Chapter 16 Jade Skin (Please Collect)

The otherworld's night was exceptionally tranquil, and the stars were unusually brilliant.

Inside the temporary camp,

Fang Xing drank a full pot of fish soup and began to practice the Great Dragon Stance.

Under the mysterious environment of the otherworld and the nourishing effects of the fish soup, the progress of his body refinement increased rapidly.

Time passed without his noticing, and the flickering computer screen suddenly froze, emitting a mechanical sound:

"Beep, task completed!"

"As expected, after adding books as samples, the decryption progressed rapidly..."

Fang Xing approached the computer, opened the file, and saw otherworld characters followed by corresponding Federation text and pronunciation annotations.

Essentially, he had obtained an otherworld dictionary in an audio version.

"Besides, I can understand the everyday conversations of the farmers, get an outline which can help me understand this world better..."

His eyes lit up as he began to learn the foreign language.

For Fang Xing, learning a foreign language was quite enjoyable, especially since it also represented huge benefits!

"First off, this place is known as the Great Wilderness, inhabited by beings called 'Cultivators'!"

"Cultivators! Able to refine talismans, elixirs, magic artifacts, and cast spells... and with advanced realms, even prolong life and move mountains and seas to attain immortality?"

"Even a cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Stage is stronger than an Innate Martial Artist... Hmm, the local term for Martial Artists of the Rough Jade Realm here is 'Innate'..."

"Within a hundred miles, there is a cultivator's market town called 'Qinglin Square', housing thousands of cultivators and countless mortals..."

"It's said that 'Qinglin Square' was recently established by a powerful cultivator force to colonize the Great Wilderness, relocating a large number of cultivators and mortals by force... hence the surrounding environment is extremely dangerous, almost unlivable for non-martial artists."

"The Martial Arts of this world are quite simple, being divided into Postnatal and Innate..."

"But even the strongest Innate Martial Artist, when facing a prepared Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator, has only one fate... and that's death."

"I'm speechless; when will Martial Arts ever stand up?"

From days of monitoring, this was the rough information Fang Xing gathered, which he found quite bemusing.

After understanding the background, he immediately looked at the ancient book.

According to the decryption, the cover of the book read "Elixir Appraisal", describing common elixirs in Qinglin Square and their appearances, properties, and some simple identification methods.

Fang Xing took out three jade bottles and compared them one by one, discovering one contained golden sore medicine, and another housed a detoxification pill.

As for the last unopened bottle, it was a 'Qi Blood Pill'!

"According to the book, when a Postnatal Martial Artist ingests a 'Qi Blood Pill', it will strengthen their qi and blood, and refine their skin, sinews, and bones... leading to rapid progress..."

"I still don't believe it; I'll test it with toxin detection paper and a white mouse later..."

Fang Xing flipped the page, his breath suddenly quickening.

He saw a description of a new type of elixir: "Innate Pill! White in color, fragrant in taste... Consuming it strengthens the qi of the five internal organs and six organs, and assists Postnatal Martial Artists in breaking through to the Innate Realm?"

"This 'Innate Pill' can actually assist in breaking through the Rough Jade Realm?"

Fang Xing's eyes sparkled.

The Martial Arts Realms in the Blue Star Federation, including the First Realm of flesh, the Second Realm of Sinews and Bones... were almost equivalent to the Postnatal Realm of the otherworld.

After perfecting the Sinew and Bone Realm, Martial Artists must refine their five internal organs and six organs, strengthen their inner breath, and polish both their inner and outer selves to perfection, pure as Rough Jade, and thus it's termed the 'Rough Jade Realm'!

But this step is extremely difficult!

So difficult that Xia Long thought it was unlikely anyone in his class could make it to college!

"But now, just one pill might be enough..."

"There must also be drugs and equipment in the Blue Star Federation to help Second Realm Martial Artists break through to the Third Realm... But I can't possibly get them! The resources required are too vast, a loss rather than a gain..."

"But in this otherworld, it might be different."

Suddenly, a certain flame ignited in Fang Xing's eyes as he looked towards the 'Qi Blood Pill', "First... I need to verify the medicinal properties and toxicity of this world's elixirs..."

He thought for a moment, donned a mask, and opened the bottle.

Inside the jade bottle, there were ten blood-red pills.

"Qi Blood Pill, requiring only one pill per session for Martial Artists, while the effects can last several days!"

"I always feel that the potency of this world's elixirs is solid, not due to advanced technology, but purely from candid resource usage..."

Fang Xing took one Qi Blood Pill and identified it following the methods in the "Elixir Appraisal".

"According to the book, many cultivators and Martial Artists are wary€™ of consuming elixirs of unknown origins. Hence, the genuinely good elixirs always have an imprint on the bottle's bottom, with spirit talismans and wax seals on the body... Once opened, traces are left as simple anti-counterfeiting marks."

He looked at the bottom of the jade bottle and found a green leaf mark.

"This should be the mark of a reputable merchant in town, representing reliability... but I still don't trust it!"

Especially since this "Elixir Appraisal" came from that unfortunate person, and there's no excluding the possibility of falsification by the other.

Turning a bottle of poison pill into a Qi Blood Pill, and even providing an instruction manual!

If true, that female Martial Artist really was something else!

'Even if the powerful forces with forged marks pursued after the event, but if the people are dead...'

Fang Xing pondered, took out the toxin testing paper, and tested each Qi Blood Pill, finding everything normal.

He then returned to Chuying Star to order a cage of white mice online.

