From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Chapter 110, Level 1: Skin Refining Realm

When Lin Yan returned to the mansion, Lin Xiu was squatting at the kitchen door, gnawing on ribs.

With her mouth full of oil from gnawing on the bone, she saw Lin Yan return and waved the bone in her hand at him, saying, "Brother, the kitchen left you some food."

"You eat first." Lin Yan waved his hand and went straight back to his study.

Lin Xiu looked at the closed door, wrinkled her nose, and snorted, "She just got home and locked herself up again."

Lin Yan sat down at the table and took out the jade slip.

Infuse with true energy.

A faint golden light appeared on the surface of the jade slip, and lines of text gradually emerged in his mind.

The "Dragon Elephant Body Forging Technique" is divided into four levels.

The first level is the Skin Refining Realm. This stage requires the power of herbs to penetrate the skin, combined with specific pounding techniques, to force the medicinal properties of the herbs into the skin, making the skin more resilient and difficult to damage from ordinary swords and knives.

The second level is the Flesh Refining Realm. Unlike the herbs used in the first level, the second level requires using true qi to vibrate one's muscles, causing them to recombine and greatly enhancing their explosive power.

The third level is the Bone Refining Realm. Upon reaching the third level, one needs to temper the bones with both medicinal power and true qi, greatly increasing the density of the bones.

The fourth level is the Blood Refining Realm. The jade slip didn't describe this level in much detail, only stating eight simple words: "Blood and marrow cleansing, boundless power."

After reading through the list of herbs required for the first stage, Lin Yan's lips twitched slightly.

The Skin Refining Realm requires a total of thirty-eight kinds of herbs, twenty-seven of which are relatively common. The other eleven include Seven-Leaf Lotus, Blood Dragon Vine, Dragon Beard Root, Iron Bone Flower, and even Heartbreak Grass, which is a highly poisonous substance. If you are not careful when picking it, you will be poisoned.

These eleven herbs are not cheap. According to the cultivation method, each cultivation session requires a large amount of medicinal materials, and the cost of purchasing them alone is a considerable sum.

"No wonder not many people have succeeded in this." Lin Yan muttered to himself. This is not body tempering, it's just burning money.

He looked further down and discovered that the cultivation process was not just about soaking in herbal juices; he also had to use a medicinal hammer to strike every inch of his skin to promote the absorption of the medicinal power. During the hammering process, his skin would feel a burning pain, and only after the pain subsided could the medicinal mud be replaced and the next round of cultivation begin.

Lin Yan shuddered at the thought of himself covered in medicinal mud and then being beaten from head to toe with a large medicinal hammer.

He put the jade slip away and got up to go to the kitchen.

Lin Xiu had already finished eating the ribs. When she saw him coming over, she quickly pushed the food towards him.

"Brother, what cultivation method did you choose?"

"The Dragon Elephant Body Forging Technique," Lin Yan mumbled as he stuffed a mouthful of food into his mouth, answering his sister indistinctly.

"Dragon and Elephant? That sounds amazing! If I train like you, will I be as strong as an elephant?"

Lin Yan almost choked, and tapped Lin Xiu's head with her chopsticks, "Can't you wish me well for once?"

After finishing his meal, Lin Yan went back to his room, pocketed the silver, and went to Ji Ren Tang, the largest pharmacy in the capital.

As soon as Lin Yan pushed open the door and went in, a waiter came to greet him.

"Sir, would you like to pick up some medicine or have a medical consultation?"

"Get the medicine." Lin Yan took out a pre-copied prescription from his sleeve and handed it to the shop assistant.

The waiter took the prescription, glanced at it, and frowned. "Sir, eleven of the ingredients on your prescription are expensive. We don't have much of the Seven-Leaf Lotus and Iron Bone Flower in stock. How much do you want?"

"Let's start with five sets."

Upon hearing that a big customer had arrived, the shop assistant's furrowed brows instantly relaxed, he put on a smile, and turned to rummage through the medicine cabinet at the back. It took him a while to gather all the medicine, which he then wrapped in oil paper and stacked on the counter.

"Sir, all five doses of medicine you requested are here, totaling one hundred and fifty taels of silver."

Thirty taels for a pair, which was more expensive than Lin Yan had expected.

He took out a silver note to pay the bill, picked up the medicine bag and left Jirentang. He then turned into the nearby general store and bought a large pot for boiling medicine, as well as an iron sand hammer. Since they didn't have a sand hammer big enough, he would just make do with this for now.

Back home, Lin Yan followed the instructions in the cultivation technique, took out a copper basin, poured the purchased medicinal herbs into the basin according to the proportions, and began grinding them with an iron pestle.

More than thirty kinds of herbs were gradually crushed into a dark green paste, and a pungent bitter smell made Lin Yan's eyes water.

After grinding the medicinal paste until it was uniform, it was poured into a large pot and steamed, filling the entire courtyard with a pungent and spicy smell.

Lin Xiu ran out, covering her nose. "Brother, what are you cooking? It smells awful!"

"Brother is brewing medicine. You should go back to your room first; the smell will dissipate in a while."

After the medicine was brewed, Lin Yan poured it into a large bathtub. He took off his clothes, took a deep breath, and sat down directly inside.

The moment Lin Yan sat down, he almost jumped out of the bathtub.

The moment the medicinal soup touched my body, I felt a stinging pain, as if countless steel needles were repeatedly piercing my skin. It was burning hot, like someone was peeling off a layer of skin.

Lin Yan gritted his teeth and submerged his body completely in the medicinal soup, leaving only his head sticking out.

The excruciating pain lasted for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, then slowly turned into numbness, followed by an itchy sensation, as if something on the skin was trying to crawl into the pores.

Lin Yan knew that when he felt this way, he should start hitting himself.

He picked up the iron hammer, took a deep breath, and swung it down on his left arm.

boom!

A faint red mark appeared on the skin.

The itching has lessened considerably.

After punching his left arm, Lin Yan punched his right arm, then his chest and abdomen. For the parts of his back that he couldn't reach, he had to tie the iron hammer to a wooden stick and reach them with his back to his hand.

The whole process lasted for nearly two hours. By the time he finished pounding the last inch of skin, he was completely exhausted.

He climbed out of the bathtub and found that his skin was as red as a boiled shrimp, but when he pressed it with his hand, his skin did seem to have become a little firmer.

【Skill: Dragon Elephant Body Forging Technique (Beginner) (1/200)】

[Effect: Body Refinement Technique, five levels in total, currently at the first level, Skin Refinement Realm, current effect: skin toughness increased by 1%]

Lin Yan remained silent for a long time, enduring the 1/200 progress, and after two hours of torment and spending thirty taels of silver, he only made a small increase in progress.

At this rate, it would take at least two hundred attempts to break through to the first level, which would cost a full six thousand taels of silver!

Even if he hadn't been fined six months' salary, it would have taken him five years to save up those six thousand taels without eating or drinking.

No wonder the Pavilion Master of Wenyuan Pavilion didn't believe he could master this technique. This isn't body refinement; it's a matter of money and life.

He now has only a little over three hundred taels of silver left in his savings, enough to buy ten doses of medicine.

We need to find a way to make money.

Fortunately, Lin Yan is no longer the idle councilor who has nothing to do all day. He has now gained the Crown Prince's initial trust. He should take advantage of the Crown Prince's power and first squeeze those corrupt officials for a large sum of money to enhance his own strength.

Hmm... I should learn the art of weapon crafting too, just in case I can make some money.