Chapter 74: The Time Is Ripe

Time always passes so fast it catches people off guard; another year had come, still the depths of winter, and Gusu had a rare heavy snowfall.

Wu Chengyu had grown quite a bit over the past year; he was just twelve years old, his height already approaching 165 centimeters, and he had mastered the second stance of the Ox and Horse Stance, Ox High Horse Large, able to consciously maintain the opening and closing of his epiphyseal lines—reaching 185 centimeters was no problem at all.

But though he was tall, compared to the burly figure across the table, he still looked rather thin.

Wu Chengyu was quite helpless at this moment, his elbows propped on the table, both hands cupping his cheeks, wearing a bitter smile as he looked at A Ku across from him.

A Ku was currently holding a braised pig trotter, a five-catty large trotter, and after a few bites, half of it had already gone into A Ku's stomach.

She wore a fur coat, and her thick winter clothes could not completely hide the flesh on her body; Wu Chengyu really couldn't bear to look directly at her.

Other people's little sisters were so cute, and his own sister's personality was also very cute, but her figure was truly hard to describe.

"You've only been awake for a few days, and today you hurt someone again, Cuihua."

"Annoying, big brother, you're not allowed to call me Cuihua; I've told you how many times already."

"Today I was just sparring with Wu Chengming; I already tried my best to hold back my strength, who would have thought that with one light move of Heavenly King Holding Pagoda, he flew out; actually it wasn't a serious injury, he just bumped his arm, and he'll be fine after a few days of rest."

"You should spar with others less; over the past half year, how many people have you hurt? Although the uncles didn't say anything, it doesn't look good."

Since A Ku practiced Xiong Chu Mo, she could eat even more; she was already a glutton, and now her appetite was wide open—she ate a lot, absorbed well, had no taboos about meat or vegetables, ate whatever she caught; with a trotter like this, she could eat two in one meal.

In just one year, A Ku was no longer a ball, but completely a little bear, and among little bears she belonged to the largest category.

Now every time he saw A Ku, he couldn't help but think of the mother bear in Xiong Chu Mo, Cuihua; she just needed a flower stuck on her head too.

If it weren't for Wu Chengyu's abundant family wealth, and the hot pot and low-grade version of Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment selling quite well now, bringing in hundreds of taels of income every year, he really couldn't afford to raise her.

Indeed, worthy of being the top technique given by the Bamboo Slips; the effect was too remarkable; although it wasn't fully mastered yet, A Ku's foundation still needed polishing, but the person's entire essence, qi, and spirit were completely different; the key point was that the Bamboo Slips didn't mention it, but practicing Xiong Chu Mo could also increase strength.

Now A Ku could play tricks with a hundred-catty stone lock, one in each hand.

As the Bamboo Slips said, A Ku's natural talent was truly excellent; Xiong Chu Mo was quickly mastered and progressed by leaps and bounds, not to mention Yan Qing Fist was also practiced to perfection, her progress far surpassing Wu Chengyu back then; among children of the same age on Wu Family Slope, she was absolutely first-rate.

It was just that her current bulky figure somewhat affected her agility, and with short arms and short legs, many exquisite moves were very difficult to use.

As a result, the little one carved her own path, taking the throws and wrestling moves from Yan Qing Fist as her main attack direction; back then Yan Qing was also famous for being good at street wrestling.

Usually when sparring with peers, she loved to charge forward like a Little Steel Cannon, grab the opponent, and throw them down; if slightly careless, the opponent would fly out; even if two or three peers attacked together, they could do nothing to her; fortunately, so far no one had lost an arm or broken a leg.

According to the Bamboo Slips, every winter during sleep the body would absorb the previously accumulated nutrients; every time A Ku woke up she would lose a bit of weight; after the three-year cultivation period was over, she would quickly regain her slender figure.

But Wu Chengyu now deeply doubted this; it was the first year, and every time A Ku slept for three days, then went wild for a few days before sleeping again; now a month had passed, and Wu Chengyu couldn't find any sign of her losing weight no matter what.

He was really worried now; how would this sister be able to marry in the future? Should he write a letter to ask Niu Dajie how she managed to abduct her husband into the house back then?

