Chapter 23: Breakthrough in Fist Technique

"Off you go." Chen Mo pushed a wheelbarrow full to the brim with snow and dumped it into the long-dried river ditch in front of him.

He had now been in the Personal Soldier camp for three months; logically, it should have been time for him to be assigned to a squad.

But with the New Year holidays just around the corner and no military engagements in Xingyuan Prefecture, many Personal Soldiers were locals.

General Sun granted leave to the many Soldiers under his command, allowing them to return home to reunite with their families.

Thus, everything was put on hold, and even the end-of-month evaluation was canceled.

Unless there was a matter of utmost importance, all other business would wait until after the holidays.

Now, in the Personal Soldier camp, only thirty-some Personal Soldiers who were homeless or whose homes were not in Xingyuan Prefecture remained, along with a small number of Auxiliary Soldiers who did odd jobs to stand guard.

Many tasks usually performed by Auxiliary Soldiers now had to be handled by these Personal Soldiers.

Take shoveling snow, for instance; if they relied solely on those Auxiliary Soldiers, it wouldn't be cleared even in half a month.

However, there was one good thing about the approach of the New Year: the food standard in the military camp rose significantly.

They slaughtered pigs today and sheep tomorrow; the day before yesterday, a cow died at General Sun's home, and he sent over two hundred catties of beef to these remaining Personal Soldiers.

As for the various snacks, melons, dried fruits, assorted liquors, and even New Year goods like tobacco leaves, General Sun also had plenty sent over.

Chen Mo did not smoke or drink, so he traded these items with other Personal Soldiers, exchanging them all for snacks and dried fruits.

Now his room was filled with various snacks, and he would grab a few handfuls to eat every day after his meals.

This allowed his own Qi and Blood to accumulate faster; even if it was only a tiny bit of growth, it was not a small amount when added up over time.

Furthermore, training had stopped completely; apart from doing some necessary odd jobs each day, the rest of the time was entirely at their own disposal.

This suited Chen Mo quite well, as the food standard had risen significantly, and if nothing went wrong, it would continue until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

If this could continue, he should be able to undergo his next Rebirth by the time the fifteenth day of the first lunar month passed; even if it might be late, it wouldn't be by more than a few days.

Before that, his Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist might even reach the second layer, at which point his own strength would inevitably see a significant increase.

Pushing the wheelbarrow back into the camp, Chen Mo picked up a shovel and began shoveling snow again.

The snow that fell two days ago was very thick, reaching the depth of a person's calf; he had to hurry and clear it now, or it would be even harder to shovel later.

The small river ditch for piling snow was not far from the military camp; it had long since dried up, so he could safely dump all the snow into it.

The Personal Soldiers remaining in the camp, even if they did not practice martial arts, had a physical strength of two or three hundred catties; they were definitely strong men.

Therefore, their movements were extremely fast, and one wheelbarrow of snow after another was sent out of the camp with a whoosh.

The dried-up small river ditch was piled to a peak; with so much snow piled together, it might not even melt by the beginning of spring.

"Brothers, the kitchen is making dumplings at noon today. Let's make do with a meal at noon and eat well in the evening," a Cook Soldier walked over and shouted with a laugh.

Today was already New Year's Eve, and tomorrow was the New Year.

Even in the homes of ordinary commoners, one would try their best to prepare a better spread of dishes for the New Year today.

Although the craftsmanship of the Cook Soldiers in the Personal Soldier camp was not very good, they still exhausted every means today to prepare as many dishes as possible.

"Alright!" Chen Mo was the first to agree, dropping his shovel and heading straight for the kitchen.

By the rules of Xingyuan Prefecture, one eats dumplings on New Year's Eve, but not in the evening—at noon.

There were two types of fillings for the dumplings: beef and radish, and pork and chives.

In the military, everything was based on practicality and ruggedness, so these dumplings were not small; each one was as big as two or three copper coins.

Chen Mo first brought over four large plates, each with seventeen or eighteen dumplings; he ate two plates first and left two to cool.

He also grabbed a few garlic cloves and poured a bowl of aged Chen vinegar.

