’Now that both of my Qi Blood Martial Arts have reached the Great Success Realm, their Skill Levels won’t increase any further until I break through to the Iron Skin Realm...’

He mused to himself as he lightly hopped off the wooden stake.

’I wonder how strong I am now. I really want to find someone to spar with...’

The Cloud-Stacking Fist, at the Great Success Realm, was now truly becoming formidable.

Jiang Che felt that, as he was now, he could defeat someone at the Early-stage of the Iron Skin Realm even without transforming.

As for his speed, he had the Flying Swallow Step at the Great Success Realm, plus his Divine Movement Talent.

He even suspected that in all of Lin Yuan City, aside from Force Integration Artists, there might be no one faster than him.

’Next, I need to max out these Basic Martial Arts, and then get the two Qi Blood Martial Arts to the Perfection Realm.’

With his upgraded Heart Stream, he felt he could probably accomplish all of this before breaking through to the Iron Skin Realm.

’There’s probably no one else in the Stone Skin Realm like me in all of Great Chu...’

He felt he was becoming more and more of an anomaly.

A mere Stone Skin Realm practitioner, yet he had already trained two Qi Blood Martial Arts to the Great Success Realm and a pile of Basic Martial Arts to the Perfection Realm.

Not to mention, he also had Talents and Divine Abilities, things ordinary people lacked.

’This way, even if the era of chaos truly comes, I should have the power to protect myself...’

Jiang Che thought to himself.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels rolling on the ground came from outside his door.

Jiang Che opened the door and saw Old Wang waiting outside with the carriage.

Old Wang picked him up and dropped him off punctually every day.

The carriage was clearly luxurious, and it bore the two words "Seven Stars."

At first, the people in the alley were somewhat puzzled.

Why would a carriage from the Seven Stars Gang come here?

They began to wonder just who Jiang Che was.

However, when they found out that Jiang Che was only a Stone Skin Realm Martial Artist, they were all rather surprised.

Some began to speculate that Jiang Che might be the son or nephew of one of the Elders.

As a result, whenever Jiang Che walked down the street, he would always attract curious gazes.

Eventually, a rumor even started to spread that an incredibly powerful Black Armored Martial Artist was his bodyguard.

This only deepened the air of mystery around Jiang Che.

Some even claimed that Jiang Che might be the illegitimate son of a major figure from the Capital City.

Jiang Che was left speechless by all this.

’These people certainly have wild imaginations, twisting the rumors to this extent.’

He had worried for a while that his newfound fame might attract the attention of people with ill intentions.

But after a period of calm, he realized he had probably been overthinking things.

’First, I have the backing of the Seven Stars Gang. Second, I have a Black Armored Martial Artist for a "bodyguard." I guess no one would dare to make a move on me.’

「At Seven Stars Castle.」

Zhang Jinghuai brought over a bowl of medicinal soup with a grin.

"Old man, what kind of medicine is this now?"

Jiang Che was wary.

"Don’t worry, there’s no poison this time."

"Really?"

Dubiously, Jiang Che drank it.

"Hmm, you’re right, there’s no poison."

Jiang Che breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he wasn’t afraid of poison, being poisoned was still an unpleasant experience.

"But what does it do? I don’t feel any effect," Jiang Che asked, puzzled.

"You’ll find out in a few days," Zhang Jinghuai said mysteriously.

Looking at his expression, Jiang Che had a feeling this wasn’t some ordinary medicine.

Suddenly, a gang member ran over, panting for breath.

"Young Master Jiang, the Gang Leader summons you! He says Lord Shadow Owl has returned with news!"

"Shadow Owl?!"

Jiang Che’s face lit up. ’Could there be news about my parents?’

But when Jiang Che arrived, he found Li Hanchuan frowning, his fingers tapping restlessly on the table.

Shadow Owl stood to one side, as motionless as a statue.

Seeing Jiang Che, Li Hanchuan frowned and said:

"Fellow Jiang, according to Shadow Owl, there seems to be nothing unusual at Li Yuanwai’s Mansion."

Jiang Che was shocked. ’That’s impossible!’ he thought.

’Could Shadow Owl have gone to the wrong place?’

He quickly asked, "Lord Shadow Owl, is there a small grove in front of Li Yuanwai’s Mansion?"

Shadow Owl spoke slowly, "That’s correct."

"Did you double-check? Could they be disguised?" Jiang Che pressed, unwilling to give up.

"I observed them in secret for three full days. Everyone and everything in Li Yuanwai’s Mansion is completely normal. Why would I have any reason to lie to you?" Shadow Owl’s voice held a note of displeasure.

Helpless, Jiang Che could only say that he must have been mistaken.

Seeing the situation, Li Hanchuan offered some words of comfort and promised he would continue to assign people to investigate.

After all, the assassination attempt was real. Even if the Blood Spirit Sect members weren’t at Li Yuanwai’s Mansion, they could be somewhere else, likely hiding in a nearby city.

After thanking him, Jiang Che took his leave.

In his heart, however, he had already lost hope.

He was now certain that there was definitely something wrong with Li Yuanwai’s Mansion.

But after sending people to investigate twice, nothing had been found.

He didn’t know what was going wrong.

Logically, neither Liu Hai nor Shadow Owl would lie to him.

But Jiang Che no longer trusted anyone else.

’It seems I’ll have to investigate this matter myself after all.’

He made up his mind. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

However, while he was no longer afraid of experts at the Peak of the Iron Skin Realm when transformed,

the Blood Spirit Sect might have far more powerful members.

It was still too dangerous for him to go rushing over there now.

’I’ll go after I break through to the Iron Skin Realm.’

He resolved to wait. After he broke through to the Iron Skin Realm, his strength would increase significantly.

Moreover, at that point, he could train his Qi Blood Martial Arts to the Perfection Realm and activate even stronger Talents.

Combined with the all-around boost from his Transformation,

he might even be able to contend with a Force Integration Expert!