Chapter 43

The next morning.

After Lin Xun had eaten, he assumed a fighting stance, looking at Xia Zhi who was standing a丈 (ten feet) away, his fighting spirit soaring.

Last night, he had hardly rested. After cultivating spirit energy and divine soul, he had been silently deducing Xia Zhi's combat techniques in his mind.

This was a battle relying solely on physical strength, aimed at tempering the body. However, after yesterday's惨败 (crushing defeat), Lin Xun suddenly realized a principle: as long as the body was strong and the techniques for exerting force were mastered, it could also be used as a genuine means of killing enemies!

Like Xia Zhi, she didn't even need to use spirit energy, yet her combat power was already terrifying.

"Let's begin."

Xia Zhi's expression was serene, the gentle morning light casting a radiant and holy aura on her beautiful face.

Huff!

Without hesitation, Lin Xun stepped forward, moving like a galloping horse, his momentum heavy and solid.

Upon closer inspection, his muscles were bulging, like ripples rising and falling, all his strength concentrated, making him like a fully drawn bow, ready to unleash its power.

Tiger Roars in the Mountain!

This punch was completely different from yesterday's, simple, swift, and direct. The force from his arm traveled through his shoulder, sank into his spine, and drove the muscles in his ribs to exert force together. All the muscles tightened like steel wires, suddenly twisting.

Boom!

The air was even rubbed to produce a dull explosion.

Xia Zhi remained unperturbed, her fingers flipping to once again grasp Lin Xun's wrist. However, before she could exert force, she felt his wrist muscles vibrating at an extremely high frequency, making it slippery like an eel.

In an instant, he slipped out of her iron grip.

Lin Xun's eyes lit up. Indeed, as long as the techniques for exerting muscle force were mastered, he could mobilize every joint and bone in his body, controlling them at will, just like using his arm!

In the past, he only knew combat methods relying on spirit energy. It was only after last night's contemplation that he realized every inch of his skin, bones, muscles, and joints contained immense power. If he could mobilize them all, he could unleash incredible strength.

This was like comparing his body to a battlefield, with every muscle and joint like soldiers distributed on the battlefield. As long as he could command them uniformly, he could gather the most powerful army.

However, before Lin Xun could be happy, Xia Zhi's fingers suddenly darted out like a snake's tongue, lightly brushing his wrist. Lin Xun felt a numbness in his wrist, instantly losing sensation.

Immediately, with a bang, he was shaken by Xia Zhi, his body trembling like a sieve, and he was thrown to the ground.

Lin Xun gritted his teeth, flipped over, and charged again.

Xia Zhi's "brush" had precisely struck his wrist joint, disrupting his continuous muscle force, causing him to lose sensation.

Lin Xun didn't need to think to understand this, so when he fought again, he began to guard against it carefully.

However, after just two moves, he was knocked down again!

This time, he lost to Xia Zhi's unexpected "lock" on his wrist. Her hands, like iron hoops, locked his wrist, pushing forward with her left hand and pulling back with her right, creating a counteracting force that directly dislocated his wrist joint.

The action was swift and decisive, and with a crack, Lin Xun's wrist hung limply, and he felt a sharp pain in his wrist as he hit the ground.

This was called 分筋错骨 (dislocating the joints and breaking the bones)!

When Lin Xun reset his wrist joint, his gaze towards Xia Zhi was not one of defeat but of burning, fiery fighting spirit.

Although he had only lasted two moves before losing, he was much stronger than yesterday, making it clear to Lin Xun that he was rapidly improving!

"Continue!"

Lin Xun growled, exerting force again. He had abandoned the fixed patterns of the military fist, no longer constrained by the techniques, making his movements more flexible and free.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

For the next while, the courtyard echoed with a series of continuous sounds, making one's heart race.

At some point, the courtyard gate was opened, and a group of children from the village, all of whom admired "Martial Arts Master" Lin Xun, saw him being repeatedly defeated by Xia Zhi, and they couldn't help but gape in shock.

Xia Zhi was only five or six years old, the same age as many of the children, or even younger, yet she was defeating Lin Xun repeatedly, which was simply unbelievable.

Seeing Lin Xun fall to the ground repeatedly, even they felt a chill, secretly thanking their lucky stars that they had never provoked Xia Zhi, or the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Soon, a group of uncles and aunts from the village also came, eager to watch the spectacle.

They felt a pang of sympathy for Lin Xun's plight but were even more shocked by Xia Zhi's formidable combat power.

They now realized that this incredibly beautiful little girl was actually more powerful than Lin Xun!

Was this still a five or six-year-old girl?

