Gu Yuan instinctively scratched his neck and pulled off a thin layer of skin.
"Hmm, dead skin? Shedding old skin, growing new skin?"
He continued to rub his arm, and a layer of skin came off, revealing much softer and more delicate skin underneath.
Without hesitation, Gu Yuan decided to strip off his clothes and scrub his entire body, feeling a bit strange.
"Why does it feel like a snake shedding its skin?"
After getting dressed, Gu Yuan stood up and stretched, feeling his movements more agile, his strength increased, and even his flexibility improved, able to perform various high-difficulty maneuvers.
Even his five senses and spirit improved, leaving him energetic and mentally sharp.
The "Golden Snake Swallowing Yuan Technique" was, after all, a martial art modeled after an exotic spiritual snake, with some characteristics of a snake. When refined to great success, it can even shrink the bones and muscles to make an adult's height and build the size of a child.
At this moment, Gu Yuan's body seemed a bit leaner than before, as if it had been refined somewhat, but the muscle lines on his body were more streamlined and full, exuding a distinct beauty of power.
"What a wonderful feeling!"
Gu Yuan clenched his fists, feeling the abundance of power within them, pondering:
"This martial art seems to be a path of evolution, using various methods to enhance the physique and spirit, elevating the essence of one's life."
"However, although this 'Golden Snake Swallowing Yuan Technique' is quite exquisite, cultivating it is vigorous and progressive, yet it does not seem very friendly to ordinary people. Whether practicing boxing or breathing exercises, it depletes vital energy and strains the body. Even if I frequently nourish my body with Yellow Ginseng Pigeon Soup, it's difficult to completely eliminate this impact!"
Gu Yuan pondered silently: "If it weren't for the blessing of my 'Iron Teeth' talent, which allowed my body to undergo a complete transformation, with a foundation thicker than ordinary people, there would definitely be some hidden injuries left."
"Could it be that the higher grade the martial art, the higher the demands on the cultivator?! Superior martial arts are like this; if it were supreme martial arts, or even higher-grade cultivation techniques, it may not necessarily be a good thing for those with poor aptitude and weak bones."
"Of course, this is merely my personal speculation; the actual situation remains unknown."
Gu Yuan stopped thinking about it, focused his thoughts, and summoned the attribute panel:
[Beast Master]: Gu Yuan
[Status]: Normal
[Beast Pet]: Iron-toothed Rat (can evolve into Little Treasure Hunting Mouse, needs 800 Dao Rhyme Points) — Iron-backed Centipede (can evolve into Silver-backed Centipede, needs 5600 Dao Rhyme Points).
[Tameable Beast Pets]: 1
[Cultivation]: Postnatal Martial Master (Refining Skin)
[Dao Rhyme]: 230
...
In the Beast Pet column, the Iron-toothed Rat and Iron-backed Centipede were quite prominent.
And below, there was an additional [Tameable Beast Pets], which clearly matched Gu Yuan's guess. The number of spiritual pets he could tame was crucially dependent on his own strength.
Now that he had become a Martial Master, indeed, he had gained another space for a spiritual pet.
Further down was the cultivation column, which was no longer just 'None'.
As for Dao Rhyme, although Gu Yuan had been busy practicing martial arts recently without actively collecting them, he had somewhat accumulated 230 Dao Rhyme Points.
It's just a pity that whether it's the Iron-toothed Rat or the Iron-backed Centipede, the Dao Rhymes needed for evolution are significant numbers, and these 230 Dao Rhyme Points are still far from enough.
"One level of the Refining Skin phase, wanting to progress rapidly again, won't be that easy."
Gu Yuan began to pack his things, then left the valley with Ah Huang:
"Moreover, next, I should return to deal with some troubles."
During this period, although he spent the vast majority of his time training, he also kept an eye on some matters.
For example, Dong Gui and Sun Er were always under Gu Yuan's watch.
And just last night, someone from the county came directly to Dong Gui's house.
Dong Gui was nothing more than a common rogue. He had been recovering at home recently; who could he know from the county?
Clearly, the ones from the county were people from the Qian Mansion!
It's not surprising when you think about it, as Dong Gui and Sun Er were just pawns placed by the Qian Mansion's Steward Wu to monitor Gu Yuan.
However, since Gu Yuan broke their hands and feet, these two guys could only stay at home to recover.
With Gu Yuan's previous threats, coupled with their severe injuries, suffering constant pain, they didn't dare to make any moves under Gu Yuan's watch.
But, although the two didn't dare to report Gu Yuan, their long absence must have alerted Steward Wu, so sending someone over is not surprising.
As Gu Yuan returned to Gu Family Village, a seven or eight-year-old boy was waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing Gu Yuan, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly greeted him: "Brother Aruán."
"It's Azong, what happened?"
Seeing the boy's peculiar expression, Gu Yuan asked.
This boy was Sun Zhong, the son of Widow Sun.
Since Gu Yuan's mother lent food to them last time, perhaps to reciprocate the favor, Widow Sun often brought her son to Gu Yuan's house to help with what they could.
As they came and went, this somewhat introverted boy became familiar with Gu Yuan.
Especially since Gu Yuan often gave him food, Sun Zhong became very fond of Gu Yuan and even volunteered to be Gu Yuan's informant, keeping an eye on Dong Gui and Sun Er whenever he had the chance.
"Brother Aruán, someone just went to your house."
Sun Zhong quickly said.
"Oh?"
Gu Yuan raised an eyebrow, "How many people were there, and were they male or female?"
Sun Zhong scratched his head, thought for a moment, and replied, "There were three people in total, all men, two young ones, and an old man in fine clothes."
"Alright, I understand."
Gu Yuan said nothing more and went straight home.
When he returned home, he saw many people outside the wall watching the fun, and when they saw Gu Yuan returning, they began chattering:
"Aruán, you better go home and take a look, someone's at your place!"
"Yes, I heard it was the head of an influential family from the county, looking truly impressive and different from us country folks..."
"These people aren't here for Aruán, are they?"
"Nonsense, they've come to the house, who else would they be looking for if not Aruán?"
One person suddenly understood and exclaimed, "I remember now, that's Steward Wu from the Qian Mansion! He came once before."
"Could he be here to cause trouble for Aruán this time?"
At these words, the chattering neighbors suddenly fell silent, looking at Gu Yuan with odd gazes.
There was sympathy, pity, and even schadenfreude...
A few people even stepped back a few paces, as if afraid of catching something dirty.
In their view, since Gu Yuan had offended the Qian Mansion previously, now that they had come to the door, it might be to cause trouble. If they showed too much familiarity with Gu Yuan, they might get implicated.
"Aruán, you..."
But Widow Sun and her son looked at Gu Yuan with concern, hesitant to speak.
Gu Yuan cast a faint glance at these people, uninterested in saying another word.
He nodded slightly towards Widow Sun and her son, then walked into the courtyard.