2: Chapter 2 Hundred Jin Strength

[Proficiency System activated]

The cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind. Lin Tian stood where he was, drenched in sweat, yet felt a surge of heat rushing from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

System?

Having read many web novels in his past life, he instantly understood what this was.

What if his talent was poor? As long as he had this System, as long as he kept practicing, he could become strong!

He took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement surging in his heart, and set his stance again.

This time, he was no longer confused, no longer hesitant.

Bow stance punch, horse stance chop, turning elbow strike... Every Move was performed with all his might, even though his movements were still stiff, even though his muscles ached to the point of twitching.

[Great Strength Fist Proficiency + 1]

When he finished the second round with great difficulty, the prompt sounded in his mind again.

It was just as he thought!

A flash of light appeared in Lin Tian's eyes as he continued to the third round, the fourth round...

The sun gradually dipped westward, and the number of people on the threshing ground grew fewer. Before leaving, Village Head Lin Tieshan glanced at the corner.

Seeing Lin Tian still clumsily practicing, he shook his head and said nothing.

It wasn't until the sunset completely sank behind the western mountains and the sky darkened that Lin Tian finally stopped.

The tenth round.

[Great Strength Fist Proficiency + 1]

[Current Proficiency: 10/100]

He collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his whole body feeling as if it had fallen apart, without even the strength to lift a finger.

Sweat soaked his coarse cloth clothes, feeling cold against his skin.

But on his face, a satisfied smile appeared.

Ten rounds. Ten points of Proficiency.

At this rate, in just ten days, he could complete the introductory stage of Cultivation!

As the night grew darker, Lin Tian struggled to crawl up, dragging his exhausted body home.

On the way, he met a few farmers returning from work. Seeing his state, they all cast surprised looks at him.

"The child from Lin Dashan's family, this is..."

"I heard he went to the Training Ground again."

"Sigh, he doesn't have the fate for it, why bother?"

The whispers drifted with the wind, but Lin Tian turned a deaf ear and just buried his head, hurrying along.

For the next few days, Lin Tian did not go to the Training Ground.

In the early morning, Mother Zhao prepared breakfast, only to see her son squatting in the courtyard with a bowl, staring at the ground in a daze while shoveling food into his mouth.

"Tian'er, are you not going to the Training Ground?" Mother Zhao asked cautiously.

"I'll practice at home." Lin Tian answered briefly. He finished eating in a few bites, set down the bowl, and set his stance in the courtyard.

Mother Zhao opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing, only sighing.

At the Training Ground, Lin Jing finished a set of fist techniques at the front of the team. When she finished her stance, her gaze swept over the corner.

It was empty; that clumsy figure was not there.

She sighed slightly in her heart.

As expected, he gave up again.

It made sense; his talent was too poor, practicing was incomparably painful, and he couldn't see any hope.

For anyone else, being able to persist for a day was already considered having perseverance.

"Lin Jing, what are you looking at?" A female teammate beside her leaned over, followed her gaze, and snorted, "That kid didn't come? I said so, he was like that three years ago, and he's still like that now. No talent means no talent, what's the use of hard work?"

Not far away, Lin Hu was lifting stone locks with a few companions. Hearing this, he laughed: "He's actually smart this time, only wasting one day. Last time, he forced himself for half a month, but ended up slinking away anyway."

"If you ask me, it's better to recognize reality early. Honestly farm the land, get married in a couple of years, and that's how this life will be."

The discussion was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear on the empty threshing ground in the early morning.

Lin Jing frowned but didn't reply, simply turning around to continue her own Cultivation.

What they didn't know was that at the west end of Lin Family Village, in the courtyard of Lin Dashan's house, a figure was punching tirelessly.

When the morning light first appeared, Lin Tian had already started his first round of fist techniques.

At noon, with the scorching sun overhead, he was drenched in sweat, still practicing Move by Move.

In the evening, as the sun set, he performed his last round of punches, his movements already much smoother than in the morning.

[Great Strength Fist Proficiency + 1]

[Current Proficiency: 25/100]

The third day, Proficiency reached 42.

The fifth day, 68.

The seventh day, 89.

The mud ground in the courtyard had been stepped out with a clear circle of footprints, and some places were even slightly sunken.

New calluses had formed on Lin Tian's palms, and the old ones had cracked, seeping fine blood. But he seemed unable to feel the pain, just practicing day after day.

Lin Dashan and Mother Zhao saw it in their eyes and felt anxious in their hearts.

"This child is possessed." Mother Zhao wiped her tears at night, "If he keeps practicing like this, how can his body endure it?"

Lin Dashan smoked his pipe, silent for a long time, before saying: "Let him practice. It's better than... better than doing nothing."

On the evening of the ninth day, Lin Tian finished his ninety-seventh round of fist techniques and collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

His arms were as heavy as iron, his legs were trembling, and his vision was going dark.

But he still struggled to crawl up and set his stance.

The ninety-eighth round.

The ninety-ninth round.

One hundredth round!

When the final Move "Closing Stance to Origin" was completed, a series of prompts sounded in Lin Tian's mind:

[Great Strength Fist Proficiency + 1]

[Proficiency has reached 100/100]

[Great Strength Fist Breakthrough: Introductory → Minor Achievement]

[Next Stage: Minor Achievement (0/300)]

Lin Tian stood in place, breathing violently, sweat raining down.

But he could feel that something in his body was different.

He set his stance again and performed the Great Strength Fist.

This time, the movements were like flowing water.

