When Lu Chen left the Training Ground, he was carrying a heavy bundle.
Inside were a hundred taels of silver and the Iron Cloth Shirt, the book that had countless low-ranking gang members green with envy.
"Leader Lu, this way, please."
A gang member in charge of supplies led the way with a beaming smile, bowing so low his back was nearly horizontal.
Before, when these people saw Lu Chen, they would at most call him "Brother Lu" or "Lu Iron Skin."
Now, they called him "Leader Lu."
That was what a change in status looked like.
Lu Chen kept a calm expression as he followed the man, crossing the bustling Training Ground and circling around the crowded, noisy dormitory before arriving at a quiet cluster of courtyards.
This was where the Black Water Gang housed its core members ranked Junior Leader and above.
The blue-brick houses had separate little courtyards. They were nothing extravagant, but they were quiet and spacious.
"Leader Lu, this is your residence. Here's the key."
The supply gang member opened a vermilion wooden door and respectfully handed Lu Chen a Bronze Key.
"All the household goods inside have been replaced with new ones, and someone will come by to clean every month. Also, your monthly pay has gone up to five taels. You can collect it from the accounts office at the start of each month."
Five taels of silver.
In Nujiang County, that was enough to keep an ordinary family of three clothed and fed for a whole year.
In the Black Water Gang, it was merely a Junior Leader's monthly allowance.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Lu Chen took the key, casually pulled out a piece of silver weighing about half a tael, and tossed it to the gang member.
"Take it and get yourself some tea."
The man's eyes lit up. He hurriedly caught the silver, his smile growing even brighter.
"Thank you for the reward, Leader Lu! If you need anything in the future, just let me know!"
After sending away the unnecessary hangers-on, Lu Chen turned around, shut the courtyard gate, and slid the bolt into place.
The noise outside vanished all at once.
He stood in the middle of the courtyard and drew a deep breath.
The strange odor of the dormitory—a mix of sweat, smelly feet, and mold—was gone. In its place was the faint, fresh scent of earth and plants.
"At last, I don't have to squeeze in with dozens of people anymore."
Lu Chen murmured, and the tension in his nerves eased.
But he didn't linger in the joy of moving into his new home.
He went inside, hid the silver, and immediately sat down at the table. Then he pulled the yellowed Thread-Bound Ancient Book—the Iron Cloth Shirt—from his robes.
The pages were old, their corners worn, clearly thumbed through countless times.
Lu Chen washed his hands and opened to the first page with a solemn expression.
"The Iron Cloth Shirt trains the sinews, bones, and skin externally, and cultivates a breath of qi internally..."
It began with the general principles.
Lu Chen read every word, not daring to miss a single one.
This martial art was far more complicated than the Stone Crushing Palm.
It had not only a unique breathing method to shake the organs and strengthen qi and blood, but also a Striking Method and a Herbal Bath Formula to accompany the training.
The so-called striking involved using specially made wooden staffs, iron bars, or even the backs of blades to pound every part of the body, stimulating the skin and muscles until they became tough and taut.
The herbal bath, meanwhile, was meant to repair the damage caused by the striking and nourish the body with medicinal power, preventing hidden injuries from lingering.
Neither could be done without.
If someone only used the Striking Method and skipped the herbal baths, accumulated hidden injuries would soon cripple them.
If they only took herbal baths without striking, their body might grow strong, but they would never develop the hardness that could withstand blades and spears.
"Phew..."
Half an hour later, Lu Chen closed the manual and let out a long breath.
The familiar, translucent panel appeared in his mind once more.
[Detected Mortal Grade Low-Rank Martial Art: Iron Cloth Shirt. Record it?]
"Record it."
Lu Chen silently told himself.
The panel flashed, and a new line of text appeared in the skill section.
[Martial Art: Iron Cloth Shirt (Not Yet Initiated)]
Lu Chen's eyes burned as he looked at the words.
With the panel, the hardest parts—the "initiation" and the "bottleneck"—didn't exist for him.
As long as he was willing to grind, sooner or later he would master this martial art completely.
For now, though, the pressing task was to gather the resources needed for training.
The Herbal Bath Formula listed more than a dozen ingredients. None were particularly rare, but together they would still cost a considerable sum.
He also needed specially made wooden staffs for the Striking Method.
Lu Chen stood and pushed open the courtyard gate.
The moment he stepped outside, several gang members who had been loitering nearby straightened their backs and looked over at him with awe.
They were all low-ranking members of the War Hall and were now, in a sense, his subordinates.
"You. Come here."
Lu Chen pointed at a young man who looked fairly quick-witted.
The young man hurried over, flattered, and cupped his fists. "Leader Lu, did you call for me?"
"What's your name?"
"Wang Xiaoliu, at your service, Leader Lu."
"Wang Xiaoliu, take this list to the medicine shop in town and buy the ingredients written on it. Ten portions of each."
Lu Chen pulled out a freshly written list and handed it over with ten taels of silver.
"With what's left, go to the carpenter's shop and order a few Jujube Wood Staffs. They should be solid, two fingers thick, and as sturdy as possible."
Wang Xiaoliu took the silver and list, his hands trembling.
Ten taels of silver was a fortune to him, yet the newly appointed Leader Lu had handed it over as casually as could be.
"Don't worry, Leader Lu. I'll take care of it right away and make sure it's done perfectly!"
Wang Xiaoliu thumped his chest in assurance, then dashed off.
The chance to run errands for a leader was something countless people would beg for. If he did a good job, he'd have a powerful backer in the gang from then on.
Lu Chen watched Wang Xiaoliu hurry away, then turned and went back into the courtyard.
That was the benefit of power.
