Chapter 2: Attribute Points

Host: Lu Zhangsheng.

Age: Twenty (Fifty)

Realm: None.

Martial Arts: None.

Skills: None.

Equipment: None.

Status: Weak.

Source Energy Points: Six.

Bound Exotic Beast: Pangolin (White)

"Isn't this the game modifier I bought in my past life? The one that comes with pets?"

Seeing this, Lu Zhangsheng was startled.

The Source Energy Points above were clearly the warm current he had just absorbed.

Looking at the several items of data, he fell into deep thought.

The parentheses after his age showed fifty; could it be that his condition only allowed him to live to fifty?

But thinking of his own constitution, he felt relieved.

Plus, in this world, it was not bad for an ordinary person to live to fifty.

He then cast his gaze toward the status column.

There was a green plus sign after "Weak."

"Could it be...?"

With a thought, he immediately clicked on it.

The Source Energy Points instantly changed to five.

"Hmm..."

Countless warm currents surged like ocean waves, entering his limbs and bones.

His entire body was recovering rapidly, and a tingling sensation even came from the injury on the back of his head.

Before long, Lu Zhangsheng felt his body regain much vitality, and his face became much more ruddy.

He clenched his fists tightly, his expression quite joyful.

The effects of these Source Energy Points were too powerful.

This world was extremely terrifying; having this reliance would allow him to live well.

Otherwise, based on his own background, let alone practicing martial arts, even survival would be difficult.

Not to mention that this body had long been hollowed out by long-term indulgence in wine and women, lingering in gambling houses and brothels.

In Lu Zhangsheng's memories, because his cheap father was away for a long time, he lacked discipline in his youth, and his predecessor had long gone astray, hanging out with some bad characters for a long time.

As for practicing martial arts, that was even more impossible; he couldn't endure the hardship.

Besides, there were no suitable cultivation techniques for him to practice in the past.

Martial arts techniques were extremely precious; apart from some powerful families and gangs in the county, ordinary people could hardly come into contact with them.

This was also one of the means they used to control the bottom-level people.

As for official forces, it was even harder to join.

Without a certain level of martial arts cultivation, it was almost impossible to join them.

At this very moment, Lu Zhangsheng had only one thought in his heart, and that was to practice martial arts.

Only with powerful strength could he dominate his own destiny.

He then cast his gaze toward the last item, the bound exotic beast.

With a thought.

A round, earthy-yellow pangolin appeared in the room, lying on the ground fast asleep.

Its head was very slender, its limbs were covered with sharp claws, and its whole body was covered in hard armor, shimmering with a faint glow in the moonlight, clearly possessing impressive defensive power.

Bound Exotic Beast: Pangolin.

Level: 1 Quality: White.

Skills: Burrowing (Common).

Armor Enhancement (Common).

Consuming a certain amount of Source Energy Points can increase level and skills.

Lu Zhangsheng looked at the pangolin that had suddenly appeared on the ground, full of surprise.

He could actually control the actions of this beast, making it as obedient as an arm.

This discovery immediately made him extremely excited.

You must know that more than three hundred miles south of Changping County was the Cangyun Mountain Range.

As one of the branches of the Shiwan Dashan, this mountain range had countless spirit medicine resources, but fierce beasts ran rampant within, and even many martial artists dared not venture deep.

The entire mountain range had completely become a forbidden zone for the human race.

Now that he had this burrowing exotic beast, as long as he cultivated it well, the spirit items in Cangyun Mountain would all turn into his Source Energy Points, used to improve the exotic beast and his own cultivation, and then he could head deeper into the mountain range, forming a closed loop.

He might even be able to explore the Shiwan Dashan in the future.

This was simply a perfect path to becoming stronger.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhangsheng clenched his fists, extremely excited.

He began to verify it impatiently.

His mind slowly approached and sank directly into the pangolin's body.

The pangolin on the ground immediately opened its eyes and surveyed the surrounding environment.

Its eyes even revealed human-like intelligence.

"How magical."

Lu Zhangsheng raised its claws and waved them forward several times.

He could clearly feel the pangolin's body and limbs, as if it were a clone.

Afterward, he controlled the pangolin to run around the room.

After playing for a long time, he stored the exotic beast into the system space.

Then, Lu Zhangsheng cast his gaze toward the books in the wooden box.

A book lay quietly in the wooden box, with a faint musty smell drifting around it.

"Iron Cloth Shirt."

The three large characters were clearly printed on the book cover.

Lu Zhangsheng hurriedly picked up the secret manual and flipped through it.

