Chapter 53: Perfection of Skin Tempering (Please follow, bookmark, vote monthly, and recommend!)

The original Xu residence now belonged to Su Mu.

Su Mu lay inside a room.

In this vast estate, Su Mu was now the sole inhabitant.

To outsiders, living in such a grand manor without even a single maid to serve him seemed excessively austere.

But Su Mu felt it was fine. He didn't plan on staying in the Outer City for long; his goal was the vast sea of stars...

There was no need to invest too much effort into managing a place where he was destined to stay only briefly.

【Name: Su Mu】

【Identity: Constable Squad Leader (Clerk)】

【Points: 1005】

【Cultivation Technique: Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method (Great Success / +)】

【Martial Arts: Wave-Subduing Saber Technique (Perfection), Archery (Entry / +)】

As midnight arrived, Su Mu impatiently summoned his system panel.

His points had finally broken the thousand mark, and that familiar "+" had appeared after the Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method.

"I have been waiting for this day for nearly a month."

Su Mu took a deep breath and, with a single thought, tapped the "+".

*Buzz!!!*

As the thousand points on the panel were consumed, Su Mu felt a surge of scalding blood qi explode within his body.

A boiling heatwave spread from his core outward, piercing through his membranes and erupting through every pore in his body.

This was the third time Su Mu had endured such pain, and his state was much stronger than the previous two times.

At least this time, he did not lose consciousness.

Though the pain was so intense that he could not move a muscle or even utter a sound, he managed to maintain a sliver of clarity.

It wasn't because the pain had lessened, but because he had become better at enduring it.

That is how humans are; as long as they are willing to suffer—

Su Mu felt as if a red-hot iron rod was constantly roaming across the surface of his body. The searing sensation lingered on his skin, giving him the feeling of being cooked alive.

His skin continuously shed and regenerated.

With every rebirth, his skin gained another layer of metallic luster.

After an unknown amount of time and countless cycles of skin transformation, the impurities were washed away, and he emerged like a butterfly from its cocoon.

Su Mu climbed out of bed, the dead skin flaking off his body in a rustling shower.

He stumbled to the table and began frantically stuffing himself with the food he had prepared in advance.

Breaking through was extremely taxing on physical strength; after every breakthrough, he had to eat voraciously to compensate for the bodily depletion.

Only after swallowing every morsel on the table did Su Mu finally let out a comfortable groan.

Every inch of his skin seemed to emit a sound of pleasure in response.

Su Mu shook his body, clearly sensing his transformation.

On the surface, his skin color had darkened slightly.

In reality, however, a world-shaking change had occurred.

His skin was now composed of microscopic scales invisible to the naked eye. These scales, like gold and jade, protected the muscles beneath, as if Su Mu had donned a layer of soft golden-jade armor.

Now, if an ordinary person without skin tempering were to attack him, even with sharp blades or weapons, it would be difficult to pierce his skin.

Skin Tempering: Perfection!

The strength of his skin could now withstand the advancement of his muscles.

Skin, flesh, tendons, and bones—each step progressed in tandem.

Only when the skin is sufficiently strong can one step into the second stage of body tempering: Flesh Tempering.

If one were to temper the flesh directly while the skin remained weak, the muscles would become too powerful; before they could even harm an enemy during an outburst, the skin would likely fail and split open.

Only through tempering the skin to be sufficiently tough can it support the explosive power of the muscles.

Su Mu's current realm, if placed in his previous life, would be equivalent to having mastered the Golden Bell Shield or Iron Cloth technique.

With Skin Tempering at Perfection, he could be called an expert within the Outer City.

There were not many people in the Outer City who could reach this level.

If one included his perfected Wave-Subduing Saber Technique, the number of people in the South City who could defeat him could be counted on one hand.

Unless they also possessed a perfected martial art, they would need to be at least at the peak of the second stage of body tempering to suppress Su Mu.

Peak Flesh Tempering was not rare in the Inner City, but in the Outer City, such a person would be at least at the level of a Head Constable. In a gang, they would need to be at least a Vice Leader to possess such strength.

In other words, Su Mu's current strength was sufficient to hold the position of a Head Constable in the South City Division.

The former South City Head Constable, Xing Zhaofu, was not much stronger than he was now.

"If I can reach the Flesh Tempering stage, or master a second saber intent, I could truly walk through the Outer City with impunity," Su Mu thought as he washed his body. He still had some silver on hand; perhaps he could go to the Pawnshops to buy a Flesh Tempering method.

He wondered if Yang Jin might have better connections.

Suddenly, Su Mu looked up toward the window.

"Come out. I know you're there!"

Su Mu barked in a low voice, reaching out to grab the long saber that almost never left his side.

At that moment, a figure lunged in through the window.

Two flashes of saber light ignited simultaneously.

With several crisp clangs, the two figures each retreated two steps.

Su Mu backed toward the bed, his eyes fixed on the tall figure that had retreated toward the window.

By the moonlight, he could see the newcomer's face.

"Wei Yongfu, whose contract have you taken this time to come and assassinate me?" Su Mu asked slowly.

"The Xu family has fallen; who would dare hire someone to kill you now?"

Wei Yongfu sheathed his saber and shook his head. "I suppose being an official is indeed a faster way to make money. I fought for my life just to earn a few hundred taels from the Xu family, and you turned around and seized their entire estate. This massive manor is all yours now."

He looked around the room with an air of profound emotion.

"With your skills, wouldn't it be easy to become an official?"

Su Mu offered no explanation, merely responding casually.

His gaze fell upon Wei Yongfu's arm.

There was a white mark on Wei Yongfu's forearm, the spot where Su Mu's blade had just struck.

Although Su Mu had not used the "Ninefold Waves" saber intent just now, even with his perfected Skin Tempering strength, he had failed to break Wei Yongfu's skin.

"I can't be an official; there are some things I simply cannot do. Being a bounty hunter suits me better—I eat according to my skill," Wei Yongfu said, shaking his head.

Noticing Su Mu's gaze, he rubbed the white mark and said nonchalantly, "I was born with copper skin and iron bones. After reaching Skin Tempering Perfection, my skin is thirty percent tougher than an ordinary tempered warrior. If the day comes when I can temper my bones, I will be even stronger than an ordinary bone-tempering expert."

"It's no use envying me; it's innate. Unless you can cultivate multiple skin-tempering methods simultaneously, you certainly won't match me. If you truly could cultivate multiple methods to perfection, you would be more formidable than I am. However, that requires a massive amount of time, and your chances of stepping into the Blood Exchange Realm would become even slimmer. It's not worth the trade-off."

Su Mu's expression turned thoughtful.

"Let's get to business. I came to find you because I want to make a deal," Wei Yongfu said, looking at Su Mu. "You have reached Skin Tempering Perfection and will certainly need the next cultivation technique. I, on the other hand, need silver to buy Flesh Tempering Pills. I want to trade a Flesh Tempering method for some silver."

"Oh?" Su Mu grew interested. "If you have a Flesh Tempering method, why not go to the Pawnshops to exchange it for silver?"

"Those people are vultures; they won't give even five hundred taels for something worth a thousand," Wei Yongfu said, shaking his head. "You just seized the Xu family's assets, so you should have plenty of silver. Since a Flesh Tempering method is something you urgently need, I think you'll be much more willing to pay than they would be."