Martial Arts: Starting with Upgrading the Dilapidated Temple

After an unknown amount of time, the last piece of ore residue was completely swallowed up.

The picture in Xu Hao's mind suddenly unfolded, and golden light shone brightly.

[Blessed Land Level Upgrade: Zhenyuan Ship LV5 (Demonized - Mid-Tier)]

[Unlock New Feature: Frost Armor. The hull is covered in frost-covered dragon scales, granting immunity to most physical and fire attacks, and inflicting extreme cold damage reflection during melee attacks.]

[Unlock New Feature: Extreme Cold Forging Pool. A special icy spring is generated in the lower compartment, allowing the user to temper their skin and bones with its extreme cold energy, greatly enhancing the physical strength of the martial artist.]

The ship was upgraded two levels in a row. On its hull, the originally black scales were covered with a layer of dark blue frost patterns, and the whole ship exuded a chilling killing intent that kept strangers away.

Before Xu Hao could even take a closer look, an extremely powerful surge of qi and blood, mixed with pure cold iron essence, rushed straight up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The gratitude has returned.

Xu Hao groaned, and his bones cracked like popping beans.

The forces of extreme cold and intense heat clashed and merged wildly within the meridians.

His fascia was stretched to its limit, and the layer of black impurities seeping from the skin surface was instantly evaporated by his blood and qi.

Peak of the Yi Jin Jing!

Xu Hao opened his eyes, his gaze sharp yet restrained.

He clenched his fist, his internal energy flowing like a furnace, preventing the remaining cold air from penetrating him even slightly.

Pushing open the bottom deck door, the sunlight on the deck was somewhat dazzling.

Chen Yuanzhi and Luo Meng were watching the sea warily when they saw Xu Hao come out, and they were both stunned.

Although Xu Hao still had a fleshy face, the way he stood in front of me was like an unshakeable iron tower, and the oppressive feeling made it hard to breathe.

"Boss, you've improved again?" Luo Meng swallowed hard.

"Enough nonsense." Xu Hao was in a great mood. He pointed to the lower deck and said, "I've prepared a good spot down there. Tell all the brothers to go down and take a bath in batches."

"Take a bath?" Chen Yuanzhi asked, puzzled.

Half an hour later.

From the newly generated "Extreme Cold Forging Pool" in the lower deck, screams like pigs being slaughtered could be heard.

Several shirtless sailors, their lips turning purple from the cold, were also flushed red from the immense energy contained in the pool water, and they rolled around in the water.

"Boss, this isn't a bath!" Luo Meng's voice trembled from the cold in the pool.

"If you can't handle the hardship, get out of here now." Xu Hao leaned against the cabin wall, picking his nails. "What we're going to face next isn't some weakling like Wang Mazi. Whoever can last a stick of incense in this pool, I'll give him a cultivation technique. If he can't, he'll be washing decks on the ship from now on."

Upon hearing this, the screams stopped instantly.

A shivering man, his nose dripping with snot, asked, "Boss, are you really going to give me the martial arts manual?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Xu Hao flicked his nails, took out an incense burner, and lit it.

With a few splashes, the sailors who had just climbed halfway up the boat were thrown back into the icy water.

The piercing screams stopped instantly, replaced by the grinding sound of teeth chattering wildly.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn seems incredibly long in the frigid forging pool.

The embers in the incense burner finally went out.

"Luo Meng, the time has come."

Xu Hao looked at the incense burner beside him, now completely burned out.

Splash!

Luo suddenly leaped out of the water, creating a large splash.

He was enveloped in white steam, his skin covered in a thick layer of frost, yet his internal energy, honed to perfection at the Bone Forging Realm, surged uncontrollably.

He wiped the ice shards off his face, grinned, and his breath instantly turned into white mist.

Xu Hao casually tossed over a few blood-stained booklets.

These are all spoils from looting corpses recently.

Pick one yourself.

Luo Meng suddenly knelt on one knee, his eyes fixed on the manual in his hands, his voice trembling: "Thank you, Boss!"

Several sailors, wrapped in rags and shivering, leaned closer and glimpsed the training route in the booklet; their eyes instantly turned as red as rabbits'.

"Boss! I can still hold on!" The man, whose nose was frozen solid from the cold, suddenly ripped off his tattered clothes and rushed towards the poolside shirtless. "I slipped and lost my footing!"

"Bullshit! Your nose was dripping with snot from the cold, and you said you slipped?" A dark-faced sailor next to him immediately exposed him, turning to Xu Hao and rubbing his hands together. "Boss, it was an accident that I couldn't hold on just now. I'll get off now. Can I keep a copy of your secret manual?"

"Count me in! Even if I freeze to death here today, I'm going to get a new cultivation technique!"

The hold immediately erupted into chaos.

Xu Hao leaned against the cabin wall, tossing several other booklets in his hand.

