Seven-Tenths Strength

"Lend a hand again?"

Hearing that familiar phrase, Chen Luo subconsciously looked at his Master.

The last time he "lent a hand," his Junior Sister Apprentice almost died, so this time, hearing "lend a hand," he instinctively hesitated slightly.

"Go ahead and attack without worry. Your Senior Martial Uncle's skill is not something your Junior Sister can compare to," Crippled Ma saw what Chen Luo was thinking and immediately said with a smile.

He had great confidence in his Grandmaster-level Senior Brother.

He also felt it was time to curb the arrogance of his talented disciple, Chen Luo. When a person is young and their path is too smooth, it's very easy to suffer setbacks. He himself was the best example.

"Attack with all your strength. I'll just sit here without moving. If you can make me budge even an inch, I'll acknowledge you as a genius."

Ruan Jianglong also saw Chen Luo's worry and smiled along.

Regardless of his aptitude, this nephew's temperament was quite good. It was just a pity he had stayed in a small place for too long and hadn't seen much of the world, completely unaware of the weight of the words 'Grandmaster.'

It was precisely because of his Grandmaster level strength that he, Ruan Jianglong, was able to build such a large foundation in a prefecture-level city like White Dragon City.

"Do you really want me to lend a hand?"

"No need to worry, a Grandmaster is far beyond the Martial Artists you've encountered before."

Seeing that both his Master and Senior Martial Uncle had guaranteed it, Chen Luo relaxed.

The gap between him and his Junior Sister was growing wider and wider; she could no longer help him accurately gauge his strength. His Senior Martial Uncle was perfect. A Grandmaster expert, and one who practiced Black Tiger Fist at that. His aura alone looked incredibly powerful. Perhaps even Daoist Lichen, who had chased him before, was no match for his Senior Martial Uncle.

Having figured this out, Chen Luo immediately stood firm, circulating the Black Tiger Fist aura within his body. His hands formed Tiger Claw stances, and his legs bent into a squat.

The Internal Qi within his body surged like a river. His originally unremarkable body, like Ruan Jianglong's, also developed an aura. This aura condensed like the might of a tiger, and the two people facing him immediately sensed it.

"Good!"

Ruan Jianglong also showed a look of pleasant surprise.

Putting aside how well he practiced the fist technique, this tiger-like presence alone showed he had grasped the essence of Black Tiger Fist.

Along with the mobilization of Internal Qi, the bones within Chen Luo's body crackled like bamboo shoots after rain. His realm, which was originally only at the Bone Forging level, surprisingly drew out a trace of Pale Blue Energy when fully mobilized, instantly elevating his might to the Grandmaster level.

Then, a Tiger Roar was heard, and his figure vanished in an instant.

"Hmm?"

Ruan Jianglong, who had been sitting with a casual air, changed his expression and abruptly stood up. He extended one hand to push his Junior Brother, Crippled Ma, to the side, while a black Crouching Tiger also appeared on his body. He unleashed his fist technique, meeting the punch Chen Luo sent towards him head-on. The two forces collided fiercely.

Boom!!!

A loud explosion sounded, and black energy waves rolled out, kicking up a large amount of dust.

Ruan Jianglong, reacting on the fly, had completely underestimated how fierce this nephew was. As a result, the fist technique he unleashed in a hurry was shattered with a single blow. The black Crouching Tiger only lasted for a breath before being broken apart. The energy exploded, and the punch struck him directly in the chest. He was sent flying through the air, pushed by a gray-black Fierce Tiger Fist force, until he slammed into the courtyard wall behind him and finally stopped.

Thud!

A muffled sound, and the scene suddenly fell silent. The tables, chairs, and benches where Ruan Jianglong and Crippled Ma had been sitting were overturned. Forget the earlier agreement about 'not moving half a step,' even the ground beneath their feet had been scraped away by that punch just now.

"Master, I held back this time. I only used Seven-Tenths Strength."

After sensing that Ruan Jianglong hadn't suffered any substantial injury, Chen Luo turned his head and said to Crippled Ma, who was still sitting on the ground.

