Out of gratitude for Ivy’s insightful conversation, Wang Jian didn’t claim his share of the black bead.
He had skipped work the previous afternoon and hadn’t participated in the incineration, meaning Ivy had done all the work, and he wasn't entitled to a share.
This was the behavior of a good person—honesty and fairness.
Ivy disliked haggling and took the bead, giving Wang Jian 27$ as payment.
“We made an agreement, and we should stick to it. What if I had to leave and you kept all the beads you found?” Ivy said, forcing the money into Wang Jian’s pocket.
Seeing Ivy’s insistence, Wang Jian accepted the money, thinking, Ivy is truly a good person.
Wang Jian reached for his wallet to return the change. The small black bead wasn’t worth 27$; black market dealers would only pay about $16.
“No need,” Ivy said, offering a proposition. “From now on, give me your share of the beads. I’ll buy them at $27 each, regardless of size. It’ll save you the trouble of going to the black market. What do you say?”
“What do you need the black beads for?” Wang Jian agreed readily; $27 per bead was a good deal. He was just curious.
“My father is a precinct officer. I… cough cough,” Ivy said, a hint of embarrassment crossing her face, “Anyway, it’s a little secret of mine. Can you keep it for me?”
The words “precinct officer” were enough for Wang Jian to make several connections. He didn’t press further and agreed.
“I’ll keep your secret. I won’t tell anyone,” Wang Jian promised seriously. To emphasize his point, he added, “Even if the Qinglang Gang asks, I won’t reveal a single word about your secret.”
Ivy smiled, believing him.
They burned seven evil corpses that day.
Ivy gained another black bead, and Wang Jian gained 27$—both were satisfied.
The entire process of transporting, incinerating, collecting ashes, and cleaning took three hours.
After a quick lunch, they had about five hours left. Ivy dedicated that time to physical training.
By the end of the shift, her absorption rate had increased by four points.
The rate of increase was slightly slower than the previous day, likely due to her body replenishing some blood, but it was still significant.
Ivy estimated that even without deliberately self-harming, maintaining this rate and training during workdays would allow her to reach the Rank 1 milestone of the Iron Eater skill within ten days.
She planned to dedicate her evenings to the Crane Claw Technique, enhancing her immediate combat capabilities to deal with the brewing conspiracy and unexpected threats.
Ivy meticulously recorded her daily progress. A week ago, she had usually trained until 4 AM. Now, she was finishing much earlier, and she still found it strange.
[Iron Eater: Rank 1]
[Consumable Iron Types: 1]
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
[Absorbable Metal Properties: 1]
[Currently detected iron type—Common cast iron, absorption rate 56.7%.]
[Absorbed properties: Plastic Embryo (White)]
“The coldness isn’t intensifying. Instead, there’s a slight tingling sensation, like tiny ants crawling in my bones. It’s still tolerable,” Ivy noted.
Ivy had always had a high pain tolerance, perhaps an innate racial trait of the lower class.
Ivy flexed her wrist, muttering, “It feels similar to a wound scabbing over. So, is it about bone marrow hardening?”
She rode her bike to a store and spent 140$ on thirty pounds of iron beads and several bottles of industrial lubricant. The shopkeeper gave her a burlap sack.
Because of the Qinglang Gang’s unusual investigation, Ivy was less cautious. It wasn’t that she was careless but that she understood caution was futile.
Ma Ban wasn’t necessarily looking for the real culprit. Who he wanted to frame was more important. If it was her, no amount of concealment would help. If it wasn’t her, why bother hiding?
Waiting for the verdict was agonizing. Even though Ivy was the actual culprit, the pretense of a wrongful accusation was infuriating.
Carrying the heavy sack home, she grabbed an iron basin from the bathroom and took it to her room.
Following the instructions in the Crane Claw Technique, Ivy filled the basin with iron beads and added lubricant, using her hands to mix them thoroughly.
After two minutes, the iron beads and her ten fingertips were completely coated in lubricant.
“Focusing on a single iron bead in the bowl, curl your finger like a hook, swiftly and precisely grabbing the bead without touching the others. This is considered a success.”
“Ten consecutive successful attempts with a single finger, without error, is considered mastery of a single finger.”
“Repeat with each finger until all ten are mastered. One hundred successful attempts without error signifies mastery of the basic claw techniques and eligibility for Crane Claw training.”
Ivy recalled the basic techniques of the Crane Claw Technique, holding her breath, extending her right index finger, swiftly moving over the bowl of iron beads.
Snap!
The bowl was damaged, a dent forming, the iron beads scattering.
Ivy looked down. Her fingertip was empty.
“My posture was wrong. I need to slow down when I curl the hook. Try again,” she muttered, replaying the movement in her mind, analyzing her mistakes.
Her eyes sharp, she took a deep breath, visualizing her finger as a crane's claw, the dented bowl as a still lake, and the iron bead as a fish hidden beneath the surface.
In the next moment, her finger moved swiftly, like a crane skimming the water, hooking the bloody fish?
Ivy felt that this visualization perfectly embodied the essence of the Crane Claw Technique.
Don’t ask Ivy why she did this. Years of watching wuxia films had instilled the idea that if a character made a connection, they'd immediately gain significant skills.
Then,
Ivy looked at her bleeding fingertip, lost in thought.
Her fingertip contained only air, her own blood, and a broken fingernail.
Ivy decided to switch fingers, touching the bowl and attempting the hook again and again.
Failure!
Failure!
Failure!
Failure!
Success!
...
An hour later, five fingernails were broken, her fingertips swollen and bruised, the surrounding flesh and tendons trembling.
“Total attempts: 411. Failures: 370. Successes: 41. Success rate: 9.9%.”
Ivy used a knife to cut open her fingertips, draining the blood, sighing inwardly.
“[Blood Frenzy] seems to have little effect on [Crane Claw Technique]. Is this because I haven’t mastered the basic techniques? Or is this the best possible result, considering that my success rate would have been even lower without the buff?”
Ivy remained undeterred, believing that with enough effort, she could master the basic Crane Claw techniques.
Although the recommended constitution score for Crane Claw Technique was 65, she was far below that threshold.
But Ivy didn’t aim for mastery. She only wanted to unlock the skill.
Ivy muttered, “With a constitution score of 49, it should be possible. The question is how long it will take—a day, a week, a month, or a year?”
Success was possible, but…
Remembering the still-unactivated [Physical Training] skill, Ivy realized she shouldn’t be so confident. She needed a backup plan… Forget it.
She was racing against time; time was life!
“Fine, I’ll cheat!”
Ivy faced reality. Not only was her constitution weak, but her aptitude was probably just as poor. The righteous path of martial arts was probably not feasible for her. She had a backup plan.