90: Chapter 90 Hunyuan Iron Armor Skill

"The body is like an oil lamp; if the wick is too bright, the oil burns out quickly."

This logic was reversed for Chen Mo.

He practiced the "Five Animal Frolics," the "Turtle Breathing Technique," and the "Marrow Cleansing Incantation." Once these health-preserving Cultivation Techniques were active, his Lifespan would shoot up. As his Lifespan increased, so did his potential points. And as his potential points increased, his cultivation speed doubled.

How was this an oil lamp?

This was clearly a built-in "infinite gas station"!

He could completely burn "oil" like crazy by practicing the "Hunyuan Iron Cloth Skill" while simultaneously refilling it by practicing health-preserving techniques.

As long as the speed of refilling was faster than the speed of burning, not only could he possess the ultimate defense, but he could also live longer than anyone else!

Furthermore, the increase in potential points brought by his increased Lifespan allowed him to pass through that "oil-burning" cultivation stage at an extremely fast pace, reaching Major Achievement directly.

Others would take ten years to practice this skill, burning ten years of their lives.

He might only need a month, burning a month's life, and then turn around and practice the "Turtle Breathing Technique" for two days to make it all back.

This deal was simply a massive profit for a small investment!

"Boss..."

Chen Mo held it in for a long time before finally adjusting his facial expression, showing a tragic look that said, "Although I'm very afraid of death, I'm even more afraid of being beaten to death right now."

"In this world, living to forty is a blessing. Without ability, one might end up a corpse on the street tomorrow."

Chen Mo reached out and grabbed the "Hunyuan Iron Cloth Skill" manual, clutching it tightly in his hand. "I choose the present."

Ye Zhiqiu looked at him.

After a long while.

"Fine."

Ye Zhiqiu nodded, an imperceptible flash of admiration in her eyes. "Take it. If there's something you don't understand, don't ask me; figure it out yourself. I haven't practiced this skill either; I don't want an early death."

"Thank you, Boss!"

Chen Mo tucked the booklet into his robes, placing it against his skin for fear of losing it.

"Go on."

Ye Zhiqiu waved her hand.

Chen Mo performed a salute, turned, and retreated from the back hall.

Not until Chen Mo's figure disappeared around the corner did Ye Zhiqiu pick up her teacup again and take a sip.

The tea was already cold.

But she didn't seem to care.

"Practicing every Realm to the absolute limit..."

Ye Zhiqiu murmured to herself, standing up and walking to the window.

Outside the window was the murky gray sky of Qingyang County.

"This is indeed the only true path to the Peak of martial arts. Which of those ancient powerhouses who achieved Physical Sainthood didn't spend years polishing their Body Tempering Realm? But in today's world, people are restless; who is willing to put in that kind of painstaking effort?"

"Furthermore, for a Mortal body, Lifespan is just a fleeting hundred years. Spending all that time on building a foundation means by the time it's ready, the person is old, their blood and qi are declining—how can they Breakthrough then?"

"It's a deadlock."

Ye Zhiqiu looked in the direction Chen Mo had left, a slight curve forming at the corner of her mouth. "But this kid... is quite interesting. Jumping into a pit of fire knowing full well what it is—he's either stupid or has something to rely on."

"By some stroke of luck, he's actually stumbled upon that path forgotten by the world."

"If he can truly withstand the price of a shortened Lifespan and practice his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones to the limit, he might give those arrogant fellows in the Inner City a big surprise when he enters in the future."

Ye Zhiqiu turned around, her gaze crossing the high walls of the yamen and looking toward the center of the city.

That was the Inner City.

The true core of Qingyang County.

High walls stood tall, cutting the entire city into two worlds.

The Outer City was dirty, chaotic, and poor, where human lives were as cheap as grass.

The Inner City was prosperous and flourishing, filled with music and dance.

Three Major Martial Arts Halls, Four Great Noble Clans, and that elusive County Magistrate were entrenched there.

"I've been in Qingyang County for over half a year, and I've more or less finished testing the murky waters."

