Copper Skin, Iron Bone

"An arranged match?" Zhou Muyun frowned. "Who is the opponent? When and where?"

Since he had accepted the Leng Household's support, he would not shirk something like an arranged match.

But accepting one rashly without knowing anything about his opponent was not his style either.

Seeing that Zhou Muyun had no intention of refusing and had instead taken the initiative to ask about his opponent,

the last trace of doubt in Leng Ni's heart vanished. She had originally feared that Zhou Muyun might refuse or fob her off.

After all, when she had first sponsored him, she had never mentioned that he would need to do anything else for the Leng Household.

And Zhou Muyun could not yet be considered a retainer of the Leng Household.

A retainer and a sponsored disciple were two entirely different matters.

"It will be at the West Market Arena, at noon seven days from now. Your opponent is Long Qian of the Dragon Household."

Leng Ni took out a sheet of paper containing Long Qian's information and handed it to Zhou Muyun.

Zhou Muyun accepted it and read it carefully.

"The Dragon Household's third young master. He entered the Organ Refinement Realm half a year ago, likely at the middle stage. Skilled in the leg technique Cloud-Climbing Leg..."

As he studied the information on the page, Zhou Muyun began analyzing it seriously.

In terms of raw strength, Long Qian had reached the Organ Refinement Realm before me. That is a disadvantage.

But I have cultivated the Seven-Colored Glazed Body. In the next couple of days, I can bring my Copper Skin to completion. That should make up for this weakness and might even catch him off guard.

With that thought, Zhou Muyun put away the paper, returned it to Leng Ni, and nodded. "Senior Sister Leng, I have no problem with it."

Hearing Zhou Muyun's affirmative reply, Leng Ni immediately felt more at ease.

In her eyes, Zhou Muyun was steady and diligent, and he would never overestimate himself.

Since he had agreed even after reading his opponent's information, he must have some confidence.

"Junior Brother Zhou, do not be careless. And since you are fighting this match for our Leng Household, I will make up the other two bottles of Body-Tempering Liquid for these seven days."

Leng Ni was perceptive enough to quickly realize that Zhou Muyun's trump card was likely the body-tempering technique he had mentioned.

"Then many thanks, Senior Sister Leng." Zhou Muyun clasped his hands.

"We will meet at West Market in seven days."

Leng Ni nodded, turned, and left.

"These seven days will save me quite a bit of silver. This arranged match is not entirely a bad thing."

Watching Leng Ni's departing figure, Zhou Muyun thought to himself.

Arranged matches could easily lead to injury, and getting hurt would certainly slow his training progress.

Originally, Zhou Muyun had been unwilling.

But on second thought, Leng Ni had supported him for months and had never made a request like this before.

Recalling the hesitant look on her face at the beginning, Zhou Muyun instantly understood.

Someone in the Leng Household was probably dissatisfied. In that case, he would naturally give it everything he had this time.

After all, only those with value could receive greater support.

Afterward, Zhou Muyun stepped into the training yard once more and began practicing Flurry Fist.

[Flurry Fist, Minor Mastery (5/1200)]

[Flurry Fist, Minor Mastery (6/1200)]

Late at night, within the Zhou Household courtyard, Zhou Muyun was bare-chested as he trained the Seven-Colored Glazed Body.

At this point, there were still five days until the arranged match.

Heat steamed from his entire body, sweat pouring continuously from his skin. The stabbing pain and tearing agony relentlessly tempered his physique.

He gritted his teeth and endured, low roars rumbling from his throat.

[Seven-Colored Glazed Body—Copper Skin (597/600)]

[Seven-Colored Glazed Body—Copper Skin (598/600)]

As his proficiency continued to rise, Zhou Muyun could feel that the breakthrough would come tonight.

Second by second, time passed. Sweat had already soaked the ground beneath his feet.

Then, the blood throughout Zhou Muyun's body began to boil like scalding water. His sweat-soaked clothes dried in an instant, and white mist immediately enveloped his body.

A bronze hue gradually spread across every inch of his skin until he resembled a statue cast from copper.

This was precisely the sign that the Seven-Colored Glazed Body had reached complete Copper Skin.

[Seven-Colored Glazed Body—Iron Bone Stage (1/1200)]

The skin over his entire body was like bronze, tough and resilient to the touch.

The searing heat soon faded, replaced by an indescribable comfort throughout his body. Zhou Muyun felt that his strength had increased by half out of nowhere.

He walked over to the stone lock he had bought and effortlessly raised the five-hundred-jin weight.

One had to know that an ordinary martial artist at the Peak Organ Refinement Realm possessed only around eight hundred jin of strength.

