That night.
Inside the room, the charcoal fire burned brightly, and the candle flames flickered from time to time.
Jiang Ning sat beside the fire, continuing to flip through the book in his hands.
Although, at his current level, he could no longer feel the cold even when exposed to the harsh winter air outside, where temperatures had dropped to below minus ten degrees, his habits as a southerner in his past life still made him enjoy warming himself by the fire while doing his work.
[Literacy EXP +1]
[Literacy EXP +1]
[Literacy EXP +1]
[…]
As he continued reading, the experience points for Literacy steadily increased.
More than half an hour later
[Skill]: Literacy+ (Fourth Limit Breakthrough 5000/5000) (Traits: Photographic Memory, Enhanced Senses, Quick Thinking, Exceptional Comprehension)
"Finally maxed it out!" Jiang Ning put down the book in his hands and stretched his neck, which had been lowered for too long.
Then, he looked at his status panel again.
[Source Energy]: 318.93
It was clear that the fifth breakthrough for Literacy was at the same level as the Chopping Blade Technique and Swimming Proficiency it required only 200 Source Energy points to advance.
The next moment
With a single thought, his Source Energy points rapidly decreased.
Then
Crack
He suddenly heard a sound from his forehead, as if something was about to break free from its shell.
At the same time
He felt his spiritual power rapidly expanding, almost becoming tangible, as its range continuously extended.
At first, it could only cover a radius of one hundred meters. Then it expanded to one hundred and five meters… one hundred and ten meters… one hundred and fifteen meters…
His spiritual power was growing at an astonishing rate.
It was important to note that when the radius reached one hundred meters, each additional meter resulted in an exponential increase in the covered area.
At this moment
Jiang Ning's spiritual power was expanding steadily, inch by inch.
With every passing breath, its coverage area grew wider than the moment before.
Moments later
Two hundred meters.
When Jiang Ning sensed that his spiritual power had stopped growing and confirmed its new coverage area, he was deeply shocked.
Before achieving the fifth breakthrough in Literacy, his spiritual power could only cover a radius of one hundred meters.
Now, with the fifth breakthrough complete
His spiritual power had surged dramatically, doubling its range and covering two hundred meters in radius.
It was crucial to understand that an increase from one hundred meters to two hundred meters didn't just double the area it quadrupled it.
This meant that after the transformation following his skill breakthrough, his spiritual power had increased fourfold.
Such an improvement was outrageous.
After all, his base level of spiritual power had already been extremely high before this.
It far exceeded that of martial artists at the same rank sixth-rank warriors.
This overwhelming spiritual strength was also the key reason why he had been able to complete both Iron Bone Tempering and Profound Bone Refinement so efficiently.
Now, with his spiritual power multiplying fourfold, his efficiency in refining bones would be boosted once again.
"This feels amazing!" Jiang Ning's face lit up with joy as he slowly opened his eyes.
Throughout the day, whenever he had free time, he had been reading.
By late at night, he had finally accumulated enough experience points for the fifth breakthrough in Literacy.
And this breakthrough had not disappointed him.
Even just the increase in spiritual power alone was an overwhelming benefit it had skyrocketed by a factor of four on top of his already deep foundation.
Then
He opened his status panel once more.
[Source Energy]: 118.93
[Skill]: Literacy (Fifth Limit Breakthrough 0/6000) (Traits: Photographic Memory, Enhanced Senses, Quick Thinking, Exceptional Comprehension, Heavenly Eye)
[Heavenly Eye]: Able to open the Heavenly Eye and perceive things unseen by ordinary people.
"Heavenly Eye?" Jiang Ning's expression turned to one of surprise.
His mind immediately drifted to the Yellow Heaven Sect.
Based on what Lin Qingyi had previously told him, as well as what he had learned about the sect himself
The individuals in the Yellow Heaven Sect known as Celestial Masters were said to possess an ability called Heavenly Revelation Eye.
With their Heavenly Eyes, they could perceive things that ordinary people could not such as ancient cultivators who had attained the path of the Yin Spirit.
"Could my Heavenly Eye be the same as the ones possessed by the Celestial Masters of the Yellow Heaven Sect?" Jiang Ning murmured to himself.
Then
He closed his eyes slightly, immediately sensing the presence of the Heavenly Eye.
The Heavenly Eye was not his normal eyes.
Rather, it was a phantom eye that existed at the center of his forehead.
Feeling the subtle change in his forehead, he reached up to touch it.
He instantly sensed a slight protrusion like a tiny raised bump at his brow.
"So this is it," he thought to himself.
