Copper Skin Iron Bone, Fiery Fish

"Add points, Physique!"

With a flicker of thought, 75 points of general experience instantly poured into the progress bar representing Physique.

"Hum--!"

[Physique level increased!]

[Physique: Copper Skin Iron Bone Lv.4 (0/3000)]

[General Experience: 40 points]

Before Lu Zhen could even marvel, a cataclysmic upheaval erupted within his body.

"Boom!"

A muffled thunderclap seemed to detonate inside his mind.

This was no longer the tearing sensation of Tendon Stretching and Bone Strengthening from before, but a vibration that penetrated deep into his marrow and straight through his internal organs. Lu Zhen felt his entire skin contract and tighten in an instant, as if he had been draped in a layer of thick, tough oxhide, incomparably resilient.

Immediately after, a bone-deep, maddening itch surged from the depths of his marrow.

"Crack, crack..."

Accompanied by the fine, dense popping of his bones, Lu Zhen's body—which had endured thirty years of hardship and the ravages of wind and frost—actually began a process similar to the "cleansing of marrow and cutting of essence" recorded in Taoist scriptures.

The chronic illnesses and hidden injuries lurking within, the cold and damp toxins accumulated from years of pulling carts, and the impurities in his blood were forcibly expelled by that surging, overwhelming blood energy.

Wisps of viscous, ink-like black sludge were squeezed out through the hundreds of thousands of pores across his entire body.

In less time than it takes to brew a pot of tea, Lu Zhen looked as if he had been fished out of a sewer, his body covered in a thick layer of black-gray, greasy filth.

An indescribable, fishy stench, mixed with the scent of sour sweat and aged, rotting mud, instantly permeated the cramped inner room.

Lu Zhen opened his eyes and looked down at the sludge on his hands. Instead of feeling disgusted, a brilliant light erupted in his eyes.

With this Copper Skin Iron Bone complete, ordinary blades—unless imbued with internal force—would likely fail to even break his skin!

It was just that this smell was truly stifling.

Lu Zhen pushed open the door crack of the inner room and called out to Shen Yun, who was tidying the table in the outer room: "Sister Shen, please, could you boil two more pots of boiling water? I've broken into a heavy sweat and need a good wash."

Catching a whiff of the strange odor drifting from the room, Shen Yun didn't ask questions, assuming he had sweated out the impurities from his training. She replied gently: "Oh, I'm on it. Just rest a moment, Little Lu, the water will be ready soon."

Before long, the narrow partition used for bathing beside the kitchen was filled with steam.

The waist-high wooden tub was filled to the brim with scalding hot water.

Lu Zhen stripped off his sludge-stained training clothes in a few quick motions, stepped over with his long legs, and sat directly into the tub.

As the boiling water enveloped his body, Lu Zhen picked up a coarse loofah and scrubbed his skin vigorously. The foul-smelling sludge dissolved upon contact with the hot water, and a layer of murky black water soon floated to the surface.

It took three full changes of water to completely wash away the pungent stench.

With the filth gone, his exposed skin revealed a healthy, powerful bronze hue.

The muscle definition was not exaggerated or bulging, but like tightly coiled steel cables, clinging to his bones and exuding an air of ferocity forged through a thousand trials.

Lu Zhen leaned against the edge of the tub, closing his eyes to rest, feeling this body that felt reborn, his heart filled with immense satisfaction.

"Little Lu..."

Just then, the cloth curtain of the partition was suddenly pushed aside a crack.

Assuming Lu Zhen was still scrubbing and fearing he had no clean clothes to change into, Shen Yun walked in with her head down, carrying a set of washed-white but neatly pressed coarse cloth undergarments.

"That outfit from before was spoiled; I've put clean clothes for you on the stool..."

Before she could finish, Shen Yun instinctively raised her eyes.

Through the swirling white steam, she caught sight of Lu Zhen, who was just straightening up from the tub.

A back as broad as a mountain wall, clearly defined chest and abdominal muscles, and water droplets trailing down his bronze skin. An intensely potent, masculine aura surged toward her in the narrow space.

Shen Yun's voice came to an abrupt halt, her mind going blank with a "hum."

That gentle, fair face instantly turned as red as a sunset cloud, the flush spreading to the tips of her ears, and even her slender neck took on a rosy, vibrant hue.

"I... I left the clothes here, I, I'm going out first!"

In a panic, Shen Yun shoved the clothes onto the bench, not daring to take another look. Covering her burning cheeks, she retreated as if fleeing, and from outside, there came the sound of her stumbling as she nearly tripped over the threshold.

Lu Zhen sat back down in the tub, the hot water rising over his chest.

Yet, for some reason, the image of Shen Yun's flustered, shy appearance—those watery peach-blossom eyes, that slender waist, and the lush curves barely concealed beneath her thin jacket—lingered in his mind.

The scene refused to fade, and a nameless, wicked fire "whooshed" up from his dantian.

