Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

The stone table in the Class A courtyard was covered with account books.

The head accountant was a thin, old man wearing brass-framed glasses. He moved the abacus so fast that his fingers were almost invisible. The clattering of the beads echoed in the courtyard for a full half-incense stick's time.

The final numbers are in.

Total income in the first month of cooperation: 4,036 taels of silver.

Fang Yuan's 60% share: 2,421 taels.

After deducting the 20% cut taken by the core members of the Fang family.

Monthly net income: 1,937 taels.

Nearly two thousand taels.

Fang Ping stood to the side, his hand trembling as he held the pen. Not from nervousness, but from excitement. As he wrote the final figure on the last page of the ledger, the pen tip pierced the paper.

Manager Qian put away his abacus, and the smile on his lips was three times more sincere than usual.

"Young Master Fang, at this rate, the second month's earnings will not be less than five thousand."

Fang Yuan closed the ledger.

"Can the supply of medicinal herbs keep up?"

"We're already negotiating a second long-term contract with Beishan Medicinal Herb Garden. The quantity will double, and the unit price will be reduced by 15%."

Fang Yuan nodded. He said no more.

Manager Qian, being tactful, took his leave with the chief accountant.

The courtyard fell silent.

Fang Ping stood by the stone table, rubbing his hands together. He opened his mouth several times, but in the end, he couldn't hold back.

"Brother, nearly two thousand taels! Two thousand taels a month! Add that to the shops owned by the Fang family's main members—"

"Go and close the courtyard gate."

Fang Ping was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran to close the door.

The bolt is locked.

The gaps in the windows were covered with thick cloth.

Fang Yuan sat on the floor, the panel unfolded in his palm.

Host: Fang Yuan

Realm: Late stage of the Flesh Refining Realm

Innate talent: 2x (Level 3 amplification requires 1000 taels of silver)

Stance Training Talent: 2x (Level 3 amplification requires 100 taels of silver)

Comprehension Talent: 2x (Level 3 amplification requires 10000 taels of silver)

Current savings: 1997 taels of silver

Fang Yuan's gaze lingered on the line about "Standing Posture Talent".

100 taels.

This was the most cost-effective investment ever.

Consume 100 taels of silver to enhance the stance training talent.

A small pile of silver disappeared from the ground. Silently, without a sound, not even a speck of silver remained.

Stance Training Talent: 4x (Level 4 amplification requires 1000 taels of silver)

The change didn't happen in the brain or in the bones.

It occurs at the tip of every muscle fiber.

Fang Yuan raised his right hand. He spread his five fingers, then closed them again.

He had done this movement countless times. But this time, the movement of his fingers was so precise it was almost unbelievable. The bending angle of every finger bone and the tension distribution of every tendon were all under his control, without the slightest redundancy.

It's like having an extremely precise instrument mounted on your finger.

Fang Yuan stood up and walked to the backyard.

No stone target was found.

He stood in the center of the open space, assuming the starting stance of the Overlapping Wave Fist.

Four times the effort of standing meditation.

Every joint and muscle group in his body became an extremely clear three-dimensional grid in his perception. Fine-tuning that used to require conscious control has now become an instinct as natural as breathing.

Fang Yuan threw a punch.

There was no force applied. It was just a standard straight punch.

However, as the fist moved to its destination, Fang Yuan's torso completed an extremely subtle multidimensional coordination—shoulders sinking, back straightening, spine slightly arching, and intercostal muscles shaking at a specific frequency.

These movements require him to focus on every single step when practicing double the stance.

With four times the effort, they completed the task automatically.

Fang Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

He started throwing punches in quick succession.

First punch. "Pop."

The second punch. "Pop."

The third punch. "Pop."

The fourth punch. "Pop."

All four punches were delivered with the intent of a fist.

The muffled sound of bubbles bursting at the bottom of deep water echoed four times in succession in the backyard. The interval between the four punches was no more than half a breath.

Fang Yuan withdrew his fist and stood still.

In an era where stance training is doubled, the probability of triggering fist intent is less than 20%. This probability is even lower in actual combat when disrupted.

Four times the effort of standing meditation.

Seven out of ten punches land, ensuring consistent output.

