Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

’Root Bone, improve!’

Without much hesitation, Xu Yang directly added one hundred and fifty points to his Root Bone.

In an instant, a warm sensation spread through his limbs and bones. It was gentle at first but soon raged like a wildfire.

A pained expression appeared on Xu Yang’s face. He felt as if every inch of his flesh was on fire. This pain was more intense than any previous time he had improved his Root Bone.

He could no longer remain seated, his body curling up on the bed like a boiled shrimp from the pain. It felt as if countless invisible hands were churning inside him, altering his body’s very structure.

This wasn’t far from the truth. Through Introspection, he saw his bones had seemingly softened and were now writhing, as if rearranging themselves into a perfect Root Bone structure.

The excruciating pain nearly made him pass out. His muscles, bones, and flesh also seemed to be restructuring, with many flawed areas being adjusted and repaired by those invisible hands.

At the same time, a much more vigorous qi and blood emerged from his flesh, far surpassing the previous quality and quantity.

CRACK... CRACK...

Xu Yang’s bones and tendons chimed in unison, as if undergoing a Purification and Marrow Cleansing. A foul-smelling black sweat began to seep from his pores, and his skin twitched and trembled as if thousands of ants were crawling over it.

Finally, he even discovered that his skin had begun to peel.

RIP...

Xu Yang tore at it with his hand, pulling off a layer of skin as thin as a cicada’s wing. Underneath was new, delicate, and rosy skin.

’This is a complete rebirth...’

He felt an indescribable comfort all over his body, as if he had broken free from some kind of shackles. His muscles, bones, and flesh hummed with a joyful tremor.

[Root Bone: 100]

’One hundred in Root Bone... does this count as Perfection? Or can I keep adding to it?’ Xu Yang was a little unsure.

But he could feel that his body had undergone an earth-shattering transformation, a sensation he had never experienced before.

His internal Gang Qi circulated on its own, nourishing every inch of his flesh, muscles, and bones. The effect was incomparable to before. He could feel his body’s strength increasing with every passing moment.

’The cultivation of the Golden Gang Skill is said to be unrelated to Root Bone or Comprehension, but a Root Bone at one hundred—at Perfection—is a different story.’

Xu Yang circulated the Golden Gang Skill slightly and quickly discovered that the cultivation speed of this technique had changed drastically. It was no longer the snail-like pace of before.

Previously, it would have taken him about three years to reach Great Success in the Golden Gang Skill, but now, he estimated that about a year would be enough.

Of course, it wasn’t that the cultivation technique had changed. Rather, his Root Bone had reached Perfection, making his plasticity and growth potential unlike before, and the tempering effect of his Gang Qi had become much better.

He took out another Eight-Treasure Body-Strengthening Pill and consumed it. Before he even had a chance to circulate his Gang Qi, his body, like a precision machine, absorbed the medicinal effects in an instant.

’This is burning through my money even faster!’

Previously, the effects of one Eight-Treasure Body-Strengthening Pill could last for three days, but now, it was absorbed completely in an instant.

A Root Bone of eighty-five versus one hundred—it seemed like a difference of only fifteen points, but the real gap couldn’t be measured by numbers.

「The next day.」

Both Xu Yang and Sun Tao seemed to have forgotten about Lin Wei’s matter. They didn’t continue searching for her, nor did they go down the mountain to write a letter to Lin Cheng.

In fact, such an incident was a minor affair among the Outer Disciples. Lin Wei’s talent was mediocre, so hardly anyone cared whether she lived or died.

A few more days passed, and Lin Wei still hadn’t returned. Sun Tao no longer held onto any delusions and understood that Lin Wei had indeed been killed.

Seeing this, Xiao Hua was secretly satisfied. He no longer felt such an urgent need to eliminate Xu Yang and Sun Tao.

As long as the two of them didn’t run their mouths, he could take his time figuring out a way to deal with them.

Although he was a Steward in the Task Hall, he couldn’t do certain things too blatantly.

The Purple Sun Sect didn’t much care about the lives of its Outer Disciples, but that didn’t mean its own members could kill each other at will. There were still basic protections in place.

With Xu Yang and Sun Tao both engaged in tasks, he didn’t dare to forcibly terminate their assignments and send them out of the sect’s gates.

In the following days, Xu Yang continued doing his tasks while enjoying the cultivation effects brought by his Root Bone Perfection.

When he returned at night, he would find time to practice several Martial Techniques, and his strength improved even faster than before.

At the same time, among the Dragon Ascending Disciples of their generation, more and more people were achieving Gang Qi Minor Achievement. Xu Yang, however, showed no signs of progress, and the calls for him to be kicked off the Ten Heroes List grew louder and louder.

The trio of Guo Huai, An Ping, and Tang Xiao rarely came to see him anymore. Only Shen Liang would hang out with him when he was free. Shen Liang even proposed sparring with Xu Yang again several times, but Xu Yang refused each time.

In the blink of an eye, another month had passed. Xu Yang cautiously descended the mountain. After refining two hundred Blood Coagulation Pills for the Zhu Family, he successfully obtained the Guiyuan Pill.

He learned from Zhu Bin that the Su Family was still looking for him. However, as long as the Zhu Family didn’t betray him, the Su Family was unlikely to find him.

"Shopkeeper Zhu, I was wondering, what are the conditions for obtaining the Pill Formulas from the Zhu Family’s collection?"

After this transaction was complete, Xu Yang didn’t hurry to leave. Instead, he asked Zhu Bin about the Pill Formulas.

He was no longer satisfied with having to stay awake for three days and three nights straight each month just to earn seven or eight hundred silver.

Most importantly, the Blood Coagulation Pills were no longer very effective for him. As his physical body grew stronger, even the effects of the Eight-Treasure Body-Strengthening Pills were diminishing.

He needed a more potent Pill Formula, preferably one for pills he could use himself.

Zhu Bin put down his teacup and said with a smile, "Join our Zhu Family. The Pill Formulas in my family’s collection will be yours to study as you please. Not only that, but the same goes for our cultivation techniques.

The Zhu Family will also provide the medicinal ingredients for you to practice refining the pills."

These terms were excellent. One had to understand that even learning to refine the simplest Qi Replenishing Pill would require thousands, or even tens of thousands, of silver’s worth of ingredients to practice with. This point alone was enough to entice any Pill Master.