While he was lost in random thoughts, A Ku had already finished one trotter: "My appetite isn't good today, I'll just eat this one; big brother, I'm sleepy again, I'll go sleep first."

After walking two steps she turned back, pulled a crumpled letter from her fur coat, and handed it to Wu Chengyu.

"A letter from Lu Family Village; I almost forgot to give it to you."

Wu Chengyu held the letter, somewhat disliking the oil stains on it; from the handwriting on the envelope, this letter was not written by Lu Zhiyi, but by his former fourth senior brother Lu Chengfeng.

Over the past year, besides practicing martial arts, Wu Chengyu had done many things.

First was that two months ago he personally went to Jiaxing and found Lu Chengfeng.

Both were wanderers in the world; Lu Chengfeng was quite surprised and delighted to see Wu Chengyu now, feeling closer than on Peach Blossom Island, but was somewhat dissatisfied that Wu Chengyu no longer used the name Wu Mianfeng from now on.

They were all too foolishly filial to Huang Yaoshi; even now they still thought about returning to Peach Blossom Island.

Wu Chengyu had previously wanted to help Lu Chengfeng treat his disability, and asked the Bamboo Slips, only to learn that Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment was effective for treating bone injuries and also had a healing effect on tendon injuries.

But for people like Qu Lingfeng and Lu Chengfeng whose foot tendons were directly severed, after this period of time, the foot tendons had completely atrophied; even Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment was powerless.

So Lu Chengfeng's fate of lifelong disability could not be changed, and Wu Chengyu could not get a reward from the Bamboo Slips either.

But this was also good; at least the secret of Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment wouldn't be leaked, and Wu Chengyu no longer needed to agonize over it.

The two hadn't exchanged more than a few pleasantries when they almost fell out over their attitude toward Huang Yaoshi; Wu Chengyu had no mind to save the other's soul.

These people's brains had all died; if it were in later times, being arbitrarily blamed and made into a cripple for no reason, even their own father would probably turn against them.

Although they didn't see eye to eye, the two quickly found a common target: Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng.

Over the past year, the fame of the Black Wind Twin Demons had spread throughout Jiangnan; they didn't dare provoke local great clans, but specifically targeted martial artists without backing and ordinary commoners; even after being surrounded and suppressed several times, they escaped unscathed, and their martial arts were getting higher and higher.

Wu Chengyu and Lu Chengfeng immediately agreed that Lu Chengfeng would go out to recruit martial arts masters, and Wu Chengyu's side also had people to help; both sides would jointly gather information.

The last time the Black Wind Twin Demons lost their trail after being hunted down, Lu Chengfeng's letter this time must have found a clue.

For the current Wu Chengyu, hunting down the Black Wind Twin Demons and taking revenge for himself and Feng Heng—the time had come.

In one year's time, Wu Chengyu's martial arts advanced by leaps and bounds; his internal energy heart technique had already reached minor accomplishment; although only two hidden meridians near the heart and liver had been integrated, this heart technique was evaluated by the Bamboo Slips for the first time as Divine Skill Grade.

In terms of internal force accumulation, perhaps he was still slightly inferior to masters like Mei Chaofeng, but the quality of his internal force far surpassed hers.

Wu Chengyu focused his main energy on Great Shift of the Stars; using Great Shift of the Stars as a template, integrating All-Nature Protection Way,

his Ox and Horse Stance had also reached the third stance, Qi Rushing to the Ox; this qi referred to strength; although he hadn't practiced for long, both arms each had over three hundred catties of strength.

The Turtle Grandson Method had already been practiced into his body; more than half of his daily sleep time could be maintained, and both his body and spirit were kept in the best state for a long time.

Not only that, Cat Step, Eel Skill, Thousand Mechanisms Hand, and Yu Steps had all been mastered.

Now he was limited by the short cultivation time and couldn't be called a first-rate master yet, but relying on various supreme skills and the mystery of Great Shift of the Stars, against either of the Black Wind Twin Demons he could hold his own, and even launch a surprise attack to subdue the opponent.

(Chapter End)