I'll write a manual called the Sunflower Manual, and the entire martial arts world will turn in

call!

Xie An took a long breath, as if he were exhaling all the stale air that had accumulated in his lungs for more than a decade.

He clearly felt his breathing become incredibly smooth and deep, and an indescribable sense of comfort surged through his limbs.

The skin, after soaking in a medicinal bath overnight, not only didn't wrinkle, but instead had a light sheen.

Running your hand across the skin, you can clearly feel its incredible resilience. Even scrubbing it hard with your fingernail won't leave a single mark.

The medicinal water in the bath had cooled down, but Xie An did not feel cold.

"Is this the effect of breaking through barriers and cultivating the skin barrier? It's truly amazing."

For martial arts practitioners, the skin is the outermost protective layer of the human body, and it is extremely important for both defense and offense.

If your skin is delicate and easily broken, no matter how strong you are, you will break your own skin with a single punch. How can you kill the enemy like that?

However, most ordinary skin is delicate and easily damaged, and it is difficult to withstand the cold and heat.

But skin itself is highly adaptable. For example, a skilled swordsman will develop calluses, as will a farmer or blacksmith. This is how skin adapts to wear and tear.

But calluses also have their downsides, namely, they cause a loss of sensation.

Normally, doing rough work doesn't seem like a big deal, but in a duel between experts, losing sensation in the skin means becoming desensitized to danger.

In a battle between masters, not even the slightest mistake can be tolerated.

The Skin Membrane perfectly solves this problem: its tight, durable skin allows for prolonged, high-intensity gripping of weapons without skin damage. Sensation is not dulled. More importantly, it doesn't develop prominent calluses, offering a first-class feel and appearance.

"No wonder female martial artists in this world don't have calluses; instead, they have smooth skin and upright figures. It's all thanks to the Skin Membrane Realm."

After marveling at the wonders of the membrane, Xie An raised his hand, bent and straightened his knuckles, and immediately a faint "crackling" sound came from them.

"His strength has increased significantly! The flexibility of his bones and muscles has also improved."

Whoosh!

Xie An stood up from the bathtub, water dripping down his body, and looked down at his own body.

The muscles throughout his body were full of streamlined refinement, like a tightly twisted rope.

Every gesture he made was filled with unprecedented vitality and power.

He braced himself against the edge of the bucket with both hands, flipped himself out of the bucket, and stepped barefoot onto the blue bricks. He could feel the fine sand and gravel in the cracks between the bricks, but it didn't hurt his feet.

Since Zhan Ping wasn't in the room, Xie An didn't rush to get dressed. Instead, he did some simple hand and foot exercises and practiced a set of supportive exercises.

call out!

He shot out like a stray arrow, with immense strength and lightning speed, creating a sharp, explosive sound in the air.

"It's completely different now."

It's not just a pure increase in power, but a transformative feeling of a higher level of life.

"No wonder so many people would sell their possessions to practice martial arts. Once you break through a barrier, you truly enter a completely new level."

Xie An finished his work and opened the control panel.

[Martial Arts Treasury System]

[Author: Xie An]

[Treasure Vault Level: Lv0]

[Current Martial Arts Realm: Skin Membrane Realm]

[Current Martial Art: Sunflower Manual, Level 1, 100/100]

【Strength: 2.5】

【Spirit: 1.1】

【Speed: 1.2】

[Attribute Points: +0.05]

[The Sunflower Manual includes 3 characters (Chen Lutang, Zhang Long, Liu Wei)]

[Zhang Long's Sunflower Manual, Level 1: 30/100]

[Liu Wei's Sunflower Manual, Level 1: 18/100]

Chen Lutang's Sunflower Manual, Level 1: 98/100

[Bajiquan (Supporting Hammer: 100/100), (Dragon Subduing: 8/100)]

"My strength increased by a full 1 point at once. My spirit also increased by 0.11. My speed increased by 0.7 points. I've never seen such a large increase since I transmigrated."

Xie An had previously allocated all his attribute points to Strength and Spirit, leaving no extra points for Speed.

I didn't want my speed to increase violently by 0.7 after breaking through the skin-training barrier.

The power level increased by a full 1 point.

That's absolutely insane.

"It seems my previous assessment was correct; martial arts realm is the foundation of everything. If we compare martial arts training to a large tree, martial arts realm is the root, while martial arts skills, speed, strength, and spirit are the trunk, branches, and leaves. To make a sapling grow into a towering tree, the roots must be deeply embedded."

Xie An clenched his fists, feeling the surging power coursing through his body.

"What kind of monstrous combat power could be unleashed by combining the Skin Membrane Realm with the first level of the Sunflower Manual?"

Xie An dared not even think about it.

