The next day.
Pushing open the door.
"What a beautiful day!" Jiang Ning's mood soared as he gazed at the cloudless sky.
This kind of good weather signified further improvement in his internal energy cultivation and the strengthening of his inner energy.
Then, while the morning was still young, he began practicing martial arts in the courtyard.
[Five Animal Fist Experience +2]
[Five Animal Fist Experience +1]
[Five Animal Fist Experience +3]
[...]
Repeating the punches over and over again, his Five Animal Fist experience rapidly increased.
At the same time, he continuously mobilized his qi and blood energy, tempering the bones within his body.
Boom
Boom
Boom
Loud tremors resonated within him.
Each strike sent ripples through his entire body as if shifting his very bones, while his qi and blood surged.
But as he felt the impurities being gradually purged from his bones, Jiang Ning felt immense satisfaction.
Strength is the foundation of survival.
Especially after last night's events, he dared not slack off even for a moment.
From what Black Lotus Mother revealed, he had grasped a critical piece of information.
One day, the Black Lotus Mother will descend upon Great Xia.
At that time, danger would not only come from her but also from the shifting tides of the world.
Because it would mean that the so-called gods of the past would return.
When that happens, Great Xia will undoubtedly experience great upheaval.
Without strength, he would be nothing more than a leaf drifting in the storm what foundation would he have to stand upon?
With that in mind, Jiang Ning continued his martial cultivation.
He knew that with his current abilities, as long as he advanced steadily, step by step, one day he would stand on par with the legendary Martial Saint.
Time passed.
The morning sun painted the sky in hues of crimson and gold.
Hoo
Jiang Ning slowly exhaled a breath of impure air and withdrew from his punching stance.
After training continuously for several hours, tempering both his fists and his bones, he could feel his body nearing exhaustion his qi and blood almost depleted.
Without hesitation, he swiftly swallowed a Jade Marrow Pill.
The moment the cool medicinal essence entered his body, it dissolved into a mist-like state within his abdomen and silently merged into his bones.
As the final step of his Bone Refinement process concluded, he closed his eyes and examined his internal state.
At once, he saw that three-tenths of his 206 bones had transformed into jade-like structures, emanating a sacred glow.
These bones, situated in critical parts of his body, protected his most vital points.
This drastically reduced his physical vulnerabilities.
For instance, his neck bones which he had deliberately focused on tempering were now fully jade-infused.
With this, even if an enemy's blade managed to cut through his skin and flesh, it would still struggle to sever his neck's jade bones.
His survivability had increased tremendously.
His most vulnerable areas, such as his neck, had already been refined into jade bone.
Meanwhile, his less critical areas remained in the Mystic Bone state dark and glossy like obsidian.
In terms of hardness, Mystic Bone was a full tier lower than Jade Bone.
Normally, the toughness of Mystic Bone could rival that of hundred-refined iron so much so that even weapons forged from the same material would struggle to break through a single bone.
Even thousand-refined weapons would find it difficult to sever such bones in a single strike.
And who would allow an enemy to repeatedly hack at the same spot?
Not to mention, with 206 bones in the human body, any attack that struck flesh would inevitably encounter multiple layers of bone resistance.
This was why Sixth-rank martial artists were so incredibly difficult to kill.
But once a warrior reached the Jade Bone level, things became even more astonishing.
Jade Bone's hardness equaled that of thousand-refined iron.
A piece of iron repeatedly folded and hammered a thousand times became thousand-refined steel.
Weapons forged from this material were not only extraordinarily heavy but also possessed exceptional toughness and sharpness.
A thousand-refined blade could cut through iron like mud while remaining completely undamaged this was merely its most basic attribute.
And now, about 30% of Jiang Ning's bones had reached this level of hardness.
As for the remaining 70%, they remained in the Mystic Bone state, exuding their obsidian sheen.
These Mystic Bones primarily resided in non-vital areas of his body.
So he was in no rush he would temper them steadily over time.
"I've passed the 30% threshold for Jade Bone. At this rate, I should reach full Jade Bone refinement before spring arrives without a doubt!"
Jiang Ning silently observed the distribution of jade bones within his body while contemplating himself.
After finishing his internal inspection, he opened his eyes and glanced at his status panel.
[Skills]:
Five Animal Fist (Third Limit Break – 703/4000) (Traits: Essence Stored in the Five Organs, Five Elements Spirit, Grandmaster of Fist Techniques)
"Over 700 experience points, not bad!" Jiang Ning nodded and murmured, "At this rate, in another ten days or so, my Five Animal Fist experience will max out again, and I'll be able to achieve the fourth limit break."
