Chapter 23: Change

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

A month later,

The bright moon hung high in the sky.

Zhou You stood in front of the wooden dummy and took a deep breath. He stomped hard on the ground and his strength rose from the ground. It followed his strong thigh all the way up, past his waist, up the spine, into his shoulders, arms, and fists.

All the muscles in his body bulged as internal force condensed. His fists were like hammers as he punched out.

Pah!

Crack!

The wooden dummy swayed violently and finally broke at the waist. Its upper body flew far away and hit the courtyard wall.

Zhou You’s eyes lit up.

He had specially gotten someone to customize this wooden dummy. The wood was tough, covered with leather, and used for the cultivation of the Iron Arm Fist.

Tonight, he had cultivated the Iron Arm Fist to Perfection, so Zhou You tested its power. The result surprised and delighted him.

This punch could directly break the wooden dummy. It had at least 500 kilograms of force.

A few days ago, when he was conversing with Master Lu, his Ferocious Tiger Fist Flesh Tempering was only at its second level and had a fist strength of 400 to 450 kilograms.

But now, it exceeded 500 kilograms of strength, which meant that the strength of the Iron Arm Fist had increased by at least 50 kilograms.

This was the first time Zhou You had discovered such a situation.

When the Green Snake Fist was cultivated to Perfection, the improvement was negligible.

His Gale Phantom Kick had been cultivated to Perfection. There were not many leg moves in the Ferocious Tiger Fist to begin with, so Zhou You did not have much to compare against. He only felt that his lower body was slightly more stable, his footsteps were slightly lighter, and his endurance was slightly stronger.

Now, his Iron Arm Fist had been cultivated to Perfection, but it had improved so much.

As he carefully sensed it, he recalled the feeling when he had cultivated the Iron Arm Fist to Perfection.

Zhou You realized that the skin and muscles in his hands were indeed slightly stronger than before.

The internal force gathered from the complete cultivation of the Iron Arm Fist was absorbed by his muscles and actually strengthened them.

Unfortunately, this kind of enhancement only happened once.

It was useless to continue practicing the Iron Arm Fist.

It was not like the Ferocious Tiger Fist. Every time he cultivated it, his muscles would be strengthened and he would continue to become stronger.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou You picked up the Green Snake Fist that he had not practiced for a long time and practiced it completely.

Hiss!

His internal force was drawn out with the force of his fist. His muscles contracted and swallowed his internal force.

Zhou You’s eyes lit up.

He felt that his strength had increased again. It was not much and just slightly over 5 kilograms.

However, this discovery confirmed his guess.

Cultivating basic martial arts would also strengthen muscles as long as one could gather internal force.

However, he had not completed the skin refinement previously. His blood and Qi overflowed, and the effect of internal force strengthening his muscles was not obvious.

This was a good thing.

Cultivating basic martial arts now was no longer just to obtain Martial Arts Points. It could also increase one’s strength.

Delighted, Zhou You opened the interface.

Name: Zhou You

Affinity: 4

Aptitude: Ferocious Tiger Fist (22%), Green Snake Fist (60%), Gale Phantom Kick (52%), and Iron Arm Fist (60%).

Comprehension: 100%

Martial Arts: Ferocious Tiger Fist (Level 2) (373/1000), Green Snake Fist (Perfection), Gale Phantom Kick (Perfection), Iron Arm Fist (Perfection), and Iron Skin Technique (Uninitiated).

Martial Arts Points: 1

There were not many changes. Other than the increase of one Martial Arts Point, the compatibility of the Iron Arm Fist had increased to 60%.

Without any hesitation, Zhou You added Martial Arts Points to his Affinity, and it became 5.

Next, it was time to cultivate the Iron Skin Technique.

The cultivation of the Iron Skin Technique was similar to the Iron Arm Fist. However, it went from tempering the arms and fists to tempering the entire body.

Zhou You had already thought of a practice method relying mainly on using wooden dummies and his hands as a supplement.

The wooden dummy was broken, so he would need to buy a new one. Zhou You decided to wash up and rest before fighting tomorrow.

…

Before long, it was May.

The Iron Skin Dojo and the Diamond Dojo were still at odds with each other, but they had restrained themselves a lot and no longer disturbed the market.

