhere.

If this scene were seen by the three masters Wu Lie, Chen Yuntian, and Lin Ruoshui, they would certainly be dumbfounded, shocked not only by the monstrous strength of Su Mu's body but also by the unexpected application of Forging Workshop's secret skill.

Of course, if these three masters came to their senses, the fiery-tempered Chen Yuntian and Lin Ruoshui might scold Su Mu soundly.

But Su Mu would not care about these things. As someone who has lived two lives, he doesn't bother with trivial matters. In his view, the Melting Gold Technique, being martial arts, can be used for forging and thus for battle, and naturally for burning firewood as well.

As long as it doesn't go against one's heart, nothing is forbidden.

Gurgle-------

Boiling sounds came from a pot of lotus leaf water, and Su Mu poured the boiling water into the bath. He then added two packets of medicinal powder.

Without waiting for the boiling water to cool, he directly removed his clothes and stepped into the large basin of just-boiled water, immersing his entire body in the medicinal liquid.

To an outsider, this scene would be jaw-dropping, but to Su Mu, who had reached the Perfection Vajra Body, this basin of boiling water felt like a mere tickle.

The Perfect Iron Cloth Shirt can resist ordinary water and fire, and the Perfection Vajra Body can naturally do the same, unfazed by a mere basin of boiling water.

As Su Mu submerged his entire body into the medicinal liquid, the meridians in his body, just practiced with Cross-Training Martial Arts, greedily absorbed the nutrients from the medicinal soup, nourishing, consolidating, and strengthening themselves.

In a state of introspection, Su Mu watched as the medicinal soup repeatedly washed and tempered every major tendon in his body, the luster on his meridians becoming more translucent.

Su Mu originally estimated that only one or two medicinal baths would be necessary to advance in the Second-Time Tendon Transformation, but he misjudged. The issue of tendon transformation seems minute but is actually separated by a great distance.

"Almost there, almost there!"

But at this moment, Su Mu believed he wouldn't misjudge. He could feel the increasingly strong premonition of breaking through within him.

Buzz--------

At a certain moment, Su Mu's whole body trembled, his meridians vibrating with sound, reaching the limit of the first tendon transformation, and he clearly sensed an invisible bottleneck.

All he needed was to reach out and break the shackles, taking another step forward!

"Next, break through to the Second-Time Tendon Transformation!"

Su Mu then took out two somewhat yellow pills, which he had crafted following the Muscle Strengthening Formula obtained from Qingfeng Gang over three days, the only two pills he made.

One Muscle Strengthening Pill and one Muscle-Protecting Pill.

The difficulty of refining the pills needed for muscle strengthening far exceeds that of Bone-Forger Ointment by several times. Despite his Great Success in the Alchemy Art, Su Mu produced only two pills from dozens of furnaces over three days.

"However, as long as I can refine the first one, the success rate of refining the pills will inevitably increase with my burgeoning proficiency."

"In time, I will be able to achieve a success rate like that of Bone-Forger Ointment!"

Su Mu had great confidence in this, and at the moment frowned slightly, swallowing the Muscle-Protecting Pill and Muscle-Enhancing Pill in succession.

With a thought, Su Mu cleared his mind, first dissolving the medicinal power of the Muscle-Protecting Pill. After a coolness flowed through his limbs and meridians, he leisurely dissolved the medicinal power of the Bone Strengthening Pill precisely.

Boom!

The dissolved medicinal power of the Bone Strengthening Pill exploded like a ball of fire, making Su Mu's heart rejoice. The medicinal power of the seemingly ordinary muscle strengthening pill he crafted was no inferior to the pills from the Hundred Elixir Tower.

"Most likely, the Hundred Elixir Tower intentionally controls the supply of muscle strengthening pills in the market."

At this moment, Su Mu didn't think much about it and devoted himself entirely to the Second-Time Tendon Transformation. As the two powers dissolved, Su Mu let go of the restraint and released the twelve major tendons, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, Ren and Du Meridians.

Two medicinal powers clashed like dragons and tigers, while qi blood and power surged and boiled, making sounds like great rivers breaking their banks.

During this process, every major tendon expanded under the triple wash of boiling medicinal power, qi blood, and power, emitting a tensioned bowstring-like hum.

All the accumulated potential from months and the insights gained from many streams of comprehension now erupted fully.

After a long time, Su Mu slowly opened his eyes, showing a look of delight.

In the state of introspection, the luster circulating on his meridians looked as if coated with a layer of white jade, each tendon robust and powerful, surpassing even the sinews of lions and tigers.

"Second-Time Tendon Transformation achieved!"

(Today there will be a third update, but it will come a bit later, once the author finishes eating!)