Improving the Upper Limit of the Physical Body

The path of martial arts emphasizes gradual progress, avoiding arrogance and recklessness. This is especially true when cultivating external hard skills.

Dong Yuezhen clearly remembered when she first started practicing the Iron Body Skill. She used a wooden stick, about two fingers thick, to strike her body. Only after her body adapted to the impact and her strength improved did she gradually increase the size of the stick.

One time, she misjudged the force of the stick striking her body and nearly broke her leg with a single blow!

It took her over a month to recover from the injury. During that time, she limped everywhere, unable to practice martial arts, and even her daily life was affected.

This is how martial arts training is; you must avoid getting injured.

If the time spent recovering in bed is longer than the time spent training, then there's no point in practicing at all.

Therefore, when Dong Yuezhen saw the piece of firewood in Li Yuan's hand, she was stunned on the spot.

The thing Li Yuan was holding was thicker than Dong Yuezhen's waist!

It wasn't even appropriate to call it firewood; it was practically a tree trunk!

Li Yuan took a deep breath, swung the piece of wood around, and brought it down heavily on his own forehead.

There was a dull "bang."

Dong Yuezhen, who was not far away, let out a startled cry and hurried over.

Because the piece of wood was too large and difficult to burn, it had been left in the kitchen for a long time. Now, with this thing smashing onto his head, dust flew all over Li Yuan's face.

"Ptooey!"

"Ptooey, ptooey!"

Li Yuan put down the wood, wiped the dust from his face, and looked at the approaching Dong Yuezhen, asking in confusion, "Why did you run over?"

Dong Yuezhen looked at Li Yuan with confusion and asked tentatively, "Senior Brother, are you alright?"

Li Yuan sneered, "What could be wrong with me?"

His physique was already formidable, no less than that of a martial artist who had practiced external hard skills for many years. He could withstand the impact of this giant log; he wouldn't collapse after just one hit.

Looking at Dong Yuezhen in front of him, Li Yuan directly handed the large log to her. "Here, lend me a hand. You use this to hit me."

Dong Yuezhen: ???

Are you serious?

Seeing Dong Yuezhen's hesitation, Li Yuan urged her, "Hurry up, don't dawdle."

"Oh." Seeing that Li Yuan was indeed unharmed, Dong Yuezhen reluctantly picked up the large log and swung it at Li Yuan.

"Crack."

"Harder."

"Crack."

"Even harder."

"BAM—"

The wood landed heavily on Li Yuan's body with a dull thud.

Li Yuan smiled and nodded in satisfaction, "That's the right amount of force. Continue."

After that, Dong Yuezhen continued to strike Li Yuan's body with the wood, while Li Yuan diligently circulated the breathing technique of the Iron Body Skill, constantly sensing the subtle changes within his body.

The more Dong Yuezhen hit him, the more shocked she became. Li Yuan's body was incredibly, inhumanly tough!

Even though this massive and heavy piece of wood was repeatedly smashing into his body, causing a hollow, drum-like sound to emanate from within Li Yuan, his expression remained unchanged. His breathing rose and fell with the circulation of the breathing technique, without the slightest sign of disorder.

If a normal martial artist were to take even two such hits, their face would likely turn ashen, and blood would be pouring from their nose and mouth.

Could it be that Senior Brother had practiced other external hard skills before?

Dong Yuezhen was filled with questions, but since it concerned someone else's privacy, she didn't dare to ask. As Li Yuan didn't tell her to stop, she continued to hit him with the wood, head down.

Meanwhile, on Li Yuan's system page, changes began to occur.

[You are cultivating the Iron Body Skill, currently enduring heavy object impacts...]

[Iron Body Skill has broken through to Novice!]

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

[Iron Body Skill has broken through to Proficient!]

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

[Iron Body Skill has broken through to Mastered!]

Time passed, and the sun climbed higher, nearing noon. Dong Yuezhen had been hitting Li Yuan with the wood for almost the entire morning. Her expression gradually shifted from shock to numbness.

