The Almighty Martial Arts System - Chapter 315

By the time Jiang Fei returned to Bai Ruoxi’s apartment, the sky was almost beginning to brighten with dawn.

Fortunately, it was the weekend. Bai Ruoxi didn’t need to go to work. Having mostly woken up, she nonetheless stayed in bed. Watching Jiang Fei enter the bedroom after his shower, she asked, “What was so important that it kept you out all night?”

Getting into bed, Jiang Fei pulled Bai Ruoxi’s soft, warm, and fragrant body into his arms. He took a deep breath, feeling as if his heart was instantly filled. No wonder the ancients said the ‘gentle village’ was where heroes were honed. Holding such a peerlessly charming woman in his arms truly had the power to erode all of a man’s ambitions and aspirations. The sentiment of loving a beauty more than one’s kingdom was somewhat understandable.

“Just what you’d expect,” Jiang Fei said, his arm encircling Bai Ruoxi’s willow-like slender waist. “You know about it—the recent misdiagnosis incident with the Chinese Medicine Association.”

A trace of worry flickered in Bai Ruoxi’s eyes. The commotion stirred up by the Chinese Medicine Association lately had been enormous. News about it was all over the internet and newspapers. Many members of the public, and even relevant authorities, were clamoring for the Association to be completely shut down. As Jiang Fei’s girlfriend and a journalist, she understood the situation all too clearly.

“Did you find any evidence?” Bai Ruoxi asked.

Jiang Fei smiled slightly. “We don’t need any evidence anymore. The mastermind behind it all, Du Ziliang, has been arrested!”

He said it simply and casually, not mentioning the dangers, the sordid details, or Du Zikang’s death to Bai Ruoxi.

Such matters outside were for men to handle. Women didn’t need to worry about them.

Bai Ruoxi let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “That’s good.”

Jiang Fei kissed her smooth, fair cheek. “Alright, let’s sleep. You’re not getting up either. Keep me company for a few more hours.”

Holding his sweet-smelling wife to sleep was, of course, far more comfortable than lying alone in bed.

Soon, with Min Dong stepping forward to take responsibility and admit to framing the Chinese Medicine Association, and with Du Ziliang no longer behind the scenes instigating and bribing the media, the Association quickly extricated itself from the vicious medical scandal.

Although Min Dong’s status as an Association member and the sheer severity of a doctor murdering a patient meant significant negative fallout would persist even after clarification, the Association had no choice but to accept it.

After all, these were facts. The Chinese Medicine Association, or indeed the entire field of traditional Chinese medicine, still had many such unhealthy practices and sordid affairs; even more disgusting things were not unheard of.

These issues needed time to be slowly repaired and corrected.

At the very least, the public no longer doubted the scientific basis of Chinese medicine. They were still willing to believe in it.

As for the tarnished reputation, as long as Jiang Fei remained the head of the Chinese Medicine Association, he would gradually work to restore it.

However, what bothered Jiang Fei was that after the Qisha Group’s Qiaoqiao and Handgun took Du Ziliang away, they didn’t manage to get any useful information from him. Du Ziliang ended up just like the two A-rank killers Jiang Fei had captured before—the hidden bomb inside him detonated.

This psychologically twisted, ruthlessly cunning successor of the Du family died just like that.

Regarding Jiang Fei’s agreement with Qiaoqiao to exchange the ‘Bewilderment Wind’ for one of the Qisha Group’s special tokens, Jiang Fei stayed in Beijing for several more days but never received a clear answer. This left him somewhat puzzled. Could the Qisha Group really resist the temptation of the Bewilderment Wind? Or were their tokens simply too strictly managed, making it impossible to break the rules and issue one to an outsider?

‘Fine, if they won’t give it to me, it’s not like I’m desperate for it,’ Jiang Fei thought, a slightly sour note in his internal monologue.

If the Qisha Group wouldn’t give him a token, then there was no way he would provide them with a powerful tool like the Bewilderment Wind. Even in the future, when the Jiang Pharmaceutical Company was highly profitable and he had no shortage of money, he still wouldn’t!

Pulling his focus away from the matter of the Qisha Group token, Jiang Fei’s attention was soon captured by something else.

His experience points were almost full again!

This meant his character level was about to increase once more.

Due to handling the aftermath of the ‘medical incident,’ Jiang Fei had temporarily stayed in Beijing instead of returning to Jincheng. Just as he was nearly done dealing with the Association’s affairs, his experience bar finally filled completely.