"But the real issue is still Source Energy points."
[Source Energy]: 133.74
Seeing the number displayed on his panel, Jiang Ning couldn't help but shake his head.
With just a little over 100 Source Energy points, he could barely do anything.
The fourth limit break for Five Animal Fist alone required a whopping 500 Source Energy points, not to mention his other skills, which were also ready for further breakthroughs.
Right now, what he lacked most was Source Energy points.
Thinking about it, he glanced at his panel again.
[Skills]:
Chopping Blade Technique (Fifth Limit Break – 6000/6000) (Traits: Versatility, Swift as Wind, Mastery of the Saber, Unity of Man and Saber, Natural Saber Talent)
Water Affinity (Sixth Limit Break – 7000/7000) (Traits: Underwater Breathing, Water Manipulation+, Water Spirit Affinity, Cloud and Rain Control, Water Spirit Body)
These two skills had long exceeded the experience threshold for a breakthrough.
However, the lack of Source Energy points remained a major obstacle.
Breaking through to the sixth limit of the Chopping Blade Technique required another 500 Source Energy points.
As for the seventh limit of Water Affinity, Jiang Ning estimated that it would take at least 1,000 Source Energy points.
The gap in Source Energy points was staggering.
After staring at his panel for a while, he closed it and pondered.
"I need more money!"
After thinking for a long time, this was the only solution he could come up with.
With money, he could purchase all sorts of rare herbs, celestial treasures, and so-called immortal-grade elixirs.
By consuming them, his body would absorb the energy, and his Source Energy points would naturally skyrocket.
At this moment, he thought of the remaining celestial treasures in Wan Hua Pavilion.
One of them was the Five Element Spirit Fruit, which consisted of five fruits infused with the essence of the five elements.
There were also two other celestial treasures one being Star Grass, the other Ten Thousand Wood Heart.
All three were incredibly valuable.
Especially the Five Element Spirit Fruit, which was priced at a staggering 100,000 taels of silver at Wan Hua Pavilion.
For any force in Luo Shui County, this was an astronomical sum of wealth.
"Only the Three Great Families could gather such an amount in a short time," Jiang Ning muttered, shaking his head. For now, he set aside this difficult problem.
Afterward, he climbed over the high courtyard wall and arrived at the frozen Rocky Beach.
With a light stomp, he shattered the thick ice, and his body plunged into the icy-cold lake water.
But to him, entering the water felt incredibly comfortable and refreshing.
In just a short period about the duration of a tea break
He resurfaced, fully rejuvenated, standing once more atop the ice.
By now, the sweat accumulated from his training had been completely washed away, and he felt refreshed.
With a simple thought, his clothes instantly dried, leaving no trace of moisture on his body.
Returning to his room, he changed into New Year's attire with the help of Lü Yi, his maidservant.
"Young Master, it's done!" Lü Yi said with a satisfied smile as she gazed at Jiang Ning's reflection in the bronze mirror.
Under Lü Yi's careful grooming, Jiang Ning's hair had been meticulously smoothed and tied into a topknot with a black hairband.
His outfit a red and white long robe looked both festive and elegant, tailored to fit his form perfectly.
Even the fabric itself was extraordinarily soft, luxurious, and shimmering faintly under the sunlight streaming in from outside.
Meanwhile.
At the entrance of Jiang Ning's residence, the head of the Xie family, Xie Zhengtian, had just arrived.
He adjusted his robes and turned to the dark-faced man beside him.
"Second Brother, is everything prepared?"
"Everything is ready!" the dark-faced man nodded.
"Good." Xie Zhengtian nodded in satisfaction.
After straightening his clothes once more, he finally knocked on the front gate.
A few breaths later.
"So early?"
A voice of surprise came from the front courtyard, followed by hurried footsteps.
Eastern Courtyard.
"Young Master, the head of the Xie family has come to pay New Year's respects. He also wishes to meet you in person."
"Coming this early?" Jiang Ning raised his brows in surprise.
Setting down the book in his hands, he stood up.
"Alright, let's go meet him."
As he walked toward the entrance, Jiang Ning couldn't help but feel curious.
The head of the Xie family had requested to see him, clearly wanting to discuss something important.
But what exactly could he have to discuss with me?
