Ultimate True Lord

Jiang Ming paused slightly as he looked at the three enhancement options that appeared before him, a hint of emotion in his eyes.

After more than four months of waiting and several experimental summaries, the results were finally in hand. He couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement, and his breathing became lighter involuntarily.

As his gaze swept across the area, Jiang Ming noticed that each enhancement also had a success rate indicator.

Clearly, the enhancement of the original furnace has a certain possibility of failure. Furthermore, the success rate varies depending on the direction of enhancement.

But Jiang Ming quickly composed himself, his expression remaining calm. He looked at the three options and began to consider which one was the most practical.

The third enhancement increases the hardness of the palm when using the Red Sand Palm by 30%. It sounds impressive, but it's a bit too far beyond Jiang Ming's reach. He needs to resolve his current predicament before considering it.

"My natural talent is only average to below average. Among the outer courtyard of the Red Sand Martial Arts School, I am considered to be among the slowest in terms of cultivation speed."

"If it weren't for the considerable amount of money spent on food, coupled with my own diligence and hard work, I wouldn't have been able to even reach the second tier of cultivation progress in the outer courtyard."

"Choosing the first enhancement, which will increase cultivation speed by 50%, is like a godsend." Jiang Ming was eager to try it out.

However, his calm nature made him suppress this desire.

The Red Sand Martial Arts School, Red Sand Palm: the real difficulty of this martial art lies not in the accumulation of knowledge beforehand, but in breaking through the final barrier.

Within ten months, even in the outer courtyard, most martial arts school disciples can learn all the basic skills and palm techniques in the sixth to seventh month and begin practicing the techniques.

However, the hurdle of breaking through from the training method to the first layer of white sand is like an insurmountable chasm.

The outer court disciples were all turned away like gold being sifted from sand. Even the inner court disciples, carefully selected by the martial arts school and possessing outstanding talent, were not spared here.

"Gateway" means to lock or block.

"Without a doubt, the most rational choice is the second enhancement."

"Moreover, the success rate is 100%."

Jiang Ming did not hesitate at all, and his mind was set on it.

On the primordial furnace, the black and gold characters instantly transformed into a distorted stream of light, merging into his body and spreading out a hazy glow.

[Technique: Red Sand Palm - Beginner's Guide]

Enhancement 1: When breaking through the bottleneck of Red Sand Palm, the difficulty is reduced to 60% of the original!

On the surface of the furnace, a row of words glowed faintly, catching the eye.

Suddenly, he felt that a thick bottleneck he would encounter not far ahead had become nearly half as thin, making it easier to break through.

"Reducing it to 60% of its original strength is probably not enough. Breaking through the bottleneck of Red Sand Palm is extremely rare, with only one in ten people succeeding. I need more low-level martial arts similar to Bone-Entangling Claw to further strengthen Red Sand Palm."

Jiang Ming's gaze sharpened, the pressure in his heart only slightly lessening. A clearer sense of purpose and hope had appeared between his brows.

His greatest asset was that the primitive furnace was usable and useful.

Next, Jiang Ming conducted another investigation and discovered that the Bone-Entangling Claw technique was still usable and could be practiced. However, it could no longer be used to enhance other martial arts, as some of its essence had been absorbed.

"And also, the restoration of essence and blood."

Jiang Ming looked at the Primal Furnace on the back of his hand. The dense Taotie patterns on its surface had been completely consumed and were about to start accumulating again.

"There's still so much to do..."

He stood in the moonlight for a long time before slowly walking back into the house. Regardless, the Primal Furnace had worked its magic, and in a short time, the pressure and burden on Jiang Ming's shoulders had lessened considerably; he could finally get a good night's sleep.

Time flies, and another five days have passed.

He continued to practice his boxing day and night, and also occasionally observed the restoration of the Taotie pattern on the original furnace.

Jiang Ming quickly came to a conclusion. The speed at which his essence and blood recovered was related to his daily diet, or rather, to the amount of nutrients he ingested.

"If I continue with my current diet, which includes meat every day, it will take at least three months to fill up the Taotie pattern. If I continue with my previous diet, it might take half a year to fill it up once."

"We'll have to wait another three months before we can use the original furnace again. Perhaps we can use a specially prepared blood and qi tonic to speed things up."

