The Genius Who Became a Martial Artist! Li Tiezhu is Injured? Ironware That Can Kill Martial Artists?

For several days in a row.

Shi Wen returned to his quiet, disciplined life of training.

By day, he practiced the Baji Fist Introductory Foundation at the Fist Academy, consuming Treasure Blood at scheduled intervals, while at night, he labored over the Iron Whip Leg, Iron Claw Skill, and Taibao Hard Qigong.

He rested only a few hours a day.

He truly achieved a state of diligent, unremitting practice!

During this period, his supply of exotic beast meat ran out.

He searched the city and eventually found an apothecary to partner with.

This apothecary stocked exotic beast meat known as Grey Meat, which had effects roughly comparable to Stone Raw Meat.

If he purchased in large quantities, the shop could offer it to him at six guan per jin, with a bonus of half a jin for every ten purchased, along with a packet of Blood Strengthening Powder.

He spent 20 liang.

In one go, he bought 100 jin of Grey Meat to serve as his nutritional supplement.

This replaced the Red Python Meat.

Although the nourishing effects and satiety of Grey Meat could not compare to Red Python Meat, it had the advantage of being plentiful and filling.

By eating two or three jin of Grey Meat per meal, supplementing with more after his daily training, and adding the medicinal powder, he could barely maintain his body's daily functions.

As for Zhang Sheng, after that day, he had been in secluded cultivation at the headquarters of the Harmony and Prosperity Union.

Last night, while Shi Wen was tempering his Taibao Hard Qigong in Ghost Lane, a gang member mentioned that Zhang Sheng had successfully broken through to the Blood-Coagulation Realm yesterday and was currently stabilizing his foundation; he had even sent word that he would be ready to depart after a few days of stabilization.

Regarding this, Shi Wen was not anxious, merely silently accelerating the speed at which he increased his proficiency.

Fist Academy.

It was mid-to-late April, and the scorching sun had begun to show its face.

After lunch, Shi Wen chewed on dried Grey Meat, walked to his familiar corner to stand in the Hunyuan Stance, and skillfully circulated his internal energy.

He discovered that the internal energy from the Taibao Hard Qigong could also be applied to other martial arts.

As long as the timing was right when unleashing a move.

He could also burst forth with internal energy!

Although the effect of the internal energy was merely to increase the impact resistance of the body part being used, it had the advantage of quick recovery and low consumption, which was a small experiment for Shi Wen as he explored the path of martial arts.

Suddenly, a piece of news spread rapidly through the Fist Academy.

All the disciples in the outer courtyard were discussing the matter frantically.

It turned out that Qin Heng, a disciple who had joined the academy less than half a month ago, had been nourished by medicinal pills during this time.

Not only had he successfully tempered his blood-qi, but he had even officially become a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist!

This news was like a boulder crashing into a lake, creating massive ripples.

It shocked the entire Fist Academy.

All the disciples were discussing the matter in astonishment, their words filled with envy.

One had to know that tempering blood-qi and officially becoming a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist were two completely different things!

The academy's rule was that if a disciple could not temper a wisp of blood-qi through the Baji Fist Foundation or reach the stage of nourishing blood-qi within two months, they would be eliminated.

Although one could stay by paying money.

Except for those with deep family pockets who could persist, the vast majority could not afford the costs of learning martial arts.

After two months at most, if they learned nothing, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and leave.

Persistence was meaningless.

The martial path did not deceive; if you could do it, you could, and if you couldn't, you couldn't!

Qin Huan's family had no money either.

He had only joined the academy for half a month, yet he had not only tempered his blood-qi.

He had also stabilized his realm.

He had officially become a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist!

From now on, there would be a chasm between him and these outer courtyard disciples; he would become the kind of high-reaching, unattainable big shot they dreamed of—who wouldn't be envious?!

That was a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist!!!

For the entire afternoon, many outer courtyard disciples could not sleep; stimulated by the heaven-defying Qin Huan, they found shaded spots to stand in stances, practice fists, and hit sandbags, with swaths of people sweating through their training.

Even Shi Wen could not help but take an extra look at this rare and unusual scene!

Under the shade of the trees.

Shi Wen was practicing his Baji Fist Foundation.

His movements were gentle and measured, lacking any aggressive momentum; an outsider might have mistaken his practice for a health-preservation routine.

Every motion was filled with a sense of aesthetic grace, making it a pleasure to watch.

This drew the attention of the other outer-court disciples.

"Senior Brother Shi, why does the martial art you're practicing feel so different from ours?"

Huang Dequan asked with a chuckle.

Several of his lackeys stood nearby, laughing and making jokes.

This fellow was the type who wasn't particularly skilled at martial arts, but was top-tier when it came to bootlicking.

He had joined the Fist Academy only a day or two after Shi Wen.

Having spent these past few days running errands for the inner-court disciple Zhou Heling, it was said he had already integrated himself into that small circle.

He held quite a bit of fame and status within the outer court.

Regardless of how high or low Huang Dequan's tempering level was.

