"We'll stop today's training here. I'll go back and prepare a few wooden rods. Once you've finished shedding your skin for the first time in a few days, I'll come help you train again."
Glancing at a patch of dead skin whipped loose from Tian Hao's shoulder, Lao Denuo realized he needed to change tools.
Training in the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt had three stages. The first required a leather whip to assist with training, but once the practitioner reached the introductory level, it had to be replaced with a wooden rod.
After reaching minor mastery, the practitioner needed blows from an even stronger iron rod to aid training, all the way to major mastery.
Earlier, although the leather whip had left red marks on Tian Hao's body, they had faded in no time. He was far tougher than he had been a month ago.
Now that Tian Hao had achieved breakthroughs in both Iron Shirt and Embrace Origin Force, a leather whip was no longer suitable. They needed to switch to wooden rods.
"Thank you for the trouble, senior brother!"
Tian Hao thanked him sincerely. He had some suspicions about Lao Denuo's enthusiasm, but that did not matter. Lao Denuo's willingness to help him train was genuinely a kindness.
He was someone who repaid every grudge-and every favor.
Since Lao Denuo had helped him so much, he absolutely could not let him meet the same end he had in the original story.
"We're brothers. No need to stand on ceremony!"
With a smile, Lao Denuo prepared to leave and find suitable wooden rods. But before he could move, an angry young woman's shout rang out behind him.
"Little rat, you're dead!"
He turned to see a young woman racing toward them with her lightness skill, bristling with murderous intent. Clearly, she had not come in peace!
"Junior sister?"
Lao Denuo was stunned. He truly could not understand why his junior sister, whom he had not seen for a month, was so furious.
"Move aside! I'm here for that bas-ah!"
Shoving Lao Denuo out of her way, Yue Lingshan stormed forward to settle accounts with Tian Hao. But the moment she saw him wearing nothing but a pair of tight little shorts, she could not help shrieking and instinctively turned away.
How could that fellow be so shameless in broad daylight?
"Need something?"
Tian Hao put on his clothes and asked casually.
As a daughter of the martial world, Yue Lingshan was more open-minded about such things than ordinary women outside it. Once she had composed herself, she turned back around.
"I'm going to beat your face into a pig's head today!"
Clenching her delicate fists, Yue Lingshan spoke through her anger.
Although her mother had told her after she woke up that a falling rock had knocked her unconscious, she felt something was wrong. It definitely had something to do with that damned rat.
Worst of all, a pebble had actually cut a small gash across the bridge of her nose. Small though it was, it was still on her face. If it left a scar, she would have to live with it forever. She certainly did not want people calling her the Scar-Nosed Heroine when she roamed the martial world.
For the past month, she had hidden in her room, not daring to show her face. Today, she had finally healed completely. Only after confirming that no scar remained had she come to settle accounts with that damned rat.
"It really was just an accident."
His thick brows furrowed. Tian Hao really did not want to get into a dispute with Yue Lingshan.
To him, women meant trouble, and the prettier the woman, the greater the trouble she brought.
Clearly, Yue Lingshan could bring no small amount of trouble herself.
That incident with Lu Dayou had been caused by this woman. Although Tian Hao had dealt with Lu Dayou, Linghu Chong still stood behind her.
Counting the days, that eldest senior brother would be returning soon.
He did not want a bunch of messy nonsense delaying his training.
Besides, last time really had been an accident. He had only wanted to knock his young senior sister unconscious and conduct a little experiment, not hurt her.
"Enough nonsense. Fight me!"
Forcing down her anger, Yue Lingshan drew her sword. Today, she would make him pay back double.
"The fourth prohibition in our sect's rules forbids jealousy between fellow disciples and fighting among ourselves. Surely you don't want Master to punish you, senior sister?"
Seeing how determined she was, Tian Hao could only bring out his trump card-telling on her to her parents.
In the past, when Old Yue and his wife were away from the Mount Hua Sect, it would not have mattered. But now that they had returned to oversee things, if Yue Lingshan dared to force a fight on him, Old Yue would put righteousness before family.
