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Chapter 101: Fifth Level of Marrow Refining, Perfect Running Dog

Transforming the strength that could originally only be mobilized and circulated within the body into energy that can leave the body and kill people from a distance is a basic characteristic possessed by all the strong men in the Marrow Refining Realm.

However, for practitioners who have just entered the marrow refining stage, the lethality of this energy is not great.

Even to a Bone Refining Realm practitioner who is one level lower, it is difficult to pose a fatal threat.

They can also bully smaller characters with lower cultivation levels.

His achievement in marrow refining was extraordinary, and the power of his out-of-body energy increased greatly, with both the lethality and the killing distance improving by leaps and bounds.

But it is just equivalent to mastering one more hidden weapon skill at the grandmaster level.

For opponents with lower cultivation and strength, this is undoubtedly a way to easily kill the enemy.

However, if facing a powerful Marrow Refining Realm expert of the same level with similar strength, the effect of this method will be very limited.

Compared with this simple and crude method, Geng Xuan attaches more importance to attaching "Wanjun Jin" to other means of attack.

In order to let go and more fully experience the power of this method.

Geng Xuan deliberately went to the tunnel leading to the depths of Chiwu Mountain and had a great time experiencing the area located inside a mountain more than ten kilometers away from Changpingfang.

Geng Xuan used all the skills he knew and found that "Ten Thousand Jun Strength" had the strongest bonus on all attack skills, and the two complemented each other.

The straightforward Iron Sand Palm, with one strike, has two levels of power, and the after force is higher than the front force, causing cumulative damage and creating a shock effect.

It can more easily break through the defenses of those wearing armor or those with thick skin and flesh, and penetrate the damage deeper into the target's body, causing more powerful real damage.

When used in Songtao swordsmanship, the high-frequency changing "Wanjun Force" gives the long sword a more powerful ability to break defense and cause tearing damage.

In the past, every sword strike would leave a sword wound, but now, it is as if the wound has been madly stirred by the teeth of a saw. The wound will be deeper and the left and right sides will also be "affected".

At the same time, you can also release the out-of-body energy through Songtao swordsmanship, making the energy damage more concentrated.

When a set of Songtao sword techniques was used, it seemed as if waves of pine waves really rushed out from his sword and surged towards the target.

"boom--"

A "wave of pine trees" rushed towards the rock wall ten steps away, rubble flew everywhere, and a large area was covered with sword marks.

In the most central area, there is a pit that can accommodate an adult's head.

For a moment, Geng Xuan felt relaxed and happy.

"This is what the Grandmaster Songtao Swordsmanship should really look like. Before I broke through to the Marrow Refining Realm, I only mastered the Grandmaster's skills, but I didn't have the Grandmaster's power."

Just when Geng Xuan wanted to test what advantages "Wanjun Power" could bring to Songtao Swordsmanship, he saw the blade of the sword in his hand shattered into evenly distributed small pieces.

Geng Xuan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

After breaking through to the Marrow Refining Realm, the power of the Songtao Sword Technique increased dramatically when used at full strength, but the requirements for the long sword were also higher.

The long sword in his hand can be considered very excellent. After all, it was carefully selected from more than twenty long swords he had obtained over the years.

But it is obvious that ordinary excellence is no longer enough to bear all of one's love.

Among the many hidden swords he currently has, there are only two that are better than this long sword.

One was obtained from Wu Youren, and the other was obtained from Li Qun.

However, the identities of these two people were somewhat special. Geng Xuan did not want to cause any trouble, so when choosing a sword, he had to settle for the second best and chose the one in his hand. However, he did not expect that the sword shattered into pieces before he could finish performing a set of Songtao swordsmanship.

This is just a solo drill. If it is a battle with the enemy, it will most likely be shattered in one blow.

Thinking of this, Geng Xuan shook his head regretfully.

He did not use Songtao swordsmanship again, but took out the cutting knife from his waist and roughly performed the cutting technique which had also reached the grandmaster level.

