Chapter 108: Lake Bottom
Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Lake Bottom
The craftsmen dug a small, deep hole in the ground. Tang Wen inserted the bamboo poles, and in no time at all, a large canopy was erected.
After Tang Wen led his men away, the two Silver Wolves hesitated for a moment, called out a few times at his retreating figure, and finally ducked into the canopy to escape the scorching sun.
[Beast Taming Skill, Mastery (11→15/6000)]
’So it does give experience.’
Tang Wen’s eyes lit up, and he turned to look at the entirely silver-white Silver Wolves.
’Beautiful and powerful. If only I had a few of them.’
’Uh, I wonder if they eat a lot?’
’Hmm, if they start following me, will the Silver Wolf King still feed them?’
’If their pack won’t feed them, will the battalion?’
Tang Wen thought uncertainly, then turned to give a few instructions to a Guard before ducking into the ice-cooled carriage.
The carriage was draped in thick, waterproof tarps, and a wave of icy air washed over him as he entered.
"Commander Tang, General Zhao is here!"
"Good," Tang Wen replied, walking out in his shorts.
The moment they met, he pointed to the green Snake Skin Armor draped over the carriage’s shaft and complained, "General, this thing is completely useless!"
General Zhao glanced over. "Try this one. But I’m just lending it to you. You have to give it back when you’re done."
With that, a Guard behind him handed Tang Wen a deep green set of soft snake skin armor.
"This? Soft Armor from a High-level Exotic Beast?"
"You don’t know what you’re looking at. A High-level Exotic Beast? Just put it on, and you’ll see."
Tang Wen wasted no time and immediately put it on.
The Soft Armor was very elastic and fit snugly against his skin.
"Great! I’m going to go try it out again."
Tang Wen strode into the lake. ’Since I only have to return it when I’m done, he can take his sweet time waiting!’
General Zhao watched from the shore.
In less than a breath.
FWOOSH!
A pillar of water shot into the sky, sending spray everywhere.
"Engaged so soon?" General Zhao’s expression darkened. ’If that’s the case, there might be a lot of Green Water Pythons down there!’
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
Pillars of water exploded upwards one after another.
A look of suspicion crossed General Zhao’s face.
He moved closer to the lake to observe for a moment, then cursed in annoyance:
"That little rascal, he’s down there practicing his punches! We’re leaving!"
Tang Wen surfaced for air. "Take your time, General Zhao!"
General Zhao didn’t even turn his head.
Tang Wen wiped his face, chuckled to himself, and dove back to the bottom of the lake.
[Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist, Fifth Form: Dragon Emerges from the Water, Undersea Shock]
’This form of the Shocking Fist might be related to water.’
Tang Wen repeatedly unleashed his Power at the bottom of the lake.
It was as if explosive charges had been planted in the lake, detonating one after another.
The Experience Points for his Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist slowly rose.
After thirty punches, the crowd on the shore was abuzz with discussion. Could a Second-class Martial Artist really be that strong?
Watching the endless splashes on the water’s surface, a wary look appeared in the Silver Wolves’ eyes as well.
After another ten punches, Tang Wen glanced at his Experience Panel.
He was surprised to find he had gained even more experience than from arduously practicing hundreds of punches in the secret chamber!
But by the same token, it was far more exhausting than practicing in the chamber.
To unleash an explosive burst of power underwater, a punch had to displace the lake water, making it more than ten times harder than on dry land.
After climbing out of the lake, Tang Wen hung the Soft Snake Armor on the carriage shaft to dry. He then crawled into the carriage, grabbed the jerky and fresh water prepared by the Hunting Battalion, ate and drank his fill, and immediately fell asleep.
An hour and a half later, he returned to the lake bottom.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Spray erupted everywhere.
Ten punches, twenty punches, thirty punches!
The lakebed grew murky, with mud and sand swirling about.
Tang Wen surfaced, moved to a clear section of the lake, and continued practicing.
By the end of the day, his experience gains were very gratifying.
That evening, the Hunting Battalion was roasting meat by the lake.
Tang Wen reviewed his training from that day.
’Training in the lake is great, but I can’t practice with my full concentration.’
’After all, the Green Water Pythons could attack at any moment.’
’Without total immersion, I can’t enter a state of Selflessness, which means I can’t completely exhaust my stamina and Spiritual Power.’
’Draining my stamina and spirit isn’t something that can be done just by training blindly hard.’
’Especially training to the point of passing out—that’s impossible to achieve through normal methods.’
’Often, by the last few punches, I can’t even lift my arms. How am I supposed to completely exhaust my stamina then?’
[Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist, Mastery (4139→4201/6000)]
He silently calculated his experience gain.
’That’s 62 experience points for the day.’
’One day’s work is worth several days of my previous training.’
After finishing his roasted meat, Tang Wen called out a word to the Hunting Team and jumped back into the water.
Wu Tian from the Hunting Team cursed, "Freak," then silently picked up a rack of pork ribs and placed it over the fire to roast slowly.
Explosive sounds began to erupt from the water’s surface.
After thirty or forty punches, Tang Wen leaped out of the water.
After finishing the meat, he wiped the grease from his hands and looked at the Hunting Guards. "Leave one or two men on watch by the lake. The rest of you can go get some sleep!"
