Chapter Nine: The Transformation of Flesh and Blood

Evening fell, the moonlight hanging delicately above the treetops.

A cool breeze swept through the dormitory cluster as Fang Can’s silhouette danced continuously in the moonlight.

At this moment, he was calmly and steadily practicing the Thirty-Six Tiger Fury Fist techniques, guided by the progress bar displayed on his panel.

If the talent of “Turning Misfortune into Fortune” granted him a genius surpassing the ordinary, then the existence of the panel illuminated a broad and clear path toward the ultimate.

For some reason, Fang Can found that his stamina recovered extraordinarily fast after crossing over.

The muscles that had been sore and at their limit from training had almost fully recovered within just one hour.

However, this came with an increased appetite; just now in the cafeteria, he had devoured two large bowls of rice along with three plates of pork stir-fried with flat beans, all by himself.

Fortunately, the Tiger Sha Sect provided meals; otherwise, his remaining twenty taels of silver might not even cover a month’s expenses.

As for the rapid stamina recovery, it could only be attributed to the talent “Resolute and Unyielding,” which hastened healing the lower his health dropped.

Back in the dormitory, with the progress bar in sight, Fang Can resumed his practice.

Judging by the description in the info section regarding the manifestation through visualization, Fang Can guessed this was the world’s fundamental principle of idealism.

Using the living body as a workbench, consuming mental and physical energy to conduct human refinement.

The purer and higher the quality of spirit, the less time and effort it required; without extremes or pushing limits, there was no chance to break through.

But unlike before, after exiting the overclocked state, the progress bar’s speed didn’t surge much faster than a typical download.

Damn it, despite Fang Can’s utmost efforts to visualize and practice, after two hours, the progress had barely increased by 0.5%.

To him, the Tiger Sha Eighty-Eight Hells cultivation method on the info panel now resembled a gold-digging siren.

When he was a peerless genius, his spirit and dreams were more precious than gold, and it took barely an hour to almost move her.

But once he stepped out of the overclocked state with average aptitude, his will and dreams were worth less than the silt at the river’s bottom.

Ordinary people—if you don’t persistently court her for a month, how could you even hope to hold the goddess’s little finger?

As for romance or intimacy—those came at a different price.

“Is even martial arts becoming this pragmatic now?” Fang Can sighed helplessly, staring at the progress bar stuck at 89.7%.

At this rate, filling the remaining 10% would require at least two or three days of hard labor.

“Looks like I have to give this goddess a little tough love. Superpower, hit her with the real deal!”

With that thought, Fang Can’s right fist suddenly struck the wall without warning.

“Thud.”

A dull echo rang out, and he felt the skin on his knuckles turn an iron-blue shade.

Immediately, like coins bursting forth, Fang Can’s gaze fell on the panel under the negative effect of the injury.

—Estimated time remaining: 18 hours 32 minutes—

“Indeed, it works! One punch shaved nearly two hours off the time.”

Pleased with the result, Fang Can chuckled: “So come forth, my peerless talent, Turning Misfortune into Fortune, level me up!”

With that resolve, his fists hammered repeatedly against the cold stone wall.

With each successive strike, he felt his extraordinary wisdom ascending step by step, while the estimated manifestation time steadily shortened.

Estimated manifestation time: 18h32m → 17h35m → 16h13m → 15h…

“Let’s stop here for now and test how well the talent two’s healing works.”

Fang Can ceased punching; by then, his fists were bloodied from constant impact.

Meanwhile, the time on the panel had shortened to 3 hours and 32 minutes.

Compared to the danger of ingesting arsenic, these superficial injuries were trivial.

“But three hours is enough,” Fang Can squinted, a faint smile curling his lips as he raised his fists under the rising moon and resumed striking.

In this state, the progress bar inched forward steadily toward 100%.

90% → 91% → 92%…

As time passed, after four hours in the pitch black, Fang Can finally saw his progress bar roll over 100%.

Info section:

You have successfully manifested the technique “Tiger Sha Eighty-Eight Hells.”

…

In an instant, Fang Can felt a distinct surge of heat emerging clearly from the acupoint at his chest—something far beyond any mere illusion.

Experiencing this extraordinary state, he continued practicing the Tiger Fury Fist relentlessly from the first form anew.

Sure enough, with each movement, the heat flowed under his spirit’s guidance to each acupoint.

Wherever it reached, the heat began to diffuse gradually, strengthening the muscles and bones around the acupoints.

Fang Can felt the warmth spreading through his body, raising his internal temperature despite the cold night outside, as if a bonfire had been kindled within him.

By the time he finished the full set, the heat dissipated, leaving him drenched in sweat, as if pulled from water.

“Is this what Qi sensation feels like?” Fang Can’s eyes shone brightly, as if discovering a new world.

It had taken him less than a day to generate Qi sensation and circulate it through a full meridian.

The info panel also updated accordingly.

Info section:

You have completed a full practice of “Tiger Sha Eighty-Eight Hells,” experience +3

Tiger Sha Eighty-Eight Hells Layer 1: (3/1000)

Flesh Mutation: 0.0002%

…

“Flesh mutation? Could this be the first realm of martial arts, ‘Shedding the Mortal Body,’ that Yang Lie mentioned?”

Fang Can wiped the sweat from his brow. If practicing the Tiger Fury Fist once only yielded this small progress, it would take half a million repetitions to complete.

“Assuming three minutes per round, even training eight hours daily, it would take ten years to finish.”

He shook his head—this efficiency was too slow. There had to be other means to speed up, such as advancing the technique’s layers to hasten growth.

Rubbing his stomach gently, Fang Can realized that several hours of steady punching had drained a great deal of his energy, an effect even more pronounced after completing the first full round.

“I’m turning into a glutton—how many meals a day will I need now?” Fang Can muttered, turning back inside to fetch a few pancakes he had stealthily taken from the cafeteria.

Squatting on the threshold, he slowly nibbled on the pancake under the moonlight.

After this simple meal, he rose again to circulate the technique, relishing the flow of Qi through his acupoints and throughout his body.

After practicing another dozen or so rounds, Fang Can checked the time and decided to rest.

Tomorrow he had to attend the early training session at the Martial Hall.

There would be plenty of time for practice in the future; short-term gains and losses were insignificant compared to preparing for a marathon.

Tiger Sha Eighty-Eight Hells Layer 1: (74/1000)

Flesh Mutation: 0.0045%