Anger

By the time they returned to North-Rejecting City, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

Li Jinshui was carried back by two soldiers.

From the riverbank to the city gate, every step felt like treading on the tips of blades; the wound on his left leg had gone numb, leaving only a pervasive, body-wide ache.

The city gate guards saw their group, all looking like blood-soaked gourds, and scrambled to open the gates in a panic.

Some ran to report the news, others brought over stretchers, and the scene descended into chaos.

By the time Li Jinshui was carried back to the barracks, the sky was fully bright.

He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind completely blank.

Monkey limped in, holding a small bundle, and tossed it onto his bed.

"Golden sore medicine, plus some internal healing pills," Monkey said. "I picked them up from the quartermaster; they said it was specially approved by the Commander—you killed three Inner Strength Realm experts last night, which is a massive contribution. He told you to recover properly and gave you five days of rest."

Li Jinshui twitched his fingers, wanting to sit up, but was pressed back down by Monkey.

"Don't move," Monkey glared at him. "That wound on your leg is deep enough to see the bone, and you still want to move? Just lie there honestly."

Li Jinshui glanced at him, said nothing, and lay back down.

Monkey sat by his bed, opened the bundle, took out the medicinal powder and bandages, and began to change his dressing.

"You're a lucky bastard," Monkey muttered while changing the bandages. "Three Inner Strength Realm experts, and you, a mere Body Tempering ninth-layer, managed to beat three of them to death. When I was running away, I looked back and saw you smashing your fists into that guy's face, smashing it into a bloody mess... I thought for sure you were going to kick the bucket there."

Li Jinshui listened, his mouth twitching slightly.

"Lucky," he said.

Monkey finished changing the dressing, poured him a bowl of water, and watched him drink it.

"Alright, sleep now," Monkey stood up. "I'm going back to lie down too, I'm exhausted."

He walked to the door, then looked back at Li Jinshui one last time.

"Jinshui."

"Yeah?"

"You really are a fucking monster."

The door closed.

Li Jinshui lay in the darkness, the corners of his mouth slowly curling up.

A monster?

Perhaps.

He closed his eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

He slept for a full day and night.

When he woke up, it was the evening of the next day. The setting sun shone through the window lattice, spreading a layer of gold across the floor.

Li Jinshui moved; his wounds still ached, but it was much better than yesterday.

He sat up and looked down—the wound on his left leg had been treated well, wrapped in fresh bandages, with no blood seeping through.

Monkey must have come by again at some point.

He got out of bed and took a few steps; it was alright. Although he was limping, he could walk.

Rapid footsteps sounded from outside the door.

The door was pushed open, and Monkey rushed in, his face pale.

"Jinshui! Something huge has happened!"

Li Jinshui looked at him.

"The Di People have gone mad!" Monkey swallowed hard. "Yesterday you burned their grain, and this morning they attacked the city. They fought from morning until dark, and so many people died! That scholar from the Personal Guard Battalion—the one who led our night raid—he was killed in action!"

Li Jinshui froze.

That scholar guard, an expert in the late stage of the Inner Strength Realm who cut through enemies like he was chopping melons and vegetables, was dead?

"And Battalion Commander Zhou!" Monkey continued. "Zhou Kui, he's injured too, nearly lost his life. I heard the Personal Guard Battalion lost two men, one battalion commander died, seven or eight squad leaders were killed, and the number of ordinary soldiers is countless..."

Li Jinshui was silent for a long time.

Zhou Kui was injured.

That Zhou Kui with the scar on his face, whose voice sounded like stones hitting the ground, an expert in the mid-stage of the Inner Strength Realm, was also injured.

He walked to the window and looked toward the city wall.

Flickering firelight could still be seen there, and the faint sounds of battle cries drifted over.

"Are they still fighting today?"

"Fighting!" Monkey said. "They fought from morning to night, only just retreated. They'll definitely come again tomorrow."

Li Jinshui did not speak.

