Chapter 77 - 75: Spiritual Monkey Marrow Cleansing Skill
"From now on, I will obey the Fourth Miss’s commands!" Luo Meng straightforwardly half-knelt and lowered his head.
"This counts as the first one." Xiao Shuyun’s mood improved slightly.
"Elder Feng, bring in the next batch."
The old family servant quickly led people out again, leaving only Luo Meng from Dingqing Temple behind.
Afterward, batches of people came in one after another.
As early as some time ago, Xiao Shuyun had already sent out messages to recruit guests, and now these were the talents who passed the first screening.
They were then further selected by Song Changming and Xiao Shuyun personally.
After reviewing them for an entire afternoon, only about four or five people were considered having potential for cultivation.
However, none of the renowned experts from the Jianghu were present, which left Xiao Shuyun quite disappointed.
"If I may speak frankly, if the Fourth Miss wishes to attract those martial arts powerhouses, the background of the Xiao Family is sufficient, but the Fourth Miss must cultivate her reputation more frequently, otherwise it will still be difficult..."
Before leaving, Song Changming, noticing Xiao Shuyun’s seemingly dejected expression, couldn’t help but comment.
"Guard Captain Song’s words are indeed true, I will consider this matter carefully," Xiao Shuyun nodded in agreement.
Suddenly recalling something, she ordered someone to bring a small brocade box.
"Guard Captain Song previously mentioned wanting to find manuals on martial arts body refining skills. I have here an annotated version of the Marrow Cleansing Skill, which has been confirmed to be without errors. I wonder if you would need it?" Xiao Shuyun asked, presenting the brocade box.
Song Changming’s eyes lit up and, without refusing, he expressed thanks and accepted the brocade box.
He did have thoughts of seeking martial arts manuals, but the quality of such hand-copied texts in the market was extremely varied, with errors and omissions being common.
Not to mention the upper vehicle martial arts manuals, even finding a complete set of low-level martial arts techniques was extremely difficult.
This Marrow Cleansing Skill that Xiao Shuyun provided not only had no content omissions but also came with annotations, making it quite a rare find indeed.
It was worth the afternoon he spent there, making his reward quite worthwhile.
Back in his room from the Xiao Mansion.
Song Changming started to browse the Marrow Cleansing Skill he obtained.
The reason he wanted to find other martial arts and body refining skills was primarily out of curiosity about how other martial paths appeared.
And among martial artists, there are those who practice body refining in different directions. As long as you have the capacity, you’re not restricted to focusing on just one path.
Currently, Song Changming mainly follows the path of bone forging and saber skills, and his Great Strength Bull Demon Skill had already reached the Third Realm, with a clear path ahead.
On this foundation, he also wished to explore different potentials within himself.
If possible, he didn’t want to be limited to reaching just the Ninth Realm in bone forging!
He opened the Marrow Cleansing Skill manual.
This skill was named Spiritual Monkey Skill, known for its marvels in marrow cleansing and tendon forging, achieving great perfection could yield the Spiritual Monkey Body.
Marrow cleansing and tendon forging primarily enhance a person’s flexibility, agility, and overall coordination abilities.
In fact, fast blade skills like the Flying Swallow Technique, when paired with such marrow cleansing and body refining skills, can unleash the full characteristics of quick blades.
Unfortunately, as depicted further in the text, the skill could only be practiced to a strength level of the Sixth Mirror in marrow cleansing, limited by the body refining skill itself and making it difficult to progress further.
From this viewpoint, the Great Strength Bull Demon Skill Song Changming acquired, directly targeting the Ninth Realm of bone forging, although not well-known, was an extremely precious body refining skill.
There were many external refining skills that couldn’t reach the Ninth Realm.
"Let’s give it a try."
After repeatedly reviewing the manual, Song Changming attempted to pose in the Spiritual Monkey Posture in the courtyard.
With the Great Strength Bull Demon Skill as a reference and relying on past body refining experiences, Song Changming quickly picked up the new skill.
Soon enough, he began to feel a slight warmth in his fascia, almost as if heat was surging through his joints, though it wasn’t very apparent.
Checking his status panel, the martial arts item Spiritual Monkey Skill was added.
In order to continue practicing this skill, he needed to procure various body refining herbs as recorded, to assist in cultivation, similar to what he did with the Great Strength Bull Demon Skill.
However, the required herbs for the two body refining skills were quite different.
If Song Changming wished to pursue both routes simultaneously in the future, he would need to prepare a full set of herbs and elixirs for each skill monthly.
The expenses would essentially double.
Fortunately, he still had a considerable amount of reward silver from the Night Traveler incident, and the salary from the General Department was higher than that of the Patrol Armor Bureau in the city.
Even with doubled expenses, he could still afford them.
"Now that I have both bone forging and marrow cleansing, I’m just missing the body refining skills for skin grinding and muscle training in the other two directions..." Song Changming murmured.
He wasn’t in a hurry and continued his practice, believing that he would encounter them sooner or later.
Subsequent practice of the Spiritual Monkey Skill progressed smoothly, with his experience value increasing by one or two points almost daily, much faster than the three or four days of hard work it took to gain just a little with the Bull Demon Skill, demonstrating undeniable efficiency in cultivation.
Song Changming figured that this was likely thanks to his previously completed Third Realm of body refining.
Although the Third Realm body refining focused on bone forging, it somewhat also facilitated development in other parts of the body, albeit at a lower intensity.
Therefore, initially practicing the Spiritual Monkey Skill was the fastest, and as his realm advanced, the body refining speed would slow down.
And as expected, things turned out exactly as he anticipated.
