He had finally cultivated the Bear Skin Grinding Technique to the Perfection Realm. At this stage, Chen Cheng’s skin was tight and tough. The moment he clenched his fist, he felt an immense sense of power.

He lightly clenched his left fist and channeled his strength. Tapping his left forearm with the knuckles of his right hand produced a crisp ringing sound, like copper striking iron.

’My skin right now must be the legendary Copper Hide. It’s so tough that ordinary blades can’t harm it!’

With that thought, Chen Cheng picked up the long saber at his side and lightly struck his left arm.

CLANG!

The long saber, forged from fine steel and exceptionally sharp, left only a shallow mark on his skin.

’I just used five percent of my strength and couldn’t break the skin. It really is at the level of Copper Hide. To breach my defense, it would take a full-powered strike from a Martial Artist at Small Success in the Skin Grinding Realm, at the very least.

As for an ordinary burly man, he probably couldn’t harm me in the slightest.

Even among those at Skin Grinding Realm Perfection, the toughness of my skin is far greater. This power must be thanks to the fact that not only is my Bear Skin Grinding Technique at Perfection, but my Iron Armor Skill is also approaching Perfection. It’s their synergistic effect.

If I also cultivate my Iron Armor Skill to Skin Grinding Realm Perfection, I’ll become even stronger. I might even be able to cultivate the legendary Profound Gold Hide.

There’s no conflict in cultivating multiple Skin Grinding Techniques. Now that my Bear Skin Grinding Technique has reached Perfection, I can start on another. The Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method seems like a good choice.

Once I cultivate the Bear Skin Grinding Technique, the Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method, and the Iron Armor Skill to Perfection, the toughness of my skin will be truly terrifying!’

「The next morning.」

Chen Cheng woke up early and began cultivating the Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method in his courtyard.

The cultivation process for the Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method was similar to that of the Bear Skin Grinding Technique. It involved constantly grinding the skin to its absolute limit, then using herbal decoctions and ingested medicines to repair it and strengthen one’s qi and blood.

"Wild Bull Arching Its Back!"

"Wild Bull Rubbing the Mountain!"

...

In the sandpit, Chen Cheng ground his skin over and over, but since it was already as tough as Copper Hide, his progress was extremely slow.

[Cultivation Progress in Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method increased.]

...

It took a full hour before he finally managed to grind his skin to its limit.

’Just as I thought. Once one Skin Grinding Technique reaches Perfection, cultivating a second one becomes much more difficult.’

Chen Cheng climbed out of the sandpit, drank an herbal decoction, and submerged himself in the wooden barrel filled with another.

The herbal decoction in the wooden barrel was pitch-black and incredibly viscous. A torrent of medicinal power surged into Chen Cheng’s skin.

Instantly, Chen Cheng felt his skin burn with an extreme heat. When he had cultivated the Bear Skin Grinding Technique, the searing heat was like being immersed in lava. Now, it was as if he were inside a melting furnace.

[Cultivation Progress in Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method increased.]

...

As the medicinal power seeped into his skin and repaired the damage, notifications from the panel appeared one after another.

Half an hour later, the searing pain finally began to fade, replaced by an indescribably cool and refreshing sensation that spread throughout his body.

The pitch-black, viscous herbal decoction had become pale and thin.

[Skills: Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method (Small Success 880/1000)]

After just a single session, the Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method was already approaching Great Success. The progress was absurdly fast.

’It worked! By soaking in a triple-strength herbal decoction, my skin is absorbing several times more medicinal power than an ordinary person!’

Chen Cheng’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

The key to cultivating a Skin Grinding Technique is the digestion and absorption of the medicinal power from the herbal decoction.

’Thanks to the panel’s bonus, I can absorb medicinal power without any impediment. That’s why my cultivation of the Bear Skin Grinding Technique was so much faster than those Martial Dao geniuses.

Back then, my physique wasn’t strong enough. So even though my absorption was unimpeded, there was still a limit to the total amount of medicinal power I could take in.

But now that I’m at Skin Grinding Realm Perfection, my physique has nearly reached the limit of this realm. The total amount of medicinal power I can digest and absorb has increased dramatically, to the point where I can soak in a decoction three times the strength an ordinary person would use.

And it’s not as simple as just using a triple-strength dose. An ordinary Martial Artist, even one with exceptional aptitude, can only absorb twenty or thirty percent of a standard dose. Soaking in anything stronger is a waste.

But I absorb it without any impediment, taking in nearly one hundred percent. My efficiency is already four to five times higher than those geniuses. Combined with a triple-strength soak, the total amount of medicinal power I absorb is thirteen to fourteen times what they can manage.

A genius like Shen Qingshuang soaks in an herbal decoction once every half-month and reaches Skin Grinding Perfection in three years. But with my current powerful physique, I can fully digest the medicinal power in just five or six days. That means I can soak five or six times a month, making my pace two to three times faster than hers.

Factoring in the difference from the triple-strength soak, my cultivation progress is more than thirty times faster than an ordinary Martial Dao genius. At this rate, cultivating the Wild Bull Skin Grinding Method to Perfection will take two months at most. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Mastering two Skin Grinding Techniques in the Skin Grinding Realm should be the limit. After all, if I achieve the Profound Gold Hide, it will become nearly impossible to grind my skin to its limit anymore.

The cultivation process for the Muscle Strengthening Realm is quite similar to the Skin Grinding Realm, and progress in one is closely tied to the other.

I may have started slower than others in the Skin Grinding Realm, but once I cultivate the Profound Gold Hide, my starting point for the Muscle Strengthening Realm’s cultivation techniques will be far higher. My cultivation speed will be even faster then!

The future is bright!’

In the days that followed, Chen Cheng focused on his cultivation, and his progress soared.

「In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.」

For more than a month, heavy rains continued to pound the region. It wasn’t until the approach of autumn that the harsh weather finally began to ease. The rainfall gradually lessened, signaling that the great flood was about to recede. However, the counties surrounding Linji Prefecture had been hit hard. Suffering was widespread, and every locality was busy managing the disaster’s aftermath.

On this day, his scheduled day off arrived once more.