Flesh-Tempering Martial Artist

Huff, huff. Li Beichen panted heavily.

That burst just now had nearly drained all his strength.

The panel suddenly appeared.

[Skill: Locust Stone (Slight Mastery)]

[Progress: (0/1000)]

[Traits: Iron Wrist, Featherless Arrow, slight increase to physique, major increase to eyesight, reduced difficulty in practicing concealed-weapon skills]

[Featherless Arrow: stones fly like arrows. Within fifty paces, against stationary targets, ten shots hit ten times; against moving targets, nine shots hit out of ten.]

At the instant of advancement, not only had Li Beichen's Locust Stone skill greatly improved and his strength recovered, but his physique, power, and eyesight had all increased. Even the muscles, tendons, and bones in his wrists were changing.

With such wrist strength, he could easily guarantee the power of his Locust Stones within fifty paces.

Li Beichen even felt that he could bend an iron pillar cast from pig iron with his wrists.

A single struggle against a vicious wolf had raised his Locust Stone progress by several dozen points.

Sure enough, progress rose fastest amid danger.

Li Beichen familiarized himself with his current body, then picked up the usable pebbles from the ground.

Though such stones could be found everywhere, their size and hardness were not necessarily suitable.

"Three specially made throwing stones left, ten ordinary pebbles... That should be enough for today."

He had enough prey, and there might be other dangers on the way out of the mountains. Li Beichen drew his dagger, intending to cut off the wolf pelt and deer meat before heading back.

Suddenly, a heavily muscled figure emerged from the dense forest.

He wore brocade robes.

With his greatly improved eyesight, Li Beichen saw the four embroidered words on his sleeve: Thunderbolt Martial Hall.

"Thunderbolt Martial Hall."

Li Beichen's gaze sharpened. He rose to his feet with a knife in one hand and a throwing stone hidden in the other.

The brawny man glanced disdainfully at Li Beichen's barely noticeable muscles, paying no attention at all to his guard.

"You hunter brat are in luck today. You've run into Lord Hu San."

"Carry Lord Hu's deer and wolf to Ram City, and I'll reward you with ten copper coins!"

Whoosh!

A Locust Stone answered him.

Yet Li Beichen had aimed at the dirt beneath Hu San's feet.

Dust flew everywhere, startling Hu San into leaping backward. He thought some concealed weapon had struck.

"I hunted this deer and wolf. Show some respect!"

Li Beichen's warning had no effect. When Hu San saw that the concealed weapon he had imagined was merely a pebble, his face immediately flushed crimson.

Ashamed and enraged, he had not expected to be frightened by a mere stone.

"Throwing stones? A child's trick, and you dare show your fangs before a Ninth Grade Flesh-Tempering martial artist?"

"Today, I, Hu San, will teach you a lesson and show you what a Flesh-Tempering martial artist is!"

Li Beichen had long expected Hu San's reaction. After issuing his warning, he had already switched to a specially made Locust Stone.

Steady, accurate, ruthless, swift—the four words of Locust Stone. At his current level of Slight Mastery, Li Beichen could execute all of them well.

At this point, this skill could already be called Featherless Arrow.

Originally, Li Beichen had wanted to let Hu San approach within twenty paces, or even closer, before launching a Yin Hand attack. But Hu San's sudden burst of speed exceeded his expectations.

By the time Hu San closed to within thirty paces, Li Beichen knew he could wait no longer.

Yin Hand!

With his Iron Wrist, Li Beichen hurled the stone violently. The Locust Stone tore through the air like an arrow, shooting straight for Hu San's face.

"Ha!"

Crack! Bang!!!

Li Beichen hurriedly retreated. He had just seen Hu San roar and punch the air with a crisp blast, smashing the incoming Locust Stone with his fist at the very last instant.

A Flesh-Tempering martial artist was this strong?!

I can only kite him!

Having made up his mind, Li Beichen fought while retreating.

Though Hu San was heavily muscled and immensely strong, capable of shattering flying stones with a punch—

Li Beichen also saw that Hu San's five fingers had been mangled into bloody pulp because of it.

Even his strongest fist had ended up like that. If his eyes, bridge of his nose, crotch, or other weak points of the human body were struck, Li Beichen would have a chance to win.

Although Hu San's outright speed surpassed Li Beichen's by a notch, whenever he tried to close the distance, Li Beichen's Locust Stones attacked where he had no choice but to defend.

Thus, one pursued and the other fled, darting several hundred meters into the deep forest.

Li Beichen had limited throwing stones, so he casually scooped up dirt, rocks, and clumps of mud along the way.

Their power was inferior to the pebbles he had selected by the river, but that instead fit the principle of mixing the real with the false.

Hu San realized that these clods of earth and stones could only leave him covered in dust and dirt, unable to seriously injure him, so he simply bore them head-on without care.

Then, without warning, Li Beichen sent a specially made Locust Stone shooting out with a whoosh.

By the time Hu San noticed it, it was too late to strike back.

He turned his head to dodge, avoiding only the vital point. The Locust Stone grazed past his right ear.

At once, it tore a gash across Hu San's face and took off half his ear.

"Aah!!!"

Listening to Hu San's impotent, furious roar, Li Beichen touched his stone pouch.

Only one specially made Locust Stone remained inside.

"Awoo... Awoo..."

Suddenly, waves of wolf howls sounded from ahead. A large pack of wolves was approaching.

"It's that old wolf!"

Li Beichen's heart sank. That old wolf's long howl before death had not been from pain—it had been calling the pack, exposing his location.

"What a cunning beast. Even at death's door, it was still so deceitful."

Because it was old, the old wolf had been driven out of the pack by its young and vigorous members. Yet before dying, it had called the pack here to attack Li Beichen.

Li Beichen did not care what the old wolf had been thinking in its final moments, but the wolves' arrival might not be bad news for him.

He headed straight toward the wolf pack.

At this moment, Hu San was beside himself with rage and had already lost his mind.

Paying no heed to the wolf howls, he followed close behind.

Li Beichen caught a glimpse of him from the corner of his eye, and his heart turned utterly cold.

In this world, people ate people. He had already given Hu San a chance.

A moment later, the wolf pack appeared in Li Beichen's sight.

Hu San behind him was still roaring.

Saying that Li Beichen could not escape.

Li Beichen abruptly stopped and hurled the gourd at his waist with all his might.

The attack came so suddenly that Hu San saw only a gourd. He immediately struck viciously with his fist.

Bang!!

The gourd shattered, and deer blood splashed all over Hu San.

"Have fun playing with these wolf pups!"

Li Beichen sneered and darted into the woods to the side.

Hu San finally understood. Looking at the wolf pack before him, their eyes reddened by the scent of deer blood, the fury in his heart was extinguished in an instant.

A Ninth Grade Flesh-Tempering martial artist possessed great strength and did not fear three or five jackals and wolves.

But there were not three or five before him—there were more than ten.

Every one of them stared him down, greedily sniffing the scent of blood.

After retreating into the nearby woods, Li Beichen picked some herbs, crushed them, and smeared their juice over his exposed skin.

Then he actually returned in secret.

Li Beichen found a treetop and climbed up.

The view here was good. Even from more than a hundred paces away, he could clearly see Hu San battling the wolf pack.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. This Flesh-Tempering martial artist really is ferocious."

Li Beichen saw three wolf corpses already lying at Hu San's feet. Without exception, their spines had been snapped clean in two.

Clearly, Hu San had used his enormous strength to strike them in the waist.

Hu San was not completely uninjured either. Li Beichen saw at least three or four bite wounds on his body.