Two days later.
Flap, flap
The sound of fluttering wings came from above.
Jiangning looked up to see a white bird rapidly descending toward him.
He raised his arm, and the bird swooped down, landing gracefully on his forearm.
Then, he opened the message tube attached to its leg and retrieved a small slip of paper.
The writing on it was tiny, like ants crawling in formation.
With just a glance, Jiangning absorbed its contents.
"He Jinsheng hasn't visited the Inspection Bureau these past few days, and his whereabouts are unknown. That's... odd."
He crumpled the note and tossed it onto the snow.
Originally, he'd assumed He Jinsheng would inevitably clash with him after arriving in Luoshui County.
Given his prior conflict with He Jinyun, it would've been natural for He Jinsheng to target him.
But Jiangning wasn't afraid of such a confrontation.
If pushed, as long as He Jinsheng remained at the peak of the sixth rank, Jiangning could find an opportunity to eliminate him.
With his current archery skills especially the mystical Heart's Archery, he could strike He Jinsheng from kilometers away.
Coupled with the devastating Wind-and-Thunder Synchronized Shot, a single well-placed arrow might be enough to kill He Jinsheng if he wasn't prepared.
As for the aftermath? He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
Yet three days had passed without any sign of He Jinsheng.
This was unexpected.
"Forget it. Cross the river by feeling the stones no point overthinking. Better to focus on cultivation."
With that,
he walked to the lakeshore, stepping onto the frozen surface.
Lifting his right foot, he brought it down lightly.
Boom
The thick ice shattered instantly, collapsing inward.
Jiangning slipped into the water through the gaping hole.
Over the past few days, he'd made an important discovery:
Being submerged significantly boosted the experience gain rate for his Water-Fire True Force skill.
[Skill]: Water-Fire True Force (1st Breakthrough: 832/2000) (Trait: Water-Fire Immortal Robe)
In just two short days, the skill's progress was already nearing the halfway mark.
And this was despite prioritizing bone-forging, only grinding the skill in his spare time.
Now fully immersed, Jiangning felt an overwhelming sense of security.
In water, his senses were far sharper than on land.
Even the range of his mental perception expanded dramatically.
On land, his psychic field covered only a hundred meters.
But underwater, it effortlessly spanned a full kilometer a tenfold increase in diameter!
If focused purely on detection, he could sense disturbances four or five li away.
Thus, every dive filled him with unparalleled confidence.
Within a several-li radius, nothing escaped his notice not even a passing fish.
With such awareness, safety was guaranteed.
Moreover, his combat prowess in water surged multiple times over.
Its potency far surpassed his current martial abilities.
After the sixth breakthrough of his Water Affinity skill, which enhanced his Water Manipulation ability,
he'd tested its limits: at full power, he could control a hundred-meter column of water, lifting an entire lake section above his head.
Such power was terrifying.
In Water Affinity environments, this mastery effectively created a domain.
He could kill, restrain, or trap enemies
the applications were as varied as they were profound.
In Jiangning's estimation, even an ordinary fifth-rank expert would be at his mercy underwater.
Forget fighting him they'd struggle to even touch him.
But against stronger foes, like Lu Qingshan the fifth-rank peak master of the Medicine King Valley, whose internal energy had condensed into indestructible gang qi
he wasn't as confident.
A warrior capable of slaying a thousand armored, martially trained soldiers with a single sword stroke
would likely find ways to circumvent watery obstacles with sheer gangqi force.
Such a powerhouse might cleave waterfalls or part lakes with a swing.
Facing that level of strength, Jiangning remained wary.
Returning to the present,
he focused inward, examining his body.
Internally, all 206 bones now gleamed with silvery-white light,
the metallic hue dominating over half of each bone's surface.
"Two or three more days, and I'll complete the Iron Bone forging officially stepping into the sixth martial rank!"
At this thought, Jiangning's heart swelled with excitement.
This kind of efficiency was something even so-called martial prodigies could hardly match.
His vast sea-like qi and blood, coupled with his powerful mental field spanning a hundred meters, had given rise to his current unparalleled bone-forging speed.
In the lake, with limitless qi and blood energy and inexhaustible mental strength,
Jiangning continued his bone-forging.
Three days later.
In the lake.
Boom
As the final hammer strike landed, completing the 108-tempering cycle,
Jiangning abruptly opened his eyes.
