The path of martial arts emphasized gradual progress and forbade biting off more than one could chew, especially when cultivating external hard skills.
Dong Yuezhen still remembered when she had first begun cultivating Iron Body Skill. She had used a wooden stick two fingers thick to strike her body. Only after her body adapted to the force of the blows and her physical strength improved did she gradually increase the stick's size.
Once, because she had failed to control the force with which the stick struck her body, she had nearly broken her own leg with a single blow!
She had needed more than a month to barely recover from those injuries. During that time, she had limped everywhere. Not only could she not practice martial arts, even her daily life had been affected.
That was how martial arts training was. One had to avoid injury at all costs.
If one spent more time bedridden recovering from injuries than practicing martial arts, there was no point in training at all.
Thus, when Dong Yuezhen saw the log in Li Yuan's hands, she froze on the spot.
The thing in Li Yuan's hands was thicker than Dong Yuezhen's waist!
Calling it firewood was an understatement. It was plainly a section of tree trunk!
Li Yuan drew a breath and gave a shout, swinging the log in a wide arc and smashing it heavily into his own forehead.
There was a muffled bang.
Dong Yuezhen, some distance away, let out a cry of alarm and hurried over.
Because the log was too large to burn easily, it had been left in the kitchen for a long time. Now that it had smashed into Li Yuan's head, dust had fallen all over his hair and face.
"Ptooey!"
"Ptooey, ptooey!"
Li Yuan set down the log, wiped the dust from his face, and looked at Dong Yuezhen as she ran over. He asked in confusion, "Why did you come running over?"
Dong Yuezhen looked at Li Yuan doubtfully and asked tentatively, "Senior Brother, are you all right?"
Li Yuan gave a derisive laugh. "What could possibly be wrong with me?"
His physique was already terrifyingly strong, no weaker than that of martial artists who had practiced external hard skills for many years. He could withstand the blow from this enormous log; he would not simply collapse after taking one hit.
Looking at Dong Yuezhen before him, Li Yuan directly handed her the large log. "Here, give me a hand. Use this to hit me."
Dong Yuezhen: ???
Are you serious?
Seeing that Dong Yuezhen had not moved, Li Yuan urged her, "Hurry up. Stop dawdling."
"Oh." Seeing that Li Yuan was indeed unharmed, Dong Yuezhen helplessly raised the large log and brought it down on his body.
"Smack."
"Use more force."
"Smack."
"More force."
"Boom—"
The log crashed heavily into Li Yuan, producing a deep, muffled sound.
A smile curled at the corners of Li Yuan's mouth, and he nodded in satisfaction. "This much weight is fine. Continue."
After that, Dong Yuezhen continuously struck Li Yuan's body with the log while Li Yuan focused on circulating the breathing method of Iron Body Skill, constantly sensing the subtle changes within his body.
The more Dong Yuezhen struck, the more alarmed she became. Li Yuan's body was simply inhumanly tough!
The log was so enormous and heavy, yet it kept smashing into Li Yuan's body. Even though hollow, drumlike sounds came from inside him, his expression remained completely normal. His breathing rose and fell in rhythm with the circulation of the breathing method, without the slightest disorder.
If an ordinary martial artist took even two blows like that, their face would surely have turned pale as paper, with blood spilling from their mouth and nose.
Could it be that Senior Brother has practiced some other external hard skill before?
Dong Yuezhen's heart was full of doubts, but this concerned another person's privacy, so she did not rashly ask. Since Li Yuan had not told her to stop, she kept her head down and continued smashing the log into his body.
Meanwhile, changes had begun appearing on Li Yuan's system page.
You are cultivating Iron Body Skill and are currently being struck by a heavy object... Iron Body Skill has broken through to Beginner!
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Iron Body Skill has broken through to Proficient!
After the time it took to burn a stick of incense.
Iron Body Skill has broken through to Mastery!
Time gradually passed. The sun climbed higher, and noon drew near. Dong Yuezhen had spent nearly the entire morning smashing Li Yuan with the log, and her expression had slowly changed from shock at the beginning to numbness.
At last, Li Yuan's cultivation progress changed again.
