Xing Zhao Fu, as the South City Bureau's constable, is rich and powerful, yet only reached the cusp of the Third Stage of Body Tempering after turning forty.
The leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold, a bandit who robbed and plundered, was also not short on wealth, and he was already over thirty when he broke through to the Third Stage of Body Tempering.
And the requirement for the Taiping Bureau is to be under twenty years old and have a Cultivation at the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering.
Even if you remove the age limit, out of the several hundred thousand people in South City, not a single person meets the standard of the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering.
"In all of Wuling City, with its population of millions, as far as I know, you can count the number of people who have reached the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering before the age of twenty on one hand."
Yang Jin continued, "The Hu Family behind the South City Sima is a major family in the Inner City. They don't lack Body Tempering Techniques or cultivation resources, yet in their younger generation, only one person managed to cultivate to the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering before turning twenty.
"Now that I've put it like that, do you understand how difficult it is?"
"I'm only sixteen. I still have four years until I'm twenty. How do you know I can't cultivate to the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering?" Su Mu said calmly.
"Four years to reach the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering? Was everything I just said a waste of breath?"
Yang Jin said irritably, "The Hu Family's young master started bathing in all sorts of medicinal herbs at age three and began practicing a Body Tempering Technique at six. Just the Body Tempering herbs alone cost at least one thousand taels of silver each year. Even so, he was already nineteen when he reached the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering. What makes you think you can do it?"
"Alright, alright. I was just talking."
Su Mu didn't explain. "Where is the Taiping Bureau's Government Office?"
"You still haven't given up?"
Yang Jin sighed. "The Taiping Bureau Headquarters is in the Capital City, of course. The branch office in Wuling City only has a few people stationed there. It's in the Inner City. You should stop daydreaming. You can't even get into the Inner City right now, let alone join the Taiping Bureau."
A flicker of light crossed Su Mu's eyes as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
'The difficulties Yang Jin mentioned don't matter; I have a connection in the Taiping Bureau.
'However, not being able to enter the Inner City is a problem. If I can't even get into the Inner City, I naturally won't be able to meet "Brother Taiping."
'Under normal circumstances, an ordinary constable isn't qualified to enter or leave the Inner City without a pass signed by Sima Hu Yuxing.
'Given my relationship with Hu Yuxing, that's out of the question.
'Alternatively, becoming a squad leader would also grant me access.
'As for sneaking in, I won't even consider it. The Inner City is heavily guarded and full of experts. If I tried to sneak in and got myself killed, it would be too late for regrets.'
"Old Yang, do you have any way to get a Body Tempering Technique?" Su Mu asked thoughtfully.
'There is one more way to enter the Inner City: become a Martial Artist in the Body Tempering Realm.
'Even someone at the First Stage of Body Tempering is qualified for the position of squad leader. Even if the South City Bureau doesn't give me a spot, the East City Bureau, Xicheng Bureau, or North City Bureau surely would have a place for me.'
"A Body Tempering Technique—"
Yang Jin hesitated for a moment. "There are ways, but they require silver. I don't have much silver on hand right now."
Su Mu gave Yang Jin a deep look. 'Old Yang really is a man with a past,' he thought. 'He knows so much and has so many brothers-in-arms. I have no idea why he was driven out of the army back then.'
"I have a few deeds to properties in the Inner City here. Do you think they could be traded for a Body Tempering Technique?" Su Mu said.
"Yes."
After only a brief hesitation, Yang Jin agreed.
...
Yang Jin was a reliable man. He took the property deeds from Xing Zhao Fu and, in just three days, brought a Body Tempering Technique back for Su Mu.
"The *Golden Scale Skin Tempering Technique*. This is the best Skin Tempering Technique I could find."
Yang Jin placed a booklet in front of Su Mu and said, "There are four stages to the Body Tempering Realm: first the skin, then the flesh, followed by the muscles and bones. It's a step-by-step process. The First Stage of Body Tempering is Skin Tempering."
"In theory, a Body Tempering Technique only requires daily, arduous training, allowing you to accumulate progress bit by bit, like water grinding down a stone, and ascend one step at a time.
