Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 37: Chapter 35: The Limit

The Ironsand Skin Toughening Method requires one to dig a deep pit and bury rough ironsand around it. After ingesting a dose of Medicinal Powder and applying a certain medicinal lotion externally, one would strike against the ironsand surrounding the pit, hammering the skin membrane.

When first practicing this technique, the skin membrane is easily damaged, leaving bloodstains. An additional dose of Qi and Blood Powder is necessary. After repeated practice, the skin gradually heals until one can freely collide with and scrape against the ironsand in the pit without any damage to the skin membrane, eventually mastering the technique.

"It's indeed much cruder compared to the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique,"

Chen Mu thought to himself.

Practicing the Skin Toughening Method in such a rough way will certainly leave hidden injuries and chronic diseases, even with the support of Qi and Blood Powder and internally taken medicinal soups for protection. These won't be noticeable when young but will cause full-body pain in old age, which is far inferior to the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique.

It's clear that this Medicinal Powder is less efficient than the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique. Simply burying sand and pouring cannot allow the medicinal power to permeate the skin membrane; it has to be supplemented with striking and enduring the harsh ironsand to take effect.

No sooner said than done.

Chen Mu was highly efficient and quickly modified the sand pit he had used for practicing the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, turning it into an ironsand pit and preparing several Medicinal Powders for refinement. Then, he took off his clothes, ingested the powder and applied the lotion, and jumped into the pit.

The manual for the Ironsand Skin Toughening Method states that a beginner should only practice for a quarter of an hour each day. As the skin membrane grows tougher, the practice time should be extended. Once Minor Achievement is reached, one could practice for an hour daily, and with Major Achievement, one could endure for two hours each day.

For the present Chen Mu, such restrictions are non-existent.

His Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique has reached Perfection. In terms of skin membrane toughness, even someone who had perfected the Ironsand Skin Toughening Method would be at most on par with him. The coarse ironsand in the deep pit cannot cause any wear to his skin membrane whatsoever.

Chen Mu wasn't too concerned about wear and tear. As a man, he had no need to cultivate a body as delicate as ice or bones like jade. What he cared about was the efficiency of practicing the Ironsand Skin Toughening Method with the strength of his current skin membrane.

Very soon.

An hour of extended practice passed.

Chen Mu felt his entire skin membrane... with no noticeable change.

Obviously, given the foundation of the perfected Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, the effects of the Ironsand Skin Toughening Method were negligible. Even if it still had an effect, it would be hard to see any significant results without years of cultivation.

However, Chen Mu wasn't concerned about that. He directly summoned the system panel, which did not disappoint him.

[Ironsand Skin Toughening Method (Uncompleted)]

[Experience Points: 27]

Although he couldn't feel any effect, an hour of enduring practice, along with repeated application of the medicinal lotion, had accumulated a total of 27 Experience Points. Furthermore, Chen Mu currently felt no discomfort whatsoever.

Obviously, for him, an hour of enduring this practice was akin to sprinkling a little water.

"As expected."

A slight smile appeared on Chen Mu's face, and he continued to refine the Medicinal Powders and persist in his practice within the ironsand pit.

After nearly four more hours of practice, with continuous application of the medicinal lotion, he finally started to feel a numbing discomfort in his skin membrane, reaching the limit of what he could endure.

Summoning the system panel again, the Experience Points had climbed to a full 132!

Chen Mu leaped out of the pit, took a short break, then spent the accumulated Experience Points to instantly elevate the Ironsand Skin Toughening Method to Minor Achievement!

Whir!!!

It was as if several months' worth of accumulated practice in the ironsand pit had exploded all at once. Inside his body, a wave of heat surged and exploded, rising continually and spreading to every part of his skin membrane.

This was different from when he improved the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, which felt like being pricked by a thousand needles. This technique felt like rough ironsand vigorously rubbing against every part of his body.

But for the current Chen Mu, this rubbing sensation wasn't particularly painful.

In fact, it was even slightly comforting.

After all, compared to the process of improving the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, the degree of pain was incomparable. This was also because of the foundation built with Perfection in the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, which greatly increased the resistance of his skin membrane to such stress.

A moment later.

The surging Qi-Blood within his body returned to stability.

Chen Mu clenched his fists; this time, he did feel a slight change. The Ironsand Skin Toughening Method at Minor Achievement, layered on top of the perfected Golden Jade Technique, still had some effect, making his skin membrane somewhat tougher.

"Good, it seems I'm on the right track."

Within just one day, he had achieved Minor Achievement in the Sand-Iron Skin Toughening Technique, and this was on top of already achieving Perfection in another Skin Toughening Method. If word of this got out, who knows how many jaws would drop in astonishment.

But this made perfect sense for Chen Mu because with the current strength of his skin and membranes, he was able to withstand five hours of the Sand-Iron Skin Toughening Technique within a single day.

