Wild Bull Tendon Tempering

Seeing Lu Shaolin insist, Dong Jia could only nod.

Ma San directly hired a carriage and took the two sisters to the county town.

Lu Shaolin remained seated at the tea stall, drinking tea.

After sitting for a while, he saw Li Si approaching with a group of Blackwater Gang men, pushing a flatbed cart.

Together, they lifted the horse carcass onto the cart. Li Si waved the other men off to haul it away, then came over and sat beside Lu Shaolin.

The two drank tea as they waited for Ma San to return.

Near noon, Ma San returned to the dock with the sisters, bringing plenty of food along the way.

The five of them ate directly at the tea stall.

The little Lolita ate until her mouth glistened with oil. It seemed she had not had meat in a long while.

After eating, Lu Shaolin took them to the pleasure boat.

When they arrived, She Jiang had already cleared out, evidently unwilling to meet Lu Shaolin and embarrass himself.

Entering the cabin, Lu Shaolin told the sisters to sit wherever they wished.

The elder sister, Dong Jia, was still somewhat reserved, but her younger sister Dong Linger was young and climbed onto a chair to sit down.

"By the way, do you still have money to stay at an inn?"

Lu Shaolin asked doubtfully.

"No! Young master, my sister helps out in the inn kitchen at night, and the innkeeper lets us stay in a small partitioned room."

Dong Linger replied.

"So that was it."

Lu Shaolin nodded.

Sitting in his chair, Lu Shaolin suddenly remembered that he was supposed to return the martial arts manual today, but he had not gone home last night.

After thinking it over, he called Ma San in, handed him the key to his home, and told him to make a trip to Panshan Village to retrieve the manual.

Ma San accepted the key and left on his orders, while Lu Shaolin stayed in the cabin teasing the little Lolita.

In the time it took to burn an incense stick, Ma San returned with the manual.

Lu Shaolin took it, told the sisters to rest in the cabin, and headed to the Water Fortress himself to return the manual.

After walking along the dirt road for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he reached the Water Fortress.

The four men guarding the entrance saw a tall, imposing Taoist approaching and immediately heightened their vigilance.

The leading man shouted, "This is the Blackwater Gang headquarters. Unrelated persons are not to approach!"

Lu Shaolin took out his identity token and tossed it over.

The man caught it, inspected it closely, then threw it back to Lu Shaolin and said irritably, "Brother, why are you wearing a Taoist robe for no reason? Why aren't you wearing gang clothes?"

"The clothes issued by the gang were damaged, so I am temporarily using a Taoist robe to cover myself."

Lu Shaolin explained with a smile.

With that, he headed into the Water Fortress.

He climbed to the second level of the Water Fortress and arrived at the Martial Arts Pavilion.

The white-haired old man was sprawled across the table, snoring, with his wine gourd lying overturned on the tabletop.

Lu Shaolin walked over and knocked on the table. Only then did the old man groggily open his eyes.

"What is it?"

The white-haired old man asked, a blast of wine fumes washing over him.

"I'm returning a manual."

Lu Shaolin said.

"Just leave it on the table."

The old man said unhappily, then closed his eyes again.

"May I read the Reckless Bull Force Tendon Tempering Manual?"

Lu Shaolin asked, carrying a trace of hope.

"Hm? Looking at your physique, you have indeed reached Perfected Skin Tempering. This is the Tendon Tempering manual."

"Take it and go. Don't delay my afternoon nap. Oh, give me your token so I can record it."

The old man took a manual from a drawer and tossed it to Lu Shaolin, speaking impatiently.

Lu Shaolin caught the manual and handed over his token.

The old man scribbled away, his brush racing like a dragon and snake across the register. Who knew what he had written, or whether even he could read it himself.

Once he finished registering it, he tossed the token back to Lu Shaolin and slumped over the table again.

Lu Shaolin rubbed his nose and left the Martial Arts Pavilion with the manual.

He had originally wanted to look at the Savage Bear Skill as well, but judging by the old man's manner, bothering him again might make him erupt. He could come back another time.

Leaving the Water Fortress, Lu Shaolin did not linger and headed straight back to the pleasure boat.

Sitting in a chair aboard the pleasure boat, Lu Shaolin took out the Reckless Bull Force Tendon Tempering Manual and began reading.

After studying it carefully for most of the day, he more or less understood the contents of the Tendon Tempering section.

The Tendon Tempering section was likewise divided into three levels. The first trained the two major tendons in the arms, the second the two major tendons in the legs, and the third the major tendon along the spine.

The Tendon Tempering section mainly increased a martial artist's agility and explosive power. Once all five major tendons had been fully trained, the strength of the entire body would twist into a single rope. With martial skills added on top, unleashing a thousand pounds of force in one strike would be no difficult feat!

Looking at the training postures in the Tendon Tempering section, Lu Shaolin's head began to ache. These poses were several times harder than yoga from his previous life.

He could not help doubting whether a human body could truly do this.

"Young master, is that a martial arts manual?"

Dong Linger asked curiously, staring at the manual.

"It is!"

Lu Shaolin answered with a smile.

After speaking, he picked up the tea Dong Jia had poured for him and drained it in one gulp. He ducked out of the cabin to check the sky. It was about time to finish work.

"Let's go! We're going home."

Lu Shaolin turned and called into the cabin.

He then said to Ma San and Li Si at the bow, "I'll be heading back first."

"Alright, boss. Actually, you could have gone back earlier. If the other leaders were taking the afternoon off, they would have left long ago."

Li Si said with a smile.

The sisters emerged carrying two bundles. Lu Shaolin waved his hand and led them onto the dock.

Since Ling'er, the little Lolita, was with them, Lu Shaolin hired a carriage.

The three climbed into the carriage. The driver cracked his whip, and the carriage rolled toward Panshan Village.

Half an hour later, the carriage arrived outside Lu Shaolin's home.

Unable to contain her excitement, the little Lolita was the first to leap from the carriage and look around in every direction.

Lu Shaolin paid the fare, took out his key to open the courtyard gate, and the three entered.

Lu Shaolin brought them to Lu Zhong's room and said, "You two can stay in this room. This used to be my parents' room, but they have both passed away, so it has been left empty. It is a little messy, so clean it up."

"Thank you, young master! This is far better than where we stayed before."

Dong Jia said as she looked over the room.

"Mhm, mhm! This room is much bigger than that little partitioned room, and the bed is huge too!"

Dong Linger nodded her little head repeatedly.

"Then tidy up. I'll go take a look at the kitchen."

Lu Shaolin turned to leave.

"How can we let young master cook! Ling'er and I will go instead."

Dong Jia set her bundle on the bed, then, without allowing any argument, took Dong Linger into the kitchen.