Ultimate True Lord

mid-September.

White walls and courtyards, under the shade of green trees.

Jiang Ming put down his fists to rest and sat quietly at the table. He took a sip of slightly cool tea and looked down at the back of his left hand.

[Technique: Introduction to Green Bamboo Fist]

Jiang Ming acquired this martial art from a down-on-his-luck martial artist some time ago when he traveled to the west of Wangyue City. However, this time, the other party wasn't asking for money, but rather for fine rice and fresh meat.

In recent months, prices in Wangyue City have continued to rise slowly, and money is definitely becoming less and less valuable. Even the Wen family's herb-gathering team, in an effort to win people over, has started converting their monthly allowance into rice and meat.

Physical items retain their value better.

A gentle breeze stirred in the shade of the large tree.

A cool breeze swept down Jiang Ming's back, and the heat he felt subsided somewhat. He calmed his mind and slowly activated the Primal Furnace.

"Enhancement, Red Sand Palm".

[The following Red Palm Enhancement Options are available]

Secondly: When breaking through all the bottlenecks of the Red Sand Palm realm, the difficulty is reduced to half of the original! (Success rate: 41%) (Insufficient essence and blood)

Thirdly: The hardness of the palm increases by 40% when using the Red Sand Palm! (Success rate: 95%)

Fourthly: When Red Sand Palm is cultivated to the Brown Sand level or above, it will generate a martial arts trait called "Bone-Penetrating Strength"! (Success Rate: 32%) (Special Enhancement)

Jiang Ming looked closely and was surprised to find that the option to weaken the breakthrough bottleneck had reappeared, but it was still in a grayed-out state due to insufficient essence blood.

The option to increase the speed of Red Sand Palm cultivation has completely disappeared, which clearly means that it has reached its limit.

"Through my efforts, the success rate of each option has improved somewhat. The success rate of option three has reached 95%."

Jiang Ming could feel that his hard work had not been in vain. The increase in the success rate was proof of that.

"Enhancement Level 2, insufficient essence and blood, cannot be selected."

"Enhancement level four looks powerful, but it requires at least three or more manuals."

"As for Wangyue City, among the down-on-their-luck martial artists I've come into contact with, if even one is willing to sell their family's martial arts techniques within a month or two, that's already considered very good. Three techniques in a short time, unless I go and rob the Gray-Clad Gang again..."

Jiang Ming shook his head and ultimately chose to strengthen the three options.

"Whoosh!"

A bolt of black-gold lightning merged into his body.

"It was a success; there was no failure."

[Technique: Red Sand Palm, White Sand]

Enhancement 3: Increases the hardness of the palm when using Red Sand Palm by 40%!

Suddenly, Jiang Ming felt his hands getting hot, as if some warm liquid was slowly seeping out of his body, covering his skin layer by layer. It felt tingly and itchy.

Gradually, a sense of refinement and solidity quietly emerged.

He was startled to see that his hands seemed to be covered by a layer of light-colored keratin, with a faint sense of heaviness.

"Bang bang bang!"

Jiang Ming waved his hands and clapped them together quickly, making a series of sounds that were noticeably duller than before.

"Try its strength."

With a thought, his blood and qi surged instantly in his arms, and an invisible force condensed in his palms.

Instantly, a thick layer of white frost appeared in his palm, quickly spreading to all areas. At first glance, it looked like a pair of thick, white leather gloves, both hard and tough.

Jiang Ming clearly noticed that after his burst of power, the white frost had become several shades thicker. The surface layer of skin had lost its thin, translucent quality and instead became opaque, firm, and resilient.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

He unleashed his full power, his arms swinging rapidly, striking the tung oil-soaked wooden stakes in front of him with muffled thuds, his palms heavy and powerful.

After several moves, Jiang Ming withdrew his hands with slight surprise.

In the past, when he swung his full power at the wooden stake, his palm would feel a painful rebound. But now, that feeling was gone. Jiang Ming's palm was now numb and hard, clearly several levels more resilient.

He glanced at the wooden stake; it had several handprints on it, which were noticeably deeper and clearer than the other handprints around it.

"His strength has also improved."

"Or rather, in the past, when I used to strike with all my might, my body would subconsciously fear the recoil and the potential injury to my limbs, so I would feel the force. But now, when I strike, I don't need to hold back."

Jiang Ming immediately realized that this enhancement was quite practical. It could quickly increase combat power to a certain extent, and even the upper limit of combat power.

His palms were 40% harder than those of other disciples at the same level who also practiced the Red Sand Palm technique, which was a considerable advantage.

After a brief moment of joy, Jiang Ming returned to his cultivation.

Another month has passed.

mid-October.

He could feel his palm strikes becoming stronger, his blood and qi becoming more powerful, and his strength becoming more refined.

With each swing of Jiang Ming's palms, a gust of wind howled, demonstrating his effortless mastery of power. Even without brute force, a sudden burst of strength could send an adult man flying several meters.

When used with force, it can even send a person flying.

Now, his accumulated strength is quite substantial, and he is very close to the mastery of the "punch like a hammer" level.

This progress is outstanding among the same batch of strong-strength disciples promoted at the entire Hongsha Martial Arts School, putting them a step ahead.

In the courtyard.

Jiang Ming glanced at the essence blood that had accumulated more than halfway in the Primal Furnace on the back of his hand and sighed slightly.

Over the past month, he hasn't been able to find another down-on-his-luck martial artist. Moreover, one martial art probably won't be enough for the next upgrade.

Jiang Ming, with his strong and burly figure, stood under the big tree, his eyes flickering inexplicably.

"Should we go get some goods from the Gray-Clad Gang?"

He felt a stirring within him.

There was no other way; upgrading the Primal Furnace was far too taxing on martial arts skills. Powerful martial arts techniques were always a necessity for Jiang Ming, but the channels for obtaining them were extremely limited and sometimes very unreliable.

The only group he could think of that could provide him with a large amount of martial arts skills in a short period of time was the Gray-Clad Gang.

However, Jiang Ming remained wary of the Gray-Clad Gang. He didn't know what force was supporting them.

After much internal struggle, Jiang Ming finally made his decision.

"Let's take down the gray-clad gang!"

He took a deep breath, and his thoughts immediately shifted.

"Since we've decided to take down the Gray-Clad Gang, let's go big."

Jiang Ming decided to emulate the previous attack on the Gray-Clad Gang members, where he seized martial arts manuals. He set his sights on three manuals this time, with a minimum of three and the more the better.

"I hope there are still so many martial arts techniques within the Gray-Clad Gang."

Jiang Ming muttered to himself.

……

……

Time passed slowly, and night gradually fell. The streets and alleys of Fenghepu became completely dark, and the surroundings were dim, with only a few scattered lights remaining.

On a desolate street.

Two members of the Gray-Clad Gang emerged from headquarters, their faces beaming with undisguised joy. They walked briskly into the distance, seemingly heading to the brothels in the inner city for some revelry.

The two were telling dirty jokes, their faces smirking lewdly.

However, they were completely unaware that a burly black figure flashed past in the dark alley behind them.