Copper Skin completion alone had brought his strength on par with a middle-stage martial artist.

Then he picked up the long blade beside him and slashed it down at his own arm.

Clang.

The long blade struck as though it had hit metal. It left only a pale mark on his arm, without drawing even a drop of blood.

Zhou Muyun looked at the pale mark on his arm with great satisfaction.

His money and time had not been wasted. He now had several more degrees of confidence in the arranged match.

He was already faintly looking forward to seeing what changes the coming Silver Blood Realm would bring him.

After spending four days, along with spending money and taking medicine, he had finally brought his Copper Skin to completion. Zhou Muyun planned to rest properly tonight.

Training naturally required a balance between exertion and rest.

If Wu Biao learned that Zhou Muyun had completed Copper Skin in four days, he probably would not be able to rest in peace even in the Yellow Springs.

After all, it had taken Wu Biao a full three years after obtaining this body-tempering technique to complete Copper Skin.

That was the benefit of Zhou Muyun bearing a Destiny Pattern. So long as he worked hard, there would surely be gains, and his path forward would always be correct and free of obstacles.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Outside Zhou Muyun's residence, a carriage slowly came to a stop.

"Master Zhou, please."

The coachman stepped down from the carriage and respectfully addressed Zhou Muyun, who stood at the entrance.

Dressed in neat black clothes, Zhou Muyun gave a slight nod and entered the carriage.

The carriage gradually began moving. Inside, Zhou Muyun sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and calmed his mind.

He needed to adjust himself to peak condition for the coming arranged match.

Zhou Muyun lived in East Market, while the match was in West Market. After traveling for quite some time, the carriage slowly stopped.

"Master Zhou, we have arrived."

The coachman lifted the curtain, poked his head inside, and spoke respectfully.

"Good."

Zhou Muyun opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and stepped down from the carriage.

Not far from the carriage stood an arena. Beneath the canopies erected on either side of it sat and stood quite a few people.

His gaze swept across them, and when he spotted Leng Ni seated beneath the left canopy, he strode over.

Leng Ni had been looking around anxiously. Naturally, she saw Zhou Muyun as well and hurried over to greet him.

"Junior Brother Zhou." Reaching his side, Leng Ni pointed across the way and said in a low voice, "That man is Long Teng, head of the Dragon Household. The young man beside him is Long Qian, your opponent today."

Zhou Muyun looked in the direction she indicated.

Long Teng sat in a chair, dressed in a light-colored robe with a gloomy expression.

Long Qian stood beside him, his features sharply defined and his light-colored training clothes fitted closely to his body. His legs in particular looked muscular and powerful.

Long Teng naturally noticed Zhou Muyun's sudden arrival. A faint smile curled at his lips as he said lightly, "Qian'er, no matter what, you must take this man down today. Do not let him ruin the Dragon Household's great plans."

Long Qian looked Zhou Muyun over, confidence written across his face. "Rest assured, Father. He is merely an obscure disciple from a martial hall.

If Bai Yu from Greenwood Martial Hall had come, I might have been somewhat wary. But him? I do not even put him in my eyes."

Every word dripped with disdain for Zhou Muyun.

On this side, Leng Ni introduced Zhou Muyun to the members of the Leng Household who had come.

They were merely some young disciples of her generation. Zhou Muyun remained neither humble nor arrogant as he greeted them one by one.

Seeing who had arrived from both households, Zhou Muyun formed a guess.

The outcome of the arranged match was likely not that important to the Leng Household. Testing his worth was probably their true purpose.

After Leng Ni gave Zhou Muyun a few more reminders, she returned to her seat. Zhou Muyun, meanwhile, stepped onto the arena, while Long Qian did the same from the other side.

"Who is the one fighting for the Leng Household? Why do I not recognize him?"

"I heard he is a disciple of Greenwood Martial Hall. Never heard of him, and he has no reputation to speak of."

"Does that mean the Leng Household intends to hand over their share without a fight? Then why fight at all? They might as well just concede."

"They still have to go through the motions for appearance's sake. I heard he is a disciple sponsored by Leng Ni of the Leng Household, so he should not be too bad, right?"

Discussion surged from beneath the arena, and most people did not think highly of Zhou Muyun.

Leng Ni, however, was even more nervous. If Zhou Muyun lost, not only would his sponsorship be changed,

it would also make her seem unable to judge people, giving others another laughingstock.

Competition among the Leng Household's younger generation was still fierce.

Looking toward Zhou Muyun, who stood firmly on the arena, Leng Ni silently prayed, Junior Brother Zhou, you have to do your best!