By the time Tang Wen mastered the final set of the "Benefit Yang Skill," he still hadn't figured out what made Old Doctor Lin so exceptional.
The Chapter 53: Intense Training, Changing Circumstances
Benefit Yang Skill was the most challenging, requiring excellent flexibility for certain postures.
The last middle-aged male doctor teaching him chuckled as he instructed, "Practice this with your woman, and you'll experience double the joy."
In Tang Wen's mind, an image of Zhou Bing striking such a pose involuntarily surfaced.
Hiss! It was too stimulating, and he nearly embarrassed himself on the spot.
By the time he finished learning the "Benefit Yang Skill," it was already past midnight.
Tonight, the middle-aged male doctors witnessed the birth of Tang Wen, a kidney-nourishing—no, a health-preserving genius.
Everyone was overly excited and somewhat exhausted.
After urging Tang Wen to practice diligently and achieve his small goal of one wife and dozens of concubines as soon as possible, the four doctors patted him on the shoulder and returned to their dormitories to sleep.
On his way back, Tang Wen's panel suddenly flickered:
[Detected compatible cultivation methods. Would you like to merge them?]
[Merging will elevate the grade of the cultivation method.]
He paused, looking down to check the information.
The methods that could be merged were the ones he had just practiced: "Benefit Yang Skill, Wall-Facing Yang-Returning Stance, Primal Chaos Reclining, Sleeping Stance Skill."
Merge!
There was no need to hesitate.
He had learned these cultivation methods to enhance his attributes.
But if he didn't merge them, these four highly specialized and similar methods would likely provide minimal attribute gains even after mastering them.
The information for the four new skills disappeared, replaced by a new message.
[Skill: Primal Chaos Stance, Beginner (5/500)]
Hmm, it had the flavor of the Eight Section Brocade.
Tang Wen closed his eyes briefly, and in his mind, he grasped the new practice method for this "Primal Chaos Stance."
It still involved a breathing technique combined with stances and movements on the bed.
It seemed even more effective.
He returned and silently began practicing. By the next morning, he already felt remarkable results.
This motivated him even more.
He spent the entire morning practicing.
[Skill: Primal Chaos Stance, Beginner (45/500)]
At this rate, it wouldn't take long to level up.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Commander Zhao is back. Gather at the square for a meeting!"
A heavy knocking sound came from the door, accompanied by a shout outside.
"Commander Zhao is back?"
The three of them were closest to the square and arrived first.
There weren't many people in the underground palace, and within minutes, everyone had gathered.
Commander Zhao stood with Old General Xia: "I know you're all concerned about the situation outside. Let me briefly explain. Our opponents, besides the Black Mountain Camp, include an external group. They are allied with the Awakened who died."
"They were hired at great expense by the Black Mountain Devil. Originally, they wanted to exploit our open-pit coal mine, but we've beaten them into submission! In any case, everything is still under control. Rest well and continue your training."
With that, he left immediately.
It seemed he had come in a hurry just to reassure everyone.
The situation probably wasn't as optimistic as it seemed!
Tang Wen and Zhou Bing exchanged glances.
The latter suddenly said, "My internal injuries haven't healed, so I can't train. Can I learn the Vajra Skill that you and Tang Tang practice?"
"Of course."
In the morning, Tang Wen personally taught her.
Zhou Bing learned slowly, and it wasn't until seven days later, when Tang Wen's Iron Body Skill and Traceless Step had both reached the beginner level, that she barely managed to grasp it.
That morning.
Tang Wen and the other two arrived punctually in front of the bulletin board.
Two guards were posting the latest battle report.
"General Zhou has slain thirteen enemies, Commander Zhao has slain twenty-seven..."
As in the previous days, the battle report only highlighted the victories, not the losses.
Only the number of enemies killed was mentioned, with not a single word about the casualties in Flame Camp.
The three exchanged glances.
They trained even harder every day.
"Thwack! Thwack!"
"Crack!"
Two guards swung bamboo poles, striking Tang Wen's chest and back with a loud crack.
The wrist-thick bamboo pole snapped in two.
"Brother Tang, that's the tenth one you've broken today. Take a break!"
"Yeah, Tang Wen. Even if you're not tired, we are."
