White Ape Eight Section Fist Reached Minor Mastery, White Ape Momentum

White Ape Eight Section Fist Reached Minor Mastery, White Ape Momentum

White Ape Eight Section Fist Reached Minor Mastery, White Ape Momentum

Several days passed in the blink of an eye. The water ghosts' extermination still had everyone on edge, but things were much better than they had been a few days ago.

All the forces in Changhe County—the Changhe Martial Arts School, the County Yamen, the Zhao Family Grain Store, the escort agencies, every household that counted—had mobilized and wiped out quite a few water ghost dens.

At dusk, in the backyard's yellow-earth training ground.

A group of apprentices peered through the crack in the inner room's door at the figure in the training ground, moving with the utmost care for fear of disturbing their senior brother's practice.

Lin Mo stepped along the Plum Blossom Stances. Though he was more than two meters above the ground, he walked as if on level earth, his stance as steady as four-square ground.

When he reached the end of the wooden-stake path, his gaze sharpened. He drew in a breath and shouted, then flashed forward in an instant.

He leaped five or six meters, his clothes fluttering lightly, and landed on another set of tall stakes, standing firmly atop two slender poles no thicker than an arm.

What he was practicing now were the footwork techniques of the final two forms of the White Ape Eight Section Fist.

Teach the fist but not the steps, and once you teach the steps, the student beats the master!

It emphasized just how crucial footwork was in traditional martial arts.

Lin Mo slowly took two breaths. Once the breath between his mouth and nose had returned to a steady, unbroken flow, he settled into a horse stance and moved among the tall stakes, practicing the White Ape Eight Section Fist amid the changing movements of his fists.

"Senior Brother Lin seems to have gotten stronger again!"

"Yeah. Ever since he came back some time ago, he's been tireless every day, like an ox..."

Several youths discussed it quietly, afraid of interrupting Lin Mo's cultivation. Little did they know that another figure had crept up behind them, lifted two of them aside, and peered through the crack himself.

"Good heavens, in just a few days, Lin Mo is about to break through to minor mastery in the White Ape Eight Section Fist?"

Xu Changfeng clicked his tongue inwardly. He understood the young man before him less and less. Since when had Uncle Chen possessed such a sharp eye, choosing such a first-rate seedling?

"By rights, I'm the Personal Disciple, but Lin Mo's comprehension is simply inhuman!"

Xu Changfeng felt a pang of melancholy.

Everyone watched eagerly, each envying something different. The youths envied Lin Mo's fighting techniques, while Xu Changfeng envied his astonishing comprehension.

After practicing the White Ape Eight Section Fist to its depths, Lin Mo used [Insightful Eye] to examine its details once more.

A great many memory fragments suddenly surged into his mind. Some were scenes from when he had ambushed and killed Zhao Wu, while others were little insights gleaned from the past few days of practice. They replayed again through those fragments of memory...

As the Jade Talisman trembled, white mist swirled, and an entirely new fate slowly condensed.

[White Ape Momentum]

Lin Mo had no time to think. He only felt that the movements of his fists and feet had grown several degrees more practiced.

Seizing this wave of familiarity, he practiced all four fighting forms and the first four transformations of the White Ape Eight Section Fist in one breath. His footwork shifted, and his force expanded and withdrew with greater ease...

At last, he reached the final form. He shot toward the wooden stakes in an arrow step, drew in his breath and tucked his chest, and as his five fingers came together, force burst forth.

Boom!

The fist shadow moved. A clear ape's roar mingled with the whistle of the air current, and cracks spread from the point where his fist had struck the wooden stake.

The youths behind the door crack were startled. Just as they were marveling at it, they heard a sharp crack beside their ears—it was Xu Changfeng crushing the doorframe in his grip.

"Damn it, he's already brought the fist technique to minor mastery?"

Drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through for who knew how many times, and the Qi and Blood Pill in his mouth exhausted at just that moment, Lin Mo stopped with the flow.

He leaped down from the stakes and sat cross-legged on the ground. Looking at the pairs of eyes peering through the door crack, he grinned.

"Senior Brother Xu, my White Ape Eight Section Fist has reached minor mastery!"

"This... was it that easy?"

Xu Changfeng was still in a daze. Thinking back to when he had broken through to great mastery of the First Stage while learning the White Ape Eight Section Fist, Yang Yun had personally taught him through punches and kicks for one or two months.