Finally, Li Yuan's cultivation progress changed again.

[Iron Body Skill has broken through to Minor Accomplishment!]

At this moment, a gentle yet resilient warm current emerged from within Li Yuan. This newly appeared warm current flowed throughout his entire body, rapidly soothing the pain caused by the prolonged beating.

Moreover, with the enhancement of this warm current, even the impact of Dong Yuezhen's strikes felt significantly weaker.

"This is... Iron Body Force!"

Li Yuan's heart leaped with joy. This external martial skill had reached a considerable level of proficiency, and internal energy was generated spontaneously.

From this point on, Li Yuan had mastered four types of internal energy: Shocking Force, Poison Dragon Palm Force, Ice Force, and Iron Body Force.

The four vastly different internal energies circulated endlessly within Li Yuan's body without any signs of interference or conflict. Such a feat, if spoken of, would be enough to shock and awe a great many martial artists.

After cultivating the Iron Body Skill to the Minor Accomplishment stage, Li Yuan not only mastered the Iron Body Force but also clearly felt his physical body's strength increase by another notch. His strength was no less than 3,500 jin, which had already broken through his previous physical limit.

His physical body's upper limit had truly increased!

"Alright, you can stop now."

Li Yuan's voice was calm and steady, his breathing stable, as if he had merely been resting.

Dong Yuezhen blinked in surprise, snapping out of her role as an unfeeling battering ram. She opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately did not.

Seeing the beads of sweat on Dong Yuezhen's forehead and her hesitant expression, Li Yuan smiled faintly. "Yuezhen, thank you for your hard work."

Dong Yuezhen shook her head. "It's no trouble at all, Senior Brother. You guiding my cultivation, this small matter is something I should do."

Li Yuan continued, "It's getting late. Let's have a meal together later."

Soon, the courtyard gate was knocked upon again, and several young servants carried a wooden crate inside.

"Young Master Li, the food from our restaurant has arrived."

The servants opened the wooden crate and placed the steaming hot dishes on the stone table in the courtyard.

The meal was very generous, with a lot of meat especially. There were roast chickens, roasted pigs, stewed fish, and more. Plates of exquisite food filled the stone table.

During this period, Li Yuan had been practicing martial arts and tempering his body at home all day, requiring a large amount of food. He didn't have time to cook himself, so he discussed the matter with the nearby restaurant owner.

He directly paid thirty taels of silver and asked the restaurant to deliver meals daily for a month.

This was a significant business deal, and Li Yuan was generous with his spending, so the owner immediately agreed.

After the servants who delivered the food left, Li Yuan warmly invited Dong Yuezhen to sit. "Come, let's eat together. You really worked hard just now."

Li Yuan's hospitality was hard to refuse, so Dong Yuezhen sat down and began to eat with him.

It had to be said that the restaurant's cooking was quite good. The dishes were perfect in color, aroma, and taste, whetting the appetite. After some interaction, Dong Yuezhen found that Li Yuan had no airs about him and was very easy to get along with. As they ate and chatted, they quickly became familiar with each other.

Dong Yuezhen came from a family of martial artists. They had no sons, only this one daughter. However, this beloved daughter was different; she preferred martial attire over feminine clothing, which caused her parents a great headache.

Li Yuan felt a pang of bitterness listening to these stories. His own parents were no longer around. Hearing about other people's family matters, he felt a wave of wistfulness.

As they ate and chatted, their relationship unconsciously grew closer, no longer as distant as they were at the beginning.

After eating their fill, Dong Yuezhen departed. She had already learned a lot about cultivating the Cinnabar Palm from Li Yuan, so she didn't want to bother him and went home to practice.

Li Yuan also felt too embarrassed to ask Dong Yuezhen to exert herself to help him cultivate the Iron Body Skill. His Iron Body Skill had reached Minor Accomplishment, and Dong Yuezhen might not be able to help him with the subsequent cultivation.

Moreover, the upcoming cultivation process would be too stimulating and even less convenient for Dong Yuezhen to participate in.

After a few 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 training.