Chapter Ten: The Savage with Monstrous Strength

Chapter Ten: The Brute Force of Manman

The butchers gathered around Wu Hong, delighted to find he was still the same person as before, unchanged by his recent promotion to Super Steward. He hadn’t grown arrogant or aloof; instead, he welcomed them as always. Wu Hong had known, ever since he left Huang Hu’s house yesterday, that the man intended to put him to good use. But he hadn’t expected such freedom—bearing the title of Super Steward yet free from any responsibilities. It was as if the Huang Residence was simply supporting him for nothing.

“Brother Niu, why don’t you show me around the Huang Residence? I haven’t really explored since arriving.” Truth be told, Wu Hong was never fond of slaughtering cattle; if it weren’t for the way it helped him strengthen his body, he wouldn’t have chosen such work.

His outlook had changed. The despair he felt at first had gradually given way to hope. Perhaps he wouldn’t have to spend his life in mediocrity, hiding from place to place. Perhaps revenge wasn’t so far off.

“Alright! Brother, I’m usually free anyway. Today I’ll take you for a proper tour!”

Niu Dali led the way, guiding Wu Hong past a small lotus pond and through several courtyards until they reached an open expanse.

There, a vast area revealed itself as the Huang Residence’s martial training ground, with a huge platform nearly a thousand square meters wide at its center. Many people in servant attire practiced their skills on the stage: some were boxing and kicking, others drawing bows and shooting arrows, some lifting heavy stone locks, and still others sparring. All faced the morning sun, bare-chested, sweat glistening as they trained.

“These are special recruits cultivated by the Huang Residence. Their status isn’t high, but their skills are formidable—they make up Huang Hu’s personal guard,” Niu Dali explained to Wu Hong.

Suddenly, a burly man caught Wu Hong’s eye. He stood over two meters tall, with dark skin, grasping the horns of a wild bull with both hands. His face flushed red and black as he wrestled with the beast. The bull itself was no ordinary domestic animal; its limbs were powerful as a bear’s, its hooves dug at the stone platform, leaving cracks as it strained backwards, head lowered, hooves clattering with force.

“That bull’s strength is impressive,” Wu Hong remarked.

Niu Dali’s expression changed at this, “Brother, don’t joke. That wild bull’s strength is more than impressive—it’s equivalent to several regular bulls, tremendously powerful! And that man is quite a character, too!”

With a thunderous roar, the tower-like man suddenly exerted force, flipping the bull over and sending it crashing, dazed and disoriented. The bull quickly righted itself, trembling with fear, eyes wide as it backed away from the man, then turned and fled.

“Haha! Coward! Dared to compete with me in strength? Next time I’ll eat you!” The man laughed boisterously, his face so crammed with features it almost seemed foolish.

“Hey! You over there, yellow-skinned monkey! You said that bull was strong! Are you saying I’m not strong?” the tower-like man shouted at Wu Hong. Wu Hong looked around, wondering who he was addressing. Besides himself and Niu Dali, there was no one else. He’d never heard Niu Dali called the ‘yellow-skinned monkey’ either.

“Hey, you, the one looking left and right, yellow-skinned monkey—I mean you!” The dark-skinned man, dressed in high-quality servant’s attire with chest hair showing, pointed at Wu Hong.

Wu Hong’s face turned sour. His complexion was sallow, his frame thin and weak, black hair hanging over his shoulders. If he stripped off and hid in the forest, he really might be mistaken for a monkey. Ever since escaping the Wu Wei Prince’s mansion, he had wandered as a beggar, sleeping rough, and his once handsome, well-proportioned figure—though not quite rivaling Pan An—had faded to nothing like its former glory.

He was puzzled as well; after a month of training with the Supreme Sun Tathagata Sutra—an unparalleled body-forging method—his strength and agility had increased dramatically, yet his body seemed even frailer than when he first arrived at the Huang Residence.

Now, the man had struck a nerve, calling him yellow-skinned monkey, and Wu Hong couldn’t help but feel angry.

Huang Hu, nearby, heard the man call Wu Hong ‘yellow-skinned monkey’ and almost laughed aloud, but held it in with difficulty.

