Breakthrough! Breakthrough!

A wave of excitement swept through Yixing; Liang Qu's "righteous deed" was still stirring up talk. Meanwhile, he had shut his door in haste to cultivate in seclusion. Before going out on the river with Uncle Chen to catch fish, he had tempered his skin once at the martial hall. At that time, he already felt his skin reach its limit—no longer the tight sensation of earlier skin tempering, but swollen and distended. Like the puffy sensation of chilblains in winter, when the knuckles congested and turned purplish, yet on the surface there was nothing visibly unusual. Hu Qi had told him that transitioning from tightness to swelling was a sign that the skin gate had been ground to its limit; breaking through would take only one or two more tempering sessions. Going out on the boat in the morning and returning in the afternoon, most of the day had passed, and his depleted qi and blood were brimming once again. Liang Qu placed the water vat in the middle of the room and broke the ice on its surface. The vat had originally been a large rice vat, but Liang Qu had never cooked, and once he paid the autumn tax, the rice vat had sat empty, used as a water vat ever since. Liang Qu adopted a stance and began practicing his fist forms. Qi and blood were channeled forth, then dispersed into his limbs and entire skeletal frame under intangible guidance. A scorching heat far greater than in the past surged forth in an instant. Liang Qu swiftly stripped off his clothes and sank stark naked into the water. A large amount of icy water spilled over the rim of the vat, wetting the dry, yellowish dirt floor. For the final breakthrough, the heat would far surpass previous levels; a single misstep could scorch one's brain, which made physical cooling a necessity. Scalding currents coursed through his entire body. The billowing heat radiating outward was rapidly wicked away by the cold water. Amid this clash of hot and cold, every breath opened his pores, expelling billowing plumes of white mist. Inside the room, the white mist was as thick as a white curtain, concealing the terrifying sight within the water vat. If someone were to draw back the curtain at this moment, they would see that Liang Qu's entire skin had swollen up, bulging a full finger's thickness. The young man looked as if he had soaked and expanded in the water, a full size larger. Liang Qu himself did not feel the slightest discomfort. He only felt a gentle warmth suffusing his skin as it underwent an astonishing transformation. Fine oils and sweat secreted from his skin, only to be washed away by the water. After undergoing an extended metamorphosis, the bloated skin seemed like a popped balloon, deflating in an instant to cling snugly to Liang Qu's frame once more. An unprecedented sense of refreshment welled up from deep inside, just like gulping down chilled sour plum drink when maddened by heat. It was done! Liang Qu exhaled a heavy breath of turbid air and leaped out of the water, landing on the floor. His physique was tall, straight, and vigorous, the lines of his muscles crisp and smooth, without a trace of his former emaciation. Looking at the grease floating on the surface of the water vat, he gave a light wave. Clear water from a wooden bucket nearby split into two parts; one mass picked up soap, lathered into suds, and swirled around his body. Once he was washed clean, the other mass of water swept over him, rinsing him thoroughly and cleanly. Slipping into a new undershirt, Liang Qu felt there had never been a more comfortable moment than this—the tingling pleasure of fabric rubbing against his freshly tempered skin. Clenching his fists, his spirits soared. He had not imagined the difference between success and failure would be so immense. Though to the eye and touch his skin seemed no different from that of an ordinary person, the moment it was attacked, one would discover its resilience and density, like being draped in several layers of aged ox hide, impervious to ordinary blades. His qi and blood had ascended to another level as well. Having not condensed it yet, he did not know how thick the qi in his chest was, but his body felt light and agile, as if he had shed a suit of iron armor—a sensation of lightness even stronger than when wearing the Cloud-Treading Boots given by Fifth Senior Sister. Water control had become easier as well. With a shift of Liang Qu's thought, all the water in the vat floated in midair, completely effortless, far easier than before. Roughly estimating his limit from the volume before him, he realized his water-control capacity had surged to five hundred jin! Communicating with the Marsh Cauldron, the Water Monkey's fusion had not changed, remaining at 49. So the same degree of fusion, when built on a different physical foundation, yielded different results? Liang Qu was overjoyed. Initially, he had thought that maxing out the fusion to control six hundred jin of water