One Punch to Kill a Third Heaven Martial Artist

Half an hour later.

Ding dong, Great King Fist had reached the entry level. Please check, Host.

Ding dong, it had been detected that the Host was diligently cultivating Great King Fist. Destiny Talent A Thousand Miles a Day had activated.

Feng Chen stood in the room. Once he assumed his stance, he did not pause again.

Great King Fist was entirely different from Tiger Fist and Baji Fist. It did not emphasize the finesse of close-range strikes, nor did it seek the might of a tiger roaring through the mountain forest. What it demanded was the tyrannical dominance of a king.

Every punch he threw was like a sovereign holding court. Wherever his fist pointed, resistance was not permitted.

Driven by the dual forces of medicinal power and Destiny Talent, the qi and blood within his body continuously transformed into insights into the fist technique. Every point of exertion and every detail of its principles was repeatedly polished and tempered in the depths of his mind.

Whoosh!

Feng Chen's punches gradually grew heavier and steadier. The sound of them splitting the air no longer shrieked, instead turning into muffled explosions, as if an invisible wall before his fists were being struck again and again.

He suddenly threw a fierce punch. The qi and blood throughout his body erupted at the instant his fist force climbed to its peak. A dull blast exploded in the air, and the flame of the oil lamp on the table swayed violently.

An hour later!

Ding dong, Great King Fist proficiency increased by one.

Ding dong, Great King Fist had reached the Major Mastery Realm. Please check, Host.

At the same time as the notification sounded, insights into Major Mastery Great King Fist surged into his mind.

Overlord Lifts the Cauldron, Cleave Mount Hua, Sweep Through a Thousand Armies, Sovereign Over All Under Heaven!

The full essence of the four core fist forms was branded deep into his consciousness as if carved by blade and chisel. The details of exertion and the trajectories of each variation were revealed down to the finest hair.

Feng Chen opened his eyes, satisfaction flashing through them.

To cultivate Great King Fist to Major Mastery in such a short time—at Wang Clan Martial Hall, ordinary disciples would not even touch its threshold without three to five years. Even direct descendants with decent talent needed at least a year or half a year of steady grinding.

If word made it back to the martial hall, it would probably make a whole crowd's jaws drop.

He sank into his Sea of Consciousness and checked the attribute template once more.

The realm section,

the description after Body Tempering, Third Heaven had already changed. It had previously read, "few opponents could match you." Now it read: You could kill an ordinary Body Tempering, Third Heaven Martial Artist with one punch.

It was no longer vague praise, but a solid, quantified evaluation.

Killing a Martial Artist of the same realm with one punch meant that his suppression over this level had changed from having overwhelming odds of victory to complete crushing dominance.

"Very good."

A smile appeared on Feng Chen's face. He clenched his fist, and as his fingers closed, his knuckles crackled crisply. The muscles in his arm tightened like twisted steel cables.

He could clearly sense that his strength had risen another notch. Giant Strength Art at Perfection had already allowed his raw power to crush those of the same rank. Added to that was Great King Fist at Major Mastery. If he threw this punch, there were probably few Body Tempering, Third Heaven Martial Artists who could withstand it.

He withdrew his stance and pushed open the door.

The oil lamp in the main hall was lit, and Lin Qing'er had already laid out dinner.

There was a large basin of braised wild boar meat, cooked until tender and soft, the sauce reduced by half. The chunks of meat were reddish brown, and a single pinch with chopsticks could tear off a strand; beside it was a plate of stir-fried wild greens, jade-green and glistening with oil, picked from the small plot she had planted in the courtyard;

there was also a pot of coarse rice piled high to the brim.

"Hubby, come eat quickly. I'm starving." Lin Qing'er sat at the table, patting her flat stomach as her little face scrunched into a ball.

After practicing martial arts, she became hungry extremely quickly. That afternoon, she had held Tiger Stance for over two hours, then practiced her fist forms from beginning to end twice. By the time she finished, her stomach had been growling nonstop.

She had truly experienced why Feng Chen could eat so much back then!

The martial path, in the end, was built from food and silver.

"I'm coming. Next time, if you're hungry, eat first."

