Chapter 3: Iron Cloth Shirt

"Rest assured, I have my own sense of proportion; you just need to assist me."

Lu Changsheng waved his hand, his tone very firm.

"Alright then, if there's anything wrong halfway through, stop immediately."

Fang Tao gritted his teeth and agreed.

He knew that Lu Changsheng always did what he said, and once he decided on something, even nine cows couldn't pull him back, so naturally, he didn't try to persuade him again.

Afterward, Lu Changsheng found a wooden stick as tall as a person and handed it to Fang Tao.

The two immediately came to the center of the courtyard.

Lu Changsheng stood with his feet apart, his expression solemn:

"Later, use the wooden stick to strike my chest and back; don't stop until I tell you to."

While speaking, he immediately began to follow the gestures of the first diagram of the technique, arms hugging, his mind sinking into his body.

"Brother Changsheng, hold on."

Fang Tao had some reluctance in his eyes, but he began to swing the wooden stick, smashing it toward Lu Changsheng's chest.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The crisp knocking sound resounded throughout the courtyard.

Lu Changsheng felt waves of stinging pain attacking him, making his whole body tremble.

As the frequency of the beating became faster and faster, the sharp pain was like ocean waves, never stopping.

He gritted his teeth and did not choose to give up.

If he retreated this time, it would be difficult to step onto the path of martial arts.

With the attribute modifier, if he still chose to be a commoner, he might as well find a piece of tofu to crash into.

Holding onto a certain belief, he persisted throughout.

"Body like a rock, heart like glass."

Lu Changsheng kept reciting the general outline of the technique, gradually finding a glimmer of opportunity.

At this moment, a blue panel appeared in the void.

Host: Lu Changsheng.

Age: Twenty.

Realm: None.

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt (Uninitiated 1%)

Skills: None.

Equipment: None.

Status: Good.

Source Energy Points: Five.

Bound Exotic Beast: Pangolin (White)

Seeing the change in the technique's progress bar, Lu Changsheng's face was full of joy.

Only with progress could he eventually pile the technique to one hundred percent, and then he could try adding points with Source Energy Points.

This made him full of energy, and he seemed to forget the pain coming from his body.

Soon, only the sound of "bang, bang" remained in the courtyard.

A youth holding a wooden stick, striking the man's body hard; the scene was very strange.

Because of the effort, the youth's face even turned somewhat red.

The two did not stop until noon.

"Brother Changsheng, are you okay?"

Fang Tao put away the wooden stick and looked at Lu Changsheng, who was covered in blue and purple bruises, his face full of concern.

"No problem."

Lu Changsheng smiled slightly and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Looking at the six percent progress bar on the panel, he felt very satisfied in his heart.

At this rate, in at most half a month, he could initiate the technique.

By then, some accounts would have to be settled properly.

Hearing this, Fang Tao was very surprised.

He didn't expect that after such a great disaster, Lu Changsheng seemed to have become a different person.

In the past, he was afraid of suffering even the slightest bit of hardship; practicing this kind of self-abusive martial arts was impossible.

This time, after waking up, there had been a earth-shaking change.

The next four days.

Lu Changsheng had been practicing the Iron Cloth Shirt in the courtyard, eating a black cake when hungry.

Through his bitter practice, he pushed the progress to over sixty percent.

Looking at the numbers on the panel, he was very satisfied.

But things suddenly changed on the fifth day.

Although the progress bar was still moving forward, according to his estimation, he could initiate it in another seven or eight days.

But he had to stop.

The reason was simple: with this high-intensity practice over the past few days, relying on black cakes, he couldn't hold on anymore.

If he continued to practice, he feared that before he could initiate it, he would be practiced to death.

The bruises on his body didn't even have time to fade before new wounds appeared.

He had to eat meat to continue.

"Poor literature, rich martial arts" was not just a saying.

Just the medicinal baths were an astronomical figure, plus meat at every meal; it was simply not something an ordinary person could afford.

"Brother Changsheng, what's wrong?"

Seeing Lu Changsheng stop, Fang Tao was full of confusion.

He knew Lu Changsheng was not someone who gave up easily.

Lu Changsheng frowned: "I need some meat to continue practicing, otherwise I'm afraid something will happen."

But all his money had been robbed, and his home was already empty. He couldn't even afford brown rice, let alone meat.

As for ideas to make money, he knew quite a few.

The craft of making ice and some white sugar was not difficult; he could probably figure it out with some tinkering.

