Early the next morning, Huo Yuanhong brought his father to Center Street. Under his father's astonished gaze, he took out a key and opened the gates of the residence before them.
"A-Hong, you... how do you have the key to this place?"
Father Huo was completely dumbfounded. Looking at the flowers and plants in the front courtyard, then at the brand-new three-story house, he walked with utmost care, terrified that he might accidentally damage something.
The people who lived in a place like this were either officials or wealthy merchants. How could a family like theirs possibly enter?
"Aunt Wu gave me the key. From now on, this is our new home."
Huo Yuanhong smiled and handed one of the keys to his father.
"Such a huge house! Just for the two of us?!"
Father Huo could not help asking, utterly unable to believe it.
He had never been here before, but that did not mean he did not know the property prices in this area. Every inch of land was worth an inch of gold!
The money he saved from pulling rickshaws his entire life probably would not even buy a latrine!
"A-Hong, tell Dad the truth..." Father Huo hesitated before speaking with a complicated look in his eyes. "Did you get together with Aunt Wu's daughter?"
"No. Didn't she not fancy me? We only exchanged a few words that day."
Huo Yuanhong was rather baffled, unable to understand why his father was asking this again.
"You really didn't get together?"
Father Huo remained suspicious.
"Really not. From the moment we sat down to when I left, we only said three or five sentences altogether."
Huo Yuanhong did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"I see..."
Father Huo seemed to want to say something, but for some reason, he swallowed the words that had reached his lips.
He was an honest man, but he was not stupid. His son had saved the other party's daughter, but how could driving off a few little hooligans possibly merit such a huge residence as thanks?
After thinking it over and over, he could only come up with one possibility: the two youngsters had gotten together.
Perhaps...
His son was very likely about to become a live-in son-in-law, and this grand house might well be the bride price paid in advance for marrying into their family.
Forget it...
Father Huo sighed silently.
As long as A-Hong lived well, that was enough. So what if he married into their family? It was no great matter...
Going to Wu Xiaoxia's family meant no worries over food or clothing, and he could live in such a clean, grand house. That was far better than suffering in the slums...
Besides, for a wealthy family like Wu Xiaoxia's to take a liking to A-Hong, his son was already quite remarkable. Perhaps he might even become a great merchant earning several hundred silver dollars a month, or even a respected expert like the owner of a Carriage Firm.
"Dad, don't go out to work anymore. I get a hundred silver dollars in living allowance every month. That's enough for our family."
Huo Yuanhong said with a smile.
"Alright, alright, I understand! I know A-Hong has made something of himself. Once you finish your apprenticeship, perhaps you'll earn even more than the boss. Three or five hundred a month—you won't need me to make money anymore..."
Father Huo agreed readily.
But seeing his expression, Huo Yuanhong, who knew his father well, understood that his father was most likely still uneasy and wanted to keep looking for work.
That was only natural. Their family had struggled for so many years, yet now they were suddenly eating meat every meal and moving into a wealthy district. It felt more unreal than a dream.
Huo Yuanhong also understood that the root of his father's unease was a lack of confidence. His father had not completely changed his former impression of his son; deep down, he still felt that their family did not deserve to live in a wealthy district.
Become stronger. He had to keep becoming stronger!
Huo Yuanhong said silently.
As long as he kept growing stronger, earning more and more respect and recognition for himself and his father, his father would surely truly realize how much their family had changed and be able to retire in peace.
After helping his father familiarize himself with the residence, Huo Yuanhong went to Divine Spear Martial Hall once more.
During this brief gap before receiving the Crimson Refining Paste, he planned to learn some practical combat methods!
His battle with Old Ghost Luo had made him realize that he still needed specialized practical combat methods. Otherwise, facing experts would be difficult. After all, he would not always be able to catch his opponent off guard as he had against Old Ghost Luo!
Especially when he would soon be fighting Sword Inquiry Martial Hall's experts, and fighting many at once, failing to master practical combat methods would leave him attacked from front and back.
That was right!
One against many!
Under the usual arrangements for matches between martial arts halls, each hall would send out ten people. They would fight one match, rest for several, and it would take at least two days to determine first place!
He could not wait that long!
The fastest method was naturally for one person to carve through everyone on the other side and take the Crimson Refining Paste.
