Martial Arts Sainthood Begins with the Tiger-Taming Fist

Chen Mo's gaze shifted downwards.

【Tiger Subduing Fist: The fist contains the roar of a tiger, imbued with immense power】

[Comprehension: 0/50 (Not yet a beginner)]

The simple introduction sparked endless imagination in Chen Mo.

Once you embark on the path of martial arts, can you truly ascend to the heavens and dive into the earth?

He pondered to himself.

For ordinary people, their comprehension of martial arts techniques should be close to zero. However, according to the explanation of "cultivating skills through mountains and rivers," he can improve his comprehension of the Tiger Subduing Fist by polishing rough iron.

The ironware in the furnace room contained crude iron, which he could lift without alerting anyone.

The ten-day limit.

He certainly wouldn't be able to reach the level to fight against the Black Tiger Hall, but if he could demonstrate his martial arts aptitude and be accepted by a martial arts school or noticed by a martial arts master, his tribute could be reduced.

After all, the Black Tiger Hall was unwilling to offend its fellow martial arts practitioners.

It is common for people to bully the weak out of fear of power.

My thoughts returned.

Chen Mo restarted the fire, and the crude iron in the furnace gradually turned red.

Everything was as before, with nothing special about it, just like the usual work of tending the fire.

He remained patient, after all, the golden characters that could be directly displayed in his mind were certainly not ordinary things, and there was no falsehood in them!

An hour passed, and three iron billets in the furnace had been fired, but Chen Mo's understanding of the Tiger Subduing Fist had not changed.

The two supervisors returned from drinking, reeking of alcohol, and began to curse incoherently.

One of the foremen suddenly raised his whip and, without warning, struck a skinny, shirtless man on the back, causing him to scream in agony as his skin was torn open.

He simply put down the iron billet he was carrying and took a short rest.

But he did not resist. He picked up the hot iron billet again and moved with difficulty, as if his entire skeleton was about to fall apart.

The furnace room was eerily silent, everyone filled with apprehension.

This time it was the skinny man, who will be next?

This time it's a whip, what weapon will it be next?

This is the tragedy of the weak.

However, Chen Mo would never slack off under the watchful eye of the supervisor, especially since tending the fire was now a way to hone his comprehension, so he was even less likely to be lazy.

"Listen up, all of you! Anyone who slacks off again won't just get a whipping. Next time, we'll break their fingers, and the time after that, we'll break their legs. We might even make them a human sacrifice!"

One of the supervisors, while cursing, walked up to Chen Mo, raised his whip in the air, but did not bring it down.

While glancing at the whip out of the corner of his eye, Chen Mo continued to tend the fire, never stopping his work.

A short while later, the foreman grinned, then put away his whip and went to patrol in the distance.

Such probing enforcement, if carried out by someone with a poor temperament, would likely result in the whip being used the moment the action stops.

Two more hours passed, and the tenth iron billet was already mostly burned.

A golden light suddenly flashed through Chen Mo's mind, and he looked at it intently.

[Refined through countless trials, nurtured by mountains and rivers]

【Tiger Subduing Fist: The fist contains the roar of a tiger, imbued with immense power】

[Comprehension: 1/50 (Not yet a beginner)]

After three hours of practice, his understanding of the Tiger Subduing Fist finally made a breakthrough.

Chen Mo was secretly pleased, but did not show it.

Now, when I think back to the first action in the book, it feels like the fog has been cleared. Although it's still a bit hazy, at least I'm not completely clueless anymore.

"Young man, aren't you going to eat?" asked Master Wu, who was standing nearby.

Chen Mo snapped out of his thoughts. "I'm not hungry yet. I ate a hard steamed bun before leaving this morning, and I still have one with me. Now I'm thinking about how to practice the Tiger Subduing Fist."

Master Wu nodded slightly. "Yes, you can't rush it. Many people have failed at the very beginning of learning boxing. Ordinary people can't expect to see results in less than a year or two."

After Master Wu finished speaking, he left the furnace room. There was a 15-minute break at noon, during which everyone would fill their empty stomachs.

Only a handful of people remained in the furnace room.

Chen Mo continued to tend the fire.

