Fang Shuwen breathed rapidly, overwhelmed by a surge of nausea.
It was as if a pair of invisible hands had clamped tightly around his neck.
Just then, the qi and blood within him surged violently.
His bones crackled and popped without pause.
In an instant,
the dizziness receded like a tide.
"Whew, what was that just now?"
Fang Shuwen felt cold sweat soak through his clothes, his heart still pounding with fright.
He looked down at the copper shard again. The vertical pupil was still a vertical pupil.
But it remained perfectly still, as if that blink just now had been his imagination.
"Something's not right."
Fang Shuwen murmured.
He had found this copper shard on Liu Mang.
Liu Mang was just a poor student who acted as someone's lackey. How could he have something like this on him?
For that instant, he had clearly felt something in his mind get stirred up.
If not for the thunder of his qi and blood and the crack of his bones,
he might have met with disaster!
What in the world was this thing? It was downright uncanny!
Fang Shuwen turned the copper shard over and examined it twice.
He didn't recognize a single character in the crooked incantations on its face.
But when he touched those strokes,
the light screen abruptly appeared before his eyes.
The writing on the screen rippled violently, like a stone tossed into a still lake.
Then a line of text he had never seen before surfaced before him:
[Detectable fusion item found] [First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists (Proficient) + Exotic Soaring Snake Counter-Scale → Soaring Snake Fist (Proficient)] [Proceed with fusion?] [Skill points required for this fusion: 10]
Fusion required 10 skill points!
Fang Shuwen's eyes lit up.
But then he remembered that he had already spent all his skill points upgrading the First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists.
He didn't have a single skill point left.
Even if he wanted to upgrade, he couldn't.
"Soaring Snake Fist..."
Fang Shuwen silently repeated the name.
Just from the name, it was clear that the Soaring Snake Fist was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill technique like the First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists.
The ten skill points needed for fusion only confirmed it.
This fist technique had to be powerful.
The problem was, he didn't have any skill points right now.
His next step was to earn money, buy Ghost Jade, and save up skill points.
Once he had enough, he could take out the copper shard and fuse it.
After all,
in this world, people were worth less than dogs.
He had to get stronger as quickly as he could.
Otherwise, the next one sinking into Clear Water River might be him.
Fang Shuwen shook his head and could only put the copper shard away.
Then he couldn't help wondering:
How had a petty hoodlum like Liu Mang gotten this Soaring Snake Counter-Scale?
Had he stolen it from somewhere?
Or picked it up somewhere?
Fang Shuwen thought it over, but couldn't come up with a clue.
Besides, Liu Mang was dead now, and he had thrown the body into Clear Water River.
Whatever was connected to this copper shard, that trail had gone cold for the time being.
There was no need to dig any deeper.
Having made up his mind, Fang Shuwen lay back down.
The night outside the window was deep, and a few faint barks drifted from afar.
He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
The next morning, his punctual body clock "woke" Fang Shuwen.
He sat up, got dressed, and pulled open the curtain.
Old Fang was already gone from the room, probably off at work.
A bowl of millet porridge, a plate of pickles, and half a roast chicken left over from last night sat on the table.
Steam still rose from the porridge, so it had clearly been brought over not long ago.
Fang Shuwen washed his face, sat down, and ate breakfast.
The porridge was thick and creamy, the rice grains cooked until they melted in his mouth.
The pickles were white radish with a hint of spice.
He tore the roast chicken into strips, stirred half into his porridge, and saved the other half for Old Fang.
After breakfast,
Fang Shuwen didn't go out. Instead, he headed to the training ground in the neighboring courtyard.
The night before, he had raised his Body Strengthening Fist to Proficient.
His attack and defense had each increased by another point.
Today, he had come to train and test his strength at the same time.
The Panel had indeed improved his strength and cultivation, but it hadn't improved his body's coordination and synchronization.
It was like knowing exactly what to do, but having his body fail to keep up.
Applied to his fist technique, this meant his body still hadn't adapted. He couldn't yet turn his explosively increased strength into instinct.
"Last time, my one-arm strength was around two hundred pounds. Today, I'll try a three-hundred-pound Stone Lock."
