The relatively taller and more muscular rat-faced man facing Cao Tian reacted in a flash. Forming his hands into blades, he swiftly chopped at the arm that had suddenly shot out.

"BANG!"

The chop collided with the arm, making a muffled thud like the sound of striking rotten wood.

The burly rat-faced man stumbled back two steps, having barely managed to block the blow.

However, before he could even catch his breath, the situation changed in an instant!

The blocked arm let out a rapid-fire series of cracks, like popping soybeans. A dark light flickered across its skin, and the already taut muscles suddenly swelled another size!

"BOOM!"

An irresistible force crashed down, as overwhelming as a tidal wave.

Even Cao Tian, standing to the side, could clearly feel the suffocating pressure that washed over him.

In that instant, the horrified expression hadn’t even fully formed on the burly rat-faced man’s face before he was slammed into the brick wall at his side as if struck by a giant siege hammer. With a THUD, he was driven deep into the wall.

"CRACK, CRACK—"

To the sickening sound of shattering bones, the terrifying, dark-glowing arm plunged into the rat-faced man’s chest, nearly up to the elbow.

The rat-faced man spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with visceral fragments. He instinctively looked down at his chest, which now looked as if a giant python had bored through it. His eyes held only the dazed disbelief of a man about to die.

The other rat-faced man froze for half a second, horrified by the scene. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and bolted for the alley entrance.

But he’d only taken two steps when a large hand, moving second, arrived first.

With the scalp-numbing sound of grinding joints, the arm seemed to lengthen in mid-air, carrying a vicious wind as it slammed heavily into the center of his back.

"PFFT—"

Without even a grunt, the fleeing rat-faced man’s spine snapped at an unnatural angle from the palm strike. He collapsed forward onto the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Cao Tian stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded. He stared at the figure before him, whose back was both familiar and terrifyingly strange. At some point, the man had removed his suit jacket. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and he was now slowly pulling his arm from the rat-faced man’s ruined chest...

A thousand thoughts churned in his mind.

Two Blood Refining Realm Martial Artists... he knew that if he were to face either one, he would have had to go all out with no guarantee of victory.

And yet, they were both brutally killed in a single exchange. It was a merciless slaughter, a fight between opponents who weren’t even in the same league...

A storm raged within Cao Tian, but his face remained as stiff as iron. After a long moment, his Adam’s apple bobbed with difficulty as he finally managed to force out the title—

"Young Master."

"Mm."

Fu Juemin slowly turned around.

"That Blood Gate Martial Artist..."

"We don’t need to chase him."

Fu Juemin picked up his suit jacket from the ground and began methodically wiping the crimson blood from his arm and fingers. "Knowing his general direction is enough," he said lightly. "Let’s head back for now.

Judging by the time, the police should be here soon."

Cao Tian nodded woodenly.

Thinking back on it now, the real reason that Blood Gate Martial Artist from the Civility Venerable Sect was so grievously wounded and had fled... it probably wasn’t as simple as Fu Juemin’s casual claim of him just "getting shot twice."

In a daze, Cao Tian’s mind replayed the moment after he’d first served as a sparring partner and left the Fu Family estate. He could almost see the Master of the Black Shark Gang standing under a streetlight, saying to him:

"Young Master Fu’s talent for martial arts is astonishing..."

Those few words now thundered and echoed in his mind like a great temple bell.

...

Fu Juemin led Cao Tian out of the alley and onto another street.

He casually told Cao Tian to go find someone, then waited alone by the side of the street.

Seeing a child walking around with a cigarette tray, Fu Juemin beckoned him over. He casually picked out a pack of "Silk Road" cigarettes, the one with the two-humped camel on it, and asked for some matches as well.

When he reached into his pocket to pay, he remembered he didn’t have a single silver coin on him. So, he simply plucked a jade cufflink from his shirt and tossed it to the boy, who went away delighted.

