4: Make another breakthrough, the tenth level of physical body

Yaner supported her mother and the old man, walking slowly toward Chu Jiang. She said gratefully, "Lord Chu, thank you for saving my mother and Village Chief Grandpa."

"You are injured, how about coming to our house for a rest?"

Chu Jiang sheathed the long blade in his hand and nodded. Having slain two demons in a row, he was indeed somewhat tired.

It would be good to rest and recuperate.

"Lord Chu, this old man is the village chief of Daxing Village. Our entire village is grateful for your efforts. I will first go and count the survivors in the village, and then return to thank you properly." The village chief also bowed to Chu Jiang with a trembling body, not daring to get close, his eyes filled with fear.

"Go ahead, settle the remaining people in the village, there is no need for a heavy reward!" Chu Jiang did not expect that by playing the good guy once today, others would change their perception of him.

When you have done bad deeds for a hundred years, doing a good deed occasionally will only be seen by others as a performance.

Ice three feet thick is not formed in a single day.

...

Yaner's room.

"Lord Chu, please drink some water!" Yaner brought over a bowl of water and continued, "We have no tea leaves at home, only this spring water. I have wronged you, My Lord."

Chu Jiang glanced around, picked up the bowl, and drank it in one gulp.

This bowl of water went down, allowing Chu Jiang's spirit to recover slightly.

Putting down the bowl, Chu Jiang looked at Yaner.

It must be said, although she was still young, she was already quite well-developed and had some charm, though there was a small scratch on her face.

Yaner's delicate body trembled. A trace of hesitation flashed in her eyes, but it quickly turned into determination, and she set the bowl in her hand aside.

Rustle. As she undressed, she said, "Young Master, Yaner will fulfill her promise now. I will serve you as you rest, please lie down!"

Chu Jiang was stunned and immediately stopped her: "Stop, stop, stop! Put your clothes back on, put them on!"

I only glanced at you, why the big reaction?

"Could it be that Young Master thinks Yaner is ugly?" Yaner mumbled.

Rumor had it that Lord Chu was a notoriously lecherous ghost, sparing neither the ugly nor the beautiful. Why had he changed so much now?

Chu Jiang said helplessly, "Put it on, or I will leave now."

She was not yet an adult; he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Seeing Chu Jiang's serious expression, which didn't look fake, Yaner had no choice but to put her clothes back on.

Yaner did not leave; instead, she began to massage Chu Jiang.

Chu Jiang did not refuse. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being served.

After some conversation, he learned that her surname was Su, and her name was Su Yaner.

In his past life, he was a beast of burden; now, he finally got a taste of what it felt like to be a wealthy landlord.

Comfortable.

No wonder the wealthy families and noble clans of the past all had maidservants in every household.

They really knew how to enjoy life.

Soon, after Chu Jiang had fully relaxed, he let Su Yaner leave the room.

With a thought, he opened the panel again.

[ Acquired Martial Art · Gathering Yang Skill (Major Achievement) ]

[ Acquired Martial Art · Demon Suppression Blade (Transcendent) ]

[ Personal Lifespan: Ten Years ]

[ demon life essence: One Hundred Eighty-Nine Years ]

Chu Jiang injected the demon life essence into the Gathering Yang Skill. The Gathering Yang Skill was the only Cultivation Technique he could use to significantly increase his cultivation, so it had to be raised to the limit.

[ First Year, you begin your long journey of Cultivate ]

[ Eighteenth Year, you know your talent is insufficient, so you accumulate silently. You believe that one day, you will soar into the sky and achieve a Breakthrough to the Physical Body Eighth Stage ]

[ Thirty-Ninth Year, you achieve a Breakthrough to the Physical Body Ninth Stage ]

[ Forty-Fifth Year, your Gathering Yang Skill is only half a step away from Perfection ]

[ Fiftieth Year, the Gathering Yang Skill reaches Perfection. Before you can even be happy, you discover that the Gathering Yang Skill has a flaw: once it reaches Perfection, if you run the Gathering Yang Skill with full power, it will burn your Meridians on its own ]

[ Fifty-Second Year, the flawed Gathering Yang Skill causes you unimaginable pain. You are determined to perfect the Gathering Yang Skill, but although you try many times, you cannot find the trick ]

[ Fifty-Fifth Year, your countless experiments cause your Meridians to become chaotic and your Qi and blood to gradually decline. You are very unwilling, but there is nothing you can do ]

[ Fifty-Seventh Year, your Meridians are burned, and you are reduced to an ordinary person ]

Chu Jiang looked at the panel, feeling suspicious. This Cultivation Technique had a major problem.

