Increasing the Weight

In the days that followed, Chen Cheng rose early every day, practiced the Chasing Wind Saber Technique for an hour, then went to work his shift at the prison, silently cultivating the Iron Garment Art. After finishing his shift and returning home, he continued practicing the Chasing Wind Saber Technique for another hour.

Thus, he practiced tirelessly, his cultivation progress steadily improving and his strength growing day by day.

That evening, after returning home from his shift, Chen Cheng removed his constable's uniform and took off the weighted iron plates. Wearing only a thin set of clothes, he began practicing the Chasing Wind Saber Technique in the freezing, bone-piercing wind.

[Chasing Wind Saber Technique cultivation progress increased.]

The panel notifications appeared from time to time. Chen Cheng grew ever more immersed in his practice, his body moving swiftly as the constable's saber in his hand seemed to possess a spirit of its own, moving as his heart commanded.

Gradually, he forgot both self and surroundings. There was only the saber in his eyes, only the saber in his heart, only the saber in his hand.

He slashed, chopped, shaved, thrust, swept... his movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, utterly exhilarating.

[Forgetting self and surroundings, entered a focused state. Chasing Wind Saber Technique cultivation progress increased.]

[Skill: Chasing Wind Saber Technique (Beginner 26/100)]

After an hour, his thin clothes were soaked through with sweat, yet Chen Cheng paid it no mind. A faint smile rested on his face, and his deep eyes brimmed with excitement.

Over the past few days, he had discovered that when he practiced the Iron Garment Art while wearing weights during the day, then removed the weights at night to practice his saber technique, the sudden relaxation of body and mind made it easier for him to enter that focused state of forgetting self and surroundings.

And in that focused state, his saber technique cultivation progress increased at an incredible speed—at least twice as fast as usual.

There was another situation as well: if Chen Cheng practiced the Chasing Wind Saber Technique while wearing weights, then removed them after practicing for a while, it also increased the chances of entering that focused state of forgetting self and surroundings.

Using these two methods, he could now enter a focused state once every two or three days. Each time, it lasted from half a quarter-hour to a full quarter-hour.

Practice always brought progress, and there was even the occasional focused state. The future looked promising!

Chen Cheng summoned the panel again to check it.

[Name: Chen Cheng

Realm: Skin-Tempering Realm (Minor Accomplishment)

Skills: Iron Garment Art (Minor Accomplishment 45/1000), Chasing Wind Saber Technique (Beginner 26/100)]

"Brother Cheng, dinner's ready."

Mu Xiaowan came out of the kitchen carrying a basin of hot water. During this period, Chen Cheng's cultivation had been extremely regular, so Mu Xiaowan had adjusted her cooking schedule accordingly. Once Chen Cheng finished practicing and quickly washed up, he could eat right away.

"Okay." Chen Cheng answered, stepped forward to take the wooden basin from Mu Xiaowan's hands, and entered the bedroom.

He had only just taken off his sweat-soaked undershirt and trousers when Mu Xiaowan followed him in and carefully wiped him down with a hot, damp cloth.

Once she had finished wiping his body, hands, and feet clean, Chen Cheng hurriedly said, "I'll handle the rest myself."

Mu Xiaowan's face reddened slightly. She quickly turned around and only turned back after Chen Cheng had changed into clean undershirt and trousers.

"Brother Cheng, after the New Year, I'll be fourteen, and you'll be eighteen too."

Her lovely eyes watched Chen Cheng, her cheeks faintly flushed as she spoke in a soft, distant voice.

"Mm. After the New Year, we'll both be a year older."

Chen Cheng looked at Mu Xiaowan as well, thoughtful.

Over this period, the little girl had changed quite a lot. She had once been thin and tiny, not even reaching Chen Cheng's shoulder. Yet now, she had suddenly shot up in height, and her forehead nearly reached his chin.

Chen Cheng himself had also grown quite a bit during this time. He had originally been under one meter seventy, but now he was at least one meter seventy-two or seventy-three.

Mu Xiaowan's growth rate was clearly much faster than Chen Cheng's.

Not only had she grown taller, but her formerly thin, undersized, dried-up frame had gradually filled out. Her figure was beginning to show delicate curves, brimming with a pure and lively air.

By my reckoning, it's been almost two months since I transmigrated here.

