Martial Artists are divided into Nine Ranks.
It is said that one first undergoes Skin Tempering, then Meat Refining, then Tendon Alteration, then Bone Forging, then Organ Quenching, then Blood Marrow Sealing, until becoming a Grandmaster!
Ninth Rank Skin Tempering, Eighth Rank Meat Refining, Seventh Rank Tendon Alteration, Sixth Rank Bone Forging, Fifth Rank Organ Quenching, Fourth Rank Blood Marrow Sealing...
A Third Rank Martial Artist can be called a Martial Dao Grandmaster!
They can carry mountains and capture the moon, ascend to the heavens to seize a Phoenix, descend into the sea to capture a Dragon, truly a human nuclear bomb!
And the initial Ninth Rank Skin Tempering in Martial Dao can temper the skin up to Nine Times, hence it is called Nine Times Skin Grinding.
Each time it is completed, the skin will become a few points tougher.
Fang Ye extended his left hand and heavily hammered his right arm.
His strength was immense and heavy, and when he hammered his arm, his flesh immediately vibrated, but it produced a dull thud, as if knocking on cowhide.
Looking closely, despite his considerable force, enough to break an ordinary person's bones with one punch, it only left a faint blue mark on his skin.
If one didn't observe carefully, it would be imperceptible.
“I've grown stronger again!”
Fang Ye slowly opened his eyes.
“A few seconds of Epiphany is comparable to ten years of arduous Cultivation... and with the improvement of the Body Tempering Cultivation Technique, my own strength has also been boosted.”
In this world, the children of standard Martial Dao families often begin learning skills from a young age, and when their bodies are initially developed around fourteen or fifteen, they start Cultivating Body Tempering techniques.
After 'three years of Skin Tempering and five years of Meat Refining,' if they achieve Meat Refining Perfection before the age of twenty-five, then they have a great chance of entering the last Rank of the Bottom Three Rank—the 'Seventh Rank Tendon Alteration' Domain.
Even with abundant resources, those aristocratic scions still need three years to complete Skin Tempering.
Fang Ye had only Transmigrated for half a year, yet he was already close to Skin Tempering Perfection...
“I still need to continue killing... killing more people is the way!”
.......
On July 11th, the 31st year of Jianwu of Great Gan.
Jinyiwei Fang Ye was on patrol when he encountered a thief at night. After three moves of combat, he drew his Embroidered Spring Blade and cut him down, and the thief's head was taken.
On July 14th, the 31st year of Jianwu of Great Gan.
Jinyiwei Fang Ye was on day patrol and saw Gang members bullying a shopkeeper. He drew his Embroidered Spring Blade and cut them down. Three were cut in half at the waist, and the rest fled.
On July 19th, the 31st year of Jianwu of Great Gan.
Jinyiwei Fang Ye was clearing the way for a noble's outing when he saw a vicious beggar stealing a baby. He drew his Embroidered Spring Blade and cut him down, and the vicious beggar died...
On July 23rd, the 31st year of Jianwu of Great Gan.
Fang Ye grabbed the neck of the thief in front of him, lifting him directly, his eyes glowing with a faint light.
“You're the culprit behind the recent flower-picking cases in the capital, aren't you? If you confess honestly, I can still send you to prison. Otherwise... with your crime of being caught red-handed just now, it would be perfectly legal and reasonable for me to kill you on the spot!”
“Ugh...”
With his throat gripped by Fang Ye, the flower-picking thief's legs constantly flailed.
His body struggled incessantly, appearing incredibly disheveled.
“Oh? Still want to resist!?”
Seeing the flower-picking thief's violent struggles, Fang Ye frowned and said, “Behave yourself!”
With that, he suddenly exerted force with his palm.
The flower-picking thief's previously flailing legs instantly straightened.
His eyes bulged, filled with bloodshot veins, like a man who had been hanged.
But the next second, he began to struggle frantically again.
“Ugh!!! Ugh ugh ugh!!!”
“Oh? Unwilling to confess your crimes?” Fang Ye narrowed his eyes, his voice deepening, a hint of respect in his gaze: “I didn't expect a mere flower-picking thief like you to possess such Martial Dao will, refusing to bow down even in a desperate situation?”
“Forget it, how can such a Martial Artist be lightly insulted?”
“I'll give you a quick death!”
