Chapter 9: The Will of Martial Arts

  As soon as he set foot in Jiangnan, the enormous power of the Dragon-Tiger Elephant Fist was unleashed, and his small body contained a huge power that ordinary people could hardly imagine. In one step, he rushed to the front of the bear demon, raised his palm, and fiercely slapped forward!

  His arm was like an elephant's trunk, and with a slap of his palm, he lifted the black bear weighing over 1,000 catties into the air, sending it flying to a distance of four or five zhangs away, where it crashed onto the opposite bank of the stone bridge, snapping a large tree in two with a loud crack!

  The big tree fell down, dust and smoke rose everywhere, the bear monster let out a shrill cry, flipped over and jumped up, both shocked and enraged.

  Bang!

  Jiang Nan's second foot came down, this step was even bigger, and he directly jumped off the bridge, taking a big stride to get in front of the bear demon. He slapped his palm again. The bear demon was enraged, opening its paws to hug the broken tree trunk, and with a loud whoosh, it rushed towards Jiang Nan!

  The palm of Jiangnan's hand struck the broken tree, causing it to explode with a loud "boom" and sending wooden shavings flying in all directions. Amidst the splinters, a black bear paw swooped down towards Jiangnan's forehead!

  A palm from the bear demon slapped onto Jiang Nan's forehead, and instantly fresh blood flew everywhere, almost nailing the young man like a nail into the muddy soil by the riverbank!

  At the same time, another palm of Jiang Nan's slapped heavily on the bear demon, sending this thousand-jin-heavy black bear flying again with a single slap!

  Jiang Nan was slapped into the mud by the bear demon, sinking in up to his waist. The bear demon ignored its own muddy predicament and lifted its leg, kicking the mud in front of it with a loud "thud", seemingly unimpeded. It took another step forward, once again standing before the bear demon!

  Shen Xiang Tuo Shan has thirteen steps, thirteen strikes. It is the most ferocious and overbearing move among all the moves currently learned in Jiangnan. Thirteen consecutive steps, thirteen consecutive strikes, without a single pause, without a single gasp!

  In the mountains, suddenly came the sound of footsteps, the sound of slapping, and the roar of elephants and bears!

  A giant tree came crashing down, and after a moment of silence, the intense noise stopped. Jiang Nan emerged from the forest, his hands raised high as he held up the corpse of a massive bear, covered in blood, one step at a time.

  Behind him was a scene of utter devastation, with trees uprooted and branches broken, scattered leaves everywhere.

  He took thirteen steps and thirteen blows, and the bear demon was beaten into the mountain forest more than seventy yards away. Along the way, more than ten trees fell down, and finally, he killed the bear demon!

  However, he didn't have it easy either. The bear demon, although still just a demonic beast and not fully cultivated into a demon, had boundless strength and was an extremely troublesome opponent. It slapped Jiang Nan with six or seven strikes, and wherever its paws landed, it almost pounded his small body into mush!

  If it weren't for Jiang Nan practicing the Demon Prison Xuan Tai Jing today and reaching the fifth layer of the Dragon Tiger Elephant Force Technique, he might not even be a match for this black bear!

  "Sister, how was my performance?" Jiang Nan stepped over the stone bridge, throwing down the bear's corpse, and took a deep breath, feeling that all the muscles on his body were sore, but he forced himself to smile and ask.

  The battle didn't last long, but it exhausted his physical strength. If not for the magical clock inside him being extraordinary, Jiang Nan would have undoubtedly lost this fight.

  His physical quality was too poor. Although he had already cultivated to the realm of refining his bones, his diet did not keep up with it. After a round of fighting, his physical strength was somewhat insufficient.

  By the stone bridge, a white-clothed woman with a sable coat appeared beside the Yangchuan River. A soft voice came: "Zi Chuan, you can barely be considered a martial artist now, much more mature than when you fought Wu Si Jiang. However, in front of a true master of martial arts, you are still a rookie."

  "Sister, don't worry, I understand this principle."

  Jiang Nan circulated his true energy, running it through his entire body. In his mind, he thought: "Sister Jiang Xue was right, that bear demon from earlier had demonic energy, but it wasn't a real demon beast and couldn't transform into a human. Moreover, although it had a weapon, it didn't master martial arts and only relied on brute force to fight. It should be an unenlightened spirit, and compared to a true martial arts expert, there's a huge gap!"

  It wasn't until now that he finally understood why Jiang Xue said that fighting against the demonic beasts was suitable for a rookie like him. The bear demon and other demonic beasts possessed innate killing techniques, but after all, they weren't as proficient in martial arts as humans. If the demonic beasts were also proficient in martial arts, then it would be ten times more dangerous!

  If this bear demon is also proficient in martial arts, then as soon as the first sword falls, it will take his life!

  In his body, the true energy was surging and rushing, never stopping for a long time. His true energy was like an invisible pair of palms, massaging the injured parts of the body, unblocking the meridians and activating the blood circulation, expelling the blood stains from the skin pores, and even the shattered bone fragments inside his body could be expelled out of his body by the true energy.

  When martial arts training reaches the four major boundaries of skin, flesh, tendons and bones, one can achieve this point, self-healing physical injuries is not exclusive to Jiangnan.

  He cultivated the Demon Prison Mysterious Fetus Scripture, his true energy was extremely overbearing, and even healing from physical injuries was one or two parts faster than others. However, to thoroughly recover and not leave any lingering problems, he would need at least ten days of rest to accomplish that.

  In Jiang Nan's eyes, the light of precision flashed, and the gains from that battle were not just a simple leap from ordinary person to martial artist. Similarly, his combat consciousness, reaction speed, fighting skills, adaptability, and tempering of his mentality all underwent a tremendous baptism.

