Two defective Ghost Jades, worth seven skill points in total.
Adding the points left over from before, the skill-point column on the Panel now showed a solid "12."
Fang Shuwen dusted the powder from his hands and summoned the Martial Dao Panel again.
[Name: Fang Shuwen] [Attack: 4; Defense: 4; Vitality: 2; Spirit: 2] [Technique: First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists (Proficient)] [Special Effects:] [Skill Points: 12]
After glancing over the Panel, Fang Shuwen took out the Soaring Snake Counter-Scale Copper Plate and looked at the vertical pupil on its back.
He flipped the plate over, and almost instantly, a light screen popped up before his eyes.
[Compatible fusion item detected] [First Set of Body-Strengthening Fists (Proficient) + Variant Soaring Snake Counter-Scale → Soaring Snake Fist (Proficient)] [Skill points required for this fusion: 10] [Proceed with fusion?]
Fang Shuwen's gaze lingered for a moment on the two words "Proficient" after Soaring Snake Fist.
The technique would still be at the proficient level after the fusion, without losing any proficiency. That was reassuring; at least his skill points wouldn't go to waste.
Ten skill points was a painful price, but just from the name, he could tell that Soaring Snake Fist was no common, run-of-the-mill technique like Body Strengthening Fist.
"Fuse."
The instant the thought crossed his mind, Fang Shuwen felt as if a red-hot iron rod had pierced his spine.
It wasn't pain. It was heat.
The burning sensation shot from his tailbone to the back of his head, and his entire spine shuddered violently.
Then an even more violent rush of heat erupted from his chest, surging through his meridians and into every limb like magma.
His muscles spasmed violently, and his bones gave off a rapid series of brittle cracks.
Not one or two cracks, but a whole string of them, like a long chain of firecrackers going off on New Year's Eve.
His mind was in even greater turmoil.
The images of thirty-six figures practicing Body-Strengthening Fists were torn apart by a savage force. In their place appeared the phantom of a giant snake coiled in the void.
Its entire body was pitch-black, dark golden patterns flowing across its scales. A pair of vertical pupils stared down at him coldly.
The giant snake lunged at him.
But before its body could sink its fangs into him, the snake seemed to be struck by some force. As it writhed, it transformed into a set of fists.
Every move carried a savage, primordial ferocity.
Fists were like a snake's head, palms like its tail. As the hips twisted and turned, the spine rolled like a giant serpent turning over. Force exploded from the soles of his feet, traveled up his spine, and surged into his fists, tracing a crooked, uncanny arc.
He didn't know how long it took before all the images vanished with a roar.
Fang Shuwen snapped his eyes open and gulped down great breaths of air, drenched in sweat from head to toe.
"This fusion actually let me 'see' a fragment of that variant Soaring Snake's soul!"
"I can't even imagine how powerful that snake must have been in life!"
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
The veins on the backs of his hands stood out slightly, and his knuckles seemed to have grown a little longer and more slender.
Most noticeably, his skin was far fairer than before.
His hands looked even better than those of the hand model he'd seen at an anime convention before he transmigrated.
He clenched his fists. His joints cracked, the sounds sharper and more rapid than before.
But the biggest change wasn't in his strength. It was in his sinews and bones.
"Their flexibility and the degree to which they can twist have both improved. It almost feels inhuman!"
Fang Shuwen tried twisting his head, shoulders, chest, and waist in succession.
His body bent into an almost inhuman curve.
He truly felt like a supple, boneless snake.
But anyone who underestimated this change was bound to pay dearly.
"My body can twist almost twice as far now. That should let me use my waist to generate even more explosive power!"
Fang Shuwen tested the feeling, then casually threw a straight punch.
His fist traveled along the same path and at the same angle as before. There was no difference.
Even the technique for exerting force was the same as before.
His body twisted, and his right fist shot straight out from his waist.
His fist tore through the air with a sharp crack, higher and more piercing than when he practiced Body Strengthening Fist.
The air itself gave off a series of buzzing tremors!
