Today was Thursday, and it was still a free-training day.
After saying goodbye to Dai Fei, Xu Ziming didn't stay at school.
At that moment, after his battle with Song Wenkang, his Iron Cloth Shirt had miraculously improved by more than 60%.
He had just checked it, and it had already reached [Iron Cloth Shirt: First Realm (87.5%)].
That meant he only needed to train one more time to break through into the Iron Skin realm. Then he'd have another equipment slot free.
Not to mention, training in ancient martial arts might provide other benefits to his body, such as increasing his Life Energy Level.
Another reason was that his school grant and the police station's reward had both come through: ten thousand plus five thousand, along with the thirty thousand he had "earned" by looting Song Wenkang's body.
His assets had reached an unprecedented high.
It was also time to pick out a new weapon. At the end of the day, the Type 1 Psionic Sword was only a basic standard-issue weapon, and it had already begun to feel awkward to use.
So he was heading to the Pengcheng Martial Arts Training Base near his home, the place he passed every day after school.
It was equipped with special practice rooms. As long as you paid, you could do whatever you wanted inside. They even had dedicated training areas for ancient martial arts like the Iron Cloth Shirt.
Schools generally didn't have facilities like these, since their main training equipment was meant for practicing the Basic Body Forging Method.
It was rare to ride his bike through the city in broad daylight. The spring breeze blew warmly around him, and it felt wonderful.
He soon arrived in front of the high-tech-looking building. Its lobby was already packed with people training.
Every one of them was completely focused, sweating buckets.
After passing the gleaming GG Sign, Xu Ziming finally went inside.
"Welcome to the Pengcheng Martial Arts Training Base. How may I help you?"
As soon as he entered, a sweet-looking young woman came over to greet him.
"Do you have a room specifically for training the Iron Cloth Shirt?"
"Of course. Please come with me." Training in ancient martial arts wasn't unusual here. Many older people preferred practicing this kind of thing.
There were just fewer young people. But the base took your money and provided the service, and as long as you weren't breaking the law, nobody really cared.
"Special Ancient Martial Arts Training Room. Two hundred yuan for three hours."
The young woman smiled as she showed him the payment QR code. Xu Ziming held his wristband up to scan it, and only then did she swipe her card to open the room.
"Your training time is three hours. If you feel that isn't enough, you can keep training and pay the difference when you come out."
She smiled warmly, then turned and left.
"Pretty thoughtful." Xu Ziming muttered to himself before slowly walking inside.
The moment he entered, he was amazed by how well-equipped the room was.
Besides the basic thick ropes, there were also sand and gravel, branding irons, whips...
The whole place seemed to operate on the principle of, "Whatever can torture your body, bring it on."
"Gulp." Even Xu Ziming swallowed at the sight.
Was this Iron Cloth Shirt technique really a legitimate cultivation method? Xu Ziming really wanted to ask.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he walked over to the machine filled with sand and gravel. It looked like a front-loading washing machine.
The upright metal chamber was full of sand and gravel. All he had to do was climb inside and let them bury his body, and the machine would start running automatically.
Before training, Xu Ziming removed the Basic Body Forging Method from his Equipment Slot and put the Iron Cloth Shirt in its place.
He absolutely wasn't going to remove the Qilin Source Blood. Someone might be watching for it, and that was too dangerous.
"Vrrrr." Xu Ziming had climbed into the machine. As his body sank completely into the sand and gravel, the whole machine began to run.
Countless grains of sand and gravel rolled over his body, scraping against his skin.
Before two minutes had passed, Xu Ziming's face wore an expression of unbearable bliss. It wasn't because he couldn't take the tumbling stones.
It was because...
"No, my crotch—it hurts so much!"
The Iron Cloth Shirt didn't cover every part of his body, and Xu Ziming had taken off all his clothes.
But once the machine started training, it wouldn't stop until it completed an effective training cycle. And one effective cycle in this machine lasted an hour.
Rumble!
The sand-and-gravel machine kept churning. Xu Ziming's face had already turned somewhat pale.
[Iron Cloth Shirt First Realm (90.3%)]
[Iron Cloth Shirt First Realm (91.5%)]
Fortunately, his Iron Cloth Shirt was advancing rapidly, and new notification sounds kept ringing in his ears.
He could only grit his teeth and force himself to endure with sheer willpower.
At last, after an hour of torment, the tumbling sand-and-gravel machine finally stopped. Xu Ziming staggered out of it, weak and exhausted.
The Iron Cloth Shirt's progress had stopped right at [First Realm (99.9%)].
It had been at that value for ten minutes already, and ten minutes later, it still hadn't changed.
He simply took an E-Grade Blood Qi Potion from his wristband and drank it in one go, then resolutely turned his gaze toward the branding iron nearby.
The moment the room had been activated, the branding iron had begun heating. After an hour of heating, its temperature had now reached over five hundred degrees.
Iron melted at around 1,538 degrees Celsius. Since iron tools couldn't pierce his body, five hundred degrees shouldn't be enough to burn through it either, right?
Xu Ziming thought nervously, but still picked up the branding iron. It was enormous, large enough to cover his entire body.
As Xu Ziming lifted it, waves of scorching heat began to rise from it.
"Sss—"
A piercing pain seeped through his skin and spread throughout his body. Just two seconds later, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
It hurt. It hurt so much! A deep, stabbing pain!
But with the Iron Cloth Shirt's help, the branding iron didn't burn through his body. It only left a long white mark.
Next, he had to move the branding iron over his entire body.
His back, chest, stomach, arms, thighs...
The branding iron passed over one spot after another. The instant it covered the last remaining patch of his body, the familiar electronic chime sounded in his ears.
[Iron Cloth Shirt: Second Mirror Iron Skin (0.00%)]
[Permanent Solidification condition met. Steel Skin trait permanently solidified. Iron Skin effect increased by 50%.]
[Equipment Slot freed. New Equipment Slot unlocked: 1/2. Note: Each time a new Equipment Slot is unlocked, one additional permanently solidified trait is required.]
He had broken through! He had finally reached the Iron Skin realm. He immediately tossed the hot branding iron aside and carefully sensed the changes in his body.
It felt as if he were shedding his skin. His old skin kept peeling away, while new skin grew in its place.
He touched himself. Layers of black grime had peeled off his body, and the newly grown skin was incredibly smooth. Even when he stabbed it hard with a long sword, it didn't leave a mark.
He couldn't feel any pain at all, either.
He had finally mastered it. But unlocking another Equipment Slot required permanently solidifying another trait. Sure enough, it wasn't as simple as he'd imagined.
Xu Ziming was thinking this when he caught a whiff of an unbearable stench. Oh no—he was outside now. How was he supposed to get home covered in black grime?