When performing the bow stance punch, the force traveled from the soles of his feet to his fist, with a faint sound of breaking wind.

Horse stance chop, the waist and hips turned naturally and smoothly, the edge of his palm bringing heavy force when chopping down.

Turning elbow strike, the center of gravity shifted perfectly, without the slightest stagnation.

After finishing the set of punches, Lin Tian didn't feel tired at all; instead, he felt refreshed.

Qi and blood surged in his body, as if a warm current was flowing through his limbs and bones.

The previous feeling of weakness had disappeared for the most part, replaced by a sense of abundant power.

Before, he could practice at most ten rounds a day before exhausting his strength; now, he felt that practicing thirty rounds a day would be no problem!

Lin Tian suppressed his excitement and scanned the corner of the courtyard.

There was a large blue-gray stone there, left over from when Lin Dashan built the house years ago, which had never been moved.

Lin Tian remembered his father saying that this stone weighed about one hundred catties.

In the past, let alone lifting it, even moving it was a struggle.

But now...

Lin Tian walked to the stone, squatted down, and gripped the bottom of the stone with both hands.

He took a deep breath, exerted force from his waist and back, and pushed hard with his legs—

"Rise!"

The stone left the ground in response.

First, it rose an inch, two inches... Lin Tian gritted his teeth, veins popping on his arms, his muscles tensed to the limit.

The stone slowly rose, past his knees, past his waist, and finally, he lifted it over his head!

The hundred-catty giant stone, held steadily above his head!

Although he could only hold it for three breaths before having to put it down, Lin Tian was already ecstatic.

One hundred catties of strength!

According to the standards of this world, being able to lift a hundred-catty stone lock meant reaching the threshold of a Quasi-Martial Artist.

Although it was only the most basic Quasi-Martial Artist, it was already fundamentally different from an ordinary person.

"Dad! Mom!" Lin Tian rushed into the house, "I lifted the hundred-catty stone!"

Lin Dashan and Mother Zhao were cooking in the kitchen and were stunned upon hearing this. The spatula in Mother Zhao's hand almost fell to the ground.

"Re-really?" Lin Dashan's voice trembled.

"Really!" Lin Tian nodded heavily.

Lin Dashan stared at his son for a long time, then suddenly turned and went into the room, rummaging through boxes and cabinets to find a small package.

It was carefully wrapped in oil paper, and when opened, it contained a dozen slices of dark red dried meat.

"This is Red Pig meat hunted by the village last time; I've been saving it." Lin Dashan stuffed the meat into Lin Tian's hands, "Cultivating consumes Qi and blood; you take it."

"Dad, this..."

"Take it!" Lin Dashan's tone was unquestionable.

Lin Tian took the meat, his heart warming.

But he knew that just eating meat wasn't enough.

Literary arts require poverty, martial arts require wealth. For a Martial Artist to Cultivate, besides hard work, they also need various medicinal materials to assist, otherwise, it's easy to leave hidden injuries or even damage one's Foundation.

Members of the village's Martial Arts Team could receive a portion of basic medicinal materials every month to boil into medicinal baths or soups.

Before, he hadn't been qualified to receive them, but now...

The next morning, Lin Tian came to the Training Ground again.

After ten days, his appearance caused quite a stir.

"Yo, isn't this Lin Tian? I thought you weren't coming anymore."

"What, did you lie at home for ten days and finally figure it out?"

"If you ask me, stop struggling, really."

Lin Tian ignored these taunts and walked straight to the side of the field, watching quietly.

Dozens of team members were doing their morning exercises, the sound of fists whistling, shouts shaking the sky.

Lin Hu was particularly conspicuous in the crowd; he was currently practicing a more complex set of fist techniques, his Moves sharp, his Aura compelling. The surrounding team members consciously stayed away from him, afraid of being swept by his fist wind.

Lin Tian watched carefully.

He discovered that as he looked at these people's movements now, he could actually see quite a bit of the knack.

Where the force was wrong, where the connection was stiff, where the Qi and blood circulation was blocked... Although he couldn't articulate why, his intuition could sense it.

Was this the improvement in insight brought by the Minor Achievement of the Great Strength Fist?

About an hour later, the morning exercise came to an end.

Village Head Lin Tieshan called a few outstanding members to the front to give personal guidance. Others scattered in twos and threes to rest.

Lin Tian saw his chance and walked over.

"Captain."

Village Head Lin Tieshan turned, and seeing it was Lin Tian, frowned slightly: "Something the matter?"

"I want to receive a portion of medicinal materials to assist my Cultivation." Lin Tian stated his purpose directly.

As the words fell, the surroundings instantly went quiet.

Several team members who were wiping sweat stopped their movements, looking over in astonishment.

The crowd resting not far away also turned their heads, their gazes falling collectively on Lin Tian.

Village Head Lin Tieshan was stunned for two seconds before reacting: "What did you say?"

"I want to receive a portion of medicinal materials." Lin Tian repeated.

"Hahahaha!" Lin Hu was the first to laugh out loud, "Receive medicinal materials? Lin Tian, have you lost your mind?"

His laughter was like opening a switch; the surroundings immediately exploded.

"Medicinal materials? You, too, are worthy of receiving medicinal materials?"

"We work ourselves to the bone for a month, and we only get one portion of basic medicinal materials; you, a newcomer who just came a few days ago, want to receive them?"

"Think that lifting a fifty-catty stone lock makes you qualified? Dreaming!"

"If you have no talent, don't waste the village's resources!"

Taunts and mocking laughter rose one after another.