Chapter 168: Poison Aura and Lightness Skill

After Zhou You returned home 'injured', it caused quite a commotion.

At first, his parents heard he had killed someone at the martial arts hall, and they were so startled they began packing their meager belongings, thinking of fleeing the city overnight with the whole family.

Only after hearing that deaths and injuries in martial arts duels did not lead to legal trouble did they finally heave a sigh of relief.

Seeing Zhou You's pale face, devoid of a shred of color, and learning that their son had been wounded, they scrambled in a panic to move him to the bed.

"I never agreed to let you learn boxing in the first place; fighting back and forth, it's the easiest way to lose your life."

His mother sat at the head of the bed weeping, urging Zhou You to drink his medicine while complaining incessantly.

Zhou Laodie furrowed his brows, "The child is injured and needs quiet rest; say less."

Zhou You restrained his Qi and blood, keeping his face devoid of color, deliberately disguising himself as a sickly invalid.

He hadn't expected to frighten his family first, so he hurriedly explained, "Father, Mother, my injuries are of no consequence; I will be fine after resting for a period."

"The master also said I should stay home to recover during this time and need not go to the martial arts hall."

He stayed at home not only to avoid getting involved in the martial arts hall's disputes, but also for another purpose: to deal with the Transformation Charm.

If he went to the martial arts hall every day as usual, with no one at home to look after things, it would be very easy to encounter danger.

The Transformation Charm hunts Qi and blood martial artists, like a Poison Snake Realm creature hiding in the shadows; it must be lured out and exterminated.

The news of Zhou You recovering from illness at home would soon spread, and the Transformation Charm would certainly come knocking if it had any brains.

Using his strength to kill the Transformation Charm, eliminate future trouble, and gain some Experience Points—why wouldn't he do it?

Moreover, resting at home would not delay his boxing practice and improvement.

After nightfall, his parents watched him drink his medicine and lie down before they finally left, relieved.

Zhou You contemplated the Hungry Tiger painting on the wall, feeling he had gained much, and looked around to see that the night was already deep and quiet.

He took the Wuxiang Tongkui out from the Armory, his fingertips tapping rapidly on the bronze figure, red light flashing incessantly.

"Two Hearts Fist."

"Tiger-Subduing Fist!"

That day on the ring, he used one move with two styles of Tiger-Subduing Fist, which allowed Zuo Shier to see the clues.

Afterward, Zuo Shier found him, performed a kowtow, and begged him for Instruction in the skill of merging the two fists.

Zuo Shier was convinced that Zhou You was destined for greatness and volunteered to follow him to create a brand-new boxing style that integrated the techniques of both schools.

After Zhou You exchanged ideas with him, he was surprised to find that Zuo Shier had studied it quite deeply, and with their combined efforts, it had already begun to take shape.

He had the Wuxiang Tongkui, so he input his and Zuo Shier's research insights into the bronze figure; red dots flowed along the dense, intricate lines, and it officially entered the calculation phase.

"Hmm?"

The idea of creating a new boxing style only sprouted in Zhou You's mind after he killed Zhong Shaoying this time.

Originally, Tiger-Subduing Fist was his main boxing style, and he also had the Lu Zhigang persona, which formed his comprehensive strength.

Now that Zhong Shaoying was dead, Lu Jianqing held a grudge; although he was weak now, he would surely seek revenge once he grew up in the future.

Wang Laohu treated Lu Jianqing as his closing Disciple and taught him wholeheartedly, destined to protect this kid.

The Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall could no longer provide shelter for Zhou You; instead, it posed a certain danger.

Zhou You's best choice was to break away from the martial arts hall to avoid being tied down later and suffering counter-measures from Lu Jianqing.

After all, the master-disciple relationship in this day and age was much like that of father and son; to disobey was to be rebellious.

As long as Zhou You carried the banner of Tiger-Subduing Fist, he had to treat Wang Jianxiong as his heaven; if Lu Jianqing were to inherit Wang Jianxiong's sect in the future, he would definitely suppress Zhou You.

Every boxing style had only one person in charge; this was an eternal rule in the martial arts circle.

If Zhou You wanted to break free from these shackles, the best way was to establish his own sect.

If he could merge the Two Hearts Fist and the Tiger-Subduing Fist into one and establish a sect, he could weaken the shackles brought by the master-disciple name.

"Master has misled me; you shouldn't have let me learn this Two Hearts Fist. I was single-minded before, but now I have two hearts instead."

Zhou You subconsciously touched the back of his head; he had felt uncomfortable sleeping lately, and upon careful inspection, it wasn't the pillow that was the problem, but something seemingly growing out from the back of his head.

Could it be a rebellious bone? He hurriedly moved his hair bun to cover the back of his head. He put the Wuxiang Tongkui aside for now, not using Experience Points to speed it up.

