Soaring Serpent's Reverse Scale

Fang Shuwen's breathing grew rapid, a sensation of extreme nausea rising within him.

It felt as if a pair of invisible, massive hands were tightly strangling his neck.

Just at that moment, the blood and qi within his body surged violently.

His bones cracked and popped incessantly.

In an instant, that wave of dizziness receded like the tide.

"Hah, what was that just now!"

Fang Shuwen felt his clothes soaked through with cold sweat, his heart trembling with lingering fear.

He lowered his head to look at the copper shard again; the vertical pupil was still a vertical pupil.

Yet it remained motionless, as if that blink from a moment ago had merely been an illusion.

"Something isn't right."

Fang Shuwen muttered to himself.

This copper shard had been scavenged from Liu Mang.

Liu Mang was just a poor student acting as a lackey for others; how could he possibly possess something like this?

In that split second, he had clearly felt something being stirred inside his brain.

Had it not been for the roaring of his blood and qi and the cracking of his bones, he feared he would have met with disaster!

What on earth was this thing? It was so sinister!

Fang Shuwen turned the copper shard over and over, examining it twice.

He did not recognize a single one of the crooked, distorted incantations on the front of the shard.

But the moment his fingers brushed against those strokes, that screen of light popped up before his eyes without warning.

The text on the screen fluctuated violently, like a stone thrown into the surface of a calm lake.

Immediately following, a prompt he had never seen before appeared before his eyes:

[Detected item eligible for fusion]

[First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists (Proficient) + Alien Soaring Snake Reverse Scale → Soaring Snake Fist (Proficient)]

[Proceed with fusion?]

[This fusion consumes 10 Skill Points]

Fusion required 10 Skill Points!

Fang Shuwen's eyes lit up instantly.

But upon second thought, he had already exhausted his Skill Points to upgrade the First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists.

Right now, he didn't have a single Skill Point to his name.

Even if he wanted to upgrade, there was no way.

"Soaring Snake Fist..."

Fang Shuwen silently recited the name.

Soaring Snake Fist—just hearing the name told him it was far superior to common goods like the First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists.

The fusion cost of ten Skill Points also confirmed this from another angle.

This martial art was bound to be powerful.

However, he lacked the Skill Points for now.

What he needed to do next was make money, buy Ghost Jade, and accumulate Skill Points.

Once he had enough Skill Points, it wouldn't be too late to take this copper shard out and fuse it.

After all, in this world, human lives were worth less than dogs.

He had to hurry and grow stronger.

Otherwise, the next person to be sunk into the Clear Water River might just be himself.

Fang Shuwen shook his head, having no choice but to put the copper shard away.

Yet, he couldn't help but wonder.

Where would a small-time thug like Liu Mang have the ability to obtain this Soaring Snake Reverse Scale?

Did he pilfer it from somewhere?

Or did he pick it up somewhere?

Fang Shuwen thought about it, but had no leads.

Besides, Liu Mang was already dead, and he had thrown the body into the Clear Water River.

No matter what entanglements lay behind that copper piece, this trail was severed for the time being.

There was no need to dig any deeper.

Having made up his mind, Fang Shuwen lay back down on the bed.

Outside the window, the night was thick, and the faint sound of dogs barking drifted from afar.

He closed his eyes and soon drifted off into a dream.

The next morning, his punctual biological clock "woke" Fang Shuwen up.

He rolled over to sit up, put on his clothes, and pulled back the curtain.

Old Fang was no longer in the room; he must have gone to work.

On the table sat a bowl of millet porridge, a dish of pickled vegetables, and half of the roast chicken left over from last night.

The porridge was still steaming, clearly brought over not long ago.

Fang Shuwen washed his face and sat down to eat breakfast.

The porridge was thick, the rice grains cooked until they melted, soft and smooth to the palate.

The pickled white radish had a hint of spice.

He tore the roast chicken into strips, mixing half into the porridge and saving the other half for Old Fang.

After finishing breakfast, Fang Shuwen did not go out, but instead went to the martial arts practice field in the neighboring courtyard.

Last night, he had upgraded Body Strengthening Fist to Proficient.

His attack and defense had each increased by one point.

Coming here today, he intended to test his strength while training.

While the panel had indeed increased his strength and realm, it did not include the body's coordination and synchronization.

