The Martial Lord of the Troubled World

Chapter 7 Skin Resurfacing
Fu Juemin had never had such a comfortable fight in his two lives.

Wang Shuisheng stood opposite him, neither attacking nor retreating, but just using his palm or forearm to meet each punch or kick perfectly.

He was like a thick yet flexible wall, able to block Fu Juemin's attacks without harming him in the slightest.

After repeating this several times, Li Tong's voice came from the side.

"Remember, when you lunge forward and punch, make sure the power is penetrating and not weak!"

Upon hearing this, Fu Juemin immediately understood and, recalling his usual stance during standing meditation, adjusted his waist and posture, and exerted force once more.

This time, he clearly felt the power rising from the soles of his feet, rotating through his waist and hips, reaching his shoulders and arms, and finally condensing on his fist.

"boom!"

"Well done, young master!"

Wang Shuisheng caught Fu Juemin's punch steadily, cheering loudly with a beaming face, as if the punch was truly spectacular.

Fu Juemin was both amused and exasperated, and then followed up with a "flicking kick and punch".

Just as Fu Juemin's right leg sprang up, Li Tong's words drifted over.

"You can lift your foot as high as possible in this move."

Fu Juemin's leg had already kicked out, so it was impossible for him to pull it back and change it. But at that moment, Wang Shuisheng's instep landed perfectly under his calf, allowing him to release the power in his leg completely.

"call--"

Fu Juemin kicked out a soft, whistling sound as he kicked in mid-air.

At the same time, Wang Shuisheng caught his punch firmly with a "smack". This series of actions left Fu Juemin a little stunned.

Looking up, all he saw was Wang Shuisheng's ingratiating yet encouraging smile, followed by Li Tong's gentle guidance: "In this move, the movements are secondary; the key is the coordination when attacking from both above and below."

Next comes "Pillow Step and Bright Palm" followed by "Turning Around and Chopping Strike".
The thirty-two moves of Mingquan were practiced in turn through this process of feeding and countering moves.

This is not a life-or-death struggle, but more like a skilled craftsman meticulously crafting a weapon.

Every mistake and flaw he made was pointed out by Li Tong in the most understated way and corrected by Wang Shuisheng in the gentlest way; every effort he made was met with the most solid response.

With each guidance, the blood and energy in his body flowed smoothly, and the movements that were initially quite unfamiliar and sluggish when practicing alone gradually became as natural and fluid as streams flowing into rivers.

He no longer needed to consciously "think" about what the next action would be; his body naturally remembered the feeling on its own.

After finishing a round of long fist, Fu Juemin felt his whole body steaming with heat, sweat beading on his forehead, and his clothes completely soaked. But his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

Take a look at your character panel—

[Techniques: Hunyuan Stance (Beginner), Mingquan (Beginner: Attack +1)]

Sure enough, a new "Mingquan (Beginner)" icon appeared after the original Hunyuan Zhuang in the panel's skill section. From the time Fu Juemin started practicing until he reached the beginner level, it only took a little over two hours, and the experience was quite impressive.

Moreover, Fu Juemin discovered that this newly learned boxing style even displayed an additional attribute of "Attack +1".

"Having mastered the basics of Mingquan (a style of Chinese martial arts), I've grasped some of the inherent techniques for harnessing and generating power within the style, which definitely increases my attack power."

Fu Juemin lowered his head and analyzed the situation in his mind. To outsiders, it seemed as if he was silently digesting what he had learned from practicing the moves.

Wang Shuisheng, who had been Fu Juemin's sparring partner for half a day, was the first to clap and shout: "Young Master is exceptionally talented. He has mastered the entire Mingquan set so quickly. When I first learned this set of boxing, it took me more than half a month just to memorize all the moves."

Compared to you, young master, I'm utterly stupid.

Fu Juemin looked up at Wang Shuisheng, whose face was full of admiration and flattery. He knew that the other party was flattering him, but he still found him pleasing to the eye and couldn't help but laugh and scold, "You're the one with the sharpest tongue."
That evening, he went to the accounting office and withdrew twenty silver dollars, saying it was a reward from me.

"Thank you, Master!"

Wang Shuisheng smiled broadly and bowed to express his gratitude.

The average monthly salary of a guard in the Fu family was only fifteen silver dollars, but Fu Juemin gave him twenty dollars, which was equivalent to more than a month's salary for Wang Shuisheng.