Truly exhausted and aching all over, Lin Mo greeted them before finding a corner and sitting down cross-legged.

Ignoring Xu Changfeng's resentful gaze, Lin Mo closed his eyes to rest and took the opportunity to inspect his new fate.

[White Ape Momentum]

Just four simple words. Without even thinking, Lin Mo knew it was related to his cultivation of the White Ape Eight Section Fist. It had likely formed only after the fist technique reached minor mastery.

Yet judging by the density of its white aura, it was already like [Insightful Eye] and [Sturdy Bone Structure], at the threshold of becoming a green fate. Raising it again would require a full hundred points of fortune.

Unfortunately, he lacked sufficient fortune.

[Fortune: 73]

Once he gathered a hundred points of fortune, Lin Mo still planned to improve his bone structure first.

Restricted by his bone structure, even though he took a Qi and Blood Pill every two or three days, supplemented himself with meat dishes now and then, and applied medicinal poultices, he could still feel that the accumulation of qi and blood was progressing slowly.

"This is already a problem with my bone structure. With my current aptitude, it will probably take three or four months to reach First Stage Perfected."

Lin Mo let out a long sigh.

And that was with resources supporting him. Once he broke through again, the effects of Qi and Blood Pills would be minimal.

Lin Mo did not think Yang Yun would provide him with higher-grade supplements again. He was only a Registered Disciple. Even Xu Changfeng, a Personal Disciple,

had seen part of his provisions cut off when he reached the Second Stage, and had once taken a position as a guard in the household of a wealthy family.

"Great mastery of the First Stage, minor mastery of the White Ape Eight Section Fist. Calculating it this way, my combat strength should be at the level of First Stage Perfected."

Although he could indeed find a better position, Lin Mo had no intention of so easily abandoning his former employer.

After resting enough, he changed into a blue robe and cloth shoes, then headed toward Li Family Manor.

On one hand, he intended to report to the Li Family Head Steward on the recent state of the pier business. On the other, naturally, he wanted to ask whether there was a more suitable position available.

The Li family was no small household. In this tiny patch of Changhe County, they counted among the wealthier Third-rate Powers.

It was only that the Lineage's martial strength was not particularly formidable. Their focus had always been on Changhe County's waterborne trade, and they managed affairs at several piers. The pier Lin Mo was responsible for was merely one of the smaller ones.

The Li family steward's courtyard, study.

A servant led Lin Mo inside. Besides the somewhat corpulent figure of the Li Family Head Steward, there was also a young man in fine clothes. Lin Mo had met him before; he was the Li Family Second Young Master.

The two were discussing something.

"How do these people do their jobs? Haven't several water ghost dens already been wiped out? How can they still affect the pier business!"

Li Qing, the Li Family Second Young Master, wore an angry expression as he continued, "What about our Li family guards? Hurry and make arrangements! Do you know how many taels of silver we've lost recently?"

"Young Master, manpower is truly tight right now. Most of the county's martial artists have gone off to scramble for merit. Who would still care about the piers?"

The Li Family Head Steward wiped the sweat from his forehead and could only force an awkward smile.

Though the doors stood open, Lin Mo still knocked out of courtesy. "Head Steward, I have come to give my report..."

"Lin Mo, are you the steward in charge of East Third Pier?"

The Head Steward reacted quickly. Seeing Lin Mo in martial attire, he seemed to have a thought and asked, "I heard your pier's business has been doing quite well, with no water ghosts coming to cause trouble?"

"There were also a few lost water ghosts at dawn. I dealt with them in passing."

Lin Mo spoke lightly, but the Li Family Second Young Master's eyes grew brighter. "What Martial Dao Realm is this Brother Lin in, and what position does he hold?"

"In reply to the Second Young Master, I am the steward responsible for fishery transactions at East Third Pier. My cultivation is at great mastery of the First Stage."

"Great mastery of the First Stage? It would be a pity to have you doing that sort of work. In another household, you would at least be the head of the guards. Would you be willing to take charge of patrol and guard duties at Piers Three and Four?"

Li Qing was worrying over the shortage of manpower, wishing he could split one person into two. He raised four fingers. "Your monthly salary will rise to four taels of silver, and you'll receive one tael of silver for every water ghost you kill!"

Good heavens!

This young master truly spent money with a generous hand!

Lin Mo had been worrying about how to ask for a better job. Wasn't this being delivered straight to his door?