Because the large amount of Experience Points Zhou You had just accumulated had already been earmarked for other uses.

There was still a large amount of treasure and wealth in the back mountains of the Mo Yun Stronghold waiting for him to go back and retrieve! The sheer cliff was thousands to ten thousand meters deep, covered in slippery moss, and even the blind spots were occupied by poisonous snakes and insects.

If one were not careful, birds accustomed to eating human flesh would swoop down to peck at your nose.

The mountain wind was as sharp as a knife, blowing across skin not covered by clothing, causing cracks to crisscross in the blink of an eye.

It was easy to go down the mountain but hard to go up, not to mention being able to carry heavy goods.

Zhou You had thrown things down the cliff at the time and seen with his own eyes countless skeletons piled up, which rotted into colorful miasma.

That seemingly brilliant miasma—one breath and you were gone, beyond any hope of recovery.

If Zhou You wanted to retrieve the treasure, he had to improve two means: first, Poison Palm; second, Lightness Skill.

If the Seven Step Poison Sand Palm continued to improve, he could refine the Palm Poison into a poison aura; the poison aura could form a shielding layer around his body to isolate the miasma, helping Zhou You operate in the harsh environment at the bottom of the cliff.

As for the Lightness Skill, it was even more indispensable; the higher the Lightness Skill, the more and heavier things he could carry.

"Experience Points -5000, Basic Lightness Skill absorbs the movement chapter of 'Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record', content continues to be perfected, level increased."

"Lv3/lv7 → Lv4/lv9, limit Lv9, current realm Lv4."

A hot current poured into his legs, and with every breath, Zhou You's body became lighter, as if he could float away with a mere puff of air.

The old cotton quilt covering him weighed at least ten or twenty catties, yet it still couldn't suppress his increasingly light body.

With Lv4 Lightness Skill, his comprehensive ability was greatly improved.

He could not only reduce his weight of over a hundred catties to that of a feather, but also carry heavy objects of 50-100 catties.

Transporting treasures from the bottom of the cliff required climbing straight up and down, which was very difficult.

Originally, Lv3 was slightly strained, but now that it had improved to Lv4, incorporating the essence of the Yan Ping Eagle Step, this was no longer a problem.

And there was more...

"Experience Points -3000, Boneless Heart Method lv3→lv4, Seven Step Poison Sand Palm Qi and Blood 3rd Stage→Qi and Blood 4th Stage."

"Experience Points -1000, Dusha Hutie lv0→lv1."

Palm prints emerged on Zhou You's palms, with three vibrant colors representing the three types of Palm Poison he had successfully cultivated so far.

Although he had purchased dozens of types of snake venom, during the process of refining the Palm Poison, he eliminated the weak and kept the strong, ultimately leaving behind three types of Palm Poison that had absorbed the essence and characteristics of the other snake venoms, making them incomparably toxic.

As Dusha Hutie circulated, the three types of Palm Poison instantly detached from his palms, turning into materialized, three-dimensional entities.

Following the execution of the Poison Sand Palm, a vibrant, gauze-like curtain descended from mid-air, covering Zhou You and isolating him from the surrounding breeze, airflow, and dust.

Dusha Hutie has a miraculous effect in shielding against various types of miasma and poisonous gases.

"Name: Zhou You.

Qi and Blood: 412.

Experience Points: 1075.

Occupation: Martial Arts Disciple.

Level: Qi and Blood 4th Stage (Seven Step Poison Sand Palm, Tiger Subduing Fist), Qi and Blood Stage 1 (Yanxing Quan). Skills: Seven Step Poison Sand Palm lv3 (Attribute: Corrosion), Tiger Subduing Fist lv31, Yanxing Quan lv23, Two Hearts Fist lv21, Basic Lightness Skill lv4/lv8, Pipa lv3, Seal Script lv8, Medicine Refining lv14.

Cultivation Methods: Jade Tiger Art lv4 (Iron Tiger), Boneless Heart Method lv4, Jiaodie Technique lv1, Secret Method of External Profound Heart lv1, Heaven-Reaching Yuan-Nurturing Art lv1, Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record (Not yet initiated).

Ultimate Moves: Three-Fold Technique lv1, Tiger Evil lv5, Dusha Hutie lv2, Feather Gang lv2, General Unloading Armor Great Cloak lv5.

Talent: Hunger.

Armory: Void Face (Flesh Magic Treasure) — False Identities: First Lu Zhigang, Second Yan Ping, Wuxiang Tongkui (Calculating).

Trial Project 1 (Four-Star Level): Perfect Basic Lightness Skill.

Trial Project 2 (Four-Star Level): Break through to the Martial Master realm, discover the secret of the Heaven-Reaching Yuan-Nurturing Art.

Trial Project 3 (Three-Star Level): Accumulate 10 kills of Transformed Charms, completed 0/10."

(End of this chapter)