"Coward!"
Yue Lingshan was so furious her teeth itched. Then her eyes shifted, and an idea came to her.
"Spar with me once. If you win, I'll give you a piece of hundred-year-old notoginseng."
She could not force this fellow. She had to tempt him with something.
"Hundred-year-old notoginseng!"
Sure enough, Tian Hao's star-bright eyes lit up.
As the saying went, ginseng was best for replenishing qi, notoginseng was best for replenishing blood, and reishi was best for nourishing the spirit. Aged notoginseng was a great help in training external martial arts.
If he combined it with some supplementary medicinal ingredients and cooked it into a medicinal meal, it would definitely help him quickly train Iron Shirt to minor mastery. Then his skin would become like leather, his defense would increase greatly, and his strength would rise by a large margin.
"How did you get hundred-year-old notoginseng?"
Once his excitement passed, suspicion arose.
Although notoginseng was less precious than ginseng or reishi, a hundred-year-old specimen was still rare. Buying one would cost several hundred taels of silver.
Yue Lingshan did not have that much spending money. Was she trying to fool him?
"I got lucky and dug it up in the mountains. Second senior brother knows about it too."
At the mention of this, Yue Lingshan lifted her finely shaped chin, full of pride and satisfaction.
Finding that piece of notoginseng in the mountains last year had truly been a stroke of luck. At current prices, it would sell for at least five hundred taels-a huge sum.
"Junior sister did indeed dig up a piece of hundred-year-old notoginseng last year."
Lao Denuo spoke up to confirm it. Back then, Yue Lingshan had even asked him to appraise it.
Looks like that fate attribute really does refer only to destiny, not luck. Otherwise, she couldn't have been so fortunate.
Tian Hao pondered this, using it to confirm his earlier suspicion.
Although he had previously suspected that Yue Lingshan's fate attribute most likely represented her destiny-and a miserable destiny at that-it had only been a guess.
Now he had his answer. Since she had been lucky enough to dig up a piece of hundred-year-old notoginseng, her luck certainly could not be bad. At the very least, it was not a negative number or something like an E.
"Wait a moment, senior sister. I'll fetch my sword and spar with you."
Pushing his thoughts aside, Tian Hao eagerly ran back into the cave. A short while later, he returned with his treasured sword over his shoulder.
Originally, he had not planned to forge a sword specifically for himself. But after figuring out the Heaven-Defying Mirror's true use, he had developed some ideas about the future and specially forged himself a treasured sword from meteoric iron.
Although meteoric iron was far inferior to Black Iron, which could rival diamond in hardness, it was still quite good. At least, it was much stronger than ordinary steel weapons. He reckoned it should be comparable to the tungsten steel of his previous life.
"Second senior brother, sorry for the trouble, but please be our witness!"
With his treasured sword over his shoulder, Tian Hao called out to Lao Denuo. He really was afraid Yue Lingshan would refuse to honor the wager if she lost.
After all, sometimes there was simply no reasoning with women. Having Lao Denuo serve as a witness would be safer.
"Junior sister, you should already have heard that Junior Brother Lu lost to Junior Brother Hao. Junior Brother Hao is no weakling."
Fully aware of Tian Hao's strength, Lao Denuo offered a warning.
Of course, it was not a truly heartfelt warning. One look at Yue Lingshan made it clear she would never listen to advice now. But whether she listened was her business; whether he spoke up was his duty as her senior brother.
Even if his master and mistress questioned him afterward, they would not blame him.
"That was because Sixth Monkey underestimated his opponent and got careless. I won't underestimate him."
Sure enough, Yue Lingshan had come prepared. She had even visited Reflection Cliff to personally ask Lu Dayou about the course of that day's fight. This time, she was determined to beat a certain someone's face into a pig's head.
But when she looked at the treasured sword resting on Tian Hao's shoulder, she froze. Then she looked down at the Jade Water Sword in her hand and was left dumbfounded.
That thing was a sword?
Before you continue