Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Every current's surge, and the splash of fish tails, were vividly imprinted in his mind.

"My perception range has indeed expanded!" Jiang Ning opened his eyes, his face brightening with joy.

A radius of three miles, which is a diameter of three kilometers, spanning three thousand meters.

Such a vast expanse of water instantly allowed him to see the underwater world in minute detail, in all its variety.

Had his spiritual power not been strong enough, he felt that his brain might not have previously been able to handle this flood of information.

But now, even with his eyes open, the flow of information from a three-mile radius didn't make him feel any pressure.

Especially being submerged in water, nourished by the water source, any consumption was quickly replenished.

His brain continuously processed the information streams without feeling the slightest burden.

Soon, he made some discoveries.

His figure shifted.

Instantly, he darted through the water like a fish, the currents parting to either side as if making way for his advance.

After three breaths.

He appeared a kilometer away.

Stopping in front of a rock crevice.

He reached out with his right hand, and the crevice in the rocks began to part.

"Twenty-year-old water kudzu flowers, what a great start!"

Jiang Ning's face showed a smile.

Water kudzu flowers.

Though they grow underwater, they are known to increase Qi-Blood, strengthen the foundation and cultivate one's primordial energy—especially for women, they also have beauty-maintaining and skin-nourishing effects, which are particularly evident.

And this is what makes water kudzu flowers so special.

It's also what makes them so valuable.

Most women who practice martial arts require such beauty-maintaining materials.

Like Li Qing, Xie Xiaojiu, and Xiao Emei.

Without these special Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, how could they maintain fair skin and a beautiful complexion after long-term martial arts training under the sun and the elements?

As the saying goes, a fair complexion hides many flaws.

Once a woman's skin is tanned, regardless of her natural beauty, it is difficult to maintain an attractive appearance.

So the water kudzu flower, with its strong beauty-maintaining effects, is a coveted treasure for any woman who practices martial arts.

Just this one could be sold for two or three hundred taels of silver.

Whereas common materials with similar medicinal effects can often be acquired for merely a tenth of that price.

The next moment.

He took the twenty-year-old water kudzu flower from the crevice, and looking at the intact plant, he nodded in satisfaction.

He had come to the water today to treasure hunt.

A good start naturally left him feeling content.

Afterward.

He didn't hesitate to pop the valuable water kudzu flower into his mouth and begin to chew.

While the water kudzu flower's special qualities made it much more valuable than other Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of the same medicinal effectiveness.

It was meaningless to him.

The difference in value of a hundred or so taels of silver was simply a waste of his time.

Moreover, in Luoshui County nowadays, aged medicinal materials and so-called Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were scarce.

Even with money, it was difficult to procure the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he needed for absorption.

And with his encompassing perception of a three-mile radius, he could search for underwater Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures with high efficiency.

Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were not just abundant in wild forests; the true treasure troves were these untouched underwater realms.

With this treasure trove and his current efficiency, why would he care about the difference of a few hundred taels of silver?

After chewing a few times, the twenty-year-old water kudzu flower entered his stomach.

"This twenty-year-old water kudzu flower should bring in about ten Source Energy Points."

He immediately felt a warm current emanating from his stomach.

Then.

Once again, he took action.

With his three-mile range sensory perception and his current swift speed in the water.

Scouring thoroughly like a carpet search, over the course of the entire day, he discovered quite a few valuable things at the bottom of the lake.

Among them, he found several chests of coffin silver in the deeper parts of the lake.

At first discovery, he couldn't help but rejoice inwardly.

But upon closer inspection, his hopes were dashed.

Because that official silver was of an indeterminate age, lost in time.

Having soaked too long at the bottom of the lake, severely eroded, it rapidly oxidized upon contact with air, turning into a pile of dross.

...

The next day.

Jiang Ning awoke and opened his own status panel to take a look.

[Source Energy]: 611.17

Seeing the change in Source Energy Points, he nodded slightly.

