Chapter 3: Iron Cloth Shirt

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

Lu Zhangsheng 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 Lu Zhangsheng was always a man of his word; once he decided on something, even nine cows couldn't pull him back, so naturally, he didn't try to persuade him further.

Afterward, Lu Zhangsheng 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 Zhangsheng 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."

As he spoke, he immediately began to follow the hand gestures of the first figure in 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 Zhangsheng's chest.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The crisp knocking sound resounded throughout the courtyard.

Lu Zhangsheng felt waves of stinging pain, causing his whole body to tremble.

As the frequency of the beating became faster, the sharp pain felt 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 and die.

Holding onto a certain belief, he persisted throughout.

"Body like a rock, heart like glass."

Lu Zhangsheng 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 Zhangsheng.

Age: Twenty.

Realm: None.

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt (Not yet entered 1%)

Skills: None.

Equipment: None.

Status: Good.

Source Energy Points: Five.

Bound Exotic Beast: Pangolin (White)

Seeing the progress bar of the technique change, Lu Zhangsheng was delighted.

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

This immediately made him full of energy, as if he had forgotten the pain coming from his body.

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

A youth held a wooden stick, smashing hard against a man's body; the scene was very strange.

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

The two of them didn't stop until noon.

"Brother Changsheng, are you okay?"

Fang Tao put away the wooden stick, looking at Lu Zhangsheng, who was covered in blue and purple bruises, with concern.

"No problem."

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

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

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

By then, it would be time to settle some scores.

Hearing this, Fang Tao was very surprised.

He didn't expect that after such a disaster, Lu Zhangsheng seemed like a different person.

In the past, he was afraid of suffering even a little bit, so practicing this self-abusive martial art was impossible.

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

The next four days.

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

Through his hard cultivation, 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 enter it in another seven or eight days.

But he had to stop.

The reason was simple: with the high-intensity training of these past few days, relying on the black cake, he simply couldn't hold on.

If he continued to practice, he would probably be practiced to death before even entering.

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 bath was 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 Zhangsheng stop, Fang Tao was full of confusion.

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

Lu Zhangsheng 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 wasn't difficult; he could tinker with it to get a rough idea.

But Lu Zhangsheng didn't dare to act.

Rashly leaking 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 Zhangsheng 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 the big mountain to dig up a few herbs to sell to the pharmacy, to temporarily earn some silver.

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

Some ordinary medicinal herbs were also unlikely to attract others' attention.

Fang Tao on the side also fell silent.

Their family was also very difficult; in this world, for commoners, even having enough to eat was a luxury, let alone eating meat.

He was powerless to help with this problem.

"Then I'll go back first."

As he spoke, Fang Tao turned and ran back quickly.

Soon he disappeared from the courtyard.

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

He prepared to officially start his action at night when it was quiet.

Time passed slowly.

Soon it was evening, the setting sun like blood.

"Da da..."

Just then, a light sound of footsteps came from not far away.

Lu Zhangsheng looked up.

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

The young widow looked to be about twenty-four years old; even in coarse hemp clothes, she couldn't hide her graceful figure.

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

The two came together, and the young widow 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 strangely ill and died after vomiting some blood.

Before Fang Qing even crossed the threshold, she became a widow.

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

Over time, everyone feared her like a tiger, and no one dared to come to propose marriage, dragging it out until today.

Lu Zhangsheng'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 Zhangsheng.

"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 an heir. This was also Lu Shu's expectation..."

Speaking of taking a wife and leaving an heir, Fang Qing's face looked a bit strange; she herself was still a maiden, feeling 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, 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 Zhangsheng could become a martial artist.

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

Plus, without any resources, it was almost impossible to succeed.

She did this just because she didn't want Lu Zhangsheng to waste himself practicing; the two families had always had a good relationship, and they had received many favors from Lu Shu during their difficult times.

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 Zhangsheng smiled slightly and thanked her without over-explaining.

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

Hearing this, Fang Qing was somewhat surprised.

In her impression, Lu Zhangsheng had always been quite wary of her, often avoiding her, let alone giving her a good look.

She didn't expect the other party to change so much.

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

After the two went far away, Lu Zhangsheng 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 depletion of Qi and blood caused by several days of martial arts practice also improved slightly under the nourishment of the meat.

Soon, a large bowl of chicken meat along with the soup had entered his stomach.

Lu Zhangsheng burped contentedly, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes to rest.

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