With a wave of his hand,
the water before him parted, forming a vacuum.
A jade vial containing Iron Bone Pills appeared in front of him.
He inhaled sharply, and several silkworm-sized pills flew into his mouth.
The next moment,
he stored the vial away and closed his eyes, refining the pills within his body.
With a surge of qi and blood energy,
the pills shattered, releasing countless strands of iron marrow that flowed toward his freshly tempered bones under his guidance.
Soon after,
the pills were fully absorbed.
"Seems... not enough yet!" Jiangning murmured inwardly.
He opened his eyes again.
Another wave of his hand parted the water, creating another vacuum.
The jade vial reappeared, and several more pills flew into his throat.
The pill coatings dissolved in his stomach.
As his qi and blood energy crushed them, the iron marrow inside seemed drawn by an invisible force, transforming into silvery threads that wove into his bones.
"Just as I thought!"
Jiangning's heart leaped with joy.
According to records, this was the sign of true Iron Bone forging
a process requiring massive amounts of iron marrow for the bones' final metamorphosis.
Within a dozen breaths, the marrow from the pills had been
The next moment,
he opened his eyes again, repeating the process and swallowing more pills.
Another dozen breaths passed.
"Still not enough!"
"Not enough!!"
"Still not enough!!!"
Soon, one vial was emptied, and Jiangning promptly retrieved another.
Lin Qingyi had prepared ample supplies for him.
Though there were only ten vials, each was packed full of pills.
After several rounds of consumption,
he finally felt all 206 bones in his body reach saturation
like a dried sponge that had absorbed all the water it could hold.
"At last... I've reached this step." Jiangning sighed as he observed his near-silvery bones.
Now, all he needed was to wait.
With time, his white bones would fully transform into silver marking his official entry into the Iron Bone realm.
At that point, his physique would undergo its greatest metamorphosis yet.
The next moment,
his figure shot upward like an arrow.
Boom
The ice above shattered as he burst out of the lake.
Now,
The lake's surface was silent except for the howling wind and the encroaching darkness.
The last light at the horizon was slowly devoured by night.
Jiangning extended his palm, catching a fingernail-sized snowflake.
"Snowing again?"
He looked up at the gloomy sky, where scattered flakes had begun to drift down.
"This weather is torture." He shook his head.
Since winter arrived, sunny days had been rare, stalling his progress in Internal Alchemy Nourishment Art.
No sun meant no solar essence to absorb.
Without solar essence, the skill couldn't gain experience.
Without experience, his internal energy couldn't advance to the next level.
And yet, he had already condensed his internal energy.
If this skill reached the next tier, even if his energy reserves were insufficient, he'd achieve gang qi condensation
the hallmark of fifth-rank peak mastery.
Once there, completing sixth-rank bone-forging would propel him straight into fifth-rank peak status.
At that point, he could truly be called a powerhouse.
Like Lu Qingshan a fifth-rank peak expert who commanded respect across an entire prefecture.
In Dongling Prefecture, the Medicine King Valley stood as the dominant sect.
This was due partly to its vast network of connections
after all, who wouldn't want ties to a sect skilled in medicine and alchemy?
But more importantly, it was because of Lu Qingshan himself.
The fifth-rank peak was in a league entirely separate from the ordinary fifth-rank.
The difference was fundamental.
[Skill]: Internal Alchemy Nourishment Art (Proficient: 893/5000)
Glancing at his panel, Jiangning sighed.
He was still over 4,000 EXP short of reaching mastery and gang qi condensation
barely 18% of the way there.
"No quick fixes, especially with this erratic weather."
"Luckily, my Five Beasts Fist breakthrough granted me a trait that lets my internal energy grow daily."
"Even without solar essence, my energy reserves will keep expanding."
"By spring, even if I haven't mastered the art, my internal energy will have multiplied."
"Then, I'll rival even average fifth-rank experts in energy reserves."
A short while later.
Jiangning followed the lamplight back to his residence.
Hopping over the wall into his courtyard, he stepped onto the familiar ground.
"Someone's here." His gaze sharpened as he looked toward his room.
The next moment,
his slightly tense expression relaxed.
He already knew who was inside his elder brother, Jiang Li.
Pushing the door open,
"Big brother!" he called out immediately.