*Ding! Congratulations, Player. Experience points have reached 5000/5000. Initiate level up now?*

Hearing the voice in his mind, Jiang Fei felt a surge of excitement and anticipation, even though he had seen it coming for days. It had been nearly three months since his last level-up, and he had almost forgotten what it felt like.

Although he had received a reward from the system’s main quest for accepting the position of Tianji Sect Leader—a direct level-up—Jiang Fei planned to save that for later, when leveling became extremely difficult, or if he encountered some tricky situation where leveling up was necessary. For now, it was better to level up steadily the old-fashioned way.

To be honest, even now, leveling up wasn’t exactly easy for Jiang Fei. This time, it had taken almost three months.

It was worth noting that a month prior, the Jiang Clinic, with support from the Jiang Pharmaceutical Company, had initially expanded, doubling in size from its original scale. This had also doubled the rate at which Jiang Fei gained experience. Without that, he would have had to wait another month to reach Level 5.

Pulling up the system interface in his mind, Jiang Fei didn’t hesitate to click the upgrade button.

Ding! Congratulations, Player. Level increased to 5!

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, the system interface refreshed.

——-

Character: Jiang Fei
Level: 5
Experience: 0/7000
Physique: 4.0
Spirit: 4.1
Agility: 4.0
Strength: 4.2
Unallocated Stat Points: 2

Martial Skills:

• Lightfoot Art ‘Triple Cloud’, Level 1 (0/100)

• Incomplete Taiji Fist, Level 1 (0/200)

• Art of Mysteries, Level 2 (0/450)

• Dugu Nine Sword (1/500)

• North Sea Divine Power (3.6/15)
  Available Skill Points: 380

Sub-Professions:

• Weapon Smithing (Level 9)

• Plant Cultivation (Level 9)

• Culinary Arts (Level 9)

• Horticulture (Level 9)

• Musical Instrument (Qin) Artistry (Level 9)

• Brewing (Level 9)

• Taming Summoned Beasts (Level 9)

• Medical Arts (Level 8 + 79%)

• …

——-

“Phew…” Jiang Fei looked over his various attributes with a wide, satisfied smile.

First, the experience required had increased from 5000 for Level 4 to 5, to 7000 for Level 5 to 6. There was an increase, but it wasn’t drastic, and it was within acceptable limits for Jiang Fei.

With the Jiang Clinic now being supported by the Jiang Pharmaceutical Company, its scale was bound to keep increasing. Building an independent, large clinic was only a matter of time. Perhaps earning these 7000 experience points wouldn’t even take three months.

Secondly, all four basic attributes had automatically increased by 0.2, now all above 4.0. Jiang Fei, with his high degree of bodily control, felt this change distinctly; he was clearly somewhat stronger in every aspect. The change would be even more significant once he allocated the two remaining unassigned points.

As for his martial skills, Jiang Fei hadn’t leveled any of them up during this period, so they naturally remained unchanged. The only difference was the increase in available skill points, now at 380.

380 points… it wouldn’t be long before he reached 500.

Then, Jiang Fei could choose to either upgrade the Art of Mysteries to its max level or raise Dugu Nine Sword to the second level!

Whichever he chose, Jiang Fei believed he would gain tremendously.

The Art of Mysteries could help him decipher the Tianji Diagram, potentially allowing him to comprehend the profound mysteries his cheap master, Xuanji Zi, had mentioned. Who knows, he might even accidentally achieve ‘shattering the void’ and ascend.

As for the Dugu Nine Sword, its benefits were even more obvious. The first level alone had been enough for Jiang Fei to dominate the world of swordsmanship, earning him the title ‘Sword God’ in the martial world, and even enabling him to defeat and kill Miyamoto Kazuma, the top master of the Niten Ichi-ryū style in Japanese Kendo.

If he reached the second level, just how formidable would Jiang Fei’s sword skills become?

He’d probably become a truly lonely, unmatched expert.

Although they said it was lonely at the top, and standing at the pinnacle of the martial world was destined to be ‘lonely as snow,’ Jiang Fei still looked forward to that day.

Ordinary masters might have transcendent mindsets, disdaining the mortal world, so of course they’d feel lonely. But Jiang Fei was a thoroughgoing mortal, rolling around in the red dust all day long—what did he have to be ‘lonely as snow’ about?

For him, the stronger he became, the less lonely he would be, and the more confidence he’d have when showing off!

After carefully examining his attributes and slowly calming his excitement, Jiang Fei turned his attention to another very important matter.

Opening the Level-Up Gift Pack!