He clearly felt like a monstrous beast at that moment.

Killing a master of the Skin Membrane Realm with one punch shouldn't be a problem.

I wonder if I could even put up a fight against a master who has just entered the second stage of the Copper Tendon Realm...

"But there are still problems. The heat from the Sunflower Manual can only be used in a very small part, and most of it remains ununlocked... I don't know why... but it's already very good for now. I'll use these attribute points first."

After some deliberation, Xie An allocated his attribute points to Spirit.

hum.

As soon as the thought was uttered, the attribute points immediately dropped to zero. Immediately afterward, the spirit value became 1.15, and a throbbing pain shot through the brain. The mind and will became slightly sharper.

After everything calmed down, Xie An breathed a sigh of relief.

"From now on, I've embarked on the path of a martial artist. I can become a formal disciple of a martial arts school, and I'll also have the opportunity to take up temporary positions outside, making a living will be a piece of cake."

The difference between training skin is like night and day.

After being trained in physical labor, he could only make a living by selling his skills; in the end, he was nothing more than an ordinary person with slightly more strength.

Once you successfully train your skin, you'll become a martial artist and can make a living through martial arts.

Xie An looked around and saw his old clothes on the table next to him.

He put on his clothes and was about to go out when he saw a dozen or so crumpled mulberry bark papers next to the table.

This is used to wrap tiger-skin soup.

"Did I use so many doses of Tiger Skin Soup?"

The joy on Xie An's face faded almost entirely as he leaned over and counted them.

A full fifteen sheets of mulberry bark paper.

This means that he had taken fifteen doses of Tiger Skin Soup in two days.

Aside from the money originally owed to Zhanping for the three sets of lessons, there are still twelve sets of lessons to be paid, meaning Zhanping is still owed... thirty-six taels of silver.

Including the twenty-odd taels of silver they got from robbing the one-eyed man, Xie An and his sister had no more than thirty taels of silver in total. They gave Zhan Ping nine taels last night, leaving them with only twenty taels.

Even if all of it were given to Zhanping... there would still be a shortfall of sixteen taels.

"grass!"

"I'm just too poor!"

"They say scholars are poor, warriors are rich, and that's no exaggeration. The expense was huge, but thankfully we succeeded. If we had failed, this debt would have been enough to crush a family."

Xie An tidied up the room and then pushed open the door to go out.

It was afternoon, and the golden sunlight shone on the sycamore trees in the courtyard, casting dappled patterns on the ground. Zhan Ping, dressed in a gray martial arts uniform, was drinking tea in a wicker chair under the tree.

Seeing Xie An walk out of the room, Zhan Ping smiled slightly, "Congratulations on successfully passing the trial."

Xie An quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands in thanks, and said, "It is thanks to Instructor Zhan's favor that I was able to come from the back courtyard to the front courtyard, and thus have the opportunity to break through the barrier. However... I still owe Instructor Zhan thirty-six taels of silver, which I will definitely pay as soon as possible."

Zhan Ping laughed heartily: "Money isn't urgent. Show me a couple more punches and you'll see."

"Yes."

Xie An took a deep breath, slightly bent his knees, lowered his waist and hips, and twisted his right fist out from his waist.

"Snapped!"

The fist slammed into the air, producing a crisp sound.

Its power is now incomparable to what it was before.

He then twisted his waist and hips and threw another punch.

As the fist was thrown out, the muscles in the side of the waist tightened suddenly, as if someone had whipped the body. The entire line of force stretched from the soles of the feet to the toes, as taut as a steel cable.

Zhan Ping nodded repeatedly: "Your skin is in place, and your strength is flowing smoothly. Your foundation is much more solid than I imagined. Even Wei Dian, who broke through his cultivation barrier a few days ago, didn't have your imposing presence."

Xie An withdrew his fist, cupped his hands, and said, "It's all thanks to Instructor Zhan's excellent teaching."

"I didn't teach you anything, I just discovered your talent. It's mainly due to your own hard work." Zhan Ping smiled and stood up. "Come with me to the back room, I'll take you to register. From now on, you are a formal disciple of Yong Sheng Martial Arts School. You can wear the school's uniform and badge when you go out. Every word and action represents the face of Yong Sheng Martial Arts School, and everyone in the town must show you respect."

Upon hearing this, Xie An could not hide his excitement.

He had longed for this day for a long time.

This step has finally been completed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Some readers have commented that the pacing has been too slow lately. I've shortened and merged chapters 22 and 21, but this doesn't affect the plot. Subsequent chapters have been moved forward by one chapter. This chapter is essentially the second bonus chapter for today, as is chapter 26. That's a total of 10,000 words updated today. Writing is tough for a new author, so please continue reading!