Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Early morning.

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

The entire Chen Residence had already started its busy day, with the early-rising maids and servants fetching water, lighting fires, and preparing medicinal herbs, soon filling the estate with a rich herbal aroma.

Bai Wei wiped the sweat from her forehead, her body leaning gently against the desk as she took a brief rest. While keeping an eye on the heat, she watched a maid handle a type of herb called True Sun Fruit.

This herb had been soaked in water since the day before.

The previously wrinkled True Sun Fruit, now saturated, had swelled several times in size.

The nimble maid picked up the True Sun Fruit and squeezed out the juice with a sizzle.

The purpose of this herb was the juice inside, the rest being mere dregs. She squeezed it several times, wringing it dry until no more juice could be extracted, before tossing it aside to rest.

The decoction room was very hot.

Everywhere there were pots boiling over, steaming.

Everyone’s face was covered in sweat.

Bai Wei felt particularly stuffy and her chest felt so tight that it was a struggle to breathe.

"Steward, how many buckets are we boiling today?"

"These past few days, it’s been two buckets everyday," Bai Wei’s mind had momentarily been filled with inexplicable images that suddenly dissipated, and she regained her senses to say, "The master said, it’s just these few days. Everyone, bear with it a little longer, the master is at a critical period now, it will be over soon."

...

"I never thought that skin would turn this color!"

Chen Li looked at his palm.

The skin was a cold white, as if glazed, reflecting an eerie porcelain sheen. It didn’t look like a human hand but possessed an otherworldly sense of strangeness.

"Immortal Muscles, is this what Immortal Muscles look like?"

A hint of melancholy crossed Chen Li’s face.

This wasn’t what he had intended.

The reason he had chosen the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill was that this Body Refining Technique had no side effects; it wouldn’t turn him into a giant or a monster, nor was it dangerous.

Yet, in the end, he was still deceived by the description of the technique.

Immortal Muscles, to think it would be this kind of Immortal Muscles!

Far from exuding an air of immortal charisma, it instead looked bizarre and horrifying.

Fortunately, despite appearing hard, the skin was still soft and sensitive to touch, without the slightest dulled sensation, but it became extremely flexible. Even when he tested it with a second-order lower-tier Evil-Slaying Sword, he had to apply some force to make a cut.

As for the second-order middle-tier Azure Cloud Sword (gifted by Yu Fan Zhen)

Unless he hacked hard.

He couldn’t even break the skin.

Beyond that, his strength hadn’t increased much.

Chen Li slowly got to his feet and casually threw a punch, the air around him suddenly exploded in vapor and a thunderous sonic boom.

With his strength combined with a second-order lower-tier Evil-Slaying Sword and the added power of the Heavenly Gang force, ordinary defenses were useless. Protection formed by Water Element Talismans was completely ineffective against him, and even a second-order level seven shield talisman would crumble with a single casual strike.

Chen Li checked his attributes panel:

"Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill Grandmaster: 3185/3200"

"Only three days left," Chen Li murmured to himself.

...

As the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill neared max level, the transformation of his body accelerated rapidly.

Two days later.

Gang Energy perfection.

After one more day, Jade Bones completion!

The moment the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill was about to reach max level, Immortal Muscles, Gang Energy, and Jade Bones finally fused into one, achieving perfection. As if a bomb went off in his mind, Chen Li’s body shook and an indescribable power began to emerge from the depths of his heart.

Tender, silky strength grew out of every part of his body.

Like an invisible force field, it protected every corner of his body.

As the technique operated, it grew rapidly until it was full, no longer increasing.

Chen Li slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, he felt entirely comfortable in his body.

The bizarre itching was long gone without a trace.

Now his breathing was long, his eyes were sparkling, he was brimming with energy, and his heart was beating powerfully. At the same time, his five senses, already sharpened by his swordsmanship, improved to varying degrees.

He felt better than he ever had before.

What delighted Chen Li the most was that the porcelain white luster of his skin had also completely faded, returning to its normal flesh color.

