Chapter 86 - 83: Realm 3: Tendon Tempering

Chapter 86: Chapter 83: Realm 3: Tendon Tempering

He struck one pose after another from the Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Marrow Tempering Technique.

Wang Guan watched this unfold, clicking his tongue in amazement.

’Brother Mu is really going all out to get the Xiang Family’s attention.’

’That clumsy dancing... he’s almost as bad as me.’

You could call Su Mu’s movements a dance. Some of the poses were indeed rather graceful, yet they were permeated with a distinct clumsiness, as if he were a complete beginner.

The Minister and the Chief Clerk wanted to make sarcastic remarks several times, but a fierce glare from Wang Guan forced them to swallow their words.

Meanwhile, Wang Guan himself was clapping and cheering continuously.

On the stage, the Xiang Family’s beautiful eyes widened in astonishment, and she nearly struck a wrong note.

She considered herself worldly and experienced, but she had never seen anyone like Su Mu.

It wasn’t that men hadn’t tried to dance along with her music before, but those men were all genuinely skilled dancers.

For a man to cast aside all face in public just to capture her attention... she found herself, surprisingly, a little moved.

TWANG!

TWANG!

The sound of the pipa grew higher and more intense, faintly exuding an aura of battle and slaughter.

Su Mu’s movements also grew faster and faster.

As he moved, the crowd seemed to hear the twang of strings coming from his very body.

"Is it just my imagination?"

Wang Lai frowned and muttered to himself, a look of confusion in his eyes. "The humming of tendons... That’s a characteristic of the Third Stage of Body Tempering, Tendon Tempering. Could it be that Su Mu isn’t dancing, but practicing a Tendon Tempering Technique?"

He watched Su Mu’s movements, his brows knitting tighter and tighter.

’To be able to cultivate a Tendon Tempering Technique just by listening to the Xiang Family’s music... how insane is that? Even the martial fools I’ve seen in the Inner City aren’t this obsessed with cultivation.’

Wang Lai’s strength was formidable, so he could perceive a few clues.

The rest of the crowd, however, simply thought Su Mu was shamelessly grandstanding.

The musical piece for the Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Marrow Tempering Technique was very long; the Xiang Family played for a full hour before stopping.

She rubbed her sore wrists and spoke slowly, "Su Baiyi, what do you think of this humble lady’s performance?"

Su Mu did not answer. He didn’t even open his eyes to glance at the Xiang Family.

He just stood there, eyes shut tight, as a cloud of hot, white steam rose from his body.

The Xiang Family’s brow furrowed slightly.

"Does Su Baiyi find this humble lady’s meager appearance too unsightly to look at, or is my performance too grating to listen to?"

The faint stirrings of emotion the Xiang Family had felt earlier had now turned to embarrassed anger.

"Brother Mu, that’s enough, don’t you think? You’re taking this too far."

Wang Guan reminded him in a low voice.

Su Mu slowly opened his eyes, only to realize he was standing conspicuously in the middle of the hall. Seeing the fury in the Xiang Family’s eyes, he couldn’t help but feel a little awkward.

"The Xiang Family is truly extraordinarily skilled. To be able to play the score in such a short time without a single wrong note... remarkable, truly remarkable."

Su Mu said.

"Merely ’not a single wrong note’?"

The Xiang Family laughed in exasperation. "I never imagined Su Baiyi was also an expert music critic. In that case, how about you listen to this humble lady’s own piece?

If it still fails to meet the standards of Su Baiyi’s ears, then I, Xiang Xiaoyuan, will never touch this pipa again for the rest of my life!"

"the Xiang Family, Chief Su is a coarse man! What does he know about music? Why are you competing with him?"

The Minister’s expression changed drastically at her words, and he quickly tried to placate her.

If the Xiang Family were to stop playing the pipa, it would be an absolutely tremendous loss.

The Xiang Family paid the Minister no mind at all. She simply stared straight at Su Mu and began to tune her strings.

A helpless look appeared on Su Mu’s face. He truly hadn’t meant to look down on her.

’You’re a courtesan in the service industry, do you really need to be so competitive? I didn’t even say anything bad.’

Before he could explain, the courtesan, the Xiang Family, had already begun to play again.

Su Mu could only sit back down, resigned.

Her skills truly were extraordinary. Her famous piece, the Jade Sea Tide Song, in particular, washed over the listeners in wave after wave of melody, leaving them captivated and spellbound.

The Minister and the Chief Clerk were flushed with excitement as they listened, feeling as though hearing this song was the culmination of their lives, leaving no regrets.