His skin and membranes were already at full strength, and the medicinal juice that was repeatedly applied during those five hours was fully converted into Experience Points by the system panel without any waste.

What would take an ordinary person two or three months to slowly endure and absorb, he had done in a much shorter time span.

As it neared midnight.

Chen Mu did not continue with his cultivation, instead he cleaned himself and rested in his room.

When dawn broke the next day, he resumed his practice of the Sand-Iron Skin Toughening Technique. This time, he endured even longer. Apart from meal and rest breaks, he withstood six hours of membrane toughening, accruing nearly two hundred Experience Points including what was left from before.

On the third day.

After another four hours, the Sand-Iron Skin Toughening Technique reached Major Achievement!

Since starting the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, the appearance of Chen Mu's skin had not changed much, but with the Major Achievement in the Sand-Iron Skin Toughening Technique, his skin color finally became a shade darker, gaining a hint of bronze luster.

Just as Chen Mu had expected, practicing multiple Skin Toughening Methods not only didn't diminish his progress but actually accelerated it as the strength of his skin and membranes gradually increased. It took only three days to advance from Minor Achievement to Major Achievement, and just five more days to reach Perfection!

At this time.

Chen Mu's skin was a deep bronze, showing a thick and solid color, very similar to the Copper-Steel Skin that the son of Zhang Xiangshen possessed. When he slid a slightly dull kitchen knife across his arm, it left only a white mark.

"Even though I still can't compare with him, I have achieved at least ninety percent of his level. Moreover, the Qi-Blood within my body has become even more vigorous. Although the increase in sheer strength isn't large, my stamina has at least doubled compared to before," he said.

Chen Mu let out a breath.

In a fight between martial men, at the lower realms, what counts is courage—the brave prevail in a narrow path. But as one ascends in realm, the essence of the competition becomes who can take more hits, whose Blade Technique is sharper, whose strength is more vast, whose stamina lasts longer!

Having both Skin Toughening Methods perfected and their effects overlaid upon each other brought resistance and even more abundant stamina, which meant that once he stepped into the Body Refinement Realm, his bursts of strength would be much more enduring.

What were the limits of the strength of his skin?

Chen Mu soon found the answer to this question.

Because after reaching Perfection in the third 'Coarse Salt Skin Toughening Method' within just seven short days, his inner Qi-Blood was as vigorous as a blazing flame, reaching the limit that his body could withstand, and his skin and membranes had reached their limits as well.

After achieving Perfection in the Sand-Iron Skin Toughening Method, his skin turned into a deep bronze color. But after practicing the Coarse Salt Skin Toughening Method, his complexion was gradually whitened again, reverting back to the wheat color of his youth, and even a bit lighter.

"Copper-Steel Skin."

Feeling the formidable nature of his skin, Chen Mu couldn't help but smile.

For most people, it would either take an exceptional talent or years of time to cultivate such Copper-Steel Skin. Yet for him, it took him less than a month to perfectly master it!

If anything, this level must be the limit of the first Realm of Skin Toughening. In terms of natural Copper Skin, it was in no way inferior, and perhaps even stronger in terms of the richness of Qi-Blood!

"Once Skin Toughening reaches Perfection, one can withstand the strain brought on by a surge in muscular strength in the Body Refinement Realm. With my current Copper-Steel Skin, once I step into the level of Body Refinement, the strength I can bear will undoubtedly be much more substantial," he thought.

Chen Mu took a deep breath.

Slowly, he retrieved a booklet from the bedroom.

"Fierce Ox Body Refinement Method"

This was what he had asked Min Baoyi for three days ago. Although he could have also requested it from Xu Hongyu, with Min Baoyi, a person who had achieved Body Refinement Perfection, being close by, he didn't need to go further afield; he just needed a suitable reason.

In fact, Min Baoyi didn't even care about Chen Mu's reason. Upon hearing that Chen Mu wanted to study the technique of Body Refinement in advance, he casually agreed, bringing the Body Refinement Method the next day and handing it over to Chen Mu, even more readily than Chen Mu had expected.

Clearly for someone like Min Baoyi, the Practice Method of Body Refinement was nothing extraordinary, especially since Chen Mu was already someone Xu Hongyu intended to train.

However.

When handing the Body Refinement Method over to Chen Mu, Min Baoyi still warned him not to rashly begin practicing it unless he had first achieved Perfection in Skin Toughening.

Due to the progressive nature, starting to practice Body Refinement before Skin Toughening was perfected would make them work against each other, hindering further Skin Toughening progress and potentially preventing Body Refinement from being brought to Perfection.

Skin Toughening is the foundation for Body Refinement, just as Body Refinement is also the basis for the subsequent Tendon Changing and Bone Tempering.

This realization helped Chen Mu understand the necessity of toughening his skin to the Copper-Steel level; if there was a limit for Body Refinement, Tendon Changing and Bone Tempering, then firm and steady progress at every step was crucial to fully exploit the advantages of his system panel.