In his courtyard.
Jiang Ning clenched his fist, instantly feeling the surging power within his body.
"So strong! It feels like my strength has surpassed 1,200 to 1,300 pounds!"
He then stomped his foot.
Boom
The ground beneath him shook, dust flying into the air, and the nearby trees swayed, their leaves rustling.
"Truly powerful!"
Feeling the recoil of his strength, Jiang Ning's face lit up with joy.
Next, he bent down and picked up a grayish-white stone from the ground. He clenched his fist, his fingers, and palm exerting force together. The muscles in his arm bulged like tree roots.
After a moment, he opened his hand. The stone in his palm had turned into a pile of broken fragments. As Jiang Ning opened his right hand, the fragments fell to the ground.
Whoosh
He blew on his palm, and the white dust scattered, revealing his completely unharmed skin.
"Indeed, no injuries!"
Jiang Ning smiled, then added, "Let's test it again!"
He walked a few steps to a rock weighing about 30 to 50 pounds. He clenched his fist and punched the rock with a powerful strike.
Boom
With a loud crash, the rock shattered into pieces, fragments flying everywhere.
Feeling no pain in his fist, Jiang Ning turned it over to inspect it. He blew on it again, and the dust cleared, revealing his unscathed skin.
"Such incredible defense!"
Jiang Ning smiled again. His flesh had collided with stone, and while the stone had shattered, his fist remained unharmed. This undoubtedly proved that the hardness of his skin had surpassed that of ordinary stone. Only then could he remain unscathed.
Feeling the changes in his skin's toughness, Jiang Ning nodded in satisfaction. Reaching this level, he had truly stepped into the ninth grade of martial arts. The Stone Skin level was a complete transformation compared to the Oxhide level. While Oxhide was still flesh and blood, Stone Skin was something else entirely comparable to solid rock.
Normally, when martial artists reached the Stone Skin level, their bodies were as if covered in a layer of rock, granting them immense defensive capabilities. However, Jiang Ning had trained using the Diamond Temple's supreme martial art, the Indestructible Golden Body. At any level, his defense was 30-50% stronger than that of ordinary martial artists. This was the advantage of a top-tier sect's supreme martial art.
After this simple test, Jiang Ning had a rough idea of his current defensive capabilities. His skin was now much harder than ordinary stone. If an ordinary person attacked him with farming tools like sickles or axes, they would at most cause superficial wounds, unable to inflict serious damage.
"Reaching this level, I truly feel different from ordinary people. No wonder it's said that only by stepping into the ninth grade of martial arts can one stand out among the crowd," Jiang Ning murmured to himself.
Next.
Jiang Ning walked to the side and picked up his ebony longsword.
Clang
He drew the blade. "Let's test whether my current physique can withstand the overlay of two layers of force!"
As he spoke, his right hand gripped the hilt tightly, and energy began to flow through his arm, building up.
In the next moment, he struck.
The blade sliced through the air with a sharp whoosh. The speed and force of the strike were so intense that Jiang Ning could feel the air parting like water. The path of the blade through the air was visible to the naked eye.
After the flash of the blade, the sharp sword came to an abrupt halt in mid-air.
This strike, aimed at the air, made Jiang Ning feel a powerful tearing sensation in his body. The overlay of two layers of force in his right arm placed a significant burden on it.
He held the stance for a full breath before using the energy in his right arm to flick his wrist. The longsword flew into his left hand.
Then, he opened and closed his right-hand several times, feeling the changes in the muscles and skin of his arm.
After a few repetitions, he nodded in satisfaction. "Indeed, it's different now! The overlay of two layers of force no longer places too much strain on my right arm. It can fully withstand it, and there's even some room to spare. My Canglang Blade Technique can continue to advance!"
[Skill]: Canglang Blade Technique (Proficient 1/200)
According to the manual, once the Canglang Blade Technique reached the Small Success level, it would allow the overlay of three layers of force, unleashing even more terrifying destructive power. With his current physique, Jiang Ning could fully withstand the break out of three layers of force. He might even be able to endure the overlay of five layers of force at the Great Success level.