But Lu Changsheng didn't dare to act.

Rashly revealing such means of making money, he wouldn't even know how he died.

Without absolute strength, these things could only be death warrants.

Those gangs and powerful families in the county wouldn't reason with him.

Competing for food with that group of people was simply looking for death.

Lu Changsheng naturally wouldn't be so unwise.

"It seems I can only try with that exotic beast."

He thought to himself.

That's right, he planned to send the pangolin to dig up a few medicinal herbs in the mountains to sell to the pharmacy, to earn some silver for the time being.

This was also the safest way to make money he could think of.

Some ordinary medicinal herbs wouldn't easily attract others' attention.

Fang Tao, on the side, also fell silent.

Their family was also in a difficult situation; in this world, it was a luxury for commoners to even be full, let alone eat meat.

He was also powerless to help with this problem.

"Then I'll go back first."

While speaking, Fang Tao turned and ran back quickly.

Soon, he disappeared from the courtyard.

Lu Changsheng drank some water and sat by the stone table to rest quietly.

He prepared to officially start acting when it was late at night.

Time passed slowly.

Soon it was evening, and the setting sun was like blood.

"Clatter..."

At this moment, a light sound of footsteps came from not far away.

Lu Changsheng looked up.

He saw Fang Tao returning, accompanied by a beautiful young woman.

The young woman looked to be about twenty-four, and even in coarse linen clothes, she couldn't hide her graceful figure.

Her eyes were bright, her willow eyebrows were curved, and the long hair behind her head was coiled high, but her face showed a hint of wind and frost, adding a bit of maturity.

The two came together, and the young woman was carrying a food box in her right hand.

The woman was Fang Tao's sister, Fang Qing.

This woman also had a bit of "fame" in Changping County.

Eight years ago, she was betrothed to a man, but unexpectedly, a few days before the wedding, the man fell mysteriously ill and died after spitting a few mouthfuls of blood.

Fang Qing became a widow before she even entered the door.

Not only that, but the surrounding neighbors spread rumors that Fang Qing had a "husband-killing" fate, and some even said she had a White Tiger fate.

As time went on, everyone feared her like a tiger, and no one dared to come to propose marriage, so it dragged on until today.

Lu Changsheng's predecessor had also always avoided this woman.

The ancients were still extremely taboo about such things.

Before long, Fang Qing and the other arrived in front of Lu Changsheng.

"I heard you want to practice martial arts? If you can't make a name for yourself, give it up. You're not young anymore; find a job as soon as possible, take a wife, and leave some offspring. This is also Uncle Lu's expectation..."

Speaking of taking a wife and leaving offspring, Fang Qing's expression was a bit strange; she was still a maiden herself and felt quite embarrassed.

Then she placed the food box and a string of copper coins on the stone table.

"There isn't much surplus grain at home; there's only this chicken, and these ten copper coins."

Fang Qing spoke slowly.

Her voice was very crisp and pleasant.

These days, although she could always hear the movement next door, she didn't believe Lu Changsheng could become a martial artist.

After all, Lu Changsheng had always been idle in the past and was already twenty years old; the hope was extremely slim.

Coupled with the lack of any resources, it was almost impossible to succeed.

She did this just because she didn't want Lu Changsheng to waste himself practicing; the two families had always had a good relationship, and they had received many favors from Uncle Lu when they were in difficulty.

Fang Qing just wanted to repay the kindness so she could have a clear conscience.

"Thank you for the reminder, sister-in-law; I will consider it carefully."

Lu Changsheng smiled slightly and thanked her without explaining too much.

He accepted her good intentions, and this gift was not light.

Hearing this, Fang Qing was a bit surprised.

In her impression, Lu Changsheng had always been quite wary of her and often avoided her, let alone giving her a good look.

She didn't expect the other to have changed so much.

Harboring a hint of strangeness in her heart, Fang Qing said goodbye with her brother and walked toward their own courtyard.

After the two went far away, Lu Changsheng opened the food box.

A rich fragrance rushed to his nose.

In front of him was actually a full bowl of chicken soup.

A hint of warmth suddenly rose in his heart; the Fang siblings had killed one of their two old hens.

Then he began to feast.

The blood and energy deficiency caused by practicing martial arts for several days also improved slightly under the nourishment of the meat.

Soon, a large bowl of chicken meat and soup had all entered his stomach.

Lu Changsheng burped with satisfaction and leaned back in his chair to close his eyes and rest.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 4 =====