Even without putting it to the test, Fang Shuwen had a general sense of it. His strength hadn't increased by much.
But the Snake Form special effect let his body twist much farther.
It was like drawing a bow to shoot an arrow: the farther you pulled it back, the greater the force of the shot.
Fang Shuwen lowered his fist and stood still, then summoned the Martial Dao Panel again.
[Name: Fang Shuwen] [Attack: 4→5; Defense: 4→4; Vitality: 2→3; Spirit: 2→3] [Technique: Soaring Snake Fist (Proficient)] [Special Effects: Snake Form (The body moves like a snake; flexibility greatly increased)] [Skill Points: 2]
Attack had increased by one, and Vitality and Spirit had each increased by one as well.
Although each individual stat had only gone up by one, his overall strength had increased by at least thirty percent.
Even though his Martial Dao realm hadn't changed, he could now beat three versions of himself from before the fusion.
"Whew, not bad. It feels great. Those skill points weren't wasted—they were worth it!"
He'd spent ten of his twelve skill points, leaving two to save for later.
Fang Shuwen looked down at the copper plate in his hand. After the fusion, the patterns on its surface had disappeared.
The strange sensation he'd felt as soon as he touched it had vanished too.
He held the plate up beneath the oil lamp. The vertical pupil on its back had grown completely dull, leaving it an ordinary piece of copper that no one would give a second glance if it were tossed into the street.
He casually set the plate on the table, ready to practice the fists a couple more times and get used to his newly changed body.
Suddenly, Old Fang's voice rang out from beyond the door.
"Shuwen, Shuwen! Dinner's ready. Come on over!"
There was a joy in Old Fang's voice that he couldn't hide; it came through even the door.
Fang Shuwen answered, pulled on his outer robe, and went outside.
The stone table in the courtyard was already laden with food.
A steaming clay pot sat in the middle. When the lid was lifted, the aroma of chicken, mixed with medicinal spices like star anise and cassia bark, rushed into his nose.
Beside it were a plate of scrambled eggs, a plate of cold shredded radish, and a pot of yellow wine.
Old Fang was bent over setting out the bowls and chopsticks. Hu Da came out of the kitchen carrying a steamer basket full of freshly steamed white-flour buns, flour still clinging to his apron.
"Little Fang, come sit down!"
Hu Da set the steamer basket on the table, wiped his huge, fan-like palms on his apron, and greeted him with a hearty grin.
Fang Shuwen walked up to the stone table, but he didn't plop down and start eating like he used to.
Standing by the table, he smiled at Hu Da and said,
"Uncle Hu, I've been relying on you for a lot lately. Let me share a couple of drinks with you tonight."
Hu Da was wiping his hands on his apron. At Fang Shuwen's words, his hands paused.
He looked up at Fang Shuwen, then at Old Fang. His mouth opened and closed, and it took him a good while to come back to his senses.
"You kid, why are you being so polite with your uncle?"
Hu Da laughed heartily.
But inside, he was in turmoil.
Little Fang had always been proud and haughty. When he saw servants like them, he wouldn't even lift an eyelid.
Forget calling him "Uncle Hu"—it was polite enough if he didn't complain about the kitchen smoke getting on him.
What was going on today?
Not only had he greeted him, he even wanted to share a drink with him?
Hu Da couldn't help taking another couple of looks at Fang Shuwen.
And the more he looked, the more something seemed off.
Little Fang still looked thin standing there, but there was an indescribable force hidden in his frame.
His posture was straighter too. He no longer hunched his shoulders and tucked in his neck like before. His spine stood upright like a spear, and his whole bearing was different.
He'd changed—changed until he seemed like that bodyguard instructor surnamed Liang from the estate!
How could that be possible?
Instructor Liang was a Bright Force martial artist!
He was a renowned big shot. Even Master Zhao treated him with respect when they met.
And Little Fang...
Even if he had changed, how could he compare to someone like that?
Hu Da had to be seeing things through the smoke!