Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 56: News

About half an hour later, Xu Yunfan opened his slightly closed eyes. He set off, his footfalls silent as he swiftly moved away.

"You carefully concealed your presence, lying in wait for the opportune moment. The target was completely unaware. Your Hunting Skill level has increased."

Reading the system prompt floating in his vision, Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but smile.

As the morning mist rolled through the withered forest, Xu Yunfan was using grassy ash to bury the last of the embers.

His ears twitched. Taking a long stride, he positioned himself on a small, gently sloping hill. Uncle Jin’s caravan had already left the withered forest and was now proceeding slowly along the winding main road, its twelve carriages appearing and disappearing in the thin mist.

Only after confirming that there was nothing amiss did Xu Yunfan look away.

He put on a simple disguise, wrapping himself in a prepared coarse hemp cloak and hat, and joined the crowd waiting to enter the city. With mountain goods he’d traded from a hunter hanging at his waist, he entered Beiye City just like any ordinary person.

Once inside the city, Xu Yunfan hurried back to Qinghe Residence. After quickly whipping up and eating a hodgepodge stew, he stared at the messy pots and pans scattered everywhere.

’Maybe I should hire a cook.’

As the thought crossed his mind, he turned and left the kitchen for his study. He took out the silk cloth he was carrying, spread it out, and began to carefully study the Iron Bridge Pass Bone Training Secret Technique written upon it.

’You have carefully studied the Iron Bridge Town Bone Training Chapter. You feel you’ve gained some insight, but the core of it remains just out of reach.’

’You have repeatedly studied the Iron Bridge Town Bone Training Chapter. You feel as if you are on the verge of a breakthrough, but every time you reach the critical moment, an unknown obstacle holds you back.’

’As you continue your in-depth study of the Iron Bridge Town Bone Training Chapter, the qi and blood in your body seem to stir, but you find it difficult to discern any pattern.’

’...’

The morning flew by, and Xu Yunfan was left feeling dizzy with blurry vision. The text on the Brocade and Silk was obscure and hard to comprehend, filled with countless metaphors for its crucial points. If it weren’t for his Attribute Panel, he feared he’d be able to do nothing but stare at it helplessly, unable to begin his Cultivation.

It was not until the sun was high in the sky that Xu Yunfan rubbed his aching eyes. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The characters on the silk cloth seemed to come alive, swimming erratically before his eyes.

The passages about "Qi Penetrating Hundred Bones" and "Bones Like Refined Iron" appeared straightforward but concealed profound mysteries.

Finally, Xu Yunfan shook his head, and the swimming characters instantly grew still.

’So I was just seeing things from staring at it for too long.’

He couldn’t help but gently roll up the Brocade and Silk. Its surface, adorned with dark, gilt patterns, cast a cold glint in the afternoon sun.

Xu Yunfan gazed at the deepening twilight outside his window, his thoughts surging like the tide.

’On the surface, the tragic annihilation of the Qingzhou Iron Armor Sect remains an unsolved mystery in the Mortal World. Fragments of the fought-over manual have been scattered far and wide, yet there are no rumors of anyone ever truly mastering the Sect’s Ultimate Skill.’

’Although I’d heard through the grapevine that three of Qingzhou’s most famous sects had joined forces to do it, most of it was just baseless rumor. Few people knew the actual truth.’

’The fragments of the Iron Bridge Town Bone Training Chapter circulating in public seemed more like bait to lure people into a trap.’

’Since the Iron Armor Sect was annihilated, several powers probably have a copy of the manual. But even though I’ve heard about the Iron Armor Sect in Changfeng Tavern, I’ve never heard of anyone from any faction mastering the Iron Bridge Pass martial arts and making a name for themselves in the Mortal World.’

’These days, just having a Martial Arts Manual isn’t enough to learn martial arts. You also need to know all the secret knacks and crucial points.’

’If a regular person got their hands on one and tried to practice blindly without a master’s guidance, they could easily end up crippling themselves.’

With that, he simply picked up the Jar Gold Hammer, went out into the courtyard, and began to practice the Red Rope Cloak Hammer.

CLANG!!