The delivery was quick, and Fang Xing watched the lively and adorable mice calmly scraped off some fragments of the elixir, and based on the weight difference between humans and mice, determined the dosage.

This step was critical!

Otherwise, even a life-saving elixir could potentially kill a mouse with a human-sized dose!

...

The next day.

Fang Xing woke up and checked the mice, which were all hopping around energetically.

Squeak!

Squeak!

Mice scurried about chaotically, striking and biting the metal cage, seemingly unable to vent a tremendous amount of energy within them.

"Hmm, all very spirited... I'll take you over there to eat berries another day!"

He nodded, carefully put away the "Qi Blood Pill," and went straight to school.

Although both screenings found no issues,

just to be on the safe side, Fang Xing decided to take the medicine next to the infirmary, so that, if anything went wrong, it could be dealt with immediately.

"I seem... to think too darkly of human nature."

"But even so, my life is more important than anything..."

He would not have been so radical this time had he not seen the news about the Innate Pill, and decided to verify the effects of the elixir from the Otherworld.

He went to Yutai High School and skipped Lan Fei's cultural lesson directly.

Nowadays, this projection female teacher could no longer cause the slightest ripple in his state of mind.

Outside the infirmary.

Fang Xing found an open spot and stretched with a yawn.

Silently, a Qi Blood Pill was concealed by his palm and sent directly into his mouth.

"Hot, so hot!"

When the elixir entered his stomach, Fang Xing first felt waves of heat rising from his lower abdomen, spreading through his limbs and bones.

A continuous generation of Qi and blood turned his face red and his skin taut, the veins beneath twisting like worms.

He seemed to have become a furnace of Qi and blood, desperately needing an outlet to vent.

The next moment, Fang Xing immediately posed in the "Great Dragon Stance"!

Skilled in the Great Dragon Stance, he moved with a fluidity akin to drifting clouds and flowing water.

As a Pile Skill meticulously developed by the Blue Star Federation and most suitable for refining flesh, Fang Xing immediately felt a difference.

His robust Qi and blood, like a flood finding its vent, started to erupt violently.

His skin began to crack, even oozing blood pearls...

On the attribute panel, the realm section of (Skin Refinement: 99/100) flickered and instantly became (Skin Refinement: 100/100)!

"Skin Refinement is Perfect!"

Fang Xing's heart stirred, his whole skin tensed, seemingly becoming tough in an instant, like cowhide, and emitting a brass color.

The next moment, as vast amounts of Qi and blood were consumed, the brass color slowly faded, turning into a "pale as jade" appearance.

"Is this... Jade Skin? My Pile Skill hasn't broken through yet?"

"No, this is equivalent to forcibly breaking through using vast resources. It doesn't matter if the Pile Skill can't keep up... The resources consumed by this one Qi Blood Pill could be more than ten or a hundred 'D3 nutrient fluids!'"

"The resources from the Otherworld are truly abundant..."

The jade-like glow enveloping Fang Xing's skin shimmered slightly before disappearing without a trace.

As the Perfect "Jade Skin" of Skin Refinement, it merely made his skin appear paler, but Fang Xing felt as if he was wearing a layer of armor that could even actively dissipate force.

"Just one Qi Blood Pill... and it has advanced me so much in body refinement?"

Fang Xing's gaze locked onto the attribute bar:

[Name: Fang Xing]

[Age: 16]

[Profession: Martial Artist]

[First Realm: Flesh (Body Refinement: 9/100)]

[Military Boxing Twelve Styles: 10/100 (Skilled)]

[Great Dragon Stance: 35/100 (Skilled)]

[Gate of All Heavens (Charging)]

...

"The Great Dragon Stance also has rapid progress, but the key is the accelerated pace of body refinement, jumping straight to 9%?"

Fang Xing pondered: "This may be because the previous training of the skin inevitably also involved training the muscles, but most importantly, it's thanks to the effect of the 'Qi Blood Pill'."

"If one pill is like this, then consuming a bottle of it, Perfect body refinement shouldn't be far off... After all, the Qi Blood Pill is originally intended for Postnatal Martial Artists to cultivate, and the so-called Postnatal of the Otherworld actually encompasses the 'Flesh' and 'Sinew and Bone' Realms of the Blue Star Federation!"

"That is to say, the Qi Blood Pill is greatly effective even for Second Realm Sinew and Bone Martial Artists, and it's a bit of a waste for my current realm..."

After a bit more training, Fang Xing felt as if he had been reborn.

At least, having Perfectly developed the skin into Jade Skin, the foundation was considerably solid.

"Um, just to be safe, I better go get a physical exam..."

Fang Xing made up his mind and headed for the infirmary.

Just as he arrived at the door, another student was coming toward him.

He looked carefully and immediately raised his hand in greeting, "Ah Wei?"

"Ah... Ah Xing?"

Liu Wei was startled upon seeing Fang Xing.

"Are you here for the infirmary too?"

Fang Xing nodded, "I'm here for a physical. What about you?"

"I... My stomach hurts!"

Liu Wei suddenly clutch his stomach, "I can't hold on, you go ahead, I need to, uh... use the restroom..."

"Uh..."

Watching the fleeing figure, Fang Xing shook his head and walked into the infirmary, unfazed.

He had already been certified as a 'genius' by Xia Long, and achieving Perfect Skin Refinement was trivial.

As for 'Jade Skin'? As long as he didn't perform related tests, the ordinary doctors in the infirmary naturally wouldn't notice anything peculiar.