In two lifetimes, Fu Juemin had never had such a satisfying fight.

Wang Shuisheng stood opposite him, neither attacking nor retreating. He simply met every punch and kick Fu Juemin threw with a perfectly timed palm or forearm.

He was like a thick yet yielding wall, capable of blocking Fu Juemin’s attacks without hurting him in the slightest.

After a few such exchanges, Li Tong’s voice came from the side.

"Remember, for the lunge and punch, your power must penetrate. Don’t let it be superficial!"

The words clicked for Fu Juemin. Recalling his state during his daily Stance practice, he immediately adjusted his hips and footing, and exerted force once more.

This time, he clearly felt the power rise from the soles of his feet, rotate through his waist and hips, travel up to his shoulders and arms, and finally condense in his fist.

POW!

"A great hit, Young Master!"

Wang Shuisheng steadily caught Fu Juemin’s punch, letting out a cheer. His face was beaming, as if the strike had been truly magnificent.

Fu Juemin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Next up was the "snap kick and punch."

No sooner had Fu Juemin’s right leg snapped up than Li Tong’s words drifted over.

"You can kick higher on this one."

Fu Juemin’s leg was already in motion; it was impossible to retract it and adjust. But at that very moment, Wang Shuisheng’s instep perfectly cushioned his calf from below, allowing him to fully release the power of his kick.

WHOOSH—

His kick tore through the air with a faint whoosh.

Simultaneously, the punch he threw was caught securely in Wang Shuisheng’s palm with a muffled SMACK. The whole sequence left Fu Juemin a bit stunned.

He looked up to see Wang Shuisheng’s encouraging, eager-to-please smile, followed by Li Tong’s dispassionate pointer: "In this form, the movements are secondary. The focus is on the coordination of attacking high and low simultaneously."

After that came the "low stance with displayed palm" into a "turning-body cleaving strike"...

All thirty-two forms of the Ming Fist were practiced one by one in this cooperative, move-for-move drill.

This wasn’t a life-and-death battle; it was more like a master craftsman meticulously polishing a weapon.

Every mistake and opening he revealed was pointed out by Li Tong in the most understated of phrases and corrected by Wang Shuisheng in the gentlest manner. Every exertion of his power was met with the most solid of responses.

Under this constant guidance, the Qi Blood throughout his body surged unimpeded. The transitions between forms, which had felt clumsy and stiff when he practiced alone, gradually became as natural and fluid as a stream flowing into a river.

He no longer needed to consciously "think" about the next move; his body simply remembered the feeling, acting on its own.

After running through the Long Fist set, Fu Juemin felt heat radiating from his entire body. His temples were beaded with sweat and his clothes were soaked... but his eyes were astonishingly bright.

A glance at his character panel revealed—

[Cultivation Technique: Mixed Element Stance (Entry Level), Ming Fist (Entry Level: Attack +1)]

As expected, after Mixed Element Stance in the Cultivation Technique column, a new entry for "Ming Fist (Entry Level)" had appeared. It had taken him just over two hours to go from starting his practice to reaching Entry Level, and the entire experience had been incredibly fulfilling.

Furthermore, Fu Juemin discovered that this newly-learned Fist Technique even came with an extra attribute: "Attack +1."

’Now that I’ve reached the Entry Level for Ming Fist, I’ve grasped some of its inherent techniques for applying and generating force. My Attack power is bound to increase...’

Fu Juemin lowered his head, analyzing this internally. To an observer, it looked as though he was silently digesting what he had learned from the training session.

Wang Shuisheng, who had been his training partner all afternoon, was the first to start clapping. "Young Master, your talent is extraordinary! You’ve learned the entire Ming Fist set so quickly! I remember when I first learned this Fist Technique, it took me over half a month just to memorize all the forms."

"Compared to you, Young Master, I was an absolute blockhead..."

Fu Juemin looked up at Wang Shuisheng’s face, which was a mask of admiration and sycophancy. He knew the man was just sucking up to him, but he couldn’t help but find it endearing. He laughed and chided, "You sure have a silver tongue..."

"Go to the bookkeeper tonight and collect twenty silver coins. Tell them it’s a reward from me."

"Thank you, Young Master!"

Wang Shuisheng beamed, cupping his fists in thanks.

A regular guard in the Fu Family only made fifteen silver coins a month. Fu Juemin’s reward of twenty was more than a month’s salary for Wang Shuisheng.

However, Wang Shuisheng had indeed earned it. He deserved a great deal of credit for Fu Juemin’s rapid progress with Ming Fist, having endured plenty of his Young Master’s punches and kicks during their drills.