Iron Body Skill has broken through to Minor Achievement!
At that moment, a gentle yet resilient warm current emerged from within Li Yuan's body. The newly appeared current flowed throughout his entire body, quickly soothing the aches brought on by the prolonged beating.
Moreover, under the support of this warm current, even the impact of Dong Yuezhen's strikes weakened considerably.
"This is... Iron Body Force!"
Li Yuan's heart leaped with joy. This external hard skill had already been cultivated to a considerable level, and internal force had arisen on its own.
From this point onward, Li Yuan had mastered four kinds of internal force: Shocking Force, Poison Dragon Palm Force, Ice Force, and Iron Body Force.
Four entirely different kinds of internal force circulated endlessly within Li Yuan's body, yet showed not the slightest sign of interference or conflict. If word of such a scene got out, it would be enough to frighten a great many martial artists to death.
After cultivating Iron Body Skill to the Minor Achievement realm, Li Yuan not only mastered Iron Body Force, he also clearly felt his physical strength rise another notch. His strength was no lower than three thousand five hundred jin, surpassing his previous physical limit.
His body's upper limit had truly increased!
"All right, you can stop."
Li Yuan's voice was calm and even, his breathing steady, as though he had merely been resting just now.
Dong Yuezhen froze, snapping out of her state as a merciless human battering ram. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
Seeing the beads of sweat on Dong Yuezhen's brow and her hesitant expression, Li Yuan smiled faintly. "Yuezhen, sorry for the trouble."
Dong Yuezhen shook her head. "It wasn't troublesome. Senior Brother guided me in my cultivation. This little task was something I should have done."
Li Yuan continued, "It's already this late. Let's eat together later."
Before long, the courtyard gate was knocked on again, and several servants carried in a wooden chest.
"Master Li, the food from our restaurant has arrived."
The servants opened the wooden chest and placed the steaming dishes on the stone table in the courtyard.
The meal was lavish, especially the meat. There was roast chicken, roast pig, stewed fish, and more. Plate after plate of exquisite food filled the stone table.
During this period, Li Yuan had spent every day at home practicing martial arts and tempering his body, so his demand for food was enormous. He also had no time to cook for himself, so he had simply discussed the matter with the proprietor of the restaurant next door.
He had directly paid thirty taels of silver and asked the restaurant to deliver his meals every day for a month.
It was a major order, and Li Yuan had been generous with his money, so the proprietor immediately agreed.
After the servants delivering the food left, Li Yuan warmly invited Dong Yuezhen to sit. "Come, eat with me. You really have worked hard just now."
Unable to refuse his hospitality, Dong Yuezhen sat down and began eating with him.
The restaurant's cooking was indeed quite good. The dishes were pleasing in color, fragrance, and taste, making one's index finger twitch with anticipation. After spending some time together, Dong Yuezhen discovered that Li Yuan was not at all haughty and was easy to get along with. The two chatted as they ate and soon became familiar with each other.
Dong Yuezhen came from a family of martial artists. Her family had no sons and had only this one daughter. Unfortunately, this precious daughter was somewhat unusual. She did not care for feminine finery and loved martial attire instead, giving the elders of the Dong family quite a headache.
Li Yuan found these matters somewhat bitter to hear. The elders of his own family were already gone, and listening to someone else's family affairs left him sighing inwardly.
The two chatted as they ate, and their relationship drew a little closer without either of them realizing it. They were no longer as unfamiliar with each other as they had been at the beginning.
After eating and drinking their fill, Dong Yuezhen took her leave. She had already learned much about cultivating Cinnabar Palm from Li Yuan, so she did not want to disturb him and went home to practice.
Li Yuan also felt embarrassed asking Dong Yuezhen to help him cultivate Iron Body Skill any longer. His Iron Body Skill had already reached Minor Achievement, and Dong Yuezhen might not be able to help with his training from here onward.
Besides, the training that followed would be too shocking, making it even less convenient for Dong Yuezhen to participate.
After downing several cups of tea following the meal, Li Yuan pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out.
He needed to prepare some things for his upcoming cultivation.
Before you continue