Chapter 17: Taking Medicine and Practicing Fists

The two gangs had a fierce clash, resulting in many casualties, and the yellow earth by the roadside was stained red.

The Wild Fox and Mad Horse gangs had long-standing grievances; even the low-level gang members would provoke each other upon meeting, fighting all day long.

This time, it completely ignited a violent conflict.

Tu Laosan and Gao Qiang both summoned their respective gang helpers, and the numbers grew larger and larger.

In the end, it escalated into a large-scale armed brawl, alarming even the City Gate Guard.

The bodies counted afterward numbered over 100, and the injured gang members overwhelmed the medical clinics in the city.

The government stepped in to mediate, bringing the leaders of the two gangs to sit down and drink tea to resolve the matter.

The Wild Fox gang insisted that the Mad Horse gang had struck first, while the Mad Horse gang demanded the return of 3 portions of missing Bone-Forging Powder from them.

It was a muddled account, and the argument was so loud it nearly blew the roof off, yet there was no result.

The matter eventually fizzled out, becoming yet another unresolved debt in the history of the two gangs' feud.

And what of the culprit behind this incident?

After seeing the brawl erupt, Zhou You withdrew and left, returning to the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall.

Seeing Gao Qiang's crazed, man-eating appearance, he could be certain that the Bone-Forging Powder had not been tampered with and was indeed genuine.

He was no fool; he would not dare use medicine of unknown origin on his own body.

The number of people the Mad Horse gang lost over this, and their repeated pursuit of the Wild Fox gang to recover the Bone-Forging Powder, showed just how precious this item was.

There was no problem with the items, so he could use them with peace of mind.

Six or seven days after returning to the martial arts hall, the Tiger Bone Paste for the Outer Courtyard was distributed.

1 portion of Tiger Bone Paste and 3 portions of Bone-Forging Powder—added together, this was a considerable fortune.

"I have already developed a drug resistance to the Tiger Bone Paste, but this is my first time using the Bone-Forging Powder."

"The best method is to maximize the medicinal power of the Bone-Forging Powder while I have no resistance to it, then supplement it with the Tiger Bone Paste, and in one go, push all three attributes above 10 points."

Currently, Zhou You's personal attribute panel is as follows:

Name: Zhou You.

Strength: 9.

Speed: 9.

Defense: 9.

Experience Points: 62.

Occupation: Martial Arts Apprentice.

Skills: Imperial Wood-Cutting Hand lv7, Square-Circle Step lv7, Tiger-Subduing Fist lv6.

Zhou You ground the Bone-Forging Powder into a fine powder, rubbed it into the palms of his hands, and began practicing the Square-Circle Step and Imperial Wood-Cutting Hand on the spot.

Time could not be wasted; while absorbing the medicinal power, he also had to train to increase his Experience Points.

Waves of medicinal power flowed into his blood, nourishing the depths of his bone marrow and bringing an itchy, tingling sensation.

When Lu Qiang provided Instruction on martial arts, he once mentioned the difference between a large tree and a vine.

"The Tiger-Subduing Fist takes the tempering of bones as its core. Bones are like the trunk of a tree; only when nurtured well can they become a towering tree. If they fail, they are merely limp vines that can never reach the clouds."

As Zhou You performed the moves one by one, his inner realization became increasingly clear.

The medicinal power of the Bone-Forging Powder nourished his bone marrow step by step, stimulating the strength of his joints throughout his body.

The itchy sensation grew more intense, as if it were about to pierce through his skin and flesh to sprout branches and flowers.

Endure, endure; this is a test during the process of transformation.

Seeing such a strong reaction to the medicine, Zhou You was not alarmed but delighted; the effect of using the Bone-Forging Powder for the first time was far stronger than he had expected.

It was worth it to pull chestnuts from the fire, incite the two gangs to fight, and steal the 3 portions of Bone-Forging Powder amidst the chaos.

This act was a high-wire operation; a moment of carelessness would lead to exposure and being smashed to pieces.

Reason told him that such operations might be fine once or twice, but doing it too often would inevitably lead to trouble.

Yet, without taking a risk, how could he have such gains?

Zhou You moved with every punch, training from day until night; his strength did not weaken, but instead became more vigorous and fierce.

