My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 81 Neighbors
Shanglinfang, Chen Residence.

Chen Mu held up the sky with both hands, squatted slightly, squinted his eyes, and breathed rapidly.

The muscles beneath the clothes twitched slowly with each breath, as if they had their own consciousness, constantly contracting and relaxing.

After a long while, Chen Mu stopped cultivating, drenched in sweat.

"As expected of an advanced body-refining technique."

The Blue-Eyed Golden Ape Form Refinement Technique at the Bone Transformation stage is even more complex. It involves 270 breathing rhythms and 36 dynamic and static variations.

Even the slightest mistake renders the practice ineffective.

Even when ordinary people concentrate fully during each practice session, they cannot guarantee 100% success.

"No wonder it takes ten years to train your body."

With such a low success rate, the training efficiency is predictably low.

Those who can hone their skills for ten years are all people with exceptional comprehension and diligent practice.

With my average talent, all I can do is put in tremendous effort, over and over again.

While muttering to himself, Chen Mu completed another round of cultivation.

Azure-Eyed Golden Ape Form Refinement Technique: 9390/10000/Second Tier;

Proficiency level increased by another ten points.

"It will take several more days to complete... It's really difficult." Chen Mu shook his head and sighed in a mocking manner.

……

Chen Mu thought of a question.

If ordinary body-refining techniques are this difficult, then the body-refining techniques passed down by aristocratic families must be incredibly difficult.
But those scions of noble families actually mastered the physical form in just five or six years?!
"We're just blessed with good fortune!" Chen Mu sighed helplessly.

It can't be compared!
……

"Who told you that the cultivation techniques of aristocratic families are difficult to master?" Jie Jia said calmly.

"The cultivation techniques of aristocratic bloodlines are simple and easy to learn," Jie Jia said calmly. "Some can be mastered simply by breathing."

Can you practice martial arts just by breathing? Chen Mu drooled with envy.

Where can you find this kind of kung fu?

Jie Jia glanced at Chen Mu: "You can't train."

Chen Mu rolled his eyes, realizing there must be some harsh prerequisites.

"The cultivation techniques of aristocratic bloodlines focus on tapping into the potential of one's bloodline."

Well, for a nobody like him, he can probably only listen to it.

"Apart from bloodline training techniques, most training techniques are more complex the higher they are."

“Only through complexity can comprehensive transformation be achieved,” Jie Jia added.

"Where else can I find such advanced body-refining techniques?" Chen Mu asked with great interest, staring at the armor.

"I didn't," Jie Jia said calmly. "I've already mastered the Armor Soul; what use would I be for practicing Form Techniques?"

Chen Mu: "..." This old man has gotten away with it again.

"The Jinghong Gang, the Zhuyi Pavilion, and the Nanyang Prefecture government office all have them." Jie Jia finished speaking and glanced at Chen Mu: "Do you want it?"

Chen Mu immediately shook his head.

Recently, major forces in Nanyang Prefecture have been recruiting new members with generous benefits, including those specializing in martial arts techniques and secret skills.

But once you join these forces, you lose control of your own destiny.

Who knows what dangers we might face?

He still has three body-refining techniques he hasn't mastered, and his desire for new body-refining techniques is almost zero. He would be crazy to jump into this vortex.

……

For the next few days, Chen Mu stayed at home and focused on his cultivation.

The Azure-Eyed Golden Ape's Body Refinement Technique was mastered to the second level without any major setbacks.

His bones became increasingly strong, and he suddenly grew a finger's length taller.

Strength, reaction speed, balance, and other abilities have all improved to varying degrees.

Upon arriving here, the Azure-Eyed Golden Ape's Body Refinement Technique had already begun to reveal some of its wonders.

Shanglinfang, Chen Residence.

Chen Mu placed his feet on the pavilion railing, his body straight, forming a 30-degree angle with the vertical, with half of his body hanging over the pond.

It looked like it was about to fall, but it stood firmly on the edge of the railing.

It took a while before she could roll over and get off.

"That balance...tsk tsk."

Just like being able to freely adjust one's own center of gravity.

"Am I supposed to turn myself into an unbreakable roly-poly toy? Heh!"