The sharp clang of the Jar Gold Hammer hitting the bluestone ground startled the birds roosting under the eaves into flight. The muscles on Xu Yunfan’s arms bulged and knotted. The hammer, weighing two hundred and twenty jin, felt as light as a feather in his grip.

As he executed the opening stance of the Red Rope Cloak Hammer, a wind rose from nowhere in the courtyard. The withered yellow leaves covering the ground were swept up by the force of his hammer, swirling into a vortex with the snowflakes.

After achieving Second Level Great Mastery in Muscle and Skin Training, he discovered that he could raise the Skill Level for his Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hammer much more efficiently. On top of that, the mental fortitude granted by the Linn Character Technique made his mind clearer and his thoughts quicker. Even his reflexes were noticeably faster.

He trained until he was utterly exhausted. Only then did Xu Yunfan put down the Jar Gold Hammer, cover it with a black cloth, sling it over his back, and head out, making a beeline for Changfeng Tavern.

The moment he stepped into the tavern, a voice, deliberately trying to sound rough, spoke up right beside him.

"Brother Xu! It’s been a few days! Fancy meeting you here. Come on, this one’s on me today."

Xu Yunfan turned toward the voice and saw Su Shiyu peeking out from behind a wall. Her moon-white brocade robe was smudged with dirt and ash, her hair crown was knocked askew, and she looked for all the world like a civet cat that had snuck out of its estate.

Su Shiyu, the young master of Beiye City’s Su Family—or, to be more precise, the young miss.

She yearned for the life of the Mortal World, was frank and generous by nature, and often dressed as a man to host feasts for Mortal Wanderers at Changfeng Tavern. It certainly seemed as if she had a wide circle of friends.

She likely spent half of every month making friends with Mortal Wanderers. It didn’t matter if they were aimless Rangers or renowned heroes; she welcomed them all.

He’d heard her family even retained a number of Mortal Wanderers as guests.

But from what Xu Yunfan could tell, most of these retainers were all for show.

So when she found a rare, genuine expert like Xu Yunfan, Su Shiyu naturally wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.

As for her disguise, she was likely the only one who didn’t realize it wasn’t as seamless as she believed.

Still, she was an interesting person. She made friends for friendship’s sake, not for some hidden purpose, and Xu Yunfan was more than happy to associate with someone like that.

In a private room on the second floor of Changfeng Tavern, a gilded, crane-beaked incense burner exhaled wisps of blue smoke.

"This is Apricot Blossom White, cellared for twenty years. Brother Xu, you must savor it today. I brought it especially from my estate; it’s the perfect drink for a winter day."

Su Shiyu broke the clay seal, and the amber liquor filled the white Jade Cup. As her sleeve slipped, it revealed a slender, pale forearm, causing Xu Yunfan’s eyes to dart toward it for a split second.

"Brother Xu, did you hear about what happened last night, thirty li west of the city?"

She lowered her voice, feigning an air of mystery, though she couldn’t conceal the excitement plain on her face.

Xu Yunfan’s hand, which was tracing the rim of the cup, paused. Faint ripples disturbed the amber liquor in the white Jade Cup.

He looked up at Su Shiyu. The excited glint in her eyes reminded him of his own deadly battle, swinging his hammer in the snow-covered forest the night before.

’I didn’t think much of it at the time, but looking back now, I suppose I was quite valiant.’

"Thirty li west of the city?"

He took a deliberately casual sip of the wine. The rich aroma of apricot blossoms burst upon his tongue.

Completely oblivious to his reaction, Su Shiyu leaned in closer and lowered her voice.

"I heard some masters fought last night in the snowy woods outside the city’s western Black Market! They say trees for dozens of zhang around were snapped in two, and even a boulder taller than a person was smashed to smithereens!"

’That’s a bit of an exaggeration.’

’I did break a fair number of trees while swinging the Jar Gold Hammer, but to say every tree in a radius of dozens of zhang was broken...’

’I’m not a professional lumberjack; I wasn’t going out of my way to destroy every tree in sight.’

’As for it being smashed into pebbles, it was just one Crouching Ox Rock, and I only broke it into a few large pieces.’

’Such are rumors.’