He continued to focus primarily on the Great Strength Bull Demon Skill daily, while supplementing it with the Spiritual Monkey Skill practice.
In less than three months, he achieved his first breakthrough in the Spiritual Monkey Skill, reaching the First Realm of marrow cleansing and body refining.
Subsequently, during the Second Realm cultivation, the rate of experience increase significantly slowed down.
The efficiency of cultivation gradually aligned with the Great Strength Bull Demon Skill, for which he had mentally prepared and was not surprised.
If dual cultivation were so simple and easy, there wouldn’t be the practice among martial artists under the heavens to specialize in one aspect of body refinement.
Those with the means would already be pursuing dual cultivation, forging the most perfect and powerful body under the heavens.
But currently, the mainstream practice is still the specialized method of martial arts, with only a very few able to handle dual cultivation.
...
Time flies, and another year has passed.
This year’s annual evaluation was ordinary due to the peacefulness of the county city, with no major events happening, leaving Song Changming without the chance to stir up trouble.
Therefore, the evaluation was average, not as remarkable as the previous two years.
Consequently, the three reward options shrunk somewhat, and Song Changming ultimately chose to save his life span, opting for one point of attribute value as this year’s reward, and continued to add it to the Root Attribute.
His life span has finally reached thirty-eight thousand days.
Within that, thirty-six thousand days can be regarded as his extra life, the greatest confidence when dealing with others outside, and absolutely cannot be reduced.
The additional two thousand days can be used to exchange for the annual reward consumption.
This avoids future dilemmas where there might be desired annual rewards but no extra life span points to consume.
Although no major events occurred this year, Song Changming has remained industrious in martial arts cultivation, without excessive laxity; Heaven Rewards Diligence, and progress has been quite pleasing.
His Great Strength Bull Demon Skill, after a long period of consolidation, recently achieved a breakthrough to the Fourth Realm, leading to a significant improvement in his strength.
Moreover, the Spiritual Monkey Skill has completed the First Realm refinement, and the Cleansing Marrow and Changing Tendons have broken through to the strength of the Second Realm.
Previously, when the Spiritual Monkey Skill reached the First Realm, he didn’t feel the changes were noticeable, only sensing minor variations in his body.
But now, after breaking through the Second Realm, the changes are considerable.
He can distinctly detect his body becoming agile and light, with a significant improvement in both hand speed and foot speed, thanks to the Light Body Skill.
Now, he’s no longer a cumbersome iron ox but a swift and unstoppable bull tank!
This is the strong point of dual cultivation; the disadvantage of one’s weaknesses quickly vanish, even becoming strengths.
Additionally, regarding martial arts, his Flying Swallow Knife Skill has achieved great perfection, and the Light Body Skill has also recently made some gains.
Indeed, practicing the Spiritual Monkey Skill offers some assistance to cultivating the Light Body Skill.
The relationship between martial arts and body refining skills is inherently complementary.
...
Today, Brocade Street, Huaman Building.
This tavern, looking across the entire county city, is a top-tier venue, business thriving exceedingly, often visited by eminent figures for tea and meals.
The tavern’s reputation is widespread, though most people are aware of its name, not knowing the true owner behind it, originally an asset under Xiao Hongyang, the eldest of the Xiao Family.
After Miss Xiao Shuyun came of age, he gifted her this tavern as a grand gesture to his younger sister.
Now, the owner of the tavern is Xiao Shuyun, who doesn’t even need to manage it; the tavern continuously provides her with substantial financial income every month.
Today, a person wearing a bamboo hat sat alone by the window in the tavern, drinking and eating.
Suddenly, his hand holding the cup paused.
At this moment, a person walked up to him and sat down across the table.
His gaze turned cold as he looked through the brim holes of his hat, noticing the newcomer dressed in a dark green armored official uniform, carrying a long knife with an eye-catching dual dragon head hilt.
The identity of the knife bearer was self-evident.
"It’s said that a young talented swordsman has emerged from the county’s government office; today, I’ve seen it for myself," the person with the hat slowly spoke.
His voice was dry and raspy, speaking at a steady pace.
Song Changming looked at the person before him and revealed his identity.
"Southern Tiger Blade Guest, Liu Luo, who killed three officials consecutively in Wu’an Prefecture over the past two years, wanted and rewarded with a thousand silver.
With such a record, fleeing to Donglai Prefecture without hiding but boldly appearing in public to drink, isn’t that being audacious?"
Liu Luo slightly raised his head, looking at Song Changming expressionlessly, eyes as calm as water, not at all panicked even when his identity was revealed, casually saying.
"My wish has been fulfilled; this time, I’ve come to turn myself in. You’re lucky to be the first to find me, so the reward silver naturally goes to you."
"Oh?" Song Changming didn’t expect the other party to appear as if there’s no desire to struggle, merely waiting here to be captured.
"Why kill officials?"
"Because they deserved to die."
Liu Luo poured himself another drink and downed it in one go.
Song Changming nodded, not too surprised by Liu Luo’s answer.
During his years as a Patrol Guard, he encountered numerous Jianghu Guests with similar personalities.
Initially, Liu Xiangnan was like this, and Liu Luo now follows suit.
Drawing weapons when facing injustice, risking life without consideration.
"In that case, come with me," Song Changming said to the Jianghu swordsman.
He didn’t ask much; fulfilling his duty was all that mattered.
However, Liu Luo put down his cup and suddenly said, "I originally intended to, but upon meeting you, I’ve changed my mind.
Lately, your reputation is soaring, and since we both wield swords, why not have a duel? If you win, I’ll give you my sword and go with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, not waiting for Song Changming to reply, Liu Luo grasped the long knife on the table and swung it at Song Changming.