Becoming a Saint From the Iron Armor Skill-Chapter 43: Great Success in Saber Technique

Half an hour later, Chen Cheng sheathed his saber and summoned his panel.

[Name: Chen Cheng

Realm: Skin Grinding Realm (Small Success)

Skills: Iron Armor Skill (Small Success 802/1000), Wind Chasing Saber Technique (Great Success 1/10000)

]

He had finally cultivated the Wind Chasing Saber Technique to Great Success! 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Having reached the Great Success Level, Chen Cheng gained many new insights into this Saber Technique.

Executing the moves of the Wind Chasing Saber Technique accurately and fluidly could be considered the Beginner Level.

At the Small Success Level, building on that foundation of accurate and fluid execution, the moves become proficient and well-rounded. One’s physical strength is integrated into the techniques, leading to gradual improvements in power, precision, and speed.

Once the Wind Chasing Saber Technique reached the Great Success Level, executing the moves became as natural as directing one’s own limbs. Changing, countering, and switching techniques could be done at will. The style became balanced in both offense and defense, leaving almost no openings.

For a more direct comparison, a Martial Artist at the same Martial Arts Realm with a Small Success Level Saber Technique could easily defeat three to five Martial Artists with a Beginner Level Saber Technique.

A Martial Artist with a Great Success Level Saber Technique could defeat at least five Martial Artists at the Small Success Level.

If a Martial Artist with a Great Success Level Saber Technique were to face opponents at the Beginner Level, they could kill as many as came at them until they collapsed from exhaustion. Such was the power of External Martial Arts Skills. Cultivating an External Martial Arts Skill to Great Success was enough to make a name for oneself and stand out in the Jianghu.

This was the general level of strength for official constables of the City Guard Department, leaders like Incense Masters in Jianghu Gangs, Hospital Martial Artists for wealthy families, and Escort Guards from Escort Agencies.

Of course, if the Realms were different, that would be another matter. After all, Chen Cheng himself had previously set a precedent by defeating an opponent with a Great Success Level Saber Technique while he was only at the Beginner Level, relying on the overwhelming advantage of his higher Martial Arts Realm.

An increase in one’s Martial Arts Realm not only provided a significant advantage in actual combat with the saber but also had a remarkably significant effect on boosting the Cultivation Progress of the Saber Technique.

Chen Cheng had actually reached the Great Success Level with his Wind Chasing Saber Technique at least a month faster than he expected.

When his Iron Armor Skill had just entered the Small Success Realm, cultivating for an hour under normal conditions would only increase the Cultivation Progress of his Wind Chasing Saber Technique by about 1 point.

Now that the progress of his Iron Armor Skill in the Small Success Realm was over 800 and nearing completion, he could increase the progress of his Wind Chasing Saber Technique by nearly 5 points in one hour of Cultivation.

Compared to the rapid progress of his Wind Chasing Saber Technique, the Cultivation Progress for his Iron Armor Skill was noticeably much slower.

Chen Cheng guessed there were two reasons for the slowdown. First, his training weights weren’t heavy enough. Second, Body Refining required not only an adequate supply of meat but also a significant amount of Medicinal Materials to replenish his body with their medicinal power and strengthen his qi and blood.

Otherwise, he could only cultivate slowly, waiting for quantitative accumulation to induce a qualitative change.

Increasing his training weights required purchasing Refined Iron. Purchasing Medicinal Materials to soak his body in, recover from injuries, and supplement his physique, as well as other materials for Body Refining, all required money. Everything was inseparable from money.

Over the past two-plus months, Chen Cheng’s appetite had skyrocketed. He needed to eat one to two pounds of meat per meal. In a month, his food costs alone were over two taels, nearly three taels of silver—a massive expense.

His current net worth was only a little over ten taels of silver. He had no spare money for Refined Iron, let alone the even more expensive Medicinal Materials.

As the saying goes, "It’s cheap to be a scholar, but expensive to be a warrior." Chen Cheng was a poor man trying to practice martial arts, so he was naturally in a bind.

’I have to find a way to make money!’

As a constable for the City Guard Department, there were actually many ways to make money besides his monthly salary. For instance, when cleaning up corpses on the street, one could feel around for some silver coins or valuables, though this was purely a matter of luck.

Even if your luck was bad, you could still strip the clothes off the corpse and exchange them for a little money.