During this period, Chen Mo needed to control the furnace temperature according to the state of the iron billet, which can also be considered a part of polishing the rough iron.

He was immersed in the process of refining his work, like an old monk in deep meditation.

……

The twilight was as dark as ink.

In the evening, as the others gradually left, Chen Mo remained in the iron furnace room, not only tending the fire but also forging the red-hot iron billets on the anvil.

He thought that forging was closer to the word polishing, and perhaps it would be more effective.

After an unknown amount of time, he felt a faint warmth in his abdomen, something he had never experienced before.

[Refined through countless trials, nurtured by mountains and rivers]

【Tiger Subduing Fist: The fist contains the roar of a tiger, imbued with immense power】

Comprehension: 6/50

Chen Mo exhaled a breath of hot air.

He opened the book on Tiger Subduing Fist and read it carefully, discovering that he had grasped nearly 10% of the key points of the moves that had previously puzzled him.

I have a basic understanding of the Tiger-Taming Fist, but to put it into practice, I need to actually throw a few punches.

In other words, cultivating one's skills through nature and practicing actual boxing are both indispensable.

He rolled up his sleeves and started throwing punches.

The Tiger-Taming Fist has eight forms, each with its own emphasis. According to the book, if you master the seventh form, your punches will produce the sound of a tiger's roar.

He practiced only the first move today: Stone Breaking Strike.

Following the illustrations in the book, he threw a punch, but the movement was sluggish, and his muscles and bones felt numb. It lacked the graceful form and composure depicted in the book.

If once isn't enough, try twice. If twice isn't enough, try ten times, or even a hundred times!

Anyway, he has the ability to cultivate his skills in nature, so there is no threshold for martial arts techniques for him, and he will definitely succeed.

Proper martial arts are different from the wild, haphazard punches we threw as kids; every move and stance requires intention.

Chen Mo transformed the insights gained from "Refining Skill Through Trials and Tribulations, Nourishing Skill Through Mountains and Rivers" into the essentials of his moves, making subtle adjustments each time. The intention behind the moves gradually became clear in his mind, and the initial awkwardness faded away.

It took nearly two hours, and it was already late at night, before Chen Mo was able to execute the first move smoothly. Regardless of how precise the move was or how strong the power was, at least there was no longer any awkwardness.

"As expected of proper martial arts, it is far more ingenious and pure than the way I used to exert force when I was working. However, it is still just a showy display. I need to practice it several more times before I can master it."

He muttered to himself.

Chen Mo left the furnace room, ending his training for the day, and headed home.

On the way, I couldn't help but feel sore all over.

Halfway there, he saw a familiar figure standing not far away.

"sister!"

Chen Mo immediately ran over.

It was Chen Lan, dressed in thin clothes, hugging her shoulders in the cold wind.

"Why are you so late today? I thought something had happened to you..." Chen Lan wiped her eyes after seeing Chen Mo, and then smiled.

Chen Mo suddenly realized that he had been negligent. Chen Lan was worried about his safety and went out alone at night to search for him. It goes without saying how dangerous that would be.

If you need to come home late in the future, be sure to tell your sister.

"I'm fine, it's just that the furnace room has been a bit busy lately. Did you run into any bad people while you were out alone, sister?"

"I just encountered a yellow crocodile..." Chen Lan said, still shaken.

"Did he give you any trouble?" Chen Mo frowned.

"There were pedestrians on the road just now, so he didn't lay a hand on me. He just threatened me verbally, saying that if I didn't pay the tribute in nine days, he would... take action against me." Chen Lan's expression was not good.

Chen Mo breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't worry, sister, I'll figure something out."

Chen Lan nodded slightly, assuming that her younger brother was trying to comfort her.

The two walked towards home. On the way, Chen Mo silently recited the name of Huang E, a murderous intent flashing across his face before disappearing in an instant.

He had a premonition that the environment in Black River Town had deteriorated to its limit, and that sooner or later he would have to confront the Black Tiger Hall, either fighting his way out or becoming one of the thousands of skeletons.

Escape? It's not that no one has tried, but the surrounding area is all within the Black Tiger Hall's territory. Those who try to escape are either crippled or, worse, left to rot in the wilderness.

The question remains: who can dispel this dark cloud over Heihe Town?