Twelve Forms Boxing Reaches Major Accomplishment, Killing Intent Chills the Air!

The snow fell ever harder.

The Crabapple Tree's branches had long been bent beneath the heavy snow, like a herd of little deer carrying silver on their backs.

The blue-brick ground, whose outline had still been visible earlier, had now vanished without a trace.

The entire courtyard had become a vast expanse of white.

Cao Feng and Zhao Tianxing had already left.

He had said he would take Zhao Tianxing to South City to visit a master archer and have Zhao Tianxing learn that man's archery.

Zhao Tianxing had been so delighted he could not close his mouth.

Zhao Tianxing's archery had already been quite good. Though he had not reached the realm of Pinpoint Accuracy, over the years, he had shot and killed quite a few Tigers and Leopards and Exotic Beasts.

With such a foundation, learning that formidable archery capable of wielding Qi and Blood Force would surely yield twice the result with half the effort.

When that time came, his strength would soar into the sky in a single leap!

Chu Fan was also greatly pleased.

Once Tianxing learned that archery, he would be able to use Spiritual Essence to freeload on Tianxing's archery experience.

Chu Fan took a faint breath and looked up at the panel.

[Skill: Twelve Forms Boxing (Minor Accomplishment) Progress: (299/300) (Trait: None)]

That round of Twelve Forms Boxing just now had increased his experience by 6 points.

Just 1 more point, and he could break through to Major Accomplishment...

He stepped into the middle of the courtyard and performed Twelve Forms Boxing once more.

The fierce gusts from his fists intertwined with the biting cold wind, sweeping up the withered leaves in the courtyard and sending them whirling endlessly.

Every step formed a stance, his footwork as steady as Panshi;

Every punch carried intent, and though his moves were slow, their edges were hidden!

As he breathed, his Breathing Exercise remained orderly. The sounds of "exhale" and "inhale" were clearly audible, faintly matching the rises and falls of his fist techniques.

Huff!

Huff!

His punches and footwork grew ever faster!

One punch after another...

His palms were like steel blades cleaving through the dark night.

His fists were like sharp arrows shooting cold glimmers.

The falling snow was shredded by his fist wind, scattering across the sky like shattered jade and delicate blossoms.

At the same time, thunder seemed to rumble in Chu Fan's ears, while the Blood Qi within him surged like the Yangtze River!

Boom!

After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Chu Fan's body suddenly shuddered!

A torrent of heat surged out from his Dantian, instantly sweeping through his entire body!

[Twelve Forms Boxing Experience +7]

[Skill: Twelve Forms Boxing (Major Accomplishment) Progress: (6/800) (Trait: None)]

This breakthrough seemed different from the previous ones.

Apart from countless fist shadows flashing through his mind, Chu Fan also felt a scorching, stabbing pain inside his body that spread rapidly.

His Five Viscera and Six Bowels, bones and Meridians...

Even his eyes throbbed with pain!

Enduring the pain, he closed his eyes and began absorbing the evolved fist techniques that came with Twelve Forms Boxing at Major Accomplishment.

Not long after...

He abruptly opened his eyes and clenched both fists at once!

Boom!

A savage aura erupted from within him and swept in every direction. The surrounding snowflakes were blasted flying!

His sinews and bones rang as one!

His strength pierced in all directions!

Surging power coursed through every part of Chu Fan's Limbs and Bones!

"So this is the change brought by Twelve Forms Boxing reaching Major Accomplishment..."

Chu Fan raised his head and watched the fluttering snow.

Time seemed to slow.

He could actually see the snowflakes drifting down, each like a carefully cut Hexagonal Window Flower. Their edges bore fine little sawteeth, and every pattern was as clear as if carved by a Needle Tip.

"Eagle Form at Major Accomplishment—Eyes Can See Tiny Things..."

After all Twelve Forms of Twelve Forms Boxing reached Major Accomplishment, the improvement to the Five Senses was this remarkable!

Others would need to break through Blood Nourishment before they could achieve such an improvement!

No wonder reaching Major Accomplishment in just One Form was enough to enter the Seven Star Gang.

Even with merely One Form at Major Accomplishment, a practitioner's Blood Qi, sinews, and bones could contend against someone who had broken through Blood Nourishment!

Now that all Twelve Forms had reached Major Accomplishment, Chu Fan felt an even more indescribable mystery!