Being watched by so many people, even with his thick skin, Lin Xun felt quite embarrassed. He gritted his teeth, said nothing, and poured all his strength into the fight.

As for Xia Zhi, she remained serene, countering his moves, repeatedly knocking him down, showing no mercy and giving no face.

Perhaps in her eyes, this was all for Lin Xun to temper his body, a serious and necessary matter. Concepts like face and dignity did not exist for her.

After watching for a long time, even Xiao Tianren felt a bit sorry for Lin Xun, glaring at the surrounding villagers and waving his hand, "Are you all idle? Then come with me to dig for ore at Liuye Mountain!"

He immediately dispersed the crowd, closed the gate, and left the courtyard for Lin Xun and Xia Zhi to focus on their training.

By nightfall, Lin Xun, covered in injuries, jumped into the wooden tub, silently deducing the details of the day's battle.

Xia Zhi, on the other hand, went straight to sleep.

...

This went on for five days.

During these five days, Lin Xun, apart from eating, spent his time fighting with Xia Zhi, using medicinal baths to heal his injuries, and silently deducing the details of the battles, repeating this cycle, which seemed tedious but was extremely fulfilling.

In these five days, Lin Xun had become familiar with the techniques for exerting force in his body, able to mobilize the muscles, joints, and bones in every part of his body with ease.

His physique had also undergone a significant change. Although his body still appeared slender and tall, beneath the slender exterior, every inch of muscle and skin was like it had been hammered and forged, as hard as rock and as resilient as steel. Every inch of bone was like it had been polished like jade, as if made of tempered steel.

Even his blood and qi were more robust than before!

Undoubtedly, these five days of continuous failure, though disheartening, had obvious benefits, further tempering and improving Lin Xun's physique.

This was undoubtedly an exciting thing for Lin Xun.

However, during these five days, the stock of fierce beast meat, spirit grains, and various spirit materials in his home was being consumed at an alarming rate.

Not only did the daily healing of injuries consume a lot of resources, but Lin Xun and Xia Zhi's appetites also increased.

Now, Lin Xun could eat an entire half of an adult snow-spotted leopard and ten pounds of spirit grains in a day!

Xia Zhi's appetite was no less.

At this rate, in less than half a month, the fierce beast meat in his home would be completely consumed, and the spirit grains would probably not last a month.

This made Lin Xun have to start considering how to replenish the resources.

Fortunately, the villagers of Fiyun Village had already begun, under Xiao Tianren's leadership, to dig for Fiyun Fire Copper ore.

They had already harvested over a hundred pounds of ore, and if the impurities were removed, about fifty pounds of Fiyun Fire Copper would remain.

If sold, this would be enough to exchange for a substantial amount of wealth.

Lin Xun planned to set out for Qingyang Tribe in a while, not only to sell the Fiyun Fire Copper but also to trade some of the valuable items he had, which should exchange for a lot of resources.

On the morning of the fifth day, when Lin Xun got up, he unexpectedly found that Xia Zhi was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a note in the room.

It read in a crooked, messy script: "I'll be back soon."

Lin Xun felt relieved but couldn't help laughing at the messy writing, which looked like worms crawling, almost unrecognizable.

These were the results of the lessons Lin Xun had been giving Xia Zhi over the past few days. Although she could now fluently communicate with him, she still couldn't read or write. For Xia Zhi's future, Lin Xun had also started teaching her to write and read.

Since Xia Zhi said she would be back soon, Lin Xun wasn't worried and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

When Lin Xun placed the steaming breakfast on the table, the courtyard gate opened with a bang, and a fierce beast, resembling a calf and covered in flame-like mane, was thrown into the courtyard, causing the ground to tremble.

It was a Flame Mane Boar!

It was now bound with thick, tough vines, its mouth stuffed with mud, lying on the ground and making grunting sounds, its bloodshot eyes filled with anger and ferocity.

At the same time, Xia Zhi's small, delicate figure walked in, washed her hands, and sat down to eat.

Lin Xun stared at everything, pointing at the Flame Mane Boar: "Did you go out to catch this beast?"

Xia Zhi nodded and said seriously, "After you finish eating, go and fight this boar. Only through a bloody battle can you truly understand how strong your body is."

Lin Xun's expression was complex: "If I fail, does that mean I'm not even as good as a pig?"

Xia Zhi thought for a moment and nodded, "Indeed."

Lin Xun felt a pang of frustration. It was one thing to talk about it, but now she had actually brought back a Flame Mane Boar, clearly to make him look bad!

"Rest assured, I won't lose to a pig!"

Lin Xun glared at Xia Zhi and sat down to eat, looking fierce and determined.