Chapter 54: As Long as You Don’t Die from Overworking, Keep Pushing Yourself

!

"Little brother, what kind of martial arts are you practicing? It looks so strange."

Tang Wen was on the ground, striking a pose similar to yoga, and didn't respond to his sister.

Tang Tang watched for a while but eventually stopped paying attention to him.

Half an hour later, a glimmer of excitement flashed in Tang Wen's eyes.

The Primal Chaos Stance had broken through.

[Skill: Primal Chaos Stance, Beginner → Novice (1/1000)]

Perhaps it was due to his youthful body and relentless effort, but the 15-year-old Tang Wen had seen a slight increase in his attributes after this period of rigorous training.

His attribute values had grown to:

[Body: 7.5 → 7.55]

[Spirit: 8.08 → 8.1]

Though the increase was minimal, it still proved that his training had some effect.

Of course, this small growth paled in comparison to the breakthrough in the Primal Chaos Stance.

[Body: 7.55 → 8.05]

[Spirit: 8.1 → 8.6]

Both major attributes had increased by 0.5.

Don't underestimate the numbers. Given Tang Wen's already monstrous physique, even a 0.1 increase was extremely difficult.

Just as noon approached, Tang Wen arrived early at the cafeteria and began devouring his meal.

Before Tang Tang and Zhou Bing had even picked up their chopsticks, he had already finished two large bowls of dishes and one big bowl of rice.

Then, patting his stomach and sipping foxtail millet soup, he said, "Three-tenths full."

Zhou Bing waved her hand, and a maid brought over several more bowls of food.

In less than half an hour, Tang Wen had polished them off as well.

The maids and nearby guards watched in astonishment.

One of the maids stepped forward and asked, "Should we prepare this much food for you from now on?"

"No need, just half a bowl more will do."

The maid stepped back, visibly relieved.

Watching Tang Wen eat, Tang Tang didn't feel the slightest bit of heartache. In fact, she thought he hadn't eaten enough and should eat until he was full.

She had recently started practicing martial arts, and her appetite had noticeably increased.

Eating half a bowl of food by herself was no problem at all.

Rubbing her belly, Tang Tang strengthened her resolve to continue practicing martial arts.

There was no turning back. With the appetites of the three people in their household, the money she earned from selling meat buns might not even be enough to keep them fed!

Practice martial arts, become a guard!

She had to become a guard!

Only by becoming a guard could she get free meals!

In the heart of this young girl, who had been haunted by hunger for over a decade, having enough to eat was more important than anything else.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed.

Tang Wen's Iron Body Skill and Traceless Step had both broken through from the beginner level to the proficient level.

[Iron Body Skill, Proficient (31/1000)]

[Traceless Step, Proficient (7/1000)]

The proficient level was still quite low and didn't add much to his combat power.

He needed more tempering and training.

"Do you think there's a more effective way to train?"

At the dining table, when Tang Wen asked this question, Zhang Lin, who had been in the middle of speaking, froze.

An Lei glanced at Tang Wen, her eyes filled with admiration: Look, An Lei! Someone with even better talent than you is working harder than you! You must train more! You have to!

Tang Tang glared at him, "How much faster do you want to go? Should we switch to iron rods to beat you?"

Zhou Bing quickly shook her head and comforted him, "Don't rush. Training isn't something that can be achieved overnight."

Zhang Lin also hurriedly chimed in to persuade him.

At the nearby tables, the guards who heard Tang Wen's words shook their heads and chuckled bitterly.

"This monster!"

"At the end of the month, Old Xia will hold his monthly assessment. I wonder if Tang Wen and the others will participate."

"Of course they will. Old Xia always treats everyone equally."Then we'll see them on the arena!" Let's see how strong he really is!"

"Right, practicing martial arts is for killing! Hard work alone isn't enough."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Bing gave them a cold glance.

The guards fell silent and focused on their meal.

In the afternoon, Tang Wen went to ask Old General Xia the same question.

The old general frowned. If it were anyone else asking, he would have scolded them outright!

Martial arts is a meticulous craft. Whether a punch carries twenty years of skill or just three to five years can determine life or death.

