Chapter 112 - 87: Qi and Blood Like a Furnace, Drawing a Bow to Shoot a Skin Refiner! From ’Groom’ to ’Boss’, How Long the Journey

Chapter 112: Chapter 87: Qi and Blood Like a Furnace, Drawing a Bow to Shoot a Skin Refiner! From ’Groom’ to ’Boss’, How Long the Journey

Iron refining and forging are an exceedingly tedious process. No one can master it overnight.

Unless one is a Qi Dao Grand Craftsman, using a Qi Manipulation Hammer, where a single strike holds the power of a hundred. Otherwise... it is incredibly difficult.

As it happened, the Whale-Slaying Saber Hall possessed a piece of Hundred-Forged Profound Jade Iron. It was a fine material excavated from the deep caves of Anning County, and in terms of value, it simply could not be bought with the silver circulating in the county!

It was originally treasured in secret by Instructor Liao Yuanhua, who planned to add it to a broadsword he was forging during the quenching process.

But then Cai Ling’Er spotted it. Back home in the Prefecture City, the young lady was kept in check and had to restrain her temper.

But the moment she came to the countryside, her innately spoiled and headstrong nature surfaced.

Her hands itching for a new project, combined with her desire to achieve a breakthrough in her craft and the need to vent her frustration, she picked up a great hammer and went to work, forging this very Seventh-Grade Great Bow!

She named it ’Broken Jade’!

She even carved the character for "Cai" on the bow’s horn, a testament to its creation by the Seventh Grade Artisan Master, Cai Ling’Er.

A Seventh-Grade Mortal Weapon, you see, was the pinnacle of ordinary arms. It represented a weapon that, in both Power Dao and material quality, had reached the point where it could slay a Skin Refining Martial Artist who had achieved Perfection of the Power Stage.

A typical one would cost several hundred silver taels, and some were even traded for Red Gold.

Moreover, even for those who could afford it, such a weapon was often difficult to acquire.

Unless you were from a reputable family in the Prefecture City, an ordinary wandering Martial Artist... even if you had the silver taels or Red Gold to buy one from a merchant house or ironworks, the Bosses and Shopkeepers would refuse the sale on the grounds that you were a drifter with no verifiable background.

In this era, the Weapons one produced represented the honor of a Grand Craftsman.

If an Outer Demon or a ruthless traveling bandit were to obtain one of their proudest works and go on an unbridled killing spree... it would tarnish the craftsman’s name.

Thus, starting from the level of Seventh-Grade Mortal Weapons, the higher the grade, the harder it became to acquire fine Treasure Weapons and Divine Sabers. Unless one chanced upon them in the ruins of a bygone era, finding such a weapon was next to impossible!

Cai Ling’Er, whose skill and proficiency had already reached the required level but had simply never attempted to create a ’Hundred-Forged’ Seventh-Grade Treasure Weapon before, had been driven by the desire for a breakthrough and a need to vent her frustration. She had toiled for an entire night and actually succeeded.

And as for Cai Ling’Er—who had intended to put Ji Xiu in his place, to get back at him for being insurpassable in Martial Arts by tripping him up in another field—seeing the bow before her drawn like a full moon, the arrow pulling the string so taut it seemed on the verge of snapping, trembling for a long moment before it finally steadied... she was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

’He can actually draw the Hundred Stone Bow? The one I spent all night forging, using the Spirit Forging Technique and exhausting my Qi and Blood to hammer out!?’

’That requires the arm strength to pull a hundred stones—a full twelve thousand catties! Is this kid even human?’

’Being able to draw a Hundred Stone Bow is the standard for reaching the Second Refining Body Great Limit, for achieving Mercury Blood Silver Marrow!’

’In Jiangyin Prefecture, some of the great clans and Schools have Ten Stone Bows and Hundred Stone Bows specifically to measure the strength of their descendants. If someone can draw a Hundred Stone Bow while still in the Bone Tempering stage... it proves that their Qi and Blood is as vigorous as wolf smoke and their Force is like that of a Dragon Elephant—the ’strength of a single elephant’!’

’There aren’t many people like that even in the Prefecture City! They’re all from the Direct Lineage of Grandmaster families like mine, and even then, only the eldest sons and grandsons of the primary branch—those who’ve trained since childhood and are destined to enter a School to study Secret Martial arts—can achieve such a feat!’

’But what kind of background does Ji Xiu have?’

’And that wasn’t all.’

’He...’

’He actually loosed an arrow at Skin Refining practitioners!’

’Two of them!’

’Two Skin Refining Martial Artists!’

’Those aren’t just cannon fodder! Even if they only reached Great Success in Iron Bone and their Skin Membrane is crudely refined... they are still Skin Refining experts, unified inside and out!’

’Even in the Prefecture City... unless you’ve cultivated Mercury Blood Silver Marrow and broken through the Body Great Limit, causing your Qi and Blood to surge like wolf smoke, it’s impossible to defeat someone at Great Success in Power who has integrated their training into their very Skin Membrane!’

’Granted, he has a wall full of Powerful Crossbows for support.’

’But under normal circumstances... shouldn’t he just give the order for the Armored County Soldiers to raise their crossbows and turn those traitors into pincushions?’

’Then, after giving the command, he should retreat to a safe distance, so those cornered Martial Artists don’t see red and make him their primary target, right?’

’But here you are, leading from the front like you’re trying to slay a general and capture a banner.’

’If you’d been born during the ’Eight Heavens Invasion’ when the Great Xuan raised its Eight Divisions to fight the Outer Dao, you’d at least have become a marquis with your own Fiefdom, your name recorded in the Six Great Xuan Registers—a hero who rose through the ranks and earned the respect of his men!’

The two Dharma Protectors had once been bandits on the mountain paths around Anning County, robbing and killing travelers for their goods. After joining the Central Yellow Sect and reaching the Skin Refining realm, they watched this scene unfold. Beyond their horror, their only thought was to break out.

Originally, they had spotted Ji Xiu’s position, and a vicious glint immediately flashed in their eyes.

’We don’t know how the news leaked, but... we can’t stay here any longer.’

’No matter how strong a Martial Artist is, if they haven’t achieved Qi Dao, they can’t withstand dozens of Powerful Crossbows firing at once—not even with Outer Gang or an Immortal Robe. Once they lock onto you, death is all but certain.’

’Besides, they have the high ground in this courtyard. Their attack is unstoppable. If we stay for even a few more breaths, we’re dead for sure!’

’We can no longer follow Master Wei Changjiao’s orders to install Lin Du as the head of the Lin Residence, expand our influence in Anning County, and plant more followers. The only option now is to retreat.’

’That kid giving the orders earlier... he had a magnificent and extraordinary air about him.’

’He must be one of County Magistrate Zhao Jiu’s attack dogs. He might even be some rich young master. If we capture him, we can use him as a hostage to make them hesitate and create our chance to escape!’

The two Skin Refining Martial Artists were several dozen zhang away from Ji Xiu. For a split second, their Skin Membranes rippled as their gazes met, quick as a flash of lightning. In that instant, they both arrived at the same conclusion.