The two gangs clashed in a vicious brawl, leaving many dead and wounded. Even the yellow earth by the streets had been dyed red.
The Wild Fox Gang and Mad Horse Gang had long borne grudges against each other. Even their lowest-ranking members would trade provocations when they met, fighting day in and day out.
This time, the conflict was completely ignited.
Tu Laosan and Gao Qiang both gathered their gang members, and their numbers swelled.
In the end, it developed into a large-scale armed brawl that even alerted the City Gate Guards.
Afterward, more than a hundred bodies were counted, while the wounded gang members nearly burst every clinic in the city.
The authorities stepped in to mediate, bringing the leaders of both gangs together to settle the matter over tea.
The Wild Fox Gang insisted that the Mad Horse Gang had struck first, while the Mad Horse Gang demanded the return of the three missing portions of Bone Tempering Powder.
It was a muddled account, and though they argued until the roof nearly flew off, no conclusion was reached.
In the end, the matter was dropped, becoming another rotten debt in the history of enmity between the two gangs.
And what of the true culprit behind it all?
Once Zhou You saw the brawl erupt, he slipped away and returned to Jianxiong Martial Arts School.
Seeing Gao Qiang looking like a madman ready to devour someone, Zhou You could be certain that the Bone Tempering Powder had not been tampered with. It was genuine.
He was no fool. He would not casually use medicine of unknown origin on himself.
The Mad Horse Gang had lost so many people over it and kept pursuing the Wild Fox Gang for the Bone Tempering Powder. That alone showed how precious it was.
There was nothing wrong with it. He could use it without worry.
Another six or seven days passed after he returned to the martial arts school, and the Outer Court's Tiger Bone Paste was distributed.
One portion of Tiger Bone Paste and three portions of Bone Tempering Powder amounted to a considerable fortune.
Tiger Bone Paste has already built up drug resistance, but this is my first time using Bone Tempering Powder.
The best method is to make the most of the Bone Tempering Powder before drug resistance develops. With the Tiger Bone Paste as support, I can push all three attributes past 10 in one burst.
Zhou You's current personal system panel was as follows:
Name: Zhou You. Strength: 9. Speed: 9. Defense: 9. Experience Points: 62. Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice. Skills: Imperial Strike Hand lv7, Square Step lv7, Tiger Subduing Fist lv6.
Zhou You ground the Bone Tempering Powder into a fine paste, rubbed it into his palms, and began practicing the Square Step and Imperial Strike Hand on the spot.
He could not waste time. While absorbing the medicine's effects, he also had to train and accumulate Experience Points.
Streams of medicinal power merge into his blood, nourishing the depths of his bone marrow and bringing an itchy, tingling numbness.
When Lu Qiang had taught martial arts, he had once spoken of the difference between a great tree and vines.
"Tiger Subduing Fist centers on tempering the bones. Bones are like a tree trunk; only by nurturing them well can one become a towering tree. Otherwise, one will be nothing but limp vines, forever unable to rise straight into the clouds."
Zhou You practiced each move and stance, his understanding growing ever clearer.
The medicinal power of the Bone Tempering Powder nourished his bone marrow step by step, drawing out the strength in every joint throughout his body.
The itching grew stronger, as if branches, leaves, and flowers were about to burst through his flesh.
Endure it. Endure it. This is a trial in the process of transformation.
Seeing such a fierce reaction to the medicine, Zhou You was not alarmed but delighted. The Bone Tempering Powder's effects on its first use were far stronger than he had expected.
His daring act of snatching chestnuts from the fire—stirring the two gangs into a brawl and stealing three portions of Bone Tempering Powder amid the chaos—had not been in vain.
This had been the sort of extreme operation that was like walking a tightrope. One careless misstep, and he would be exposed and smashed to pieces in the fall.
Reason told him that doing this once or twice was acceptable, but doing it too often would inevitably lead to trouble.
But if he did not take a gamble, how could he gain such rewards?
Step by step and punch by punch, Zhou You practiced from daylight until night. Not only did his strength not weaken, it grew increasingly forceful and ferocious.