In a corner of the underground square near the wall, Tang Wen stood shirtless, revealing muscles chiseled like a sculpture.
Both aesthetically pleasing and explosively powerful.
Combined with his face, it was quite a lethal combination.
Even aloof beauties like Zhou Bing and An Lei couldn't help but steal glances at him.
"You two have worked hard," Tang Wen said, wiping his sweat with a towel. "Later, I'll help you train your reflexes with some stones."
"Sounds good."
The two guards, rubbing their arms, quickly left.
[Iron Body Skill, Beginner (359/500)]
Tang Wen took a short break, drank some salted sugar water, and put on his clothes and scale armor. He then donned a specially weighted lead jacket weighing two hundred pounds and a pair of metal shoes weighing over a hundred pounds.
He walked over to the Plum Blossom Poles to practice Traceless Step.
"This is brutal!"
"How many days has it been?"
"Nine days, the same as we've been down here."
"Is he really okay training like this?"
"Old General Xia said he's exceptionally gifted. Only he can train like this. We can't keep up. Look, even Team Zhou is taking a break now."
"He's a monster!"
A group of guards discussed Tang Wen.
Their initial skepticism and envy had turned into admiration.
Of course, this was only for his training dedication.
How he would fare in actual combat remained to be seen.
This was the pride of a Martial Practitioner!
After 9 PM, the soldiers who had trained all day returned to their dormitories to rest.
Only Tang Wen reappeared in the square, practicing his fist techniques in front of the wooden dummy.
The crisp sound of his punches cutting through the air echoed as he repeatedly unleashed Cannon Fist Inch Power.
The Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist was extremely taxing on both physical and mental energy.
After a full day of training, Tang Wen managed to unleash twenty-seven bursts of inch power in the evening, drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted, wanting nothing more than to collapse on the ground.
But he found that if he could persist in practicing the Eight Section Brocade or return to his room to practice the Primal Chaos Stance at this point, the results were far better than usual.
"Thwack!"
The final punch landed, and he lost control of his strength, shattering the wooden dummy's head.
He leaned against the wall, hands on his knees, bent over and gasping for breath.
After a while, he straightened up, glanced at the dark passageway, and dragged his exhausted body back to the dormitory.
"This kid, does he train like this every day? When I first learned the Cannon Fist, I could barely manage ten punches in a day before collapsing! And he's throwing over twenty punches?"
"He's a little monster. I suspect he's awakened dual talents in stamina and energy."
"A promising talent! Truly promising!"
After Tang Wen left, two figures emerged from the dark passageway.
One was Old General Xia, whom they saw every day, and the other, who praised Tang Wen as a promising talent, was Commander Zhang, Sang Zhanglin's father.
Unlike before, one of his sleeves was now empty, swaying back and forth as he walked.
Old General Xia looked at his arm and sighed softly, "This kid, Bing girl, your son, and the An family's girl are all the seeds and hope of our camp."
Commander Zhao smiled, "For their sake, for the future, losing an arm is nothing."
The two fell into silence.
...
On the ground, outside the city forest, by the tent, a fire burned.
General Zhou, Commander Zhao, and others sat in a circle.
"The Black Mountain Devil wants to negotiate? What do you all think?"
"Hmph! First, they need to spit out the coal mine."
"And the Contemplation Method, the Cannon Fist Contemplation Method, they need to provide another copy!"
"Old Zhao, what do you say?"
Commander Zhao raised his head, a clear black scar on his face, as if it had been slashed by a red-hot knife, deep enough to see the bone.
"Let's negotiate. We don't lack coal, and we can do without the Contemplation Method, but..."
"Old Zhao! Did getting slashed make you timid?"
"That doesn't sound like something you'd say!"
"Let Old Zhao finish."
With some difficulty, Commander Zhao raised his head and said in a low voice, "This month's late spring chill, logically, should have brought at least one snowfall."
What?
Several commanders frowned, not understanding what their old comrade meant.
Could he really be scared?
"It's been
a month and a half, a month and a half without snow. This spring, we might face a severe drought!"
"Hu
h?"
Like a bolt of lightning.
General Zhou, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, "Let the Black Mountain Devil have the coal mine, and demand grain from them!"
"Agreed!"
Everyone chimed in unison.
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