3: Small success in Collapsing Mountain Fist
At dusk, the mountain winds howled across the Black Rock Mountains, the setting sun was like blood, and the sparse clouds were dyed red.
Han Yi and Li Tie arrived at the camp before the sun set.
Li Tie, the bearded man from before, claimed to be from a family of blacksmiths, hence his name Li Tie; who knew that upon waking up, his city was destroyed and his family gone, turning him into a refugee.
Before Han Yi and Li Tie could even rest their feet, a Deacon Disciple was already waiting at the camp entrance, "Manager Liu is at the registration office, he wants you to see him immediately after you return."
Han Yi and Li Tie exchanged a look; neither dared to delay and nodded in response.
At the registration office, Manager Liu was standing before a table, stroking his beard, seemingly lost in thought.
The numbers '3~5' floated above Manager Liu's head.
"Manager Liu," Han Yi and Li Tie bowed their hands.
Manager Liu turned around, saw their two empty baskets, a flicker of displeasure flashed in his eyes, and he said impatiently, "Where is Ma Liu's body?"
"We have buried the body at the foot of the mountain; we did not bring it back to the camp."
"Well done," a smile appeared at the corner of Manager Liu's mouth, "It was just an accident, there's no need to make a big fuss about it."
"But, how could this be an accident, it was clearly a You..." Li Tie couldn't help but speak.
Manager Liu sternly rebuked, "What You, they are just some Yin Qi worms that fear flames!"
So that strange worm was called a Yin Qi worm, it was countered by flames, and I seem to be able to directly absorb Yin Qi worms to generate essence value and increase lifespan, but...
Han Yi thought of the Yin Qi worm's strange appearance, neither quite a worm nor not a worm, twisted like a snake, and still felt some lingering fear; I almost died from the Yin Qi worm's attack!
It's still too dangerous, I should stabilize and develop a bit before trying again!
After a pause, Manager Liu said again, "Consider today's mining task completed for you; tomorrow you will rest for a day, and this matter will be dropped."
Han Yi pulled Li Tie, who still wanted to speak, and quickly nodded in agreement.
"Damn it, they knew there were You but still made us go mining!" Li Tie said indignantly.
All the way back to the living quarters, Li Tie complained non-stop, while Han Yi remained silent.
Mining Disciple Rest Area
A person who was alive just a moment ago was tragically killed right before his eyes the next; even though Han Yi had seen many partings of life and death when he became a refugee, he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
In this world, although there is no news of any region raising an army to secede yet, and the Da Xuan Dynasty appears peaceful on the surface, bandits are rampant, You are appearing, ordinary people are displaced, while officials and nobles enjoy singing and dancing!
Han Yi, combining this with history from his previous life, could easily see that this was a scene only found at the end of a Dynasty.
In a chaotic world, there must be great turmoil, and under great turmoil, there must be great struggle; therefore, only Martial Artists can protect themselves, and only by becoming stronger can one survive!
Thinking of this, Han Yi silently willed, System, Mountain Shattering Fist, add points!
Morning, noon, evening, regardless of wind or rain, sun or clouds, cold or warmth, the young man punched the wooden stake like a rainstorm; even soaked in sweat, he had no distracting thoughts, 100 times, 200 times, 2000 times...
When he first started hitting the wooden stake, the young man's arms couldn't bear the load, his skin and flesh split open, and blood flowed non-stop.
Gradually, the skin and flesh of his arms only became red and swollen; then, his arms felt no pain hitting the wooden stake with force; and finally, when the young man threw a punch, even the blue brick shattered in response!
As Han Yi was in a trance, waves of unfamiliar yet familiar memories surfaced in his mind; subconsciously, he circulated the qi and blood in his arms along with his self in the memories.
Suddenly, Han Yi's arms swelled up as if engorged with blood, becoming a size larger; the skin and flesh on his arms reflected a bronze luster under the oil lamp's light; with one punch, it seemed he could shatter stones and break tiles.
