Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: The Gathering Storm

Snow caves, icy skies, the cold wind cuts like a blade.

This winter, the snowfall was especially heavy. At a glance, everything was blanketed in white. Gu’s Manor was almost devoid of activity, as most people stayed indoors to avoid the cold, minimizing any unnecessary outings.

The mountains were sealed by snow, and travel was difficult.

Gu Sheng no longer went into the mountains to hunt; instead, he focused on practicing Iron Stone Fist and archery at home.

For Gu Sheng, whose body was strong from initial martial arts training, even he felt a hint of chill in this icy world—let alone the ordinary tenant farmers.

Since winter began.

Gu Sheng had already heard multiple accounts from Gu’s Manor of people freezing to death or starving in their homes.

He fell into brief silence; if he hadn’t awakened his innate wisdom and the system panel, he would certainly have been among the frozen corpses this winter.

Exhaling heavily, forming a cloud of white mist in the air, he continued practicing Iron Stone Fist.

The fist techniques moved like a towering mountain, slow as solid stone.

Extracting stillness from slowness, carrying a weighty feeling like the mass of a mountain.

As of today, Gu Sheng was just one step away from breaking through to Small Success in Iron Stone Fist, with a proficiency as high as 99%.

His Power was improving, and the speed of tempering his skin membrane had increased by several percent, achieving remarkable results when combined with five monthly shares of Body Refining Ointment.

As his Power surged, his skin membrane began to show initial changes, already tougher than the average person, especially his fists and arms, which were even more so.

"Iron Stone Fist is considered a third-rate martial art not because its techniques lack ferocity, but because of its method of practice."

"Third-rate martial arts can temper the entire body’s skin, but they have their focus. For Iron Stone Fist, the skin membrane of the fists and arms becomes significantly more durable—more than twice as resilient compared to other areas!"

"If it were second-rate martial arts, or even first-rate martial arts, the regions being tempered would be more comprehensive, potentially reaching a realm where the entire body’s skin membrane is uniformly refined. Unfortunately, martial arts of that level are far beyond my reach—not even Canghe County might have them."

Gu Sheng had learned much from Gu Xiaojiang.

"If there’s a chance in the future, it would be best to address this flaw. While others lack the time to master multiple martial arts, I don’t have that concern. Even if I can’t obtain high-level martial arts, I can still learn several different third-rate martial arts with varying focuses to achieve the same effects—or perhaps even better!"

Thoughts churned in Gu Sheng’s mind.

Exhaling and retracting his fist, three feet of white mist shot out like an arrow, slowly dissipating.

He turned to practice archery.

He had already found the optimal way to pair archery training with Iron Stone Fist.

When Power consumption from Iron Stone Fist became excessive, archery served as a form of recovery. Meanwhile, after completing Iron Stone Fist training, the toughened skin membranes in his arms provided an advantage for archery practice.

Bending the bow and nocking an arrow, his eagle-like eyes were sharp and focused.

Swish!!

A sharp sound of air being pierced echoed out—an arrow shot forth like a meteor, accurately striking a grain of rice at an extreme distance, leaving only a thread swaying in the wind.

Arrow after arrow flew.

Gu Sheng was immensely focused; his progress in archery was astonishingly fast. Not only had training Iron Stone Fist not encroached upon his archery time, but it had instead accelerated his development.

Now, his proficiency had reached 43%!

At this rate, it was highly likely he would surpass the realm of Perfect not long after spring arrives—one to two months sooner than he had originally estimated!

He was increasingly realizing:

Practicing martial arts was not an exclusive trade-off; leveraging related skills could lead to twice the results for half the effort. Mastery of Power provided benefits for archery as well.

"Amazing! Asheng, your archery skills are truly breathtaking—I can’t understand how you’ve trained to this level. I’ve learned archery too, but I’m nowhere close to matching you."

A voice filled with amazement echoed from a distance—it was Gu Xiaojiang.

Gu Sheng turned his head to look, unsurprised. Ever since he stopped training at the martial arts field, Gu Xiaojiang frequently came looking for him at this time. Gu Sheng replied with a smile:

"Each has their own strengths. For instance, your talent in martial arts is something I can’t hope to match."

Gu Xiaojiang laughed heartily.