Copper Bone

"Strength..."

Since coming to this world, he had lost count of how many times he had turned those three words over and over in his mind.

There was still no resolution to Xiaoxue's matter, and now Ge Tao's bloody case had been added to the pile.

The weight on his shoulders grew heavier by the day, yet the only thing he could truly grasp was this body of his, tempered a little more with every passing day.

Every morning when he woke, he could feel that he was stronger than the day before. Such a rate of improvement would have left anyone utterly dumbfounded.

Yet he still felt it was not fast enough.

Far from enough.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze settling on several lines of text suspended in the void, visible to him alone.

[Fate: Peerless Bearing]

[Effect 1: From this day forth, one day of cultivation equals one year.]

[Effect 2: You shall encounter no bottlenecks on the path of cultivation.]

[Effect 3: Your talent shall gradually strengthen as time passes.]

[Back-Piercing Stance: Perfection]

[Rock-Still Stance: Great Accomplishment (1/3000)]

[Wild Bull Stance: Great Accomplishment (1/2000)]

[Spirit Crane Stance: Great Accomplishment (500/2000)]

[Whale Breath Stance: Minor Accomplishment (0/500)]

[Spirit Crane Fist: Minor Accomplishment (1/500)]

[Back-Piercing Fist: Beginner (56/100)]

[Vajra Fist: Minor Accomplishment (35/500)]

His gaze lingered for a moment on the third effect, and Cheng Yang could not help but mutter to himself inwardly.

His talent would strengthen with time.

But exactly how would it strengthen?

Would he wake up one morning to find his comprehension had doubled, or would it creep upward bit by bit, imperceptibly?

"One day equals one year is too little. One day should equal a hundred years... that would be about right."

He muttered under his breath.

Forget it. Rice had to be eaten one bite at a time, and stances had to be practiced one day at a time.

Only yesterday, he had pushed the Spirit Crane Stance from Minor Accomplishment to Great Accomplishment. At this pace, reaching Perfection tomorrow would not be a problem.

By then, with two perfected stance arts at his side, he could forge Copper Bone.

That afternoon, while he was practicing martial arts, Guo Shulan walked over through the shade of the trees.

"Senior Brother Cheng, my Third Aunt asked me to ask again: when will you come to the Guo Household? She wants to invite you and Auntie over for a visit. She said there has never been a proper chance for everyone to catch up."

Cheng Yang withdrew his fist technique, exhaled deeply, and wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. Looking at her with a speechless expression, he said, "Go tell your Third Aunt that I'm not free these next few days. We'll talk in a few days."

"A few days?"

Guo Shulan was an honest person. She truly wanted an exact number.

Cheng Yang was left momentarily tongue-tied by her question, so he casually made up a number to brush her off.

After Guo Shulan left, he stood where he was for several breaths and could not help shaking his head.

That distant aunt... when he and his mother had been at the end of their rope and gone to her door to borrow money, she had kicked them away more decisively than anyone else. She had not even let them step properly through the door.

Now that he had risen, this distant aunt seemed like an entirely different person, sending people again and again to invite him over, eager to curry favor.

Cheng Yang had seen through the warmth and coldness of human relationships in this world completely.

He did not intend to go.

At least, he had no time to go right now.

Ge Tao's blood had not yet gone cold, and Xiaoxue's debt had not yet been settled. How could he have the heart to sit in the Guo Household's hall and listen to all that empty, high-sounding politeness?

At the same time, in an inconspicuous teahouse in the eastern part of the city, two people sat in a private room by a second-floor window.

Zhao Tiankuo cracked sunflower seeds, casually tossing the shells into a dish. He raised his eyes to look at Yang Zheng across from him, who was dressed in ordinary clothes, and said lazily, "Hall Master Yang, you're usually busy as a dog. What brought you out for tea today?"

"I have some new developments regarding Fragrance Master Huang."

"Oh?" The sunflower seed in Zhao Tiankuo's hand stopped midway. He leaned forward slightly, interested. Huang Xuan was his subordinate, beaten to death alive in his own residence. Zhao Tiankuo had swallowed that anger for a long time. "Let's hear it."

Yang Zheng lifted his teacup and took a sip. Only after setting it down unhurriedly did he speak. "You said before that my junior brother Cheng Yang had only just entered Flesh Tempering, and lacked the ability to kill Huang Xuan. But now, that may not be the case."

Zhao Tiankuo raised a brow. "How so?"

"Yesterday, in order to compete for a place in the Ascending Dragon Conference, my junior brother wanted to challenge a junior brother with extensive Flesh Tempering experience.

Guess what happened? That junior brother did not fight at all. He simply gave Cheng Yang his spot."

"So?"

"At first, I thought Master had colluded with them." The corners of Yang Zheng's mouth lifted faintly as he rubbed the rim of his cup. "But last night, I went and asked that junior brother. He said there had been no such thing."

Seeing that smile on Yang Zheng's face, Zhao Tiankuo felt a chill rise in his heart. "How did you ask?"

"It was nothing much." Yang Zheng's tone was breezy. "I simply asked with the lives of his wife and son. Hall Master Zhao, do you think he could still lie under those circumstances?"

Zhao Tiankuo fell silent for two breaths, then suddenly gave a derisive laugh. "What fine methods, Hall Master Yang. To be so ruthless even toward your own junior brother—Zhao admires you."

