Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method!

"The Barbarian Bull Tempering Bone Technique is perfected!" Lu Changsheng was not overly surprised; after all, this had been entirely within his expectations. He brought up the attribute panel to inspect his status. Host: Lu Changsheng Comprehension: 215 (considerable potential) Barbarian Bull Tempering Bone Technique: Fourth Layer perfected Lu Changsheng's progress in cultivating the Barbarian Bull Tempering Bone Technique could be called lightning-fast. A major reason was that this bone-tempering martial art was relatively ordinary. Given Lu Changsheng's comprehension at this point, it presented no difficulty whatsoever. "The pinnacle of the Tempering Bone Realm is jade-like bones. "Yet tempering bones until they take on the color of jade is exceptionally difficult. "Even with many superior bone-tempering arts, success is far from guaranteed. It requires tempering the bones again and again. "However, tempering one's bones once takes a great deal of time, and tempering them ten or twenty times takes far longer still. By the time one finally achieves 'jade bones,' it likely wouldn't even matter anymore." Lu Changsheng understood that in truth, it all came down to whether it was worth the cost. "Jade bones" were certainly great. But if it required immense time and effort, the gains would not outweigh the losses. One would be better off striving early to break through into the Divine Strength Realm. However, Lu Changsheng viewed things differently. He understood that with the help of his attribute panel, reaching the Divine Strength Realm was merely a matter of time. What he needed to do now was build an unimaginably solid foundation in every single realm. In qi and blood, he had reached the limit. Thus, paired with his fifth-tier martial skill, the Instant Kill Technique, he had been able to slay the Blade-Trailing Heavenly King, Li Ji. What if his bones also reached the state of "jade bones"? His strength would undoubtedly be even more formidable. In the future, once he advanced to the Divine Strength Realm, he would easily crush peers of the same level. "For bone-tempering martial arts, I can go buy them at the black market. I got quite a few banknotes this time as well..." At this thought, Lu Changsheng began taking stock of his spoils from the ruined temple. There was too much silver bullion for him to carry off. As for the banknotes, however, Lu Changsheng had scooped up virtually all of them. Counting carefully, he discovered that the banknotes totaled more than sixteen thousand eight hundred taels. *Hiss.* Even Lu Changsheng could not help drawing a sharp breath. Yet thinking on it carefully, these banknotes were the proceeds of Li Ji's raid on Miaoshou Garden. Miaoshou Garden had accumulated wealth for a century; what was this sum in comparison? What amounted to far more were wagon after wagon of gold and silver, but Lu Changsheng hadn't been able to take them. Otherwise, scraping together a hundred thousand or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver was no difficult feat for the Nanyang Zheng clan. Next, Lu Changsheng sorted through the numerous martial arts manuals. There were martial skills and martial arts cultivation methods. Most of those cultivation arts belonged to the Strengthening Blood Realm, which were of little use to Lu Changsheng now. The martial skills mostly overlapped with ones Lu Changsheng had already practiced. Only eight martial skills were ones he had never learned. Lu Changsheng found another bone-tempering art called the Tiger Demon Tempering Bone Technique—the only one of its kind among the lot. Finally, there was the mysterious martial art looted from Li Ji's body. Lu Changsheng first flipped open that mysterious manual obtained from Li Ji. "Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method!" Lu Changsheng's pupils contracted slightly, clear surprise surfacing in his eyes. "A secret method? It's actually a secret method..." Lu Changsheng had not been practicing martial arts for just a day or two; he naturally knew what a secret method was. A so-called secret method differed significantly from standard martial arts. For example, this Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method was neither a bone-tempering art nor an organ-refining art, yet it offered immense benefits to both. It was an auxiliary secret method that assisted a martial artist in tempering bones and refining organs, even bypassing boundaries of cultivation realm. For instance, an organ-refining martial artist's bones were already set in form, leaving them unable to temper their bones any further. Yet once one mastered this Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method, one could repeatedly temper the bones anew until they became unimaginably hard. Only effects so miraculous could earn the title of "secret method." "This secret method is truly priceless!" Lu Changsheng was delighted; this was an unexpected windfall. No wonder Li Ji, already an expert at the peak of Refining Organs, carried this manual on his person. Turns out it was a secret method! "The Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method is an auxiliary method, extraordinarily difficult to practice. "While practicing the Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method, I can practice other