My Martial Dao Has No Bottlenecks

「The twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month.」

Liang Cheng changed into a plain cloth robe. Lady Ning had already prepared incense, candles, and paper money. They took a carriage back to the small coastal village.

After getting out of the carriage, Liang Cheng took out a prepared bamboo basket and helped Lady Ning to Father Liang’s cenotaph on the seaside slope of the back mountain.

Lady Ning lit the incense and candles, arranged the offerings, and softly murmured about recent family affairs. Liang Cheng knelt before the headstone, silently burning paper money.

The paper ash swirled upwards, mixing with the morning mist. Lady Ning sat for a long time before finally wiping her tears away. Liang Cheng kowtowed three times, then they returned to the village. At the entrance, they ran into members of the Sea Snake Gang.

Three men were going door to door, collecting "New Year’s goods." They carried chickens and ducks in their hands and sacks of rice on their shoulders. The one in the lead was Scarface.

They came face to face on the narrow dirt path. Scarface looked up and saw Liang Cheng, and his face instantly turned deathly pale. The two live chickens in his hand fell to the ground with a flurry of flapping wings, scrambling into the roadside grass.

"Master Liang..." Scarface’s throat felt dry. He tried to force a smile, but the corner of his mouth twitched as if cramping.

The two younger gang members behind him didn’t recognize Liang Cheng and were stunned to see their leader in such a state.

Liang Cheng’s gaze swept over the rice sacks in their hands and the cured meat tucked under their arms. He said nothing. Lady Ning gently tugged on her son’s sleeve.

Liang Cheng stepped aside to let them pass. As if granted a pardon, Scarface bowed and scraped, practically hugging the roadside ditch as he scurried by.

The two younger gang members followed his example, shrinking their necks and hurrying away.

After taking a dozen steps, Scarface seemed to remember something. He turned and called out in a trembling voice, "Don’t worry, Master Liang! We stopped collecting ’tributes’ from this village a long time ago. We’d never dare!"

Lady Ning sighed softly and shook her head, but said nothing.

The two returned to their old house. They hadn’t been back in a long time, and it was covered in cobwebs. Liang Cheng helped Lady Ning clean up.

The surrounding neighbors wore complicated expressions. After greeting them, none dared to come over and disturb them. Liang Cheng was, after all, different now.

The entire village had benefited from his status. At the very least, the Sea Snake Gang no longer dared to openly collect money, and life had become much more peaceful.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate. They seemed to hesitate at the entrance, not coming in. Liang Cheng put down his tools and pulled the wooden gate open.

Two old men stood outside.

It was Big Head’s father, Chen the Fourth, and Er Gou’s father. Both were carrying gifts—a basket of eggs and two salted fish.

"Liang’s boy..." Chen the Fourth spoke first, his voice hoarse.

"Uncles, please come in and talk." Liang Cheng stepped aside.

The two men entered the house and put down their things, looking a little reserved. Lady Ning brought them hot tea. They accepted it with both hands, the teacups trembling slightly.

After a moment of silence, Er Gou’s father put down his teacup and pulled a crumpled envelope from his robe. "Landlord Chen had someone deliver this over half a year ago. He said Er Gou and Big Head sent it..."

Inside the envelope was a sheet of paper with a few lines of crooked writing. It said they were busy with a merchant caravan, too busy to return for the New Year, and not to worry.

Chen the Fourth hurriedly pulled out a similar envelope with much the same message.

"Liang’s boy," Chen the Fourth said, looking up. Something flickered in his cloudy eyes. "You’re successful now. You got into the Martial Arts Academy and know a lot of people. Could you... could you help us ask Landlord Chen..."

He paused, swallowing hard. "Just ask him where Big Head and Er Gou are so busy. And when can they come back for a visit?"

Liang Cheng looked at the two old men. ’They probably already suspect the truth,’ he thought, ’but they aren’t willing to face it.’

’Once that illusion is broken and they see the emptiness inside, they won’t be able to go on living.’

After a moment of silence, Liang Cheng spoke. "Landlord Chen said their caravan traveled far, up north. A round trip takes two or three years."

Liang Cheng’s voice was steady. The two old men stared at him, as if searching his face for even the slightest crack in his story.

At that moment, Liang Cheng took out two red envelopes he had prepared earlier. Each contained a twenty-tael silver banknote. He pushed them across the table.

"Landlord Chen asked me to bring these. He said it’s a year-end bonus from Big Head and Er Gou’s employer so you two can have a good New Year. I was going to bring them over after we finished cleaning, but since you’re here, it saves me a trip."

