Chapter 54: If the Grind Doesn’t Kill You, Grind to Death
Chapter 54: Chapter 54: If the Grind Doesn’t Kill You, Grind to Death
"Brother, what style of martial arts are you practicing? It looks so strange."
Tang Wen, holding a yoga-like pose on the ground, didn’t answer his sister.
Tangtang watched for a moment before deciding to leave him be.
Half an hour later, a flash of excitement appeared in Tang Wen’s eyes.
He had broken through in his Mixed Element Stance.
[Skill: Mixed Element Stance, Beginner → Beginner (1/1000)]
Perhaps because he was young and sufficiently diligent, after this period of grueling training, 15-year-old Tang Wen’s Attribute Values had slightly increased.
His Attribute Values increased to:
[Body: 7.5 → 7.55]
[Essence: 8.08 → 8.1]
It wasn’t much, but it proved his training was having at least some effect.
Of course, this small increase was nothing compared to the breakthrough in his Mixed Element Stance.
[Body: 7.55 → 8.05]
[Essence: 8.1 → 8.6]
His two main Attributes had each increased by 0.5.
The numbers might not seem large, but for someone with Tang Wen’s monstrous physique, even an increase of 0.1 was incredibly difficult to achieve.
As noon approached, Tang Wen arrived at the dining hall early and began to devour his food.
Before Tangtang and Zhou Bing had even picked up their chopsticks, he had already polished off two large basins of prepared dishes and one huge basin of rice.
Then he patted his stomach, drank some maize soup, and said, "Only about a third full."
Zhou Bing beckoned, and a maid brought over several more basins of food.
In less than half an hour, Tang Wen had polished it all off again.
The maid and the surrounding Forbidden Guards watched in utter astonishment.
The maid stepped forward and asked, "Should we prepare this amount of food for you from now on?"
"No need. Just an extra half-basin of food will do."
The maid stepped back, letting out a visible sigh of relief.
Watching Tang Wen eat this time, Tangtang wasn’t the least bit concerned about the cost. In fact, she felt he wasn’t eating enough; it was important for him to eat his fill.
She had recently started her Martial Arts Training, and her own appetite had grown noticeably.
She could easily finish half a basin of food by herself now.
Rubbing her belly, Tangtang solidified her resolve to continue her Martial Arts Training.
’There’s no turning back. With the appetites of the three of us, the money I’d make selling meat buns wouldn’t even be enough for us to eat our fill!’
’Train in martial arts, become a Guard!’
’I have to become a Guard!’
’Only by becoming a Guard can we get free meals!’
For a young woman who had been haunted by hunger for over a decade, getting a full meal was more important than anything else in the world.
「A week went by in a flash.」
Tang Wen’s Hard Qigong and Traceless Step successively broke through from the Beginner to the Master Level.
[Hard Qigong, Master (31/1000)]
[Traceless Step, Master (7/1000)]
Even at the Master Level, his proficiency was still low and didn’t add much to his combat strength.
He needed more tempering and practice.
"Do you guys think there’s a more effective way to train?"
Hearing Tang Wen say this at the dinner table, Zhang Lin, who had been in the middle of speaking, froze instantly.
An Lei looked at Tang Wen, her eyes filled with admiration. ’Look at that, An Lei! Someone more talented than you is working even harder! Time for extra training! I have to do extra training!’
Tangtang glared at him. "How much faster do you want to go? Should we switch to beating you with an Iron Rod?"
Zhou Bing quickly shook her head and tried to console him, "Don’t be in such a rush. Training doesn’t happen overnight."
Zhang Lin quickly chimed in with his own reassurances.
At the surrounding tables, several Forbidden Guards who overheard Tang Wen just shook their heads and gave wry smiles.
"What a freak!"
"Elder Xia’s end-of-the-month assessment is coming up. I wonder if Tang Wen and the others will participate."
"Of course they will. Elder Xia has always treated everyone the same."
"Then we’ll see them in the arena! We’ll find out just how strong he really is!"
"That’s right, Martial Arts Training is for killing! Sheer hard work is useless."
Hearing this, Zhou Bing shot them a cold glance.
The guards fell silent and lowered their heads, focusing on their food.
That afternoon, Tang Wen went to ask Elder Xia the same question.
The old general’s brow furrowed. If an ordinary person had come asking, he would have just started cursing them out!
Martial Arts Training is a matter of slow, grinding effort. Whether a punch is backed by twenty years of training or just three to five can be the difference between life and death.
There are no shortcuts, no ’more effective’ methods. There is only practice.
But with Tang Wen asking, he felt a headache coming on.