Jiang Ming thought to himself. Suddenly, for the first time, he felt a pang of envy for those inner court disciples who received two free medicinal soups every day. He thought how wonderful it would be if he could drink those soups himself, as it would greatly accelerate the recovery of his essence and blood.

Of course, Jiang Ming could also spend his own money to get some blood-tonifying prescriptions from a pharmacy.

But the more crucial question now is, where is the next martial art? If he doesn't acquire the second Bone-Entangling Claw, then using the medicinal soup to greatly accelerate the recovery of his essence and blood is just a waste of time and money.

"With Zhang Hu's few taels of silver and some of my savings, I wonder if I can find a down-on-his-luck martial arts master to teach me a real martial art again." Jiang Ming felt it was a bit troublesome; such a person was hard to find.

"Or, should we observe the Gray-Clad Gang's situation further?"

One afternoon, a cool breeze was blowing in the outer courtyard of the Red Sand Martial Arts School.

"The so-called martial arts routines are the practice of several fixed methods of dealing with enemies until they are mastered and become second nature to the body."

"Once the opponent makes a move that falls within the scope of this strategy, you can strike instantly, without even having to think about it, to neutralize the attack and defeat the enemy."

Old Man Liu, dressed in a silk robe like a wealthy man, walked back and forth in the courtyard with his large belly.

Even though it's already winter and the weather is cold, he's still dressed like it's summer. I don't know if it's because his fat makes him more resistant to the cold, or if he's wearing several layers underneath.

Among the disciples, Jiang Ming and Lin Lei stood together, listening quietly to Elder Liu's explanation of martial arts principles. He listened attentively and deeply agreed with these principles. After all, he had already put them into practice himself.

Not far away, Old Man Liu's voice drifted over again.

"Any martial arts routine can basically be divided into two categories: offense and defense."

"Among them, the means of attack are of paramount importance and are the fundamental essence of all martial arts. In my view, any attack method can also be divided into two categories: one is called the overt method, and the other is called the covert method."

"The so-called 'open hand' refers to techniques used in a fair and just manner when facing an enemy. For example, the first seven moves of my Red Sand Palm technique are all like this."

"The so-called 'hidden move' refers to a move that the opponent cannot anticipate, a sudden attack. The last two moves in a palm technique routine are known for their speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness."

"In actual combat, overt and covert techniques can be alternated back and forth. Two covert techniques are repeatedly interspersed among the seven overt techniques, seamlessly connected, and suddenly launched to injure the opponent. From overt to covert, or from covert to overt, it is all at the whim of the heart..."

Jiang Ming couldn't help but nod, thinking that this old man Liu was definitely skilled.

Although he hadn't seen Old Man Liu make a single move yet, his profound understanding of real combat was already evident.

After Old Man Liu finished his lesson, he let everyone practice freely.

"Jiang Ming, did you understand?"

Beside him, Lin Lei still looked somewhat bewildered and scratched his face.

"I understood a little bit," Jiang Ming replied.

"Forget about this." Lin Lei turned around. "By the way, have you heard about the recent gang warfare in Fenghepu?"

"Tsk tsk, I heard a lot of people died in the streets."

"It is said that the incident was caused by a thug named Zhang Hu from the Gray Clothes Gang who was beaten to death while using the outhouse. He fell into the latrine, covered in excrement and urine, and died a gruesome death, which triggered the unrest."

"The Gray-Clad Gang believes it was the Black Tile Gang and the Clear Water Gang who did it, and they want an explanation."

"But the Black Tile Gang and the Clear Water Gang said it wasn't their people who did it. They said the Gray Clothes Gang wanted to find a reason to attack, so they deliberately killed their people to provoke them and try to take over their territory."

"Jiang Ming, tell me, who did this?"

Jiang Ming shook his head, his face remaining expressionless.

"Who can tell what's true and what's false? Maybe the Gray-Clad Gang really did kill their own people and are just looking for an excuse to cause trouble. Haven't they recently taken over a lot of territory?"

"Yeah, I didn't expect the Gray-Clad Gang to be so powerful now. I heard from others that there are quite a few martial arts fighters in the Gray-Clad Gang, who have been driving the Clear Water Gang into retreat time and time again. The alleys near my house are now under the control of the Gray-Clad Gang."

Lin Lei said with some emotion.