Fearing a repeat of the same mistake, Geng Xuan only tried it briefly this time and did not use his full strength. He just confirmed it briefly and found that after combining it with the "Ten Thousand Jun Strength", the defense-breaking ability of the cutting knife used in the grandmaster-level cutting technique was indeed significantly improved, so he did not continue to use it.

After that, Geng Xuan tried the "three arrows" taught by Master Chai: blow arrow, featherless arrow, and continuous tracing arrow.

The defense-breaking ability, shooting range, and the power of internal strength have also been significantly improved.

Geng Xuan himself feels that the "Ten Thousand Jun Power" combined with the continuous tracing arrows has greater potential to be tapped and will bring greater surprises.

But after learning the lesson of the broken sword, Geng Xuan understood that in order to verify this matter, he must first have a good bow.

The black bow in his hand, which was temporarily lent to him by Master Chai, has excellent performance, but it can only be considered excellent.

Long before the Linking Arrows reached perfection, Geng Xuan already knew its limits. In order to avoid damaging the Black Bow, he had been carefully controlling his output limit.

Afterwards, Geng Xuan tried out the abilities of the raccoon leaping technique, chain steps, and phantom air hands.

Compared to before his cultivation broke through the Marrow Refining Stage, these abilities have indeed performed better.

But this is the result of the improvement of the cultivation realm, and "rising tide lifts all boats."

It is not a special advantage granted by the "incredible force".

In other words, "Ten Thousand Jun Strength" has a huge bonus to all attack abilities, but in other aspects, its performance is very average.

Even so, this was enough to satisfy Geng Xuan.

In addition, after his cultivation broke through to the Marrow Refining Realm, all basic attributes related to the body, such as vitality, strength, defense, endurance, agility, etc., have been greatly improved.

It can be said that this improvement in his cultivation has enabled his strength to grow by leaps and bounds.

Compared with myself before the breakthrough, there is a qualitative gap.

Geng Xuan couldn't help but think of the scene when he killed Duan Tianpeng, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart:
“It’s really lucky!”

Putting himself in his shoes, he believed that he could do better than Duan Tianpeng if he were in that situation.

Apart from anything else, the Iron Skin Skill combined with the superimposed strength from the inside out can not only give him a powerful defense that is difficult for ordinary practitioners to break, but can also form a recoil effect, making it difficult for people to lose more than they gain.

Geng Xuan was happy, but not proud or complacent.

He was very clear that he had only entered the threshold of the marrow refining realm.

Moreover, they still met the lowest standard.

Just in this marrow refining realm, he still has a long way to go.

Overall, Geng Xuan's current body tempering achievements are "80% skin refining, 72% flesh refining, 60% blood refining, 51% bone refining, and the marrow refining has just begun."

This is considered the lowest standard for the Marrow Refining Realm.

Until "the skin is refined to perfection, the flesh is refined to perfection, the blood is refined to perfection, the bones are refined to perfection, and the marrow is refined to perfection", a perfect body with no flaws or omissions is achieved, all of which is within the scope of the marrow refining realm.

From this we can also see how wide the scope of the Marrow Refining Realm is and how great the gap in strength is.

You know, any aspect of body tempering becomes more difficult as you advance higher.

But correspondingly, the increase in strength will be greater.

For example, the difficulty of improving from 80% leather refining to 90% leather refining is much greater than that of improving from 70% leather refining to 80% leather refining.

But correspondingly, the improvement in strength brought by the former is also far greater than that of the latter.

Not to mention the most critical "marrow refining" for practitioners in the marrow refining realm. From the initial entry into marrow refining to achieving full success in marrow refining, the gap in physical fitness, thinking reaction, and life level is a world of difference.

Because the differences in the Marrow Refining Realm are so great, in order to distinguish the strength of different Marrow Refining Realms, the Marrow Refining Realm is generally divided into five stages.

In the early stage, it was the situation Geng Xuan is in now;

In the middle stage, in addition to marrow refining, at least two other body tempering achievements exceed 80%, and the marrow refining achievement is not less than 40%;
In the later stage, except for marrow refining, at least two body tempering achievements exceed 90%, the remaining body tempering achievements are not less than 85%, and the marrow refining achievement is not less than 80%;
Peak, including marrow refining, all body tempering achievements exceed 95%;

Perfect, the refining of skin, flesh, blood, bones and marrow have all reached perfection, complete and without any omissions.

