My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: One Swift Grab to Protect

[Long-Armed Fist Proficiency +1]

[Long-Armed Fist Proficiency +1]

...

The proficiency ticked up once every second. Wu Chen’s progress in cultivating the Long-Armed Fist was increasing at a visible rate.

A martial arts technique that would take others months, or even years, of arduous training to improve was advancing for Wu Chen with every breath.

He was progressing by leaps and bounds.

But even with such rapid progress, to the current Wu Chen, every second felt like a year.

Wu Chen tore his gaze away from the panel and looked around.

The crowd was a black, suffocating mass, packed so tightly he could barely breathe. Even the sunlight overhead seemed dim.

Wu Chen was about to say something to stall for time, to hold out until his Long-Armed Fist reached Minor Achievement.

But the ravenous refugees weren’t about to listen. To them, the meat that had fallen into their laps was trying to escape!

Before Wu Chen could speak, someone lunged at him, mouth wide open, revealing a set of terrifyingly sharp teeth, ready to tear a chunk of flesh from his body.

”Fuck!”

Seeing this, Wu Chen couldn’t help but curse, but his hands didn’t slow in the slightest. He swung a heavy fist at the face of the pouncing figure.

THUD!

With a dull thud, the man’s cheek caved in and blood streamed from his nose. He had been killed with a single punch, his feather-light body sent flying backward.

But there were simply too many people. The flying body slammed into the human wall, failing to create even the slightest gap.

The corpse was dragged into the crowd in the blink of an eye. Amidst a series of grating noises, it was torn to pieces and vanished.

This left Wu Chen with absolutely no chance of escape.

Instead, his desperate resistance, injuring several people in a row, only ignited the ferocity of the surrounding refugees.

A mob of refugees, their eyes gleaming a ghastly green like will-o’-the-wisps and low growls rumbling in their throats, surged crazily toward Wu Chen, intent on tearing him to shreds.

Wu Chen knew these people had been driven mad by hunger. ’There’s no reasoning with them.’ His only hope now was to hold on until his fist technique broke through.

[Long-Armed Fist Proficiency +1]

[Long-Armed Fist Proficiency +1]

...

[Long-Armed Fist Minor Achievement (56/100)]

Wu Chen’s gaze fell on the progress bar on his panel, which had just passed the halfway mark. He gritted his teeth, swung his arm forcefully, and smashed his clenched fist viciously at the refugee in front of him.

This time, the punch originated from his waist, generating a whistling wind.

CRACK!

The punch landed on the man’s neck, snapping the bone with a sickening crack.

The ferocious green light in the man’s eyes instantly vanished. His head drooped lifelessly, and his entire body went limp, slumping toward the ground.

But before he could hit the ground, Wu Chen, with his quick reflexes, snatched the body and held it up in front of him.

He, in turn, curled into a ball and hid behind it.

The next moment, the sharp claws and teeth that should have sunk into Wu Chen all landed on the human shield in front of him.

Wu Chen constantly shifted his position, using the human shield to fend off the tearing attacks from all sides.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

The human shield made a blood-curdling sound.

For the first few breaths, it was the sound of clothing being ripped to shreds, followed by the sound of tearing flesh.

Finally, it was the sound of flesh and bone being chewed.

In the end, it took less than twenty breaths for the chest of the corpse in Wu Chen’s hands to be hollowed out. The scene was truly terrifying.

Wu Chen was somewhat relieved. ’Good thing I didn’t get arrogant because of my power boost and try to force a breakout with just my fists. Otherwise, the skeleton in my hands would be my fate right now.’

Tossing away the defenseless skeleton, Wu Chen glanced at his Long-Armed Fist proficiency. It was already over seventy.

He didn’t hesitate to strike again, caving in the head of a refugee beside him who was licking his own palm.

He repeated the process: hoisting the corpse onto his shoulder to shield his front, fending off the refugees pushing in from the outer edges.

This time, before the corpse could be torn to shreds, the progress bar Wu Chen had been waiting for finally maxed out:

[Long-Armed Fist Minor Achievement (100/100)] → [Long-Armed Fist Great Success (0/300)]

Martial Arts Realm: Body Tempering Realm First Layer → Body Tempering Realm Second Layer

The second advancement in his realm was accompanied by a warm current even more intense than before.

This warm current circulated endlessly within Wu Chen’s body, replenishing his depleted Qi and Blood and restoring the stamina he had nearly exhausted.

Wu Chen felt a swelling power in his arms. The sudden surge of strength made him feel as if he could shatter bricks and stone with a single light blow.

Even with such strength, facing the countless refugees around him, Wu Chen didn’t dare to be careless. He certainly didn’t charge recklessly into the crowd.

He continued to cautiously hold up the half-eaten corpse as a shield with one hand, while the other, balled into a fist, periodically jabbed out or swung sideways.

