Manifest Strength Great Accomplishment! Wu Xiaoxia Seeks a Son-in-Law!

After the two managers and several renovation workers left, Father Huo, who had long been unable to wait, hurriedly sat down and asked:

"A-Hong, did you truly become Hall Master Li's disciple?"

"Really. Absolutely true."

Huo Yuanhong was somewhat speechless. It seemed that his father had thought he was putting on an act yesterday.

But it made sense. It was like a poor student who scored zero on every test suddenly being accepted as a student by a great professor from Capital University. No one would dare believe it.

"Good, good, good..."

Having received confirmation directly from his son, Father Huo said "good" three times in a row. Even the wrinkles on his face relaxed as he beamed with joy like a child.

The sunset was tranquil, and with no outsiders in the house, Father Huo was no longer as restrained as before. His face was full of proud smiles. The hardships of the past several decades seemed to melt away in that instant, as though he had returned to the days of his youth, when his spirit had soared highest.

It was worth it.

Seeing the pride on his father's face, Huo Yuanhong felt that all his day-and-night training these past days had been worth it.

He had finally allowed his father to hold his head high before others!

But this was still not enough.

"Psh."

Using his chopsticks as a spear, Huo Yuanhong struck with precision and knocked down a cockroach that had tried to climb onto the table.

He still wanted to let his family live in a large house without cockroaches, to move into a clean, tidy wealthy district.

After dinner, Huo Yuanhong continued practicing his spear.

Perhaps because a heartache that had plagued him for years had finally been lifted, his spear practice that night felt incomparably smooth and unrestrained.

Driven by the desire to buy a large house, he forgot even the exhaustion of his fleshly body. Spear thrust after spear thrust, he steadily pushed his Manifest Strength progress upward.

He practiced until Baji Quan (Manifest Strength 362/600), then put away the White Wax Spear. He scooped more than half a basin of cold water from the vat, mixed in half a kettle of hot water, and gave himself a simple wash. He also washed his sweat-soaked training clothes.

"Tonight, it rose by 27 points. Counting what I practiced at the Martial Arts Hall during the day, I advanced another 122 points altogether."

"My current level is already in the late stage of Minor Accomplishment. If I get up at dawn and start practicing, I should be able to enter the Great Accomplishment stage by noon tomorrow."

"There are still twenty-five days until the Jinmen Grand Competition, and a little over two days until the small competition with the Martial Arts Hall..."

The sensation of becoming so much stronger every day utterly captivated Huo Yuanhong.

When he slept at night, he even held the White Wax Spear as he slept, hoping that he could practice in his dreams as well.

At dawn the next day, he woke early as usual and began practicing thrusting through rice paper.

In the morning, he practiced at the Martial Arts Hall.

Before lunch, accompanied by a continuous string of "psh, psh, psh..." sounds, a neat spear hole pierced through seven sheets of rice paper together.

Seven layers, unbroken!

Manifest Strength Great Accomplishment!

Looking at Baji Quan (Manifest Strength 420/600) on the panel, Huo Yuanhong felt incomparably fulfilled, his heart overflowing with the sense of achievement from his increased strength.

"I wonder how powerful the Top Elbow Strike is now?"

Once that thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed. He eagerly wanted to see the results of two days' effort.

He acted as soon as he thought of it!

Taking advantage of the lunch break, Huo Yuanhong hailed a rickshaw and returned to the old tree where he had first met Li Shuxing.

He sank his stance, performed a Tremor Stomp, and drove an elbow into the tree stump!

"Bang!!!"

A deep indentation appeared on the stump. Rather than the half-inch depth from before, it was now as deep as half a fist!

One had to know that this was ironwood, famed for its hardness. Even the chests of external martial arts masters who practiced Hard Training were at most evenly matched with it!

If someone took that elbow from him, no matter what Golden Bell Cover or Iron Shirt they possessed, their bones and tendons would be shattered!

