Name: Gu Qingfeng
Age: 29/80
Realm: Leather Refining Stage
Martial Arts: Collapsing Mountain Fist (great achievement), Iron Body Technique (unmastered)
Improvement Points: 1
In the quiet of his room, Gu Qingfeng opened his attribute panel and noticed a new entry: the "Iron Body Technique" had been added to his list of martial arts.
Simultaneously, a thin manual appeared in his inventory. The manual contained the secrets of the Iron Body Technique, another feature of the inventory system—reward items could be taken in and out at will, while non-reward items were excluded. This provided a convenient edge.
With a single improvement point in hand, Gu Qingfeng already knew how to spend it.
"I'll leave the Iron Body Technique for later," he thought. "First, I'll perfect the Collapsing Mountain Fist."
Once perfected, the Collapsing Mountain Fist would allow his cultivation to push through the limits of skin refinement, a feat few could achieve in Lin County.
Gu Qingfeng focused his mind and applied the improvement point directly to the Collapsing Mountain Fist.
In an instant, an overwhelming rush of information filled his consciousness—decades of experience in the Collapsing Mountain Fist condensed into moments. His hands felt tougher, the skin coarser, thicker.
His skin had reached a level where ordinary blades couldn't cut it.
"It's complete," Gu Qingfeng whispered with satisfaction. His eyes gleamed with confidence.
To perfect the Collapsing Mountain Fist naturally would take decades of rigorous training, but here he was, reaching mastery in just about ten years. With the breakthrough, his strength felt worlds apart from what it was before.
For leather-refining warriors like Gu Qingfeng, the goal was to strengthen their bodies to withstand the sharpness of ordinary blades. While most leather-refining warriors gained some resistance, it was only those who perfected the art who could truly boast of skin impervious to swords.
"The next step is to break through the blood refining stage," he mused. But there was a challenge. Without the appropriate martial techniques, advancing to the blood refining realm would not be easy.
"Does Jinniu Martial Arts School even possess such techniques?" Gu Qingfeng wondered. If they did, he doubted they would be readily available to outsiders.
Martial arts were the lifeblood of any organization. Joining a martial arts school didn't guarantee access to its core teachings, and even if the Jinniu school had the knowledge of blood refining, it was likely well-guarded.
As these thoughts weighed on him, Gu Qingfeng's focus was momentarily drawn away by a commotion outside.
The next day, on his way to Jinniu Martial Arts School, Gu Qingfeng noticed a crowd gathered, whispering amongst themselves with expressions of fear.
"Tsk, this family died a horrible death," one person murmured.
"Do you think they had enemies?" another whispered.
"What kind of enemy could do this? Must be something… unclean," a third person said ominously.
Curious, Gu Qingfeng watched as a group of constables cleared the area, forcing the onlookers to disperse. As they carried out stretchers covered in white cloth, a gust of wind blew one cloth aside, revealing the body of a man with a blue face, his chest ripped open, exposing a hollow cavity where his organs had been. The stench of rot filled the air.
A chill ran down Gu Qingfeng's spine as his eyes met the corpse's lifeless stare. A sense of foreboding gripped him, and he quickened his pace toward the school, trying to shake off the eerie feeling.
But the scene lingered in his mind, along with the whispers of "unclean things."
At the Jinniu Martial Arts School, Gu Qingfeng resumed his duties teaching apprentices. During a break, he overheard the students gossiping about the same strange happenings.
"Unclean… weird…" one of the apprentices, a young boy named Li Niu, was saying.
"Li Niu, come here," Gu Qingfeng called, interrupting the conversation.
The boy approached, bowing respectfully. "Teacher Gu, how can I help you?"
"I overheard you mention something about unclean things and strange occurrences," Gu Qingfeng said. "Do you know more about this?"
Li Niu's excitement dimmed slightly, as he had hoped the senior instructor had taken a particular interest in him. But he quickly gathered himself and responded, "Teacher, it's said that several families in the county have been dying mysteriously—brutal deaths with their stomachs ripped open and their organs removed. People are starting to think it's not the work of humans, but something unclean."
"And what is the government doing about this?"
"They've tried investigating, but no one believes they'll find anything. My father says this is beyond what humans can deal with."
Gu Qingfeng's expression hardened. His instincts as a warrior told him something was wrong. Lin County might be small, but it was well-guarded. If this were the work of a human killer, the officials would have already found some clue. The fact that they hadn't could only mean the situation was far more serious than it seemed.