Time flowed relentlessly. Almost a month passed in the blink of an eye. With Qian Bao keeping them in check, those two from the Chen Family no longer dared to cause trouble.
As the martial examination approached, anyone hoping to make their mark buried themselves in grueling training, and Chen Yuan was no exception. With the system’s support, his advantages would only snowball as time went on.
[Comprehension: 52]
[Root Bone: 72]
[Cultivation: Skin Stage (Great Success); Manifest Force (Minor Achievement)]
[Cultivation Technique]
[Rocky Pile Skill (Minor Achievement): 656/1000]
[Heart Intent Six Harmonies Fist (Minor Achievement): 521/1000]
[Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppression Body First Layer (Elephant Bone): 173/1000]
[Low-key Points: 3]
[Evaluation: You do not show off, nor do you make enemies. Understanding the principle of biding your time, you have caught your first glimpse into the Low-key path. Daily Low-key Points +4]
His Root Bone had already increased to 72. Yuan estimated he had reached the lower Grade-B tier, placing him on the exact same level as Yu Yan. In just a few months, he would surpass Xu Heng and lay claim to the so-called Grade-A Root Bone.
His Rocky Pile Skill steadily improved. He would definitely reach Great Success within three months, which would further accelerate his blood and qi cultivation. At this rate, the Heart Intent Six Harmonies Fist would reach Great Success in just over a month. Once his Manifest Force reached Great Success, he would advance toward Hidden Force.
Thanks to the system, he never had to worry about getting stuck at 999/1000; at worst, he could just spend a Low-key Point to force a breakthrough.
The Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppression Body showed the most dramatic improvement. The fifteen taels of silver he spent this month had not been wasted. His skeletal strength was now far beyond that of ordinary people, and his physical power had surged immensely.
Winter had arrived, blanketing the mountains and rolling hills in a thick layer of snow. Beside the Medicinal Garden, Yuan practiced his punches in a frost-covered clearing, his ambition burning bright against the biting cold.
He practiced the Rocky Pile Skill over and over, cultivating the blood and qi within his body. He guided the energy toward his skin, continuously washing and tempering it while the medicinal efficacy of the Skin Strengthening Pill merged into his flesh.
His naturally bronze skin grew increasingly radiant, taking on a faint metallic sheen. As time passed, a golden luster completely solidified over his body. It looked ancient and heavy, giving off a mesmerizing gleam.
The absolute limit of the Skin Stage—Copper Skin—was complete!
Yuan abruptly opened his eyes. He raised his head, clenched his fists, and nodded in satisfaction at the bronze hue of his forearms. At this Stage, an ordinary person wielding a blade or club would find it nearly impossible to leave even a scratch on him. His skin was as tough as iron, bearing a striking resemblance to the Golden Body Arhat of Shaolin from his past life. This also provided a certain degree of defense against Manifest Force, giving him a distinct advantage in technique exchanges.
However, he wasn’t finished yet.
Yuan took a Bone Strengthening Pill from a medicinal bottle and swallowed it. With his Copper Skin at Great Success and the Elephant Bone working from the inside out, his chances of breaking through the Bone Stage had skyrocketed to ninety-nine percent. If he didn’t initiate the breakthrough now, when would he?
Continuing to practice the Rocky Pile Skill, he sank his qi into his Dantian. Just like when he broke through the Skin Stage, he guided his blood and qi to surge against every bone in his body, aiming to shatter the barrier between bone and qi, fully unlocking the Bone Stage.
Breaking through this Stage posed a unique challenge: it required precise control over the impact force of the blood and qi. If the force was too weak, it couldn’t pierce the periosteum. The prolonged effort would exhaust his qi, causing the breakthrough to fail, and the rebounding energy would damage his body. This demanded exceptionally vigorous blood and qi to dismantle the barrier bit by bit.
Conversely, if the force was too great and the impact too sudden, it could fracture the bones. This was a far more severe and irreversible consequence that would forever ruin any chance of a future breakthrough. Zhang Hong, for instance, had failed to control his force, resulting in damaged bones and a failed breakthrough. He had spent his time tirelessly searching for a way to heal his skeleton ever since.