He saw a figure standing with feet apart, arms in a hugging posture, striking various poses.

Each pose had subtle differences, totaling eighteen figures.

"Swish, swish..." In half a cup of tea's time, he had flipped to the last page.

A look of realization appeared on his face.

His prediction was correct; this was indeed a martial arts technique, but it lacked the most critical part.

It actually contained no medicinal bath methods.

You must know that the most important thing for this kind of hard qigong technique was the combination of medicinal diet and medicinal bath for cultivation.

Otherwise, it was extremely easy to cripple oneself.

In his memories, many people in Changping County had obtained this technique.

This was also the only martial arts secret manual that commoners could easily obtain; no wonder his predecessor's father could obtain this technique. Perhaps he had prepared to practice it himself, but for some reason, it ended up as it did.

In the past, many people had disregarded the danger to practice it, and the outcome was often not very good.

Only a few people had stepped into Skin Refining and become true martial artists.

In this book, martial artist levels were divided into Skin Refining, Flesh Refining, Bone Forging, Blood Exchange...

As for higher realms, there was no record.

Lu Zhangsheng looked at the last page torn off the book; clearly, the most critical medicinal bath was missing.

He couldn't help but suspect that this was done deliberately by some people.

Some powerful families and gangs, in order to cultivate dead soldiers and cannon fodder in batches, just gave commoners a glimmer of fantasy.

But these were no obstacles for him.

With the attribute modifier, even without a medicinal bath, it didn't matter.

And this technique was extremely suitable for him.

The defensive power after successfully practicing this hard technique was quite impressive, which could greatly enhance his own survival ability.

With a thought.

The blue panel immediately appeared in the void.

He saw a new line of text in the martial arts technique column.

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt (Not yet entered)

The plus sign in the column after the technique was actually gray.

"Could it be that I must enter the technique before I can use the modifier? Or are the Source Energy Points insufficient?"

Lu Zhangsheng pondered.

Seeing that it was getting late, he didn't think too much and prepared to verify it the next day.

He walked directly to the bedside and soon lay down.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, early morning.

The morning sun rose, and the late autumn sunlight spilled onto the bedside through the door gap.

Lu Zhangsheng quickly put on his clothes and got up to walk outside.

He came to a large water vat on the left side of the courtyard.

He saw a delicate-looking man reflected in the water.

His eyes were sharp, and his brow appeared very resolute.

He immediately began to wash up and then went to the kitchen.

After searching for a while, he found a black, round cake on the stove.

Lu Zhangsheng picked up the palm-sized "food" and took a bite.

"Ugh..."

This hardness was almost comparable to a stone; his teeth were almost broken.

After swallowing a black cake with well water with great difficulty, he barely filled his stomach.

Even his throat was scratched, almost sending him away on the spot.

He had never eaten such iron-like food, making him extremely unaccustomed to it.

Thinking that he would have to eat this kind of iron cake every day in the future made him shudder.

He, Lu Zhangsheng, wanted to eat meat.

He never wanted to eat these damn things again.

Then Lu Zhangsheng came to the center of the courtyard again, preparing to test the Iron Cloth Shirt technique.

Entering this technique was very simple; one just needed to hit the body with a wooden stick every day.

Coupled with medicinal bath cultivation, one could naturally enter it slowly.

But he lacked the critical medicinal bath, so he could only try it first.

He hoped the attribute modifier could help him cross this threshold.

The most critical thing now was that there was no one to cooperate with him.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhangsheng frowned.

"Should I go find the Fang siblings?"

In the first instance, he thought of the two people next door.

Just then, a slight sound of footsteps rang out.

A youth was walking over quickly, having already crossed the plow wall.

"Eh... Brother Changsheng, you recovered so quickly?"

Fang Tao walked closer, full of surprise.

He didn't expect that they had only been apart for one day, and Lu Zhangsheng's face actually had some color.

"Just some minor injuries, I felt much better after resting for a night."

Lu Zhangsheng smiled slightly without over-explaining.

"You came just in time today; I intend to practice martial arts and need your assistance."

He didn't talk nonsense and immediately placed the Iron Cloth Shirt on the stone table.

As a youth, his strength was barely enough.

"Are you crazy? This technique has practiced many people to death."

Fang Tao had followed Lu Zhangsheng's father to learn characters for a few days since childhood, and he recognized the technique on the table at a glance.

This Iron Cloth Shirt was no stranger to the entire Changping County.

Many people forcibly used acupuncture to stimulate their potential for cultivation, leading to lifelong disability.

So much so that later, few people dared to practice it forcibly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3 =====