061 Hot Water ‘Soaking’ Feet

As the clock ticked past five in the afternoon, Chen Jue wrapped up his training, wiped away the sweat, slipped on a pair of freshly bought flip-flops, and wandered leisurely down to the beach.

The emerald sea surged with waves. Though Dongdao County was surrounded by the ocean on three sides, the large sediment content from the Ou River behind it muddied the waters, so they lacked the crystal blue clarity seen in famous seaside resorts. Only by sailing several kilometers beyond the coastline could one glimpse the deep, almost black-blue ocean; closer in, the water was either murky and yellowish, or, as Chen Jue now saw, a vivid green.

Even so, the window to enjoy emerald waters here was brief, limited to summer and autumn. Come winter and spring, the beach was battered by muddy yellow waves, and few cared to visit.

After strolling along the sand and admiring the grand spectacle of the sun plunging into the sea, Chen Jue ambled up to the road and called a cab into town for dinner.

Returning to his small villa, he rested for a while. When night had fully fallen, he hefted the hundred-pound stone sphere and slipped out to the rocky coast behind the bluff, where he continued his underwater training.

Practicing beneath the waves was especially effective for accumulating free attribute points. Moreover, his Taiji boxing and thirteen-form stance training progressed rapidly in the relentless currents, proficiency now at (1356/2000). With daily morning and evening dives, he estimated another breakthrough in less than three days.

…

With a splash, stone sphere in hand, Chen Jue plunged into the sea, diving deeper than he had that morning. Fresh from perfecting his iron body technique, his defenses had grown stronger. Inch by inch, he pressed onward into the dark seabed until the surrounding waters were pitch black and icy, the pressure on his chest nearly unbearable. Only then did he retreat about ten meters to a stable spot.

“This should do.”

“Any further and I’d have to force it, couldn’t focus on training.” Wearing his diving mask, he glanced around at the inky depths. He had descended so far that not a trace of moonlight reached him. The silent, dark environment was a severe test of willpower.

Fortunately, schools of fish, scuttling shrimp, and prawns busied themselves nearby. Chen Jue was not the only living creature here. Steadying himself with the stone sphere, he focused on sensing the currents, and with his progress in the Taiji stance, he was beginning to grasp how to channel hidden force throughout his body.

Daytime training had also boosted his constitution, letting him hold his breath even longer!

He practiced beneath the sea for nearly twenty-five minutes before hauling himself and the stone sphere up onto the rocky shore.

---

“That stone sphere will be fine here—over a hundred pounds, no fisherman is likely to haul it away.” With this thought, Chen Jue wedged the sphere into a crevice between the rocks.

Then he sprinted back to the villa atop the bluff. His perfected iron body technique had toughened his skin so much that he raced through patches of brambles without slowing down.

Once home, he took a hot shower and discovered several thorny bramble needles embedded deep in the sides of his thighs. They didn’t hurt, but after pulling them out, thin streaks of blood seeped out, which healed quickly after rinsing with hot water.

“Even a thorn can pierce my defenses!”

“Clearly, I need to keep working on hardening my body!” Chen Jue felt dissatisfied.

In his view, unless he could withstand knife strikes and bullets with his flesh, he wasn’t living up to his awakened attribute panel.

But everything had to be gradual. It hadn’t even been a month since awakening the panel, and his progress was already remarkable.

…

After his shower, he practiced the Tendon-Changing Classic to invigorate blood and dissolve bruises, sipped some restorative soup, and spent over an hour recovering from the exertion of his underwater training.

At eight-thirty, Chen Jue pulled up instructional videos on his phone, watching and matching his movements to continue practicing the Thirteen Protectors Hard Training.

By nine, he finally crossed the last twenty points in skill proficiency for the level-zero technique.

Thirteen Protectors Hard Training leveled up!

A strange muscle memory swept through his body like an electric current. Heat surged through him, his skin flushed and tingled, and as he channeled his strength, his entire body crackled with a chorus of popping sounds. His stomach churned violently, quickly digesting the restorative soup he had drunk earlier.

He went to ladle out two more bowls of medicinal soup and practiced the upgraded technique several more times before the transformation subsided.

Turning in front of the mirror, he noticed his muscles and bones seemed to have grown slightly larger. Luckily, the clothes he bought in town that afternoon were roomy enough—he’d anticipated changes after further breakthroughs in his martial arts.

Additionally, his skin had grown as tough as jade, with a lustrous, white, jade-like texture under the warm, bright lights.

Heading to the villa’s backyard, he tore off a bramble stem and lashed it against his skin. The same thorns that had previously pierced his skin now stopped short, unable to penetrate!

Only if Chen Jue foolishly pushed the thorn in with force might it break through and draw blood.

---

“My skin is tougher now!”

Chen Jue was pleased. He returned to his room and practiced the newly mastered Thirteen Protectors Hard Training until exhausted, then wiped his sweat, prepared a hot bath, and lounged comfortably on the sofa in the living room. He searched for a nature documentary, stretched his legs into a tub filled with boiling water.

“Hiss!”

“Whew!”

“So good! So hot!”

“But still bearable!”

Chen Jue let out a comfortable sigh. Most people, when soaking their feet to relax, used water at forty to fifty degrees at most. Older folks, with thicker skin, might tolerate sixty degrees. Anything hotter would cause problems.

But Chen Jue?

After cultivating both iron body and Thirteen Protectors Hard Training, his skin’s resistance had soared so much that soaking his feet in anything below a hundred degrees felt unsatisfying.

Only freshly boiled, rolling-hot water would do!

At this temperature, a live chicken would lose its feathers, a live pig would squeal in pain; only a dead pig—or rather, only someone as abnormal as Chen Jue—could tolerate water hot enough to blister ordinary skin.

And when the water cooled, he’d go and boil another kettle, pouring it directly into the tub without even lifting his feet. His attention was utterly absorbed by the documentary playing on the television.

He truly was becoming less and less like a normal person.