“Heh, big brother, of course you’re stronger than that bull. People compete with people, cattle with cattle,” Wu Hong replied.

The tower-like man was delighted to hear the frail youth call him big brother so familiarly. Though he was a high-ranking servant in the Huang Residence, people often mocked him, calling him things like ‘big oaf’ or ‘dumb ox.’ Despite his innate strength, he disliked such nicknames and often caused trouble, only earning himself even more nicknames.

He completely ignored the sarcasm in Wu Hong’s words—‘cattle with cattle.’

“Ah, yellow-skinned monkey, I like the way you talk!” The man laughed heartily, skipping and bouncing like a child.

“Brother, don’t underestimate that one,” Niu Dali whispered anxiously to Wu Hong. “His mind’s not quite right, but he’s born with extraordinary strength. He can chop wood and carry water all day without complaint, but don’t provoke him!”

Wu Hong hadn’t expected such a slow response from the man. Clearly, the ‘yellow-skinned monkey’ nickname wasn’t meant maliciously, but was simply a quirk of his character. Wu Hong’s anger faded.

“Big oaf, since you just wrestled a bull, do you dare test your strength against mine?”

“What? You, yellow-skinned monkey, want to compete with me in strength? Ahaha!” The man reacted as if hearing the funniest thing in the world.

“Manman—since Steward Hong wants to test himself against you, give him a proper match,” came a voice from behind the big man; it was Steward Zhao.

So the dark-skinned giant was called Manman. He seemed to like the name.

Whoever fed him, whoever housed him, he followed without question. It was clear Manman listened closely to Steward Zhao.

Steward Zhao sneered inwardly—Don’t think you’re invincible just because you’ve become Super Steward, Wu Hong. So you can kick a thousand-pound bull flying? When Manman goes wild, he can lift tens of thousands of pounds.

“Haha! The boss has spoken, come on, let’s get on the stage and compete. You name the challenge,” Manman said, grabbing Wu Hong’s arm.

“Hm—how strange!” Manman grasped Wu Hong’s right hand, intending to drag him onto the stage, but found he couldn’t move him at all. Wu Hong’s body was rooted like an old tree.

Wu Hong was surprised as well—this man’s strength was immense, but still not enough to move him. After a month of training with the Supreme Sun Tathagata Sutra, his strength had grown exponentially, likely reaching over a hundred thousand pounds. In terms of raw power, few in the Great Qian Dynasty could match him.

But that didn’t make Wu Hong invincible. Martial arts were more than brute strength; they involved techniques to channel force and endless variations in moves. Wu Hong had only gained some experience from slaughtering cattle. If he faced a skilled, agile opponent, he would likely suffer.

“Come on, boy!” Manman’s face flushed red as he exerted himself, a faint black glow appearing on his skin. Instantly, his grip grew several times stronger.

Manman’s whole body tensed, his bones and sinews crackling like beans in a hot pan, astonishing the onlookers.

“What? That tower-like man has reached the Blood Refining stage?” Wu Hong was startled by the glow on Manman’s skin. The body-refining path consisted of several major stages, each with its own distinct traits.

In the Muscle Refining stage, the muscles became hard as iron, able to withstand impact with stone without injury. The Tendon Refining stage involved stretching all the body’s tendons and using special herbs to soften them, making the body flexible and movements unpredictable.

Once all the major tendons were stretched, the practitioner moved like one without bones, able to execute complex moves and tricky angles.

The Blood Refining stage was a high level of body refinement. Breathing and absorbing energy, gradually storing the essence of heaven and earth in the blood, harmonizing blood and muscle, activating the body’s potential, and forming a faint aura on the skin that greatly increased strength.

Beyond Blood Refining were Bone Refining, Marrow Refining, and, according to legend, the Innate stage, which was not the end.

At this moment, Manman’s skin glowed with a black aura, a clear sign of Blood Refining.

Wu Hong suddenly felt pressure; the big man had moved the wild bull purely by brute force. He had underestimated him.

If it weren’t for his simple-mindedness, such a man would never be content to serve as a mere servant in the Huang Residence.