Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 57: Su Shiyu

Xu Yunfan relaxed, but he was also secretly surprised at how quickly the news had spread. In just half a night, even she knew about it.

As she spoke, the hand holding her chopsticks danced about with excitement and longing.

"I heard a master of a Hammer Technique was leaving the Black Market when he was ambushed by a group of peddlers who sell fake secret manuals. But unfortunately for them, the robbery failed, and they were the ones who got killed. Dozens of bodies were left at the scene—it was brutal.

It was a true tale of feuds and vengeance, so thrilling. This calls for a toast!"

As she spoke, Su Shiyu drained her cup of wine in one gulp and sighed in admiration. "I wonder which great hero has such skill. If I could just meet and befriend him, I could die happy!"

Xu Yunfan was speechless. ’Dozens of people attacking at once... If even the weakest among them were on par with that one-eyed man, and they all swarmed in with attacks from every direction... even I would find my two fists no match for their many hands. I’d have to find a chance to break through, keep moving, and then pick them off one by one.’

Seeing Xu Yunfan lost in thought, Su Shiyu unconsciously leaned forward.

"Why so quiet, Brother Xu?"

Su Shiyu suddenly leaned closer, a sly glint in her almond-shaped eyes.

"Could it be... that last night’s incident had something to do with you? After all, Brother Xu, you’re also a master of the Hammer Technique."

She was only joking, but her words made Xu Yunfan’s heart skip a beat. He laughed.

"You’re joking, Young Master Su. I was at Qinghe Residence all last night studying Martial Arts; I didn’t even step out of the courtyard. I was just wondering what realm of power this person must have reached to be able to fight off so many people alone."

It had only been a joke, so Su Shiyu didn’t give it much thought. Her attention successfully diverted, she immediately latched onto the new topic.

Seeing Xu Yunfan lower his gaze to poke at the fish on his plate, she raised her voice and picked up the thread of conversation.

"Who knows, he could be a Third Level Martial Artist! Or maybe he’s even taken the next step into the Outer Three Harmonies!"

Su Shiyu stood up, her face flushed with excitement and her expression full of longing. A fiery passion, unique to a zealous youth, shone in her eyes.

"A Grand Martial Master in the Outer Three Harmonies realm! In the army, someone like that could command thousands of troops! A single roar on the battlefield could make an enemy general a hundred paces away drop dead from sheer terror!"

’An exaggeration. A gross exaggeration.’

Xu Yunfan silently commented to himself.

Back at Ninggu Tower, the duel to the death between the two Grand Martial Masters of the Outer Three Harmonies, Lian Yuanzhang and Zhang Shuyang, had caused quite a commotion, but killing an enemy general with a shout was still beyond their capabilities.

Letting Su Shiyu ramble on, Xu Yunfan silently dipped a slice of sashimi into a small, celadon-glazed saucer, watching the amber-colored soy sauce trickle down the jade-white flesh of the fish.

This Red-Scaled Sturgeon came from the depths of the Lancang River, over a hundred li from Beiye City. They could only be caught during the deep winter of the twelfth month, when the river was frozen solid. Old fishermen had to chisel through three feet of ice and use nets woven from the silk of riverside green silkworms, and even then, they only managed to catch a precious few.

This one plate of just eight slices cost eighty taels of Snowflake Silver.

Normally, the sturgeon stayed deep at the bottom of the river, only surfacing for air in the winter when fishermen broke through the ice.

Even then, only fishermen who were exceptional swimmers had any chance of catching one.

His teeth broke through the firm, creamy texture, and a clean sweetness instantly flooded his tongue.

The flesh was as crisp as fresh snow yet as resilient as a spring bamboo shoot. Before he could properly savor it, it melted into a warm current flowing down his throat.

Once it reached his stomach, it took less than an hour for a surging warmth to rise from within, leaving his entire body feeling as pleasant and warm as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

’Eating this over the long term could strengthen one’s physique and enhance their Blood Qi. Not bad at all.’

’If I ate this every day, the rate at which my Skill Level increases from practicing Martial Arts would absolutely double.’

While they were eating, the unhurried clip-clop of horse hooves sounded from outside the tavern.

