[Spiny Skin] and "The Legend of Eighteen Days"

"Body Tempering achieved through the practice of secret arts produces certain special effects.

For example, the effect of mastering our Black Killing Style's secret art is..."

Sulai held out her right hand, seemingly trying to give Cheng Sheng and the others as clear a view as possible.

The next second, the graceful lines of her arm suddenly tightened. In the sunlight, Sulai's skin, the color of ripe wheat, seemed to darken rapidly. Immediately afterward, a dense layer of strange little bumps, resembling tiny patches of keratin, appeared on her arm, shoulder, and back.

They were grayish brown and looked rough, like the scaly hide on a crocodile's back.

Before Cheng Sheng could react in surprise, Sulai swung her right hand sharply downward-

"Crack-!"

Where her palm landed, a hard rock was smashed to pieces.

"[Spiny Skin]."

Sulai withdrew her hand, and the strange keratinous bumps on her body slowly disappeared. She said calmly, "It can greatly strengthen a boxer's physical defense and give their explosive power a substantial boost as well.

Even three or five ordinary Body Tempering boxers who haven't practiced a secret art wouldn't be fit to challenge me."

"Whew-"

Cheng Sheng heard Mo Jiang let out a long breath. The light in his eyes grew brighter as he muttered to himself, "That's what I want to learn."

"You make it sound like anyone here doesn't want to learn it."

Tong Huan, standing beside him, couldn't resist the jab. Mo Jiang frowned at him, too lazy to respond.

"Cheng Sheng."

Sulai ignored the two of them and turned her gaze to Cheng Sheng. "Zhou Wenye, the one you fought before, practices the Ruan Clan Fighting Art of Wunan Prefecture. Once someone masters that style's secret art, their strikes cause the muscles and nerves in the struck area to rapidly rot and die, as though the opponent had been stung by a venomous bee. That's why the Ruan Clan Fighting Art is also called the 'Killer Bee' boxing art.

Luckily, you were clever enough to use tactics and take advantage of the way he underestimated you, and your reactions were quick. Otherwise, that fight would have been exceptionally dangerous for you..."

The Ruan Clan... Killer Bee...

Cheng Sheng blinked. Sulai's demonstration and words seemed to have opened a new world before him. He discovered that the fighting arts of this world were far more interesting than he had imagined.

Suddenly, Cheng Sheng felt a pair of eyes fixed on him.

He instinctively looked over, but all he saw was the cold profile of Mo Jiang's face.

What was that about...

Cheng Sheng didn't dwell on it. After some thought, he asked, "Senior Sister Sulai..."

After becoming official disciples of the Black Killing Style, they no longer had to call Songpa and Sulai coaches, addressing them as senior brother and senior sister instead.

"...How exactly is a fighter's strength classified? Is it like in competitions, where they use different-colored mongkhons?"

Cheng Sheng thought of the "Jin Mengkong" arcade game he used to play with Song Cai.

Sulai shook her head. "'Mongkhons' only represent a fighter's record. There's a different system for actual realms of strength.

After Body Tempering is complete, the next realm is Nurturing Sha. This stage mainly involves strengthening Qi and blood and nurturing a strand of Sha intent within the body.

Just like Body Tempering, the Sha intent nurtured varies as widely as heaven and earth depending on the style and secret art. The gap between boxers with an orthodox style's inheritance and those without one widens even further at this stage. It's no exaggeration to say that a Nurturing Sha boxer from a style might be able to scare off an opponent of the same level who lacks an inheritance with a single look...

After Nurturing Sha comes Body Sha. Sha intent mixes with Qi and blood and manifests on the surface of the body, making secret arts even more important. The destructive power of a boxer in the Body Sha Realm is already astonishing. Even if an ordinary person has a firearm, they might not be able to hurt a Body Sha boxer...

Only after Body Sha does one become a true fighter."

Sulai repeatedly stressed the importance of a style's inheritance and secret arts. No wonder Mo Jiang, whose family ran a boxing gym, had come to the Black Killing Boxing Gym to become a disciple. Compared to the Black Killing Style, his family's gym could only be considered a third-rate "back-alley boxing gym."

It was fine for teaching amateur fighting enthusiasts, but it simply couldn't hold its head up in true fighting circles.

"What level are you at now, Senior Sister?"

Tong Huan, the most talkative of the group, couldn't help but chime in.

Good-natured as she was, Sulai answered directly, "I'm still at Nurturing Sha, just a little short of Body Sha. Senior Brother Songpa is at Body Sha... As for Sha Lie, he's the most talented person in our Black Killing Style. He's not yet thirty, but he's already reached the major accomplishment stage of Body Sha and is close to touching the threshold of a true fighter..."