It seemed as if his physical technique had regressed, but in fact, after perfection, the technique became internalized, returning to simplicity and truth.

As soon as he entered a state of combat, his skin would show the color of "Immortal Muscles" once again.

At this point, Chen Li suddenly thought of something and quickly opened the game panel:

"Lifespan: 55/308"

Lifespan suddenly increased by eight years.

Chen Li had some mild surprise in his heart; he hadn’t expected a Body Refining Technique to actually break through the limits of Foundation Establishment.

However, now that the anxiety about his lifespan was gone, such an increase no longer drew much of his attention. His gaze swept quickly past it, focusing on the "Divine Skills" category in the attribute panel.

As expected, besides the original "Immunity to All Disease,"

there was now an "Limb Regeneration."

"Huh!?"

Chen Li took a closer look.

He found he had not seen wrong.

The greater the anticipation had been, the greater the disappointment was now.

Why must it always be such Divine Skills?

Why couldn’t there be Divine Skills related to space or time?

Even if not,

something related to attacks would also be fine.

Limb regeneration, if useful, at least meant he wouldn’t have to worry about losing limbs in the future. If it was useless, it wouldn’t be of much help in dangerous situations; moreover, if he was at the point of losing limbs, death was probably just a step away.

It was only slightly better than nothing.

Chen Li closed the attribute panel with a soft sigh. His body flew out of the medicinal bath tub and into a tub of clean water beside it to wash off the remaining medicinal liquid.

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

"Wait a moment... Limb regeneration might not be as simple as its literal meaning."

Chen Li pondered thoughtfully.

After all, it was still Divine Skills we’re talking about.

If it was merely limb regeneration, then the Divine Skills would be too cheap.

Many lower life forms can do that.

But it does not mean these creatures have Divine Skills.

He suspected that this kind of Divine Skill might be related to self-healing ability, possibly even a description of a level of self-healing ability.

With this thought, Chen Li’s expectations rose again:

"I’ll do a test on it later."

He emerged from the clean water tub.

Bai Wei, who had been waiting at his side, hurriedly stepped forward, carefully drying Chen Li’s body, helping him into his clothes, and combing his hair, stealing glances at him now and then during the grooming, her face blushing like the glow of dawn.

Chen Li didn’t mind; as an experienced hand, he was used to such looks. He asked casually, "How many portions of medicinal herbs are left?"

"Reporting to Master, there are six portions left, only enough for two more medicinal baths," Bai Wei answered with a blush.

"No need for more medicinal baths in the future. Give me the remaining herbs when you have time, and I’ll see if I can return them!" said Chen Li.

"Yes, Master!"

Six portions of medicinal herbs.

They’re worth two Top-grade Spirit Stones.

That shouldn’t go to waste.

...

Once properly attired, Chen Li left the medicinal bath chamber and strolled to the edge of a small lake, finally stopping in front of a huge rock.

It was a warm afternoon in spring with bright sunshine. A warm breeze blew across, causing ripples on the surface of the lake.

It was indeed rare good weather.

He spread out one hand on the rock and took out the Evil-Slaying Sword from his storage bag, then raised the sword high.

He gritted his teeth, ready to commit.

But after thinking it over, he felt it was unnecessary, not worth it.

He switched to a little finger.

...

Chen Li strained for a while and finally made a small cut about five or six centimeters long on his arm.

Blood quickly flowed from the wound.

But it had flowed for less than ten seconds when it stopped.

At the same time, an itchy sensation came from the wound.

"That was fast!"

He quickly wiped the blood from his arm.

To his astonishment, the wound had already closed up and started to scab over; soon after, the scab began to fall off and the wound completely healed.

Chen Li roughly estimated that the whole process took only about half a minute.

Of course, this was also because the wound was small; if it had been an actual case of losing an arm or a leg, it surely wouldn’t have healed so quickly.

"Indeed worthy of being a Divine Skill!" joy appeared on Chen Li’s face: "This recovery ability is much stronger than a Max Level Hemostasis Healing Skill."