"What's the rush?" Xu Hao fiddled with the pages of the book. "We still have more here. As long as you can survive in the pool for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, you can choose whatever you like."

There was a moment of deathly silence after those words were spoken.

Immediately afterwards, a series of splashes filled the air as people plunged into the water.

"Don't push me! I'm getting off first!"

"Get out of my way! You piece of trash who hasn't even mastered the skin-sharpening technique, do you even deserve to practice the boss's skills? Get out of my way!"

"Count me in! Even if I freeze to death in this pool today, I'm taking this cultivation technique with me!"

The crew members, who were just moments ago crying out in pain from the cold, were now diving into the frigid forging pool like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Xu Hao looked at the group of desperate criminals who were freezing in the icy water, their eyes rolling back in their heads, yet they refused to come ashore. A smirk appeared on his lips.

In Shengzhou, on this man-eating sea, it's incredibly difficult for low-level martial artists to rise to the top.

Now that there's a path laid out before them, even if it's a mountain of knives and a sea of ​​fire below, these people will jump down without hesitation.

The next day on the deck, the sea breeze made Chen Yuanzhi shrink his neck.

With his physique, he'd catch a cold just standing on the edge of the pool, let alone go in.

Xu Hao walked over and tossed him a bag of purified essence blood beads, saying, "I distributed them one by one according to the merit lists of the past two days."

Xu Hao's gaze swept over the group emerging from the forging pool. "I'll only say this once. The Zhenyuan doesn't tolerate useless people. Next time we encounter an enemy, anyone who drags your feet won't have to wait for anyone else to do anything; they'll jump in and feed the sea beasts themselves."

The sailors stared at the blood essence beads in Chen Yuanzhi's hand and responded in unison, their eyes filled with a desperate, life-or-death determination.

Chen Yuanzhi stood aside, distributing the last essence blood bead, and silently closed the ledger in his hand.

The sounds of sailors' bones cracking and popping echoed around them, and the heat and blood mingled as they rose from the deck.

Chen Yuan subconsciously pulled his thin collar tighter. The sea breeze was blowing against his body, and he felt like the wind was seeping through his bones.

In the death row of Chenzhou, the torture inflicted by the Imperial Observatory had already severed most of his meridians.

Now, he can't even control a fully grown iron-eating crab.

The people on the ship respected him and called him "Second-in-Command," out of respect for Xu Hao.

But when it comes to close-quarters combat, he's a burden.

On this demon ship, those who are good at accounting won't live long.

Xu Hao glanced at Chen Yuanzhi's white fingers as he gripped the ledger and sneered, "What's wrong? You think dividing the spoils is too tiring, or are you just jealous of how much weight others are gaining?"

"Boss, you jest." Chen Yuanzhi released his grip, his tone calm. "With my physique, being able to help with bookkeeping is already a favor from the boss. If I were to actually go to sea and fight, I'm afraid I'd only be a burden to the brothers."

Xu Hao didn't reply. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a tattered booklet stained with dried blood and emitting a strange smell, and slapped it on Chen Yuanzhi's chest.

Chen Yuanzhi groaned as he was slapped, and hurriedly caught it, asking, "Boss, what's this?"

"I found this on Cold Iron Island, a fragment of the 'Thousand Poisons and Ten Thousand Gu Scripture'." Xu Hao patted Chen Yuanzhi on the shoulder. "Your foundation has been completely ruined by death row. You have no chance of practicing martial arts properly in this lifetime. You might as well go down a different path. There's not much else on this sea, but poisonous living and dead creatures are everywhere. You're smart, so use this to make some weapons for yourself. Next time you encounter trouble, don't always expect Luo Meng to drag you away. I get tired just watching it."

Chen Yuanzhi opened the booklet in his hand.

The first page you see is about the method of "skinning a sea snake alive to extract its venom glands". Turning the page further, you see things like "bone-rotting powder" and "death smoke", and the words are full of despicable cruelty.

In the past, the Chen family of Chenzhou would have found such a heretical book disgusting, even glancing at it would have been too much for them.

But now, staring at the words on the page, he couldn't help but smile, and the gloom in his eyes vanished.

"Don't worry, Boss." Chen Yuanzhi carefully tucked the tattered book into his robes, placing it close to his chest. A bandit-like aura suddenly emanated from him. "I can keep track of the accounts, and I can brew this poison perfectly. Next time anyone dares to board our ship, I guarantee they won't even leave a trace of their bones behind."

"It's good that you're aware of this." Xu Hao yawned, turned around and walked towards the main cabin. "Take it easy when dispensing medicine. Don't accidentally give medicine to everyone on the ship and capsize it."

Watching Xu Hao's retreating figure, Chen Yuanzhi loudly echoed, "Boss, don't worry, they can't poison their own people!"