"STRIKE—"

Fu Juemin struck a match, lit a cigarette, and took a long, deep drag.

Watching the pale blue smoke curl upwards, the nerves that had been stretched taut from the constant fighting finally began to slacken.

He casually opened his character panel—

[Fu Juemin]

[Attack—13 Defense—10 Life—4 Mana—0]

[Cultivation Technique: Mixed Element Stance (Mastery: Life+1), Ming Fist (Entry Level: Attack+1), Eight Extremes Bone Forging Skill (Great Success: Attack+6, Defense+6), Five Elements Tongbei Fist (Entry Level: Attack+2)]

[Talent: Soft Bone]

Leaping from Mastery to Great Success, the Eight Extremes Bone Forging Skill had given Fu Juemin an additional 3 points to Attack and 3 points to Defense.

His physique had grown a size more imposing, his once slender and well-proportioned frame now sturdy and muscular.

His once well-fitting shirt and trousers now felt tight and restrictive.

It was impossible to accurately measure how much his strength had increased, but he was certain it now surpassed that of a typical Blood Refining Realm Martial Artist.

His bone density had also increased significantly. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

All in all, the power boost from advancing the Eight Extremes Bone Forging Skill to the Great Success Realm had far exceeded Fu Juemin’s expectations.

But then he had another thought—

’Probably no one else in the world would take a martial art meant for tempering bones and sinews at the Bone Forging Realm and grind it all the way to the Great Success Realm like I did.’

’The time required would be decades, or even longer. The effort and reward are completely out of proportion. Only someone like me, who can use Skill Points to fast-track the process, would feel like it was such a great deal.’

’Actually, the increase in Basic Attributes is secondary. The truly crucial part is... ’

As his mental fatigue eased, Fu Juemin casually stubbed out his half-smoked cigarette and looked down at his hands.

The edges of his palms were covered in thick calluses, and a dense, tough membrane had even formed on the skin of his forearms.

’After the Eight Extremes Bone Forging Skill reached Great Success, my understanding and application of the three ultimate moves—Han Yue, Coiling Dragon, and Stone-Smashing Technique—have reached a completely new level.’

’Now, my Soft Bone Talent isn’t just limited to the Han Yue technique; I can apply it flexibly to Coiling Dragon and the Stone-Smashing Technique as well....’

The techniques Fu Juemin had used to instantly kill the two Blood-Training Rat-Faced People in the alley were precisely Coiling Dragon and the Stone-Smashing Technique, both enhanced by his Soft Bone Talent.

This upgrade had greatly expanded his combat arsenal.

From now on, Wuling Han Yue would no longer be his sole ace in the hole. He now had two more trump cards: Wuling Column and Wuling’s Stone-Smashing Technique.

’After a Martial Artist enters the Blood Refining Realm, their progress begins to specialize, diverging based on their cultivation techniques and personal talents...’

’People like Cao Tian, the short, skinny rat-faced man, and the man in the colorful clothes are all Martial Artists who specialize in speed.’

’Against Martial Artists like them, my advantage in strength is huge. Even the man in colorful clothes, who has broken through the Blood Barrier, might not be able to definitively overpower me in pure striking force.’

’But my shortcomings are just as obvious. My Body Technique is slow—if they run, I can’t catch them. My reactions are a little lacking, too. I couldn’t even hit the Blood Gate Martial Artist’s vital points with a gun at close range. I have to rely on the element of surprise...’

Fu Juemin’s eyes narrowed as he silently analyzed his own performance.

Although the Attack attribute on his character panel included both striking power and reaction speed, the three new points he’d gained all came from the Eight Extremes Bone Forging Skill. And since that was a martial art focused on strength conditioning, his speed had been inadvertently neglected.

This might have been a difficult problem for others to solve, but for him, the solution was actually quite simple.

’After Blood Refining, I’ll just need to find and practice a martial art that focuses on Body Technique and speed...’