Ye Zhiqiu's fingers lightly tapped the window lattice, making a rhythmic "thump-thump" sound.

Her eyes gradually turned cold, that lazy scholarly air vanishing completely, replaced by a heart-palpitating aura of slaughter.

"The pigs have been raised for so long; it's finally time to slaughter them."

"Those old fogies in the Inner City have been comfortable for too long; they've forgotten that the laws of Great Gan are written with blades."

Ye Zhiqiu turned and returned to the table.

Picking up a brush, she wrote a large character for "Kill" on a sheet of pure white Xuan paper.

The ink was wet and heavy, soaking through the paper.

...

Returning to his small courtyard, Chen Mo shut the doors and windows tight and used two wooden sticks to brace the door bolt.

Only after finishing all this did he pull out the "Hunyuan Iron Cloth Skill" booklet, still warm from his body heat.

The booklet was very thin, with only about a dozen pages in total.

Opening the first page, there was no general outline or boasting; the opening was just a single line:

"The skin is the armor of the body. To achieve Iron Cloth, first forge Copper Skin. Stand straight when taking a beating, and take large bites when eating meat."

Crude words, but the logic was sound.

Chen Mo continued flipping through. The core logic of this Cultivation Technique was simple and crude, summarized in two words: self-abuse.

Through a specific breathing method combined with slapping, striking, and extreme muscle tension, the fibers in the skin membrane would be torn and then repaired using medicinal power. It was like forging iron: heat it until red and strike it, strike it solid and then heat it again.

"The breathing method actually has some depth to it."

Chen Mo sat cross-legged on the bed, gesturing according to the illustrations in the book.

This breathing emphasized "three long and two short"; inhaling like a whale gulping water to expand the chest to its limit, and exhaling like a spraying arrow, squeezed out through the gaps in the teeth with a vibrating sound.

Besides the training method, the latter half of the book was entirely medicinal prescriptions.

"Iron Bone Soup... three qian of Black Blood Vine, one liang of Stone Marrow Powder, ground Century-old turtle shell..."

As Chen Mo read, his brow furrowed into the shape of the character " river".

This wasn't a prescription; it was a bill.

Black Blood Vine was a holy medicine for promoting blood circulation and removing stasis, found only in deep mountains and old forests. Stone Marrow Powder sounded like stone, but it was actually an associated mineral and was incredibly expensive. As for the Century-old turtle shell...

"Scholars are poor while martial artists are rich; the ancients truly did not deceive me."

Chen Mo sighed and felt his waist pouch.

The silver he had just earned was about to be gone again.

But below the prescription was a small note: "Beginners, one dose per day. After Major Achievement, one dose every three days."

Chen Mo silently calculated the cost in his mind.

Based on current market prices, one dose of this medicine would cost at least five taels of silver.

One hundred taels would only be enough for twenty days of training.

"Twenty days..."

Chen Mo felt a toothache.

Ye Zhiqiu said this Cultivation Technique was slow to practice, but that was for ordinary people. For a cheater like him, whether twenty days would be enough for Major Achievement was hard to say, but it definitely wouldn't be enough.

"Money..."

Chen Mo closed the booklet and stuffed it under his pillow.

No matter how expensive, he had to practice. He only had one life; if the money was gone, he could earn more... or rob more.

...

In the afternoon, Chen Mo changed into casual clothes and went out.

He didn't go to the large pharmacies; those places had many eyes. He specifically ducked into nooks and crannies, looking for small pharmacies with inconspicuous storefronts or even those with peeling signs.

He bought Black Blood Vine in the East Market, Stone Marrow Powder in the West Market, and turtle shell in the South Market.

Every time he bought something, he changed locations, even taking detours to ensure no one was following him before going to the next shop.

Caution is the parent of safety.

He was currently a nobody. If people knew that a lowly servant was buying up large quantities of martial arts medicine, it would be like a child carrying gold through a busy market—asking for death.

After tossing and turning all afternoon until his legs were worn thin, he finally managed to gather the medicinal ingredients for the first three days.