Chapter 24: Successive Enhancement

Name: Qin Shujian

Identity: Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain

Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold

Stage: Martial Entry-Level Seven (You are within the Liangshan Stronghold’s territory, Stage +1)

Cultivated Techniques: Bodyforge Manual Level Six (+) (Will-Directed Power) (Peak Blood and Qi) (Mortal Tier Mid-Grade), Black Tiger Blade Technique (Pinnacle) (Mortal Tier Mid-Grade), Eternal Youth Technique Perfected (Unending Vitality) (Mortal Tier Low-Grade), Seven-Flower Leaf Penetrating Palm (+) (Beginner) (Mortal Tier Low-Grade), Five Elements Eight Trigram Move (+) (Pinnacle) (Mortal Tier Low-Grade)

Life Value: 503

Equipment: Ninth-grade lethal weapon Tiger Head Blade, Ninth-grade Armor Tiger Hide Clothing Set (Tiger Hide Coat, Tiger Hide Trousers, Tiger Hide Belt, Tiger Hide Boots)

These were Qin Shujian’s current attributes.

In just a few days, countless players died at the hands of the Mountain Bandits. That caused his Life Value to increase continually. He had also named the new technique the Bodyforge Manual.

Thus, he also perfected the Eternal Youth Technique by enhancing it to Level Five, which granted him the special effect “Unending Vitality.”

However, he left the Seven-Flower Leaf Penetrating Palm at a symbolic Beginner level.

Since he had an offensive technique in the Black Tiger Blade Technique, the palm technique was not much use to him.

However, Qin Shujian raised the Five Elements Eight Trigram Move to the Pinnacle level.

Even though there were currently no changes to his stage, Qin Shujian knew that the layering the Bodyforge Manual Level Six with the perfected Eternal Youth Technique had boosted his abilities to a ridiculous level.

Now, Qin Shujian looked at the 500-odd points of Life Value on his attribute panel, as well as all of the plus signs behind the techniques he learned. He hesitated no longer and pressed on the Bodyforge Manual Level Six.

Instantly, his 500-odd points of Life Value immediately dropped by 300 points.

The words “Bodyforge Manual Level Six” contorted and transformed into “Bodyforge Manual Level Seven.”

Boom!

At this moment, Qin Shujian suddenly felt as though a ball of fire was burning his body. There was an intense searing pain on his skin.

His skin that had been normal was rapidly withering at the moment. It was falling like leaves, an inch at a time.

Behind the falling, dead skin was his normal skin tone.

This phenomenon cycled nine times before it stopped.

Now, Qin Shujian’s skin looked like an ancient bronze building. It seemed indestructible.

Martial Entry-Level Seven!

Bronze Skin!

A glimmer erupted from within Qin Shujian’s eyes.

When he looked at his attribute panel, his stage had changed to Martial Entry-Level EIght with the boost he got from the territory.

The Bodyforge Manual had leveled up from Level Six to Level Seven. There was the attribute of “Bronze Skin” behind it.

“Bronze Skin?” Qin Shujian pinched the skin on his arm with his fingers. It felt soft and flexible, but it also felt like touching some kind of metal.

When he saw this, he took out his Tiger Head Blade and gently sliced it across his arm.

The edge of the blade sliced past his arm. The contact point was ice-cold.

However, when he looked at his skin, he saw that there had been no change.

When he saw this, Qin Shujian sliced down with his blade again.

Unlike just now, he used an average amount of force.

The blade sliced past and left behind a faint white mark.

Then, when he used 30% of his strength, he felt a slight pain in his arm. Qin Shujian only stopped now.

He saw a faint, dark red mark on his hand when he looked over again.

Gasp!

“What a strong defensive capability!” Qin Shujian exclaimed, unable to help but gasp at that moment.

He only realized how powerful the Bronze Skin ability came with the Bodyforge Manual Level Seven.

The Tiger Head Blade was a ninth-grade lethal weapon and was much sharper than an average blade. At least, Qin Shujian had never seen an object that the Tiger Head Blade could not sever.

Furthermore, he was currently at Martial Entry-Level Eight and could exert several thousand tons of force.

He could easily dominate a Martial Entry-Level Five expert with just 30% of his strength.

Yet he only managed to break through the Bronze Skin’s defenses with his current strength coupled with the ninth-grade lethal weapon Tiger Head Blade.

That meant, even if he stood at a position without moving, an expert at the Martial Entry-Level Five wouldn’t be able to break through his defenses without a ninth-grade lethal weapon.

Only a person at Martial Entry-Level Six or above could pose a threat to him.

“Invincible to those under Martial Entry-Level Six!” This phrase surfaced in Qin Shujian’s mind.

He wasn’t invincible in just a specific area. He was genuinely unbeatable.

It was to the point that he could stand there and let himself get attacked, yet the attacker might not even be able to break through his defenses.

Then, Qin Shujian looked at the 200-odd points of Life Value he had left.

Qin Shujian looked at the plus sign behind the Eternal Youth Technique. Then, with the mentality that saving the points was equivalent to wasting them, he immediately pushed the perfected Eternal Youth Technique level up by one.

Unknown Technique Level Six!

Special Effect, “Prolonged LIfespan!”

His body trembled slightly, and a warm current swelled up within his body. Qin Shujian felt as though his body had become younger. He was already at peak condition, yet he felt an even stronger vitality.

Qin Shujian didn’t change things. He still used the name “Eternal Youth Technique” for the Level Six Unknown Technique.

Qin Shujian secretly exclaimed to himself when he saw the words “Prolonged Lifespan.””Prolonged Lifespan! It looks like this Eternal Youth Technique leans more toward nourishing a person’s life. I wonder if I could truly achieve eternal youth in the future when the technique levels up even more.”

However, those were all questions for the future.

After the Eternal Youth Technique was leveled up to Level Six, Qin Shujian felt a certain improvement to his abilities when paired with his Level Seven Bodyforge Manual.

Regarding this, Qin Shujian was extremely satisfied.

He was going to take action against Starter Village #10021 tomorrow, even though he wasn’t sure if stronger experts were hiding in the village or not.

The stronger his abilities were, the higher the chances of victory.

However, judging from how he fought the three NPCs previously, it was highly probable that an expert surpassed Martial Entry-Level Five in Starter Village #10021.

However, his stage had reached Martial Entry-Level Seven. It had even reached Martial Entry-Level Eight with the boost he got in the territory, even if it was only a false Level Eight.

However, with the Eternal Youth Technique’s layering, Qin Shujian believed that he was not much weaker than Martial Entry-Level Eight.

He also didn’t believe that an expert was more powerful than him hiding in a starter village.

Even if there was, he could only graciously admit defeat.

The next day, in the Liangshan Stronghold, Qin Shujian was standing there with 73 muscular Mountain Bandits behind him.

Not counting the young and old and the Mountain Bandits who had not respawned, these Mountain Bandits were the full strength of the Liangshan Stronghold.

Out of the 73 Mountain Bandits, there was one Martial Entry-Level Four, six Martial Entry-Level Three, and 17 Martial Entry-Level Two. The rest of them were Martial Entry-Level One.

It was deathly silent.

No one spoke. All there was were the nearly imperceptible sounds of breathing.

When they saw the sunrise from far away and the first rays of sunlight hit Liangshan, Qin Shujian waved his arm and said with a calm expression, “Let’s go!”

When he said it, Qin Shujian took the first step forward. Zheng Fang, Zhang Tieniu, and the rest of the group followed closely behind him.

Most of the Mountain Bandits were heading down the mountain with him.

Only a dozen Mountain Bandits didn’t move. They were left behind as a reserve force.