However, Wang Shuisheng deserves a great deal of credit for Fu Juemin's rapid mastery of Mingquan. When the two were exchanging blows, Wang Shuisheng took quite a few punches and kicks from Fu Juemin.

"Let's practice a little longer."

Fu Juemin felt he had rested enough, so he rolled up his sleeves and wanted to continue.

He was in a good mood and was eager to put on a great training session. Wang Shuisheng, having received a reward, was happy to cooperate.

But Li Tong waved his hand, stopping the two of them.

"Mingquan is not considered a high-level martial art, and it doesn't give you much of an advantage when sparring with others. However, practicing Mingquan a lot can help with skin smoothing."

As soon as Li Tonggang finished speaking, Fu Juemin immediately understood.

"Uncle Tong, you're finally willing to teach me how to smooth skin!" "Looks like the young master intends to continue practicing?"

Li Tong looked at Fu Juemin.

"That's for sure."

Fu Juemin did not hesitate.

Li Tong nodded, and then, as if by magic, pulled out a small earthenware jar from somewhere. He opened the jar, and from a distance, Fu Juemin could smell an indescribable pungent odor emanating from it.

"Uncle Tong, what are you holding in your hand?"

"A cream specifically designed for exfoliation."

Li Tong replied, "With this applied and my methods, it will only take about a month for you to achieve the perfect skin smoothing effect, young master."

Fu Juemin was taken aback for a moment, then turned to Wang Shuisheng and asked, "How long did it take you to do the skin smoothing back then?"

At this point, Fu Juemin could guess that Wang Shuisheng was one of the only two people among the guards who had reached the Bone Forging stage, as Li Tong had mentioned earlier.

"Reporting to Young Master."

Wang Shuisheng looked at the pottery jar in Li Tong's hand with a face full of emotion and replied, "I am of dull talent. It took me more than two years to get through the skin polishing stage."

What else is there to say?

Fu Juemin immediately took off his clothes and asked Wang Shuisheng to bring him the dermatitis ointment from the jar and apply it to himself.

"You don't need to apply it all over your body, just apply it to the general areas..."

Li Tong instructed the two men on how to apply the medicine. Once they were almost done, he told Fu Juemin to assume the Hunyuan stance.

"Uncle Tong, is this all right?"

The dark ointment was applied all over his body, including his groin and even his cheeks.

After applying the ointment, he felt a slight warmth on his skin. He set up the Hunyuan Zhuang frame and looked up to see Li Tong walking towards him with a special vine that was more than a meter long and half a palm wide.

Fu Juemin felt a sense of foreboding. As he watched Li Tong slowly raise the rattan cane, he instinctively tried to dodge to the side.

But just as he made a dodging motion, he heard a crisp "snap"!
He took a solid hit to the back and shoulder.

"what!"

Fu Juemin screamed and jumped up as if he had been electrocuted, desperately reaching back with both hands.

Li Tong used some unknown force, but Fu Juemin felt as if he had been struck by a red-hot iron, a sharp, burning pain.

And this heat is constantly spreading outwards.

"Uncle Tong, what are you doing?"

Fu Juemin grimaced and asked loudly, though he knew in his heart that this was probably the "special method" that Li Tong had just emphasized.

"This is the only way to ensure that the ointment is fully effective."

Li Tong held the rattan cane in one hand and said calmly, "The purpose of that last strike was mainly to let the young master experience it firsthand. If the young master tries to dodge the next strike, he will be able to do so easily."

However, it's absolutely impossible to complete the skin smoothing process within a month.

"Will it be enough to just use the ointment and not get beaten up?"

Fu Juemin endured the burning pain in his back and bargained with Li Tong.

"Row."

Li Tong immediately put down the rattan cane and calmly said, "Although this ointment is expensive, young master can certainly afford to waste it."

The skin resurfacing process will be much slower; it won't take two years, but it will definitely take a year and a half.

A month of suffering is equivalent to a year and a half of hardship.
Fu Juemin was immediately caught in a dilemma.

Without realizing it, he met Li Tong's eyes.
Yes, that's the look in their eyes.

That faint pity was wrapped in a look that seemed to say, "Give up, you should have given up, you should have given up a long time ago!"

This kind of look had appeared in Li Tong's eyes more than once since Fu Juemin started learning martial arts.
Fu Juemin took a deep breath, walked back to his original position, and stood in the Hunyuan stance.

"let's hit."

He spoke to Li Tong without looking up.

(End of this chapter)