In such a short time, Xiaowan and I have changed so quickly. It must be because we've been eating fish and meat every day lately, with enough nutrition.

What children from poor families lack is only nutrition. Once they get enough of it, their physical constitution isn't much worse than the young masters and misses of wealthy households.

My foundation should be pretty good, but Xiaowan's seems even better. She's naturally clever, and her physical condition seems excellent too. I wonder what her aptitude for martial arts is like...

"Brother Cheng..." Seeing Chen Cheng staring at her in a daze, Mu Xiaowan called to him softly again.

"Mm." Chen Cheng came back to himself and smiled faintly.

Mu Xiaowan lowered her head slightly, her voice becoming even softer.

"After the New Year, we should get married too. How many children do you think we should have?"

"Children..." Chen Cheng laughed despite himself and tapped her smooth, porcelain-white forehead with a finger. "What are you thinking about all day? My heart is set on cultivating martial arts. I need to keep my qi and blood tightly locked, so I'm afraid the marriage will have to be postponed."

While at Luo's Shop, Qian Bin had once casually mentioned that the reason he had only reached minor accomplishment in the Skin-Tempering Realm after cultivating for most of his life was because he had married too early.

At the time, he had solemnly warned Chen Cheng to focus wholeheartedly on cultivation and not let himself be distracted. In particular, he must not marry too early, much less indulge in debauchery at places like brothels.

As the saying went, if one did not strive in youth, one would only grieve in old age. Chen Cheng wholeheartedly agreed with that.

"Then... then how long will it be postponed?" Mu Xiaowan asked.

Three years to temper the skin, five years to transform the tendons, ten years to forge the bones. Chen Cheng calculated that those geniuses took eighteen years to cultivate to the Bone-Forging Realm. With the panel, his cultivation faced no bottlenecks, so he should be faster than those so-called geniuses. Five years should be enough to reach the Bone-Forging Realm.

"About five years, I suppose," Chen Cheng answered, not entirely certain.

Five years later, he would be in his early twenties. Getting married then did not seem too late; it would be just the right time.

As for why he had set the Bone-Forging Realm as his goal, it was because only a martial artist at the Bone-Forging Realm, with strength like the chief of the South City Guard Headquarters, would possess the ability to protect himself.

Mu Xiaowan was startled. Her beautiful eyes widened as she exclaimed in shock, "Five years? Wouldn't that make me an old woman? Five years from now, I'll be nineteen! Sister-in-law Mei from the alley is nineteen this year, and she's already pregnant with her third child!"

"What old woman?" Chen Cheng was amused by her. He pinched her delicate, porcelain-white chin before continuing, "Have you finished sewing my lined clothes and trousers?"

"I finished them this afternoon. They're on the table. I was just about to bring them to you, but they're so heavy I could barely lift them." Mu Xiaowan pointed toward the table beside the bed.

The lined clothes and trousers were sewn from cotton cloth and stuffed full of refined iron plates, weighing a full fifty jin.

Mu Xiaowan had sewn them very carefully, the stitches dense and fine. They did not look especially bulky, merely like slightly thickened clothes and trousers.

Once Chen Cheng put them on and wore casual clothes over them, he still looked slim, and could move freely.

"Not bad." Chen Cheng smiled in satisfaction.

Mu Xiaowan's beautiful eyes flickered uncertainly, and she said with some concern, "Brother Cheng, wearing something so heavy—don't exhaust yourself or injure yourself."

"It's fine!" Chen Cheng stood with his back straight and silently circulated the cultivation formula of the Iron Garment Art. As his qi and blood flowed, waves of scorching heat surged through his body, noticeably faster than before.

After cultivating the Iron Garment Art to minor accomplishment, Chen Cheng had felt that as his strength gradually increased, the technique's cultivation progress had become slower and slower.

He guessed that the weights were not heavy enough, so he bought refined iron plates and had Mu Xiaowan sew them into the lined clothes and trousers, increasing the weight to fifty jin.

The cultivation effect now improved noticeably, confirming his guess.

Mu Xiaowan lit a fire before the stove, and the kitchen was filled with comforting warmth.

Dinner was millet rice with a large pot of turnip-stewed mutton. Chen Cheng sat upright at the table and ate with great relish.

Mu Xiaowan rested her elbow on the table and propped up her chin, sighing mournfully from time to time.

"Brother Cheng, five years from now, I'll have become an old woman!"