Xu Yunfan leaned and tilted his head to look out the window. He saw the same merchant caravan he had encountered in the deadwood forest outside the city the day before. Twenty ebony carriages rolled over the bluestone slab road, the Chi Family’s Profound Bird insignia on their shafts glowing faintly in the rare sunlight.

"The Chi Family’s caravan."

Su Shiyu craned her neck for a look, made the casual remark, and then sat back down to leisurely continue her meal.

"The Chi Family?"

"Yeah. The Chi Family is in the resale business. Grain from Yingzhou, iron from Wuzhou, cloud brocade from the Central State, medicine from Qingzhou."

Su Shiyu said, counting on her slender, pale fingers.

"Last year during the great drought in Wuzhou, the Chi Family earned this much just from reselling old grain."

She dipped her finger in wine, wrote a large "3" on the table, and then added a long string of zeros after it, her face full of awe.

"A single one of their deals is more than enough to buy my whole family out."

After a pause, Su Shiyu added enthusiastically, "I heard the Chi Family has a famous daughter named Chi Suwen. They say she’s incredibly sharp, a true business genius. Even the reigning Empress has praised her a few times."

As Su Shiyu chattered on, Xu Yunfan quietly watched the Chi Family’s caravan recede into the distance.

’The Chi Family is truly something else,’ he thought. ’Even a caravan heading to a minor Northern Border Town is protected by Second Level Martial Artists.’

After finishing their meal with a very satisfied Su Shiyu, Xu Yunfan effortlessly slung the Jar Gold Hammer onto his back, much to her envy.

She couldn’t help but click her tongue. "Over two hundred pounds, and it seems as light as a feather in your hands. Even for the Skin Cultivation realm, you’d have to have reached at least Minor Achievement to handle it so easily, right?

Last year, my father hired a fist master from Cangzhou, and he was red in the face just from swinging a hundred-pound stone lock."

Xu Yunfan smiled without answering, instead changing the subject. "If you long for life in the Mortal World so much, why don’t you practice Martial Arts yourself?"

At this, Su Shiyu’s shoulders slumped. "My father says there’s no future in martial arts. Now that the Empress is in power, she’s going to open up the imperial examinations to select officials. Since I have no intention of marrying, he wants me to study hard and earn a scholarly title."

’Women can become officials?’

Xu Yunfan was a little surprised, but he wasn’t optimistic about this new system introduced by the Empress’s reforms.

Although an Empress now sat on the throne, this was still a deeply traditional feudal era dominated by the landed gentry. To them, the idea that "women can hold up half the sky" was a completely unacceptable, almost demonic concept.

"Well, good luck with that," Xu Yunfan said casually. Su Shiyu, however, did not look pleased. She shook her head. "I still want to practice martial arts."

Xu Yunfan said, "There are four martial arts schools in Beiye City. Haven’t you tried them?"

"I have. But they all know my father, so none of them will take me."

Xu Yunfan was speechless. The Su Family was prominent in Beiye City, and he had heard of Master Su. If the old master had forbidden it, it was only natural that the schools in the city would respect his wishes.

There was nothing Xu Yunfan could do to help.

After offering a few words of comfort, he bid Su Shiyu farewell and returned to Qinghe Residence to continue studying the Iron Bridge Town Bone Training Chapter.

By the time the moon was high overhead, Xu Yunfan glanced at the message that had appeared in his field of view.

Although he had yet to master it and have it appear as a skill on his Attribute Panel, he had a hunch that it would show up on his Skill Bar within three days.

Once it did, he could completely skip the steps mentioned on the Brocade and Silk, such as applying the Secret Medicine and the process of "breaking and resetting one’s bones." He could then rely on Skill Level to achieve mastery.

「For the next three days」

Xu Yunfan basically never left the residence, completely burying himself in the study of the Iron Bridge Town Bone Training Chapter.

Late on the third night, Xu Yunfan’s eyes were completely bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the Brocade and Silk in his hands.

’When you first began studying the Iron Bridge Town Bone Training Chapter, you were clueless. After days of arduous thought and Meditation, you have finally grasped a faint clue, yet the path forward remains shrouded in mist.’