22: Twenty exercises!
Qin Jiang caressed the porcelain bottle. The reason he carried some with him was actually to deal with sudden situations like tonight.
It wasn't because he was afraid of the authorities investigating; this wasn't the Inner City after all.
At this time, the authorities wouldn't care about the public order in the Outer City unless too many people died at once, in which case they would send yamen officials over.
His main concern was that the Jin Yu Pavilion's people might discover something. If they found some clues and tracked him down, he didn't think he could handle an entire Jin Yu Pavilion by himself.
He squatted down, tore off half a sleeve from a corpse, and then poured the Corpse Dissolving Water onto the body, immediately followed by a corrosive sound.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the two corpses had vanished without a trace.
Qin Jiang nodded slightly. The Corpse Dissolving Water developed by the Old Doctor was colorless, odorless, and could even corrode clothes. It was truly effective.
He rolled the half-sleeve in his hand into a short stick, poured some Corpse Dissolving Water on its tip, and then, before the sleeve corroded, wiped it over the splattered blood around.
A moment later, he threw down the heavily corroded sleeve in his hand, waited until it was completely dissolved, and then, after confirming nothing was left behind, turned and left.
Not long after he left, a figure appeared at the end of the alley, looking in the direction Qin Jiang had departed with a somewhat unreadable expression.
Good kid, though the method was a bit crude, he indeed didn't leave any useful information.
Stepping out of the shadows, the moonlight illuminated his face; it was Wang Minglang.
He had already sensed the presence of the two tomb robbers before Qin Jiang even left.
However, at that time, he thought they were enemies seeking revenge against him. It wasn't until the two followed Qin Jiang and left that he realized their target was Qin Jiang.
He was uneasy, so he followed them, and then he witnessed the scene that had just unfolded.
Cautious enough, but clearly not experienced enough.
He walked over, collected the remnants of the blood beads, and then dug out the token.
Jin Yu Pavilion? How come I've never heard of it?
He frowned slightly. He was, after all, a formerHall Master of the Red Tiger Gang. If even he hadn't heard of it, then either the Jin Yu Pavilion was a secret organization, or it had a very significant background.
Perhaps even connected to Prefecture-level forces! Neither was easy to provoke!
Tsk, how did Little Jiang provoke such a force?
After cleaning up all traces, he looked at the token in his hand.
I need to find a dirty, secluded place to throw it away.
Shanman Restaurant.
Qin Jiang didn't use the back door; he directly scaled the wall into the backyard.
After drawing a bucket of water, he immediately soaked himself in it.
Hmm? Why is this water so cold?
He raised his arm, looked at the goosebumps on his arm, and with a light stroke, his skin became smooth.
However, it felt quite comfortable.
After washing off the blood, he emerged from the bucket and directly used internal Qi to evaporate the water.
Sitting at the table, he reflected on tonight's battle. That first strike shouldn't have been a direct slash; it was prone to splattering blood. Next time, he should change it to a stab or a thrust.
And that hamster demon, he should have used his full strength from the start. If that final strike had missed, the opponent might have escaped.
After a moment of reflection, he picked up the Earth Dragon Body that he had just placed on the table and began to read it.
This was also a True Martial Art. According to its description, it was a Body Refining Martial arts.
But when he recalled how the Short and fat tomb robber had his throat slit by his blade, his expectations for the Earth Dragon Body dropped a few points.
The Short and fat tomb robber's strength was already that of a true Martial Artist, which meant he had at least mastered the first layer of the Earth Dragon Body.
Yet, when his Black Water Slash passed through the opponent's throat, there was no sensation of obstruction.
However, he had no intention of discarding it and continued to read the Secret Manual. The more he read, the more speechless he became.
It was indeed the Earth Dragon Body. He had originally thought it was that kind of Dragon, but he never expected it to be a damn earthworm.
What kind of Earth Dragon Body is this? It's clearly an Earthworm Body!
It claimed to be Body Refining, and it was, indeed, Body Refining, but it didn't increase Physical Body strength; instead, it increased Physical Body flexibility and energy storage levels.
In other words, it could increase fat storage volume.
No wonder he cultivated this Cultivation Technique. Digging tombs might require staying underground for half a month, so increasing fat volume makes sense!
Increasing body flexibility to pass through narrow passages also makes sense!
This Earth Dragon Body is truly a perfect match for tomb robbers!
Putting down the Earth Dragon Body, he looked at the panel.