was powerful, but ever since realizing the prospects of the martial master path, he had begun to feel that a white-grade Water Monkey marsh spirit was nothing to boast about. As it turned out, the one who wasn't up to par was actually himself? If all four gates were broken through and the Water Monkey reached max fusion, his water control would surely reach several tons! Most delightfully, Liang Qu also discovered that the spiritual link in his mind had been compressed—no, rather, his spirit had grown, leaving an empty spot the size of Cannot Move's link, meaning he now had the spare capacity to dominate another water beast! A double blessing! Suddenly discovering that his two abilities complemented each other, yielding double the rewards for half the effort—there was nothing more satisfying than this. Liang Qu tied up his hair, glanced at the puddles across the floor, and pushed open the door to sweep them out, only to feel an unexpected impact against the door. "Ouch!" Clutching his nose, Liang Guangtian stumbled backward and fell flat on his rear, sprawling out. The drawstring cloth bag in his hand dropped to the ground, its neck loosening, and what spilled out was gleaming white rice. Liang Qu looked down, unable to tell what trick he was playing. Folding his arms, he leaned against the doorframe and chuckled, "Well, well, isn't this my dear uncle? What brings you looking for me today? Something the matter?" Liang Guangtian's nose was bright red and tears welled in his eyes. Hearing the voice, he scrambled up from the ground, but when he raised his eyes and saw Liang Qu, he was too stunned to speak. Wait, was this his nephew? How could he have changed so much in just a few quarters of an hour? Liang Guangtian scurried back a few paces and looked all around. That's right, this was his elder brother's run-down cottage! He stepped closer to inspect Liang Qu again and found it was indeed his nephew—the facial contours were identical, only he was much fairer. His skin was still deep-toned, but could no longer be called black; it was a warm wheat color, and the skin across his face was smooth and ruddy, not looking in the least like a fisherman's son. Even his height had gained an inch or two. Different. Truly different. Liang Qu tilted his head slightly. "What are you staring at?" Liang Guangtian pulled his gaze back and offered a sheepish laugh. "Ah Shui, remember when you came to my place last time to borrow grain? Our family really couldn't scrape anything together back then. But you don't know, during those days, I was so worried I couldn't eat or sleep! Thinking of you all alone, with only me, your uncle, to rely on... "Now that the autumn tax is paid, we finally saved a little, so I hurried over to bring it to you! Well? You didn't starve, did you?" After going home earlier, the more Liang Guangtian thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. How could a poor brat on the brink of starvation possess such great capability? Turning it over in his mind, under his wife's urging, he had hurriedly grabbed a bag of grain and rushed over, hoping to act as though nothing had ever happened. Liang Qu naturally didn't believe this nonsense—only a fool would. He had spotted Liang Guangtian in the crowd earlier and hadn't planned on paying him any mind. To see him now turn up at the door acting like he knew nothing at all... Liang Qu could only marvel at his shamelessness. Back when he went to Liang Guangtian's house to borrow grain, refusing to lend was one thing, but Liang Guangtian had publicly cursed him as a jinx who had brought death to his own parents, reviling him for bad luck and driving him out. Liang Guangtian didn't utter a single word about any of that, but Liang Qu hadn't forgotten a single thing. "No need for the grain. Take it back and eat it yourself. I'm not short on food now." "Well, that's grand, I was really worried—" Saying so, Liang Qu moved to shut the door, not bothering to bicker with Liang Guangtian, and even less interested in listening to him talk. Things were not what they used to be; there was no need to argue. It brought no benefit and only lowered his dignity. "Hey, hey, hey, don't close the door! Don't close the door!" Liang Guangtian thrust his hand between the two door panels to block them. Liang Qu couldn't easily force it shut—not because he feared hurting Liang Guangtian, but because the door was flimsy; forcing it would break the door before hurting the man. Instead, he simply swung the door open and stared at him coldly. Liang Guangtian felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up under the stare, but he braced himself anyway: "My Liuzi is fourteen or fifteen now, and you're Master Yang's prized apprentice now, making something of yourself! Look, could you bring your younger brother in too? He's been clever since he was little, you know that! He's bound to make something of himself in the future and be a huge help to you!"