Zhang Sheng's Plea, Terms of Exchange: A Fixed Source of Exotic Beast Meat? Iron Claw Skill

In a narrow alley.

A blood-soaked figure came toward him in small, unsteady steps.

It was none other than Zhang Sheng of the Robbery Gang!

Shi Wen's pupils contracted. He couldn't understand how Zhang Sheng, who had been fine last night, had ended up like this tonight.

Zhang Sheng's face was bloodless. He walked to within a few meters of Shi Wen, then abruptly dropped to one knee and gritted his teeth. "Brother, I beg you to avenge me!"

Shi Wen said coolly, "What do you want me to avenge?"

"Last night, I sparred with you, brother, and took some injuries. I never imagined that the gang members who'd betrayed that Chen Shuisheng fellow before would betray me this time, too. They brought in outsiders who badly wounded me. I only escaped after fighting for my life. I knew you were here, so I came to ask for your help!"

Zhang Sheng gritted his teeth, wishing he could tear the man limb from limb.

"What does that have to do with me?" Shi Wen set up the wooden post and practiced, alternating punches and elbows. "If you don't leave, I'll beat you to death."

"If you're willing to avenge me, I'll give you two-tenths of the Robbery Gang's monthly profits!" Zhang Sheng gritted out. "People who practice martial arts need resources to cultivate. Without them, even the most talented will be rowing upstream, going backward instead of forward!"

"Two-tenths? That's too little."

Shi Wen was somewhat tempted, but he still shook his head.

Right now, he only wanted to practice in peace. He had no desire to get involved in someone else's affairs.

"Brother, two-tenths is no small amount!" Zhang Sheng said. "My little gang has to pay off the officials and the Black Whale Gang, support a bunch of brothers, and cover my own needs, too. The expenses—"

"That's your problem."

Shi Wen interrupted him coldly. "If there's nothing else, leave."

"Three-tenths. Three-tenths is the most I can offer!" Zhang Sheng took a deep breath. "I'll give you three-tenths of the Robbery Gang's profits. As long as you avenge me, I'll acknowledge you as my big brother. From now on, the Robbery Gang will be your subordinate!"

"No."

Shi Wen's fists pounded the wooden post like a storm. Zhang Sheng's offer did not tempt him.

"I'll give you three and a half tenths of the profits every month. On top of that, I'll tell you where to find an exotic beast!" Zhang Sheng was clearly reluctant, but he said it anyway. "You know how valuable exotic beast meat is, don't you, brother?"

"People who practice martial arts can't maintain their bodies on ordinary meat. They need medicinal herbs or exotic beast meat to nourish themselves and keep their bodies functioning. It can even help them advance further in martial arts. I know where the beast is. No outsider knows!"

At that, Shi Wen's fists paused mid-swing, and he turned to look at Zhang Sheng.

Frowning, he asked, "You know where an exotic beast is?"

"That's right. I stumbled across it while traveling through the wilderness once. The place was rather strange, so I planned to go back for it after breaking through to the Blood-Coagulation Realm. But then this happened."

Zhang Sheng said, "If we can get to that place and harvest the exotic beast meat, I estimate we could get several hundred pounds in one trip!"

"The beast meat there can be produced continuously. If we harvest it regularly and in moderation, we can obtain a certain amount every month."

Some of the city's famous merchant guilds, major gangs, and even the government all had fixed sources of exotic beast meat. That was what gave a faction the foundation it needed to rise!

As he said this, Zhang Sheng couldn't help feeling somewhat forlorn.

He clearly wasn't willing to tell an outsider about this place.

But now that he'd been betrayed, if he couldn't survive, how would he be any different from Chen Shuisheng of the Thief Gang?

Sooner or later, he'd lose his head!

Shi Wen pondered. He was tempted.

The importance of exotic beast meat went without saying!

Martial artists were a bunch of bottomless pits. Without exotic beast meat to nourish them, how many meals would they have to eat every day just to keep their bodies functioning?

Buying exotic beast meat was expensive, too.

Money would eventually run out, but the source of exotic beast meat Zhang Sheng described could be exploited over and over.

That was truly beyond his expectations.

After a moment's thought, Shi Wen said, "Others can betray you. You could betray me, too!"

Zhang Sheng fell silent for a long time.

Though he was reluctant, he still took a bamboo tube from his hand. "Brother, I have a pair of Stone-Brown Parent-Child Gu here. These parent and child Gu usually sit motionless like stones and can go for years without eating or drinking."

"If the parent Gu is threatened, the child worm will struggle with all its might. If the parent Gu dies, the child worm will bite and chew at anything in sight!"

"If you don't trust me, I can swallow the child worm, and you can control me with the parent Gu. How about it?"

"Hand it over. Let me have a look."

"All right!"

Shi Wen soon had a pair of gray insects curled up together in his hand. Their shells were hard, much like stone skin.

The two insects didn't move at all.

He prodded the round parent worm with his finger.

The centipede-like child worm suddenly opened its gaping maw and tried to bite him. Its sharp hundred legs thrashed wildly, making it look ferocious!

Shi Wen's pupils contracted as he looked at the man in his twenties.

He was somewhat surprised, too.

Anyone with methods like these clearly had no ordinary background.

But with the parent-child Gu holding him in check, the man probably wouldn't dare betray him easily.