[Current Martial arts]
Longevity Five Qi Skill (First Layer) (4/250)
Iron Arm Fist (First Layer) (2/200)
Earth Dragon Body (Not Initiated) (3/100)
[Potential Points: 7.0]
Good heavens, it's a Martial arts no less inferior than Iron Arm Fist.
Thinking of the somewhat disgusting Cultivate methods described in the Earth Dragon Body, he still suppressed the idea of Cultivating it himself.
'Potential, add points, Earth Dragon Body.'
[Earth Dragon Body (Not Initiated) (3/100), Experience +100]
[Earth Dragon Body (Not Initiated) advanced to Earth Dragon Body (First Layer)]
[Earth Dragon Body (First Layer) (3/200)]
[Potential Points: 6.0]
As the points were added, a subtle internal Qi was born within his body, distinct from the internal Qi of Iron Arm Fist.
At the same time, a feeling of bloating spread from various parts of his body.
The next moment, the newly born subtle internal Qi spread outwards along the meridians, diffusing into his flesh and skin, just like the Longevity Five Qi Skill before it.
The bloating sensation disappeared. Qin Jiang stood up and casually swung his fists, performing various Moves.
A moment later, he stopped punching and stood still, a hint of joy on his face.
Although the improvement wasn't significant, his strength had indeed increased somewhat. Moreover, the Earth Dragon Body primarily improved tendon and fascia flexibility.
As for fat storage volume, he had no immediate plans to experiment with it.
Overall, the Earth Dragon Body could be considered a Martial arts similar to yoga.
It didn't significantly improve direct combat, but it could reduce self-injury during Cultivation and make his movements smoother and more fluid.
Perhaps, in a life-and-death duel, just one smoother Move could be enough to decide the outcome.
Improving to the first layer is enough for now. He will only consider improving the Earth Dragon Body again after Iron Arm Fist reaches the third layer.
After all, that kind of maggot-like Cultivate method really made him feel a bit...
The next morning, Qin Jiang arrived early at Wang Minglang's courtyard to practice Iron Arm Fist.
At this time, no one else had arrived in the courtyard; only Li Bo was guarding the gate.
"Brother Jiang is here. You promised me yesterday that we'd eat and drink together. I've reserved a table at Shanman Restaurant. How about noon?"
Li Bo saw Qin Jiang approach and quickly went to greet him.
Qin Jiang smiled upon hearing this, "Brother Bo, you're too kind. Noon it is."
Anyway, he only needed one morning to complete the fourteen practices, and then he could just go back to eat.
Practicing Martial arts, not only does one need to practice, but also to eat more.
If the nutrition doesn't keep up, it's easy to ruin one's body by over-Cultivating.
Walking into the courtyard, he applied the Arm-Refining Secret Medicine and began to strike a wooden stake in front of him, with continuous thudding sounds.
After a long while, the other students also arrived and all began to practice Iron Arm Fist.
However, all of them were using wooden stakes; not a single one was using an iron stake.
A moment later, everyone around had stopped, only Qin Jiang was still performing the Six-Leaning Arm strikes.
After a while longer, Qin Jiang also stopped. His arms were already swollen beyond recognition, with even faint blood streaks appearing.
He opened the jar of Arm-Washing Secret Medicine, applied the liquid to his arms, and immediately a cool sensation emerged, making him involuntarily take a deep breath.
The few students around all looked at Qin Jiang as if he were a monster.
"Old Lin, did you count? How many times?"
"I don't know. Just what I saw was already over fifteen times."
"Hey, you guys weren't here yesterday, were you? Let me tell you, this guy completed fourteen practices yesterday! And he did it all in one go! If he split it into morning and evening practices, he might even complete sixteen or eighteen practices!"
"That many?! Is this the world of a Genius?"
After the medicine dried, Qin Jiang wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Looking at the panel: Iron Arm Fist (First Layer) (15/200)
It increased by 13 points, but in reality, he had already completed twenty practices.
He had overlooked one point: after mastering the first layer of Iron Arm Fist, his Physical Body became stronger.
Therefore, the practice effect consequently weakened, leading to only 1 experience point being gained for every two or even three practices at the beginning.
However, he also discovered that the closer he got to his body's limit, the more experience points each practice yielded. During the twentieth practice, it directly increased by 3 points.
Li Bo at the gate had his mouth slightly agape, his gaze fixed on Qin Jiang, his eyes filled with confusion.
"Xiao Bo, what are you looking at?"
Wang Minglang's voice rang out. Qin Jiang looked over and saw him standing at the courtyard gate, looking travel-worn.