Fang Shuwen walked over to the Stone Lock area and glanced down.
He went straight to the three-hundred-pound Stone Lock.
It was a good deal larger than the ones beside it.
The bluestone surface was rough. Deep finger marks had worn into the handle, and a thin layer of dust had settled over it. Clearly, no one had touched it in a while.
He sank into a horse stance, hooked his right hand around the handle, and took a deep breath.
He twisted his waist and lowered his hips. His spine sprang upward like a giant python, and every ounce of strength in his body twisted into a single rope.
Power exploded from his feet, surged through his waist and hips, and poured into his arm.
"Up!"
The Stone Lock rose from the ground with a heavy thud.
Fang Shuwen lifted it over his head in one breath. His arm held steady, and the lock didn't budge.
He held the position for three breaths before slowly lowering it.
Thud!
The Stone Lock smashed into the blue-brick floor, leaving a small dent.
"A three-hundred-pound Stone Lock, and I didn't have to strain much. My one-arm strength should be around four hundred pounds now."
Fang Shuwen silently calculated.
His strength hadn't quite doubled.
But his actual combat power was at least two or three times greater than it had been when his bones first rang once.
Fang Shuwen wiped the sweat from his forehead, now certain of his estimate.
When his Body Strengthening Fist had gone from Beginner to Proficient, its attack attribute had increased by one point.
It had gone from three to four.
His strength hadn't merely increased by a third. It was almost half again as much.
The attributes on the Panel should represent his base values.
His actual force also depended on the technique's methods of exerting power, how well he could bring that force together,
and how well his body had adapted.
"I've tested my strength. Time to practice my fist technique."
Fang Shuwen walked up to the Wooden Dummy but didn't start right away.
Instead, he closed his eyes and mentally went through all thirty-six forms of the Body Strengthening Fist from beginning to end.
This time, he "saw" them more clearly than before.
The thirty-six figures no longer simply demonstrated the movements. They broke down the details of how to exert force in each form, laying them bare.
He opened his eyes and slowly breathed out a mouthful of stale air.
Fang Shuwen stomped his right foot down. The instant his center of gravity shifted forward,
it was as if something lifted his spine from the tip of his tailbone, sending it springing upward one vertebra at a time.
Power exploded from the soles of his feet, passed through his waist and hips, traveled up his spine to his right shoulder, and finally burst from his fist.
"Smack!"
His fist cut through the air with a sharp crack, crisper and brighter than the sound the day before.
That wasn't the crack of his bones. It was the sound of his fist slicing through the air.
Fang Shuwen didn't pause. The second form followed close on the first.
A springing kick and straight punch, a horse stance with a bracing strike, a resting stance with a downward strike...
One move followed another without a break.
Two hours later, it was nearly noon.
Fang Shuwen finished his routine and stood still.
Sweat poured down his body, and his veins bulged, visible to the naked eye as his qi and blood surged through them without pause.
Waves of heat rose from his seemingly lean but actually powerful body.
"Fantastic!"
Fang Shuwen let out a long breath of stale air, which gathered and lingered instead of dispersing.
He lowered his gaze to his fists. His skin was bright red.
The Wooden Dummy was covered in dense fist marks, some deep and some shallow.
But every strike had landed precisely on a point that could take the force.
He no longer moved through the Body Strengthening Fist with the same clumsiness as when he had first started.
"Too bad there's no one to spar with me. I'd have grasped the essence of the fist technique even faster!"
He shook his head to himself, then left the courtyard.
"Huh? I clearly heard someone practicing their fists just now. Why can't I see anyone?"
Chen Zhong had just pushed open the courtyard gate when he wrinkled his nose.
A faint smell of sweat lingered in the air, not yet fully dispersed.
He walked a few steps into the courtyard. His eyes fell on the Wooden Dummy in the middle of the training ground, and he suddenly stopped.
The Wooden Dummy was covered in fist marks.
They were packed tightly together, one layer overlapping another.
Some of the marks were deep enough to crack the old lacquer on its surface, exposing the pale wood beneath.
"Hiss. That person's strength must be about enough to make his bones ring twice."
"His strength is scattered, not yet fully brought together and condensed. Could he have just broken through today?"