Chapter 5: Iron Cloth Shirt Levels Up!

“Stop.”

Two cold shouts rang out. The two figures behind them, with faint golden light flickering at their feet, suddenly accelerated their speed.

Like ghosts, they even left afterimages in their original spots.

“I’ve already notified Senior Ziling. She’ll be here in two minutes.”

Zhou Wen gasped for breath and said, “Put me down.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Changkong was startled, feeling his vision blur as two figures appeared ahead, blocking their path.

“Zhou Wen, relying on an ordinary person who hasn’t cultivated Star Power to help you—what kind of ability is that?”

The two of them glared coldly at him. “Get down and prepare to die.”

“This has nothing to do with him. Whatever you want, bring it on.”

Zhou Wen climbed down from Jiang Changkong’s back and glared at them. “But think carefully—Senior Ziling will be here any moment.”

“This is between us. It has nothing to do with Ji Ziling. Today, we’re only beating you up. And you—if you dare interfere, you’ll get beaten too.”

The two spoke coldly.

“Between us? You agreed to a one-on-one fight, but you brought a whole group to gang up on me. Do you even have any shame?”

Zhou Wen cursed loudly. He had been tricked today.

They had agreed to a one-on-one fight, but in the end, a whole group had attacked him alone.

“They insisted on beating you up. What could I do?”

The two blushed slightly, clearly aware they had gone too far.

“Beat them up. Ji Ziling is coming soon.”

One of them lunged directly at Zhou Wen.

The other suddenly realized they were running out of time.

“Wait, no need for you to beat me. I’ll do it myself.”

Jiang Changkong flipped his hand and took out a small knife.

Thud

He stabbed it into his thigh. It hurt a little.

But it didn’t matter.

Essence +1.

“You… what are you doing?”

The two were dumbfounded, their raised hands frozen mid-air.

We were just going to beat you up—we never said anything about stabbing you with a knife.

“I think it’s better if I do it myself.”

Thud

Another stab.

Essence +1 again.

The two felt as if they had been utterly bamboozled.

Zhou Wen: “…”

Brother, they were only going to give you a light beating. They weren’t this brutal.

Thud

“Stop, stop stabbing yourself. We’ll leave, alright?”

The two backed down. This guy was a total madman.

Thud

Don’t leave in such a hurry. My Iron Shirt skill is improving—it’s been a while since I last stabbed myself.

I can endure a few more stabs now.

“Brother, don’t do this.” Zhou Wen quickly grabbed him.

Doesn’t it hurt?

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A cold voice rang out. Ji Ziling had arrived.

Dressed in white, she looked like an immortal fairy.

Too bad she was a comrade.

“Se-senior, you might not believe this, but he stabbed himself with that knife.”

The two trembled slightly.

“I believe you.”

Ji Ziling nodded.

The two: “…”

What was going on? She believed them?

They hadn’t expected Ji Ziling to believe them at all.

But she did.

“Then… then it has nothing to do with us.”

The two shook their legs, still somewhat fearful.

Ji Ziling stared coldly at them. “You hurt someone, and you’re not going to compensate?”

“Zhou Wen wasn’t hurt by us. It was a group of people who beat him up.” The two lowered their heads, not daring to look at her.

“Hmm?”

“Two Star Stones should be enough.”

They quickly took out two stones and gently placed them on the ground.

The two stones were about the size of a palm. Most of their surfaces were blurry, with only the centers dotted with faint golden specks.

“Go.”

Ji Ziling waved her hand dismissively.

The two felt as if they had been granted amnesty and immediately ran off.

Ji Ziling picked up the two Star Stones and flicked her hand, sending a green light that enveloped the two of them.

“These two are for you.” Ji Ziling handed them to Zhou Wen.

Zhou Wen, healed by the green light, felt his wounds stop bleeding.

Taking the two Star Stones, she handed them to Jiang Changkong: “Take these, thanks to you this time.”

“I didn’t really do much…”

Just as Jiang Changkong was about to decline, he was completely stunned.

Essence: 100, 100, extract?

Two Star Stones actually contained this much Essence?

He glanced at his own Essence: 39.

Four points from his four stabs earlier, originally 15 points, leaving 20 points—all of it was Zhou Wen’s dissipated Essence.

“The injury isn’t serious, heal yourself.”

Ji Ziling stabilized his injury and said.

This isn’t serious?

20 points of Essence—are cultivators really this incredible?

“Thank you, senior sister.” Zhou Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

“Go back and rest.” Ji Ziling turned and left.

“Are these Star Stones from inside the Star Demons?” Jiang Changkong asked.

“Yes, these two are the lowest grade. Keep them for yourself. See you tomorrow at the clinic.”

After saying this, Zhou Wen hurried away—he needed to go back and recover from his injuries.

Jiang Changkong was a bit dazed—200 points straight away, that’s a lot.

Iron Shirt could be perfected halfway now.

Holding the two Star Stones, he returned to his room, too excited to fall asleep until late at night.

Those four stabs earlier were pretty good.

Saved him from a beating.

If he had taken a beating, who knows how severe it would have been.