Besides, Shi Wen's resources were meager. If he relied on the few silver coins he had left, he'd soon eat through them.

If someone gave him a fixed amount of money every month, and he also had a steady source of exotic beast meat to nourish himself, he should be able to cultivate much faster.

With that thought, Shi Wen tossed the child worm toward Zhang Sheng. "Swallow it, and I'll help you."

"All right!"

Though Zhang Sheng was reluctant, he still swallowed the child worm.

Shi Wen reached out to prod the parent worm. Zhang Sheng immediately clutched his stomach and curled up on the ground, rolling around in agony. His face twisted, and large beads of sweat ran down his forehead.

Only then did Shi Wen put the parent worm back in the bamboo tube.

"What kind of man injured you? What techniques does he use?"

Zhang Sheng sat on the ground, panting heavily. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground and said, "Big brother, the man's nickname is Iron-Clad Child Meat Mountain. He's at the peak of the Blood-Tempering Realm and has mastered the Iron-Clad Skill, a hardening technique. He's thick-skinned and strong, and his style centers on charging into people. His weakness is that he's slow. With your skills, big brother, you can definitely drive him back!"

That was right. He wasn't asking Shi Wen to kill the man, only to drive him back.

People who trained their whole bodies in hardening techniques were thick-skinned and extremely difficult to injure. Their stamina was far beyond that of ordinary people.

On top of that, the Iron-Clad Skill protected him, and he was good at grappling, charging, and other such techniques. He was a very difficult opponent.

If he managed to grab and crush you, you'd lose half your life even if you survived!

"Iron-Clad Skill?"

Shi Wen immediately grew interested when he heard that.

Tonight, after he'd trained the Iron Whip Leg to Minor Accomplishment, his qi and blood had grown several times stronger.

He had a private suspicion that the increase in qi and blood was connected to the parts of the body he'd tempered. So he wanted to find martial arts that could temper other parts of the body and test whether that was true.

And the Iron-Clad Skill sounded exactly like the kind of hardening technique that could temper multiple parts of the body!

"If I can get the Iron-Clad Skill, I wonder how many times stronger my qi and blood will become."

Shi Wen thought to himself, then said, "Teach me your martial art."

"Teach you?"

Zhang Sheng was taken aback. Then he said, "Big brother, could I teach you after we drive away Iron-Clad Child Meat Mountain? There's not enough time right now, and you might not be able to learn it."

"Though mine is a low-grade martial art, it isn't easy to grasp!"

"It's fine. Teach me."

"All right!" Seeing that he couldn't dissuade Shi Wen, Zhang Sheng could only assume a stance and say solemnly, "Big brother, watch closely. This martial art is called the Iron Claw Skill, also known as the Eagle Claw Skill. It's as supple as a leather strap and as hard as a steel hook!"

"In a fight, it requires both hardness and softness. You must sink your qi into your dantian and channel your strength throughout your body!"

"Normally, you need to temper your hands using hardening techniques and nourish them with medicinal baths until they're thick and calloused. Once your qi and blood flow through them, you can easily tear flesh apart. At the peak, you can rip a stone stele apart with your bare hands!"

"The core techniques are grabbing, seizing, locking, hooking, and tearing. They're all close-combat techniques!"

"There aren't many moves: the breathing method, the standing eagle claw, the horse stance tearing claw, the eagle-claw grappling technique, and a few others..."

Then,

Zhang Sheng began demonstrating the Eagle Claw Skill in the open space.

As his hands swung, afterimages filled the air. Each move tore through the air with a muffled boom. It was quite impressive!

Shi Wen watched in silence and asked Zhang Sheng for instruction.

Then he clumsily performed a set.

[Iron Claw Skill: Beginner (1/30)]

When a line of text appeared under the Extreme Seal, memories of the Iron Claw Skill's many techniques and applications surfaced in Shi Wen's mind.

At the same time, his palms seemed to have grown thicker.

"So the Iron Claw Skill is all about circulating qi from the dantian and focusing the mind on the fingertips. It's a way to quickly subdue an enemy!"

"Hooking, Throat Lock, Tendon-Splitting Bone-Dislocating Strike..."

Suddenly, Shi Wen stamped his foot against the ground. His hands curled into hooks and blurred into afterimages as he flawlessly performed the entire Iron Claw Skill!

His hands moved with extraordinary agility. They grabbed at the air, setting off a series of sharp cracks. The display was impressive.

Zhang Sheng, standing nearby, gaped in astonishment. He didn't know what to make of the feelings churning inside him!

His physical constitution and comprehension were both poor. He'd reached his current level through hard practice.

But this man had practiced just once, and he was already better at it than Zhang Sheng had been after half a year?

No wonder people always used physical constitution and comprehension to distinguish martial artists. He'd never wanted to believe it, but now he'd seen for himself that talent could crush all mediocrity!

"If I fully support this man, can I use his strength to return and regain control of the situation?"

Zhang Sheng suddenly thought of something. Excitement flashed in his eyes, and all his earlier resentment vanished!

"Not bad."

Shi Wen settled into the Closing Stance and exhaled a breath of stale air.

He took out his water flask and drank, then said, "Take me there now."

"All right!"

Zhang Sheng hurried ahead to lead the way...