Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Bam!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Early in the morning.

In the northwest corner of Moonlight Rain Court, the sound of flesh colliding with tree trunks could be heard in the bamboo forest that nobody showed any interest in.

From the sound of it, the force was getting stronger and stronger.

The sound did not stop for the entire morning.

The sound stopped briefly during lunchtime.

Soon, it started again.

It lasted until the evening when the sun set.

With the help of the dark blue liquid that the Lunisolar Mirror produced, Luo Qingzhou’s pace in tempering his skin became even faster.

He was not afraid of the pain or of being injured, so his tempering speed got even faster.

At the same time, with the help of the ink-black liquid, he felt very energetic.

For the entire day, he did not need to rest and could continue cultivating non-stop.

In the evening, he was still in high spirits.

His skin started to glow dimly, and there was a luster to his skin.

The force of his punch was equivalent to the strength of an ox. The hard bark and tree trunk could no longer cause any damage to his fist and body.

A few more days passed.

It was exactly 20 days after his wedding.

That afternoon, he finally succeeded in refining his skin!

His skin was as tough as copper, and there was a slight glow when he threw punches. He slammed into the tree fiercely, as if a wild ox was scratching an itch. He could no longer feel any pain.

At the same time, his strength increased greatly!

With one punch, the trees shook and the leaves rustled. Its bark turned into cotton, and the wood cracked!

His skin had a complete transformation. It looked no different from before, but its resistance had been tempered to the extreme!

Crack!

He snapped a bamboo pole and smacked the sharp part of it.

If it was before, his palm would definitely be pierced and dripping with blood.

Now, when he smacked the bamboo fiercely, his palm was akin to bronzeware. With a crack, the sharpness of the bamboo shattered. The other half of the bamboo shattered into pieces.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Luo Qingzhou tried more than 10 bamboos and shattered all of them. After all that, his palm was still surprisingly unscathed.

Then, he tried the same method using the back of his hand, arms, and calves, but there was no damage.

Right now, not to mention these flexible bamboos, even wood would be difficult to pierce through his skin.

Even if he was slashed with a cleaver, it could offset most of the damage. Moreover, his wound would recover quickly. On top of that, he could protect the tissues and blood deep inside his skin from being injured.

He actually managed to get his skin to be as tough as copper and his punches to have the force of an ox.

Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Now, when he practiced Thunder Fist, his speed at delivering the punches was the same, but he put more strength into his punches. The power became stronger and stronger, and the sound was increasingly loud. He could already see the effect.

After one round, Luo Qingzhou did not feel tired at all.

He started the second round.

After successfully refining the skin, he wanted to familiarize himself with the Thunder Fist first before continuing to refine the flesh.

Although the Thunder Fist was useless to many martial artists, it could be used as a martial technique for him.

After all, with his current status and background, it was impossible for him to possess other martial skills.

The Thunder Fist looked to be powerful, but it got little done. Despite that, it could deal some damage. Coupled with his current skin and strength, he was more powerful than ordinary people.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

For the entire afternoon, Luo Qingzhou practiced the Thunder Fist in the bamboo forest.

Although he had succeeded in refining the skin, he could not slack off.

To a martial artist, skin refining was just the beginning.

As long as he persevered and was unafraid of hardship, he believed that with the help of the Lunisolar Mirror, he would be able to catch up to Luo Yu very quickly.

Longhu Academy’s entrance examination next year would be held near the date of the autumn examination.

He still had more than six months to go.

As long as he worked hard, he would still have a chance!

Boom!

He punched a nearby tree trunk.

The tree shook and its bark festered. The wood inside cracked with a crack. At the same time, a burning smell came from inside.

Luo Qingzhou focused on practicing the Thunder Fist. After throwing a punch, he took a step forward and turned around to execute another move.

In the empty and silent bamboo forest, it sounded like a constant thunder echoing through the woods.

Bamboo leaves danced in the air, and the bamboo swayed without wind.

Luo Qingzhou’s bare chest and back were dripping with sweat, and his skin seemed to be plated with a layer of metal. Under the nourishment of the sweat, it sparkled and was filled with a charming luster.

The bamboo leaves on the ground flew into the air and danced with him as he continued throwing punches.

Toward the end, his speed increased and the sound became louder.

His figure became more and more blurry amidst the flying bamboo leaves. An invisible airflow surrounded him, causing the bamboo around him to rustle and sway.

Fortunately, there was no one else in Moonlight Rain Court at this moment.

Otherwise, this commotion would be heard even if he was in the northwest corner, which was the most remote area.

From the outside, the middle of the bamboo forest seemed to be wrapped in a hurricane. The leaves and branches were all being pulled in different directions by the wind, and they shook wildly.

But soon, the shaking gradually decreased.

When Luo Qingzhou reached the fastest move, he gradually slowed down.

In the end, he ended the second round.

Luo Qingzhou practiced until the sun was about to set before resting for a while. He took his clothes and went out to wash them by the lake. Then, he put on his clothes and left.

After returning to the small courtyard, he noticed that Xiao Die had yet to return.

He returned to the room and took out the porcelain bottle from under the bed. He had placed the Lunisolar Mirror on the table, and it had produced a dark blue liquid. Luo Qingzhou poured the liquid into the porcelain bottle, closed it with the bottle stopper, and placed it back under the bed.