Then, he slowly closed his eyes.
At that moment, he became fully aware of the Heavenly Eye existing somewhere between illusion and reality.
With a mere thought
The Heavenly Eye opened.
Even though his regular eyes remained closed, his vision changed completely.
He turned his head slightly, glancing around the room.
Every object within the chamber came into sharp focus.
Regardless of whether the area was brightly lit or shadowed, everything in his vision remained distinct though slightly dimmer but retaining their original colors.
The next moment
With another thought
The wall before his eyes suddenly became an illusion, highly transparent, with over ninety percent of its opacity disappearing.
This instantly allowed him to see the scenery outside the house.
He then slightly raised his head, gazing into the distance.
His vision pierced through the eastern courtyard, beyond the tall walls, revealing the thick snow on the rocky shore and the frozen lake.
Even though there wasn't a trace of starlight or moonlight in this pitch-black night where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face he could still clearly perceive everything in the distance.
"So this is the Heavenly Eye?" Jiang Ning murmured to himself, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad at all!"
After several trials, he had a rough grasp of how to use the Heavenly Eye.
Once activated, it rendered darkness meaningless.
No matter how pitch-black the environment was, even if there wasn't a single ray of light, it wouldn't affect his vision in the slightest.
At the same time, when the Heavenly Eye was open, he gained the ability to see through obstacles.
A thick wall, which would normally obstruct vision, could now instantly become over ninety percent transparent in his sight.
This was an incredibly practical ability for him.
His archery was already formidable arrows he shot could pierce through stone.
Yet, his greatest weakness was obstructed sight.
If he couldn't see his target, no matter how powerful his archery was, it would be useless.
Furthermore, despite the expansion of his mental field thanks to the fifth limit break of Literacy, which had caused another leap in his mental power the field still only covered a radius of two hundred meters.
For his archery, a range of two hundred meters was insignificant.
With his skill, even a target two thousand meters away was well within his reach.
Now, with the Heavenly Eye, he could fully unleash his archery prowess.
Jiang Ning slowly opened his eyes.
Yet, the Heavenly Eye remained active.
He walked over to the bronze mirror and gazed at his reflection, touching his brow.
He could still only feel a subtle protrusion beneath his skin.
Other than that, there was no apparent anomaly.
Even if he covered his brow with his fingers, the Heavenly Eye's vision remained unobstructed.
"As expected of the Heavenly Eye it truly defies common sense." Jiang Ning muttered to himself.
Then, as if struck by a thought, he murmured, "I wonder… now that I've awakened the Heavenly Eye, can I see the Yin Spirit of that Earth King from the Yellow Heaven Sect?"
He hadn't forgotten.
That night had been incredibly dangerous for him.
Moreover, Lin Qingyi had wounded the Earth King's Yin Spirit.
There was no guarantee that the Earth King wouldn't hold a grudge against him.
To be safe, he needed a means to detect Yin Spirits.
As for countering them, he wasn't sure whether his ability to harness Wind and Thunder could pose a threat to a Yin Spirit.
From what he knew
A Yin Spirit could travel a thousand miles in a single night, capable of traversing an entire province.
But since Yin Spirits were incorporeal, influencing the material world wasn't easy for them.
At most, they could exert only one or two percent of their full strength.
And the stronger a warrior was, the less affected they would be.
After all, Qi and blood were inherently pure Yang, a natural counter to Yin Spirits.
Moreover, Thunder was one of the most potent forces of pure Yang in the natural world.
With this in mind
He raised his right hand.
Suddenly, a whirlwind stirred within the room.
Sparks of electricity flickered at his fingertips, coalescing into a sphere of crackling lightning.
"As I expected, the stronger my mental power grows, the more powerful my control over Wind and Thunder becomes."
He could sense Wind and Thunder energy rapidly converging within a two-hundred-meter radius, gathering in his palm.
In just one breath, it had reached the limit of what he could contain.
At that moment, a ball of blue-green lightning flickered in his hand, glowing and dimming intermittently.
This was the result of his Wind and Thunder Breath ability, allowing him to perceive and wield Wind and Thunder energy.
In the next instant
A window in the room suddenly swung open.
The cold night wind rushed inside.
Jiang Ning flicked his wrist.
A ball of blue-green electrical fire shot out like a bolt of lightning, streaking through the open window and landing in the courtyard.
Boom!
A sudden thunderclap roared through the courtyard, illuminating everything in a dazzling white flash.
But for the people living by the Luo River, this was nothing unusual.
They simply assumed it was an unexpected winter thunderstorm.