It had been nearly three months since his last level-up and, consequently, since he last opened a gift pack. Jiang Fei felt a bit out of practice. Truth be told, his need for new martial arts manuals wasn’t as pressing as before. After all, he was now a veritable master.

He had the North Sea Divine Power for internal energy. Although its cultivation method was a bit tricky, the ability to absorb others’ internal force was a cheat-like advantage. For sword techniques, he had the Dugu Nine Sword, arguably the most powerful sword style.

So now, if the level-up pack yielded ordinary items, they would be of little use to Jiang Fei.

“But one should still have dreams, what if they come true?” Jiang Fei muttered to himself. “If I could get something like Gang Leader Qiao’s overwhelmingly powerful Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, or Duan Yu’s Six Pulses Divine Sword or Lingbo Weibu—now those would be incredibly useful…”

As his strength grew, the Incomplete Taiji Fist and the Lightfoot Art ‘Triple Cloud’ were gradually falling behind his current needs. Even upgrading them further wouldn’t add much to his combat effectiveness.

What Jiang Fei needed now were more advanced movement techniques or palm/fist techniques. That way, even without a weapon, he could unleash tremendous combat power.

Of course, the probability of drawing such top-tier martial arts manuals was extremely small, no better than winning the lottery.

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his hands together unceremoniously, offered a silent prayer, and opened the Level-Up Gift Pack.

Pop!

A soft sound echoed in his mind as the pack opened. Colorful confetti shot upwards, and lying quietly inside was, sure enough, another book.

A book, which naturally meant a martial arts manual.

With some trepidation, Jiang Fei ‘opened’ the manual. Three large characters were written on it: Ladder Cloud Soar!

Seeing these three words, Jiang Fei was momentarily stunned.

A pleasant surprise!
An absolutely wonderful surprise!

Jiang Fei was very familiar with the Wudang Ladder Cloud Soar.

This was the premier lightness skill of the Wudang Sect! Often debated by Jin Yong fans against the lightness skills of the Ancient Tomb Sect or the Carefree Sect, arguing over which was the best in Jin Yong’s novels. Of course, everyone had their own views and reasons, and there was no definitive conclusion.

However, in Jiang Fei’s opinion, while the Wudang Ladder Cloud Soar might not be the absolute best lightness skill across all of Jin Yong’s works, it certainly wasn’t far off.

Especially in terms of leaping ability—in tests of jumping height and distance—Wudang’s unique Ladder Cloud Soar could unquestionably be called the best in the world!

He recalled how Zhang Cuishan, during the confrontation on the ice, managed to leap three zhang in his contest with the Golden-Haired Lion King Xie Xun.

Three zhang is roughly ten meters! Equivalent to a modern three-story building! And Zhang Cuishan could not only jump that high but also write the character for ‘Martial’ (武) in mid-air before coming down. Imagine what someone with even stronger internal energy could do.

Compared to such a feat, Jiang Fei’s jump onto the pavilion during his fight with Miyamoto Kazuma seemed trivial, almost childish.

Of course, while the Ladder Cloud Soar was arguably peerless in vertical and horizontal leaps, its speed and agility for running on flat ground likely couldn’t match the Ancient Tomb Sect’s lightness skill or Duan Yu’s Lingbo Weibu.

But for Jiang Fei’s current needs, he didn’t require Lingbo Weibu or the Ancient Tomb Sect’s skill anyway.

In this day and age, with trains, cars, and planes everywhere, he didn’t need to travel long distances on foot. Having a movement skill focused on flat-ground speed wasn’t particularly useful.

Instead, the Wudang Ladder Cloud Soar was precisely what suited Jiang Fei best.

With such a lightness skill, Jiang Fei’s combat power would increase dramatically.

Just think: during a fight, if you lightly leaped ten meters into the air, what would your opponent do?

They’d think you were cheating! How are they supposed to fight you if you’re up there and they can’t even reach you?

So, the moment Jiang Fei saw that the treasure he had drawn was the Wudang Ladder Cloud Soar, he was utterly stunned, his joy beyond words. It was like someone giving you a pillow just when you’re sleepy, or your wife’s brother visiting just when you miss her family—a true ‘timely rain’!

Recovering from his shock, Jiang Fei immediately ‘consumed’ the manual. Instantly, the system’s prompt sounded in his mind.

*Ding! Congratulations, Player. Learned lightness skill ‘Ladder Cloud Soar’. Current level is 0, 0/300. Upgrade now?*

The first level required 300 skill points, not much less than the 350 needed for Dugu Nine Sword. It truly lived up to its reputation as a top-tier lightness skill.

But so what if it was expensive? Of course, he would upgrade it!