"But in reality, any kind of Quenching Body is damaging to the body. It can even lead to an accumulation of hidden injuries that will erupt when you get older.
"The better the Body Tempering Technique, the less strain it puts on the body. This *Golden Scale Skin Tempering Technique* is a method that was passed down from the Fish Dragon Sect, so it's considered excellent. The damage to the body is minimal."
Yang Jin explained briefly that the Fish Dragon Sect was once a very powerful sect. Later, because they committed some crime, they were annihilated by the Taiping Bureau, and some of the Martial Arts from the sect were disseminated.
"If the sect hadn't been wiped out, the *Golden Scale Skin Tempering Technique* would never have gotten out. It was originally a Body Tempering Technique that only True Disciples of the Fish Dragon Sect were qualified to practice," Yang Jin said.
As Su Mu flipped through the manual, he was secretly amazed by Yang Jin's incredible resourcefulness. 'To think he could get his hands on a Body Tempering Technique like this! Clearly, Old Yang has far more secrets than I'd imagined.'
"The *Golden Scale Skin Tempering Technique* causes minimal damage to the body, and the effects are superb once mastered, but it has one major drawback," Yang Jin continued.
"What drawback?" Su Mu asked.
"To cultivate the *Golden Scale Skin Tempering Technique*, you need to find a rare Golden Scale Beast, take its scales, grind them into powder, and mix them with medicinal herbs to create a Spiritual Liquid that you apply to the skin."
Yang Jin said, "The powdered scales of this Golden Scale Beast are sold in pharmacies. It's one tael of gold for one tael of powder. One cultivation session requires one tael of it."
Su Mu: "..."
'Is this Skin Tempering? This is pay-to-win!
'Even skins in online games aren't this expensive.
'One session costs at least one tael of gold... Old Yang, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me?
'What makes you think I can afford to practice this *Golden Scale Skin Tempering Technique*?
'Am I even worthy?'
"The seller included three taels of the Golden Scale Beast's powdered scales as a gift with the manual. Once you use it up, you're on your own."
Yang Jin casually handed over a small cloth pouch as he spoke.
Su Mu blinked. 'Something this good?'
'The value of this powdered Golden Scale Beast scale alone must be close to the value of those property deeds.'
He looked at Yang Jin, who met his gaze without flinching.
'That's right. He wants me to owe him a favor.'
Yang Jin was completely open about putting him in his debt.
For the first time, Su Mu felt that the person Yang Jin wanted his help in killing someday was going to be a huge problem.
But things had already come to this point; there was no way he could bring himself to refuse the Body Tempering Technique.
No matter what, he would first turn this into his own strength. He'd deal with the trouble when it actually arrived.
...
「In the rented courtyard.」
Su Mu read the manual carefully, committing it to memory.
Unlike the Submerging Wave Saber Technique he had practiced before, this Skin Tempering Technique required external aids for cultivation.
It involved mixing the powdered scales of the Golden Scale Beast with various medicinal herbs to create a Spiritual Liquid, which was then applied to the surface of the skin. The skin would absorb the medicinal power and undergo a transformation, gradually becoming tougher, even to the point of resisting blows.
This kind of Skin Tempering Technique was far superior to methods that relied solely on being struck or abraded.
Of course, it was also much more expensive.
"The manual says that for someone with average aptitude, it takes one year of Skin Tempering for minor success, two years for major success, and three years for Perfection," Su Mu muttered to himself as he looked at the description on the open manual.
It takes three years for a person with average aptitude to reach Skin Tempering Perfection. Cultivating once a day, that would require over one thousand taels of gold.
If one's aptitude was slightly worse, the time and money required would only be greater.
"To mix one batch of Spiritual Liquid for cultivation, besides the powdered scales of the Golden Scale Beast, the other medicinal herbs alone cost a full three taels of silver!"
Su Mu's face contorted as if in physical pain, and he began to carefully prepare the Spiritual Liquid.
The powdered scales of the Golden Scale Beast had potent medicinal properties. If used without being properly mixed, it could easily burn a person's skin.
Following the instructions in the manual, Su Mu carefully prepared the Spiritual Liquid, then stripped off all his clothes and applied it to every inch of his body.