Da Xuan Martial Saint

"Okay, brother must keep his word."

Chen Yue giggled.

Although it's said that the children of the poor take charge early, she was still just fifteen, and having been basically raised single-handedly by Chen Mu since their father left a few years ago, she still retained some childish innocence.

Chen Mu patted Chen Yue's little head, chatted with Xiaohao for a while, and then watched as Xiaohao took Chen Yue away.

Turning around,

he saw half of Wang Ni's little body hiding behind the door.

As Chen Yue went to the Inner City to learn martial arts, taking Wang Ni as a maid would require more influence than Chen Mu had, not to mention Wang Ni was still too young, only ten years old.

"Your sister Yue has left, go back to the house."

"...Yes."

Wang Ni timidly responded and returned to the courtyard.

Chen Mu stood at the door, watching the direction Chen Yue had left in for a while, before returning inside.

He wondered whether Chen Yue could exhibit any talent in her martial arts training in the Inner City. He didn't quite understand the concept of innate talent; though he had briefly assessed Chen Yue's physique the previous night and felt it was probably better than his, he wasn't sure if it was exceptional.

Of course, Chen Mu hoped that Chen Yue would achieve something on the path of martial arts. Although he wouldn't mind keeping Chen Yue as a sister always under his protection, like a delicate vase, standing out would certainly be better.

Actually,

no matter how exceptional Chen Yue might become, truly stepping out of his shadow would be difficult because, in this world, even the most talented and brilliant figures, those who surpass the entirety of the Da Xuan Dynasty, likely couldn't compare to his system panel.

Unless someone managed to thwart him in his infancy, as was attempted in yesterday's assassination, given enough time, he would inevitably climb higher and eventually dominate the world.

"Time to train."

Chen Mu took a deep breath, went back to the courtyard, and began practicing his Blade Technique.

Now that he had achieved Minor Achievement in Skin Toughening and his physique had significantly improved, he could handle doing the Skin Toughening process three times a day instead of twice, and he spent the remaining time practicing his Blade Technique.

As for the City Defense Division, he planned to merely drop by occasionally over the next few days; there wasn't much for him to do anyhow, and Minister Min Baoyi probably didn't want him involved in tasks.

Min Baoyi thought it crucial for Chen Mu to reach Major Achievement and even Perfection in Skin Toughening as soon as possible.

With Chen Mu's skill in understanding Blade Momentum, once he reached Major Achievement or Perfection in Skin Toughening, even without stepping into Body Refinement, ordinary people would no longer pose a threat to him, like those who attacked in alleyways targeted individuals who had not yet succeeded in Body Refining.

Once he achieved Perfection in Skin Toughening, even quicklime would be useless against him, and ordinary thugs who had not trained in martial arts would find it impossible to cut through his toughened skin; they would pose no threat whatsoever.

And so,

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

During these ten days, all was tranquil. The previous murder attempt had faded into obscurity, and Ninth District remained utterly peaceful — though, of course, this tranquility applied only to someone of Chen Mu's standing. For the marginalized poor, their lives were still plagued by government taxes, gang extortion, and the nuisance of thieves and bandits.

As a Head Constable, Chen Mu was acutely aware of these facts, but he felt no righteous fury nor a sudden resolve to change the state of the world. This wasn't due to a lack of compassion but rather because he avoided doing things outside his duty.

If one day he achieved unprecedented success and became a dominant figure in the Da Xuan Dynasty, then perhaps he would act on his desires to reform society, but for now, as just a Head Constable, he lacked the capability to do so.

"Enough."

He rose once again from the sand pit.

Chen Mu summoned his system panel, saw that his accumulated Experience Points had finally broken through three hundred, and he nodded slightly.

Three hundred Experience Points were enough for him to break through from Minor to Major Achievement in Skin Toughening. This pace and progress would probably make even the most dazzling prodigies in the Inner City sigh in inferiority.

He was in no hurry.

First, he washed the sand off his body, then returned to the house and, after his body recovered, he calmed his thoughts and breath before he summoned the system panel and chose to upgrade the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique.

This time, the sensation was not as violent as the last; although the surging changes still exploded within his body all at once, as if a group of hot blood burst from his heart and surged towards all parts and membranes of his body, the indescribable pain erupted, but Chen Mu did not pass out like the last time, instead he endured it forcefully.

Of course.