When the thunder faded, Jiang Ning peered through the wall to observe the aftermath of the Wind and Thunderblast.
The stone tiles in the courtyard had only suffered a few cracks and some black scorch marks.
Other than that, there was no significant damage.
"How weak." Jiang Ning shook his head.
Such power was far less destructive than simply stomping his foot.
From his perspective, this level of power might be lethal to an ordinary person, but it was of little threat to a martial artist.
Inside the room
Hoo
Jiang Ning let out a deep breath, adjusting his state of mind.
"Time to start forging the Jade Bone!" he murmured to himself.
Then, he began to mobilize the Qi and blood energy within his body.
Moments later
Boom!
His entire body trembled violently as his Qi and blood surged.
There were a total of 206 bones in his body, yet at this moment, he was tempering 36 bones simultaneously.
Previously, he could only temper 13 bones at a time now, the number had nearly tripled.
"It works!" Feeling the changes within his body, he whispered to himself.
Then
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Hammer after hammer, the Qi and blood within him transformed into invisible hammers, continuously striking his bones.
The 108 Heavenly and Earthly Bone Forging Method required 108 strikes per cycle.
After a long while
Boom!
As the final hammer strike fell
Hoo
He let out a long breath, his entire body drenched in sweat.
Then
A jade-green bottle appeared before him.
Inside the bottle was the Jade Marrow Pill, which contained the Jade Marrow Liquid the key ingredient needed to forge Jade Bones.
Absorbing Jade Marrow Liquid would completely transform the composition of his bones, forging flawless Jade Bones, also known as Glazed Jade Bones.
Once fully forged, his bones would become as radiant as glass, completely flawless and transparent, revealing the blood vessels and nerves within.
In the next moment
The stopper of the jade-green bottle was lifted by an invisible mental force.
A pill the size of a fava bean, entirely jade-green, appeared before his eyes.
Through its outer shell, he could see mercury-like liquid swirling inside.
The liquid within the pill was Jade Marrow Liquid, carefully extracted and refined.
It was also the most precious component of the pill.
And the most critical external aid for forging Jade Bones.
Whoosh
The Jade Marrow Pill flew into Jiang Ning's mouth.
The moment its outer layer touched his saliva, it instantly melted.
A cool sensation spread through him, akin to mint candy.
Then, he lightly bit down with his right molar.
Crack!
The Jade Marrow Liquid encased within the pill burst open.
In that instant
Jiang Ning felt an unparalleled coolness spread through his body
A sensation 90% similar to mint, but at least ten times stronger, deeply penetrating his mind and soul.
Soon after
He closed his eyes.
He could feel the mercury-like Jade Marrow Liquid slowly flowing down his throat and into his abdomen.
Inside his stomach, the Jade Marrow Liquid began to vaporize
Transforming into mist-like wisps, drifting ethereally.
These wisps then seeped through his flesh and blood, gradually merging into the 36 bones he had just tempered.
Very quickly!
The entire essence of the Jade Marrow Pill was absorbed by his bones, leaving not a single trace of excess.
Then, he saw it
On the obsidian-like surface of his bones, wisps of luminous jade-like threads slowly appeared.
Seeing this, he finally let go of the tension in his heart.
This meant everything was proceeding smoothly.
He had successfully taken the first solid step toward forging Jade Bones.
Without hesitation, he continued consuming more Jade Marrow Pills.
Only when he absorbed the eleventh pill did he finally sense that the 13-tempered bones could no longer take in more energy, and he stopped.
At this moment
Having absorbed a sufficient amount of Jade Marrow Liquid, the 36 bones he had just tempered were now laced with countless shimmering jade-like threads, appearing extraordinarily beautiful.
"It's working!"
Gazing at the transformation within his body, he nodded in satisfaction.
He had officially stepped onto the right path to forging Jade Bones.
Moreover, thanks to his enhanced mental power, he could now wield 36 Qi and blood hammers simultaneously, tempering 30 bones at once.
This meant his efficiency had skyrocketed.
The days he previously spent preparing in hindsight had been time well spent sharpening the blade.
Rather than delaying his progress, it had accelerated his journey toward forging Jade Bones.
He took another look inside his body.
"At my current pace, I should be able to complete the forging of Jade Bones within one to two months."
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel excited.
For an ordinary martial artist, forging Jade Bones would take years.
Yet for him, it was merely a matter of months.
The difference was astounding!
"At this rate, before the snow melts and spring arrives, I should have fully forged my Jade Bones stepping directly into the Fifth Rank realm!"
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