Chapter 37: The Startled Cheng Ran

A single-arm strength of over two hundred jin.

While this was not a terrifying number in Cheng Ran's eyes, it was still significant.

After all, since he had achieved perfection in his vital essence and qi and had circulated it throughout his entire body, his single-arm strength had already exceeded five hundred jin—more than double Jiang Ning's current strength.

However, for someone who had not been practicing martial arts for very long, a strength exceeding two hundred jin was enough to leave Cheng Ran deeply shocked.

At this rate of growth, it wouldn't be long before he caught up.

Though, in reality, growth didn't work quite like that.

The higher the strength climbs, the more difficult it becomes to increase.

This was precisely why, despite having perfected his vital essence and circulated it throughout his body, he could only reach a strength of five hundred jin.

Nevertheless, a strength of over two hundred jin allowed him to roughly estimate the level of Jiang Ning's vital essence and qi.

It was at least above the "Minor Success" stage, though he might not have yet achieved the circulation of qi throughout both arms.

Furthermore, given his friendship with Jiang Ning, he knew very well that Jiang Ning's only supplemental medicine was the wild ginseng sent by Zhou Xing and the medicinal decoctions provided by the martial arts hall.

There was nothing else.

With such ordinary martial arts resources, to have increased his strength to this level, there was only one possibility in his mind.

Jiang Ning possessed extraordinary martial talent; he could condense a massive amount of vital essence and qi simply by relying on the Five Animals Boxing, a foundational martial art.

Moreover, Jiang Ning's progress in his boxing techniques must be incredibly rapid—likely at the level of Proficiency, or even Minor Success.

Thinking of this, Cheng Ran's heart surged with emotion.

Having personally felt the changes in Jiang Ning, he understood him better than anyone else present.

He had never expected that a friend he had casually befriended would possess such exaggerated martial talent.

Such talent was peerless among the crowd and extremely rare even in the entirety of Luoshui County.

At this moment, after a moment of thought, Cheng Ran chose not to make a scene.

He then broke into a smile and cupped his hands again. "My thanks to Junior Brother Jiang for your assistance!"

"Senior Brother has already thanked you!" Jiang Ning smiled.

Cheng Ran gave a wry smile. "As the saying goes, 'an injury to the bones takes a hundred days to heal.' At such a critical juncture, if your help had prevented a bone injury, it would have spared me from the misery of long-term bed rest. A mere word of thanks cannot express my gratitude."

"How about this!" Cheng Ran spoke, fumbled in his robes, and pulled out a banknote. "Junior Brother Jiang, this is the remaining fifty taels of silver I have on me. It is not much, but it is a token of my sincerity. Please, accept it."

Seeing this, Jiang Ning looked at Cheng Ran with some surprise.

A faint smile then appeared on his face. "Since Senior Brother Cheng is being so generous, I won't refuse. Don't go regretting it secretly later!"

Cheng Ran burst into laughter. "I love your straightforward and refreshing personality, Junior Brother Jiang!"

As he spoke, Cheng Ran pressed the banknote into Jiang Ning's hand. "When I, Cheng Ran, give something, I give it sincerely. There is no reason for regret!"

"Besides, although I do not come from a wealthy family, I can certainly afford this much for a friend. Not to mention, your help has spared me from flesh wounds, bone pain, and the suffering of being bedridden!"

"In the face of that, what is a mere fifty taels? If you don't accept it, Junior Brother, you would be looking down on me!"

Jiang Ning smiled. "In that case, I shall accept it with gratitude!"

He immediately tucked the fifty taels of silver into his pouch.

Meanwhile, the crowd in the distance watched this scene.

Their eyes were filled with envy, especially those of the well-to-do youths from the outer city.

"Fifty taels at once... Cheng Ran is truly generous!"

"Of course he is. Cheng Ran is the only male in his family. His family not only owns thousands of acres of fertile land but also a restaurant. Naturally, Senior Brother Cheng is wealthy. If he weren't, how could he have reached the stage of perfected vital essence and full-body circulation? The silver spent on such a journey is no small amount!"

"Jiang Ning is truly lucky to be on good terms with Senior Brother Cheng and to have earned his favor."

"Earning Senior Brother Cheng's favor is his own merit. By preventing a serious bone injury, he has saved precious time. There are only about three months left before the Luoshui County Inspectorate opens. If Senior Brother Cheng wants to compete for a position in the Inspectorate, a few days of bed rest would be far more important to him than fifty taels."

"True. For us people of Luoshui County, entering the Inspectorate is like a fish leaping over the dragon gate; one's future would be completely transformed."

"..."

On the other side, Jiang Ning accepted the fifty taels naturally.

He had no intention of engaging in the superficial politeness of refusing and being insisted upon.

Currently, fifty taels was a huge help to him, whereas to Cheng Ran, it was negligible.

He was currently in desperate need of resources.

On the path of martial arts, a lack of resources greatly affects progress and efficiency.

Since he no longer had the help of the wild ginseng, the number of times he could practice his boxing each day had decreased significantly, and his daily income of energy points had also dropped.

With these fifty taels, he could return to his previous level of efficiency.

This would allow his boxing progress to accelerate, and his accumulation of vital essence and qi would follow suit.

This would greatly increase his chances of joining the Inspectorate in three months.

He had long since made up his mind to join the Inspectorate, but he did not know if he would actually succeed.

After all, time was running out; three months was far too short.

In three months, he had to achieve Great Success in his vital essence, reach a martial rank, and pass the Inspectorate's practical examination.

Regarding the first requirement, he felt confident; it wouldn't be a major problem.

But regarding the second—attaining a martial rank—he had no certainty at all.

On the path of martial arts, even with perfected vital essence and full-body circulation, one was still considered an ordinary person—an ordinary person who had not yet broken the limits of the human body.

Only by attaining a martial rank could one be said to have truly stepped onto the path of martial arts.

As far as he knew, to reach the Ninth Rank, one had to circulate the vital essence and qi throughout the body, aided by secret methods and external substances, refining both the internal and external simultaneously to forge a layer of membrane beneath the skin—a membrane connected to the musculature.

Once this membrane was formed, the body would be leak-proof, much like the layer of skin peeled from a cow, connecting the entire muscular system.

Achieving this step meant entering the ranks of martial artists; a Skin-Refining martial artist could be called a Ninth Rank martial artist.

Upon initially reaching the Ninth Rank, the transformation in strength was not obvious; it merely increased vital essence intensity, physical strength, and slightly enhanced durability. This increased durability was still not enough to provide significant protection against weapons and blades.

However, once one moved to the next stage of Skin-Refining—reaching Minor Success, where the membrane becomes as hard as stone, known as the "Stone Skin" stage—things would be entirely different.

Not only would ordinary weapons struggle to cause significant damage, but the martial artist's durability would increase exponentially.

More importantly, their vital essence and strength would be further enhanced.

If such martial artists were armored and armed as an army, they would be a nightmare on the battlefield; ten men could break a common thousand, and a hundred could break a common ten thousand.

If one reached Great Success in the Skin-Refining stage, the transformation would go even further.

The membrane would be integrated with the body, comparable to bronze, making it difficult for ordinary swords to wound them.

At the Great Success stage of Skin-Refining, even wearing thin clothes would be equivalent to wearing armor.

This was the true power of a ranked martial artist.