By the time the other Personal Soldiers arrived one after another, Chen Mo had already finished two plates.

And the Cook Soldier responsible for boiling the dumplings was still bringing them out plate by plate.

Being an Auxiliary Soldier working in this Personal Soldier camp was also a good job; the Personal Soldiers lived well, so these Auxiliary Soldiers also had a much better life than ordinary Soldiers outside.

Especially the Cook Soldiers who could help in this kitchen; they ate whatever the Personal Soldiers ate, and each of them lived more comfortably than small landlords outside.

Chen Mo ate five plates of dumplings first, then loosened his belt and ate two more plates, sitting for a while to let his food settle.

He then picked up two more plates of dumplings, preparing to take them back for afternoon tea.

Everyone was long accustomed to this situation; there were many people in this military camp who could eat, but someone who could eat like Chen Mo was truly one of a kind.

At first, people might have been surprised, but they got used to it after seeing it more often.

However, before they knew that Chen Mo had quietly killed seventeen or eighteen people, everyone just thought he was honest and simple.

After knowing this, in the hearts of most people, Chen Mo had established an image of someone who was ruthless and spoke little.

Fleeing as a refugee and begging for survival from Qingzhou to Xingyuan Prefecture in Ding Prefecture, and killing seventeen or eighteen people along the way—no matter how you looked at it, this was not a simple or easy thing.

Even some veteran soldiers would not dare to say they could definitely accomplish this.

Since Chen Mo could do this, it was enough to prove that he was by no means as honest and simple as he appeared on the surface; at the very least, he was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Putting the dumplings back in his room, he continued to shovel snow in the afternoon; after working for about another hour or so, the accumulated snow was basically cleared.

After finishing the snow, Chen Mo returned to his barracks and ate the two plates of dumplings that were still slightly warm.

The remaining Personal Soldiers now all lived in the same row of barracks, where several heaters were lit, making it as warm as spring compared to the outside.

Moreover, these heaters were connected directly to the outside with a high-quality iron pipe, venting the smoke directly out so there was no need to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning.

The New Year's Eve dinner was better than ever and simply couldn't be finished; they could eat leftovers for the next few days, lots of leftovers.

The next day, the first day of the New Year, General Sun rode back from the city, gave red envelopes to the Personal Soldiers who couldn't go home for the New Year one by one, chatted for a while, and then set off to leave.

In the time that followed, Chen Mo's life did not change much from the past; apart from eating better, he did not let go of his daily cultivation and training.

It was mainly because he really had nothing to do; he didn't drink or gamble with the other Personal Soldiers, and with nothing to do all day, he could only do some training to kill time.

Time passed in a flash for more than ten days; on this day, while Chen Mo was practicing, he clearly felt a palpitation in his physical body.

This was a sign that the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist was about to break through; as a very simple external hard technique, there was no talk of opportunities or fate for the breakthrough of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist.

As long as one practiced diligently, the breakthrough would come naturally.

Chen Mo's legs were like the roots of an old tree, deeply planted in the ground; in his perception, where there had originally been only one Qi and Blood mass, it was now gradually turning into two.

From now on, every time he practices, the effect will be twice what it was before.

Not only that, Chen Mo could clearly feel that after the second Qi and Blood cluster finished condensing, his own Qi and Blood were even more invigorated.

The effect of every practice session he undertakes from here on will be twice that of before.

This martial art does not bring any improvement to a Martial Artist when breaking through; all improvements come from daily practice.

A breakthrough is merely a means to break through shackles; after reaching a bottleneck, a Martial Artist continues to practice, and Qi and Blood will begin to accumulate continuously, gradually condensing into a new Qi and Blood cluster within the Martial Artist's body.

Only when the Qi and Blood cluster is condensed can a Martial Artist be considered to have broken through the next barrier, allowing them to gain improvements in subsequent practice.

Carefully sensing the Qi and Blood surging within his body after the breakthrough, Chen Mo then focused his mind on the Transformation Pearl.

The originally transparent and colorless Transformation Pearl was already nearly completely crimson; the next rebirth would likely happen within these next few days.

(End of this chapter)