In the past two-plus months, Chen Cheng had helped dispose of many corpses, but his luck had been poor. In total, he had found less than half a tael of silver.

As for stripping and selling the clothes from the dead, Chen Cheng had always been too kind-hearted and let the other constables on duty take them.

Besides trying one’s luck with corpses, there was also money to be made from the living.

The more ruthless constables would find one of the many peddlers and laborers on the street, intimidate them a little, and someone would inevitably offer up a few copper coins to be left alone.

Chen Cheng was too kind-hearted for that line of work. Besides, even if he had the stomach for it, it wouldn’t earn much silver.

After all, his patrol route was fixed, and he saw the same vendors day in and day out. You couldn’t just keep fleecing the same sheep, constantly bullying the honest folk. Even a cornered rabbit will bite. If he did it every day, the vendors would surely band together and file a complaint.

Such actions were immoral and would ruin his character. Plus, the income was unstable. It just wasn’t worth it.

Of course, there was a more legitimate method, the bread and butter of a constable’s work: patrolling the streets diligently and arresting thieves and bandits. This was actually a good gig. Thieves and bandits usually had some savings, and regardless of whether they had money on them at the time, a sound beating after capture would surely squeeze them dry.

Chen Cheng himself had caught street thieves a few times and successfully squeezed several hundred cents out of them.

But even this legitimate work was unstable, and one couldn’t be too diligent with arrests. Chen Cheng had once tried making arrests for three days straight; by the fourth day, there wasn’t a single thief or bandit to be found.

You had to turn a blind eye, let things be for ten days to half a month, and wait for the criminals to let their guard down. Only then could you strike again and make a big haul.

Besides these methods, there were many other avenues to make money, but most were still unstable and only brought in petty cash.

A diligent and quick-witted constable in the City Guard Department could easily earn two or three taels of silver a month from their salary plus various side incomes. This was much more comfortable than his previous job as a Prison Guard.

But that was the extent of it. Earning much more was impossible.

This amount of money was enough for an ordinary constable’s expenses, with even some left over. But for Chen Cheng, who was anxious to buy Medicinal Materials for his Martial Arts Cultivation, this bit of silver was a drop in the ocean. It was like trying to douse a bonfire with a cup of water. It would also delay his Cultivating Martial Dao, a trade-off that simply wasn’t worth it.

As the proverb says, "A man can’t get rich without a windfall, just as a horse can’t get fat without extra fodder." It seemed he had to pull off something big.

Chen Cheng had heard Liao San mention a few times that disciples from the great families of the Inner City, having achieved success in their Martial Arts Cultivation, would come to the Outer City for training, undertaking the task of killing the rich to aid the poor.

They specialized in killing the unscrupulously wealthy, or utterly evil Gang Leaders and their lieutenants.

Chen Cheng had actually considered this, but it was just a fleeting thought. Unlike the disciples from the Inner City’s prominent families, he didn’t have a powerful backer. Even if they slipped up, they could escape with their lives.

If he messed up even once, his life would be over.

’Crooked paths don’t lead far. It seems I have to stick to being an honest constable. If I can just make it to the rank of Chief Constable, then my time might truly come.’

Every Chief Constable held sway over a district, governing several thousand people. There would be no shortage of people coming to his door to curry favor and offer him silver.

However, becoming a Chief Constable was also very difficult.

Ruyi District had a total of only six Chief Constables, and most were in the prime of their lives. The only one who was older and weaker was over fifty; his qi and blood were in decline, and his strength was a pale shadow of its former glory.

But he showed no intention of retiring anytime soon. Besides, a group of constables already served under him, coveting his position, and he had even started grooming a successor or two himself.

He Zhiling, the man Chen Cheng had fought during the assessment, had chosen to serve under that very Chief Constable with precisely this scheme in mind.

"It’s so hard to get ahead," Chen Cheng sighed softly, sheathing his Long Saber.

"Brother Cheng, is something on your mind?"

Mu Xiaowan, who was hanging a freshly washed quilt on a bamboo pole, turned to see Chen Cheng’s furrowed brow and asked curiously.

Lately, although her face was often smeared with faint soot, giving her a slightly sallow complexion, it still couldn’t conceal her breathtaking beauty.

She had shot up in height, and her simple cotton dress now seemed a little too short, barely concealing her long, rapidly growing legs.

With better nutrition, even her small chest was beginning to take shape.

Pure, beautiful, and utterly charming.