"I can’t think of a good way for your other skills, but for Traceless Step, if your body can handle it, you could train by wearing Heavy Armor all day long!"
’Integrate training into daily life?’
"Brilliant! Elder, you are truly brilliant! An elder in the home is a treasure to be cherished!"
Sensing this method was feasible, Tang Wen let the compliments flow freely, as if they cost him nothing.
The wrinkles on the old general’s face blossomed into a wide smile.
’This kid, Tang Wen,’ he thought, ’is not only highly talented and hardworking, but he’s also a smooth talker!’
’He has a bright future. Worth nurturing!’
Having received his guidance, Tang Wen immediately acted on it. He used Zhou Bing’s name to procure another, larger set of Inner Armor weighing one hundred and twenty jin.
He wore the two sets of Inner Armor layered together.
The two-hundred-jin Weighted Lead Clothing he wore on the outside was also exchanged for an even heavier set!
The Metal Boots remained the same.
He wore all this whenever he wasn’t actively training.
And so, from then on, except for when he was bathing, sleeping, or practicing his other skills, he wore the weights—even when he ate.
The Forbidden Guards whispered among themselves.
"Captain, do you think Tang Wen is suddenly pushing himself this hard because he knows about the selection for the new Commander?"
The captain’s brow furrowed deeply. "Zhou Bing is already enough of a headache. How did another monster like this show up?"
’This was an opportunity I’ve been waiting a long time for,’ he thought.
’If I perform well, I might be promoted directly to Outer City Commander.’
’Should I...?’
A certain thought flashed through his mind before he dismissed it himself.
You couldn’t pull the wool over Elder General Xia’s eyes!
Besides, the camp might not have lost just one Commander.
As Forbidden Guards who patrolled the Underground Palace and stood watch at night, they were much better informed than Tang Wen and the others.
After losing his arm, Zhang Lin’s father, Commander Zhang, had not appeared in the main square, but some of the Forbidden Guards had still seen him.
While standing guard, they had overheard his conversation with Elder General Xia.
He wanted to retire after this war was over.
If that happened, the position of Outer City Commander would become vacant.
According to past conventions, the selection would certainly be based on martial strength.
After all, martial strength was the foundation upon which the camp stood its ground in this land. As for daily administrative duties, those had long since fallen into a routine handled by clerks.
「Noon. The dining hall.」
Tang Wen picked up a pair of chopsticks as long as his forearm and began to eat.
He had no choice. He was carrying so much weight, and the Scale Armor Lead Clothing was so thick, that it was difficult for him to bend his arms.
He could only compensate by using longer chopsticks.
SQUEAK... CRACK!
After a few groans of protest, the stool suddenly shattered and collapsed.
Tang Wen took a quick step back to steady himself, landing in a Horse Stance.
A moment later, a maid brought over a new stool.
Just as Tang Wen was about to sit, an idea struck him. "No need," he said. "This is a good chance to practice my Horse Stance."
"Ah?" The maid covered her mouth, stunned for a few seconds, before retreating to the side of the room.
Today, the dining hall was serving roasted mutton, some pieces coated in honey, others rubbed with salt, and some dusted with red chili powder.
Paired with a bite of scallion, the flavor was heavenly!
The Forbidden Guards had come to the dining hall early specifically for this meal, and were currently eating with great relish.
Suddenly, they heard Tang Wen’s "This is a good chance to practice my Horse Stance."
Their expressions immediately became complicated as they all turned to look at Tang Wen.
They saw this guy, sitting—or rather, hovering—near the entrance, wearing what looked to be an incredibly heavy suit of Lead Clothing.
He wasn’t sitting at all, but hovering in mid-air, his feet planted on the ground as if they had taken root, holding a perfect Horse Stance!
’Dammit!’
’Give us a break!’
’Can’t you just take a break for once?’
’You train so hard, for so long... it’s giving us anxiety!’
Watching Tang Wen pick up a piece of mutton with his chopsticks and chew it slowly...
...they suddenly felt that the mutton in their own hands had lost its flavor.
They were all reminded of how Elder Xia had been training them recently, constantly repeating:
"Look at Tang Wen, and then look at you skinny dogs!"
"This little bit of training wears you out? Are you even men, you little skinny dogs?"
"When can you rest? When a Black Mountain Ghost chops your head off, you can rest however you damn well please! Skinny dogs!"
"Skinny dogs, skinny dogs, skinny dogs..."
Being called "skinny dogs" all day long was driving the Forbidden Guards crazy.
Fortunately for him, they didn’t know that "skinny dog" was a new term Tang Wen himself had taught Elder Xia. Otherwise, a full-blown brawl would have likely erupted right there in the dining hall!