As his blood surged downward, Lu Zhen felt his mouth go dry, and even the hot water in the tub seemed to turn scalding and scorching.

"Hoo—"

Lu Zhen suddenly scooped up a handful of water and splashed it onto his face, shaking his head vigorously in an attempt to cast out those lascivious thoughts.

He cursed himself silently in his heart.

I, Lu, conduct myself with integrity; I am a gentleman through and through!

When I first invited Sister Shen to move in, it was purely to save her from the clutches of those scoundrels like He Gui, and incidentally to provide some company for my little sister. It was all above board—how could there be any filthy, transactional thoughts behind such a favor?

This was absolutely not a case of my mind wandering!

It must be the fault of that Red Scale Treasure Fish given by Brother Gu!

Lu Zhen mentally laid all the blame at the feet of Gu Yanzhi.

The mutated treasure fish was a potent tonic. Not only was its vital energy overbearing, but the aphrodisiac heat it carried was also so fierce that it caused his blood to surge in the middle of the night, leading to this wretched state.

"Hmph!"

Lu Zhen let out a stifled, frustrated grunt, closed his eyes, and began to silently circulate his breathing technique from his stance training, forcibly suppressing the rampaging heat within his body.

South of the city, the Zhou Family in Tofu Alley.

In the cramped main room, a dim, yellowish kerosene lamp hung overhead, barely illuminating the paint-chipped Eight Immortals table in the center.

The family, young and old, sat huddled around the table eating dinner.

The meal was extremely meager. A large basin of mixed-grain rice containing sorghum and sweet potato flour, two plates of pickled mustard greens that had turned black, and a bowl of watery cabbage soup.

The only meat was a plate of stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts placed right in the middle.

Calling it stir-fried meat was a stretch; it was mostly just a few thin slices of pork belly, used primarily to render fat and add flavor. This dish had been deliberately pushed to the other end of the table, closer to the men.

In this household, the rules were strict.

The eldest brother, Zhou Wencheng, was an accountant at a grain store in the east of the city, and the eldest brother-in-law, Zhou Wenjing, was a schoolteacher; the two were the pillars of the family. Added to them was the eldest brother's son, Zhou Ming, who was at a growing age, so this sole meat dish was prepared specifically for the three of them.

As for the mother-in-law, the eldest sister-in-law, and Lu Fang—the three women—none of them reached a chopstick toward that plate of meat, simply digging silently into their bowls of coarse rice.

"Gulp, gulp..."

The nephew, Zhou Ming, picked up a piece of glistening, fatty pork and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing until his lips were slick with oil.

He swallowed, his eyes shining with an alarming intensity. He set his chopsticks down on the table and shouted excitedly:

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt! Have you heard? Uncle Lu Zhen has become famous!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the table stalled.

Zhou Wenjing's hand, mid-reach for a vegetable, froze, and he furrowed his brow slightly. The mother-in-law rolled her Triangular Eyes; clearly, she had no favorable impression of Lu Fang's poor, rickshaw-pulling younger brother.

Lu Fang's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly set down her bowl: "Ming'er, what happened to your uncle? Did he get into trouble while pulling his rickshaw?"

"How could that be!"

Zhou Ming was so excited he was gesticulating wildly, spittle flying: "Uncle is now an Inner Sect disciple of the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall! I heard his martial arts have already reached the 'Mid Force Refining Realm'; with a single swing of his arm, he has five hundred pounds of strength!"

"Two days ago in Pig Cage Alley, those hooligans led by He Gui went to cause trouble with big clubs, and Uncle Lu Zhen was like a god descending to earth! With one punch, he caved in a grown man's chest, and the man died on the spot! He broke the hands and feet of all the rest!"

"Even Captain Li from the Constabulary has to be respectful when he sees Uncle, handing him cigarettes and calling him 'brother.' He's incredibly imposing!"

The room fell into instant silence.

Zhou Wenjing was stunned, his scholarly face full of shock. The eldest brother, Zhou Wencheng, also forgot to eat, staring straight at his son.

"Ming'er... this, this is a matter of killing someone! You mustn't speak nonsense!"

The chopsticks in Lu Fang's hand were trembling, her face full of disbelief. How could her younger brother, who had been lame for over a decade and lived by selling his labor, suddenly become an Inner Sect disciple? And how could he beat a man to death in the street and walk away unscathed?

"Second Aunt, how would I dare to speak nonsense!"

Zhou Ming slapped his chest with a resounding thud: "This is being talked about all over the south of the city! If you don't believe me, go ask around on the street tomorrow. Oh, right—"

As if remembering an even more explosive piece of gossip, Zhou Ming lowered his voice and added with a gleeful expression:

"It's true! The neighbors all saw it. After Uncle beat away the hooligans, he turned around and brought that beautiful widow, the Shen woman from the alley, straight back to his own house to live!"