With some doubts in his mind, Jiang Ning walked toward the main hall in the front courtyard.
A moment later.
Jiang Ning and Xie Zhengtian sat at the tea table.
Suddenly
Xie Zhengtian stood up, his expression solemn. "Commander Jiang!!"
"Patriarch Xie, is there something you wish to discuss?" Jiang Ning asked.
"Yes!" Xie Zhengtian nodded seriously, then continued, "Commander Jiang, in the past, the members of my Xie family have been a mixed bunch, with some troublemakers causing harm to the townsfolk. This is a self-examination report compiled by my entire family, all 247 members."
As he finished speaking, he took a rolled-up white parchment from the dark-faced man behind him.
"Commander Jiang, please take a look."
Then, he took out two silver banknotes edged with fine gold threads from his sleeve and continued, "Commander Jiang, thank you for protecting the people of Luo Shui County last night. This is a small token of appreciation from my Xie family. Please accept it."
At that moment
Jiang Ning glanced at the rolled-up parchment placed on the table by Xie Zhengtian, then at the gold-trimmed silver banknotes he pushed forward, and smiled faintly.
He immediately understood Xie Zhengtian's intentions.
This was the fear of shared fate.
The downfall of the Cao and Liu families had sent a clear warning to the Xie family.
That was why, on the very first day of the new year, Xie Zhengtian had come knocking.
It was both an act of goodwill and a calculated move.
They had conducted a self-investigation, taken disciplinary action, and were now presenting a significant gift.
Two silver banknotes edged with gold!
Each of these special banknotes represented 10,000 taels of silver.
With two banknotes on the table, that was a total of 20,000 taels of silver, being offered directly to him.
Jiang Ning then picked up the rolled parchment, tore off the seal, and unfurled it in his hands.
After a short while
[Literacy Experience +1]
A few moments later
[Literacy Experience +1]
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, he had read through the pages detailing the Xie family's self-examination and punishments.
From the contents of the document, he had only gained two literacy experience points.
Jiang Ning then set down the parchment and looked calmly at Xie Zhengtian, who was standing before him.
"Not enough."
Hearing this, Xie Zhengtian was momentarily stunned.
Jiang Ning continued, "Because of Xie Xiaojiu, I may consider sparing your Xie family. However, the punishments listed here are far from sufficient. The crimes committed by your family members extend far beyond what is written."
"I will give you one more chance one opportunity to reassess and correct yourselves."
"Only this one chance!"
"If your Xie family does not sincerely deal with the culprits, I don't mind making you end up like the Liu family."
Jiang Ning's tone was calm, but Xie Zhengtian felt a chill run from his head down to his toes, making him involuntarily shudder.
He knew all too well what had happened to the Liu family.
And he did not doubt that Jiang Ning was fully capable of doing the same to the Xie family.
Especially after witnessing what had happened last night, he had no illusions anymore.
It was precisely because of last night's events that he had been able to easily convene a meeting with the elders of the family.
Any family that had survived and thrived to this point was not foolish.
They all understood one fundamental principle the survival of the family comes first.
Personal sacrifices, no matter how great, meant nothing in comparison to the family's survival.
At this moment, hearing Jiang Ning's response, Xie Zhengtian immediately realized this would not be an easy matter.
Jiang Ning had no intention of letting the Xie family off so easily.
What troubled him the most was Jiang Ning's one-chance-only ultimatum.
After a brief moment of silence, he respectfully replied
"Understood! Thank you, Commander Jiang, for giving the Xie family another chance."
With that, he pushed the two gold-trimmed silver banknotes forward once again.
"Commander Jiang, please accept these!"
"Alright." Jiang Ning nodded, taking the two banknotes. "I just happen to be short on money right now, so I'll gladly accept them."
At that moment
Xie Zhengtian's eyes lit up.
Immediately after
He said nothing further, simply cupped his hands in farewell, and left.
Outside the Residence
As soon as they stepped out of the mansion
"Elder Brother, what do we do now?" the dark-faced man finally spoke.
Before entering, Xie Zhengtian had strictly instructed him to remain silent no matter what.
Xie Zhengtian responded, "It's clear if our Xie family is willing to endure the pain and cut away the rot, we will survive. If we hesitate, we will end up just like the Liu family."
Saying this, a smile appeared on his face.
"Luckily, I just discovered a critical weakness of Commander Jiang he's in desperate need of money."
"And the Xie family... has plenty of money!"
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