Every punch he threw caved in a chest or splattered a skull, and the victim would collapse silently, without even a struggle.

Having gotten a rough measure of his own strength, Wu Chen finally tossed aside his cumbersome shield and began to carve a path through the crowd.

In just a short while, Wu Chen’s fists were coated in a thick, sticky mixture of red and white. His tattered clothes were soaked in blood. Radiating a murderous aura, he looked like a demonic god—an absolutely terrifying sight.

Wu Chen didn’t dare hold back. He put all his force into every punch, and the sound of cracking bones echoed repeatedly.

Before long, he had fought his way out of the crowd.

HUFF... HUFF...

Wu Chen gasped for breath, not daring to look back. But the crunching sounds of chewing flesh and bone from behind sent a chill down his spine.

’These people... they probably can’t even be called human anymore.’

He could see that the refugees had clearly undergone some kind of mutation.

There was no human reason in their eyes, only an intense craving to devour flesh and blood.

Just like wild beasts!

Wu Chen didn’t know what unexpected changes the refugees might undergo after feeding, nor did he have time to investigate the origin of this transformation.

His Long-Armed Fist proficiency was still rapidly increasing on the panel, and it wouldn’t be long before the technique reached Great Success.

But thinking that the refugees’ mutation might not be something even Great Success could solve, Wu Chen was even less willing to put his life in danger.

He quickly shook the sticky bloodstains from his fists and put distance between himself and the mob of refugees.

He scanned his surroundings, trying to determine the direction of the exodus.

Just then, text popped up on the panel in his vision:

[Long-Armed Fist Great Success (300/300)]

[Body Tempering Realm Second Layer → Body Tempering Realm Third Layer]

His martial arts technique and his realm had advanced once again.

As a result, Wu Chen’s stamina was fully restored.

Having found the direction of the exodus, he didn’t dare to linger and bolted without looking back.

「Three days passed in a flash.」

Wu Chen appeared on a raised earthen mound.

Looking out, he saw the earth was cracked like a spiderweb, the grass and leaves were withered and yellow, and not a trace of life could be seen.

Countless figures, a dense, sprawling mass, slowly trudged toward a city several hundred li away, bathed in the fading light of the setting sun.

Wu Chen withdrew his gaze and looked at the panel in his vision:

[Deep Red Host] Wu Chen

[Martial Arts Realm] Body Tempering Realm Third Layer

[Martial Arts & Cultivation Techniques] Long-Armed Fist (Great Success)

This time, no numbers were ticking on the panel. However, Wu Chen already understood why.

The Long-Armed Fist was an ordinary martial art, and Great Success was its limit. There was no more room for improvement.

If he wanted to continue improving, he would have to find a new martial art.

The thought gave Wu Chen a headache.

He remembered how his predecessor had not only spent his entire meager fortune to learn the Long-Armed Fist, but had also served the old master in the village day and night for three whole years, catering to his every need, just to receive the complete teachings.

One could only imagine how difficult it was for an ordinary person to learn a martial art in this era.

It wasn’t that there were no other places to learn. There were martial arts dojos in towns and cities, subordinate agencies of the imperial court, prestigious families, and even gangs and Sects.

But for the current Wu Chen, all of those were too far out of reach, and their requirements were extremely high.

”It’s tough being poor, no matter where you are,”

Wu Chen sighed, reining in his thoughts. He continued walking, following the direction of the fleeing crowd.

But just then, a sharp, crying voice caught his attention.

”Let go of me!”

”Dad, save me!”

Wu Chen stopped in his tracks and looked up toward the source of the voice.

He saw two relatively burly figures dragging a skinny figure toward a pile of dry grass in the distance.

The two men wore lecherous smiles as they walked, unabashedly sizing up the girl’s emaciated body.

’Did he sell his own daughter for food, or...?’

Wu Chen stroked his chin, lost in thought.

He had seen such things more than a few times these past few days. In chaotic times, such scenes were not uncommon.

Curious, he looked in the direction of the girl’s cries for help, and his gaze soon locked onto a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was clearly injured. His face was as pale as paper, and the clothes on his abdomen were stained a grayish-brown with blood.

Watching his daughter being dragged away, he tried several times to push himself up, but could only stagger to a half-kneeling position, powerless to stop them.

”Looks like he didn’t sell his daughter after all. Some lowlifes are just taking advantage of his predicament.”

Wu Chen muttered to himself from atop the earthen mound, quietly observing everything.

Then, his gaze locked onto the man.

He took in the man’s bulging biceps, his thick chest, and the steel saber lying beside him.

All of it indicated that this man was a trained martial artist!

’This man almost certainly has a martial arts technique!’

At this thought, Wu Chen’s eyes instantly lit up.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he strode toward the man.