After leaving Mr. Zheng’s residence, Chen Cheng went to the Great Madam’s estate. Mu Xiaowan and Shen Junmo were in the central courtyard practicing the Phantom Sword Technique. Unfortunately, the Great Madam, Gongsun Rou, was right there supervising them.

With Gongsun Rou and Shen Junmo watching him like hawks, Chen Cheng only spoke with Mu Xiaowan for a short while before heading back.

Although Mr. Zheng hadn’t officially accepted Chen Cheng as a True Disciple, it was just as he had said: their relationship was better than that of a master and True Disciple, even without the title.

Chen Cheng humbly asked about his various questions regarding Martial Arts Cultivation, and Mr. Zheng answered them all in detail. Not only that, but the old master also passed down the Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique secret manual and bestowed upon him a Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill.

This was exactly the treatment a True Disciple would receive; it couldn’t be more genuine.

Mr. Zheng didn’t emphasize the formal master-disciple relationship, but Chen Cheng was sincerely grateful in his heart.

’As expected of the top Martial Dao expert who dominates Linji City. So broad-minded and noble!’

In his bedroom, Chen Cheng looked at the Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill in his hand, which was slightly larger than a pigeon’s egg, and murmured to himself.

Different people have different abilities to absorb the medicinal power of a Muscle Strengthening Pill. The number of pills required to cultivate a Muscle Strengthening Technique from the Beginner Level to Perfection varies.

A Martial Artist with a Top-Grade Root Bone would need about thirty Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pills, while someone with exceptional aptitude like Shen Qingshuang would still require around twenty.

This was just a rough estimate. During actual cultivation, the required number of Muscle Strengthening Pills would also vary depending on the degree to which one’s Major Tendons were strengthened.

Chen Cheng had unexpectedly obtained one Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill from killing Wang Li before. Adding the one his master, Mr. Zheng, had just given him, he now had two.

At the end of the year, he had a quota for one Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill from the City Guard Department, and the Shen Family would also give him two.

In total, he would have five Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pills over the next few months. For the time being, Chen Cheng was not short on them.

After carefully putting away the Muscle Strengthening Pill, Chen Cheng picked up the Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique secret manual and began to study it.

The Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique was not complicated, mainly consisting of postures and movements for stretching the Major Tendons. After about fifteen minutes, Chen Cheng finished his study. He put the secret manual away and began to prepare the Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill.

The Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill was refined in a medicine furnace, using Tier Four Demon Beast Materials as the primary ingredient, combined with various precious medicinal materials. It was as hard as a rock and possessed a violent toxicity, so it could not be ingested directly.

Instead, one had to boil it to extract its medicinal essence, dilute the essence in hot water, and then soak one’s body in the mixture. This allowed the medicinal power to seep through the skin to be digested and absorbed, strengthening the body’s Major Tendons.

Even for a Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill, the toxicity of a whole pill was more than a human body could withstand. Depending on the current strength of one’s Major Tendons, only a portion of the medicinal power needed to be extracted for each cultivation session.

It was clearly recorded in the Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique that for those below the Small Success Level, it was sufficient to extract one-fifth of a Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill’s medicinal power each time.

In addition, when absorbing the medicinal power of the Muscle Strengthening Pill, some toxicity would inevitably seep through the skin and into the Major Tendons, with the amount varying based on the refinement of one’s skin. This required taking an antidote decoction to neutralize the poison.

The antidote decoction was easy to buy and not expensive, so Chen Cheng had already prepared it in advance.

He began brewing the two concoctions at the same time. The antidote decoction was ready quickly.

The Muscle Strengthening Pill, however, took much longer. After boiling it over a fierce fire for well over half an hour, the liquid in the medicine pot gradually became viscous, an inky black tinged with dark red. Chen Cheng fished out the Muscle Strengthening Pill and inspected it. The pill was about one-fifth smaller, but it was still as hard as a rock, its dark, blackish-red color almost unchanged.

’The method for refining the Muscle Strengthening Pill is truly brilliant,’ he thought. Chen Cheng put the pill away, carried the medicine pot to a side room of his residence, and poured the medicinal essence into a large wooden tub filled with scalding hot water to dilute it. As soon as the essence was poured in, it spread through the hot water, turning the entire tub blackish-red before his very eyes.

After drinking the antidote decoction, Chen Cheng stripped off his clothes and climbed into the wooden tub, completely submerging himself in the medicinal liquid.

Instantly, a searing medicinal power enveloped Chen Cheng’s entire body, feeling like countless fine, sharp needles frantically piercing his skin.

Wisps of scorching medicinal power surged through his skin into his body, wrapping around every Major Tendon and seeping into them without pause.

It was as if countless ants were gnawing on his Major Tendons, an unbearable, intense pain. At first, the pain was on the surface of the tendons, but it gradually spread deep within them until all his Major Tendons throbbed as one, nearly causing his entire body to tremble.

Even though Chen Cheng had long been tempered by the Skin Grinding Technique and possessed an extremely high pain tolerance, he could not help but let out a muffled groan.

All that was left was to endure...

Notifications from the panel began to appear one after another.

[Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique Cultivation Progress has increased.]

...

About half an hour later, the medicinal power had been completely absorbed into his Major Tendons, and the intense pain gradually faded. Chen Cheng could feel that the Major Tendons throughout his body now felt heavy, as if the medicinal power was nourishing and strengthening them bit by bit.

The diluted medicinal liquid in the large wooden tub had turned a grayish-yellow. Its medicinal power seemed to have completely vanished, leaving behind only some harmful impurities.

’The Dragon Eagle Muscle Strengthening Technique secret manual states that each cultivation session should take nearly half an hour to completely absorb one-fifth of a Low Grade Muscle Strengthening Pill’s medicinal power. But my absorption speed seems to be much faster.’

’Moreover, even those with exceptional aptitude don’t absorb the medicinal power completely. The leftover diluted liquid is supposed to retain some residual power, turning it grayish-brown.’

’But as for me, it seems I’ve absorbed every last bit of medicinal power from the diluted liquid.’

’Of course. I have the panel’s assistance, so my cultivation is unimpeded. It’s only natural that my absorption of medicinal power is also unimpeded. As long as I cultivate, I absorb practically everything.’