"You jest, Hall Master Zhao." Yang Zheng waved his hand indifferently. "Compared with your old tale of murdering your master, mine is merely six of one, half a dozen of the other."

The two locked eyes for a moment, then smiled in mutual understanding, like two people who had rolled through the same mire and recognized the stench of mud on each other.

Yang Zheng turned the conversation back to the point. "Since there was no collusion, that means Cheng Yang may truly possess the strength to kill Huang Xuan. His suspicion is far greater than we previously thought."

Zhao Tiankuo leaned back and licked his lips, the light in his eyes dark and gloomy. "But your junior brother is clever. He moved in with his mother at the Chen Clan Martial Hall, so it won't be easy for me to make a move."

"There's more." Yang Zheng set down his teacup and added, "I received word this morning that Cheng Yang went to the Wei Residence."

"The Wei Residence?" Zhao Tiankuo narrowed his eyes. "Wei He summoned him?"

"Most likely. What else do you think Wei He would want with him?"

Zhao Tiankuo was silent for a moment, then clicked his tongue. "It seems Commander Wei has also taken a fancy to your junior brother's potential. That makes things even more troublesome."

"Not necessarily." Yang Zheng laughed softly. "Don't forget, not long ago, my junior brother made enemies with the Gu Family in public over a lowly maid who came out of a brothel.

You know what kind of man Wei He is—a man who never rises early without profit.

Cheng Yang would not even give the Gu Family face. Given Wei He's temperament, do you think he can tolerate that?"

"That is still only a small possibility." Zhao Tiankuo shook his head, apparently not believing Cheng Yang would truly be foolish enough to fall out with Wei He as well.

"A small possibility is still a possibility." Yang Zheng lowered his voice slightly. "And Wei He will not be able to remain arrogant for much longer."

The two exchanged a glance. Zhao Tiankuo did not respond, merely taking a slow sip of tea as tacit agreement.

After several breaths, Zhao Tiankuo suddenly said, "You've said all this because you want to offer me an idea?"

"Smart." Yang Zheng leaned closer. "Since my junior brother was willing to offend the Gu Family for a lowly maid, that means he has a weak spot in his heart.

As far as I know, he also has a friend he grew up with, someone working at the Peaceful Reach Escort Bureau."

"You mean to capture that friend and use him as leverage?"

"Exactly."

Zhao Tiankuo glared at him. "Capturing him would be easy. But Chen Feiyi is standing behind him. If that old bastard Chen Feiyi makes a move, will you block him for me?"

Yang Zheng spread his hands and smiled. "Then you can ask the Deputy Gang Leader for help."

"Cut that out.

The Deputy Gang Leader handles ten thousand affairs every day. He has no time to bother with such a minor character."

"Fine, fine, it was a joke." Yang Zheng dropped his smile and said seriously, "I mean another method. Since my junior brother values loyalty and sentiment, once you capture his friend, simply threaten him with that and make him promise not to ask Chen Feiyi to intervene. Wouldn't that solve it?"

Zhao Tiankuo considered it for a while, then slowly nodded. It did make some sense.

"But there's no rush." Zhao Tiankuo grabbed another handful of sunflower seeds, his voice turning lazy again. "Let's finish handling the important matter of these next few days first. There will still be time to deal with him afterward."

"Of course." Yang Zheng raised his teacup lightly toward the man across from him. "That matter is the real business. Once it is done, even the sky over all of Qinglin County will have to change. By then, the Four-Ping Gang will have no more scruples. Whoever you and I want to deal with will be nothing more than a word."

Zhao Tiankuo also raised his teacup and clinked it through the air against Yang Zheng's. He said nothing more, only lowered his head and cracked a sunflower seed, though a meaningful curve hung at the corner of his mouth.

Outside the window, the sun slanted westward. The crowds beneath the teahouse remained bustling, and no one knew that the two men seated upstairs were discussing the moves of such a game.

Another afternoon arrived.

The sun seemed to have gone mad, hanging blazingly overhead and baking the entire earth like a red-hot iron plate.

Cheng Yang found a grove by the river, chose an old locust tree with the densest canopy, and stood beneath its shade, practicing his stance over and over.

Sweat ran from his temples into his collar, soaking the front and back of his clothes with large dark patches in only moments.

As he held his stance, he grumbled inwardly that in his previous life, weather like this meant lying in an air-conditioned room with an iced watermelon in his arms. Why would he have needed to suffer like this?

Think as he might, his feet never stopped.

His steps pressed down steadily, his spine stayed taut and straight, and every inch of muscle and bone was tempered again and again in the scorching air.

The time it took for an incense stick to burn slipped away in sweat. Then, a warm breeze suddenly brushed across the river's surface and swept over his sweat-covered face.

At that instant, an exceedingly subtle glint flashed through Cheng Yang's eyes.

It was as if some string that had been stretched taut for far too long had finally been plucked steadily by an invisible hand.

A deep, muffled resonance came from the depths of his body, as though an ancient bell had been gently struck within his chest.

The fine, ceaseless tremor between his bones gradually steadied, transforming into a heavier, more solid force that sank into every inch of bone.

Copper Bone had been achieved.

He slowly withdrew his stance and exhaled a breath of turbid air. Looking down at the back of his fist, which carried a faint metallic matte sheen, the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.