"Not bad!"

He had set out yesterday morning and searched the depths of Luoshui Lake until late at night, scouring for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

With his speed and the ability to sense the surrounding area for three miles, he found many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of varying ages.

No matter the effect of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he found, he ate all of them without hesitation, then refined and absorbed them.

After a whole day of refining and absorbing yesterday, his Source Energy Points had significantly changed when he woke up today.

From the three hundred plus points yesterday to over six hundred today.

An increase of more than two hundred points.

If it had been before, an increase of over two hundred Source Energy Points would have excited him greatly.

But now, it felt average, with no great waves of emotion in his heart.

After all, for him now, breaking the limit for any Skill on the panel required a significant number of Source Energy Points.

He spent nearly a day and his Source Energy Points increased by less than three hundred points.

At this rate, he would need four to five days to gather a thousand Source Energy Points.

And that was just the time to increase Source Energy Points, not to mention the time needed to grind for experience.

"Today I must continue to delve into the center of the lake!"

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning thought to himself.

Yesterday, he had searched the shores toward the depths of the lake and discovered that the deeper into Luoshui Lake he went, the deeper the water was, but also the older the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he found.

The oldest he found yesterday was Snake Flood Grass, aged eighty years.

It was one of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that could strengthen the toughness of the Great Tendon in a human body, increasing the efficiency of tempering the Great Tendon and shortening the tempering time.

Even with his current Great Tendon strength, after refining that eighty-year-old Snake Flood Grass, he could feel the toughness of his tendons improve by a fraction.

For him now, at the level of 'Great Tendon as the Dragon', such a minor improvement was extremely hard to come by.

The slight improvement was enough to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Snake Flood Grass.

Therefore, it was evident that Luoshui Lake was a natural treasury.

A natural treasury provided for his taking.

Afterward.

He opened his hand and took a wine jug out of the Sumeru Ring.

He opened the jug and through the spout saw two small black stones lying at the bottom.

In the jug, those two small black stones emitted wisps of silver threads, which blended into the wine, turning into sparkling specks of starlight.

"Just as I thought!" he exclaimed with a burst of joy.

Yesterday, at a corner of the lake bottom, he found a stone that resembled the Taiyin Stone he had found before.

The only difference was that the black Taiyin Stone he found yesterday showed no signs of divinity. It was dull and lusterless, like an ordinary fragment of rock.

Had he not already owned a Taiyin Stone, he wouldn't have noticed it.

After finding it yesterday, since he saw no divine sign on the black stone, he tried it with a trial mindset.

But now, it seemed his guess was correct, it was indeed a Taiyin Stone.

Moreover, it seemed that because the two Taiyin Stones were placed together, it also aroused the divineness of the one found yesterday, which started to release Emperor's Liquid like silver threads in a diluted state.

The next moment.

With a thought, controlled by his spiritual power, the two Taiyin Stones at the bottom of the jug rose and fell into his palm through the spout.

"Just the same!" After carefully observing the two stones, Jiang Ning noticed that after a night, at first glance, aside from different shapes, the two stones seemed nearly identical.

"Judging from this, there should be more Taiyin Stones like the ones in my hand in Luoshui Lake."

"Not sure what caused such magical items as the Taiyin Stones to exist in Luoshui Lake," Jiang Ning murmured.

He knew he had found another reason to scour Luoshui Lake.

Taiyin Stones, though they could not bring him immediate substantial gain.

But long-term soaking in liquid, could continuously produce diluted Emperor's Liquid.

Such a special type of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures not only could improve his roots and increase his Martial Arts Talent, leading to continuous transformation, but it also could continuously bring an increase in Source Energy Points.

The increase in Source Energy Points was even more important.

Over time, the Source Energy Points provided by soaking Taiyin Stones in wine should not be underestimated.

After that, he tossed the two Taiyin Stones back into the wine jug.