Without realizing it, he had already become this formidable!

Looking at the indentation before him, Huo Yuanhong could not help but sigh in his heart.

"One Supreme, Two Heroes, the Thirteen Protectors without equal beneath heaven... This Huo Yuanhong actually entered Manifest Strength and became the disciple of Divine Spear Li Shuxing, who is praised as one of the Supremes."

Inside a small Western-style building in the wealthy district, Wu Xiaoxia's eyes revealed astonishment.

Divine Spear Li Shuxing—what a remarkable figure he was. Even being one of his unpublicized disciples was enough to bring glory to one's ancestors!

Moreover, unlike Jiang Ting, during the time she had spent in Jin Gate, Wu Xiaoxia had carefully learned about its local customs and naturally understood the rules of Jin Gate's Martial Arts Halls: commoner faction apprentices spent ten years doing work that was practically manual labor. Only after becoming formal disciples could they receive their master's instruction and have time to practice martial arts.

In other words, Huo Yuanhong had only recently begun properly practicing martial arts.

Even if the "lie" he had told Father Huo back then was true, and Huo Yuanhong had actually become a formal disciple two months ago—or had even secretly been accepted as a disciple—he had still only trained seriously for two months at most!

Two months to cultivate Manifest Strength!

Even with Li Shuxing being exceptionally skilled at teaching disciples, that talent was quite impressive. He could be called a genius!

With such talent, he would likely reach Manifest Strength Great Accomplishment within half a year. Dark Force would probably be a matter of three to five years, and he might even have considerable hope of entering Transformation Strength in the future!

"What a pity, what a pity."

Wu Xiaoxia sighed. "What a pity he has no time left to grow. At the Jinmen Grand Competition twenty-four days from now, if no member of the commoner faction can win three consecutive matches, then all commoner factions will be forbidden from openly practicing martial arts..."

"But even if Li Shuxing rigs things behind the scenes, one would need at least Manifest Strength Pinnacle cultivation to have a chance at winning three straight matches!"

There was no time left!

Wu Xiaoxia shook her head, deeply regretful.

If Huo Yuanhong had been given another year—if only another half year—he might not have been unable to fight for a brilliant future.

What a pity...

Time waited for no one!

If he could not step into the public eye, he could not cultivate Invincible Momentum through challenge after challenge against other halls. His future achievements might stop at Dark Force, with no hope of Transformation Strength.

"From the information received so far, Li Shuxing only accepted him as a disciple in private. He did not announce it to the various parties or hold a grand apprenticeship banquet. Clearly, he does not intend to let Huo Yuanhong step into the public eye. He is merely raising him as a hidden piece of the Martial Arts Hall, to deal with matters that are inconvenient to handle openly in the future."

Based on the fragmented information she had obtained from Father Huo and the chamber of commerce, Wu Xiaoxia drew threads from the cocoon and slowly pieced together Huo Yuanhong's future.

In her view, even if there were some discrepancies, it should be more or less correct.

"Mom, since Huo Yuanhong's future achievements are limited, and he will most likely stop at Dark Force rather than step into the public eye as one of the Martial Arts Hall's managers, why are you still going over his information again and again?"

Jiang Ting was somewhat puzzled.

"Is Dark Force weak?"

Wu Xiaoxia glanced at her daughter. "Every Dark Force practitioner is an expert found only once in ten thousand. Within seven steps, a fist is faster than a gun! With Transformation Strength serving as strategic deterrence and unable to move lightly, Dark Force is the highest level of force for handling ordinary affairs...

"For an ordinary small chamber of commerce, a single Dark Force practitioner stationed there can ensure its safety. Even a medium or large chamber of commerce operating across regions only needs one Dark Force practitioner stationed in each area to gain a firm foothold...

