Chapter 12

Lu Changsheng clicked directly on the plus sign behind the Iron Cloth Shirt.

The Source Energy Points decreased by eight instantly.

"Zzz..."

As a warm current surged from within his body, he felt as if he were placed in a mysterious space, beginning to practice the Iron Cloth Shirt day and night without stopping.

"In the first year, you practiced diligently day and night, making rapid progress..."

"After five years of practice, you brought the Iron Cloth Shirt to fifty percent of Great Accomplishment, and the effect gradually slowed..."

"After ten years of bitter cultivation, you practiced the Iron Cloth Shirt to seventy percent, still without slacking off..."

"After twenty years, you finally practiced the Iron Cloth Shirt to perfection."

Lu Changsheng slowly opened his eyes, his gaze deep as if time were flowing within them.

He clenched his fists, and a powerful force surged into his heart.

The skin on his body radiated a bronze-colored luster, and his defensive power was astonishing.

Relying on his bitter cultivation, he finally practiced the Iron Cloth Shirt to perfection, and his realm also reached the Copper Skin stage.

He looked at the panel in front of him.

Host: Lu Changsheng.

Age: Twenty (Eighty).

Realm: Copper Skin.

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt (Perfect), Iron Leg Technique (Uninitiated 1%).

Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Great Accomplishment).

Equipment: Hundred-forged Pig Slaughter Knife (Red).

Status: Good.

Source Energy Points: Eight.

Bound Exotic Beast: Pangolin (White).

"There's actually a plus sign behind the Iron Cloth Shirt?"

Looking at the gray plus sign, Lu Changsheng was quite surprised.

"Could it be that perfection is not the limit of Skin Refinement?"

This gave him some ideas.

The further one cultivates on the martial path, the harder it becomes, but the benefits after each breakthrough are astonishing, and even one's lifespan increases by a large margin.

Due to his initial success on the martial path, his body's deficiencies were replenished, and his lifespan reached about eighty years.

Skin Refinement is the starting stage of a martial artist and also the foundation; the more solid the foundation is built, the higher the potential naturally becomes.

When at the same tier, the strength is naturally stronger.

This made Lu Changsheng look forward to the subsequent changes even more.

Not only that, but there was also the technique fusion button waiting for him to verify.

However, his current Source Energy Points were probably not enough, as he couldn't even upgrade the Iron Cloth Shirt again.

Just upgrading it to perfection consumed as many as eight points; if he were to upgrade it another level, the consumption would likely be even more astonishing.

He needed a large number of Source Energy Points.

Thinking of this, Lu Changsheng walked into the house and began to separate a wisp of consciousness, projecting it toward the pangolin.

Taking advantage of the time remaining before the Demon Suppression Office recruits martial artists, he prepared to explore Xiao Yun Mountain again.

To see if he could find some more good things.

With a shift of his thoughts, Lu Changsheng found himself in an underground space.

It was pitch black all around, filled with damp soil, and permeated with a strong smell of earth and the scent of wild grass.

This was a space more than ten meters from the surface, very safe.

It extended in all directions for dozens of meters, like an underground fortress.

It seems the pangolin hasn't been idle these days, having dug out its own lair.

Lu Changsheng didn't rush to act, but instead began to carefully examine the pangolin's memories.

A moment later, he had a preliminary understanding of the basic situation of the entire Xiao Yun Mountain.

The area within dozens of miles of the summit was occupied by a group of fierce beasts; compared to the foot of the mountain, the herbs at the summit were more precious in age.

The quantity was also much greater.

Those fierce beasts also guarded most of the herbs.

They all knew that these things were of great benefit to themselves.

They all treated them as their own private property.

Lu Changsheng's heart stirred, and he clicked on the Drill Earth skill point.

"Zzz..."

The pangolin's claws began to grow rapidly and then shed.

A moment later, the pair of claws turned bronze-colored, emitting a faint luster, and their hardness was significantly stronger.

The exotic beast panel also changed.

Bound Exotic Beast: Pangolin (White).

Level: 1. Skills: Drill Earth (Excellent), Armor Reinforcement (Excellent).

Source Energy Points: Six.

Lu Changsheng raised his claws and dug into the soil in front of him.

"Sasha..."

In a few breaths, a large amount of soil was dug out of the hole, and the speed was about twice as fast as before the breakthrough.

