32 (Thanks to Lin Meimei for becoming a patron)

Fortunately, the Dragon Snake Movement Technique was still quite reliable. As long as the other side had no crossbow experts, even if he could not win, escaping was at least somewhat guaranteed.

Unless the other side also happened to be skilled in lightness techniques.

Thinking this, Zhang Rongfang raised his head and glanced at the sky.

Without realizing it, he had already been here for a year. Over that year, what happened to Xiao Rong and Daughter had made him vaguely understand the cruelty of this world.

Many times, it was not enough to simply wish to live quietly in some secluded corner. That did not mean one could remain safe and sound forever.

"What are you thinking about?" Seeing Zhang Rongfang's somewhat low spirits, Zhang Xintai reached out and patted his shoulder.

"You're seventeen this year, right?"

"Mm, seventeen."

"What plans do you have for the future? Staying in Qinghe Temple and being a martial cultivator for the rest of your life?" Zhang Xintai asked.

"I don't know. I haven't thought it through yet." Zhang Rongfang shook his head slightly.

"Don't you have an elder sister?"

"Yes. She's far away, in the Great Capital."

"With your talent, if you work harder, perhaps you could take up a post at the Assembled Sages Institute. The Assembled Sages Institute is in the Great Capital too. Wouldn't that let you go find your elder sister then?" Zhang Xintai said with a smile.

"Then I'll borrow your lucky words." Zhang Rongfang smiled as well.

"What about you, Senior Brother? What are your plans?" he asked.

"I should be getting married before long." The corners of Zhang Xintai's mouth rose, and his face shone with irrepressible radiance.

"Getting married?!" Zhang Rongfang blinked.

"Yes," Zhang Xintai said with a smile. "Your sister-in-law is from Huaxin County Town. She often came here with her mother to pray and burn incense. After going back and forth so many times, we got to know each other."

"That's a good thing." Zhang Rongfang was happy for him.

"Yes. When the time comes, you'll have to give me a hand."

"Definitely!"

Watching the uncontrollable smile on his senior brother's face, Zhang Rongfang instead felt even more lost.

Now that his safety had initially been secured, he felt even emptier about what he should do in the future.

"Senior Brother, if I keep practicing martial arts, how far do you think I can go?"

"Keep practicing martial arts... With your talent, if you spend ten years on it, you should be able to cultivate the Talisman Canon to Third Grade. But after Third Grade, it becomes extremely difficult," Zhang Xintai replied.

"Third Grade? Why?" Zhang Rongfang did not understand.

"For our sect's martial arts, Third Grade to Fourth Grade is a threshold. You need to slowly temper your tendons and bones through bitter endurance. You started martial arts too late, and your tendons and bones have already somewhat taken shape. Crossing Third Grade will be difficult."

Zhang Xintai changed the subject.

"But Third Grade is already very impressive. In all of Qinghe Temple, there are only a few people at Third Grade or above. Most are Second Grade, First Grade, or not even in the ranks.

"Once you reach that level, you can take a post with the Imperial Court and collect a salary, while also holding a position in the sect. You could say it's quite comfortable."

"Taken shape? Then what about you, Senior Brother? You're still young. Can't you keep advancing too?" Zhang Rongfang asked.

"Why should I keep advancing? Day after day for more than a decade, practicing martial arts bitterly every day. Now that I can finally decide how to live my own life, if I don't properly enjoy life and instead throw most of my lifetime into martial arts, then what did I practice martial arts for?" Zhang Xintai asked in return.

Zhang Rongfang fell silent.

"Alright, don't think too much. On the road of martial arts, as long as it is enough, that's fine. The further you go, the more time and energy you spend, yet the less you gain.

"Also, you've been assigned a Rotation Duty too, right? Patrol, or going to the County Town?"

"Going to the County Town."

"Then remember to take a letter to your sister-in-law for me."

"No problem. Where does Sister-in-law live? What's her name?"

"Her name is Yang Hongyan. I'll write her address in the letter later."

***Huaxin County, Rice Gang.

On Shanchong Street, the most prosperous street in the County Town, the tallest and most expensive place for food and drink was none other than the Four Seas Restaurant at the center of the street.