It was as if his brain understood, but his body simply hadn't kept up.

Applied to his fist techniques, it meant his body had not yet adapted and could not turn his surging strength into instinct.

"Last time, my strength was around two hundred jin per arm; today, I'll try the three-hundred-jin stone lock."

Fang Shuwen walked to the stone lock area and glanced down.

He walked straight up to the three-hundred-jin stone lock.

This stone lock was a size larger than the ones next to it.

The surface of the bluestone was rough, and the handle was worn with deep finger marks and covered in a thin layer of dust, clearly untouched for some time.

He planted his feet in a horse stance, gripped the handle with his right hand, and took a deep breath.

He twisted his waist, sank his hips, and his spine snapped upward like a giant python, his entire body's strength coiled into a single rope.

Power exploded from beneath his feet, surging along his waist and hips all the way to his arm.

"Rise!"

The stone lock left the ground in response, producing a dull thud.

Fang Shuwen lifted it over his head in one breath, his arm steady, the lock body not moving an inch.

He held this pose for three breaths before slowly lowering it.

Bang!

The stone lock slammed into the brick floor, creating a small crater.

"The three-hundred-jin stone lock didn't take much effort; my strength should be around four hundred jin per arm."

Fang Shuwen calculated silently.

His current strength hadn't doubled, but his actual combat power was at least two or three times that of someone at the first stage of Bone Cracking.

Fang Shuwen wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling confident.

Upgrading Body Strengthening Fist from Entry to Proficient had added one point to his attack attribute.

It had increased from three points to four.

The growth in strength was not just one-third; it was nearly half.

The attributes on the panel were likely base values.

The actual effect of his force exertion also involved the techniques of the martial art, the integration of his power, and the adaptability of this body itself.

"Strength test complete, time to practice the fist techniques."

Fang Shuwen walked up to the wooden dummy but did not rush to strike.

Instead, he closed his eyes and ran through the thirty-six forms of the Body Strengthening Fist from beginning to end in his mind.

This time, he "saw" them more clearly than before.

The movements of those thirty-six silhouettes were no longer mere demonstrations; they dismantled the force-generating details of every form to the finest degree.

He opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Fang Shuwen stomped his right foot hard against the ground, his center of gravity shifting forward in an instant.

His spine felt as if it were being lifted from the tailbone, snapping upward segment by segment.

Power exploded from the soles of his feet, surged through his waist and hips, traveled along his spine to his right shoulder, and finally erupted from his fist.

"Crack!"

The fist wind tore through the air with a crisp sound, sharper and brighter than yesterday's.

This was not the sound of bones popping, but the sound of the fist edge breaking the air.

Fang Shuwen did not pause, immediately following up with the second form.

Snap kick and punch, horse stance block and strike, resting stance cover strike...

Each move flowed into the next, continuous and unbroken.

Two hours later, as noon approached.

Fang Shuwen withdrew his fists and stood still.

He was drenched in sweat, his veins bulging, and one could visibly see his blood and qi surging within them.

Rolling heat rose from a body that appeared lean but was, in reality, robust.

"Refreshing!"

Fang Shuwen exhaled a long breath of stale air, the plume of air remaining condensed and unscattered.

He looked down at his fists; the skin was flushed red.

The wooden dummy was covered in dense, overlapping fist marks of varying depths.

Yet, every single one had landed precisely on a stress point.

He no longer performed this set of Body Strengthening Fist with the stiffness he had at the start.

"It's a pity there's no one to spar with; otherwise, I should be able to grasp the essence of the fist techniques even faster!"

Shaking his head to himself, Fang Shuwen left the courtyard.

"Huh? I clearly heard the sound of someone practicing fists just now, so why is there no one here?"

As soon as he pushed open the courtyard gate, Chen Zhong wrinkled his nose.

A faint scent of sweat lingered in the air, not yet dissipated.

He walked a few steps into the yard, his gaze falling upon the wooden dummy in the center of the training ground, and his footsteps suddenly halted.

The wooden dummy was covered in fist marks.

Dense and packed, layer upon layer.

Some marks were quite deep, cracking the old lacquer on the surface of the dummy and revealing the white wood beneath.

"Hiss, this person's strength should be close to two bone-cracking sounds."

"The power is scattered and hasn't been fully integrated or refined yet; could it be that they just broke through today?"