At the entrance of Wanhua Tower.
"Hall Master, according to reports from our informants, Jiang Ning is still inside Wanhua Tower and hasn't come out yet."
After Xu Yunfeng arrived with a few subordinates, one of the Green Snake Gang members who had been keeping watch quickly reported to him.
"Good job!" Xu Yunfeng nodded, offering a word of encouragement.
He then took out his identity token and handed it to one of the gang members. "Take my token and go find Deputy Gang Leader Hong Chengtao. Tell him I owe him a favor and ask him to come here to assist me. This is also a task assigned by Third Young Master Cao."
"Yes, Hall Master!"
Hearing the mention of the Third Young Master, the gang member took the token and replied respectfully.
The gang member then sprinted off to deliver Xu Yunfeng's message to Deputy Gang Leader Hong Chengtao.
As the gang member left, a woman dressed in a leopard-skin skirt and a tight-fitting top standing beside Xu Yunfeng expressed her dissatisfaction.
"Hall Master, is it really necessary to go to such lengths just to kill Jiang Ning? Do we need to ask Deputy Gang Leader Hong Chengtao for help?"
"Hong Chengtao is a powerhouse who has achieved minor success in skin tempering and possesses a strength of 800 jin."
"Having him help us kill a mere brat like Jiang Ning is a bit embarrassing, don't you think?"
"With the two of us helping, killing Jiang Ning should be more than enough. Right, Brother Yuan?"
As she spoke, the woman nudged the man standing next to her.
The man, referred to as Brother Yuan, nodded and said, "Xiao Yu is right! With two deputy hall masters and one hall master, how could we not handle a kid who's only been practicing martial arts for a little over a month?"
"Even if he's a genius favored by Shen Congyun, so what? He's only been training for a little over a month. How strong could he possibly be?"
"Xiao Yu has achieved great success in Qi and blood, with a strength of 400 jin. I've achieved perfection in Qi and blood, with a strength exceeding 500 jin."
"Add to that Hall Master Xu, who has achieved success in skin tempering and has already stepped into the ninth rank of martial arts."
"With the three of us working together, how could Jiang Ning, with only a little over a month of training, possibly escape from our combined efforts?"
Xu Yunfeng smiled slightly upon hearing their words.
"What you two say makes sense, but Third Young Master Cao has said that even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it must use its full strength."
"Jiang Ning is someone Shen Congyun values highly. There's no guarantee that something unexpected won't happen."
"If we're going to make a move against him, we must go all out to ensure success. After all, if we fail, we won't just be offending Jiang Ning we'll be offending Shen Congyun, a figure of great importance!"
"If I could, I would even ask the gang leader to join us to ensure absolute success."
Hearing this, Deputy Hall Master Yuan shook his head slightly. "Hall Master Xu, you're being overly cautious!"
"I think it's not just caution it's making a mountain out of a molehill!" Deputy Hall Master Xiao Yu chimed in, expressing her dissatisfaction.
Xu Yunfeng smiled but didn't respond further, allowing the two deputy hall masters to vent their frustrations.
In his view, as long as they cooperated and completed the task, that was all that mattered.
As for the rest, he couldn't be bothered.
Although he also felt that their combined strength was more than enough, he chose the safest approach by asking Deputy Gang Leader Hong Chengtao for assistance.
With Hong Chengtao, who had achieved minor success in skin tempering and possessed a strength of 800 jin, success was guaranteed.
In Xu Yunfeng's eyes, this mission could only succeed failure was not an option.
This was crucial to his plans.
Success would grant him Third Young Master Cao's approval to join the Inspectorate, allowing him to change his fate and take control of his destiny.
Therefore, in Xu Yunfeng's view, no amount of caution was too much.
This matter was simply too important.
Meanwhile, the two deputy hall masters, seeing that Xu Yunfeng had stopped speaking, also fell silent.
After all, Xu Yunfeng was the Third Young Master Cao's man.
Even if they didn't respect Xu Yunfeng, they had to respect Third Young Master Cao.
Inside Wanhua Tower.
After leaving Lin Qingyi's room, Jiang Ning arrived at the pavilion.
Seeing that no one was around and the maid who had been serving him earlier had already left, he made a decision.
He would open the box Shen Congyun had left for him right here and see what was inside.
After all, there was no safer place in all of Luoshui County than Wanhua Tower.
In the next moment, he placed the box on the wooden table and unlocked it.
Click
With a crisp sound, the box opened.
Inside, he saw a manual and several small jars.
[Indestructible Golden Body]
Picking up the manual, Jiang Ning saw these words written on the cover.
"Indestructible Golden Body?" Jiang Ning murmured.
He then continued to mutter to himself, "It seems my earlier guess was correct. What Senior Shen left for me is indeed a skin-tempering technique, and it's likely not an ordinary one. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of having Lin Qingyi deliver it to me."
Thinking this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but sigh.
"Senior Shen has helped me so much!"