At this moment, the entire top floor of the Four Seas Restaurant had been cleared out. Few people sat at the lacquer-red tables and chairs.

Rice merchants from the city, dressed in fur-lined coats and silk, stood scattered about with their own thugs.

Everyone's gaze fell upon the tall woman seated in the center.

The woman had fair skin, graying hair, and faint crow's-feet at the corners of her eyes. She was clearly no longer young.

A Fire Rat Cloak wrapped her entire figure tightly from head to toe.

"With this late spring cold coming in, those with weaker bones truly can't endure it."

The woman lowered her head and coughed softly several times.

"Everyone knows that my son, Shao Quanhu's son, died. Even now, we still don't know how he died."

She paused.

"My husband returned from Qinghe Temple and thinks about this matter all day. He cannot eat or drink, and he has lost so much weight he is about to fall ill.

"I have already lost my son. If my son was implicated with mountain bandits, then if there is evidence, I will accept it.

"But if something happens even to my husband, then cough, cough... is this not trying to wipe us out root and branch!?

"Is Qinghe Temple truly this vicious? Must they drive my Rice Gang to its death? Tang Sha's martial arts are formidable. If he truly intends this, what am I, a mere woman, supposed to do?"

"Gang Leader, Qinghe Temple only has Tang Sha, Chen Heqiu, and Zhang Xuan—those three are truly powerful. The rest are nothing much. If we want to deal with them, we can join hands with the Black Fist Gate and make a move."

A strong man with a black eagle tattooed around his neck rolled two iron balls in his hand as he spoke solemnly.

"Though in the eyes of the entire Jianghu, Qinghe Temple is nothing much, merely a third-rate sect.

"The Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic is decent for nourishing one's health, but if it truly comes to a fight, it is only so-so.

"However, within a hundred li of this place, Qinghe Temple's influence in the Government Office is no small matter," another dark-skinned man said in a low voice.

"Isn't that only natural? I went to Qinghe Temple some days ago and discussed the art of immortality with the Daoist Wen Xiu inside. In times like these, who with a little money does not want to live longer?"

A White-Haired Old Woman leaned on a blackwood cane and gave a strange laugh.

"Actually..." Shao Quanhu, draped in the Fire Rat Cloak, spoke again.

"Back then, Tang Sha did not wipe them out completely. He deliberately left some leeway and spared my son.

"I have already investigated this clearly. It was only that my son suddenly died on the way back. The wounds on his body when he died bore the traces of moves from the Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic.

"And they were the traces of the Breaking Limit secret skill, Heavy Mountain."

"Heavy Mountain... In all of Qinghe Temple, only three people have fully mastered it, comprehended the ultimate limits of talisman arts, and realized Heavy Mountain." The tattooed strong man holding the iron balls frowned.

"One is Chen Heqiu, but he is already advanced in years. As the Palace Master, he could not possibly act over such a small matter. Nor was there any need for him to leave such obvious traces in dealing with a junior.

"The second is Zhang Xuan. He made a name for himself outside twenty years ago, then vanished without anyone knowing why.

"The third is Tang Sha. Without question, Tang Sha is the most suspicious."

"It was not Tang Sha. At the time, he was together with Chen Baihu, and many witnesses saw him there." Shao Quanhu slowly shook her head.

"Then that means... Zhang Xuan?" The strong man with the iron balls turned cold-eyed.

"Could there be a fourth person who comprehended Heavy Mountain?" someone asked.

"Impossible. The foundation for comprehending the Heavy Mountain secret skill is to temper the Yue Type Talisman through Thousand Refinements until it reaches the limit. Afterward, one must break through the Limit once more before grasping its deepest mysteries. Even my husband cannot accomplish that," Shao Quanhu denied.

Her husband was Chen Zhihan, Chen Wuyou's father. He was also the master of Qinghe Temple's Patrol Warden Office, a genuine Fifth Grade Master.

Even he could not accomplish it, showing just how difficult this Heavy Mountain move was.