Feng Chen smiled and sat opposite her, picking up a piece of braised meat and stuffing it into his mouth.

The wild boar meat had been braised just right—fat but not greasy, lean but not tough. Its fragrance blossomed in his mouth.

He had bought the meat from the butcher shop a few days ago. It had cost quite a bit of silver, but there was plenty of it, enough to keep the two of them full for some time if they ate to their hearts' content.

Lin Qing'er did not stand on ceremony either. She filled herself a heaping bowl of rice and happily ate meat and vegetables.

She could eat much more now than when she had been in Green Mountain Village. The waxy yellow pallor on her little face had faded by more than half, gradually giving way to a healthy flush.

Half an hour later, the food on the table had been wiped clean. Feng Chen even poured the remaining sauce from the bottom of the basin into his bowl and mixed it with rice.

Lin Qing'er leaned back in her chair, rubbed her round belly, let out a tiny burp, and sighed contentedly. "Hubby, if our family eats like this every meal in the future, how much silver will it cost?"

Feng Chen smiled. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"Hubby, you've worked hard." Lin Qing'er pressed her hands together and gave him a devout look, her eyes curving into crescents.

Feng Chen smiled and shook his head, reaching out to gently flick her forehead.

The two got up to clean the dishes, wipe the table, wash the bowls, and return the jars of oil and salt on the stove one by one to their places.

Once everything was tidied up, Feng Chen told Lin Qing'er to rest for a while before going out to the courtyard to practice her fists. Lin Qing'er agreed and returned to her room to drink a bowl of cold tea and take a short break.

Feng Chen entered another room, lit an oil lamp, and picked up the medical book that had been sitting on the table for days.

He had bought this book together with Tiger Fist. At the time, he had casually flipped through it and let the template record it, but he had never truly studied it.

The book was not thick. It densely recorded the appearances, medicinal properties, and harvesting methods of common herbs, as well as diagrams of meridians and acupoints and simple prescriptions for bruises and injuries.

There were two reasons he had taken it out to study now.

First, Basic Blade Technique, archery, and movement technique had all reached Perfection. Basic Medicine should be brought up as well.

The farther one walked along the martial path, the more injuries one sustained, and the fiercer the medicinal power used for body tempering became. Knowing some medicine would let him treat his own injuries and accurately judge the quality and efficacy of medicinal herbs, so he would not be cheated by unscrupulous apothecaries.

Second, he still remembered clearly the scarce medicinal herbs and rewards listed on the notice posted on the outer wall of Hundred Herbs Hall.

If he had time tomorrow, he could take a trip around the outskirts of the Black Mountain Range. With hunting skills and herb-gathering knowledge at Perfection, perhaps he could search for those valuable medicinal herbs.

Though he had some spare silver in his pocket now, relying on a few windfalls was not a long-term solution. He needed a steady source of income.

No matter what world one lived in, money was of utmost importance.

Under the lamp, Feng Chen opened the first page of the medical book and studied it seriously.

From the properties and meridian affinities of plant-based medicines to the preparation methods of mineral medicines, from external poultices for bruises and injuries to internal decoctions for regulating qi and blood, he read line by line. His fingers traced the shapes and cross-sectional patterns of herbs on the table, while his lips silently recited mnemonics for their medicinal properties.

Ding dong, Basic Medicine proficiency increased by one.

As the notification sounded, insights into identifying medicinal herbs poured into him.

With every page he read, his understanding of the book's contents deepened. The names and properties of medicines that had once seemed dull were as if linked together by an invisible hand, forming an increasingly clear web of knowledge in his mind.

An hour passed.

Ding dong, Basic Medicine had reached the Minor Mastery Realm. Please check, Host.

Ding dong, it had been detected that the Host was diligently studying Basic Medicine. Destiny Talent A Thousand Miles a Day had activated.

The two notifications sounded in succession, and even more medical insights flowed into the depths of his consciousness like a trickling stream.

After reaching Minor Mastery, not only had the varieties of medicinal herbs he could recognize greatly increased, but he had also mastered some basic diagnostic methods and compatibility taboos.

The prescriptions he had read before now came back to him with perfect clarity, as though he had long since memorized them.