Before, he would have had to handle these trivial tasks himself, wasting time and drawing attention.
Now, all it took was a single word, and someone would run themselves ragged for him.
By evening,
Wang Xiaoliu returned, panting, with a large bundle of medicinal ingredients on his back and a bunch of smoothly sanded Jujube Wood Staffs.
"Leader Lu, I got everything you wanted! The medicine shopkeeper knocked off the odd change because I bought so much. Here's the silver left over."
Wang Xiaoliu set the goods down and respectfully offered him a few coins of loose silver.
Lu Chen glanced at them but didn't take them.
"I'm giving it to you."
"Thank you, Leader Lu! Thank you, Leader Lu!"
Wang Xiaoliu excitedly kowtowed again and again. Those few coins were worth half a month of his allowance.
After sending Wang Xiaoliu away, Lu Chen immediately began preparing to train.
He set a large iron pot in the courtyard, lit charcoal beneath it, and tossed in the prepared medicinal ingredients to boil.
Gurgle, gurgle...
As the water grew hotter, a strong medicinal smell filled the courtyard.
It was the scent of safflower, Chinese angelica, and lygodium among other ingredients. Just smelling it made one feel their qi and blood surge.
Once the decoction had turned dark brown, Lu Chen poured it into a huge wooden tub, added some cold water, and adjusted the temperature.
He took off his clothes, baring his well-built upper body and sharply defined muscles.
He drew a deep breath and picked up a Jujube Wood Staff.
"Let's begin."
Lu Chen held his breath, tensed his arm, and swung the staff hard against his thigh.
A sharp crack.
The staff slammed into the muscle, leaving a red mark.
The pain cut to the bone.
But this was only the beginning.
Lu Chen gritted his teeth as the staff in his hand fell like raindrops.
Arms, thighs, chest and stomach, back...
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The dull thuds echoed through the courtyard.
Every strike had to be matched with the Iron Cloth Shirt's unique breathing method: tighten the muscles, shake the qi and blood, and guide the external force deep beneath the skin.
This way of training was practically self-torture.
Ordinary people trained in the Iron Cloth Shirt gradually. They even needed someone else to help strike them, while carefully controlling the force.
But Lu Chen was different.
He had the Body Immunity trait. He didn't fear injuries or hidden damage.
He struck himself several times harder than an ordinary person would.
One hundred strikes, two hundred, five hundred...
Half an hour later,
Lu Chen was red from head to toe, covered in crisscrossing, swollen ridges. In some places, thin threads of blood had begun to seep out.
He looked as though he'd been subjected to a brutal beating, an absolute wreck.
Yet his gaze grew fiercer by the moment.
He dropped the Jujube Wood Staff, now snapped in half, and without hesitation jumped straight into the tub of scalding herbal decoction.
Sizzle...
The medicinal water soaked into his wounds, bringing a numb sting as if ten thousand ants were biting him.
"Ugh..."
Lu Chen groaned, veins bulging on his forehead, but forced himself to stay still.
He immediately circulated the breathing method, guiding the medicinal power into his body.
The numbness gradually sank deeper. Under the nourishment of the medicinal power, his swollen, battered skin began to lose its redness and swelling at a visible speed.
A warm current surged beneath his skin, strengthening every cell.
Lu Chen glanced at the panel.
[Martial Art: Iron Cloth Shirt (Not Yet Initiated, 5% -> 15%)]
"It works!"
Seeing his proficiency rise turned every ounce of pain into motivation.
The feeling of getting a visible reward for every bit of effort was utterly addictive.
Over the next few days,
Lu Chen went into full seclusion.
Aside from eating and sleeping, he spent all his time training in the Iron Cloth Shirt.
The courtyard rang with "smack, smack, smack" all day long.
Wang Xiaoliu brought fresh meat and medicinal ingredients every day. Whenever he heard the sounds from the courtyard, he couldn't help but hunch his shoulders.
Leader Lu was far too hard on himself.
Three days flew by.
After countless rounds of striking and herbal baths, Lu Chen's skin had undergone some changes.
His skin, originally bronze-colored, had grown tighter and smoother, carrying a dull sheen like a layer of old oxhide.
When he pressed down hard with a finger, his skin felt like tough rubber and sprang right back.
[Martial Art: Iron Cloth Shirt (1st Realm, Initial Mastery, 1%)] [Trait: Thick Skin (Beginner, greatly improves skin resilience and cushions blunt-force blows)]
He had finally begun!
Lu Chen stood up from the tub, sensing the changes in his body.
Though he had only just attained initial mastery, he could feel his defense had risen another level.
If his Bronze Skin had been hard, then his Thick Skin was resilient.
Hard and resilient—that was true defense.
Just as Lu Chen was about to put on his clothes and test himself,
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A rapid, piercing clang of a copper gong suddenly shattered the morning calm.
The sound carried a long way, instantly spreading across the entire Main Hall of the Black Water Gang.
Lu Chen's expression changed.
This was the gang's Emergency Summon Order.
It was sounded only when something happened that threatened the gang's very survival.
"Something's happened."
Lu Chen quickly pulled on his clothes, grabbed the Mountain Splitting Saber hanging on the wall, and pushed open the door.
By then, the corridor outside was already in utter chaos.
Countless Black Water Gang members rushed out of their rooms half-dressed, their faces full of panic and confusion.
"What's going on? Why are they beating the emergency gong?"
"I don't know. Could the Red Fish Gang be attacking?"
"Quit wasting time! Hurry to the Training Ground! Anyone who's late could lose their head!"
Lu Chen moved with the crowd, his face cold.
His instincts told him this time, something was seriously wrong.
If you can't find the book by searching its title, try searching for the author. Maybe it was just renamed!
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