Chapter 48 - 49: Extreme Ape Arm Skill, Might of the Copper Arm

Chapter 48: Chapter 49: Extreme Ape Arm Skill, Might of the Copper Arm

SMACK!

Just as Guo Zhong thought he had victory in the bag, he suddenly felt a fierce gust of wind from a palm strike. It landed softly against his head.

In an instant, a tremendous force crashed into him like a tidal wave. His head immediately rang with a deafening BUZZZZ.

The world seemed to turn upside down. The sun, moon, and stars flashed before his eyes before everything went black. As if he had slammed into the surface of the ocean, his body trembled uncontrollably. His eyes rolled back, and his mind went entirely blank.

To the onlookers, the scene was incredibly bizarre. One second, Guo Zhong had been moving with explosive power and fierce aggression. The next, right after a loud SMACK, they saw his body fly backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily to the ground.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t until Guo Zhong hit the floor that Guo Hao and the others finally snapped back to reality.

"Father!"

"Master!"

Startled, Guo Hao and the disciples rushed to Guo Zhong’s side. "Father, are you alright?" he asked with deep concern.

"Don’t move me... It’s... it’s going to break!" Guo Zhong muttered in a daze.

Hearing this, they immediately stopped.

"You lost!" the burly man’s voice rang out.

Guo Hao opened his mouth to speak but ultimately swallowed his words in silence.

"Cough, cough... wait a moment. I’m fine. Help me up, I can still fight!"

However, Guo Zhong refused to accept defeat. Pushing his body to its limits, he wanted to continue battling the burly man. He staggered to his feet with the help of Guo Hao and the others, then pushed their hands away. But the moment they let go, his body collapsed like a puddle of mud.

"Forget it, we admit defeat!"

Seeing this, Guo Hao sighed helplessly and surrendered on Guo Zhong’s behalf.

Guo Zhong didn’t speak, though a look of bitter resentment washed over his face. If he had known this guy possessed such tremendous physical strength, he would have used his internal energy right from the start. Even if he still couldn’t defeat the opponent, he at least wouldn’t have lost face so spectacularly!

The burly man nodded, accepting Guo Hao’s surrender. Then, right in front of everyone, he leaned down and tucked the one hundred taels Guo Hao had brought out into his robes. At the same time, he pulled the ten taels in silver notes out of his own coin pouch and strode away.

Watching him leave, Guo Zhong, Guo Hao, and the rest were full of questions. They exchanged bewildered glances, completely failing to understand the burly man’s intentions. Could it be that the opponent took pity on them, knowing how hard it was to make money, and intentionally left behind ninety taels of silver?

For a moment, all sorts of speculations crossed their minds. But overall, it seemed like a favorable turn of events—a pleasant surprise amidst the shock.

"Go check it," said Guo Zhong, who had recovered slightly. "Although we just lost one hundred taels, if we gained ninety taels in return, the overall loss isn’t too significant. I can accept that!"

Guo Hao nodded. He got up, picked up the coin pouch, and opened it. His face instantly drained of color.

"What’s wrong?" Guo Zhong immediately noticed the shift in his expression. His heart tightened as he hastily asked.

Guo Hao didn’t say a word. Instead, he placed the pouch in front of Guo Zhong. Guo Zhong took one look and cried out in shock, "It’s full of stones!"

"Preposterous!" The realization hit Guo Zhong, filling him with boundless fury. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he practically breathed fire as he roared, "You brat! How dare you trick me!"

As he cursed, his Qi Blood surged to his heart and shot straight into his brain. Feeling a sudden wave of severe dizziness, Guo Zhong fainted on the spot.

"Father!"

Leaving the Guo Martial Arts Hall, Su Chen was in a fantastic mood with his unexpectedly acquired one hundred taels tucked away. He had originally only intended to challenge the dojo and avenge Hong Ming, but the opponent had insisted on a wager. Left with no choice, he had used a single silver note and a bunch of stones to fake a pouch of one hundred taels. Fortunately, the other party hadn’t inspected it closely, allowing him to bluff his way through. Winning their one hundred taels in the end was definitely an unexpected bonus.

"With these one hundred taels, I can upgrade the Ape Arm Skill," he thought. Finding a secluded corner, Su Chen changed back into his original clothes. He then turned and left, planning to return home and use Krypton Gold on the Ape Arm Skill.

Half an hour later, Su Chen returned home from the Money Shop. He eagerly topped up and activated the Easy Mode:

[Easy Mode Activated: Swing your arms five hundred times to train the Ape Arm Skill to the limit.]

An hour later, the panel refreshed:

[Martial Arts: ... Extreme Ape Arm Skill] 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Just like the Turtle Shell Skill, the Ape Arm Skill could no longer activate the top-up mode once it reached the extreme level.

"Only the Bone Shrinking Skill is left!" Su Chen pondered as he looked at the panel.

On the panel, aside from the Iron Cloth Shirt, only the Bone Shrinking Skill hadn’t reached its limit. It also required one hundred taels, but Su Chen wasn’t in a hurry. For now, the Bone Shrinking Skill was sufficient for his needs.

Immediately after, Su Chen shifted his gaze to the Frenzy Wave Saber Technique. As his strength increased, he found himself using saber techniques less and less. Although he had initially learned it with the intention of executing sneak attacks, if this trend continued, he might not even need it in the future.

"Besides, if I can find a complete saber technique, I might be able to fuse it and create a new saber technique, just like I did with the Iron Wire Fist and the Iron Sand Palm. It’s just that a complete saber technique isn’t exactly easy to find!"

Su Chen pondered, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out where to find one. After all, even basic fist and kick arts could be the closely guarded secrets of minor dojos, let alone weapon techniques.

"Forget it, I’ll deal with the saber technique if the opportunity arises. For now, I should focus on upgrading the Iron Cloth Shirt."

Now that the Ape Arm Skill had reached its limit, Su Chen only needed to find ten portions of Qi and Blood Powder to directly unlock the Easy Mode. Compared to tracking down a complete saber technique, this was obviously much faster. Naturally, it took priority.

"As for the Qi and Blood Powder, Master Hong probably won’t be able to provide me with any in the short term. But that’s fine, I have the nameless pill recipe. I just don’t know if Red Blood Grass is still in short supply. I’ll go ask tomorrow."

Su Chen felt somewhat guilty for constantly asking Hong Ming for Qi and Blood Powder, so he intended to gather the medicinal ingredients and brew it himself.

Having made up his mind, Su Chen finally looked down at his arms. His skin didn’t show any obvious changes, but its newfound hardness genuinely impressed him. He lightly tapped his arm and immediately felt a faint repulsive force bounce back against his palm.

"What powerful defense!"

Running his fingers over his arm, Su Chen felt as though he were touching a layer of solid copper. When he flexed, his skin instantly tightened, feeling as though it were forged from countless interlocking pieces of steel. The defense was astonishing.

CRACK! He struck his arm against a stone, and the rock instantly shattered to pieces on the ground.

Seeing this, Su Chen was inwardly amazed. "Not only has the defense strengthened, but the attack power and physical strength have also increased."

He then executed the Turtle Shell Skill, and a layer of black armor instantly covered his body from head to toe. Although there was no black armor on his arms, their offensive and defensive power was in no way inferior to it.

After some more testing, Su Chen withdrew his stance in satisfaction. He thought to himself, "Combined with the Turtle Shell Skill, my entire body has almost no weaknesses left, except for my head and feet. So, my next goal is to increase the offensive and defensive capabilities of my head and feet!"