Minor Accomplishment! Axe Technique

Since it had value, Zhang Lingshan did not stand on ceremony.

He would drink the Solid Essence Tea.

He would also drink the medicine the physician had brewed for the wounded.

At noon, seeing that the Demon Rabbit meat would not be ready anytime soon, he hurried to the martial hall and ate another meal.

After that.

He quickly returned home, greeted his mother and younger sister, then immediately entered his room.

He opened the Panel.

Name: Zhang Lingshan

Martial Arts: Red Thread Fist (Entry Level+), Primal Chaos Righteous Yang Posture (Perfection)

Energy: 89.8

I can improve again.

Zhang Lingshan sat cross-legged and entered a focused state.

Stat Points.

He issued the command in his heart.

Whoosh.

The scene before his eyes suddenly changed, and image after image came flooding in.

Looking closely, every image was of himself. Fused together, they formed a record of himself practicing diligently through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, regardless of heat or cold.

Judging by the changing seasons in the images, he had practiced for at least a year.

At last.

The Zhang Lingshan in the image let out a fierce shout and punched with all his strength, blasting a deep crater into a tree so thick it took one person to embrace.

Red Thread Fist, Minor Accomplishment!

It reached Minor Accomplishment just like that?

Zhang Lingshan came back to his senses, mildly astonished.

It felt as though a long time had passed, yet also as though it had happened in an instant.

But that was not the important part.

The important part was that his body had not changed much at all, nothing like when the Primal Chaos Righteous Yang Posture had broken through to Perfection...

Just as he was thinking.

Crunching sounds suddenly came from inside his body.

Then a surge of force exploded within him. Zhang Lingshan's body jolted, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, curling into a ball.

His body was bright red, like a cooked prawn.

He trembled without stop, sweat streaming over his entire body, only to be quickly evaporated by the heat radiating from him.

After more than a dozen breaths like this.

Finally.

He calmed down, climbed to his feet, and let out a long breath.

It's understandable for my body to have some unusual reaction after going through a whole year of cultivation all at once.

Zhang Lingshan was not surprised.

It would have been abnormal if there had been no reaction.

After checking himself, Zhang Lingshan was delighted to discover that he had grown a little taller.

But what delighted him even more was that his skin had become tougher.

He came to the courtyard.

Following the movements from the images, Zhang Lingshan gathered his qi and focused his mind, then viciously drove a punch into a tree so thick it took one person to embrace.

Bang!

Drawing back his fist, he saw a clear fist mark on the trunk.

Yet there was not even a trace of redness on his knuckles.

Stone Skin, just as expected.

Zhang Lingshan secretly rejoiced.

This breakthrough of the Red Thread Fist into Minor Accomplishment was clearly different from its previous breakthrough to Entry Level. The improvement was far greater; those Energy Points had not been wasted.

Feeling the vast power surging through his body.

Zhang Lingshan estimated that if he encountered that Demon Rabbit again, he would be able to fight it with ease, without losing focus or exhausting his strength.

In contrast, Yu Mengyuan and the other Herb Gathering Guards had all possessed Stone Skin, yet they had still been beaten back step by step by that Demon Rabbit.

The difference in strength was obvious at a glance!

And the key to such a gap was that his Primal Chaos Righteous Yang Posture had reached Perfection!

At that thought, an idea suddenly flashed through Zhang Lingshan's mind.

Should he find another Stance Skill like the Primal Chaos Righteous Yang Posture and cultivate it to Perfection as well?

Not only would that further strengthen his physique, but he might also comprehend another kind of "Momentum."

He just did not know whether two kinds of "Momentum" could stack.

But that was not a problem. Even if they could not stack, strengthening his physique would still be worthwhile.

As for the specifics, he would have to test them.

Fortunately, Stance Skills were relatively low-level martial arts and did not consume many Energy Points to improve. It was worth trying.

But where can I get a Stance Skill?

Zhang Lingshan could not help feeling troubled.

Although Stance Skills were low-level, they were not something one could learn so casually.

Back when he had joined the Hong Clan Martial Hall, he had paid twenty taels of silver, yet all he learned was the Righteous Yang Posture.

It was clear that martial halls held back when first teaching martial arts; one could not learn the real thing.

Besides, even if there truly were a martial hall willing to directly teach him genuine skills, with his current status as a Hong Clan disciple, he had already lost the right to seek masters everywhere.

Everything had its rules.

Since he had the identity of a Hong Clan disciple, he could not overstep those rules. Otherwise, not only would he fail to learn martial arts, he would also be swept out of the Hong Clan Martial Hall.

Therefore, learning a new Stance Skill truly was a difficult problem.

He had to proceed slowly and steadily, not rush headlong into it.

"May I ask if Senior Brother Zhang Lingshan is here?"

Someone suddenly called from outside the courtyard.

Zhang Lingshan put away his thoughts, walked out of the room, and opened the courtyard gate. Surprised, he said, "Junior Brother Tie Feng, what is it?"

Tie Feng said, "Senior Brother Mountain, my father sent me to thank you for saving his life yesterday. If not for you yesterday..."

As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, cautiously glanced around, and said, "Can I come inside to speak?"

"Come in."

Seeing the caution written all over his face, Zhang Lingshan found it inexplicable.

He invited him into his room, and only then did Tie Feng say in a low voice, "The Sixth Young Master said that what you did yesterday must not be spoken of carelessly. He told all of us to keep our mouths shut. I think what you did yesterday must have been extraordinary. If someone with ulterior motives heard about it, there could be trouble."

"Mm. Senior Brother Feng has considered things thoroughly. It truly cannot be spoken of casually."

Zhang Lingshan nodded.

Yet inwardly, he thought, Could Feng Shaolong have seen that I comprehended "Momentum"? Is that why he changed his attitude and began viewing me in a different light?

But "Momentum" was something intangible and elusive. Besides, he had merely borrowed the "Momentum" of the Primal Chaos Righteous Yang Posture at the time; what he used was still only the Red Thread Fist.

He should not have been able to see the mystery within it.

Forget it. No need to think so much.

First, he should hear why Tie Feng had come all this way.

"Senior Brother Mountain."

Tie Feng suddenly bowed solemnly. "Thank you for helping yesterday. Otherwise, my father would not have made it back."

Zhang Lingshan waved his hand. "At the time, I was also acting to save myself..."

"No. My father said that you could clearly have escaped at the time, but because you considered that he was beside you, you chose to stand your ground. That caused you to suffer severe injuries and become unable to move."

Tie Feng said earnestly, "My father feels deeply ashamed over this. He knows he owes you a life and cannot repay such a debt, so he specially ordered me to bring you ten taels of silver and the Three-Move Axe Technique he had kept hidden away. Senior Brother Mountain, please be sure to accept them!"

As he spoke, he pulled a ten-tael Silver Note from his robes, along with three carefully wrapped sheets of Ox Skin paper.

"Uncle Tie is far too courteous."

Zhang Lingshan said so with his mouth, but his hands were honest enough to tuck the Silver Note into his robes. Then he picked up the three sheets of Ox Skin paper and began examining them.

On the oil paper was a bare, Burly Man, with several red dots marked on his body and blue lines running between them.

"What is this?"

Zhang Lingshan asked curiously.

Tie Feng said, "The red dots are acupoints, and the blue lines are the routes for circulating power.

"My father once met a wandering martial arts master. He worked as labor for that man for a time, and the man passed this axe technique down to him.

"Since my father cannot read, the man drew this picture for him to memorize and also passed down a mnemonic chant.

"Senior Brother Mountain, I will teach you the chant now."