He had specifically looked into it. The main event of this competition was actually the contest between Divine Spear Martial Hall and Sword Inquiry Martial Hall. The people from the other martial arts halls were merely here to broaden their horizons.
Therefore, he only needed to beat Sword Inquiry Martial Hall's people. As for his fellow disciples from his own hall, once they witnessed his record, they would surely be easy enough to talk to.
"Without realizing it, my temperament has already undergone an earth-shaking transformation."
Back when he was at Sword Inquiry Martial Hall, he had to tread carefully even when encountering an ordinary disciple. He had not even dared to speak loudly.
But now...
Marching up to their door and flattening all their elite disciples seemed like nothing more than an ordinary little matter to him.
In fact...
He did not regard it as much of a matter at all. He merely wanted to get the prize a couple of days earlier.
Practicing martial arts truly could make someone undergo a heaven-and-earth transformation.
"Martial Saint Sun Lutang once said: 'If you aren't wild, why practice martial arts at all?'"
"Especially for those who practice Baji. Without a streak of wildness, you simply cannot unleash that fierce, explosive force that bursts in all eight directions, with a stomp that shakes the mountains and rivers!"
"When the time comes, I'll challenge them all in the first match and beat every last one of them flat! Once they're all lying down and no expert can stand on the stage, the competition will naturally end in one bout! No need to drag things out!"
Of course, being wild and being reckless were two different things. With his current Manifest Strength at its utmost limit, in a one-on-one fight, he could crush his opponent head-on with absolute strength and win without question!
But one against ten meant two fists against twenty hands. It was best to first practice specialized practical combat methods! He would have to master them sooner or later anyway!
Moreover, he learned quickly. As long as he found a practical combat expert to spar with him, under the three-hundred-and-sixty-fivefold boost, three bouts would be equivalent to over a thousand bouts. In an instant, he could train his practical combat ability to an inconceivable level!
Huo Yuanhong pondered as he walked through the martial arts hall.
The mealtime had not yet ended. Passing the dining hall, Huo Yuanhong caught the rich fragrance of Xiao Long Bao and his appetite immediately stirred. He headed into the dining hall.
He had no regular dining companions, so eating alone made him seem somewhat out of place.
Unlike some of the other core disciples, who either had a crowd of formal disciples around them or walked shoulder to shoulder with managers holding real authority.
When he entered the dining hall, Huo Yuanhong saw the plump manager he had met once before, sitting at the same table as two or three other managers.
But when Huo Yuanhong came in, the plump manager's gaze drifted away, as though he had not noticed him at all.
Whether he truly had not noticed him or simply did not want to appear acquainted with him, Huo Yuanhong could not be bothered to distinguish. He went to the serving window, got a bowl of medicinal cuisine, two bamboo steamers of fresh meat Xiao Long Bao, and a steaming bowl of soy milk.
Sitting in a quiet corner, he began eating in great mouthfuls.
The martial arts hall's fresh meat Xiao Long Bao had wrappers as thin as paper and generous fillings. It was said that they used freshly purchased front-leg pork, three parts fat to seven parts lean, handmade by a chef hired at great expense. Combined with pork-skin aspic, every bite filled the mouth with broth. Fragrant without being greasy, it was truly a heavenly taste.
"Hey, are you new too?"
As he ate, a voice sounded beside him. Huo Yuanhong looked up slightly and saw a handsome young disciple.
The young man wore the common training uniform of the martial arts hall. Perhaps he also had no dining companions; seeing Huo Yuanhong sitting alone, he came over to join him.
"Yes, I'm new."
Huo Yuanhong answered casually.
"Judging by the way you look, you probably weren't valued much at home either. Like me, I'm the illegitimate second son, sent off to the martial arts hall to learn skills as soon as I came of age...
I thought that once I came out here, as a child of an aristocratic family, I could at least swagger around and throw my weight about. Who would have thought this martial arts hall was full of aristocratic children? An illegitimate son like me is still at the bottom, only a little better off than those Commoner Faction people..."
This person had probably been stifled for too long. Having finally found someone to confide in, he spoke without stopping.
It was not suitable to review martial arts while eating, lest it affect digestion, so Huo Yuanhong ate heartily while taking advantage of this rare leisure to listen to the man speak about the martial arts hall.
As a member of the martial arts hall, it was not as though he had no interest in such matters. He was simply usually too busy practicing to learn about them.