In his view, passing out might have been better, for the pain was much more intense than when enhancing his skills. His whole body curled up, almost biting through the pillow, he endured the unknown length of time, and the pain of feeling like thousands of needles pricking throughout his body gradually subsided.

All his clothes were almost soaked with sweat, even the mattress below was wet over a large area.

His body felt somewhat limp and nearly collapsed.

"Huh..."

Chen Mu released the pillow, exhaled a breath of stale air, and stretched his body weakly, it took him a while before he gathered a bit of strength to sit up from the bed.

Only when his body recovered a bit did Chen Mu get up, poured a bowl of blood-replenishing soup he had prepared beforehand, and gulped it down, then he called Wang Ni over to change the wet bedding.

Wang Ni, well-disciplined and obedient as Chen Yue raised her, did not ask what happened; she just changed the sheets and blanket, somewhat curious about why Chen Mu would 'wet the bed,' but the smell was not that strange.

Chen Mu didn't care what Wang Ni might speculate.

He went to the next room to rest and breathe properly, and after about half an hour, the soup that replenished qi-blood and moisture gradually took effect, and his body's strength slowly recovered. When he clenched his fists, they were once again stable and strong.

"Perfection."

By then, Chen Mu was able to feel the changes in his body more clearly.

Compared to before, the qi-blood inside his body was more vigorous. If he exerted his full strength to employ the Blade Momentum, the breath would be even longer. Even if faced with the attack of thirty to forty thugs, he could still rely on his strength to cut them all down without running out of breath or needing to pause for rest due to exhaustion.

Additionally, his skin membranes had become much tougher. Though it appeared there was not much change on the surface, only that his skin had darkened slightly to a healthier wheatish color, in reality, its toughness was now comparable to the hide of a robust bull.

How tough is a bull's hide?

Even a slightly dull blade, when chopped down forcefully, might only leave a white mark, unable to cut it open.

As his body's skin became as tough as bull hide, its resistance and endurance naturally became far stronger than that of ordinary people. It could be said that now, even if Chen Mu did not know any Blade Technique, just randomly swinging a blade against ten thugs without Body Refinement, he would be the one left standing after a fierce fight.

"Blade Momentum can nearly compensate for a difference of one whole realm during the Skin Toughening and Body Refinement phase," Chen Mu muttered to himself.

Some days ago, he had consulted Min Baoyi about martial arts techniques and heard from him that a person who had achieved Major Achievement in Skin Toughening and mastered Blade Momentum could even compete against a foe with a Minor Achievement in Body Refinement, provided that the opponent had not mastered Blade Momentum.

People who had mastered Blade Momentum were even rarer than those who had stepped into the Body Refinement Realm.

However, moving beyond that, the differences in physique would gradually become more significant. For example, Min Baoyi said that he, having perfected Body Refinement along with Blade Momentum, would find it difficult to win against someone who had achieved Tendon Changing Minor Achievement, even if that person did not know Blade Momentum.

In fact, those capable of refining the Body Tempering Method to the Third Realm 'Tendon Changing' who did not know Blade Momentum were relatively rare.

The reason is simple, between Body Refinement and Tendon Changing, there is a unique gap that must be bridged using a special "Muscle Strengthening Powder," which is extremely expensive; usually, someone who had not mastered 'Momentum' would find it difficult to acquire this medicinal powder, unless they were direct descendants of major families.

These were the things Chen Mu learned from Min Baoyi, and to him, they seemed both near and not too far away, as he would soon step beyond the Skin Toughening realm, and after Body Refinement, he would consider Tendon Changing.

"With Major Achievement in Skin Toughening, even an ambush by dozens of people means little to me; ordinary foes can hardly harm me now. But against someone like Min Baoyi, I still couldn't block even a single round."

Chen Mu was very clear about his own standing and did not secretly rejoice over his current minor achievements.

Even without reaching the level of Min Baoyi, he at least needed to achieve a Minor Achievement in Body Refinement and master the 'Dual Momentum'; only then could his strength in this Outer City area be considered top-tier. Until then, he still needed to be extremely cautious.

"To reach Perfection in Skin Toughening, I need a thousand Experience Points."

With my current physique, I could perhaps perform Skin Toughening four times a day, absorbing an extra portion of medicinal power each time; thus, the thousand Experience Points might be gathered within a month.

Chen Mu nodded to himself; although the prices for both internal and external Medicinal Powders were quite high, his consumption was not excessive. The maximum cost would be a few dozen Silver, and he could completely afford it, even saving much more compared to others.