Courtyard.
Jiang Ning clenched his fist.
He immediately felt the changes in his body.
His strength had increased.
Just by clenching his fist, he could feel that the power he could unleash had reached a new level.
"My skin has transformed, becoming as tough as bronze. My strength has increased by several hundred jin. I should be close to two thousand jin now!"
He murmured to himself.
Then, he picked up a piece of gravel from the ground and held it in his palm, applying force.
Crack
The sound of the stone breaking came from his hand.
A few moments later.
Jiang Ning opened his right hand, revealing only a pile of white powder in his palm.
Whoosh
A strong breath escaped his mouth, blowing the white powder into the air and revealing his clean, unmarked palm.
There wasn't a single wound on his palm.
"The toughness of my skin has indeed improved! I wonder if it can now withstand ordinary swords and knives."
Jiang Ning muttered to himself as he walked to the corner of the courtyard.
The broken blackwood longsword he had discarded earlier was still lying in the corner.
Arriving at the corner, Jiang Ning quickly found the broken blade he had casually thrown away.
"Let's use this blade to test the toughness of my skin. According to the Indestructible Golden Body technique, even if one achieves skin as tough as bronze, the toughness of the skin tempered by this technique is generally 30% to 50% stronger than that of others at the same level."
Thinking this, Jiang Ning picked up the broken blade and lightly dragged its sharp edge across his arm.
He immediately felt his skin dent slightly, accompanied by a faint pain.
After the blade passed over his skin, the dented area quickly returned to normal, leaving no wound.
Only a faint white mark remained on his arm.
He wiped the mark with his finger, and it disappeared instantly.
"It's different now!"
Jiang Ning looked at the changes on his arm, his expression filled with joy.
Then, he dragged the blade across his arm again.
This time, he used much more force.
In an instant, he felt a sharp pain in his arm.
It was the sensation of the blade cutting through his skin.
But the next moment, he felt a strong resistance from the blade.
The blade couldn't move forward any further.
"This must be the effect of the skin membrane!" Jiang Ning muttered to himself.
He then moved the blade away from his arm and saw a thin cut on his left arm.
This was the mark left by the broken blade.
However, the cut was minor.
Only a few traces of blood seeped out.
"It seems the toughness of the skin membrane is much stronger than the skin itself."
"From my test, it seems that a blade made of hundred-fold refined iron, with a force of about a hundred jin, can cut through my skin but cannot damage the skin membrane beneath."
At this point, Jiang Ning roughly understood the defensive capabilities of his body after achieving skin tempering.
The interconnected skin membrane now acted like a layer of iron, protecting him.
In this state, even if ordinary people wielded weapons, they would find it difficult to damage his skin, let alone the skin membrane beneath.
"Skin tempering at the great achievement level is truly a qualitative change!"
Jiang Ning felt a surge of joy.
Then, he casually tossed the broken blade back into the corner.
He wanted to test whether the Indestructible Golden Body could still gain experience.
According to Lin Qingyi and the records in the Indestructible Golden Body fragment, this technique was one of the core martial arts of the Vajra Temple.
If cultivated to perfection, one could condense the legendary Indestructible Golden Body.
At that level, a martial artist would be invulnerable, and fearless of any weapon or divine technique.
That was the true pinnacle of skin tempering.
The fragment of the Indestructible Golden Body he possessed was deliberately spread by the Vajra Temple, as it only recorded up to the great achievement level of skin tempering, where the skin becomes as tough as bronze.
Now that his skin tempering had reached this level, he had essentially mastered the highest level recorded in this fragment.
Normally, to progress further in skin tempering, one would need to join the Vajra Temple, pass their tests, and become a disciple to potentially receive the subsequent teachings of the Indestructible Golden Body.
This was likely why the Vajra Temple had spread this fragment of their core martial art.
Normally, with Jiang Ning's efficiency in cultivating the Indestructible Golden Body, passing the Vajra Temple's tests and becoming a disciple wouldn't be difficult.
But it was easy to imagine.
As one of the top sects in the world, even with Jiang Ning's performance, obtaining the subsequent teachings of their core martial art wouldn't be easy.
After all, it was a core martial art. How could it be so easily taught?
Moreover, the Vajra Temple had many strict rules, so Jiang Ning had no intention of joining them.
Unless one day he was truly desperate, he might consider joining the Vajra Temple to seek their protection.
At this moment, Jiang Ning thought to himself, "Now, whether I can continue progressing in skin tempering depends on whether I can still gain experience in this technique."
"It should be possible! After all, with the Inner Alchemy Life-Nurturing Skill, even after reaching the initial level, I could still gain experience."
Thinking this, Jiang Ning decided not to waste any more time.
He assumed the first stance of the Indestructible Golden Body and began circulating his energy, pushing his blood and energy to temper his skin.
Time passed slowly.
[Indestructible Golden Body experience +1]
[Skill]: Indestructible Golden Body (Small Achievement 1/5000)
Seeing this change on his panel, the stone in Jiang Ning's heart finally settled.
"In that case, there's no problem!"
"After reaching the small achievement level in the Indestructible Golden Body, it enters uncharted territory in the fragment."
"Since I can still gain experience in this technique, as long as I accumulate 5,000 experience points, the technique will naturally break through to the next level, bringing me closer to the perfect state and the condensation of the Indestructible Golden Body."
Jiang Ning felt a surge of joy.
A moment later, he stopped tempering his skin.
Because he had just broken through, his skin membrane was already under strain.
Now, after continuing to temper it, the continuous strain caused a faint pain throughout his skin.
[Skill]: Indestructible Golden Body (Small Achievement 2/5000)
"Two experience points, that's enough!"
Jiang Ning was completely reassured.