bone-tempering arts simultaneously." Lu Changsheng had also obtained a bone-tempering martial art. Even though these bone-tempering arts weren't considered powerful, Lu Changsheng already had a plan. Achieving "jade bones" was arduous. One would have to temper their bones several dozen times or more to stand a chance of attaining "jade bones." Moreover, the tougher the bones grew, the less effective further tempering became. In the end, it might yield virtually no effect at all. If one spent years or even decades practicing bone-tempering arts without ever reaching jade bones, the cost would far outweigh the reward. But Lu Changsheng possessed exceptional comprehension. Even if he practiced several more bone-tempering arts, it would not take him much time. What was more, he now had the Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method. Once he reached the late stages of bone tempering, the secret method would gradually demonstrate its effects. "Time to begin. First, I'll try the Tiger Demon Tempering Bone Technique and the Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method." Lu Changsheng began to test them. The Tiger Demon Tempering Bone Technique was similar to the Barbarian Bull Tempering Bone Technique; both only tempered the bones four times and were very ordinary bone-tempering arts. In merely the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Lu Changsheng mastered the Tiger Demon Tempering Bone Technique. Next, Lu Changsheng began practicing the Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method. The Nine-Word Thunder Sound Bone Tempering Secret Method was founded upon the Nine-Word Mantra: *Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing*. By comprehending the true meaning of the Nine-Word Mantra and constantly chanting it, one could generate a unique sound wave resembling the roll of thunder, thereby tempering bones and internal organs. Whether for the Tempering Bone Realm or the Refining Organs Realm, it offered tremendous benefits. The only problem was that it was brutally difficult to practice! Never mind mastering it; even gaining initial entry was difficult. Despite Lu Changsheng's comprehension reaching a towering 215 points, after spending several hours, he had not even stepped across the threshold. This came as quite a shock to Lu Changsheng. When practicing the Six Heavens Blood-Strengthening Technique, a sixth-tier martial art, he had easily stepped over the threshold and eventually brought it to perfection. Yet with this Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method, even entering the threshold was difficult. This was sufficient proof that the Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method was likely far superior to the Six Heavens Blood-Strengthening Technique, far exceeding the sixth tier. It might even be tenth-tier or above! However, Lu Changsheng was in no hurry. It didn't matter if he couldn't practice it now. Once he perfected the eight martial skills and raised his comprehension, he would likely be able to step across the threshold of the secret method. Following the battle at the ruined temple, Lu Changsheng's life returned to peace. He continued to study medicine under his master at the pharmacy each day. Although Lu Changsheng possessed extraordinary comprehension, medicine was fundamentally an empirical craft; no matter how rich one's theoretical knowledge, it required practice to validate. Under Lu Changsheng's current circumstances, it would take at least half a year to a year before he could begin taking pulses and diagnosing patients hands-on. Nonetheless, Wu Jing valued Lu Changsheng more and more by the day, seemingly treating him as his true successor and teaching him everything he knew without reservation. In the blink of an eye, ten days flew by. "Tiger Demon Tempering Bone perfected. Comprehension increased by 4." A line of small characters floated before Lu Changsheng's eyes. "Perfected again?" Lu Changsheng opened the attribute panel. Host: Lu Changsheng Comprehension: 235 (considerable potential) Tiger Demon Tempering Bone Technique: Fourth Layer perfected Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method: Not yet entered Lu Changsheng took a deep breath. So fast! In ten days, he had brought all eight martial skills to perfection. Regrettably, those skills were only second-tier martial arts, yielding an increase of 16 points of comprehension. Coupled with the 4 comprehension points granted by the Tiger Demon Tempering Bone Technique, his comprehension had reached 235. Yet even with 235 points of comprehension, he still could not cross the threshold of the Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method. "My comprehension is still not high enough. I must practice more martial skills to boost it. "And bone-tempering arts. Combining the Tiger Demon Tempering Bone Technique and the Barbarian Bull Tempering Bone Technique, I've effectively tempered my bones eight times. Yet even with eight temperings, there is still no sign of reaching 'jade bones.' "But whether it's martial skills or bone-tempering arts, I've run out of them. I'll have to go to the black market to buy more." Lu Changsheng was no longer worried about lacking silver to purchase martial arts. And so, when the Hai hour arrived, Lu Changsheng disguised himself and hastened toward the black market.