Among the crowd, Sun Dazhao also had a look of pure excitement. He could brag about hearing this song tonight all the way to his grandchildren’s generation.

After listening for a while, Su Mu understood why the Xiang Family had been so agitated.

’Without that competitive drive, she probably would never have honed her skills to such a level.’

’In any profession, you need that kind of ambition to excel. Without that fire, you’d probably resign yourself to mediocrity long ago.’

’People like that can’t stand being underestimated in their area of expertise.’

His unintentional actions had indeed provoked her.

’She did me a huge favor, and what I did was indeed a bit out of line. Should I compensate her somehow?’

As the thought crossed his mind, Su Mu called up his system panel.

[Name: Su Mu]

[Identity: Constable/Taiping Bureau White Clothes (Ninth Grade)]

[Points: 280]

[Realm: Third Stage of Body Tempering (Extreme Skin Tempering Realm, Extreme Flesh Tempering)]

[Cultivation Technique: Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Marrow Tempering Technique (Uninitiated/+)...]

[Martial Arts: Cloud Rain Saber Technique (Perfection), Submerging Wave Saber Technique (Perfection), Wind-Breaking Swordsmanship (Perfection), Archery (Initiate/+)]

The Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Marrow Tempering Technique required two hundred points to reach the Initiate level, six hundred to go from Initiate to Minor Mastery, two thousand from Minor to Major Mastery, and four thousand from Major Mastery to Perfection!

The number of points needed to advance the Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Marrow Tempering Technique was more than ten percent higher than the Flesh Tempering Technique. Just reaching the Initiate level cost two hundred points, which, with his current status, would take him two days to save up.

A rough calculation told him that cultivating the Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Marrow Tempering Technique to Perfection would probably take about three months.

If he worked a little harder at his job, he could probably shorten that time even more.

’In three months, I’ll be eighteen.’

’Luo Anning reached the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering at nineteen.’

’I still have a long way to go. The mission isn’t accomplished yet, so I have to keep working hard.’

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

A burst of fervent applause snapped Su Mu out of his thoughts.

When he looked up, the Xiang Family had finished her performance and was watching him like a proud white swan.

"Su Baiyi, what of this humble lady’s song?"

the Xiang Family asked.

"Such music should only exist in the heavens; how often is it heard in the mortal world?"

The Minister exclaimed, getting his praise in first.

"Great performance! Worthy of a reward!"

Wang Guan also chimed in, afraid Su Mu would say something even more mood-killing than he would.

If the Xiang Family stopped playing the pipa, what would he, Wang Guan, do when he wanted to listen to music in the future?

None of the other courtesans in the Inner City played with as much passion as the Xiang Family!

"The Xiang Family is brilliant. I am impressed."

Su Mu said with a hint of resignation.

"Just ’brilliant’?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan said.

Su Mu was speechless. ’Isn’t ’brilliant’ enough? Do you really want me to shower you with shameless flattery like that old Minister?’

He fell silent for a moment. ’Fine. I suppose I do owe you one.’

’Since you helped me cultivate the Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Body Tempering Technique, I’ll indulge you.’

"I am grateful for your favor today. I have a poem to present to the Xiang Family, as a small token of my thanks and apology."

Su Mu said slowly.

"Haha!"

The Minister laughed loudly. "Chief Su, haven’t you caused enough of a scene tonight? You wasted the Xiang Family’s skills on a shoddy piece of music, and now you want to pretend to be a cultured poet?

The Xiang Family has seen right through you. Don’t think you can disturb her peace of mind again!"

"If you can write a poem, I’ll rip my own head off and give it to you as a chamber pot!"

the Chief Clerk added.

"I’ll pass. If your head were my chamber pot, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to piss."

Su Mu said calmly.

"You—"

The Chief Clerk was so angry his beard trembled.

"How dare you speak like that! The Chief Clerk is your superior!"

the Minister roared.

"Lord Minister, I’d advise you to say a little less. At your age, speaking is draining. Wouldn’t want you to turn around and accidentally fall into a latrine."

Su Mu said coolly.

Ignoring everyone’s reactions, he walked straight to the screen wall.

The Autumn Water Saber was suddenly unsheathed.

The crowd saw only a flurry of flashing steel.

A moment later, with a CLANG, the long saber was sheathed.

"I have never been one to owe favors. the Xiang Family, we are now even."

Su Mu laughed heartily. "Lord Sima, your subordinate cannot hold his liquor and will take his leave first."

With that, he turned and strode away.

Several long breaths passed before a voice cried out in shock.

"Constable Xiao Su actually wrote a poem!"

...