[Swimming +1]
[Swimming +1]
[Swimming +1]
[...]
Soaking in the cool lake water, Jiang Ning felt the fatigue in his body gradually dissipate, while his swimming skills continued to gain experience.
"It seems bathing in the Luoshui River is indeed a better choice."
"Not only does it relieve physical fatigue, but it also increases my swimming skill experience."
Half an hour later, Jiang Ning got out of the water and returned to his room.
He looked at the Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill placed in front of him.
His eyes burned with desire.
The Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill was the fastest way for him to reach the eighth grade of martial arts.
The eighth grade, the Divine Strength Realm, involved using energy to push blood and energy to temper the muscles, causing them to transform and unleash greater strength.
The most significant improvement in this realm was strength.
Hence, the eighth grade was also known as the Divine Strength Realm.
The most challenging aspect of this realm was mastering energy.
Only by mastering energy could one internally temper the muscles.
Without mastering energy, there was no way to temper the muscles effectively.
Whether it was the medicinal power of spirit fruits or pills like the Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill, they could only barely help a ninth-grade martial artist step into the eighth grade.
The further one progressed, the finer the muscles that needed to be tempered.
Without relying on oneself, it was impossible.
Mastering energy was never an easy task.
It depended entirely on comprehension.
Only those with high comprehension could master a certain type of energy by cultivating a basic martial art to perfection.
But comprehension was elusive and intangible.
Some people might struggle to master a first technique for years, showing poor comprehension.
But when they switched to sword techniques, they progressed rapidly, achieving perfection in half a year.
This phenomenon was not uncommon and has happened countless times throughout history.
And it was still happening.
So, for most people, mastering energy required some luck. If they encountered a weapon or martial art they were good at, it would be much easier.
But all of this was irrelevant to Jiang Ning.
He had already mastered energy, so the Divine Strength Realm held no secrets for him.
With a little time, he could smoothly progress through this realm.
Moreover, this realm was relatively simple, unlike skin tempering, which had many complexities.
Tempering the muscles and increasing strength by five hundred jin marked the entry into the eighth grade.
Most martial artists at this stage had a strength of over 1,500 jin, typically ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 jin.
Continuing to temper the muscles and increasing strength by another five hundred jin marked the small achievement level of the Divine Strength Realm.
Most martial artists at this stage had a strength of over 2,000 jin, typically ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 jin.
As for the great achievement level of the Divine Strength Realm, it involved fully tempering all the muscles in the body.
Strength would increase significantly, reaching the limit of this realm.
At this stage, the differences became more pronounced.
Some people with excellent innate physique and well-developed muscle groups could achieve a strength of over 3,000 jin at the limit of this realm.
Some born with divine strength could even reach an astonishing 4,000 jin or more.
Such martial artists were invincible at their level.
The difference in strength allowed them to easily defeat opponents of the same level.
With sufficient accumulation, even ordinary seventh-grade martial artists might not match these naturally strong individuals who had reached the limit of the eighth grade.
This realm, achieving great achievement in strength training, was a kind of limit.
Because achieving great achievement meant fully tempering all muscle groups in the body.
So, unlike the ninth grade, where even after achieving great achievement in skin tempering and reaching bronze skin, there were still two more steps.
At this moment, Jiang Ning recalled all this information about the eighth-grade of martial arts.
Then, he closed his eyes and focused inward.
He immediately noticed significant changes in the muscle groups throughout his body.
This was because he had consumed three Ox Demon Strength Fruits.
One Ox Demon Strength Fruit could increase his strength by a hundred jin.
Where did this hundred jin of strength come from?
It couldn't be a direct boost from the spirit fruit.
It was simply the effect of the fruit's medicinal power tempering his muscles, leading to an increase in strength.
When the muscle groups were untempered, they were like a blank slate.
So, initially, the Ox Demon Strength Fruit's effect was at its best.
The more muscle groups were tempered the weaker the strength increase from the Ox Demon Strength Fruit would become.
This was the reason why spirit fruits like the Ox Demon Strength Fruit could increase strength.
Thinking this, Jiang Ning muttered to himself, "The three Ox Demon Strength Fruits increased my strength by three hundred jin. That means I only need to increase my strength by another two hundred jin to officially enter the eighth grade."
"In that case, it won't be long!"
Jiang Ning opened his eyes and looked at the Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill in front of him.
The Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill was undoubtedly far more effective than the three Ox Demon Strength Fruits.
This pill was renowned for allowing one to break through a small realm with a single pill.
This meant that one Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill could increase strength by at least five hundred jin.
Moreover, according to rumors, this increase applied whether one had just entered the eighth grade or had been cultivating in the Divine Strength Realm for a long time. It was equivalent to breaking through a small realm.
"Today is the day I enter the eighth grade, the Divine Strength Realm!" Jiang Ning declared as he picked up the Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill.
In the next moment, he peeled off the pill's outer layer.
As soon as the seal was broken, a rich medicinal aroma filled the room.
Jiang Ning's nose was filled with the fragrant scent.
"The eighth grade, the Divine Strength Realm, depends on this."
Jiang Ning placed the Dragon-Tiger Strength Pill on his tongue.
With a gulp, the pill slid down his throat and into his stomach.
Once inside his stomach...
Boom
Jiang Ning felt as if a small sun had exploded within him.
The pill instantly released a terrifying amount of energy.
He immediately closed his eyes and focused inward.
In this state, Jiang Ning felt a foreign energy within his body.
An energy that didn't belong to him.
This energy was extremely domineering and filled with vitality.
It was like a dragon and a tiger, rampaging through his body.
It seemed to possess a life of its own, precisely integrating into his muscle groups and, with the released medicinal power, began to temper all the muscle groups in his body.
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