Yuan, however, didn’t need to worry about any of that. His Copper Skin already allowed him to cultivate blood and qi far stronger than someone who had merely reached Great Success in skin refining, eliminating any fear of energy depletion. Furthermore, his skeletal strength had already been elevated; his bones weren’t fragile like an ordinary person’s, prone to shattering under the impact of rushing qi.
Therefore, all he had to do was guide his blood and qi to charge ruthlessly forward. His breakthrough method was brutally straightforward, entirely free from the usual anxieties.
In the span of a few heartbeats, his blood and qi bore down like an invading army, crushing the barrier separating them from his bones. Instantly, energy flowed unobstructed through his entire skeleton. Yuan felt his control over his body reach a whole new level. The neurological safeguards had loosened, and his physical strength skyrocketed.
As he continued to temper his bones in the future, his endurance, defense, strength, and speed would continuously improve across the board. After all, the skeleton was the body’s framework, the foundation of everything.
With the reinforcement of his blood and qi, the cultivation progress of the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppression Body’s first layer, Elephant Bone, would also dramatically accelerate. This was an additional Horizontal Training technique that directly elevated the biological tier of his bones. How could mortal bones ever compare to the mythical Elephant Bone?
Of course, the term "Elephant Bone" was likely an exaggeration used to describe the enhancement of bone density. This technique stacked with the natural progression of the Bone Stage. Advancing both simultaneously would grant Yuan a massive advantage in strength at this Stage.
After completing the breakthrough and stabilizing his physique, he let out a long breath. Seven months into his martial arts journey, he had finally reached the second phase of the Four Stages of Body Refining. An increase in strength also meant a promotion and a raise. He could acquire more resources to fuel even more resource-intensive cultivation, creating a perfect virtuous cycle.
Looking up, he noticed the darkening sky. Outside, the snow fell quietly against the windowpane, and a straight plume of smoke rose from the furnace into the dusk.
It was getting late, and he couldn’t abandon his post. He decided to report his breakthrough to General Manager Li tomorrow. It was also time to bring up the matter of Senior Brother Fang’s sponsorship again.
For a Martial Artist, every Stage truly represented a different social standing. If he comprehended Hidden Force, his status and treatment would transform once more. Yuan had no intention of hiding his strength merely for the sake of staying low-key. Doing so was pointless and would only bottleneck his access to cultivation resources.
What he looked forward to even more was the fact that, logically, breaking through the Bone Stage should increase his base Low-key Points. This was the true foundation of his livelihood and survival.
By the time his shift ended, it was already Midnight. Yuan returned home, washed up, but didn’t immediately go to sleep. Instead, he sat cross-legged on his bed and waited.
Halfway past Midnight, the system’s settlement evaluation popped up:
[Today, the host has practiced the Low-key path. Low-key Points +4]
Then came the results of the previous evaluation cycle, which was largely identical to the first.
[It has been detected that the host has fulfilled the Low-key principles relatively well within new interpersonal relationships, avoiding the majority of risks while steadily improving strength. You have passed the Low-key assessment. Base settlement points +1. Please implement the Low-key path from beginning to end. A new round of Low-key assessment has begun.]
Looking at the panel again:
[Comprehension: 52]
[Root Bone: 72]
[Cultivation: Bone Stage (Initiation); Manifest Force (Minor Achievement)]
[Cultivation Technique]
[Rocky Pile Skill (Minor Achievement): 658/1000]
[Heart Intent Six Harmonies Fist (Minor Achievement): 523/1000]
[Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppression Body First Layer (Elephant Bone): 180/1000]
[Low-key Points: 7]
[Evaluation: You do not show off, nor do you make enemies. Understanding the principle of biding your time, you have caught your first glimpse into the Low-key path. Daily Low-key Points +5]
Just as Yuan expected, this Low-key assessment was phased according to his Body Refining Cultivation. The next increase wouldn’t happen until he reached the Muscle Stage, unless he triggered some special event.
Five points a day was barely enough, but it still amounted to 150 points a month. Whether he used them to upgrade his Root Bone or Comprehension, the improvements would be noticeable. Even if he dumped them into his Cultivation Techniques, the progress would be substantial.
The road ahead was wide and clear!
In high spirits, Yuan drifted into a deep, comfortable sleep.