The skill after the breakthrough was indeed much more powerful.

Lu Changsheng was quite happy.

As a fundamental skill, Drill Earth concerns the survival of this exotic beast, so it is naturally extremely important. Not only that, but after the digging speed increased significantly, the range of underground searching could also be further expanded.

He could even safely collect some spiritual medicines without leaving the ground.

Of course, some spiritual medicines growing on the surface still had to be collected on the ground.

With his speed greatly increased, Lu Changsheng was full of energy; he came to a space five or six meters away from the underground and began to go all out, digging forward.

"Sasha..."

A long tunnel quickly took shape in the underground space.

Leading to the unknown territory ahead.

After digging for half an hour.

A fresh fragrance suddenly drifted over, making his spirit stir.

"Is there a chance?"

Lu Changsheng waved his hands quickly, accelerating forward.

Before long, he arrived in front of a small ginseng plant.

The ginseng was only the size of half a palm, and the roots were very full.

He saw the age of the herb at a glance.

It was exactly a ginseng plant of about sixty or seventy years.

Having a harvest in just half an hour greatly increased Lu Changsheng's confidence.

Digging forward underground was also feasible.

Not only was safety greatly improved, but there was no need to worry about the invasion of fierce beasts.

With the body of this exotic beast, he could not yet resist those large fierce beasts.

Lu Changsheng collected the ginseng directly and began to search again.

He sensed the surrounding smells with all his might, relying on the exotic beast's keen sense of smell, and dug crazily everywhere underground.

………………

Time passed slowly.

Seven days passed in a flash.

For the past few days, Lu Changsheng had been searching for herbs underground.

He had crazily dug through the entire summit of Xiao Yun Mountain.

He had left his footprints for dozens of miles around.

The entire underground had turned into a transportation hub extending in all directions, though only he could pass through it.

Of course, the harvest was also very astonishing.

He suspected that as long as the herbs grew underground, he had probably collected seventy or eighty percent of them, and the harvest had even become less in the last few days.

"It seems these are all the herbs in the entire Xiao Yun Mountain; the rest can only be searched on the ground."

Lu Changsheng hid in an underground spot and began to count the harvest of these days.

He saw that the system space was filled with herbs of all sizes, their luster flickering.

There were even two precious medicines of about a hundred years old.

They were a fleeceflower root and a Solomon's seal, respectively.

There were twelve remaining herbs over fifty years old.

There were over a hundred other herbs of thirty years old.

However, these could only be exchanged for silver.

After Lu Changsheng's day-and-night exploration these days, he knew the location of all the precious medicines in the entire Xiao Yun Mountain.

The most precious was a two-hundred-year-old Fire Cloud Flower.

He was determined to get this precious medicine.

After getting his hands on it, the Source Energy Points in his hand would be enough to sustain him for a period of time.

After his strength improved, he would have more confidence to deal with the Sanhe Gang's subsequent revenge.

However, this medicine was guarded by a group of snow wolves, and the other party was quite vigilant, always leaving him without an opportunity.

That snow wolf leader had considerable strength, only slightly worse than the tiger from before, and with the help of the pack, even the tiger dared not provoke it easily.

This group of snow wolves was also the strongest group of fierce beasts in Xiao Yun Mountain.

Lu Changsheng put away his thoughts and darted toward the northwest.

He prepared to hide at the location of the Fire Cloud Flower first and then slowly look for an opportunity.

Half an hour later.

Lu Changsheng arrived at an underground space in a wasteland in the northwest corner of Xiao Yun Mountain.

"Awoo, awoo, awoo..."

Every few moments, bursts of wolf howls came from overhead.

At the same time, the surroundings were filled with a strange fragrance.

Even Lu Changsheng underground could smell it clearly.

It seems that the precious medicine was just over ten meters above his head.

The snow wolves' hearing was astonishing; after he was about to approach the snow wolf pack, he dived into an underground space more than ten meters deep.

Lu Changsheng lay quietly underground, not in a hurry, and began to wait for an opportunity.

If he were to start digging now, he would definitely be discovered by the other party.

At that time, he would definitely not be able to collect it successfully, and instead, he would put himself in danger.

He estimated that with the other party's hearing, he could approach the ground to about seven or eight meters at most.

Any further up, he would have no confidence.

(End of Chapter)