Smack!
Just as Guo Zhong thought victory was in his grasp, he suddenly felt a fierce palm wind rush toward him, lightly slapping the top of his head.
In an instant, tremendous force surged over him like a tide. His head immediately filled with a series of rumbling, buzzing sounds.
The world turned upside down. The sun, moon, and stars flashed before his eyes one by one. Then everything went black. It was as if he had crashed into the sea; his body trembled uncontrollably, his eyes rolled back, and his head swam.
But to the onlookers, the scene was downright bizarre. One moment, Guo Zhong had been moving with tiger-like vigor, pressing his opponent relentlessly. The next, after they heard a "smack," they watched him fly backward like a kite with its strings cut, then crash heavily to the ground.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Guo Zhong hit the ground, Guo Hao and the others had only just reacted.
"Father!"
"Master!"
Guo Hao and the others cried out in alarm and hurried to Guo Zhong's side, asking with concern, "Father, are you all right?"
"Don't move. I—I'm going to break!" Guo Zhong said in a daze.
At his words, Guo Hao and the others immediately stopped moving.
"You've lost!" the burly man announced.
Hearing this, Guo Hao opened his mouth, then fell silent without saying anything.
"Cough, cough. Wait, I'm fine. Help me up. I can still fight!"
But Guo Zhong wasn't having it. Hearing those words, he braced himself and tried to fight the burly man again.
With Guo Hao and the others supporting him, he staggered to his feet, then pushed their hands away. But the moment he did, his body went limp and collapsed like a puddle of mud.
"Forget it. We concede!"
Seeing this, Guo Hao sighed helplessly and conceded on Guo Zhong's behalf.
Guo Zhong said nothing, a trace of unwillingness surfacing on his face. If he'd known that fellow was so strong, he would have used his inner force from the start.
He might not have been able to defeat his opponent, but at least he wouldn't have ended up disgracing himself so thoroughly!
The burly man nodded, accepting Guo Hao's concession.
Then, in front of everyone, he bent down and tucked the hundred taels Guo Hao had brought into his clothes.
At the same time, he pulled the ten-tael banknote from the purse he'd brought with him and strode off.
Seeing this, Guo Zhong, Guo Hao, and the others were all baffled. They exchanged puzzled looks, unable to understand the burly man's intentions.
Had the man taken pity on them, knowing how hard money was to earn, and deliberately left them ninety taels?
For a moment, all kinds of guesses ran through their minds, but on the whole, they were cautiously optimistic, with a mix of surprise and delight.
"Go take a look," Guo Zhong said, feeling a little better.
Though the man had taken a hundred taels, if they recovered ninety, they wouldn't have lost much overall.
He could accept that!
Guo Hao nodded, rose, and picked up the purse. He opened it, and his expression immediately changed.
"What's wrong?"
Guo Zhong immediately noticed the change in his expression. His heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked.
Guo Hao said nothing, only held the purse out before Guo Zhong. Guo Zhong peered inside and cried out, "It's all rocks!"
"Outrageous!" Guo Zhong roared, finally realizing what had happened. His eyes reddened, and fury seemed to pour from his nostrils. "You brat! How dare you deceive me!"
As he cursed, his blood surged to his head. Guo Zhong suddenly felt dizzy, and promptly passed out.
"Father!"
Su Chen left the Guo Family Martial Hall with the unexpected hundred taels tucked away, feeling cheerful.
He'd only planned to challenge the hall and avenge Hong Ming, but his opponent had insisted on putting up a stake.
With no other choice, he'd used a banknote and some rocks to pass off as a hundred taels.
Luckily, the other man hadn't examined them closely, so Su Chen had gotten away with it—and even won the other man's hundred taels in the end. It was an unexpected bonus.
"With this hundred taels, I can upgrade my Ape Arm Skill."
Finding a secluded corner, Su Chen changed back into his original clothes, then turned and left, eager to go home and spend money to upgrade his Ape Arm Skill.
Half an hour later, Su Chen returned home from the Money Shop. He couldn't wait to make the payment and activate Easy Mode:
Easy Mode activated: Swing both arms five hundred times to train Ape Arm Skill to its limit.
An hour later, the panel refreshed:
Martial Arts: ...Ape Arm Skill (Limit)
Like Turtle Shell Skill, Ape Arm Skill couldn't enter payment mode again after reaching its limit.
"Only Bone Shrinking Skill is left!"
Su Chen looked at the panel, deep in thought.
Aside from Iron Cloth Skill, Bone Shrinking Skill was the only one on the panel that hadn't reached its limit. It also required a hundred taels, but Su Chen wasn't in a hurry. For now, Bone Shrinking Skill was good enough.
Then Su Chen shifted his attention to Raging Wave Saber Technique. As his strength grew, he found himself using the saber less and less.
He'd learned the saber technique in the first place because he intended to catch people by surprise, but if things went on like this, he might not need it at all in the future.
"Besides, if I can find a complete saber technique, maybe I can combine it with another technique to create a new one, the way Iron Wire Fist combined with Iron Sand Palm. But a complete saber technique won't be easy to find!"
Su Chen thought it over, but couldn't figure out where he might find a complete saber technique.
Even barehanded techniques could be closely guarded secrets at some small martial halls. A weapon technique would be even harder to get.
"Forget it. I'll look into the saber technique when I get the chance. For now, I should focus on improving Iron Cloth Skill."
Now that Ape Arm Skill had reached its limit, Su Chen only needed to find ten portions of Qi Blood Powder to activate Easy Mode directly.
That was clearly faster than searching for a complete saber technique, so it naturally came first.
"As for Qi Blood Powder, Master Hong probably won't be able to provide me with any for a while. But that's all right. I have an unknown pill formula. I just don't know whether Red Blood Grass is still in short supply. I'll ask tomorrow."
Su Chen felt bad about constantly asking Hong Ming for Qi Blood Powder, so he planned to find the ingredients and prepare it himself.
Once he'd made up his mind, Su Chen lowered his gaze to his arms. His skin hadn't changed much in appearance, but its hardness made him look twice.
He gave his arm a light slap and immediately felt a slight rebound of force against his palm.
"What incredible defense!"
Su Chen felt the skin on his arm. It was like touching a layer of copper.
When he applied force, his skin tightened instantly, as if it were made of countless pieces of steel joined together. Its defensive power was astonishing.
With a sharp tearing sound, he struck a rock with his arm, and it shattered across the ground in an instant.
Seeing this, Su Chen was secretly astonished. "Not only has my defense improved, but my attack power and strength have increased too."
Then he used Turtle Shell Skill, and a layer of black armor immediately covered his body.
His arms had no black armor, but their offensive and defensive power was no weaker than the armor's.
After another round of testing, Su Chen lowered his hands with satisfaction and thought:
"With Turtle Shell Skill, my whole body is practically without a weakness, except for my head and feet. So my next goal is to improve the offensive and defensive power of my head and feet!"
Before you continue