At the same time, the skin and flesh of Han Yi's upper body also became much firmer; when touched, it surprisingly had a toughness like cowhide.
Did I break through?
Han Yi glanced at the panel.
[Name]: Han Yi (16/61)
[Realm]: Stamina Refining (50/100)
[Martial Art]: Mountain Shattering Fist (Mortal Grade, Trait: Stone Shattering, Minor Accomplishment 0/20, Can be improved)
[Essence Value]: 6
Value 5~7
4 points of essence value raised the Mountain Shattering Fist to Minor Accomplishment, and also allowed me to break through to the Stamina Refining, and adding points doesn't cause physical depletion or qi and blood loss!
Overall strength has also greatly increased! After all, a normal adult male only has a value of '1~2'; Han Yi can now easily deal with seven or eight ordinary people bare-handed!
If it weren't for the dead of night, Han Yi really wanted to vent with a couple of shouts.
From barely surviving as a refugee to becoming a Mining Disciple just to fill his stomach, this precarious life had left Han Yi without a sense of security in this world; but now, the Breakthrough in his Realm finally allowed him to see a glimmer of hope for life!
As for the Stone Shattering trait that appeared with the Mountain Shattering Fist, Han Yi guessed that this represented the effect the Mountain Shattering Fist could produce, and it also corresponded to the memory of shattering blue bricks; unfortunately, it was late now, so he could only wait until his day off tomorrow to test it out at the training ground.
Suppressing his excitement, Han Yi forced himself to close his eyes and rest.
The night passed without a word.
Han Yi woke up early, and after breakfast, rushed to the training ground.
Thump, thump, thump
The wooden stake thumped under the impact.
In the past, if Han Yi practiced for such a long time, his arms would have long been sore and unbearable; but now, with the circulation of qi and blood, Han Yi felt warm all over, comfortable throughout his body, and his arms were filled with strength!
"Continue!"
Han Yi struck while the iron was hot, practicing the Mountain Shattering Fist again, once, twice...
Han Yi felt his punching movements constantly overlapping with the scenes in his memory from when he added points.
I seem to have gained a new understanding of how to activate the qi and blood of the Mountain Crushing Fist...
[Realm]: Stamina Refining (51/100)
[Martial Art]: Mountain Shattering Fist (Mortal Grade, Trait: Stone Shattering, Minor Accomplishment 2/20, Can be improved)
Han Yi's arms swelled up, and he suddenly exerted force; in an instant, waves of fist wind were generated, and faint sounds of breaking air could be heard.
At the moment he exerted force, Han Yi's value suddenly jumped to 7!
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the inch-wide stake arm on the wooden stake broke off cleanly at the root.
Fortunately, at this time, the Mining Disciples had all gone mining, and the training ground was empty; otherwise, this scene would surely have caused a sensation.
"Not bad, not bad, this power can shatter stones without a problem, and if it hit a person, I'm afraid it would tear their skin and flesh," Han Yi was very satisfied with this.
Let's try the strength again; Han Yi came to the stone block.
Inhale, exert force.
"Hah!"
The stone block weighing over 400 catties was actually easily lifted by Han Yi with one hand!
My strength is much greater than before; this is probably half the strength of a horse, perhaps even past world-class weightlifting champions were only this strong!
Martial Artists in the Refining Skin Early Stage are only slightly superior to ordinary people in Physique and strength, but Martial Artists who have reached the Stamina Refining have already begun to deviate from the definition of the term 'ordinary person'.
Taking Han Yi's current Realm as an example, even bare-handed, dealing with three to five strong men would be a piece of cake!
Just as Han Yi was cultivating with great fervor.
Suddenly, a commotion came from the camp entrance.
He saw Manager Liu, who was usually indifferent to them, bowing his waist, taking small steps ahead, his face full of obsequious smiles, saying something to the strong man beside him.
Subsequently, an ox cart rumbled to the training ground, a lean man jumped down and placed stone locks one by one on the training ground.
What is this for?
Han Yi was puzzled.