As the medicinal power of the first portion of Bone-Forging Powder began to fade, he immediately followed up with the second.

The itch deep in his bone marrow immediately became intense again.

"Sure enough, it is feasible to use Secret Medicine continuously to temper the body."

"The reason the Outer Courtyard distributes it every seven days is not due to the apprentices' physical limits, but because of insufficient resources."

There were nearly two hundred Outer Court Apprentices, most of whom were new apprentices who had not yet become Zhengshi Xuitu.

Zhengshi Xuitu were supplied every three days, and the amount of Tiger Bone Paste required nearly doubled.

If they were supplied daily, even if the martial arts hall were connected to the government's treasury, it could not sustain it.

Zhou You sighed in his heart; practicing martial arts consumed massive resources and was purely a money-burning activity.

The 20 taels of tuition per month alone could filter out 99% of the Commoner children in the city, not to mention the strict threshold for physical fitness.

If not for the panel, he, Zhou You, would also be one of the masses, with no chance to practice martial arts.

Precisely because of this, he cherished this hard-won opportunity even more.

The medicinal power brought by the Bone-Forging Powder made him tireless, allowing him to break through bottlenecks and limits time and again.

"Imperial Wood-Cutting Hand lv7 → lv8, Experience Points +70.

Square-Circle Step lv7 → lv8, Experience Points +70."

His Experience Points increased to over 200 in an instant; if his attribute points met the requirements, he could improve the proficiency of his Tiger-Subduing Fist on the spot.

Zhou You decisively used the last portion of Bone-Forging Powder and, while he was at it, applied the Tiger Bone Paste to his body as well.

Two distinct medicinal powers gathered in his body, beginning to nourish his tendons and bones, and raising his physique points.

"Strength +3."

"Speed +3."

"Defense +3."

The plan worked; the Bone-Forging Powder did not produce drug resistance, and the results could be called rapid progress.

Zhou You increased all three attributes to 12 in one breath, satisfying the upgrade requirements for the Meng Hu Quan.

He decisively chose to upgrade!

"Experience Points -60, Meng Hu Quan lv6→lv7, remaining Experience Points 172."

"Experience Points -70, Meng Hu Quan lv7→lv8, remaining Experience Points 102."

"Experience Points -80, Meng Hu Quan lv8→lv9, remaining Experience Points 22."

Zhou You heard faint crackling sounds in his ears; his muscles stretched, his tendons and bones strengthened, and a massive amount of fist-fighting techniques flooded into his mind with every breath.

In a mere instant, his entire body underwent a transformation.

In the time it takes to catch one's breath, his mastery of the Meng Hu Quan had risen to the lv9 level.

"Meng Hu Quan, lv9."

"Conditions to upgrade to lv10 are as follows: Strength 15, Speed 15, Defense 15, Experience Points +90."

Lv10 is a small threshold; once broken through, one can unleash Force and become a Zhengshi Xuitu of the martial arts hall.

However, this step is as difficult as ascending to heaven for most newcomers.

Within the three-month time limit, many people stop right before this threshold.

The screening mechanism of the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall is very simple: only those who cultivate Force within one hundred days are qualified to officially enter.

Those Apprentices who are eliminated, even if they can break through the bottleneck and cultivate Force later, have no chance to enter the martial arts hall again.

However, this threshold is nothing to Zhou You.

Zhou You relaxed his tendons and bones; he felt as if a Meng Hu was Dormant within his body, just waiting to move.

He was only one step away from lv10, and he could already vaguely sense the direction of the breakthrough for Force.

Force is like a plant growing from the soil, a power transformed from the foundation of the flesh and blood body.

"The key to breaking through the bottleneck lies in developing the potential of the physical body."

Zhou You felt the power emerging from his very bones, easily penetrating his skin and flesh to reach the surface of his body.

Every single hair on his body stood up on end, tough as iron wire, capable of piercing through pigskin.

However, the appearance of this power lasted only for an instant, then it turned into the shadows, becoming silent and soundless.

"Still lacking a bit of refinement."

Only by truly mastering this power, controlling its release and retraction at will, and striking out with real Force...

But Zhou You had already seen the dawn of hope.