He stood by the window, watching the firelight, for a very long time.

On the morning of the third day, Li Jinshui woke up.

He climbed out of bed and stretched his body.

The wounds still ached, but they no longer hindered his movement.

The ninth level of the Iron Shirt truly possessed formidable recovery capabilities.

He donned his armor, picked up his blade, and pushed the door open to head out.

He had just reached the camp gate when he ran into Qin Lie.

Qin Lie froze upon seeing him: "What the hell are you doing up? Didn't I tell you to rest for five days?"

"I couldn't just lie there," Li Jinshui said. "How is the front line?"

Qin Lie's expression darkened: "Not good. Over a hundred died yesterday. Zhao Tieniu is wounded, and Zhou Tai is hurt as well. Out of all our squad leaders, less than half can make it to the walls today."

He looked at Li Jinshui, wanting to say something, but in the end, he simply patted his shoulder.

"Fine, let's go together."

On the city wall, it was the same scene as always.

Blood, corpses, screams, and war cries.

Li Jinshui stood behind the battlements, watching the dense swarm of Northern Di soldiers below the city.

There were even more of them today than yesterday.

"They're coming up!!!"

Scaling ladders hooked onto the parapets, and the Northern Di soldiers began to surge upward.

Li Jinshui gripped his blade tightly and met them head-on.

The first strike cleaved a Northern Di soldier who had just poked his head up.

[Killed Northern Di soldier, points +1]

The second strike, a horizontal slash, sliced open the throat of a second Northern Di soldier.

[+1]

The third strike, an upward thrust, pierced through the chin of a third Northern Di soldier and exited through the back of his skull.

[+1]

One after another, blade after blade.

Li Jinshui stood on that section of the wall like a tireless machine, blocking every Northern Di soldier that charged up.

When one fell, another filled the gap behind him.

He did not know how long he had been killing; he only knew that the point notifications kept popping up.

[+1]

[+1]

[+2, killed Northern Di squad leader]

[+1]

[+1]

[+3, killed Northern Di squad leader (Body Tempering level 9)]

By the end of the slaughter, he had become numb.

Only one thought remained in his mind: swing the blade, swing the blade, and swing it again.

The Wolf Killing Seven Forms had reached perfection, transforming into pure instinct in his hands. Every strike followed the most efficient path, and every strike claimed a life.

The blade aura on his edge grew increasingly solid; with a single swing, it sliced through armor and flesh alike, and even bone could not stop it.

[+1]

[+1]

[+1...]

The points were jumping frantically.

He did not stop.

While killing, he allocated his points.

He added them to Iron Shirt.

[Consumed 3 points, Iron Shirt proficiency +3]

[+2]

[+5...]

The proficiency of Iron Shirt soared all the way up.

[Iron Shirt: 9th Layer 34/50]

[41/50]

[47/50]

[49/50]

[50/50]

[Proficiency Maxed]

[Breakthrough: 9th Layer → Perfection]

BOOM--

The surge of internal energy finally broke through the final barrier!

A torrent of heat frantically flooded into his limbs and bones, and a dark golden glow erupted from the surface of his skin, only slowly receding after a full ten breaths!

Iron Shirt, Perfection!

Body Tempering 9th Layer, Perfection!

From this moment on, within the Body Tempering Realm, he had no equal.

Li Jinshui took a deep breath, feeling the surging power within his body.

He continued to kill.

The Di soldiers were still swarming up.

[+1]

[+1]

[+2...]

By the time the sun slanted to the west, the Di soldiers finally retreated.

Li Jinshui leaned on his blade, standing by the city wall, gasping for air.

He was covered in blood—some his own, some the enemy's—it was impossible to tell them apart anymore.

The old wound on his left shoulder had split open again, and blood trickled down his arm. Yet he stood there, standing straight as a rod.

Monkey stumbled over and plopped down beside him.

"You motherf..." Monkey panted, "How many did you kill today?"