Before long, he learned that the Cheng Yonghuai before him was actually the son of Jin Gate's Governor-General. However, the Governor-General had too many sons, even several legitimate ones. As an illegitimate son born to a dance girl, Cheng Yonghuai had only seen the Governor-General a few times.
Still, as the Governor-General's son, obtaining a martial arts hall disciple slot that the Commoner Faction could only dream of was effortless.
Yet in the martial arts hall, he was just like a transparent man. He did not want to associate with the Commoner Faction, but neither could he fit into the circles of aristocratic children.
Seeing Huo Yuanhong's extraordinary bearing and their identical standard training uniforms, he assumed he had encountered an overlooked, mediocre illegitimate son of an aristocratic family just like himself, and felt a certain shared misery.
"Look, those two tables."
Cheng Yonghuai lifted his chin toward the two tables in the center. "The two people sitting in the seats of honor are renowned martial arts prodigies. Even among those at the Manifest Strength Pinnacle, they are among the strongest. They're certain to shine brightly in this competition. Even the Fang Family, the richest family, values them greatly. Not only do they provide heaps of resources, they even plan to marry off their noble daughters to form alliances..."
Huo Yuanhong glanced over. He had noticed those lively tables the moment he entered. Old disciples were scrambling to toast the people in the seats of honor, completely unlike the quietness here, as though they belonged to two separate worlds.
"Of course, the most formidable one is still Wang Tianlong. If not for wanting to reach the utmost limit of Manifest Strength, he has been holding himself back from breaking through. Otherwise, he would have reached Heart-Mind Unity long ago..."
"This Wang Tianlong was gifted from childhood and was accepted as a disciple by that old master of the Fang Family, who personally instructed him in martial arts..."
"Almost everyone believes that if Wang Tianlong had not already entered Master Fang's school and thus could not easily change affiliations, the Hall Master would certainly have accepted him as his sixth true disciple..."
As he spoke, Cheng Yonghuai lowered his voice. "You know that the prize for first place in this competition is the Crimson Refining Paste, right?"
"I know. What about it?" Huo Yuanhong asked.
Cheng Yonghuai gave a scornful laugh. "This Crimson Refining Paste was actually prepared by an important figure for Wang Tianlong. They're merely using the prize for first place as a pretext to give it to him."
"Oh?" Huo Yuanhong's chopsticks paused. "Surely first place has not already been decided internally?"
"Why would it need to be decided internally? What clear-eyed person can't see it?"
Cheng Yonghuai shook his head with a smile. "No one in our martial arts hall is Wang Tianlong's match. This Crimson Refining Paste is just being given to Wang Tianlong by another route. It can't possibly get snatched away by Sword Inquiry Martial Hall..."
"Oh, right. I'll tell you another secret. That newly admitted sixth true disciple surnamed Huo is ostensibly from the Commoner Faction, but rumor has it his true identity is anything but ordinary. He's either some important figure's illegitimate son or the Hall Master's illegitimate son..."
Cheng Yonghuai looked around, leaned closer, and lowered his voice.
"Illegitimate son?"
Huo Yuanhong gave him a strange look.
"Nine times out of ten! Otherwise, why would the Hall Master accept him as a true disciple? Could he possibly be better than those two aristocratic geniuses who were nurtured from childhood?"
Cheng Yonghuai spoke with complete conviction, then hurriedly reminded him, "But don't you dare tell anyone! If that true disciple surnamed Huo finds out and complains to the Hall Master, I'll be in deep water with no way out!"
"...Alright."
Huo Yuanhong nodded, memorizing this man, then continued dealing with the food in his bowl.
Just as he was nearly done eating, the dining hall suddenly stirred with activity as someone entered.
"Wang Tianlong! Look! Wang Tianlong actually came!"
Cheng Yonghuai could not help crying out. He hurriedly put down his chopsticks and rose to his feet to show respect.
"True Disciple Wang is here!"
The plump manager, whose gaze had previously wandered away, also rose alongside several other managers and greeted the newcomer with beaming smiles.
Huo Yuanhong looked up and saw a man striding like a dragon and walking like a tiger. He was around twenty years old, with arms so long they nearly hung to his knees.
An inch longer, an inch stronger. One could imagine how ferocious he would be in a fight. No wonder he dared call himself invincible at Manifest Strength!
Huo Yuanhong estimated that if he had fought Wang Tianlong before cultivating Manifest Strength to its utmost limit, it would have been hard to say who would win.
