Chapter Seven: Remarkable Progress

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" After the neighbor's rooster crowed three times, rising in pitch, Xiang Yang, naked on the earthen kang, suddenly opened his eyes. With a carp leap, he flipped to his feet, his lower half rock-hard and impressively grand, his little brother swaying and trembling.

"Damn it, I actually fell asleep. I wonder if I wasted the medicinal effects. Damn it, this is all hard-earned silver."

Xiang Yang muttered to himself with some distress. However, as he shook his neck and stretched, a faint crackling sound of bone vibration came from his side, startling him. The sensation in his body was strange.

In the past, when Xiang Yang woke up in the morning, he would be groggy, his eyes heavy with sleep, and sometimes his body would ache in various places. But this morning was different. His mind was clear, without any lingering sleepiness or desire to go back to bed. His body felt light and at ease, every inch of his skin, every muscle, felt as if he had been massaged from head to toe.

"It's effective." Xiang Yang's eyes lit up with joy, but after glancing at his condition below, his face flushed slightly.

Although he was alone in the room, he still felt a surge of shame. He quickly put on his clothes and picked up the Wild Goose Feather Saber placed on the head of the kang. The moment he held the Wild Goose Feather Saber, Xiang Yang noticed a difference from before; the weight seemed off.

The Wild Goose Feather Saber was three feet five inches long, reforged with iron essence, weighing around thirteen jin. With the scabbard, it weighed about fifteen jin, nearly double the weight of the standard official sabers at the county yamen. But today, Xiang Yang felt the saber was somewhat light.

"No, it's not that the saber is lighter, but my strength has increased. Carrying a fifteen-jin object feels more relaxed and effortless, hence this illusion. It seems the cultivation effect of the Iron Crotch Technique is very significant."

Xiang Yang held the saber in his left hand and stroked his chin with his right, thinking joyfully. Among the three major benefits of cultivating the Iron Crotch Technique – increasing strength – this was the one he paid most attention to and desired the most, as it directly related to his future combat effectiveness and the success or failure of his missions.

To verify his conjecture, Xiang Yang walked into the small courtyard, took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, put down the Wild Goose Feather Saber, and turned to retrieve two stone locks from the corner, specifically used for tempering strength.

Holding the stone locks at his sides, with legs spread apart in a horse stance and his waist and abdomen straight, Xiang Yang began the motion of lifting the stone locks up and down. One, two. He counted silently with each repetition.

In the past, under his best condition, Xiang Yang could do fifteen repetitions in one go. But today was different. Xiang Yang felt as if he had divine assistance. In a short time, he had completed over twenty repetitions, and still had the strength to continue.

With two thuds, Xiang Yang suppressed his joy and threw the stone locks into a corner. He turned, picked up the Wild Goose Feather Saber, drew it from its scabbard, and began practicing his saber techniques.

His chopping strikes were more powerful than before, his thrusts swifter, and his blocks more stable. Before the morning sun had risen, Xiang Yang freely swung his saber in the dimly lit courtyard, executing all eight methods of saber play, practicing the stances and routines over and over. His arms remained as steady as a mountain, without a hint of tremor.

Finally, Xiang Yang returned the saber to its scabbard, let out a long breath of turbid air, and clenched his right fist tightly, examining it carefully.

It was still fair and smooth, with a baby-like dimple at the end of his thumb. But the strength was truly different. Today, he far surpassed his yesterday self.

The most obvious improvement was the power behind his saber techniques. The same moves, the same proficiency, but with a third more strength, and more than a third more power.

In other words, if yesterday Xiang Yang could kill two strong adult men armed with weapons, today he could easily defeat five such men. With his current strength, he was more than capable of being a minor constable in Anyuan County. If he performed well, becoming a constable captain in the future was not impossible.

"And this is just the beginning. Completing the remaining two tasks issued by the Wordless Book will allow me to obtain the Basic Breathing Technique, cultivate internal energy, and learn the Hu Family Saber Technique. My strength will then increase exponentially. By continuing to snowball, I will become stronger and stronger, and becoming invincible in the world, a legendary figure, is not impossible."

Xiang Yang's emotions surged. Putting aside other things, with his current progress, if given two months, his strength would increase by eight hundred jin. He would surely be able to slaughter Hu Qiang like a dog. What was a seventy-jin saber? He'd kill you with Li Yuanba's great hammer then.

However, Xiang Yang soon realized that such a significant improvement precisely highlighted his original weakness. According to the Iron Crotch Technique, the effect of increasing strength was definitely best during the initial cultivation. Continuing to cultivate would gradually diminish the increase in strength, eventually reaching a plateau.

This was like taking medicine; the body gradually developed resistance. The cultivation of the Iron Crotch Technique also relied heavily on the nourishment of the medicinal soup's vital energy. In comparison, the Iron Crotch Technique could only serve as a short-term means to increase strength.

"It's still not bad. According to the cultivation method and my estimation, those with exceptional talent can gain the strength of nine bulls from cultivating the Iron Crotch Technique, wielding weapons weighing a hundred jin as easily as their own arms. On Earth, this would be a formidable general capable of defeating ten armies and repelling a thousand soldiers, like Xiang Yu or Lu Bu. I wouldn't say I have exceptional talent, but if I cultivate it to the peak, killing Hu Qiang shouldn't be much of a problem."

Right now, Xiang Yang's mind was set on killing Hu Qiang. The mission was one aspect, and avenging Xiang Da Niu was another. However, a few days ago, due to his lack of strength, he hadn't dared to think about it deeply. Now that the Iron Crotch Technique was so effective, Xiang Yang saw hope and the thought resurfaced.

He turned to the water vat by the side, drew a basin of clean water to wash up, and then went to the outhouse to relieve himself. Xiang Yang's stomach began to rumble. After thinking about it, he realized that from last night until this morning, he had only drunk one bowl of the medicinal soup that came with the Iron Crotch Technique. As for the two jin of pork used to boil the soup, its essence and vital energy had all dissolved into the medicine. The remaining waste meat had already been discarded by Xiang Yang, untouched.

"It's time to feed my stomach. Also, Father has been buried, so it's time to report to the county yamen, officially take up my post with my official uniform, and at the same time, look for an opportunity to investigate the black hand behind my father's assassination."

Xiang Yang thought for a moment, went back into the house, took off his mourning clothes, and changed into a black cloth outfit. He only tied a white cloth strip above his right arm to signify that he was still in mourning.

Just as he finished tidying up, he heard a banging sound on the main door from outside, accompanied by a rustic voice with a duck-like rasp shouting, "Little Brother Yang, hurry up and come out! I've brought your official uniform for you."

Hearing the voice, Xiang Yang's mind instantly conjured the image of a sharp-faced, cunning-eyed, and intelligent young boy. This was his childhood friend, Fu Da Chun, who used to work as a yamen runner and a hanger-on at the yamen with him.

Fu Da Chun's ancestral home was in Xiuyuan County, Qingjiang Prefecture, several counties away from Anyuan. His ancestors were farmers, but his grandfather's generation had good fortune, coming to Anyuan County to settle down and open a small tavern, earning some money.

When it was Fu Da Chun's father's turn, he spent some money to get a position as a yamen runner in the yamen. Although he didn't earn much, he was still on the government payroll, and his status was extraordinary. More importantly, ordinary local thugs dared not cause trouble at the Fu family tavern.

Since Fu Da Chun turned twelve the year before last, he stopped attending school and instead followed his father around the yamen every day. He met Xiang Yang, who was a year older, and they became playmates and friends.