Martial Arts Have Mastery - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: A Proposition

Translator: Tuiwen Editor: Tuiwen

Shen Ling couldn’t find anyone in the barracks to help him. This was because as soon as the soldiers saw him, they all ran away.

Helplessly, Shen Ling returned to his courtyard to rest while he waited for the sharecroppers to wake up.

There was nothing else he could do. After all, he couldn’t cultivate the Iron Body Technique alone.

Because this Iron Body Technique wasn’t attacked, his proficiency didn’t increase at all.

Shen Ling rested for a long time before opening his eyes in the afternoon.

He went to the southern square of the sharecroppers’ village and saw that there were already a few people practicing their Saber Techniques.

Although they had taken back Qi Hua City, the soldiers who had been sent here hadn’t been transferred yet. The soldiers who had rested had also started cultivating.

In terms of self-discipline, the young sharecroppers wouldn’t lose one bit to Shen Ling.

“Ahem!”

Shen Ling coughed deliberately.

“Hello, Young Master!”

The young men greeted him respectfully immediately they saw him.

“Hello!”

Shen Ling said with a nod as he thought of how to speak.

He had scared the soldiers, but after thinking hard for a long time, he still couldn’t figure out what the reason was.

“Well, hit me!”

Shen Ling said in a low voice as he looked at the men in front of him.

“Pa!”

The young sharecropper put away his Saber and punched Shen Ling.

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + 2.’

It worked!

Shen Ling said excitedly, “Give me one more punch!”

“Pa!”

Another punch came.

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + 2.’

Shen Ling’s eyes lit up. He looked at the young sharecroppers in the distance and shouted, “You guys should come over too.”

The special training had officially begun.

Shen Ling took away the inner force of the Iron Shirt scattered on the surface of his body.

He was surrounded by four or five young sharecroppers. They were about to launch a one-on-one fight!

“Pa!”

“Pa!”

“Pa!”

This made Shen Ling feel so good.

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + 5.’

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + 3.’

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + 6.’

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + 9.’

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + …’

Although he would feel the pain caused by the blows after switching off the Iron Shirt, the rising proficiency made Shen Ling feel that he could still tolerate it!

It didn’t take long for his Iron Body Technique to step into the first level.

His muscles and bones made a series of explosive sounds, and his height got to 1.85 meters.

Ten minutes later, he had risen to the second level of Iron Body Technique!

Shen Ling’s body changed again. Although he didn’t grow taller, his muscles became even tighter.

Another hour passed, he rose to the third level of the Iron Body Technique!

Shen Ling exerted a little strength, and he couldn’t feel the pain from the punches and kicks anymore!

Four hours later, he was at the fourth level of the Iron Body Technique!

After changing several people, in less than one afternoon, Shen Ling’s mastery of the Iron Body Technique soared like a rocket!

He couldn’t help but smile.

He believed that if the madman knew about this in the underworld, he would be shocked that he could cultivate this martial art so fast!

‘Cultivation technique: Iron Body Technique [rank-four low-grade cultivation technique, level 4, proficiency 0/50,000].’

But soon enough, Shen Ling opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, “Stop!”

In an instant, the surrounding sharecroppers stopped at the same time, waiting for another order from him.

“What was going on?”

Shen Ling looked at himself.

After entering the fourth level of the Iron Body Technique, his proficiency notification stopped abruptly.

There was no increase in proficiency for more than ten minutes, and Shen Ling felt something was wrong.

However, since he had gotten all the information about the Iron Body Technique, he raised his head slowly and said, “Take the knife and cut me!”

Although they never hesitated when they heard his request, this time the young sharecroppers became hesitant.

One of them asked, “Young Master Shen, are you sure?”

Shen Ling nodded in reply, “Yes, I’m sure!”

While breathing, Shen Ling released the inner energy of the Iron Shirt.

This was the first time he had to be attacked while standing, and he wasn’t sure if his fourth layer of Iron Body Technique could withstand this.

So, he activated the Iron Shirt, both internal and external defenses.

“Clang!”

The Podao struck Shen Ling’s body with a loud report.

When the sharecropper’s knife was knocked away, Shen Ling remained unharmed.

This won’t do!

Shen Ling weakened the Iron Shirt’s inner strength. He didn’t feel anything special with the attack just now.

As a result, he did not obtain the proficiency of the Iron Body Technique.

“Do it again!”

Shen Ling said.

Another slash!

‘You have completed one successful training of the Iron Body Technique, proficiency + 5.’

It was now effective!

Shen Ling’s eyes lit up. Then he devoted all his attention to cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Shen Ling’s Iron Body Technique had been cultivated to the sixth level, far surpassing the madman, who was at the fourth level.

Right now, even if a young sharecropper tried his best to use the Mountain-splitting Saber Technique, Shen Ling wouldn’t get hurt.

“Young Master Shen!”

Outside Shen Ling’s courtyard, the prefecture overseer of Anzhou came again.

He looked at Shen Ling and said amiably, “Young Master Shen, have you thought about what happened in the past?”

Shen Ling smiled broadly.

Ever since the prefecture overseer got the news that the Green Mountain Bandits in Qi Hua City had been breached, he hadn’t visited the sharecroppers’ village until that moment.

After a detailed understanding of what happened in the previous battle, the prefecture overseer hoped to achieve success in other places.

However, he required Shen Ling’s cooperation on this.

This was because he knew that without Shen Ling’s orders, no matter the benefits he promised, the young sharecroppers won’t make a move.

Shen Ling looked at the prefecture overseer and said bluntly, “I don’t want to work for free. Let’s talk about what I stand to gain from this.”

The prefecture overseer was in shock. He said, “The rise and fall of a country is the responsibility of the people. You are a man of lofty ideals, Young Master Shen. How can you stoop so low to speak in such a manner?”

Shen Ling shook his head and said in reply, “When I agreed to train 2,000 soldiers for you, I didn’t ask you for a dime. However, you want to let the horses run, but you don’t want to feed them. That’s disappointing if you ask me. One cannot be so greedy.”

Seeing that Shen Ling had defeated him, the prefecture overseer gave in and said, “Alright, Young Master Shen. Name your price!”

With a smile, Shen Ling said, “My requirements aren’t high. I just hope that after helping you, there will be some gains.”

“I want the Qi Hua City!”

Shen Ling said this with a bright smile.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to help the prefecture overseer eliminate the rebel army, but he felt that Qi Hua City had to be under his control!

Now that the Shen family had control of 90% of the land in Qi Hua City, if a county magistrate who didn’t like the Shen family came in the future, it would only make him worried based on what they had at stake.

“You want the Qi Hua City?”

The prefecture overseer of Anzhou asked in surprise. He instantly understood what Shen Ling was talking about. “Young Master Shen, if you want the position of the county magistrate, that is a very easy thing to handle!”

The last county magistrate died of illness five years ago, and since then, no one had taken over his place.

The prefecture overseer thought that Shen Ling was going to ask for something even more expensive, but he didn’t expect that Shen Ling just wanted the position of the county magistrate.

“It’s not for me!”

Shen Ling shook his head and said, “I have no intention of becoming an official, but my father is very much available…”

The prefecture overseer nodded and said, “You don’t have to worry about that. I will write to the capital right away. Once His Majesty approves, we will discuss this matter.”

Shen Ling nodded. “Good..”