This probability means that the essence of boxing is no longer a threshold that can only be reached when fighting for one's life, but a regular weapon that can be used continuously in actual combat.

Fang Yuan closed his eyes. The intermediate twelve forms of the Overlapping Wave Fist unfolded in his mind. The ultimate control brought by four times the stance training and the understanding brought by twice the comprehension combined, and each part of the twelve forms was broken down into finer particles.

New possibilities have emerged for the connection between particles.

The cracks that were invisible before are now clearly visible.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes.

The upper limit of the intermediate twelve forms is not the end. After the last three forms of the twelve forms, there is another layer of structure that he has never touched before—the boxing manual is marked with "advanced variation" in very small print, which he could not understand or practice before.

Now, he can at least understand the literal meaning of the words.

Fang Yuan didn't rush to practice the advanced techniques. He put away his stance and returned to the house.

The panel was still floating in my palm.

Current savings: 1897 taels of silver.

Root talent: 2x (Level 3 amplification requires 1000 taels of silver).

One thousand taels.

No need to wait until the second month. We have enough money.

Fang Yuan did not hesitate.

Consume 1,000 taels of silver to enhance your innate talent.

The numbers below his palm changed silently. The gleaming silver inside the package collapsed again, and a thousand taels of official silver vanished into thin air.

Root Bone Talent: 4x (Level 4 amplification requires 10000 taels of silver)

Change begins from the deepest part of the body.

It's not the burning sensation of blood surging. It's a more fundamental, more intense structural reorganization.

Fang Yuan felt the total amount of qi and blood in his body double in a very short time. The qi and blood of the late-stage Body Refinement Realm, which was already abundant, expanded to a level that his body could hardly bear when his physique increased from two times to four times.

The meridians are swollen.

The blood vessel walls were stretched and became hot due to the significantly increased pressure of blood and qi.

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the floor, his jaw clenched. This throbbing pain was completely different from the "shattering of frosted glass" he felt when his comprehension increased—this was purely his body working overtime.

Blood density doubles. Recovery rate doubles. Perceived body temperature soars. The body feels like it's been stuffed into a furnace.

Sweat seeped from his pores, soaking his clothes. It wasn't ordinary sweat—it was a murky liquid with a faint smell of blood, metabolic waste squeezed out by the rapid circulation of blood and qi.

Fang Yuan's consciousness was extremely clear. His doubled comprehension allowed him to accurately perceive every change taking place within his body.

One of the most significant changes—

As a large amount of Qi and blood surges through the meridians, some of it begins to deviate from its normal path. As if drawn by some instinct, it spontaneously seeps into the bone tissue.

Fang Yuan focused his attention on the bones of his right arm.

On the surface of his radius, within those dense bone structures, countless tiny blood vessels were penetrating like roots.

The surface of the bones is changing extremely slowly. The microstructures are infiltrated, compressed, and rearranged by the flow of qi and blood.

Fang Yuan had read about this process in Fang Yuanshan's notes and the basic teaching materials of the martial arts school.

The hallmark physiological phenomenon of entering the Bone Refining Realm.

Qi and blood spontaneously penetrate into the bones, driving microstructural changes in the bone surface.

Fang Yuan loosened his jaw.

It wasn't because the pain had lessened. It was because he realized that the fourfold increase in bone mass brought about more than just a quantitative change.

This is forcibly pushing his body over a threshold.

He needs time.

Three days.

Fang Yuan locked himself in the backyard training ground. He wouldn't receive anyone, deliver goods, or go to the Baicaotang workshop. As usual, Fang Ping left a food box and Qi-blood soup at the door, but no one answered when he knocked.

Day 1. Driven by four times the strength of his bone structure, the rate at which his Qi and blood permeated his bones far exceeded the progress of a normal martial artist. For an ordinary person, it would take months or even years to progress from the late stage of the Flesh Refining Realm to touching the threshold of the Bone Refining Realm. Fang Yuan's bone surface completed its first round of tempering within twenty-four hours.

The next day, Fang Yuan sensed each of his major bones—the spine, ribs, and long bones of the limbs—one by one. The degree of blood and qi penetration was uneven. The long bones of the limbs progressed the fastest, followed by the spine, and the skull the slowest. This conformed to the distribution pattern of bone density in the human body. He did not forcibly accelerate it, allowing the spontaneous repair function of his four times the strength of his bones to proceed at the body's instinctive rhythm.