The Guards acknowledged the order and departed.
Just as he had during the day, Tang Wen would sleep for an hour and a half before jumping into the lake for a training session to expend his stamina.
It was all about the grind.
At dawn, the sky began to pale like a fish’s belly.
After a whole night of arduous training, even with a Constitution as strong as Tang Wen’s, he couldn’t help but feel a hint of fatigue.
After several dozen punches, he slowly floated to the surface. Lying on his back, half-submerged, he gazed at the morning star, Qiming, on the horizon.
’Come to think of it, this world is a lot like Earth!’
’The same moon, the same sun that rises in the east and sets in the west.’
SWISH!
A streak of green light flashed past.
Tang Wen’s heart leaped, and he powerfully kicked his arms and legs, rolling to evade.
But the green streak was a long-planned ambush and simply too fast. It slammed directly into his leg, its teeth sinking in.
Tang Wen sneered, and the skin on his leg turned black as ink.
The attacking Green Water Python failed to even pierce the Snake Skin Armor before it dove back into the water with a *swoosh*.
[Golden Bell Shield, Master (361→366/3000)]
"That’s it?" Tang Wen scoffed.
The words had barely left his mouth when his heart suddenly hammered in his chest.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Three green streaks shot up from the depths, attacking him from three directions.
’There are more of them?’
In the blink of an eye, the three Green Water Pythons were upon him.
Tang Wen struck back with his fists. HISS! HISS! One Green Water Python dodged, but the other two latched onto his body, one from the left and one from the right.
But it was completely useless.
A Green Water Python’s attack power is stronger than its own defensive Attribute.
In other words, the skin of a High-level Green Water Python can’t withstand the fangs of another High-level Green Water Python.
But Tang Wen realized that these three High-level Green Water Pythons couldn’t bite through the Snake Skin Armor he wore, which meant it had to be Extraordinary Level Snake Skin Armor.
His safety was absolutely guaranteed.
Taking a deep breath, he sank to the bottom.
’Since my sparring partners are here, let’s have some fun.’
He planted his feet in the mud and sand of the lakebed.
The three Green Water Pythons took turns attacking.
Tang Wen sent the Green Water Python lunging for his head flying with a punch, then activated his Golden Bell Shield Visualization. The skin on his feet turned pitch-black, blocking the other two pythons.
His temples throbbed.
The spiritual drain was immense, leaving him feeling hollow.
[Golden Bell Shield, Master (366→577/3000)]
Tang Wen’s vision blurred for a moment. He realized that in his haste, he had simultaneously activated the Golden Bell Shield on both feet.
With this breakthrough, his experience points naturally surged.
But having already trained, his Spiritual Power was low, and his punches grew slower and slower. He unleashed a rapid succession of several more blows with both hands.
Using the recoil from the blows, he retreated back to the shore.
The three Green Water Pythons didn’t exit the water, merely poking their heads above the surface and hissing nonstop.
It was as if they were mocking him for fleeing the battle.
"Hah! Come up here if you have the guts!"
"HISSSSSS"
"Come on up!"
"HISSSSSS"
Tang Wen gave them the middle finger. "You skinny little snakes. Can’t even win three-on-one."
The Green Water Pythons’ hissing grew louder. They raised half their bodies out of the water, but in the end, they didn’t dare come ashore.
"You all keep watch. Be careful not to get too close to the lake. If there’s trouble, fire a Whistling Arrow. I’m heading back."
Once ashore, Tang Wen galloped on horseback back to the battalion and then to his home. After a quick wash, he fell straight to sleep.
With three High-level Green Water Pythons in the lake, resting in the carriage was no longer safe.
When he awoke, Tang Wen returned to the lakeside.
The three Green Water Pythons, however, had hidden themselves somewhere and were nowhere to be seen.
He wasn’t in a hurry. During the day, he practiced his fist techniques as usual.
When night fell, he entered the water again. Sure enough, the Green Water Pythons swarmed him from all directions.
Tang Wen carefully protected his head, fighting a retreating battle back to the shore.
His Experience Points for the Golden Bell Shield shot up rapidly.
At night, the Silver Wolves were not around.
There was no one else by the quiet lakeside.
Although the Green Water Pythons didn’t pursue him onto the shore, their entire bodies surfaced, and they arrogantly spat out jets of water that gouged deep pits into the lake bank.
Back on shore, Tang Wen drove his carriage several miles from the lake, stopping beside a campfire.
It was far enough from the lake to be safe.
"Commander Tang Wen!" The two Guards on night watch saluted.
"I’m going to get some rest. Sprinkle some realgar powder around the perimeter."
"Understood." The two Guards opened a wooden bucket and got to work around the carriage.
An hour and a half later, Tang Wen entered the water again.
The three Green Water Pythons were clustered together, floating on the surface and swaying their bodies tauntingly.
Tang Wen shook his head, fighting the urge to just grab a pebble and send the trio to the great beyond.
He reminded himself: ’They’re cultivation partners!’
’They are rare, hard-to-come-by cultivation partners!’
As he strode into the water, a cold, excited light glinted in the Green Water Pythons’ three pairs of compound eyes.
And so it went, practicing his Fist Technique by day, and practicing both his Fist Technique and Golden Bell Shield with his three free sparring partners by night.
「In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.」