But now...
With his method of gathering the strength of his entire body at one point and unleashing it, he needed no superfluous fighting techniques. Absolute strength alone would be enough to kill even the strongest Manifest Strength practitioner in a single blow!
Even without that method of ultimate explosive force, after cultivating Manifest Strength until it flowed smoothly and freely throughout him, his control over Internal Force had risen another level. He could use one part of force to produce the effect of two. Under twice the power, he could still easily knock down this supposedly invincible Manifest Strength practitioner one-on-one.
At this moment, the plump manager had already stepped before Wang Tianlong. With a broad smile, he cupped his hands and said:
"True Disciple Wang swings his arms as though shifting mountains, solid and weighty. I imagine your Taiji Support Hammer has improved again. I fear it will not be long before you reach the utmost limit of Manifest Strength and become another peerless monster after Wu Yuanchu..."
Although Wang Tianlong was not Li Shuxing's disciple, in the eyes of everyone in the hall, his status was no different from a true disciple.
Especially as he drew ever closer to the utmost limit of Manifest Strength, and Master Fang had confirmed that he had a full thirty percent chance of truly reaching that limit, his prestige in the hall had grown with each passing day. He was nearly catching up to the several masters of Transformation Strength!
After all, even Li Shuxing in his youth had not completely reached the utmost limit during the Manifest Strength stage. He rose to prominence only after cultivating Dark Force and Transformation Strength to their utmost limits. If Wang Tianlong truly reached that limit, it would mean his accomplishments in Manifest Strength surpassed even Li Shuxing's. That was an immensely shocking achievement, so naturally everyone regarded him with great awe!
By comparison, Huo Yuanhong, a genuine true disciple of the Hall Master, seemed not to exist at all. He had been sitting here eating for so long, yet not a single person who knew him had come to greet him.
"Support is earth, hammer is heaven. With Taiji Support Hammer cultivated to near its utmost limit, even the Hall Master's Baji Quan can probably only rival it with Ground-Shattering Cannon! With True Disciple Wang here, victory against Sword Inquiry Martial Hall is secure!"
"If he completely cultivates Manifest Strength to its utmost limit, he may even hope to go beyond Transformation Strength in the future. I think our martial arts hall will have to gain a Wang lineage of Taiji!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
Faced with congratulations and flattery from figures of real authority like the plump manager and others, even including two old disciple Martial Masters who had cultivated Dark Force...
Wang Tianlong's expression remained calm. He merely nodded faintly at them, then walked without a care for anyone else to an empty seat nearby and sat down.
"True Disciple Wang, your meal. This is a stir-fry personally prepared by the head chef, along with top-grade polished rice shipped from the Central Plains..."
The plump manager carried over the tray with a cheerful smile. He clearly held real authority as a manager and had also been a famous Dark Force expert in his youth, yet now he had voluntarily taken up the task of serving dishes.
"You've put thought into it. Alright, everyone, don't crowd around. Sit."
Wang Tianlong's single acknowledgment instantly made the surrounding managers and old Dark Force disciples reveal looks of envy and regret. They regretted not thinking of this themselves, and regretted that they could not humble themselves as readily as the plump manager.
In nearly everyone's eyes, Wang Tianlong was destined to become a new master of Transformation Strength in several years. Given another twenty or thirty years, he might even be able to break beyond Transformation Strength. If they could befriend him early and earn the favor of a future master, it would be a tremendous gain!
Even looking only at the present, Wang Tianlong was destined to take first place in the upcoming competition. Once he became the top-ranked disciple, he would not only receive vast quantities of precious resources from the Fang Family, but would also have the right to make recommendations regarding everyone else's resource allotments, greatly influencing the treatment of other disciples!
If they did not seize the chance to make themselves known now, then when would they?
"Bootlickers."
Cheng Yonghuai had squeezed around on the outskirts for a long time without managing to get before Wang Tianlong. He could only return to his seat with everyone else in frustration and curse under his breath.
Everyone sat down and continued eating.
Yet almost all of them were distracted. From time to time, they secretly glanced toward Wang Tianlong, pondering what excuse they could use to go over and make themselves known.
However, they had barely been seated for long when Fang Yu personally arrived with a richly dressed middle-aged man, and the dining hall erupted into complete uproar!
Before you continue