He had learned his lesson from the last time he "lent a hand" with his Junior Sister, so he only used Seven-Tenths Strength this time.

"This kid, wow!!"

Ruan Jianglong, who had been trying to maintain the dignity of a Senior Martial Uncle, couldn't hold back when he heard this and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.

When he looked at Chen Luo again, it was like looking at a monster.

This wasn't a genius at all; he was clearly a freak!

"You, you, you!! You broke through to Grandmaster?!" Crippled Ma was completely dumbfounded, even forgetting to help up his Senior Brother who had rolled to the side.

"I just broke through not long ago."

Chen Luo had a simple and honest expression.

To be precise, he couldn't be considered a Grandmaster. The Pale Blue Energy belonged to Immortal Cultivators, but he couldn't explain the details clearly, so he might as well just consider himself a Grandmaster.

"Alright, you go rest first."

Crippled Ma was speechless for a long time, unsure how to respond. This sense of déjà vu made him feel as if he were dreaming.

It wouldn't do to say, You can't beat up your Senior Martial Uncle like that, right? They were the ones who had asked him to go all out before, and Ruan Jianglong himself had proposed the idea of lending a hand. The kid had even held back three-tenths of his strength, which was already giving a lot of face.

It was just, when did the Martial Path become so easy to break through?

If you could become a Grandmaster after practicing for just a few months, then hadn't he wasted his entire life practicing for nothing?!

"Okay."

Chen Luo wasn't stupid, and he naturally understood the current situation. He needed to save his Senior Martial Uncle some face.

So he went out and found an Escort Guard from the Tiger Might Escort Agency, asked for the location of the guest rooms, and then left with the other person.

"Junior Brother, tell me the truth, did this kid really only practice martial arts for a little over a month?"

Once there were no outsiders around, Ruan Jianglong no longer pretended to be strong. He sat cross-legged on the ground, smoothed out his congested energy, and his condition finally eased. Chen Luo had indeed not lied; he had held back in the final moment of their exchange. Otherwise, Ruan Jianglong's injuries would not have been as simple as spitting up a mouthful of blood.

"He really only practiced for a little over a month. I taught him for half a month, and during that half month, except for the first few days, he practiced by himself afterwards."

Crippled Ma forced a bitter smile, knowing what his Senior Brother was thinking.

It was a question he himself hadn't figured out.

"If that's the case, I suspect your disciple might very well possess 'that kind of aptitude'," Ruan Jianglong's eyes flickered, his mind becoming active.

The reason he was able to cultivate Black Tiger Fist to the Grandmaster realm was because he had a fortuitous encounter a few years ago.

It was only then that he learned the world wasn't just as they saw it. Later, it was also by relying on the reputation of that 'Immortal Master' that he managed to establish himself in White Dragon City, the provincial capital, making the powerful figures there afraid to provoke him.

A large part of the reason Tiger Might Escort Agency could develop to this point was that he had received guidance from that 'Immortal Master', sharing a connection.

"Senior Brother is saying..."

Crippled Ma's expression changed. When Chen Luo had come over earlier, he and his Senior Brother had been discussing this very matter in the courtyard.

"Only that can explain it. In this world, some people are born different from us," Ruan Jianglong had already begun thinking about how to build a good relationship with this Martial Nephew later on.

Unlike his Junior Brother Crippled Ma, he had been good at leveraging power since he was young. On the surface, he seemed simple-minded and muscular, but in reality, he understood the rules of the Yue Kingdom better than anyone. Those people 'above' were the foundation.

"Junior Brother, you're really lucky."

Saying this, a hint of envy appeared on Ruan Jianglong's face.

Why hadn't he encountered a disciple like this?

"What luck? I'm already a cripple," Crippled Ma said with a bitter smile, patting his leg.

Only he knew what kind of life he had lived these past few years.

"Lost at sunrise, gained at sunset. Maybe in the future, Senior Brother will even have to rely on your disciple to save his life," Ruan Jianglong said half-jokingly.