After this period of research, he realized that he only needed one drop every three days. It seemed to be a waste if he used too much, so he gathered the rest of the liquid and stored them in the porcelain bottle, intending to use them when he was refining his flesh.

The ink-black liquid that was condensed at night could only be used once every three days. If he used it every day, he would not be able to see any other obvious effects.

There were two porcelain bottles hidden under the bed, each of them storing the dark blue liquid and the ink-black liquid, respectively.

He told Xiao Die not to touch anything in his room.

Including the Lunisolar Mirror.

However, these things were rare treasures. It was not safe to leave them in the room.

Luo Qingzhou decided to leave the manor tomorrow and go to the shops that specialized in selling martial arts supplies.

Perhaps there were better storage items there.

He was in an era where martial arts reigned supreme. Martial artists abound throughout the Great Yan Empire, so each city had shops that specialized in buying and selling martial arts supplies.

He had already become a martial artist, but he still did not know what martial artists needed, nor had he ever shopped in those shops.

Perhaps there would be an unexpected find in those shops.

Luo Qingzhou had 1,000 taels of silver given to him by the Chengguo Residence when he married into the Qin residence. He wondered if that was enough to purchase the items he wanted.

He would go out and take a look tomorrow.

If that was not enough, he intended to borrow some money from Bai Ling.

In any case, in the eyes of outsiders, he was living off a woman. It would be a waste if he were not to make full use of this.

There were still ten days before he could leave the city to pay his respects to his mother.

When the time came, besides telling his mother about his marriage, he also hoped that his mother bless him so that he could make great advances in cultivation and avenge her.

When the sky was about to turn dark, Xiao Die came back with food.

At present, Luo Qingzhou ate a lot, and he especially liked to eat meat, so Xiao Die would bring back more food every time.

Because everyone treated the master-servant duo well, the kitchen staff did not say much about that.

However, when Luo Qingzhou started refining the flesh, Xiao Die would probably not bring back enough food for them.

When he reached that stage, he would require even more meat, and his appetite would be even more astonishing. It was impossible for him to get all the meat from the kitchen.

Firstly, he was afraid that others would get suspicious of him. Secondly, it was impossible for the kitchen to provide him with so much meat.

The food consumed by martial arts practitioners was something that many families could not afford.

Therefore, when the time came, Luo Qingzhou might have to settle this problem himself.

With money, he could buy meat to eat.

The 1,000 taels of silver was an astronomical sum of money for ordinary people, but it was not enough for martial artists.

Fortunately, he had succeeded in refining the skin.

When he was almost done practicing the Thunder Fist, he could go out of the city to fight wild beasts, even the lowest-level demon beasts.

At that time, no matter whether he needed money or meat, it would not be an issue for him.

It would definitely be dangerous.

However, in this era, if he wanted to become stronger, he could not be afraid of danger.

Moreover, only through real-life battles could he improve his combat strength. One could not grow without setbacks. Otherwise, he would be akin to a flower in a greenhouse, handsome but useless.

Luo Qingzhou pondered over things as he ate. He quickly finished his meal.

After Xiao Die finished eating and cleaned up, the two of them went to the lake to take a bath.

After bathing and changing into clean clothes, Luo Qingzhou went to pay his respects to First Young Miss Qin alone.

A husband had to pay his respects to his wife every day, not to mention this was a wife who did not share a bed with him… This was something that could only exist in this era.

Of course, since he was from this era, there were some rules that he had to abide by.

Otherwise, sooner or later, someone would teach him a lesson and force him to understand how cruel reality was.

He arrived at First Young Miss Qin’s courtyard.

Before he could knock on the door, the courtyard door opened.

Bai Ling stood at the door with a smile. “Sir, I have good news for you. Madam has decided to see you tomorrow morning. Make sure that you’re well-prepared.”

Luo Qingzhou’s heart skipped a beat. His mother-in-law?

He had been married for almost a month, but that mother-in-law had never said that she wanted to see him. Why would she suddenly say that she wanted to see him?

He heard that his mother-in-law had a deep prejudice against him. Luo Qingzhou wondered if she would reprimand and humiliate him in public when they met tomorrow morning.

“What do I need to prepare?” he asked.

Luo Qingzhou felt a little puzzled.

It was just a meeting, right? Could it be that he had to be gaily dressed, bow and assume the position of prostration every three steps? Or did he have to sing her praises every five steps he took?

Bai Ling smiled. “Sir, you have to be mentally prepared. If Madam scolds you, you can’t retort. If you do that, even without Chanchan, those old maids will tear you apart. By then, you will be kicked out of the house and have to live on the streets. You’ll be in a miserable plight if that happens.”

Luo Qingzhou was silent for a moment before saying, “I know the severity of the matter.”

“It’s good that you know,” Bai Ling said.

She opened the door and said in a low voice, “Anyway, you have already married Young Miss. What’s done can’t be undone. No matter how unwilling Madam is, she can’t change anything, so just bear with it. At most, I’ll tell Young Miss to make it up to you.”

She winked at him when she said the words ‘make it up to you’ and gave him a playful, suggestive look.

Luo Qingzhou looked at her deeply but he did not say anything else.

After entering the door, he walked toward the beautiful figure sitting under the moonlight in the courtyard. He lowered his head and said respectfully, “First Young Miss.”

He thought that Qin Jianjia would still be the same as before. She would not give him a response, and she would not even look at him.

However, this time, Qin Jianjia turned her gaze to him.