Great Perfection of the Muscle Strengthening Scripture!?
Fang Shuwen felt a jolt of energy run through him, and wild joy surged in his heart.
Without the slightest hesitation, he chose to claim it.
The next moment, line after line of the Mental Method's incantations flowed through his mind.
An incomparably pure surge of Inner Strength was born from his Dantian, instantly coursing through his limbs and bones.
He followed the incantations of the Mental Method that had appeared in his mind, circulating the True Qi within his body.
It was fine at first, but slowly, a burning sensation arose in his meridians, followed by pain.
A thought flashed through Fang Shuwen's mind:
'The Muscle Strengthening Scripture can cleanse the marrow and reform the body. My foundation is damaged, so perhaps I can use this Divine Technique to restore it completely!'
'This pain... it must be from that process.'
He immediately gritted his teeth and ignored it.
He had endured so many years of trials and tribulations; a little pain was nothing worth mentioning.
The intense pain lasted for an unknown amount of time before it suddenly receded like a tide.
The True Qi coursed through a full Circulation. Guided by the Mental Method, Fang Shuwen heard a series of soft POPS as the acupoints throughout his body were pierced open one after another.
It broke through the Ren and Du Meridians, shifting from a Minor Circulation to a Grand Circulation. Only then was he finally able to fully assimilate this surge of Inner Strength and make it his own!
He slowly pressed his hands downward, drawing all the Inner Strength into his Dantian Qi Sea.
Only then did he open his eyes. He subconsciously held out his hands to look at them, feeling that they seemed different from before.
"As expected, the Muscle Strengthening Scripture can repair my damaged foundation. This is no less than a complete rebirth!"
He flipped to his feet and threw a casual punch.
With a thunderous BOOM, the window a zhang away was shattered to pieces by the force of his fist.
"This..."
Just then, the sound of a conversation came from outside the door.
"I hear our Young Miss's looks and figure are top-notch. They say she's the number one beauty in Julu City!"
"You dare to fantasize about the Young Miss? I heard she's a True Disciple of Zhuji Pavilion on Jiuning Mountain. Her Martial Arts are incredible. I'd advise you to stop dreaming."
"I'm not dreaming... just talking. The Young Miss is still on Jiuning Mountain, it's not like I'm going to meet her. Hey! Old Fang, it's time for you and Old Song to take over."
The two men who were talking pushed open the door and came in. They started to take off their outer coats and set aside the sabers in their hands.
Seeing only Fang Shuwen inside, one of them asked:
"Where's Old Song?"
Fang Shuwen then remembered:
"Song Li went to take a piss."
"A lazy donkey makes many trips to the toilet... Alright, we're going to rest. You should go look for that kid. Don't tell me he fell into the latrine pit."
After they finished speaking, the two men each climbed into their bunks. It was already approaching the Hour of the Ox, so of course they needed to get some proper rest.
Fang Shuwen said nothing more. He put on his guard's uniform, hung the saber at his waist, and went out the door.
He vaguely heard the two men talking in the room:
"What happened to the window?"
"Who stole our window?"
Fang Shuwen turned a deaf ear, striding away with his hand on his saber's hilt as if it had nothing to do with him.
But as he walked, he couldn't help but wonder. Song Li had said he was going for a piss, but so much time had passed and he still hadn't returned.
'What kind of piss was he taking? How could it take this long?'
'Could he have gone to find that little sweetheart of his, the servant girl, to have a lover's tryst?'
Although Fang Shuwen had now completed his three-month contract as a guard and could go to Zhou Feixiong for his silver and leave the Zhou Family, it was the middle of the nightly shift change, and no one would go to their employer at night to announce their resignation.
He would have to wait until tomorrow morning at the earliest.
He headed toward the latrines first. Halfway there, he saw a figure standing pressed against the base of a wall.
Fang Shuwen's brow furrowed slightly. He twitched his ears; the Great Perfection Realm of the Muscle Strengthening Scripture had made his hearing and sight exceptionally sharp.
But he couldn't hear any breathing from the figure.
'Is it a dead person?'
On high alert, he came up behind the person and lightly tapped their shoulder.
"Song Li?"
The figure immediately fell to the ground with a THUD.
In the dim moonlight, he could see that it was indeed Song Li.
But now, a wound like a thin red line was drawn across his throat.
His throat had been slit by an extremely sharp weapon!
He had been dead for quite some time.
Fang Shuwen's eyes narrowed. He suddenly pivoted, his body instantly vanishing from its original spot.
He heard a soft THWIP.
A Shuttle Dart was embedded in the wall exactly where he had just been standing.
"Huh?"
A voice came from the shadows:
"A mere Supporting Master, but you've got some impressive moves."
Fang Shuwen narrowed his eyes.
"If you knew this place had guards, wasn't that strike a bit too vicious?"
The person opposite him chuckled at his words.
"You think I'm a Dark Hanger?
"Let me tell you the truth. I'm not here for money tonight... I'm here for lives!!"
As his words fell, he took a step forward and struck.
Before, Fang Shuwen would have had to deal with this person carefully. But now, with a single glance, he could see that the man's attack was slow and riddled with openings.
Instead of retreating, he advanced, stepping forward with a right-handed punch.
In an instant, there were two sharp CRACKS. The opponent's move had been defensive; though his strike was fast and vicious, he had still acted with caution.
He never expected that with a single touch, both of his arms would be instantly broken.
His defense crumbled. Fang Shuwen's five fingers closed in, gripping the man's face. He applied a bit of force, just about to question him, when he heard another CRACK. With that single grab, he had crushed the man's entire face and half his skull.
"Ah, this..."
After all, having just attained the Great Perfection Cultivation of the Muscle Strengthening Scripture, Fang Shuwen still had no real concept of his own martial prowess.
How could he have known the man would shatter on contact?
'How is he as fragile as paper?'
He frowned, dropped the corpse, and without a second thought, took a breath to shout a warning.
Judging from what the man had just said, these were no ordinary intruders. If they weren't after money but lives, didn't that mean they were here to annihilate the entire family?
It now seemed his earlier worries had not been unfounded after all.
The words "There are assassins!" had not yet left his lips when the corner of his eye caught flickering points of light.
He looked up to see a rain of fire falling from the sky.
THWIP THWIP THWIP, THWIP THWIP THWIP!
They were arrows, wreathed in roaring flames. As they landed, the night wind instantly fanned them into a blaze, igniting window lattices and haystacks.
Immediately after, battle cries rose from all directions. Just from the sound of it, he knew the attack was ferocious.
There was no need for Fang Shuwen to give any warning now. The commotion was so great that the entire Zhou Residence had been roused.
The spot where Fang Shuwen stood was rather secluded; otherwise, Song Li's body wouldn't have remained undiscovered for so long.
The man who had just appeared was also a latecomer. He had simply run into Fang Shuwen by chance and died a baffling death.
Fang Shuwen hesitated for only two breaths before heading toward the main courtyard.
If he had encountered such a scene before, he might have turned tail and fled.
But now, protected by the Great Perfection Level of the Muscle Strengthening Scripture, how could he possibly retreat so easily?
Besides, he hadn't even been paid for the month yet.