At these words, the flower-picking thief's eyes widened, and his body struggled even more fiercely.
If he hadn't already suffered several cuts, bleeding all over the ground, and his limbs were weak...
Perhaps with his strength as a Nine Ranks Martial Artist, he might have caused Fang Ye a little trouble.
But now...
Fang Ye's hand, which was gripping the flower-picking thief, suddenly exerted force and twisted hard.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the flower-picking thief's neck was directly snapped by Fang Ye.
His previously struggling body went limp, instantly dying on the spot!
Fang Ye took a deep breath, released his hand, and looked at the flower-picking thief's corpse with a hint of respect.
“Although you were just a flower-picking scoundrel, for the sake of your spirit, I will give you a proper burial.”
A new Jinyiwei colleague nearby opened his mouth.
He hesitated to speak, then wanted to speak again.
Finally, he couldn't help but say, “Fang Ye, is there a possibility that he was just unable to speak because you were choking him?”
Fang Ye was stunned at the words: “Is... that so?”
“Yes!” His colleague nodded repeatedly: “If you choke his neck like that, he definitely—ugh ugh”
Before he could finish, another Jinyiwei beside him clapped a hand over his mouth: “It's fine, it's fine. At the end of the day, he was just a petty flower-picking thief, and his crime was not small. He was the type who could be killed or not killed...”
“If he's killed, he's killed. Fang Ye, you don't need to take it to heart.”
“Exactly, exactly!” The other Jinyiwei nearby also spoke up: “Fang Ye, you don't need to worry about it.”
“Such a villain who ruins people's innocence deserves to be killed!”
“Think of the girls he harmed, several of whom have already hanged themselves... This kind of evil scoundrel, it's just that he didn't fall into my hands, otherwise I would have cut him down with a single blade long ago!”
“Exactly, exactly!”
Fang Ye felt comforted and relaxed a bit.
But he also sighed deeply, saying, “But this is still my mistake, and my colleagues had already captured him... So, I won't take any of the merit this time; it will all be shared among you all.”
“As for the flower-picking thief's body, I will also pay for its proper burial.”
With that, he dragged the flower-picking thief out.
The Jinyiwei watched his retreating back and then breathed a sigh of relief.
Then they released the new Jinyiwei's muffled mouth and couldn't help but complain.
“You foolish boy, do you really think Fang Ye doesn't know that the flower-picking thief wasn't some tough guy?”
“He himself made the move, and he knew what kind of force he used to choke the other person's neck, rendering him speechless, didn't he?”
“He just wanted to find an excuse to kill someone!”
The old Jinyiwei had a profound and solemn expression.
“Exactly!” The others beside him also said: “You, young man, actually exposed him... Why would you provoke such a fierce person?!”
“You don't even think about how many people he's killed in just a few days?”
“I suspect this kid just likes killing people, which is why he joined our Jinyiwei!”
“Don't you know, we've already summarized Fang Ye's patterns of action—kill all those who can be killed, and kill all those who cannot be killed!”
“Look at how many tasks he's done since joining the Jinyiwei; how many criminals have survived his hands? None! Not a single one!”
“He kills all the criminals he can kill, and for those he can't kill, he tries hard to find excuses to kill them too!”
“How dare you provoke such a madman?”
All the Jinyiwei had faces full of apprehension.
The Jinyiwei never shied away from killing.
But someone like Fang Ye, who put all his effort into killing anyone he could kill... was truly terrifying!
Even old Jinyiwei like them were deeply wary, fearing that this guy would suddenly go mad.
So, even though they were all Nine Ranks Martial Artist, just like Fang Ye, they didn't even dare to say a word when Fang Ye was killing people.
The new Jinyiwei's face instantly paled upon hearing this.
“Then... didn't I displease Fang Ye?”
As a novice, being targeted by such a 'killer' was very frightening!
“Don't worry, Fang Ye isn't that kind of person.” At this moment, an elder comforted him: “Perhaps he just had some tragic experiences, and therefore has a desire to completely eliminate bad people.”
“He won't take your few words to heart at all, rest assured.”
Fang Ye was usually very good at dealing with people.
For captured thieves like the one just now, the merit was slightly greater than killing them.
Fang Ye's killing was considered an encroachment on everyone's merit—so he directly distributed his merit to everyone to compensate for their losses.