Chen the Fourth’s hands were shaking violently. As he took the red envelope, his fingernails dug into the paper. Er Gou’s father stared down at the silver banknote for a long time, then suddenly grinned, but his smile was more painful to look at than a grimace.

"Good, good. My Er Gou has made something of himself."

The two men stood up and walked out, their backs hunched. At the courtyard gate, Chen the Fourth suddenly turned back. His lips moved, but in the end, he only managed to say, "Liang’s boy... thank you."

Liang Cheng stood at the gate, watching the two old men support each other as they slowly walked away down the dirt path.

Lady Ning came out from the kitchen, her eyes red. She wiped her hands on her apron.

"Cheng’Er, about Big Head and the others..."

"Mother, they’re fine. They’ve just gone a little far, that’s all. A man’s ambitions lie in the wider world. They’ll be back once they’ve earned a bit more money."

"Mm."

Lady Ning nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.

After they finished cleaning the old house, Liang Cheng and his mother returned to town to welcome another New Year’s Eve.

Liang Cheng realized he had been transmigrated for almost two years. He was now officially eighteen.

On the first day of the new year, so many people came to pay their respects to Liang Cheng that they practically wore out the threshold.

The wealthy households in town, the surrounding Martial Arts Halls, and even the Town Protection Station sent people with New Year’s gifts.

The gift list piled up half a foot high. It was a dazzling array of items, from ginseng and deer antler to silk and satin. Even the old fisherman who had sold him the Silver-headed Shark came to his door with a hefty gift.

Liang Cheng refused all visitors, accepting the gifts but not seeing the people who brought them.

Lady Ning would greet them at the door, cheerfully handing each visitor a handful of candy. "Cheng’Er is cultivating. It’s not a good time to disturb him. Please forgive our poor hospitality."

But everyone just smiled and said that was as it should be. Not a single person dared to complain.

In the Quiet Chamber in the backyard, Liang Cheng was indeed cultivating. Other than visiting the Martial Arts Hall to pay New Year’s respects to his master, he had barely left the house.

Before he knew it, it was the tenth day of the new year. Forty days had passed since the Martial Arts Academy’s break began. The elixirs and resources he had brought with him were almost completely depleted. Fortunately, Chen Bainian’s New Year’s gift included a resupply of elixirs.

At this moment, a few lines of small text appeared before Liang Cheng’s eyes:

[First Layer of the Broken Wave Technique: Minor Success (2262/2500)]

[Stone Armor Skill (Iron Armor): Great Success (2981/3000)]

[Wandering Dragon Step: Great Success (140/3000)]

His Wandering Dragon Step had already broken through to the Great Success Realm, and his Iron Armor Realm was just a sliver away from Perfection, from breaking through to the Copper Armor Realm.

Liang Cheng was currently covered in a medicinal paste. The Medicinal Power of the Cold Iron Essence and Red Copper Sand seeped into every inch of his muscles and bones. Now, driven by his Qi Blood, a dark, profound luster began to emerge from beneath his grayish-iron skin.

He took a deep breath and began striking his own body repeatedly. "THUD! THUD! THUD!"

When the final strike landed—

BOOM!

A barrier within his body burst open.

The grayish-iron color faded, replaced by a warm, heavy, ancient-bronze hue that emerged from beneath his skin.

[Stone Armor Skill (Copper Armor): Beginner Level (1/500)]

He looked down, finishing the process. His skin showed no abnormalities, but with a slight thought, the bronze color seeped out from beneath his skin, covering his entire body like a living metal film.

And unlike the rigid defense of the Iron Armor Realm, the Copper Armor Realm’s defense was more flexible. He took out his Zhenxian Saber and lightly slashed himself. His skin dented slightly like a sheet of copper before springing back, dispersing and neutralizing the force.

Liang Cheng then struck his chest with the back of the blade. A clear, metallic clang echoed in the Quiet Chamber. The bronze light under his skin flared, and his muscle fibers seemed to weave together like layers of a copper mesh, dissipating the blade’s force layer by layer.

The blade pushed in half an inch and could go no further, as if it weren’t pressing into flesh and blood, but into a solid, cast-bronze mold.

Iron Armor is like plate mail, rigidly blocking external blows. Copper Armor is like a second skin, defending against internal Penetrating Force.

’Now that my Stone Armor Skill has entered the Copper Armor Realm, Transformation Force attacks are almost completely ineffective. I wonder how it’ll hold up against a True Qi Realm master, though?’

Just then, Zhou Hu’s voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Junior Brother, Master is looking for you. If you’re free now, head over to the Martial Arts Hall."

Liang Cheng went out, and Zhou Hu gave him a piece of news.

Qiao Zhi had arrived.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!