In the fifth stage of marrow refining, the difference in strength at each stage is extremely huge.

As far as Geng Xuan knew, the vast majority of people in the Marrow Refining Realm would struggle and linger in the early and middle stages of the Marrow Refining Realm throughout their entire lives.

Some are limited by their talents, while others are restricted by the body-tempering techniques and are unable to make further progress.

For example, the upper limit of the marrow-refining technique "Wanjun Jin" practiced by Geng Xuan depends on the lowest of the other four body-tempering achievements.

And Geng Xuan has now practiced the Iron Skin Skill to the upper limit of what this skin refining technique can support, reaching the Grandmaster level.

But Geng Xuan was convinced that even if he invested more time and resources, since there was no further improvement in his Iron Skin Skills, the best he could do was to raise his Skin Refining Skills from "80%" to "85%".

This means that even though he has cultivated the "Wanjun Power", his achievements in marrow refining will never be able to break through the "85% marrow refining" line.

If it were any other cultivator, he would have to fundamentally change his body-tempering technique and start from scratch again.

Otherwise, no matter how talented he is, he will never be able to break through to the late stage of Marrow Refining Realm in his entire life.

However, due to the limitations of the laws of life, no matter how talented a person is, the golden period of cultivation in his life is very limited.

If you realize the problem only when you are almost at the end of a road, the success rate of taking a new road is very slim.

And this is still good.

For example, Geng Xuan had seen another marrow-refining technique called "Burning Power" at the Peng family martial arts school, which directly burned his life energy.

Not only will one overdraw potential and shorten one's lifespan, but one will also be stuck in the early stages of the Marrow Refining Stage for the rest of one's life.

In comparison, "Wanjun Jin" has been elevated to several levels.

The "Ji Shi Jin" obtained in Li Fangzhu's underground secret room has similar problems, and its upper limit is almost the same as that of "Wan Jun Jin".

During the more than half a month of meditation, Geng Xuan, who had carefully studied the two marrow-refining techniques, saw their flaws very clearly.

However, he had no intention of abandoning "Wanjun Jin" and looking for a higher quality marrow-refining technique.

Because he was very sure that he was not an ordinary person.

For him, "now" is the most important thing.

As long as he relies on his "great strength" to reach a new height, the "future" that was originally difficult to reach even on tiptoe will become within reach.

……

The introduction to "Wanjun Jin" brought about an improvement in his cultivation. In order to meet the rapid growth of his marrow refining achievements, Geng Xuan drank five kilograms of high-quality medicinal wine in succession, which barely met his body's needs for the day.

Such a huge investment also enabled Geng Xuan's marrow refining achievements to increase significantly in just one day.

After a day of adaptation and sorting out, Geng Xuan had barely adapted to the various changes that had come with his advancement into the Marrow Refining Realm.

……

The next day, September 30th.

Geng Xuan was awakened by the sound of someone kicking the door outside the yard before he got up.

He immediately got up from bed, opened the door and left the room.

But Chen Xiaoyu was standing outside the courtyard gate. When she saw Geng Xuan, she grinned foolishly.

Just as Geng Xuan was about to talk to her, he saw his aunt Zeng Rou coming out of the kitchen in the opposite courtyard. When she saw Geng Xuan, she smiled and waved to her, indicating that he should come over for breakfast.

"This girl, when she calls you, she just laughs foolishly."

"Maybe it's been a while since we last met, and he missed me too much...Auntie, is this year's autumn hunt officially over?"

As he spoke, Geng Xuan rubbed Chen Xiaoyu's head. She snorted and shook her head in dissatisfaction, but the strange feeling she had from not seeing each other for a long time was much lessened.

"Well, it's over. I came back with the last group of people returning last night." Zeng Rou replied.

Since the autumn hunt began, all minors in the neighborhood have been gathered together and handed over to the collective care of elderly people such as Mr. Chai.