"All right."

Sulai clapped her hands, bringing the chat to an end. "Next, I'll formally teach you the Black Killing Style's Body Tempering secret art."

The Black Killing Style's secret art involved applying a medicinal ointment specially prepared by the Black Killing Boxing Gym to several specific points on the body, then practicing a dozen or so specialized movements and breathing techniques.

After the Black Killing Secret Medicine was applied, the spots felt cold at first, then began to burn slightly.

Immediately afterward, a warm current would appear inside the body. At that point, one needed to use the specialized Body Tempering movements and breathing technique to guide the current, stimulating the potential deep within the muscles...

"Sulai said that only when I can control this warm current and guide it through one complete circuit of my body will I have mastered the first layer of the secret art and gained the Body Tempering special effect, [Spiny Skin]..."

Cheng Sheng tried several times and found it was simply too difficult.

The warm current activated by the secret medicine's effects was completely beyond his control. Let alone guiding it through a complete circuit along a specific route, even making it move was extremely difficult.

The crucial point was that the secret medicine was "poisonous." It contained ingredients that helped with Nurturing Sha, and if someone who had not completed Body Tempering used it too frequently, it would damage their body. They could use it no more than three times a day.

At this rate, wouldn't the time it takes to master it have to be measured in months, or even years?

Cheng Sheng grew increasingly eager to perform the third sacrifice.

Over the next few days, the three of them formally underwent Sulai's special training on the small island in the swamp.

Besides the secret art practice they had to do every day, there were also advanced exercises they hadn't done before.

One was the floating-log stance-standing on one leg atop a floating log and keeping the body perfectly still, like a crocodile lying motionless in the water. This stance demanded a high degree of bodily control and balance, making it difficult for beginners. For the time being, Sulai only required them to practice it on land.

There was also the tail whip-tying a thick rope around the waist, fastening a large rock to the end, then using the strength of the waist and hips to swing the rock out.

Stone bite-crushing pebbles with bare hands to train the strength of the fingers and the web between thumb and forefinger. At a more advanced stage, one could actually try using one's teeth to train bite strength...

According to Sulai, the Black Killing Style's boxing intent was: black water, deathly silence, lying in wait, and explosive attack.

All the Black Killing Style's training imitated the crocodile, the overlord of the swamp. At a deeper level, it imitated its spirit; beginners like them imitated only its form.

Days of arduous training were naturally hard, but Cheng Sheng was fine. He had nothing to do outside anyway, aside from waiting for the offering for the third sacrifice. He could wait anywhere.

After several days, the only thing that made him somewhat uncomfortable was Mo Jiang, who kept staring at him whether he had a reason or not.

Sometimes Cheng Sheng couldn't hold back and went over to ask what he wanted, but Mo Jiang wouldn't say a word. He would simply walk away on his own, his expression cold.

"Bang!"

The rock tied to the thick rope slammed into the ground. Cheng Sheng let out a long breath and began untying the rope around his waist, drenched in sweat.

Just then, someone walked toward him.

"Did it really take you only eighteen days from when you started formally practicing fighting to when you defeated Zhou Wenye and passed the assessment?"

Mo Jiang stood in front of Cheng Sheng, looking at him as he spoke.

Cheng Sheng's hands paused on the rope, and his gaze grew a little colder. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Nothing."

Expressionless, Mo Jiang said flatly, "I just think... it doesn't look that way at all."

Cheng Sheng frowned and was just about to speak, but Mo Jiang turned and walked away, giving him no chance to say anything.

"Don't mind him. There's something seriously wrong with that guy. He's gone into Qi deviation from training..."

Tong Huan came over from the side and looked after Mo Jiang with a look of disgust. "I've gotten up to take a shit at two or three in the morning several times and caught him still training like crazy on his own.

Can you smell it? The guy stinks. Who knows how many days it's been since he bathed or brushed his teeth..."

Cheng Sheng said nothing. After the past few days, he could also see that Mo Jiang really had been "targeting" him all along.

He had defeated Zhou Wenye in the assessment in an almost unbelievable fashion and earned Sha Lie's personal praise. Afterward, Badan and a group of busybodies had spread the "legend" of how he had gone "from beginner to official disciple in eighteen days" among the trainees, making him a "fighting genius" in many people's eyes.

And Mo Jiang...

He clearly "refused to accept" it!

He was madly competing with Cheng Sheng, both openly and in secret.

Third update, asking for monthly votes. My pacing is a little slow, so I'll update more each day. Please vote.