After dinner, Old Fang went to chat with Hu Da.
Fang Shuwen closed the door and adjusted the wick of the oil lamp.
Then,
He took a deep breath and summoned the Martial Dao Panel again.
[Name: Fang Shuwen] [Attack: 5; Defense: 4; Vitality: 3; Spirit: 3] [Technique: Soaring Snake Fist (Proficient)] [Special Effect: Snake Form] [Skill Points: 10]
Ten points.
Today, he had absorbed energy from the book Tales of the Ancient Castle and gained eight skill points.
Fang Shuwen's gaze fell on the spot after "Soaring Snake Fist." Sure enough, the plus sign, which had been gray before, was now lit up.
At a thought, a prompt appeared before his eyes:
[Upgrade the technique "Soaring Snake Fist"?]
[Proficient → Mastery]
[Skill Points Required: 10]
"Just as I thought. It takes ten points, and I have exactly enough."
The corner of Fang Shuwen's mouth lifted slightly. He didn't hesitate.
"Upgrade."
The moment the thought crossed his mind, a sudden change took place.
This time, it wasn't a gentle current of heat. A far more explosive force erupted inside his body.
It was as if a real Soaring Serpent had awakened within him, its scales scraping across every inch of his bones and sinews, its fangs piercing every acupoint.
Fang Shuwen grunted and couldn't help gripping the edge of the table.
Starting from his tailbone, his spine cracked, one vertebra after another.
These weren't the crisp cracks of before, but deep, resonant booms, like someone pounding on a great drum covered in cowhide.
One.
Two.
The third followed right after. They didn't overlap, but rang out in a triple succession, like thunderclaps exploding inside him.
Three-Sound Bone Crack!
Fang Shuwen jerked his head back. The veins in his neck bulged, and a low growl was forced from his throat.
At the same time, dark bluish-green markings appeared across his skin, tracing the outline of snake scales before vanishing in a flash.
In his mind, the enormous serpent that had coiled in the void appeared once more.
But this time, it no longer gazed down at him coldly.
It plunged toward Fang Shuwen, jaws gaping wide as if to swallow him whole.
A shudder that seemed to rise from the depths of his soul instantly enveloped Fang Shuwen.
But in the next moment,
It was as if an invisible force took shape, and the colossal serpent was immediately seized by the throat.
Its body writhed, but it was completely useless.
After an unknown length of time, everything returned to calm.
Fang Shuwen gasped for breath, drenched in sweat from head to toe as though he'd just been fished out of the water.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
The veins on the backs of his hands stood out more clearly, and beneath his skin, he could faintly see his blood and qi surging.
He clenched his fist.
Crack! Crack!
The Three-Sound Bone Crack rang out in an unbroken series, deeper, richer, and more powerful than before.
He stood up and felt the changes in his body.
His strength, speed, reflexes, and senses... had all improved considerably.
If Bone Crack Twice had been a sharpened steel saber, then now he was a battering ram capable of crushing everything in his path.
Against his former self, he could knock him down in ten moves.
"I just wonder how strong I am now."
Fang Shuwen murmured. He could feel that he had been completely remade.
But he couldn't gauge it precisely.
And the room wasn't the place to test his fists.
With that in mind, Fang Shuwen pushed open the door, crossed the covered walkway, and headed straight for the martial arts ground next door.
The moonlight spilled across the blue-brick courtyard like water.
Fang Shuwen walked to the largest Stone Lock and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
He didn't assume any starting stance, simply standing there at ease.
He reached out, gripped the three-hundred-pound Stone Lock, and lifted.
His arm shot upward, and he raised the Stone Lock overhead with one hand, as easily as if it weighed nothing.
"Hm?"
"Why is it so light?"
Fang Shuwen set the Stone Lock down, surprised that lifting three hundred pounds had taken so little effort.
An ordinary martial artist with Three-Sound Bone Crack could lift between three and four hundred pounds with one arm.
So even lifting a three-hundred-pound Stone Lock shouldn't have been this easy.
"My strength must have increased a lot. This Stone Lock can't measure it. I'll go check the storeroom next door."
Steward Chen had given him not only the key to this courtyard, but also the key to the storeroom here.
The storeroom held quite a few weapons and pieces of equipment for martial arts training.
He took out the storeroom key and found the lock by moonlight. He turned it twice, and the brass lock sprang open with a click.
He pushed open the heavy wooden door, and a mix of rust, tung oil, and old wood washed over him.
Fang Shuwen felt around beside the doorframe, found an oil lamp, struck a match, and lit it.
The dim yellow light slowly spread, illuminating the storeroom's contents.
Several weapon racks stood against the wall, with sabers, spears, swords, and halberds neatly arranged.
A few bulging sacks lay piled in the corner. He couldn't tell what was inside.
In the middle of the open space, a row of copper weights had been stacked in neat order.
They varied in size. The smallest was marked "ten pounds," while the largest was as big as a washbasin and bore the words "one hundred pounds."
Fang Shuwen walked over to the pile of weights, bent down, and lifted the hundred-pound one. He hefted it in his hand; it felt light and effortless.
He set it down, then stacked four hundred-pound copper weights together.
Four hundred pounds.
Still easy.
Fang Shuwen's brows lifted slightly.
An ordinary martial artist with Three-Sound Bone Crack could lift between three and four hundred pounds with one arm. At four hundred pounds, he should already be struggling. There was no way he should be lifting it with such ease.
"Add more."
He stacked the weights until they totaled six hundred pounds.
At that point, Fang Shuwen finally felt the weight clearly.
He took a deep breath, twisted at the waist and sank his hips. His spine snapped upward, and the six-hundred-pound stack rose off the ground. He held it steadily above his head.
His breathing grew slightly quicker, and his arms felt a little sore and swollen, but he remained steady overall.
"Six hundred pounds still isn't my limit."
Fang Shuwen slowly lowered the weights. The copper blocks struck the ground with a heavy boom.
Two shallow dents appeared in the blue-brick floor.
He shook out his arms, then rummaged through the pile of weights again.
A few discarded old Stone Locks were piled in the corner of the storeroom. The largest lay dusty and gray against the wall.
A thick layer of dust had settled over it. No one had touched it in a long time.
He carried the Stone Lock over beside the weights and tested them together.
After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Fang Shuwen had finally figured out his current limit.
His maximum strength with one arm was around seven hundred pounds.
His strength had nearly doubled with this upgrade.
An astonishing increase.
He was now only a hundred pounds short of the eight-hundred-pound threshold for a Bright Force martial artist.
The gap was already tiny.
"Whoo. I only just reached Three-Sound Bone Crack. How does it feel like I could reach Bright Force in less than two days?"
Fang Shuwen couldn't help muttering to himself.
Bright Force was a threshold in martial arts training.
Once someone crossed it, their status changed entirely.
During the Great Yin dynasty, a Bright Force martial artist was worthy of being addressed as "Master."
Fang Shuwen returned the weights and Stone Lock to their places, then dusted off his hands.
He looked up, and the panel appeared.
[Name: Fang Shuwen] [Attack: 7; Defense: 6; Vitality: 5; Spirit: 3] [Technique: Soaring Snake Fist (Mastery)] [Special Effect: Snake Form] [Skill Points: 0]