Name: Gu Qingfeng
Age: 29/80
Realm: Late Stage of Refining Skin
Martial Arts: Mountain Shattering Fist (Great Success), Iron Body Skills (Not entered)
Upgrade Points: 1
——
In the bedroom, Gu Qingfeng glanced at his attribute panel, only to see that the martial arts section now included the words "Iron Body Skills."
At the same time,
the item bar now contained a thin secret manual, which was the Iron Body Skills manual.
This was another function of the item bar.
As long as it was a reward item, it could be extracted from the item bar or placed back into it, but non-reward items could not enter the item bar.
But even so,
it saved quite a bit of convenience.
Then,
Gu Qingfeng looked at the extra upgrade point, and thoughts formed in his mind.
"I don't need to worry about Iron Body Skills for now. Let's upgrade Mountain Shattering Fist to perfection first!"
Mountain Shattering Fist Perfection!
His own cultivation could then break through to Refining Skin Perfection.
In today's Lin County, reaching Refining Skin Perfection was already quite remarkable.
It wasn't far from the top.
Immediately,
Gu Qingfeng had a thought and directly used the extra upgrade point on Mountain Shattering Fist.
Instantly,
a flood of memories about Mountain Shattering Fist surged into Gu Qingfeng's mind, as if he had meticulously practiced it for decades. The skin on his hands became much rougher and heavier.
His skin was tough,
ordinary knives and swords could hardly harm it.
"Refining Skin Perfection, it's done!"
Gu Qingfeng let out a long breath, his eyes emitting a sharp light.
Given his aptitude, to normally practice and reach Refining Skin Perfection would take at least several decades to have a slight chance.
But now,
his own breakthrough to Refining Skin Perfection took merely about ten years.
Now,
having entered Refining Skin Perfection, Gu Qingfeng felt his current strength, which was a complete change compared to before the breakthrough.
A Refining Skin Martial Artist mainly focused on tempering the body to the point where ordinary knives and swords couldn't harm it.
However,
an ordinary Refining Skin Martial Artist, even though their skin was much tougher than normal, didn't reach the level where knives and swords couldn't harm them. Only at Refining Skin Perfection could one enter such a level.
"With Refining Skin Perfection, the next step is to break through to the Blood Refining Realm!"
"However, for a breakthrough at this level, without corresponding martial arts, trying to advance might not be that easy. Whether the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall has mid-level martial arts for breaking through Blood Refining is also unknown for now.
Moreover, even if the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall has this kind of martial art, they probably wouldn't let outsiders practice it!"
Martial arts are the foundation of a force, and don't think that joining a martial arts hall and paying some silver would let you learn them. In reality, every martial arts hall has its own top-secret martial arts.
Such secret arts cannot be obtained just by paying some silver.
Furthermore,
whether the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall has mid-level martial arts to break through Blood Refining is an unknown matter.
Ultimately,
the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall hasn't even seen the emergence of a Blood Refining Martial Artist.
Not to mention the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall,
but in the entire Lin County, Gu Qingfeng had never heard of the existence of a Blood Refining Martial Artist.
...
The next day,
Gu Qingfeng left his home and headed toward the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall. On the way, he found many commoners gathered in one place, whispering to each other with expressions of fear occasionally flashing across their faces.
"Tsk, this family died so miserably!"
"Could it be that they've angered some enemy?"
"Are you joking? What kind of enemy could do something like this? In my opinion, it must be something unclean..."
Listening to the discussions of the other commoners, Gu Qingfeng saw several constables with swords pushing the onlookers away.
"Move along, everyone, don't gather here!"
Seeing the constables dispersing them, the other commoners dared not confront the officials, quickly backing away.
And just then,
more constables came out carrying stretchers covered with white cloth. Suddenly, a cold wind blew through, and one of the white cloths on the stretchers was blown open, revealing the face of a middle-aged male corpse with a blue tinge, bulging eyes, and a rigid expression.
His chest had a bloody hole torn open, the Five Internal Organs completely gouged out. The corpse emitted a rotting stench that made everyone instinctively want to retch.
Upon seeing this corpse, Gu Qingfeng's pupils constricted sharply.
Especially when he locked eyes with the corpse's wide-open eyes, an eerie and ominous cold feeling rose from his heart, causing Gu Qingfeng to quicken his pace as he left.
Even so, the face of the deceased and the sound of the surrounding commoners' discussions still echoed in his mind.
Unclean things...
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, took a deep breath, and cleared his mind of distracting thoughts.
Upon arriving at the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall,
Gu Qingfeng began his daily teaching of the apprentices. During his leisure time, he overheard some apprentices chatting during their breaks.
These conversations mostly consisted of mundane topics, but among them, certain peculiar words caught Gu Qingfeng's attention.
Unclean!
Weird!
...
Gu Qingfeng looked at the person speaking, a boy of around sixteen or seventeen. He remembered the boy's name.
Li Niu!
A completely ordinary name, and his aptitude was equally ordinary. Having joined the martial arts hall for over a year, he still hadn't entered the ranks of a Martial Artist, stepping into the world of Refining Skin.
"Li Niu, come over here."
Gu Qingfeng's voice reached them, causing the group involved in the conversation to pause. Then, the boy named Li Niu walked up to him, bowing respectfully.
"Instructor Gu, did you need something?"
Li Niu asked cautiously.
While he spoke, he also felt a slight excitement within, wondering if he was about to be favored by the instructor.
After all, in novels and storybooks, it's often said that a poor boy would be noticed by a hidden master, who would then teach him martial arts, propelling him to greatness.
To Li Niu and other ordinary apprentices, Gu Qingfeng, as a senior instructor at the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall, was no different from a hidden master.
"I heard you saying something about unclean and weird things, so I wanted to ask if you know anything about it."
Upon hearing Gu Qingfeng's question, Li Niu's face showed a glimpse of disappointment, but he quickly returned to his usual demeanor, speaking enthusiastically.
"Instructor Gu, you might not know, but recently, several families in the county town met with bizarre deaths, dying in particularly gruesome ways. Their bodies were all opened up with their internals hollowed out.
We all suspect that these incidents weren't caused by humans but by some kind of unclean things."
"With so many deaths, didn't the authorities find anything?"
"Ha, how could they find anything? My father says these aren't normal deeds, so the authorities are wasting their efforts investigating them!"
Hearing Li Niu's words, Gu Qingfeng's expression subtly changed.
*Being a martial artist gave him a keen intuition, making him instinctively sense that these matters were far from simple.*
After all, Lin County, although small, still had government officials stationed there. If a true maniac were causing harm, the authorities couldn't possibly remain without any clues.
*In this way,*
*the situation appeared to be growing more severe.*