Swish, swish, swish.

The uniquely shaped finger bones hooked, swiftly and precisely biting onto one Iron Ball after another, the repetitive sound echoing through the narrow bedroom.

Perhaps because he refreshed his mind after going out, adjusting his mindset.

Feng Mu calmed down, reducing the emotional fluctuations caused by failure, his movements became increasingly steady, each repetition like copying and pasting the last.

Thus, tirelessly repeating failure, until in a split second, his swinging fingers halted mid-air.

Ding—

The swish-swish-swish repetition was overshadowed by a crisp prompt sound inside his head.

[Detect 100 consecutive successes, meeting the conditions for entry-level mastery of this cultivation technique.]

[Crane Claw Skill]·Beginner (1/300)

On his retina, a new skill icon quietly appeared.

Feng Mu was delighted, feeling a sigh of relief in his heart: "Finally mastered it, but even cheating on the dark path isn't that easy~"

[Crane Claw Skill]: "...Fine, whatever you say."

His ten fingers tingled slightly, Feng Mu retracted the terrifying look of his finger bones into the flesh, noticing that the color of his fingertips had darkened significantly.

Rubbing his fingers together, he could feel the thick calluses, and the nails had become much harder.

Feng Mu waved his hand, his fingertips immediately tightened, skimming over the basin surface, accurately hooking an Iron Ball while the surface remained calm.

"Even with fingertips, I can achieve this seamlessly." Feng Mu flicked the Iron Ball away.

Thinking it over, a single index finger extended bone hook and hooked again.

Crack!

Just like the previous movements, the difference now was the bone hook's bite on the Iron Ball, surface split with fine cracks.

Feng Mu sensed: "I can perform two versions of [Crane Claw Skill], one is the regular flesh version, the other is the mutated bone version, the latter's destructive power is about three times that of the former."

"The regular flesh version is to be used normally, with the mutated bone version hidden for sudden change, adding an element of insidiousness, suits me perfectly."

Of course, this is far from enough, continuous effort is required.

Feng Mu: "Destiny, add points!"

With a clearer understanding of his root bone aptitude, Feng Mu was lazy to rely on arduous experimentation, rather than trust his talent, he prefers believing in his cheating ability.

Hereafter, cheat whenever possible, never hesitate, replace skills that can't be cheated with those that can.

This is the skill growth guideline Feng Mu set for himself.

To advance from beginner to intermediate in Crane Claw Skill requires 300 points, three times that of Basic Boxing, Feng Mu felt a slight pang of pain, but more of doubled anticipation.

More expensive, means stronger, no doubt~

This is the first second-grade martial arts he mastered through his intellect and hard work.

[Crane Claw Skill]·Intermediate (1/1500)

A rush of heat surged through the ten fingers, a large segment of cultivation images was imbued in his head, synchronizing audio-visual knowledge bursting into his brain.

Feng Mu bared his teeth: "Not enough, still not enough, Destiny, give me more points."

The intermediate [Crane Claw Skill], just warmed up, instantly blurred and distorted.

[Crane Claw Skill]·Advanced (1/3000)

Add more points.

[Crane Claw Skill]·Perfection

No points left to add.

This continuous three-stage increase felt overwhelming to Feng Mu, akin to eating too fast and getting choked.

His fingers were burning red hot, almost melting, if not for bones cooling it down, the flesh might have turned to mince.

His brain was smoking, over ten years of non-stop Crane Claw Skill training was being force-fed into his memory.

[Crane Claw Skill] Thirteen Movements.

Practice during the day, practice at night, practice with eyes open, practice with eyes closed, day and night, month after month, year after year, it felt nauseating.

Feng Mu felt like his mind was about to vomit, the memory too seemed strained by the traffic jam sensation.

The three-stage upgrade memory data clogged a single transmission pathway, no one giving way, indeed causing a traffic jam.

Then, Feng Mu felt his mind splitting, as if data originally transmitted through a cable suddenly raged, violently prying open his skull, rudely inserting an entire hard drive into his brain.

Visibly, black smoke wafted from Feng Mu's head, if not for the skull releasing a cooling chill, his brain might have cooked into tofu pudding.

Three minutes later.

Feng Mu sat exhausted on the bed, his eyes a bit dazed and vacant.

The residual heat still lingered in his fingers, the color settling from deep red to dark red, a slight force exerted would reveal a faint black-purple.

His nails hardened like iron sheets, Feng Mu tried trimming them with a nail clipper, it simply wouldn't cut, applying more force and the nail clipper snapped and was ruined.

With just one finger, he exerted slight pressure on the table surface, creating a finger hole just like piercing tofu.

Feng Mu sized it up in his mind: "The power of the flesh version has caught up with the previous bone mutated version, so what would be the power of the bone mutated version now…"

Instinctively, Feng Mu extended a bone finger, performing the first stance of [Crane Claw Skill], aimed at the basin surface for a hook.

The basin surface caved in, cracking like a still lake splitting in two, both sides pouring out.

But instead of pouring, it crumbled into powdered iron-gray falling silently.

Even Feng Mu was shocked: "Is the power five times stronger or ten times?"

Its destructiveness stunned even himself, making it hard to precisely evaluate, but purely on the power level, the Mutated Crane Claw Skill must exceed the upper limit of second-grade martial arts.

Perhaps, it's on the upper tier of third-grade martial arts, or nearing the power of a fourth-grade martial art?

Feng Mu indulged in wild thoughts, itching to go out now, test out the technique on someone, maybe crush a few heads for fun.

"No wonder they say carrying a sharp weapon breeds a thirst for blood."

"Martial prowess emboldens the wicked!"

Resisting his inner urge, Feng Mu wiped his hands dry with a cloth.

He thought: "Next time, I should upgrade one stage at a time, dare not cut lane like this again."

As he pondered, Feng Mu grabbed a handful of Iron Balls, his fingers clenched, reducing them to powder, which he poured into his mouth, swallowing with saliva.

Three stages of upgrade, leaving his stomach empty.

After swallowing several handfuls of iron powder, followed by a few sips of water, Feng Mu paused, thinking: "From now on, I should always crush into powder, making digestion and absorption easier, raising the rate of edibility should reach a new height."

With such thoughts processed, Feng Mu finally turned his painful gaze to the panel.

[Crane Claw Skill]·Perfection

Basic Boxing (Intermediate) [1/500]

Basic Leg Technique (Intermediate) [1/500]

Body Forging Exercise (Not mastered)

[Remaining General Skill Proficiency: 5080]

Closing the panel, Feng Mu mumbled to himself: "The remaining skill proficiency should be able to push another second-grade martial art to perfection."

It's just past 12, still early.

Since [Crane Claw Skill] was conquered by the dark path, night hours could now extend to the Body Forging Exercise.

No need to talk nonsense, let's get to it.

Before starting, he took out a syringe to extract two tubes of blood.

Feeling the blood draining out, Feng Mu turned slightly pale, a twisted smile of pleasure on his face: "Feels good."

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