The moment the first portion of Bone Tempering Powder began to fade slightly, he immediately took the second.
The itching deep in his bone marrow immediately surged again.
Sure enough, continuously using secret medicine to temper the body is possible.
The reason the Outer Court distributes supplies once every seven days is not because of the apprentices' physical limits, but because resources are insufficient.
There were nearly two hundred Outer Court apprentices, and most of them were new apprentices who had failed to become Official Martial Arts School Disciples.
Official disciples received supplies once every three days, requiring nearly twice as much Tiger Bone Paste.
If supplies were distributed every day, even a martial arts school connected to the government treasury could not sustain it.
Zhou You sighed inwardly. Practicing martial arts consumed enormous resources; it was purely an exercise in burning money.
The monthly tuition of twenty taels alone was enough to bar 99 percent of the city's commoner children, not to mention the harsh threshold for physical aptitude.
If not for the System Panel, Zhou You too would have been just one among the countless masses, with no chance to practice martial arts.
Precisely because of this, he cherished this hard-won opportunity even more.
The medicinal power brought by the Bone Tempering Powder kept him from feeling fatigue as he trained again and again, breaking through bottlenecks and limits.
Imperial Strike Hand lv7 → lv8, Experience Points +70. Square Step lv7 → lv8, Experience Points +70.
His Experience Points instantly rose past 200. If his attributes met the requirements, he could raise the proficiency of Tiger Subduing Fist on the spot.
Zhou You decisively used the final portion of Bone Tempering Powder and applied the Tiger Bone Paste to his body as well.
Two utterly different medicinal powers gathered within him, beginning to nourish his muscles and bones and raise his physical attributes.
Strength +3. Speed +3. Defense +3.
The plan had worked. The Bone Tempering Powder had not produced drug resistance, and its effects were nothing short of a meteoric rise.
In one breath, Zhou You raised all three attributes to 12, meeting the requirements for upgrading Tiger Subduing Fist.
He decisively chose to upgrade!
Experience Points -60, Tiger Subduing Fist lv6 → lv7, remaining Experience Points 172. Experience Points -70, Tiger Subduing Fist lv7 → lv8, remaining Experience Points 102. Experience Points -80, Tiger Subduing Fist lv8 → lv9, remaining Experience Points 22.
Zhou You heard faint crackling sounds beside his ears. His muscles stretched, his sinews and bones strengthened, and an enormous flood of martial arts techniques poured into his mind with every breath.
In that brief instant, his entire body underwent a rebirth.
In the span of a single breath, his mastery of Tiger Subduing Fist rose to lv9.
Tiger Subduing Fist, lv9. Requirements to upgrade to lv10: Strength 15, Speed 15, Defense 15, Experience Points +90.
Lv10 was a minor threshold. Breaking through it would allow one to wield Martial Force and become an Official Martial Arts School Disciple.
But for most new apprentices, this step was as difficult as climbing to the heavens.
Within the three-month limit, many stopped before this threshold.
Jianxiong Martial Arts School's selection mechanism was simple: Develop strength within 100 days, and only then would one qualify to formally enter.
Those eliminated apprentices would have no chance to reenter the martial arts school, even if they later broke through the bottleneck and cultivated Martial Force.
Yet for Zhou You, this threshold was no longer much of an obstacle.
Zhou You loosened his muscles and bones. He felt as if a fierce tiger lay dormant within him, restless and ready to stir.
He was only one step away from lv10 and could already vaguely sense the direction for breaking through to Martial Force.
Martial Force was like a plant growing from the soil, a power transformed from the flesh-and-blood body as its foundation.
The key to breaking through the bottleneck lies in developing the body's potential.
Zhou You felt power surge from deep within his bones, easily piercing through flesh and reaching the surface of his body.
Every hair on his body stood upright at once, tough as iron wire, capable of piercing pigskin.
Yet this power appeared for only an instant before withdrawing into the shadows and becoming utterly silent.
It's still lacking a little fire.
Only by truly mastering this power, wielding it freely and striking out Martial Force solidly—
But Zhou You had already seen the first light of hope.
Before you continue