Originally, Zeng Rou could have come back earlier.

But since Chen Zheng decided to run for the new abbot, many adjustments were made within the Chen family.

Chen Rongshan continued to work in Kangleji, serving as a link between Changpingfang and Kangleji, and worked hard to gain greater voice in the Blue Robe Guards in the future.

Chen Zheng formally formed a hunting team and continued to participate in the autumn hunt.

Even after the autumn hunt is over, the hunting team will not stop their regular hunting in the mountains, and the rest of the time will be used for training.

Zeng Rou, who worked in the logistics team, could have returned earlier, but in order to earn more "points", she was busy until the autumn hunt was completely over before returning home.

During this period, Chen Xiaoyu, who had no one to take care of her, naturally had to stay with a group of old men and women.

Fortunately, there are many children of her age in the neighborhood, so there is no need to worry about her lack of playmates.

After having breakfast at Chen's house, Geng Xuan took a package from the house and went straight to the open space in the forest farm on the other side of the river.

This woodland, where many hunting teams had previously practiced tactical coordination and gathered for the final time before setting off, has now become a large-scale work site.

Various animal meats, skins, and other items such as tendons and claws are undergoing further processing.

Some are for longer preservation, others are for improved quality.

Before he even got close, Geng Xuan had already smelled a strange odor, a mixture of the odors of roasting flames, boiling water, keratin charring, animal hide tanning, and other processing methods.

It is no wonder that the venue was chosen in an open space in the forest some distance away from the neighborhood. If this were done inside the neighborhood, the entire neighborhood would suffer greatly.

Geng Xuan looked around and found several familiar figures. They were the logistics team members who were in the same base during the autumn hunt. Because of his superb archery skills, he had a good reputation among them.

Geng Xuan walked straight over.

The leader, who was a nice guy and a good cook, saw Geng Xuan approaching. He was tanning a few wolf skins and showed a look of surprise and joy on his face. He asked curiously:
"Xuan brother, what are you doing here?"

Geng Xuan handed the package to the other party, who glanced at it and said in surprise:

"Such a big piece of bear skin?"

Geng Xuan nodded and said, "There's more inside."

The leader opened the bearskin package and was surprised to see three more photos inside.

Prior to this, Geng Xuan had cleared more than a hundred giant rats and four giant bears in the underground tunnel. He threw away all the rat skins, but kept the four bear skins intact.

At first, Dahuang used the bear skin as bedding, but soon, the unprocessed bear skin began to emit a foul smell. Not to mention being used as bedding, Dahuang showed a look of disgust and tried to avoid it when he saw it from afar.

If it continues to be in his hands, it will soon be completely destroyed, so Geng Xuan took the opportunity to bring it here today.

After the team leader carefully examined the four bear skins, he didn't even ask Geng Xuan where he got them. These days, their logistics team has become numb to dealing with these things, and no one has the time to care about anything else.

"The quality is very good, especially two of them, which can be classified as the best. I will report them to you later and count them as your contribution."

Geng Xuan nodded, not caring about it, and talked about the purpose of his visit.

"There is another thing I would like to ask you for help with."

"you say?"

Geng Xuan said, "I want to get some fresh meat. If there is any fresh milk, give me some too."

The leader smiled and nodded when he heard this: "This is easy. I'll get it done for you right away."

As he said this, he called on another person next to him to take over the work in his hands, and turned around to visit other logistics teams.

He didn't even ask Geng Xuan what he wanted these things for.

Because this is a very common thing, many families like to make some smoked meat, bacon, and some special dairy products that can be stored for a long time and have a unique flavor in autumn and winter.

After the autumn hunt every year, these two supplies are the most abundant.

The people in the neighborhood are hoping that everyone will take more. After all, it is not free. A certain amount of contribution earned during the autumn hunting period will be deducted, and it can also reduce the burden of centralized processing.

Soon, the team leader came over carrying two heavy wooden barrels.

One bucket was filled with fresh animal meat that had obviously been carefully selected and was the most essential parts; another bucket was filled with more than half a bucket of fresh milk, and the weight of each bucket exceeded 100 kilograms.