The third day at dusk.

Fang Yuan stood in front of the stone target in the backyard. The new target was brought by Fang Ping last week, and it was made of the same material and was the same size as the three broken pieces before.

He raised his right hand.

He didn't make a fist. He simply tapped the surface of the stone target lightly with the second knuckle of his index finger.

"bite."

The voice has changed.

Previously, striking the stone target produced a dull "thud"—the sound of flesh hitting a hard object.

This sound now carries an extremely clear metallic resonance.

It sounded like the echo of a hammer striking an anvil.

Fang Yuan looked down at his fingers. The outline of his finger bones was more prominent than it had been three days ago. The texture of the bones beneath the skin had become hard, not the suppleness of muscles wrapped around the flesh in the Body Refinement Realm, but rather the bones themselves had become as dense as iron.

Early stage of Bone Refining Realm.

Fang Yuan walked back into the house.

Spread out your right palm.

Host: Fang Yuan

Realm: Early stage of Bone Refining Realm

Root Bone Talent: 4x (Level 4 amplification requires 10000 taels of silver)

Stance Training Talent: 4x (Level 4 amplification requires 1000 taels of silver)

Comprehension Talent: 2x (Level 3 amplification requires 10000 taels of silver)

Current savings: 897 taels of silver

The numbers on the panel hung there quietly.

The threshold for the next level of growth has jumped to 10000 taels.

Based on the current monthly net income of two thousand taels, it would take five months.

Five months is too slow.

The way to shorten the cycle is either a larger market and more product lines, or new sources of resources.

Fang Yuan closed the panel.

There was a knock on the courtyard gate.

Fang Yuan opened the door.

Fang Ping stood outside the door, his expression extremely complex. It wasn't the tension of bad news, nor the relaxation of good news. It was a strange expression that even he himself couldn't quite define.

"Two things," Fang Ping said in a low voice. "Both arrived today."

Fang Yuan leaned against the door frame, gesturing for him to speak.

"First thing. News from merchants on the trade route—an underground space has been discovered near Liangshui City. It's said to be something left behind by ancient cultivators. Blackstone City and Cloud Smoke City have both sent people to confirm it. The three cities are preparing to jointly develop it, with each city sending its younger generation of martial artists to explore it. What's it called again—"

Fang Ping scratched his head.

"The Hundred Beast Cave. The Fang family has already received an invitation to participate."

Fang Yuan's eyelids lifted slightly.

Ancient cultivators' remains. Joint exploration by three cities. A new generation of martial artists.

This is not a simple instance exploration. In this place where the three city factions meet, resources and risks are directly proportional.

"And the second one?"

Fang Ping's expression became even stranger.

"It's from the city gate. They say a caravan from the direction of the county seat entered Liangshui City this afternoon. It wasn't large, but the guards were strange—the city gate guards said their legs went weak when the caravan passed by."

Fang Ping swallowed.

"There's a woman at the very front. She's not very old, and the guard said he couldn't see what she looked like because—"

"Why?"

"Because when she passed through the city gate, the guards immediately took two steps back. It wasn't that they wanted to back down, they just couldn't stand still."

Fang Yuan's fingers unconsciously scratched against the door frame.

The direction of the county town. The martial arts practitioners guarding the city are far more skilled than those in Liangshui City. A young woman who can make the city gate guards instinctively retreat.

This is not at the level of Liangshui City.

What markings are on the team's flag?

Fang Ping shook his head. "The guards said they've never seen him before. He's not from any of the three major families, nor from any force in Liangshui City."

Fang Yuan did not press the matter further.

He walked to the window.

Beyond the window frame lay the skyline of Liangshui City at dusk. The city walls, rooftops, and distant houses with smoke rising from their chimneys were bathed in a golden-red light from the setting sun.

On the official road in the direction of the city gate, a flag can be vaguely seen.

The wind unfurled a corner of the flag.

Fang Yuan didn't recognize the patterns embroidered on it.

The flags fluttered in the evening breeze.