  His harvest was abundant, and in the battle, he urged various killing moves, making his understanding of these moves more thorough and more familiar, and at the same time, he could also recognize his own shortcomings.

  Similarly, his true energy was also applied in an unprecedented way during the battle, becoming even more pure and refined, running faster and reacting shorter!

  "A desperate fight can be worth more than a hundred years of bitter practice. This statement may be exaggerated, but it's not unreasonable."

  Jiang Nan carefully thought about the changes in the moves from the previous battle, pondering his own shortcomings. Before long, he discovered many weaknesses in the Dragon-Tiger Elephant Fist and made improvements to it.

  "Sister, how does my current strength compare to those aristocratic young masters of the Qi Wang Fu?" Jiang Nan asked.

  Jiang Xue walked onto the bridge, her pretty face turned to him as she shook her head and said: "The young masters of the Qi Wang Fu eat high-quality ginseng and deer antler as ingredients every day, with the blood and flesh of demonic beasts as their main course. They even have spiritual elixirs that nourish their energy and consolidate their boundaries. Your past diet was too poor, your body is far from being as strong as theirs. How long have you been cultivating now? Can you surpass them? Don't be discouraged, from now on, when you hunt and kill demonic beasts, consume their blood and flesh, and your physical strength will naturally become extremely vigorous. Your physique will become stronger and stronger, easily surpassing theirs."

  Jiang Nan nodded silently, he had been working in the Qi Wang Fu for a long time and had already heard that these young masters of the royal family ate extremely well. Every morning, they would start by drinking a cup of human milk to replenish their energy, and the royal family would also specially purchase some top-grade medicinal materials such as ginseng, bird's nest, deer antler, and lingzhi mushroom to brew a nourishing tonic soup for these young masters to eat.

  What's even more terrifying is that the imperial kitchen consumes ten giant demonic beasts a day, using their blood and flesh as ingredients!

  "Zi River, the sky is already late, let's go back."

  Jiang Xue transformed into a white fox again, jumped onto his shoulder and whispered: "Luo Xia Mountain is home to many monsters, especially at night when they roam freely. Your current strength can defeat one monster, but against a group of them, there's only one outcome... death. By the way, bear meat tastes great, it nourishes the body, strengthens muscles and bones, can't waste it."

  Jiangnan claimed to be the one who went forward and cut off the front paws of two black bears, then cut down a dozen or so catties of fine meat before leaving.

  After returning to her residence, Jiang Xue took out several large silver ingots and stuffed them into Jiang Nan's hands: "Since you are already my brother, how can you be a slave for others? If it gets out, it will lose face for your sister. Here is some money, go to the Qi Wang Fu to redeem your own contract, from now on you will be free."

  Jiang Nan frowned and asked in puzzlement: "Sister, where did this silver come from?"

  Jiang Xue smiled and said, "As a fox fairy, how could I not be proficient in some of the five ghosts' methods for making money? This wealth was naturally moved from the treasuries of wealthy families."

  Jiang Nan suddenly realized that he had heard Tie Zhu mention similar things before. It was said that there were fox demons who would charm scholars, and apart from their beauty, they would also use money to entice them. They would take out a lot of silver coins to tempt the scholar, and if the other party accepted it, it meant that they had sold their life to the fox demon. That night, they would be eaten by the fox demon's heart and liver.

  "Don't worry, I won't eat your little heart." Jiang Xue seemed to see through his thoughts and chuckled.

  Jiang Nan's face turned slightly red as he put away the silver and headed towards the Qi Wang Fu. The steward of the mansion, seeing that Jiang Nan was able to produce such a large sum of money to redeem himself, asked about the source of the funds. Jiang Nan simply said that his long-lost sister had sent it over, and the steward did not suspect anything.

  "Since you've redeemed your contract, I'll say this: being poor while studying literature and rich while studying martial arts, running around all day for a living will only delay your progress in martial arts. My recovery will also be much slower. I have some money here, go buy a house, ensure you have no worries about food and clothing, and focus on your cultivation."

  She took out some silver and let Jiangnan buy a quadrangle house in the city, add furniture, and bought two maids to serve food and drink, and moved in with Jiangnan.

  Jiang Nan stared blankly at his new home, shaking his head, still somewhat disbelieving. Everything had come too quickly, previously he was just a low-ranking servant in the Qi Wang Fu, a poor young man with nothing to his name, but now he had suddenly transformed into a wealthy master with a household and servants, with clothes to wear and food to eat at his beck and call.

  Tie Zhu heard that Jiang Nan had removed his slave status and bought a house, so he brought a jar of wine to congratulate him. Jiang Nan ordered the maidservant to take out bear paws and bear meat to cook dishes. The two brothers ate and drank to their hearts' content, getting drunk and dispersing with joy.

  "Sister Jiangxue is absolutely right, after I got rid of my slave status, I have no worries about food and clothing, and my cultivation has been going smoothly. However, since I used to eat poorly, my body still needs some time to recover."

  These days, Jiang Nan and Jiang Xue traveled together to Luoxia Mountain, searching for a lone demonic beast. After a series of battles, Jiang Nan deeply realized that his physical ability had become the key restriction on his cultivation improvement. However, he gained a lot from each battle, consuming the blood and flesh of the demonic beasts, which gradually improved his physical quality, making him stronger and stronger.

  "My body has improved, but it's still far from enough. With my current strength, if I were to fight against a fellow Bone Refining Realm cultivator from the Qi Wang Fu sect, if I couldn't take them down within the first twenty moves, I would definitely be the one to lose. My physical abilities are simply no match for those aristocratic disciples of the Qi Wang Fu." Jiang Nan sighed inwardly.