Among the Demon Hunters under the county office, except for the very few who practiced other Cultivation Techniques before joining, ninety-eight percent practiced the Gathering Yang Skill.

Once this Cultivation Technique reaches Perfection, the powerful fire energy inherent in the Qi and blood can repel demons and ward off evil, and ordinary demons would not dare to approach.

It was actually a flawed Cultivation Technique.

Who exactly did this?

Several faces flashed through Chu Jiang's mind, but none seemed likely.

Cultivating the Gathering Yang Skill to Major Achievement was already extremely difficult, and reaching Perfection was even more deadly. The person who altered this Cultivation Technique was definitely not an ordinary person; their martial arts attainment was very high.

Practicing the altered Gathering Yang Skill was tantamount to destroying one's own martial arts Foundation, with no possibility of further progress. What a vicious heart.

The Human Race was already struggling to hold on against the demons, and now there was a problem from within.

Our own people killing our own people—just thinking about it made him shudder.

Chu Jiang could only continue to inject Lifespan for now.

[ Fifty-Ninth Year, your Qi and blood run dry, your hair turns white overnight, and you are like a piece of rotting wood, ready to wither at any moment. You laugh three times and close your eyes ]

[ Sixty-Third Year, you find life in death, attempting to achieve Fusion with the heavens and earth. You gain the favor of the heavens and earth. In just three minutes, you find the root cause of the flaw in the Gathering Yang Skill and make optimizations ]

[ Sixty-Fifth Year, your understanding of the Gathering Yang Skill has reached the Transcendent state, and using this as a blueprint, you create a new martial art. You name it "Golden Sun Skill" ]

[ Sixty-Sixth Year, because the Golden Sun Skill and the Gathering Yang Skill share the same lineage, you quickly raise the Golden Sun Skill to the state of Perfection ]

[ Seventy-Seventh Year, your Golden Sun Skill reaches the Transcendent state, cleansing your bones and marrow, and you achieve a Breakthrough to the Physical Body Tenth Stage ]

[ demon life essence: One Hundred Twelve Years ]

[ Personal Lifespan: Twenty Years ]

...

Soon, an extremely powerful force surged within his body. His Qi and blood boiled, his flesh and blood evolved, his bones became as hard as iron, and his internal organs burned fiercely like a great furnace.

His Physical Body crackled and popped, and his pores secreted various sticky, black Impurities.

At this moment, Chu Jiang clearly perceived that his body had undergone a rebirth.

Strong.

The Golden Sun Skill was evolved from the Gathering Yang Skill. Not only did it remove the flaws of the old version, but the Transcendent Golden Sun Skill also came with a burning characteristic.

Physical Body Tenth Stage, cleansing the marrow and cutting the body.

Coupled with two Transcendent martial arts, among Acquired Martial Artists, he was definitely in the top tier.

In White Stone County, those who had reached the Physical Body Tenth Stage could be counted on one's fingers.

Aside from the head of the Demon Hunting Division and that mysterious county magistrate who had rarely shown his face.

He could act with impunity.

Before, he relied on his relationship with special demons, but now he relied on true strength.

Thinking of this, Chu Jiang was in a great mood. He went to take a bath and then went to sleep.

As for the others in the village, they did not sleep all night.

They had to be on guard at all times against the possibility of the demons attacking again, trembling with fear.

The next morning, when the first ray of sunlight fell on the village, the chirping of birds replaced the crowing of roosters, symbolizing that a new day had begun.

Fewer than two hundred figures walked out scattered from their respective houses.

In a village of three hundred people, one-third of the population had died overnight.

Where the demon plague passed, not even a chicken or dog was left.

But they would not kill everyone; they would eat half and leave half.

It was not because the demons were kind, but to make it convenient to harvest again years later once the "wheat" had grown.

This time, nearly two hundred people in Daxing Village had survived, which was already a miracle.

In the village, the young man wore a black and white official uniform, standing straight and handsome, with a long blade at his waist. He looked extraordinary.

It was a stark contrast to his previous rot.

He strode away, walking through the village. Before leaving, he took away the corpses of the two demons. The commoners were afraid of the demons and dared not approach, even though they were already dead.

Leaving them here would only bring them fear and trouble.

He hoped they could live in peace from now on.

The surviving villagers, seeing Chu Jiang, did not dare to speak and just silently moved away.

They were very afraid of demons, and even more so of government officials.

Today he could slay demons, but tomorrow he might turn his butcher's blade toward them.

Over so many years, their trust had been extinguished.

"Lord Chu, this is this month's Demon Suppression Tax..." The old village chief hunched his body, knelt on both knees, his hands trembling, not daring to look at Chu Jiang's face.