"Ah-Ning, you're back!" Jiang Li's face lit up with a smile.
"Were you waiting for me here?" Jiangning asked, slightly puzzled.
"Mm!" Jiang Li nodded, then picked up a sheet of paper from the table. "This is from a girl named Feng Jiuge. She left it for you."
"She waited at home for you for hours this afternoon. When you didn't return, she left this note and asked me to pass it to you."
Jiangning's expression turned surprised.
"Feng Jiuge!"
He walked over to Jiang Li and took the paper from his hand.
"Ah-Ning, thank you." Jiang Li suddenly spoke again.
"For what?" Jiangning chuckled.
Jiang Li explained, "For helping me. I passed the yamen's evaluation these past two days and can keep working as a constable!"
Jiangning was mildly astonished.
The yamen conducted annual evaluations at year's end,
with inspectors sent from the prefectural office.
He'd known about this for a while.
Months ago, when Jiang Li's right arm was crippled,
by the rules, he should've failed the evaluation.
If the yamen had been lenient, they might've reassigned him to a back-office role a sinecure to retire.
Back when they'd clashed with Cao Bin, Xu Yunfeng had even used the evaluation as leverage
threatening Jiang Li into submission.
Thinking back, Jiangning felt a sudden sense of vertigo.
It hadn't been long, but the changes over these months had been earth-shaking.
"Ah-Ning, what's wrong?" Jiang Li asked.
"Nothing." Jiangning smiled, snapping out of his thoughts. "By the way, do you know when the Cao family's execution is scheduled?"
"You didn't know? It's in three days the whole family will be beheaded at the marketplace!"
"Three days?" Jiangning's eyes widened.
"Mm!" Jiang Li nodded. "I've been counting down since they announced it. The Cao family was captured by your team. If even one of them survives, it could spell endless trouble."
Jiangning wholeheartedly agreed.
Though the order had come from Hong Minghu, he'd been the one to carry it out.
The Cao family would undoubtedly hold a grudge against him.
If any of them lived, the repercussions could be dire.
This was a life-and-death vendetta.
Even if he wasn't afraid, his loved ones could still be dragged into it.
With that in mind, Jiangning asked, "Will you be going to watch the execution in three days, brother?"
"Yes." Jiang Li nodded firmly. "I need to see it with my own eyes only then can I truly rest easy."
"Alright." Jiangning nodded, then added, "Brother, have you ever thought about switching jobs? Maybe leaving the constable post?"
"I know what you're getting at." Jiang Li laughed. "I'm used to being a constable. As for the Inspection Bureau… it's too dangerous. I'd rather not get involved."
"Fair enough." Jiangning conceded.
Though he didn't find the Bureau hazardous,
the lower-ranking inspectors faced real risks.
Lately, the Bureau's sole mission had been eradicating the God-Worshipping Cult.
While there had been cases like He Jinyun's killing innocents to claim merit
they'd also uncovered actual cult hideouts.
In recent operations, three ordinary inspectors had died,
with injuries numbering in the double digits.
With that in mind, Jiangning shelved the idea.
He could handle the dangers with his strength, but Jiang Li was different.
After all these years, Jiang Li still hadn't reached the ninth rank.
While part of that was due to lacking resources, it also spoke to his mediocre martial talent.
Just then, Jiang Li spoke again. "I should go help your sister-in-law in the kitchen. Don't forget to come for dinner later!"
"Got it." Jiangning watched him leave.
Only after the door closed
did he turn his attention back to Feng Jiuge's note?
His brows furrowed slightly as he skimmed the contents.
According to the message,
Feng Jiuge had come for two reasons.
First, to inform him that her father was returning to Dongling Prefecture but the newly assigned envoy from Colonel Yan outside the city had also arrived in Luoshui County.
Their goal was simple: Cao Bin and Cao Rong.
The second matter
was that Feng Jiuge had located a God-Worshipping Cult hideout possibly harboring a high-value target and wanted his assistance.
For months, the cult had been as elusive as rabbits,
With multiple bolt holes but no trace of their true base, especially the one that had housed the divine statue in the City God Temple.
"I'll have to visit the Inspection Bureau tomorrow."
Jiangning channeled his internal energy, pulverizing the note in his hand.
With a light flick, the paper dissolved into dust, scattering into the air.
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