Li Jinshui didn't speak; he simply pulled up his panel to take a look.

[Name: Li Jinshui]

[Realm: Body Tempering 9th Layer (Perfection)]

[Techniques: Iron Shirt (Perfection), Wolf Killing Seven Forms (Perfection), Tiger Walk (Perfection)]

[Points: 247]

He closed the panel and looked at the retreating Di soldiers in the distance.

"A lot."

Monkey grinned, revealing teeth stained with blood.

"Fine, you're a beast."

The two sat on the city wall, watching the sunset slowly sink below the horizon.

In the distance, firelight still flickered within the Di camp.

Tomorrow, they would come again.

Night fell.

Li Jinshui lay on his bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

It wasn't the pain from his wounds; it was that the internal energy within him was too full.

Body Tempering 9th Layer Perfection, Iron Shirt Perfection—he was already standing at the peak of Body Tempering.

One step further, and he would reach the Inner Strength Realm.

He sat up and pulled the Evergreen Art manual from his bosom.

He opened it, and lines of incantations met his eyes.

He took a deep breath and began to circulate the internal energy within his body according to the manual.

A warm current of air rose from his dantian, slowly flowing toward his limbs and bones.

It was the power of blood and qi he had accumulated while practicing Iron Shirt, now guided by the mental cultivation method of the Evergreen Art, beginning to penetrate into deeper places—his muscles, tendons, bones, and internal organs.

It hurt.

The pain was not the kind caused by external wounds; it seeped from the very marrow of his bones, as if countless needles were pricking him from within.

Li Jinshui gritted his teeth and continued to circulate his energy.

With every cycle of his internal energy, a portion was consumed.

After three cycles, his energy was nearly exhausted.

He opened his eyes and summoned the panel:

[Evergreen Art cultivation requirements met... Consume 200 points to force entry?]

[Current points: 247]

Li Jinshui did not hesitate.

"Consume."

[Consuming 200 points... Cultivating...]

BOOM—

A surge of heat exploded from his dantian!

The heat was more violent than any time before, like a floodgate bursting open, surging madly into his limbs and bones! It did not merely flow through his muscles and tendons, but delved deep into his marrow, deep into his internal organs!

His heart suddenly began to beat violently—thump, thump, thump—like a war drum!

A cool breath surged into his lungs, and his breathing instantly became deep and long.

His liver, spleen, kidneys... every organ was being scoured, reshaped, and strengthened by that torrent of heat!

Pain!

Excruciating pain!

But following the pain came an unprecedented sense of comfort!

Li Jinshui closed his eyes, feeling the earth-shattering changes within his body.

Body Tempering trains the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones.

Inner Strength trains the five viscera and six bowels.

At this moment, he had finally crossed that threshold!

He did not know how much time had passed before the heat within him finally subsided.

Li Jinshui opened his eyes.

The world before him had changed.

He could hear the snoring of soldiers in the distant barracks, the rustling of wind through leaves outside the window, and he could perceive the most subtle shifts of light and shadow in the darkness.

He raised his hand and clenched it gently.

Power.

Strength several times greater than before surged through his body.

He summoned the panel:

[Name: Li Jinshui]

[Realm: Inner Strength Realm (Early Stage)]

[Arts: Evergreen Art (Entry 0/200), Rock Body (Not Started), Iron Shirt (Perfected), Wolf Killing Seven Forms (Perfected), Tiger Walk (Perfected)]

[Points: 47]

Inner Strength Realm.

He had finally reached the Inner Strength Realm.

Li Jinshui sat in the darkness, the corners of his mouth slowly curling upward.

Three months ago, he was cannon fodder in the Death Squad Camp, left to be slaughtered by anyone.

Three months later, he was an Inner Strength Realm squad leader who had killed four enemies of the same realm.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Those hands would kill many more.

The moonlight from outside the window spilled in, illuminating his face.

There was no smile on that face, only a profound stillness.

A stillness as deep as a bottomless well.