"Let’s practice some more."

Feeling sufficiently rested, Fu Juemin rolled up his sleeves, ready to continue.

He was in high spirits and eager for a long training session. Wang Shuisheng, happy with his reward, was more than willing to oblige.

But Li Tong waved his hand, stopping them both.

"Ming Fist isn’t a particularly advanced Fist Technique. You won’t gain much of an edge in a real fight with it. But practicing it a lot has one benefit... it aids in Skin Polishing."

As soon as Li Tong finished, Fu Juemin immediately caught his meaning.

"Uncle Tong, you’re finally going to teach me Skin Polishing!"

"So it seems the Young Master intends to continue down this path?"

Li Tong looked at Fu Juemin.

"Absolutely."

Fu Juemin answered without a moment’s hesitation.

Li Tong nodded. Then, as if by magic, he produced a small, palm-sized ceramic jar from nowhere. The moment he opened it, Fu Juemin caught a whiff of an indescribably pungent odor, even from a distance.

"Uncle Tong, what is that you’re holding?"

"A medicinal paste made specifically for Skin Polishing."

Li Tong replied, "Apply this, and combined with my methods, the Young Master should be able to achieve Great Success in Skin Polishing in about a month."

Fu Juemin paused, then immediately turned to ask Wang Shuisheng, "How long did it take you to complete Skin Polishing?"

At this point, Fu Juemin guessed that Wang Shuisheng must be one of the two guards Li Tong had mentioned earlier who had reached the Bone Forging stage.

"In response, Young Master,"

Wang Shuisheng stared at the ceramic jar in Li Tong’s hand with a complex expression and replied, "This humble one is slow-witted. The Skin Polishing stage took me a full two years to complete."

Well, that settled it.

Fu Juemin immediately unfastened his clothes and had Wang Shuisheng take the Skin Polishing paste from the jar and apply it to his body.

"No need to coat the entire body. Just apply it to all the major areas..."

Li Tong instructed them from the side as they applied the ointment. When they were about done, he told Fu Juemin to assume the Mixed Element Stance.

"Is this right, Uncle Tong?"

The dark paste was smeared all over his body. Aside from his crotch, Fu Juemin hadn’t even spared his own face.

After it was applied, he only felt a slight warmth on his skin. He settled into the Mixed Element Stance, but as soon as he looked up, he saw Li Tong approaching with a specially prepared rattan cane that was over a meter long and half a palm’s width in his hand.

A sense of foreboding washed over Fu Juemin. Seeing Li Tong slowly raise the hand holding the cane, he subconsciously moved to dodge.

But just as he began to move, he heard a sharp CRACK!

The cane landed squarely across his back and shoulders.

"AHH!"

Fu Juemin cried out, leaping in place as if he’d been electrocuted, his hands flying back to clutch at the spot.

He didn’t know what kind of power Li Tong had used in that strike. All Fu Juemin felt was a searing, scalding pain, as if he’d been struck with a red-hot branding iron.

And that fiery sting was continuing to spread.

"Uncle Tong, what are you doing?"

Fu Juemin shouted, grimacing in pain. In his heart, though, he knew this was likely the "special method" Li Tong had just mentioned.

"This is the only way to make the paste’s medicinal effects fully activate."

Li Tong, cane in hand, said with an impassive expression, "That strike was mainly to let you experience it firsthand, Young Master. For the next one, if you wish to dodge, you will certainly be able to do so with ease."

"However, completing your Skin Polishing in a month will then become impossible."

"Can’t I just use the paste and skip the beating?"

Fu Juemin tried to bargain with Li Tong, enduring the fiery sting on his back.

"Fine." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Li Tong immediately set the cane down. "Though this paste is expensive to make," he said calmly, "the Young Master can certainly afford to waste it."

"It’s just that the Skin Polishing will be much slower. It won’t take two years, but a year or a year and a half will be absolutely necessary..."

A month of agony, or a year and a half of drudgery...

Fu Juemin was instantly conflicted.

Inadvertently, his eyes met Li Tong’s...

’Yes, it was that gaze.’

’The kind of gaze wrapped in a faint pity that seemed to say, "Give up. You should give up. You should have given up long ago."’

Ever since Fu Juemin had started his martial training, that look had appeared in Li Tong’s eyes more than once...

Fu Juemin took a deep breath, walked back to his original spot, and settled firmly into the Mixed Element Stance.

"Do it."

he said to Li Tong without raising his head.