"My husband once mentioned that without more than thirty years of foundation in the Yue Type Talisman, one should not even dream of touching a sliver of Heavy Mountain.

"Looking at it this way, Zhang Xuan is the most likely culprit." Shao Quanhu's expression grew increasingly gloomy.

"Fifth Grade... truly remarkable. Since Zhang Xuan dared kill my son with such lawless impudence, then none of us need hold back any longer."

She lowered her head and coughed several more times. Faint bloodstains appeared on the handkerchief covering her mouth.

"Lao Ding. You owe me one life. Now, you can repay it."

The iron balls in the tattooed strong man's hand abruptly stopped. He tossed them to the thug behind him.

"Gang Leader, speak."

"Zhang Xuan's biological son, Zhang Xintai, has a lover in the city. He will likely become engaged and marry before long.

"When that time comes, that old man Zhang Xuan will certainly arrive. I want his wedding to become a funeral!"

The weakness in Shao Quanhu's eyes turned pitch-black and bone-piercing in an instant.

"Fine!" The strong man with the eagle tattoo grinned. "I've long wanted to cross hands with Qinghe Temple's ox-nosed Daoists. We'll see whether his rotten Talisman Canon is stronger, or my Rice Gang's Profound Sand Palm is more formidable."

"Be careful. After all, he has already cultivated the Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic to Fifth Grade. By rank, you are still one level beneath him," Shao Quanhu said softly.

"Let's capture his son first." The strong man with the eagle tattoo was noncommittal.

Rank was merely the number of times one had broken limits. What determined victory or defeat also included the strength of the martial arts themselves, as well as the differences between people.

A squirrel that broke through a limit once and a tiger that broke through a limit once were both First Grade, but could one say they were equally strong?

"The Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic... its effects in curing illness and saving people are still quite good. As for exchanges in the Jianghu..." The old woman leaning on her blackwood cane spoke softly. "When the time comes, I will send a squad of Iron Slaves from my side. Together with Daoist Chen, that will be more than enough."

Iron Slaves referred to physically strong Black People, all trained in the rudimentary Profound Iron Palm. Once outfitted in full gear made of thick leather, even ordinary experts who had Entered the Ranks would find it difficult to defeat them quickly.

***Deep within Red Mountain Forest.

A man in a short Daoist robe rapidly practiced his footwork back and forth through the woodland.

A breeze blew past, and fallen leaves scattered through the air.

Flocks of birds soared into the sky, circling overhead and crying out sharply.

The sky gradually darkened, and the clouds began to thicken.

Suddenly, the man, halfway through his footwork, abruptly halted, joy appearing on his face.

"It's done!"

Zhang Rongfang let out a long breath and kicked the fallen leaves apart beneath his feet.

More than a month... finally. He stared at the Attribute Panel at the bottom of his field of vision. Behind the skills section, a new skill had finally appeared.

Vitality Talisman.

Just now.

Before he had even finished his thirtieth round of the Vitality Talisman Footwork, he saw blurry words appear in the Attribute Panel.

At this moment, after more than a month of accumulation, his attributes had become:

'Zhang Rongfang--Life 16-16.

Skills: Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic—Yue Type Talisman (Breaking Limits) (Breaking Limit Skill: Heavy Mountain),

Guanxu Skill (First Layer Essence Aperture).

Dragon Snake Movement Technique (Mastered).

Vitality Talisman (Beginner).

Available Attributes: 4.'

Over this period, his Life had increased by one point, all from his own training.

The four Attribute Points gained by taking medicine and replenishing his blood had all remained unused.

He had consumed more than half the medicinal herbs, and accumulated several Attribute Points, yet the Vitality Talisman had stubbornly refused to reach beginner level.

It had made him somewhat anxious.

Until now.

Looking at the words "Vitality Talisman" clearly appearing in the Attribute Panel.

The great stone hanging over Zhang Rongfang's heart finally fell to the ground.

"Back to my room, back to my room. This time, I'll raise the Vitality Talisman to the max in one go!"

Filled with anticipation, he packed up his things and quickly hurried toward Qinghe Temple.