He then began to slowly flip through the [Indestructible Golden Body] manual.
[Literacy experience +1]
[Literacy experience +1]
[Literacy experience +1]
[...]
As Jiang Ning continued to read, his literacy experience points increased rapidly.
Before long, Lin Qingyi pushed open the door and saw Jiang Ning sitting on the balcony, slowly flipping through an ancient, yellowed book.
"Is this what Shen Congyun left for him?" Lin Qingyi thought to herself.
She stopped in her tracks, not wanting to disturb him.
A moment later, as Jiang Ning continued to read, Lin Qingyi caught a glimpse of the words on the cover.
"Indestructible Golden Body?" Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she felt a surge of surprise. "Shen Congyun managed to get his hands on this manual? Did he visit the Golden Temple?"
"No wonder he was so serious about this. It's this manual! If this were the complete and unaltered version of the Indestructible Golden Body, it could supposedly forge the legendary Immortal Golden Body!"
"But it's unlikely to be the complete version."
"After all, the true and complete Indestructible Golden Body is said to be held only by the Golden Temple. With Shen Congyun's level of strength, how could he possibly obtain the complete version from the Golden Temple?"
"The Golden Temple is home to grandmasters and even higher-level existences!"
Thinking this, Lin Qingyi shook her head.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ning continued to read, noticing that his literacy experience points were increasing rapidly.
After a while, he finished reading.
[After reading the Indestructible Golden Body, your literacy experience has increased by a total of 438 points.]
Seeing this notification, Jiang Ning was momentarily stunned.
"So many? 438 experience points?"
He quickly opened his status panel to check.
[Skill]: Literacy (Second Breakthrough 543/3000) (Traits: Photographic Memory, Enhanced Senses)
"It increased by 438 experience points?" Jiang Ning muttered to himself, feeling extremely surprised.
He looked down at the [Indestructible Golden Body] manual in his hands.
"Even though it's just a fragment, simply reading it gave me such a huge boost in literacy experience. What level is this Indestructible Golden Body?"
At this moment, Jiang Ning was utterly amazed.
From what he had read, he learned that the [Indestructible Golden Body] was an incredibly prestigious martial art.
It was even considered one of the foundational martial arts of the martial path.
According to the manual, if one could fully master the Indestructible Golden Body, one could forge the so-called Immortal Golden Body.
Possessing the Immortal Golden Body would make one impervious to blades and spears, immune to water and fire, and unaffected by any technique.
Even in ancient times, with this technique, one could theoretically challenge gods and immortals as a mere mortal.
It was said that those who mastered it would be invincible within their realm.
Such descriptions highlighted the immense power of the Indestructible Golden Body.
However, after finishing the manual, Jiang Ning also realized that what he held was only a fragment.
A fragment that could only be cultivated to a minor level of success.
Even so, the effects were more than sufficient.
Achieving minor success in the [Indestructible Golden Body] would allow him to fully temper his skin, making it as hard as bronze.
This would enable him to step into the eighth rank of martial arts, the Divine Strength Realm.
Moreover, the skin tempered by the [Indestructible Golden Body] was, on average, 30% to 50% stronger than that tempered by other similar techniques.
This demonstrated the immense power of the Indestructible Golden Body.
"I wonder what level this Indestructible Golden Body is classified as?" Jiang Ning thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingyi, seeing that Jiang Ning had finished reading, walked over.
"Sister Lin!" Sensing her approach, Jiang Ning greeted her.
"Is this what Shen Congyun left for you?" Lin Qingyi pointed at the manual in Jiang Ning's hands.
"Yes," Jiang Ning nodded, then added, "This Indestructible Golden Body is indeed a priceless gift."
"Of course!" Lin Qingyi said. "The complete version of the Indestructible Golden Body is one of the core martial arts of the Golden Temple, a top-tier sect in Great Xia."
"I see!" Jiang Ning exclaimed, then shook his head regretfully. "What a pity! What Senior Shen left me is only a fragment. It can only help me achieve minor success, tempering my skin to the level of bronze."
Hearing this, Lin Qingyi felt relieved.
She then chuckled, "What, did you expect the complete version? That's the Golden Temple's core martial art, classified above even supreme techniques."
"Moreover, the Golden Temple has no fewer than twenty grandmasters and several great grandmasters!"
"Even if Shen Congyun could obtain the complete version, he wouldn't dare to bring it out. That would be asking for death!"
Hearing Lin Qingyi's words, Jiang Ning was momentarily stunned.
"The Golden Temple is that powerful?"
"Of course!" Lin Qingyi said. "It's one of the top sects in Great Xia. You must understand that in Great Xia, the sects and the royal family share power."
"The sects are incredibly powerful, especially ancient ones like the Golden Temple, which have inherited legacies from ancient times."
"Unless the Martial Sage himself were to intervene, even a regional governor couldn't make the Golden Temple bow."
Jiang Ning listened carefully, committing Lin Qingyi's words to memory.
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