Geng Xuan quickly took it and said to the leader, "Uncle, thank you for your help."

The leader waved his hand and said, "It's no trouble. If it's not enough, just come to me."

Geng Xuan said: "Okay, you are busy, I will leave first."

As he said this, he left with a large bucket of fresh meat and a large bucket of fresh milk.

From afar, Geng Xuan saw Zeng Rou, who had just finished her housework, walking towards the forest farm with Chen Xiaoyu. He deliberately took a detour to avoid running into them.

Others would not be too surprised to see his current behavior. Even if they were curious, they could be easily fooled by him.

Is it illegal for young people to be a little greedy and try to make some flavored bacon?
But Zeng Rou was different. Geng Xuan could even imagine that if she saw it, she would definitely take the initiative to take over the job enthusiastically.

Even if he insisted on doing it himself, she would definitely remember it and ask about it, wouldn't that reveal his true identity?
Rather than this, it would be better for her not to know about this from the beginning.

Anyway, unless someone saw it with their own eyes, no one would specifically mention such a small matter to her.

……

After returning home, Geng Xuan carried a large bucket of fresh meat and a large bucket of fresh milk into the underground space.

As soon as I entered, I heard Dahuang's "woohoo" greeting.

The oil lamp on the wall was on, illuminating the surrounding area with a warm yellow glow.

Geng Xuan put down the wooden barrel and came to Dahuang.

Dahuang was lying on his side on the ground, unable to stand up. Only his head turned slightly as he walked, and his eyes followed his figure.

From time to time, some humming sounds came from her mouth.

Dahuang's belly, which was already swollen and round, has now completely turned into a ball.

If Geng Xuan hadn't consumed four points of red luck in its belly every day, the belly of any other pregnant creature would have burst long ago.

Of course, it is impossible for an ordinary pregnant woman to "retain" the fetus in her belly until this time.

If it weren't for Geng Xuan's intervention, Dahuang should have given birth to cubs twenty days ago.

Even so, through the connection in vital energy that he had established with Dahuang, Geng Xuan already knew that even with the help of good luck, holding on until today was already Dahuang's limit.

Before Geng Xuan made any move, Da Huang seemed to already know what Geng Xuan was going to do.

It suddenly called out in a low "wooo wooo" voice for a while. Geng Xuan looked into its eyes and completely understood what it meant.

He reached out and gently stroked Da Huang's head, and said worriedly: "Can you hold on? We have to know when to stop and don't be too greedy!"

But Dahuang wanted to take advantage of this last opportunity to "eat" something big before giving birth.

Dahuang cried "woooo", rubbing his head in his hands, as if he was acting coquettishly, or as if he was showing his determination.

Geng Xuan nodded and said, "Okay, but if you have any questions, you must tell me right away. Don't be stubborn!"

"Woo woo~" Dahuang nodded his dog head gently.

Geng Xuan first poured about four or five pounds of medicinal wine into the wooden basin placed next to Dahuang's mouth.

Then he stretched out his hand again and pressed it on the top of Dahuang's head, as if he could touch its increasingly spiritual and lively mind.

"promote."

As Geng Xuan silently recited in his heart, his good luck began to be rapidly consumed like a flood.

Originally due to the improvement of many skills and the consumption of Dahuang these days, the red luck had dropped from 495 points to 268 points, and it was decreasing sharply again.

It dropped all the way down to 172 points, burning up a full ninety-six points before it stabilized again.

In return, the "Dog-Running Technique" that was originally at the Grandmaster level was advanced to the "Perfect" level.

——During the more than half a month of meditation, in addition to improving multiple body-tempering techniques and rapidly raising the level of body-tempering, Geng Xuan also responded to Da Huang's desire and consumed forty-eight points of red luck to upgrade the master-level running dog technique to the grandmaster level, making the Qi connection between the two parties closer.

Through this connection, he can also grasp Da Huang's thinking more clearly.

And now, with the dog-walking technique being advanced to perfection, this is also the first secret technique that Geng Xuan has advanced to perfection.

(End of this chapter)