"I've been training hard for the past twenty days! It hasn't been easy! I need to treat myself."

Chen Mu rarely goes out, but he went out to buy a large amount of fresh ingredients.

Braised pork knuckle, boiled fish fillets, spicy cold beef salad, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, fish ball soup, and a large basket of over thirty Lao Qi Jia meat pies—a whole table full of food prepared at midday.

Taking a bite of half the pie, the rich aroma of the meat filling fills the air... mmm, that taste...

*Gulp!* A loud swallowing sound suddenly rang out.

Chen Mu looked up.

A head with a full beard appeared on the gate wall at some point.

The other person stared longingly at the pie in Chen Mu's hand, unable to look away.

Gudong!

The dark-faced, bearded man swallowed again, gave Chen Mu a fawning smile, and was about to ask for it.

Chen Mu, expressionless, stuffed the pie into his mouth.

Black-faced bearded man: "..."

……

A few minutes later.

A man with a dark face and a thick beard sat in the pavilion, eating a pie in each hand with great relish.

Chen Mu didn't want this burly man to come in.

The other person seems reckless and might cause him some trouble.

But... Chen Mu glanced at a gold ingot lying quietly inside the Five Ghosts Bag.

He gave us too much...

"Brother Chen, your skills are amazing!" Kuituo, a burly man with a thick beard, praised him with a thumbs up.

Chen Mu nodded calmly.

"Aren't you from Nanyang Prefecture?" Chen Mu asked casually.

"No." Kui Tuo swallowed a piece of braised meat. "Didn't the Jinghong Gang recruit people? So I signed up. I easily became a branch leader."

Krato proudly boasted about how he joined the Jinghong Gang.

"I didn't expect you to be the leader of the Jinghong Gang. My apologies for not recognizing you," Chen Mu said calmly.

Krato laughed heartily: "Those people were as weak as chickens, and I won the championship with ease."

"Is the Jinghong Gang recruiting talented individuals to expand its influence?" Chen Mu probed discreetly.

"I don't know. They make us gather together all day to practice some kind of formation." Kuituo looked confused. "But the formation doesn't look like a battle formation. We practice it in a daze."

Chen Mu was also somewhat confused.

Why recruit people but not train them in combined attack formations? What are they trying to achieve?
Forget it, this isn't something I should be thinking about. Let's get rid of this burly man first.

……

"When will your neighbor next door be back? I went to visit them just now, but the door was locked and I didn't see anyone," Krito asked.

No, you've already seen it.

Chen Mu calmly replied, "I don't know either."

“And that house at the street corner, right next to mine, it’s locked, I don’t know who lives there,” Krito continued.

No need to think about it anymore, it's me.

Chen Mu shrugged: "I don't usually go out, so I've never seen it before."

Kuito sighed, "I just arrived today and wanted to visit the neighbors, but none of the houses nearby are open. It seems I'll have to go again tomorrow."

Chen Mu smiled and nodded in encouragement.

As long as I'm home, you won't see me tomorrow.

"It's said that rabbits have three burrows, so it's reasonable for humans to prepare seven or eight safe havens," Chen Mu thought to himself.

……

night.

Krito lay sprawled on the bed, muttering in his sleep.

One minute they're talking about drinking, the next about fighting, then about delicious food, then about beautiful women.

Beside the bed, a small paper figure sat there upright.

His eyes were fixed on Kratos without blinking.

An hour.

Two hours.

Three hours...

As dawn broke, the little paper figure turned into black smoke and disappeared.

In the neighboring courtyard, Chen Mu, who was sitting on the bed, opened his eyes.

"Looks like he's just a reckless guy who happened to move in by chance," Chen Mu muttered to himself.

"What a miscalculation."

"The residents of that house moved out without a word. If only I had known earlier, I could have had another safe house."

"Now that there's a stranger involved, there are definitely some risks."

Chen Mu thought to himself, "I still have to keep watch tonight."

Anyway, with the transformation of his bones by the Azure-Eyed Golden Ape, his energy was getting better and better. It wouldn't matter if he slept a little less.

(End of this chapter)