One Ox's Strength

2024-07-31

One Ox's Strength

He carried a bucket of water from the courtyard and poured it straight from his head to his feet, washing away the grimy sweat on his skin.

Only then did Song Changming feel much refreshed, finally having the spare attention to think about what had just happened.

He opened the panel.

[Great Strength Bull Demon Art: One Ox's Strength (0/200)]

Under the martial arts section, the Great Strength Bull Demon Art had changed from Not Yet Initiated to One Ox's Strength.

According to what was recorded on the parchment, attaining One Ox's Strength marked the entry level of this Body Refining Technique.

Clearly, the startling changes in his body just now had all come from entering this Body Refining Technique.

At this moment, his build looked noticeably more robust, especially his arms. The lines of muscle were like Steel Tendons forged from molten iron, brimming with explosive power.

One Ox's Strength, as the name implied, granted the practitioner the strength of an ox.

Of course, that was only a rough comparison. In truth, the One Ox's Strength described on the parchment amounted to roughly a thousand jin of force.

In the eyes of ordinary people, his so-called One Ox's Strength was undoubtedly astonishing.

If paired with martial techniques—such as his Minor Accomplishment stage Soul Severing Saber Technique—its destructive power could erupt severalfold.

And that was the power of a martial artist!

Song Changming wanted to test it. His gaze swept around, and he went to the kitchen to pick up a woodcutter's blade, then hacked at a large piece of timber.

His waist, abdomen, and arms exerted force in succession. A somewhat unfamiliar, violently surging strength burst forth, flowing down along the blade.

With a crisp bang, that thigh-thick log was shattered into pieces by Song Changming's single strike.

That was right—not chopped in two, nor merely split apart, but directly blasted into countless fragments that scattered across the ground.

"So much strength!"

Song Changming felt that he had not even used his full power, yet the strength he displayed already far surpassed that of his daytime self.

This was the boost in power brought by a martial artist's body refinement!

Song Changming then stacked several pieces of hardwood together and struck again.

This time, the splintered wood flew even farther and broke apart more thoroughly.

"Excellent!" Song Changming was immensely satisfied with the power he had newly gained.

Wild and powerful!

It had to be said, this Annual Reward selection had been exceedingly worthwhile.

Not only had it allowed him to complete the initial entry into body refinement more than a year ahead of schedule, it had even saved him all the medicinal resources that would originally have been consumed over that year or so.

Being spared such a massive expense for Practicing Martial Arts was truly like sending charcoal in the snow for someone like him, who had little financial means in reality. It was an unexpected bonus on top of everything else.

Afterward, Song Changming tested the other functions of his body as well.

He quickly discovered that besides his substantial increase in strength, his endurance, explosive power, the perceptiveness of his five senses, reactions, and other aspects had all been enhanced to varying degrees.

It was just that compared to his strength, the improvements to these bodily functions were much weaker.

In particular, his agility and speed had improved rather little, exactly as the parchment had explained.

Every Body Refining Technique had its strengths and weaknesses. Each had its own primary focus, as well as flaws that needed to be compensated for.

His Great Strength Bull Demon Art was a Body Refining Technique focused on tempering the bones, maximizing the effect of building strength.

After bone tempering, his bones were as hard as iron and as heavy as boulders and mountains. This would inevitably affect his speed and agility.

Even though Song Changming had been mentally prepared before practicing it, after entering body refinement, he could still clearly sense the heaviness of this fleshly body.

He could not help but frown slightly. The massive increase in strength was certainly exhilarating, but he likewise did not want to sacrifice his own speed and agility.

He pondered how he could make up for his lack of speed and agility in the future. Even if they did not become the primary focus of his body refinement, at the very least they could not severely hold him back.

Yet after turning it over and over in his mind, limited by his current horizons, the only method he could think of was dual cultivation.

Simply put, ordinary martial artists usually focused on one direction of body refinement. Once they polished it to the utmost limit, they would become an expert powerhouse in their own right.

A small number of people, when they still had spare capacity, would also cultivate Body Refining Techniques in other directions to make up for their own shortcomings and deficiencies.

But this method not only required an immense consumption of body-refining resources, it also demanded several times the time and effort in arduous training before it could yield even a little result.

If the allocation was uneven and the priorities unclear, it could easily delay the progress of the primary Body Refining Technique, putting the cart before the horse and causing losses that outweighed the gains.

With the panel and a long Lifespan, Song Changming could indeed consider cultivating multiple Body Refining Techniques at once.

However, he needed vast amounts of body-refining resources, which was one problem. More importantly, he currently had only the Great Strength Bull Demon Art to practice. Even if he wanted to cultivate another technique alongside it, he had no other Body Refining Technique to choose from.

Therefore, this matter could only be set aside for now, until an opportunity arose for him to begin making preparations.

After all the commotion that night, Song Changming glanced at the sky. It seemed there were only a few hours left until dawn.

He did not feel tired at all. Having entered body refinement overnight, his energy was exceptionally abundant. Even though he had not slept all night, it would not affect his going to work early the next day.

Only after carefully familiarizing himself with his current physical strength did Song Changming wipe his dripping wet hair and return to his room to rest.

In the blink of an eye, midyear passed, and July arrived.

First floor of Changping Restaurant.

Several attendants worked together to pin an old man in plain clothes to the ground, remaining unmoved no matter how he wailed.

"You old bastard, still daring to shout?" One of the attendants kicked the old man in the thigh, still not having vented his anger.

The shopkeeper frowned and waved his hand. "Hurry up and throw him out. Don't affect the restaurant's business!"

As he spoke, several rough-looking men at a nearby table, sleeves rolled up, suddenly slapped the square table and rose to their feet. They angrily rebuked, "What is this, a Black Inn? In broad daylight, you actually beat a defenseless old man like this!"

"What are you to this old fool? What business is it of yours?" One attendant could not help retorting.

The shopkeeper stopped the attendant and was about to explain matters to those diners.

But the rough man was already so enraged that he could no longer listen. He strode over in great strides, seized the attendant by the collar, and threw him directly onto the ground, where he howled in pain.

With his ox-like eyes glaring, the other attendants in the restaurant panicked as well.

"You! Report this to the authorities! Hurry and report it!" Fearing that the other party would go mad and smash up his establishment, the shopkeeper immediately shouted.

It was not as though he had never seen such people before—those who acted without distinguishing right from wrong and were easily angered.

In fact, there were quite a few reckless brutes like this among the martial world who had practiced martial arts. They loved acting on impulse, calling it chivalry and justice, when in truth they were models of abusing force.

True martial artists with the bearing of heroes were few and far between.

"I'll show you reporting it to the authorities! You blind fool!" The rough man leaped up with a kick, aiming straight for the shopkeeper.

"Stop!" A sudden shout rang out. Another leg shot out as well, blocking in front of the shopkeeper and colliding with the rough man's foot.

The next moment, the rough man felt an immense force strike him. His body immediately lost balance, and he staggered, nearly falling to the ground.