This made everyone wary but not fearful.
......
Meanwhile, on the other side, Fang Ye, whom everyone was talking about, was arranging the flower-picking thief's funeral as promised.
There was nothing he could do; he actually didn't want to go through so much trouble.
But this flower-picking thief wasn't caught by him alone; he was cut down by his colleagues before falling into his hands—which required finding a publicly acceptable excuse.
After all, Fang Ye wasn't a killer!
While digging a grave to bury the man, Fang Ye immersed himself in the Red Lotus within his mind.
【Fang Ye: Ninth Rank Skin Grinding Realm (Nine Times)】
【Cultivation Technique: Blood Body Skill (Perfection), Embroidered Spring Blade (Minor Achievement), Nether Shuttle (Perfection)】
Originally, the information wasn't this simple and clear.
Fang Ye integrated it according to his modern way of thinking, and thus created this template.
Looking at it this way, it was indeed much clearer.
“Sure enough, my choice was correct.”
“To kill, one must be an official Devil Head!”
Fang Ye sighed, thinking of the predicament he faced when he first arrived.
He had Transmigrated for half a year, but initially, Fang Ye was just an ordinary person and couldn't even join a notorious and Jianghu-despised official organization like the Jinyiwei.
He could only shamelessly volunteer to be an 'auxiliary Jinyiwei' without pay, doing dirty and tiring work for regular Jinyiwei, just to obtain a Martial Arts Secret Manual.
But he still could only Cultivate diligently, making no progress for a long time.
However, three months ago, he finally seized an opportunity, took the initiative to kill a wicked scoundrel, and his strength began to rapidly increase.
Two months ago, he officially became a Nine Ranks Martial Artist, and now his Skin Tempering is at Perfection, comparable to three years of hard Cultivation by others!
He was even ready to advance!
“There are ten Red Lotus Blood Qi, and one Blood Qi is equivalent to the Karma of killing ten people, which can grant me one second of Epiphany, equivalent to one year of normal Cultivation insight...”
“Should I use it to gain insight into the 'Embroidered Spring Blade'? Or should I consider advancing first?”
Fang Ye squinted, thinking to himself.
The 'Embroidered Spring Blade' is both the name of the Jinyiwei's standard weapon and the name of the Jinyiwei's exclusive blade technique.
Seemingly ordinary, this blade technique was actually created by the Jinyiwei Commander, the Great Grandmaster Gu Xinghai, who ranked seventh on the Heavenly Ranking, by combining his lifelong learning and achieving enlightenment in one moment.
Its concept is profound, and it can even serve as a trump card in battles between Grandmasters—of course, what Fang Ye and other Jinyiwei learned was merely a simplified version of the simplified Grandmaster-level Embroidered Spring Blade.
Even so, its depth far surpassed martial arts like 'Blood Body Skill' and 'Nether Shuttle'.
The 'Blood Body Skill' only used three Red Lotus Blood Qi to advance from Major Achievement to Perfection.
The 'Nether Shuttle' only used a total of ten Red Lotus Blood Qi to go from never having entered the gate to Perfection.
However, Fang Ye used no less than ten Red Lotus Blood Qi just to Cultivate the simplified 'Embroidered Spring Blade' to Minor Achievement!
The Realm is divided into: Entry, Minor Achievement, Major Achievement, Perfection.
The difference is so vast that relying solely on this amount of Red Lotus Blood Qi might not be very significant.
But Martial Dao advancement is also very troublesome; 'Blood Body Skill' is only the lowest-level Cultivation Technique, and even at the Perfection Realm, it is somewhat difficult to use it to enter the Eighth Rank Meat Refining.
It just so happens that exchanging Cultivation Techniques requires a lot of merit.
Fang Ye, who had only joined the Jinyiwei for a short time, despite his diligent (killing) efforts, had not yet accumulated enough merit to exchange for a high-quality Cultivation Technique.
This was quite a dilemma.
Fang Ye was immersed in the Red Lotus spiritual world, watching the Blood Qi constantly being swallowed and exhaled by the Red Lotus, rising and falling, and couldn't help but ponder.
But as Fang Ye watched, he suddenly froze.
“Hmm? Wait, this Blood Qi... it seems it can still be added to the 'Blood Body Skill' at Perfection?”
......