Moreover, the area around Osmanthus Lane where Zhou You was located had already been included in the territory of the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo. The conflict between the two dojos would not affect this area.

On the east side of the river, the White Sand Gang was forced to retreat under the attacks of the Dark Shark Gang. They had completely retracted their sphere of influence back to the city. They were only limited to the docks and relied on the City Lord’s Manor.

The Black Stone Gang in the west of the river seized the opportunity and crossed the Meng River to confront the Dark Shark Gang, which was at its peak.

In the context of the battle between the two gangs, only the merchant caravans heading south from the City Lord’s Manor, the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo, and the White Crane Fist Dojo could smoothly pass through.

The other merchant caravans were charged high tolls and even lost their goods from time to time.

Under such circumstances, the business of the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo was booming. A large number of inner courtyard disciples were sent out as escorts. The disciples who stayed behind also had to strengthen their patrols and oversee the dojo’s businesses. They became very busy.

Even Lu Chuanfeng was very busy. He had not checked Zhou You’s martial arts progress in half a month. Every time they met, he would only chat briefly and throw some pills at Zhou You.

…

On May 17th.

The inner courtyard disciples of the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo were gathered together, and it was extremely lively.

In the afternoon, Zhou You completed his routine pill refinement. After sending it to the inner courtyard, he wanted to go home.

However, Zhao Qing stopped him.

“Don’t go back just yet. Eldest Senior Brother and the others are back. The dojo booked the sixth floor of Full Moon Inn to welcome them.”

“Eldest Senior Brother and the others are back?” Zhou You was stunned.

To be honest, he had never met any of his seniors in his life.

Lu Chuanfeng had fourteen disciples, and Zhou You was ranked fourteenth.

Of course, on the surface, Lu Chuanfeng only had thirteen disciples.

Among them, the second, fourth, sixth, seventh, tenth, and eleventh disciples died due to various accidents. Their names were unknown.

Third Senior Brother called Meng Tianyang was born into the Meng Family. Fifth Senior Brother was called He Ruozhuo and was born in the He Family from Conch Creek Town. The two of them had already started a family and a career. Other than Lu Chuanfeng’s birthday, they usually did not come to the dojo.

The only one left in the dojo was Lu Li, the eldest disciple and the third son of his master. He was the only surviving son.

Then came Eighth Senior Brother, known as Luo Jin, Ninth Senior Brother, known as Zhao Qing, Twelfth Senior Brother, known as Yu Wenli, and Thirteenth Senior Brother, known as He Ping.

Zhou You often saw the last four senior brothers and knew them well. Among them, he was most familiar with Zhao Qing.

Zhou You had never seen Eldest Senior Brother before.

“Before the New Year, Eldest Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, and Fifth Senior Brother went to Yunzhou to participate in the sect tournament. They only came back today.” Zhao Qing explained.

Only then did Zhou You understand.

The headquarters of the Five Tigers Sect was located in Yunzhou, which was thousands of miles away. The dojos under their command were spread all over eight states and 180 counties.

There were more than 300 dojos.

Every three years, the Five Tigers Sect would hold a sect tournament to select genius disciples. They would also check the quality of the teaching in various dojos and distribute cultivation resources such as medicinal pills for the next three years.

The process of the sect tournament was very simple. It depended on one’s age and realm.

Only Visceral Tempering martial artists under the age of 35 were qualified to participate in the sect tournament.

Secondly, it depended on actual combat.

The ultimate goal of practicing martial arts was to defeat the enemy and win. Only by winning would one be considered strong.

In this sect tournament, the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo’s branch in Mengyang City sent out three Visceral Tempering disciples. It was quite standard.

If a certain branch could not send out a Visceral Tempering disciple under the age of 35, they would be deemed to have failed and someone from the main branch would be sent to take over.

As for the results of the tournament… there was no need to place too much hope on it. Every time, they would always be the last place. It was impossible for it to be any worse.

Mengyang City was located at the border, and its foundation was far inferior to those prefecture cities and county cities that had been developing for a long time.

An ancestor of the Meng family had crossed the Meng River, mastered Nine Twists Fist, and advanced to become a high-ranked martial artist. It had only been more than a century since he gathered people and built the city here.