Iron Shirt

Pain made people weak.

Back then, it was precisely because he feared pain that, when putting together his Skill, he had chosen Hard Body Training, a martial art that increased his resistance to blows: Iron Shirt.

The blood-red mist rose from Lu Bai's body once again.

"You're crazy! Your body absolutely won't be able to take it!" The bandit chief felt a tremendous force erupt from within Lu Bai.

Lu Bai pulled his leg free but didn't respond. Instead, he shoved the bandit chief toward the outside.

Some of the bandits nearby also fired at Lu Bai, but the power of firearms had been severely weakened, and the bandit chief himself made an excellent shield.

Besides, these people were very strange. Their fighting style was nothing like a Traveler's; it was more like that of an ordinary person.

With no time to think about why, Lu Bai shoved the bandit chief and plunged from the second floor of Lingfeng Tower.

They crashed into several people fighting outside.

The bandit chief struggled constantly, but with Blood Burn: Volcano activated, Lu Bai was already stronger than him.

The moment Lu Bai emerged, he steadied himself and immediately looked toward his target.

Above a building called Heshan Pavilion stood a man dressed all in black, with a large number of arrows strapped to his back.

His face was pale.

The hand gripping the bowstring trembled slightly.

The arrow embedded in the bandit chief seemed to have pierced him too.

This wasn't because the archer and the bandit chief shared some touching love story. It was the backlash from his Strange Art.

While practicing Heaven-Patrolling Arrow, the bow and arrows could not be tainted by anyone's aura except his own and that of his chosen target.

At best, the Strange Art would be contaminated, obscuring his ability to sense their auras.

At worst, he would suffer an aura backlash and fail to cultivate the Strange Art.

Even after mastering Heaven-Patrolling Arrow, he still had to be wary of his arrows coming into contact with other people's auras.

The more arrows he shot at the same target, the more Internal Force he expended.

With his first few arrows, he had gauged Lu Bai's reflexes and speed while also clearing away some of the obstruction formed by Lingfeng Tower's collapse, creating an unobstructed line of fire.

That last arrow had therefore been his strongest.

He hadn't expected there to be an "obstacle" after all.

After expending so much energy and suffering the Strange Art's backlash, the archer felt a chill run through his entire body.

Then he met Lu Bai's eyes. They were filled with a cold desire to kill him.

Even so, the archer didn't regret it.

"You destroyed Lianwu Mountain, so I'll make sure to destroy you!"

He shakily drew his bow again, while a large group of Lianwu Mountain's people nearby raised their weapons and charged at Lu Bai.

Lu Bai hoisted the bandit chief up as a shield, hunched over, and charged toward Heshan Pavilion.

The bandit chief wasn't a trained martial artist. He'd taken up martial arts halfway through his life, gaining his abilities through a Module.

Once Lu Bai got hold of him, he couldn't regain his balance. His unsteady footing made it difficult to escape Lu Bai's grasp.

But he didn't dare deactivate his Iron Shirt Skill. In this situation, without that layer of ironlike protection, he'd likely be hacked to death.

The archer on the rooftop took aim several times but couldn't find a suitable opportunity.

As Lu Bai smashed through the doors, he thrust two fingers straight into the bandit chief's eyes.

The shield had served its purpose.

But by then, the bandit chief had also sensed the danger.

He knew all too well that if he couldn't escape Lu Bai's grip, he would die before Lu Bai ran out of strength.

So he gritted his teeth and shoved all the Internal Force Modules he'd confiscated into his Iron Shirt Skill Bar at once.

He had left an extra slot in his Iron Shirt Skill, allowing him to insert the Energy Module, Internal Force, and use it to power the ability.

The normal version of Iron Shirt required practitioners to harden their bodies through special methods and medicinal wine in the early stages. Later, they developed Internal Force from the outside in, then used it to fill their flesh and skin. Once activated, the skill was like wearing an iron coat.

Each time they activated it, they indirectly strengthened their bodies. Eventually, they could have bones of steel and sinews of iron even without activating the skill.

However, Hard Body Training martial arts weren't known for their Internal Force. With an outside-in technique like Iron Shirt, the Internal Force generated with each use was less than half that of other conventional martial arts.

As a result, ordinary Iron Shirt practitioners lacked sufficient Internal Force. Even if they practiced for their entire lives, it was difficult to master the skill.

The bandit chief didn't have that problem. He could slot an Internal Force Module into his Skill Bar whenever he wanted, so he never lacked Internal Force.

But his problem was that he'd progressed too quickly. His body couldn't keep up. Growth at this pace always required time to digest.

Taking in too much Internal Force was like being full and still forcing yourself to eat more.

Now he was going all in, trying to get fat in one sitting. If his stomach burst afterward, that was a problem for later.

As a massive amount of Internal Force poured into him, the blackness gradually faded from his body, replaced by a hint of pure white.

The bandit chief's unremarkable features seemed almost otherworldly against his pale skin.

He planted his feet, and his body stopped moving despite Lu Bai's shove.

Lu Bai's thrusting fingers struck his closed eyelids, making a clanging sound.

At the same time, a force rebounded from the bandit chief's body, knocking away the hand Lu Bai had used to grab him.

When Iron Shirt reached mastery, it could bring the body's rebounding force to its fullest. Of the force you struck with, it could send seven tenths back from any part of the body.

And because of this, Iron Shirt, a technique known for its defense, also gained formidable offensive power at this stage.

The bandit chief's hands, smooth as white jade, reached for Lu Bai. As he applied force with his hands, the strength of his whole body flowed into them, just as the rebounding force had earlier.

That force was enough to split mountains and shatter rocks.

Lu Bai had no choice but to dodge to the side, excitement showing in his eyes.

As expected of a Traveler. Even someone who'd taken up martial arts halfway through life could unleash tremendous power with the right combination of Modules.

Lu Bai watched the bandit chief closely and noticed tiny spots of red gradually showing through his jade-white skin.

Clearly, the bandit chief wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

But Lu Bai wasn't doing much better. Blood Burn: Volcano was just as devastating to his body.

It was only thanks to Lu Bai's strong constitution and his Dragon-like Vitality talent that he could keep going.

"Then let's get this fight started!" Lu Bai said. He turned and threw a punch, dodging a greatsword as it came down and killing the Lianwu Mountain warrior who'd swung it.

He grabbed the man's corpse and extracted the Internal Force and Vitality Modules from it, then quickly slotted them into his Skill Bar.

As long as life remained, so would the fighting.

Second update. Sorry for posting late; I may have been too tired these past couple of days.

I got home at one in the afternoon, ate, then fell asleep and didn't wake up until very late. I've only just finished the update.

Good night, everyone. I'll be back to my usual posting schedule tomorrow. Please vote to show your support.