At the very least.

He had managed to worm his way into that circle.

Even if he was only on the periphery, it was not a group that ordinary outer-court disciples dared to provoke.

Shi Wen glanced at Huang Dequan and said calmly, "My constitution is weak, and my strikes are too light, so I'm just fumbling through it on my own."

"Hahahaha, so that's it! I thought Senior Brother Shi had been swindled by someone in town into learning some Turtle Fist. Our Baji Fist is meant to be fierce and savage, like a hungry wolf pouncing on its prey, not like an old man waving his fists about so airily."

Huang Dequan mocked him, and the disciples nearby burst into laughter.

Shi Wen ignored him and continued his practice.

Unexpectedly, Huang Dequan asked again with a smirk, "Junior Brother Shi, you've been at the Fist Academy for a while now; have you managed to sense your blood and qi yet?"

"Soon, perhaps."

Shi Wen practiced his foundation calmly while attempting to circulate his internal energy to fuse with the Baji Fist Foundation.

This made his movements somewhat disjointed, and he was drenched in sweat from the exertion.

His response drew more ridicule from Huang Dequan, "Senior Brother Shi, there really isn't anyone else in our academy who practices Baji Fist in such a flimsy way, and yet you're sweating buckets—just how weak is your constitution? You say you're about to temper your blood and qi?"

"Tsk tsk, all talk and no substance. Be careful not to throw out your back."

He had been hanging around the inner-court disciple Senior Sister Zhou Heling lately.

Seeing that Senior Sister Zhou didn't like this person, he took every opportunity to poke fun at Shi Wen.

Unfortunately.

This young man was like a tortoise; he simply wouldn't engage.

Shi Wen truly couldn't be bothered with such a small-minded person, remaining immersed in his own martial practice.

Seeing that Shi Wen ignored him.

Huang Dequan felt he was making a fool of himself.

He couldn't be bothered to say anything more.

After practicing his stance for a while, he grew tired and sat on a wooden stump under the shade to wipe away his sweat, chatting with the others.

As they talked, the conversation suddenly shifted to the Boat Gang.

It turned out that some ruthless characters, never seen before, had suddenly appeared in Black Cloud County.

This group spoke with an out-of-town accent.

They seemed to have martial artists backing them, and they had been deliberately stirring up trouble at the Xingshui Gang's docks. A fight broke out, and the Xingshui Gang had been bested by this group, suffering many injuries.

Among those injured were some disciples from the Fist Academy!

"Damn it, I don't know how these outsiders have the nerve to be so arrogant, daring to come to Black Cloud County to cause trouble!"

Huang Dequan puffed on a rolled cigarette, blowing smoke under the shade.

He cursed, "They even dared to injure our brothers from the Fist Academy. Don't they know that our Fist Academy's Master Li is a renowned martial arts expert in these parts!"

"I heard Senior Brother Li Tiezhu was injured?"

An outer-court disciple asked curiously.

Huang Dequan flicked the ash from his cigarette and nodded, "That's right. I heard it while Senior Sister Zhou and the others were chatting. There was a disturbance at the docks that day, and those people injured the brothers from the academy who were stationed there. Senior Brother Li couldn't take it and went to demand an explanation, only to end up injured himself."

"I heard from Senior Sister Zhou that Senior Brother Li even damaged his foundation; it will be hard for him to recover within a few months."

"Who knows if he'll ever fully heal, let alone continue his martial path."

Upon hearing this, the disciples sighed repeatedly.

One had to know that Li Tiezhu was one of the few outer-court disciples on the verge of tempering his blood and qi, and he was known for being generous and quite famous.

Even Zhou Heling, a disciple of the Inner Court, thought highly of him and introduced him to several gangs.

He received funding.

Who could have known that someone with such a promising future would end up in this state?

"Damn it, I don't know where these bumpkins who couldn't make it elsewhere popped out from, causing trouble everywhere. If I had been there that day, I definitely would have stood up for Senior Brother Li!"

Huang Dequan was furious.

His family ran a restaurant, and they had been harassed by those outsiders several times.

It had caused their business to suffer.

Having heard his family discussing it while eating at home these past two days, he felt a deep loathing for these people from out of town.

"The truth behind the recent chaos in Black Cloud County is far more complicated than what appears on the surface."

Huang Xuanhe sneered, "You probably don't know this, do you? The neighboring Tiannan Prefecture is in total turmoil. Rebel kings are rising, and there are some lunatics shouting about reform and modernization, dragging people into rebellion everywhere. They want to overthrow the old dynasty and establish something called democracy—all sorts of inexplicable nonsense!"

"That group is incredibly vicious. The moment they open their mouths, they demand people cut their hair and shave their beards."

"Our bodies, hair, and skin are gifts from our parents; how could one just casually cut their hair or shave their beard?!"

"Tsk tsk, it's quite miraculous when you think about it."

"I heard those guys don't even practice martial arts, yet they can kill martial artists with some strange iron tools. Those iron tools even make a sound like thunder when they strike people. Do you believe that?"