Chapter 16: A Surge of Power! The Death of Wang Fang
Page 1/3
There is a common saying in martial arts: a single resounding strike is worth more than gold.
This “resounding strike” refers to the sound of air being forcefully shattered.
At least, that’s how Wang Jian, a poor student, understood it.
“You just now—?” Wang Jian choked on smoke, coughing repeatedly.
Feng Mu hadn’t expected his punch to make such a sound in the air, but he knew this sound was not the same as the one the martial arts coach spoke of.
Rubbing his sore wrist, Feng Mu explained, “I didn’t concentrate all my strength into one point; my power is still dispersed. Just now, I simply threw a punch with greater force.”
Wang Jian grasped Feng Mu’s meaning and was even more astonished.
What does it mean to say “just greater force”?
This explanation is even more terrifying.
Wang Jian was puzzled: “If your strength is this great, your martial arts scores shouldn’t be at the bottom of the class. If I had your strength, there’s no way I’d give up on the college entrance exam. What if I passed?”
Feng Mu frowned and gave a bitter smile. “You think I don’t want to, but I can’t. I’m strong, but my body is weak. I could only throw one punch just now. If I threw another, my hand would be useless.”
He rolled up his sleeve, and Wang Jian immediately saw the dark bruises extending from his upper arm to his wrist.
Feng Mu sighed deeply, his face drawn. “Martial arts exams aren’t just about one punch. If I can only throw one punch, of course I’d end up at the bottom.”
Wang Jian hesitated, unsure how to comfort him, so he sighed along: “Ah, your strength is basically wasted.”
Feng Mu sighed inwardly. “I think I’ve just managed to fool Wang Jian. I can’t train in front of him anymore. I’m a bottom-tier failing student; suddenly showing such talent in front of familiar classmates would raise suspicion.”
Feng Mu stopped practicing punches and squatted on the steps, idly playing with his folding dagger to pass the time.
He was still savoring that punch in his mind: “Because of iron consumption, my bones are becoming iron-like, causing my strength to surge. But the ironification has only covered my chest and spine so far, not my entire body. So my arms can’t handle the force and get injured?”
“When the ironification covers all my bones, will I be able to use this strength without injury?”
“I remember two months ago in the martial arts mock exam, my punching power was level 0.7. What level is it now?”
“Surely at least level 1, maybe even level 2. After all, I can smash the air with brute force alone. Could I have reached level 3?”
“In the mock exam, Zhao Chong from Class 47 ranked second with punching power at about 2.9. Comparing pure strength, could I surpass him? That’s impossible.”
Feng Mu’s thoughts drifted as he resolved to test his punching power once the ironification covered all his bones.
7:00 p.m., quitting time.
Feng Mu parted ways with Wang Jian at the door and jumped on his bicycle, pedaling furiously, as if trying to take flight.
“Boss, ten pounds of small iron beads, please.”
Feng Mu switched hardware stores again.
He calculated in his mind: “Based on previous progress, consuming all ten pounds of iron beads should increase iron consumption by about 30%, by then the ironification should cover my entire skeleton.”
It took a little over an hour to ride from the incineration plant back home.
Feng Mu hadn’t broken a sweat. The continuous intense body conditioning exercises over recent days had unknowingly improved his endurance.
At home, he ate three bowls of rice, filling half his stomach, and reserved the other half for swallowing iron in his bedroom.
Page 2/3
Basic body conditioning exercises, begin.
One, two, three, four...
After practicing for a while, his proficiency improved. Feng Mu tried slowing down the playback speed a bit, and his body barely kept up.
He trained through the night until 4 a.m.
Because half his stomach was full of rice, the increase in iron consumption was somewhat hindered, but not by much, since carbohydrates were digested and absorbed within an hour.
The daily results were:
[Iron Consumer: Level One]
[Consumable Iron Types: 1]
[Absorbed Metal Properties: 1]
[Current detected consumable iron — regular pig iron, consumption rate 28.1%.]
[Absorbed properties: ???]
—Consumption increased by 2.6%.
Feng Mu closed his eyes and fell asleep.
His breathing on the bed was steady but faint, and the nearby heart rate monitor beeped rhythmically.
The door opened quietly.
A masked figure slipped into the room, slowly approached the bed, took out a folding dagger, twirled it, and suddenly stabbed down.
Blood splattered, staining the white sheets red. The heart rate monitor emitted urgent alarms.
In the hallway, a nurse yawned, leisurely pushed the door open, and her expression changed slightly upon seeing the blood.
“Nurse Li, should we call a doctor?” an intern nurse asked anxiously.
Nurse Li glanced around but saw no sign of an assailant. She deduced that the killer must have jumped out the window before approaching the bed.
The heart rate monitor displayed a flat, steady line.
She withdrew her gaze coldly, glanced at the registration information beside the bed:
Wang Fang
Female
46 years old
Citizen level: Blank civilian
Nurse Li said blandly, “She’s dead in the middle of the night. No need to wake a doctor. She’s just a blank civilian—alive or dead, it’s a waste of air.”
The intern nurse hesitated.
Nurse Li frowned at her expression. “Medical resources are precious. Rather than wasting them on worthless blank civilians, better to free up space for those who matter. Don’t you think so?”
The intern nurse obediently nodded.
Page 3/3
Nurse Li was satisfied and instructed, “Notify the family to claim the body.”
The intern nurse checked the registry and shook her head. “The patient only had one daughter, who died a few days ago.”
Nurse Li was puzzled. “Then where was the patient brought from?”
The intern nurse answered, “From the police station.”
Nurse Li spat quietly in disgust and said, “Then notify the police station toI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.