"Don't be so humble."

Tao Ye said, "Even my grandfather praised you for your courage when he heard about this."

After hearing this, Xu Ning was quite surprised.

Her grandfather, Tao Jingxing, was the head of the Tao Clan, the most powerful and prestigious person in the Tao Village.

He couldn't believe he was actually praised by Tao Jingxing.

After some small talk, the two parted ways.

"What happened to my reputation…"

After parting ways from Tao Ye, Xu Ning felt a little emotional.

Prior to this, he never had the opportunity to socialize with the granddaughter of the Clan Head, but now, he was praised by the Clan Head of the Tao Village.

Although he was an outsider, from this point onwards, no one should have any more prejudice against him.

Xu Ning went home with firewood on his back.

He pushed the door open and saw a ton of stuff in the courtyard.

There were grains, meat, clothing, and all kinds of things.

"What is this…"

Xu Ning was a little confused.

'Sis and Brother-in-law are gone, Tao Tao also went outside to play, so how did these things get here?'

"Xu Ning!"

Guo Ye's voice came from outside the gate.

"You're home."

Guo Ye appeared with a wooden box in his hand.

"You brought these things?"

Xu Ning asked.

Guo Ye nodded. "My uncle asked me to bring it… When I got here, the yard door was open, but no one was in the house, so I just left them here."

"Uncle Gang is too kind."

Xu Ning had already guessed why Tao Yungang gave him these presents.

It was no doubt as a show of thanks for helping him in the battle.

"My uncle was supposed to come here and thank you, but he was busy with the funeral and injuries of his brothers, so he asked me to come thank you instead."

Guo Ye said.

"Actually, this is totally unnecessary…"

Xu Ning really didn't care much about this.

"Oh yeah, in addition to these, there is one more thing my uncle asked me to hand to you."

Guo Ye handed the wooden box in his hand to Xu Ning.

Xu Ning took it and opened the wooden box curiously.

"This is… a Swallowtail Flower?"

Xu Ning raised his eyebrows.

Five Swallowtail Flowers were placed neatly in the wooden box.

"This is too expensive of a gift."

Xu Ning sighed.

Previously, he had absorbed 3 energy units from a Swallowtail Flower, which gave him the energy required to reach the intermediate realm of the Gale Knife Technique.

And for that Swallowtail Flower, even with Guo Ye's discount, he still had to spend 180 taels.

Normally, the price should be around 200 taels.

There were five Swallowtail Flowers in this wooden box, which was equivalent to 1000 taels.

"I can't accept this."

Although Xu Ning was moved, he gritted his teeth and refused.

1000 taels was too much.

"You have to accept it." Guo Ye continued, "my uncle said, you saved his and my life, so our family owes you. You know how my uncle is. If you insist on refusing, just return it to my uncle yourself. "

"Besides, now that you're practicing your internal skill, these Swallowtail Flowers will be of great use to you."

"But…"

"No buts…" Guo Ye said, "Take it, I have to go. My uncle is busy, and I have to help him."

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Ning finally accepted the generous gift.

On one hand, he decided to accept Tao Yungang's gratitude, and on the other, Xu Ning really needed an energy source.

After fighting against internal skill martial artists, Xu Ning clearly noticed his own shortcomings.

Although he was in the intermediate realm of the Gale Knife technique, the potential of his body was not activated yet—he was too weak.

Only by practicing internal energy and combining it with external skills, could he exert his greatest strength.

After Guo Ye left, Xu Ning moved all the grain, meat, and clothing sent by Guo Ye into the house.

After that, Xu Ning put down the firewood and went inside the house with the five Swallowtail Flowers.

"Five Swallowtail Flowers…"

Xu Ning placed the wooden box on the table. He felt a little hesitant.

One Swallowtail Flower could provide 3 units of energy, so five Swallowtail Flowers was equivalent to 15 units of energy!

He tried to upgrade his Gale Knife Technique from intermediate realm to perfection realm, and it required 12 units of energy.

But if he spent it on his internal skill Spring Breeze Tactic, he could move up two realms at once.

Xu Ning no longer hesitated, he immediately grabbed a Swallowtail Flower in his hand.

As expected, the Martial Arts Panel appeared in his vision.

