Chapter 25: Medicinal Power
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"The experience from the Skin Toughening Method is separate from the blade technique skills,"
Chen Mu looked at the changed system interface, showing a contemplative expression. His previous Raging Wind Blade Technique and Gale Blade Technique shared experience, but Skin Toughening did not.
But on further thought, he wasn't surprised, as Skin Toughening and Blade Techniques were indeed different, having no connection between them. Perhaps only techniques of the same type could share experience, while Skin Toughening, in comparison to Blade Techniques, belonged to an entirely different category.
Moreover,
the increase in experience for the Skin Toughening Method also caught Chen Mu off guard because the time he spent practicing this time around did not exceed one hour, yet he gained a total of 11 Experience Points.
To advance the Skin Toughening Method to Minor Achievement, only 100 Experience Points were needed!
This means if he practiced once at dawn and dusk each, he would only need five days to bring the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique to Minor Achievement!
"The Skin Toughening Method is indeed different from the blade techniques; the entire learning process purely toughens internally and externally with the medicinal powder. The accumulated experience might come from the medicinal power of those decoctions...,"
Chen Mu suddenly had an epiphany.
Normally, even someone with top-notch talent and perfect adaptability wouldn't be able to absorb all of the medicinal power when practicing Skin Toughening, nor could they make perfect use of every bit of it.
But if the system could disregard this concept and directly convert all the medicinal power he endured during the process into 'Experience Points' for accumulation, then it would make perfect sense.
The adage goes, "All medicines have their toxins."
Ordinary people might be doing well to absorb one-tenth of the medicinal power from the inner and outer medicinal powders. He, having above-average talent, might only manage to absorb twenty to thirty percent of it.
And that twenty to thirty percent of medicinal power is then affected by the body's adaptability, exhibiting varying degrees of effectiveness based on the level of adaptability. The average person's adaptability would probably only manage to use one or two-tenths of the medicinal power for 'Skin Toughening,' while the rest would be metabolized by the body, serving no real purpose.
Therefore, the process of Skin Toughening is extremely long for ordinary people, and the saying "three years of Skin Toughening" is not an exaggeration.
But if the system interface could directly convert medicinal power into Experience Points, that would undoubtedly equate to one hundred percent absorption and one hundred percent adaptability to the medicinal power.
Perhaps in the entire Da Xuan Dynasty, among a population of hundreds of millions, there was no constitution bizarre enough to achieve this. Still, he could achieve such effects with the system interface.
"Very well,"
Chen Mu revealed a smile.
He had previously worried whether the system interface would work with something as different from blade techniques as Skin Toughening. If it didn't, then he would have had to rely solely on mastering various advanced blade techniques through the system interface to improve his strength, while he would need to progress slowly step by step with Skin Toughening and the subsequent Body Refinement methods. Now, it seemed much better.
And logically speaking, this isn't considered cheating. After all, every bit of advancement in realm comes from genuine 'Medicinal Power,' not from nothing, and even these 'Medicinal Powers' were bought with the silver he earned himself.
Just like the blade techniques, they are all hard-earned.
Chen Mu was quite at peace with this.
...
Four days flew by quickly.
In these four days, aside from some visits by the local gentry to congratulate him on his move and Butcher Zhang who came to 'reminisce,' everything was uneventful. Chen Mu still went to the City Defense Division every day, but as Head Constable, he no longer needed to collect or hang up his plaque, and it didn't matter if he didn't go to the City Defense Division; it was just a title in name.
As for the gifts from many gentry congratulating him on his new residence, Chen Mu accepted them all without refusal. Knowing that the experience of Internal Training was related to 'Medicinal Power,' and that Medicinal Power was directly linked to financial resources, he naturally did not turn away from silver.
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As for the impact of accepting silver, he wasn't particularly concerned.
He was no longer a low-level constable now.
He was one of the five serving head constables in the City Defense Division, a direct subordinate under the care of Min Baoyi, and even if he took those gentry's silver, should any troubles arise in the future, he could calmly decide whether to deal with them or not based on the gravity of the situation.
Then there was Butcher Zhang, an uncle who hadn't visited for many years, who was much more polite than Chen Mu's distant memories of him, even lowering his voice when speaking, appearing somewhat cautious and careful. It just made Chen Mu reflect on how fickle human relationships could be; when his old father had died, Butcher Zhang had also only made a token visit.
Now, however, he was trying by all means to ingratiate himself with Chen Mu as a relative.
"We can talk about Youying's issue another time," he said.
In response to Butcher Zhang bringing up the past and mentioning Zhang Youying once again, Chen Mu simply replied calmly.
He truly had no interest in such matters now, his focus was much more on cultivation. If his physique hadn't been able to withstand it, limited to enduring Skin Toughening only twice during dusk and dawn, he would have even considered increasing the frequency of his practice sessions.
The rest of his time was almost entirely spent practicing his blade technique, planning to quickly elevate the Gale Blade Technique to Perfection and master a second Blade Momentum, thus further enhancing his own strength.
Sensing Chen Mu's disinterest, Butcher Zhang tactfully changed the topic and after some time, along with Chen Hong, stood up to take his leave from Chen Mu, who along with Chen Yue, escorted them to the door.
After leaving Chen Mu's house.
On the way back, Butcher Zhang still cautiously reminded Chen Hong to carefully maintain this uncle-nephew relationship. Now that Chen Mu had risen high in status, there was no telling if a single word from him in the future could greatly support their family. They absolutely couldn't spoil the relationship.
Chen Mu did not watch Butcher Zhang and Chen Hong as they left; after seeing them out, he returned to the backyard to boil water and prepare medicine.
The process of Skin Toughening was still the same.
After five days of Skin Toughening, he could still feel some changes. First, his skin seemed to have become tougher, similar to when touching rough stones, the sensation of pain from friction had noticeably decreased.
Secondly, inside his body, it was as if there was a faint flame that made him stronger when exerting force. According to the Skin Toughening Method, this was the Qi-Blood becoming more solidified after undergoing the Body Tempering Method.
"Huff..."
He climbed out of the sandpit.
Chen Mu sat beside the pit, his limbs feeling a bit sore and weak, taking a short breath.
Compared to the first day of cultivation when he could hardly walk after completing Skin Toughening, he was now much better. Although his whole body was still somewhat weak and sore, he could barely move on his own, without needing Chen Yue's assistance anymore.
"Just five days of cultivation and there's already an effect, if only I reached Minor Achievement..."
Chen Mu murmured.
He then summoned the system interface.
[Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique (Unachieved)]
[Experience: 108]
On the system interface, under the entry for the Skin Toughening Method, the experience had accumulated to 108 points, enough to advance to 'Minor Achievement'.