"Our chamber of commerce is wealthy, among the very best even among large chambers of commerce. But our most fatal weakness is simply that we lack enough experts of our own. We cannot spare a trustworthy Dark Force practitioner to remain in Jin Gate long-term, and if we rely solely on money to hire outside Dark Force practitioners, sooner or later the guest will turn into the host..."

"But if we can have one more Dark Force practitioner from our own side stationed here, balancing and overseeing the other hired Dark Force practitioners, then we can completely bring Jin Gate's chessboard to life instead of having to tread carefully at every step."

"Mom, you wouldn't... be thinking of taking Huo Yuanhong in as a son-in-law, would you?"

Jiang Ting gradually understood and asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Wu Xiaoxia admitted it directly. "With his talent and Li Shuxing's guidance, he should at least reach Dark Force Pinnacle. He will surely become my right-hand man in the future!

"Besides, if he truly becomes your husband, I will naturally find every possible way to secure him an opportunity at Transformation Strength. Even if it is a shallow Transformation Strength forced through external means, it would still be Transformation Strength!"

"Wouldn't Yu Mingtang be more suitable? He comes from an aristocratic family, is unaffected by the Martial Prohibition Decree, and has great talent. He recently made another breakthrough and reached Manifest Strength Minor Accomplishment before Huo Yuanhong. Dark Force is practically guaranteed for him, and he has great hope of Transformation Strength as well..."

"And he is Master Guo's legitimate disciple. Winning over Yu Mingtang alone would be equivalent to winning over two Transformation Strength masters!

"Unlike Huo Yuanhong, who cannot even publicly claim to be Li Shuxing's disciple and cannot receive Li Shuxing's support."

Jiang Ting frowned.

"Yu Mingtang is unsuitable."

Wu Xiaoxia shook her head. "His aptitude is too good, and he comes from an aristocratic family. If he truly married you, I fear we would be inviting a wolf into the house...

"But Huo Yuanhong is different. He is still at his lowly beginning, and even his own master is unwilling to step forward and support him. If I mobilize the chamber of commerce's resources to promote him with all my strength, giving him success and satisfaction in life, and if a talented young woman from a great family like you humbles herself to marry him, he will surely be utterly devoted."

To repay the sovereign's favor upon the Golden Terrace, I shall lift my jade dragon and die for the sovereign!

Wu Xiaoxia had been able to take her daughter and carve out a career in the Western Lands, so she was naturally no simple character. She understood perfectly how to win people's hearts while they were still insignificant.

With a Dark Force Pinnacle—or even a Transformation Strength—practitioner who was utterly devoted to her in the future, she might lack the strength to advance, but would have more than enough to defend what she possessed.

If luck favored her, perhaps with vast resources piled upon him, she could fortunately help him take another step forward, into Transformation Strength Mid-Stage or even the later stage...

Wu Xiaoxia promptly stopped this unnecessary fantasy. She had long passed the age of daydreaming.

"Does your daughter have to marry beneath herself?"

Jiang Ting could not help asking, still unwilling to accept it.

Jinmen Normal University was one of only three women's academies. Getting admitted was as difficult as a man entering Capital University. As one of its students, she had always been a dazzling talented woman in everyone's eyes.

Countless young masters from great families waited outside the school every day just to catch a glimpse of her.

Even a genius like Yu Sheng, who had hopes of Transformation Strength, treated her with great courtesy.

Furthermore, the Jiang family of the capital, where her biological father belonged, was also a family of immense wealth. In terms of assets, they were no inferior to Jin Gate's richest man; their sphere of influence simply was not here.

With such qualifications, naturally she was unwilling to marry beneath herself to a poor Martial Person.

"Alas, people from great families like ours—what power do we have to choose? Try getting along with him first. If you truly cannot get along, Mom will not force you. I only hope you will not regret it in the future."

Seeing her daughter's unpleasant expression, Wu Xiaoxia could only sigh silently and ring for the household servants.

"Prepare the car. I'm going to Old Huo's place to talk with him about A-Hong..."