—

Discovered energy: 3 units

Absorb?

Yes/No

—

"Yes!"

The Swallowtail Flower in Xu Ning's hand withered as he gained 3 energy units.

Xu Ning did not stop, as he continued to absorb the remaining four Swallowtail Flowers.

The Martial Arts Panel refreshed.

—

Name: Xu Ning

Martial Arts:

Spring Breeze Tactic (Beginner) +

Gale Knife Method (Intermediate) +

Available energy: 15 units

—

"15 units of energy…"

Xu Ning finally experienced what having an abundance of energy felt like.

He set his sights on the Martial Arts Panel.

After obtaining these 15 units of energy, the first thing Xu Ning must do was to improve his Spring Breeze Tactic.

Xu Ning looked at the "+" sign next to the Spring Breeze Tactic.

—

Consume 3 units of energy to level up Spring Breeze Tactic?

Yes/No

—

"Yes!"

Xu Ning confirmed.

—

Name: Xu Ning

Martial Arts:

Spring Breeze Tactic (Mortal realm first stage: practice realm) +

Gale Knife Method (Intermediate) +

Available energy: 12 units

—

The moment the panel refreshed, Xu Ning suddenly felt the blood in his body beginning to surge.

An inexplicable sense of power poured out from the depths of his physical body.

His limbs, torso, and head seemed to be expanding, as if he was becoming a giant.

"This feeling…"

This sudden increase in power actually made Xu Ning feel dizzy.

"This is what internal skill strength is."

Xu Ning glanced down at his body.

He was still skinny, as if the feeling of expansion was an illusion.

However, even though his body had not changed, the feeling of power still existed.

Xu Ning looked at the steel knife next to him.

This steel knife weighed about ten pounds, so when he used it, he had to grab it firmly.

However, his arm strength was low. He did fine during practice, but it became restrictive during real combat. Once the battle went on for too long, his arm strength would weaken and his form would change.

But now, Xu Ning, who had broken through the realm of strength training, decided to try again.

Xu Ning walked to the steel knife and picked it up.

"It's lighter!"

Xu Ning could clearly tell the difference compared to before.

Xu Ning felt like he was holding a wooden knife.

Xu Ning slashed around swiftly.

"Huff…"

Xu Ning couldn't contain himself. He began to practice the Gale Knife Technique inside his house.

Hu! Hu! Hu!

The knife slashed in the wind.

Fortunately, there were not many things inside the house, so Xu Ning was not cramped by the space.

After finishing his routine, Xu Ning was ecstatic.

'My improvement in my internal skill has made my Gale Knife Technique more lethal!'

In addition to the improvement in strength brought about by the breakthrough of the Spring Breeze Tactic, Xu Ning's control of his body had also been raised to a higher level.

"Sure enough, internal skill is the key!"

Xu Ning exclaimed.

'If I continue to ascend to mortal realm second stage, or mortal realm third stage, then the blessings on my body's strength would be even more powerful!'

Xu Ning once again focused on the "+" besides his Spring Breeze Tactic.

—

Consume 6 units of energy to level up the Spring Breeze Tactic?

Yes/No

—

Leveling the internal skill realm from the first level to the second level required twice the energy units.

Xu Ning did not confirm immediately. He was weighing his options.

He still had 12 units of energy left, which was enough to easily achieve the mortal realm second stage muscle bone realm, but after the breakthrough, he would have 6 units of energy left, which was definitely not enough to reach the mortal realm third stage inner enrichment realm.

He knew from before that it took 12 units of energy to achieve the perfection realm in the Gale Knife Technique, which was exactly how much energy units he had left.

'Should I level up my Gale Knife Technique to the highest level, or enhance my internal skill?'

Xu Ning was a bit hesitant.

Xu Ning had already witnessed the physique of a muscle bone realm warrior during his battle against the horse bandit.

If the body's internal skill level was higher than the external skill level, one could easily manifest all the strengths of the body, achieving powerful combat power.

Xu Ning still didn't know how strong the perfection realm of an external skill was.

After all, it seemed that there were only a few clan elders who practiced the Gale Knife Technique or Hurricane Spear Technique to the perfection realm.

For ordinary warriors, improving their external skills to the perfection realm was a process that relied heavily on years of practice.