With this in mind, Jiang Ning made a decision. "In the coming days, I'll focus entirely on practicing the blade. First, I'll break through to the Small Success level of the Canglang Blade Technique and see if my body can handle the overlay of three layers of force. If it can, I'll push further to the Great Success level and master the overlay of five layers of force!"
"If I can achieve the overlay of five layers of force, I can instant explosion five times my normal strength, allowing me to fight above my level. After all, my current strength is already over 1,200 pounds. Even though eighth-grade martial artists typically have around 2,000 pounds of strength, with some reaching 3,000 pounds, if I can overlay five layers of force, my strength would increase fivefold. Combined with the increase from my Firewood Chopping Technique, which has broken through three times, I could instant explosion over 20,000 pounds of force."
Thinking this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but take a deep breath. The idea of a human body breaking out tens of thousands of pounds of force was astonishing, but in this world of martial arts, it wasn't entirely unreasonable.
In his previous life, top boxers could punch with over 1,600 pounds of force, even though their arm strength was only a few hundred pounds. With his current strength being several times greater, and the incredible techniques of this world, it wasn't far-fetched to achieve such feats.
Later.
Jiang Ning sheathed his sword and glanced at the ground. His eyes were immediately drawn to a straight, clean cut in the earth a mark left by his blade as it sliced through the air.
"That's incredible!" Jiang Ning exclaimed. "If this strike landed on an armored soldier, it would probably cut them in half!"
But then he paused and shook his head. "Then again, maybe not. In this world, martial arts are so advanced that forging techniques must also be extraordinary. With people capable of exerting thousands of pounds of force, or even more, they could easily forge metals comparable to the special alloys of my previous world."
With this thought, Jiang Ning chuckled and shook his head again. "Enough overthinking. The key is to keep improving my strength!"
After a Bath.
Jiang Ning washed off the dried skin-refining sand and the layer of dead skin, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
"It's been a few days since I last visited the martial arts school. Now that I've broken through to Small Success in skin refinement and achieved Stone Skin, it's time to pay a visit."
With this thought, Jiang Ning grabbed his ebony longsword and headed out of the courtyard.
Canglang Martial Arts School.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Jiang!"
"Greetings, Senior Brother Jiang!!"
The two disciples guarding the school gate bowed respectfully as Jiang Ning stepped down from his carriage.
Jiang Ning smiled and greeted them before walking into the school.
Back Courtyard.
As Jiang Ning entered the back courtyard, he noticed that the usually quiet area was now bustling with activity. Under the shade of a large tree, four people were seated around a stone table, while one person stood nearby.
The standing figure was someone Jiang Ning knew well Li Qing, the only female disciple in the school. The other four were seated, with Wang Jin being one of them. The other two men and one woman were unfamiliar to Jiang Ning.
The two men and one woman were not young. The oldest among them appeared to be in his forties. Sitting across from Wang Jin, he seemed to hold the highest status among the three. On either side of Wang Jin and the older man sat a man and a woman, both in their early thirties. Their matching attire and the emblem of grass and flowers on their chests indicated they were from the same organization.
Jiang Ning's sudden appearance and the commotion he caused immediately drew the attention of the group.
"Greetings, Master!" Jiang Ning bowed to Wang Jin.
Wang Jin, who had been calm, smiled faintly upon seeing Jiang Ning.
Li Qing, standing behind Wang Jin, waved at Jiang Ning with a smile. "Junior Brother, come over here!"
"Senior Sister Li!" Jiang Ning greeted her.
"Jiang Ning, come here," Wang Jin called.
"Yes, Master!" Jiang Ning responded and walked forward. As he approached, he heard Wang Jin introduce him to the middle-aged man across from him.
"Elder Liu, this is my talented disciple, Jiang Ning."
Hearing the name "Jiang Ning," Elder Liu looked at him with some surprise. "Jiang Ning? I've heard of him. Isn't he the one who caused Shen Congyun to violate Wanhua Tower's rules and face punishment?"
Wang Jin nodded. "That's correct. It's him."
At this, the man and woman sitting beside Elder Liu also glanced at Jiang Ning, their gazes lingering for a moment before they looked away.
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