Too light, and there’d be no Essence.

Too heavy, and he’d suffer.

Stabbing with a knife was much more satisfying.

He slept until dawn, got up, and went to work.

Arriving at the clinic, Zhou Wen and Ji Ziling were already there.

“Hand it over.” Ji Ziling said coldly.

“What?” Jiang Changkong was confused, then said gloomily, “The Star Stones?”

Weren’t they promised to him yesterday? Regretting it now?

“Your knife.” Zhou Wen curled his lip. “Keeping a knife on you is too dangerous.”

Jiang Changkong: “…”

Obediently, he took out the small knife and placed it on the table.

The slaughter was about to begin—he wanted to go watch.

“I’m going to watch the slaughter.” Jiang Changkong said.

“I’ll go with you.” Zhou Wen stood up to accompany him.

Ji Ziling didn’t say anything—after those four stabs yesterday, she was still uneasy.

The two of them moved stools and sat together to watch the slaughter.

“Thank you for last night.” Zhou Wen whispered.

“I was just afraid of getting beaten.” Jiang Changkong quickly replied.

“If you were afraid of getting beaten, you wouldn’t have gotten involved.”

Zhou Wen shook his head, took out a stone, and handed it to him: “Take it.”

“A Star Stone?”

Jiang Changkong glanced at it, paused for a moment, then waved his hands repeatedly: “I can’t take it, you already gave me two last night.”

This Star Stone had slightly more golden specks than the previous two.

Essence +400!

Higher grade than the two from last night!

“Take it, I have plenty of these things.”

Zhou Wen said generously: “Once you cultivate Star Power, you can absorb it for training and join a Martial Arts School.”

Unable to refuse, Jiang Changkong could only accept it.

He deeply felt excited about his actions last night.

He did the right thing!

“Those two guys won’t cause you trouble, don’t worry.”

Zhou Wen added: “It’s me who has issues with them. You’re purely a victim, and they’re afraid of you stabbing them.”

“Can you tell me about these Star Stones?”

Jiang Changkong was very curious.

Zhou Wen explained: “Star Stones are the essence of a Star Demon’s entire body, containing abundant Star Power that can be absorbed for cultivation.”

Jiang Changkong understood.

Star Demons also have Essence—their entire essence is condensed from Essence. Star Power probably counts as “Qi,” right?

After learning about Star Stones, Jiang Changkong continued watching the slaughterhouse.

Even though he had Star Stones now, every little bit still counted.

They worked until 10 p.m. again before returning to the clinic.

In the afternoon, they continued watching. Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled: “Why are you watching slaughtering? Do you really want to become a butcher?”

“That’s the idea.”

Jiang Changkong replied. If he killed with his own hands, he should be able to obtain more Essence.

The afternoon shift ended at 8 p.m.

After work, he returned home and locked the door securely.

Essence: 657

Upgrade Iron Shirt.

A warm current surged within his body, spreading to his limbs and bones.

His bones crackled like popping beans.

A faint bronze glow appeared on his skin.

The world seemed clearer. Looking out the window, he could even see the veins on weeds a hundred meters away.

Faint sounds reached his ears—the footsteps of passersby.

His five senses were enhanced!

Muscles bulged across his body, with eight-pack abs and solid, sinewy flesh.

He resembled a soldier honed over countless years—perfectly built, lean, and exuding a heroic aura.

The hidden injuries in his body had long since vanished. He felt energetic, with abundant qi and blood, like a small furnace.

Jiang Changkong’s eyes widened. Inside his body, a stream of energy was circulating along a crude pathway.

The panel had also changed:

Jiang Changkong: early-stage stellar qi

Low-grade lower-tier martial art: Bronze Skin Iron Bone Technique: Beginner 1/500

Essence: 225.7

He had leveled up!

The basic martial art Iron Shirt had upgraded to a low-grade lower-tier martial art!

“Low-grade lower-tier? Why did the Essence decrease so much? Did it shrink?”

He opened his phone and searched for information on martial art grading.

Martial arts were divided into four major tiers: low, middle, high, and top.

Each tier was further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades.

Low-grade lower-tier martial arts could be cultivated to peak stellar qi!

The energy inside his body was Star Power!

By circulating it along a specific pathway, he could absorb Star Power from the world to enhance himself.

As for Martial Dao grading: stellar qi, Star Cloud, Star Sea.

Higher levels had little information online.

The Star Stone he obtained was likely from the stellar qi realm.

Zhou Wen’s piece probably didn’t exceed the stellar qi realm either.

If it were a Star Cloud Level Star Demon, the Star Stone it produced would definitely contain more than 400 points of Essence.

As for the shrinkage of Essence, it was likely because he had improved.

Weak Essence was almost negligible. Since he had grown stronger, the 200 points of Essence extracted earlier came from the Star Stone.

The Essence from the Star Stone hadn’t shrunk because the Star Demon was powerful, while the remaining Essence was relatively weaker.

The remaining 25.7 points—those 20 points probably came from Zhou Wen and hadn’t shrunk.

This discovery left him somewhat frustrated.