There are no shortcuts, no tricks to effectiveness. You just have to practice.

But when Tang Wen asked, he felt a headache coming on.

"For other techniques, there's no easy way, but for the Traceless Step, if your body can handle it, you can wear heavy armor all day to train!"

Integrating training into daily life?

"Brilliant! Old man, you're truly brilliant! Having an elder at home is like having a treasure!"

Feeling the method was feasible, Tang Wen showered the old general with compliments.

The wrinkles on the old general's face blossomed into a smile.

This Tang Wen kid, not only talented and hardworking, but also so eloquent!

He has potential, worth nurturing!

After receiving the advice, Tang Wen immediately acted on it. Using Zhou Bing's name, he borrowed a larger set of 120-pound inner armor.

He layered two sets of inner armor together.

The outer lead-weighted vest, originally 200 pounds, was replaced with an even heavier one!

The metal boots remained the same.

He wore this even when not training.

Thus, from then on, except for bathing, sleeping, and practicing other techniques, he wore the weights even while eating.

The guards whispered among themselves.

"Captain, do you think Tang Wen is pushing himself so hard because he knows about the commander selection?"

The captain's brows furrowed into a deep crease: "Zhou Bing is already enough of a headache, and now this freak shows up?"

This was an opportunity he had been waiting for.

If he performed well, he might directly become the outer city commander.

Should he?

Some thoughts flashed through his mind, but he dismissed them himself.

Old General Xia wouldn't tolerate any sand in his eyes!

Moreover, the camp might not have lost just one commander.

As guards who patrolled the underground palace and stood night watches daily, they were much more informed than Tang Wen and the others.

Commander Zhang, Zhang Lin's father, after losing an arm, though he hadn't appeared in the square, some guards had seen him.

While on guard duty, they overheard his conversation with Old General Xia.

After this war, he wanted to step down.

Thus, the position of outer city commander would be vacant.

According to past practice, it would surely be a martial selection.

After all, martial prowess is the foundation of the camp's survival in this land. As for daily administrative tasks, they had long been established and naturally handled by the clerks.

At noon, in the cafeteria.

Tang Wen picked up a pair of chopsticks as long as his forearm to eat his meal.

There was no other way; he was carrying too much weight, and the scale armor and lead vest were too thick, making it hard to bend his arms.

He had to use longer chopsticks to compensate.

"Creak, crack!"

After a few protests, the chair suddenly shattered and fell to the ground.

Tang Wen took a step back, steadied himself, and assumed a horse stance.

Soon, a maid brought a new chair.

Just as Tang Wen was about to sit down, he suddenly had an idea and said, "No need, I'll just practice the Horse Stance."

"Huh?" The maid covered her mouth, stunned for a few seconds before retreating to the wall.

Today, the cafeteria served roasted lamb, some coated with honey, some with salt, and others sprinkled with red chili powder.

Taking a bite, paired with green onions, the flavor was indescribable!

The Guards had deliberately arrived early at the cafeteria and were now enjoying their meal.

Suddenly, they heard Tang Wen say, "Perfect time to practice the Horse Stance."

Their expressions immediately turned complicated, and they all looked at Tang Wen.

They saw this guy sitting by the entrance, wearing a leaden jacket that looked incredibly heavy.

He was suspended in mid-air, his feet rooted firmly, practicing the Horse Stance!

Damn it!

This life is unbearable!

Can't you just take a break?

You train so hard and for so long, it's making us anxious!

Watching Tang Wen pick up a piece of mutton with his chopsticks and chew it slowly.

They suddenly felt the mutton in their hands wasn't as tasty anymore.

They couldn't help but recall Old Xia's recent training sessions, where he kept saying:

"Look at Tang Wen, you bunch of weaklings!"

"Tired from this little bit of training? Are you even capable, you weaklings?"

"When can you rest? When the Black Mountain Devil chops off your head, then you can rest as much as you want! Weaklings!"

"Weaklings, weaklings

, weaklings…"

Being called weaklings all day, the Guards were getting fed up.

Fortunately, they didn't know that "weaklings" was a new term Tang Wen had taught Old Xia, otherwise, a brawl might have broken out in the cafeteria!