He shot forward, stepped onto the courtyard wall, and leaped onto its top like one flying over eaves and walking on walls.

Then he sprinted several meters along the high wall, spread his arms, and landed lightly like an eagle, standing steadily in the center of the courtyard.

He had yet to train in lightness skill and could not achieve the legendary Leaving No Trace on Snow.

Yet the Swallow Form's refinement of skimming water, the Harrier Form's cleverness in turning over, and the Xiong Form's ability to float upon water made it seem as though he had learned several lightness skills, rendering his movement technique exceptionally nimble!

Chu Fan walked to the side of the courtyard wall.

A row of Stone Locks of varying sizes had been placed there.

Even the smallest weighed a hundred jin.

The largest was said to weigh over eight hundred jin.

He walked up to one of the Stone Locks.

That Stone Lock weighed more than three hundred jin, and it was covered in thick snow.

Chu Fan reached out with his right hand. His fingers pierced through the snow like eagle talons and gripped the Stone Lock's handle.

The chill bit into his bones...

"Ha!"

Chu Fan gave a low shout and directly raised the three-hundred-jin Stone Lock over his head!

Holding such weight aloft with one hand, he remained as steady as Mount Tai, with strength still to spare.

If it were not such a bother, he even wanted to try throwing the Stone Lock out of the courtyard!

Huff!

After pressing the Stone Lock up and down a few times, Chu Fan set it down again.

To lift heavy things as lightly as though they were weightless...

He had not yet condensed even a wisp of Qi and Blood Force, nor had he truly crossed the threshold of martial arts, yet Chu Fan had already sensed a trace of the extraordinary.

Compared to when he had first entered the Seven Star Gang, his transformation had been earth-shaking!

After familiarizing himself with the changes brought by Twelve Forms Boxing's Major Accomplishment, he entered the house and asked Aunt Zhang for a piece of black cloth. He cut it into a blunt triangular shape and tucked it into his robes.

Then, he tucked the Cleaving Knife at his waist and made another trip to the place where he chopped firewood each day. He picked up the Cleaving Knife he usually used and tucked that into his robes as well.

Only then did he leave the Seven Star Gang and head home.

Both his home and the Seven Star Gang were in North City of the Outer City, not too far apart.

After crossing the main streets and threading through the alleys, Chu Fan returned to his doorstep in less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

But the two Stone Lions at the entrance had been pushed to the ground...

And two holes large enough for a person to crawl through had been smashed into his front gate!

Through the holes, he saw the courtyard in utter disarray...

That broken vat had also been smashed apart.

The fishing nets had been torn to shreds.

The doors to several rooms had all been broken.

The Dry Wood that had originally been piled in the corner was scattered all over the ground.

Even the little stool he usually sat on while chopping wood had not escaped, smashed into fragments upon the ground.

The snow was about to completely cover that Dry Wood and those fragments...

"Liu Da..."

A chill flashed through Chu Fan's eyes.

"Xiao Fan?"

The voice of his neighbor, Zhao Hu, came from Chu Fan's right.

Chu Fan turned around and looked to the right.

Zhao Hu, who was walking toward him, met Chu Fan's gaze. His heart abruptly lurched, as though he had been stared down by a savage beast, and he came to a dead stop!

The person before him was clearly Chu Fan...

Yet after half a month apart, Chu Fan's bearing was now completely different!

Zhao Hu even found himself somewhat afraid to look directly into Chu Fan's eyes...

"Uncle Zhao, what happened to your face and leg?"

Seeing Zhao Hu hobble over with a bruised and swollen face, Chu Fan could not help asking.

"Liu Da and his men beat me..."

Zhao Hu limped closer and said, "Who knows what has gotten into that Local Tycoon Huang. Not only does he want to take your family's ancestral mansion, he even wants to seize my family's broken house."

"When I refused, they sent Liu Da and the others into my home and beat me into this state."

"If I were not afraid that after I died, there would be no one to care for my child and his mother, I truly would have fought them to the death!"

Chu Fan was taken aback. "Huang Shouliang wants your house too?"

It was understandable that the local tycoon Huang Shouliang wanted the Chu Family Ancestral Mansion.

After all, the Chu Family's ancestral mansion was considered the best house in the vicinity.

But Zhao Hu's house was old and decrepit...

"It is not just our two houses that they want..."

Hatred gleamed in Zhao Hu's eyes as he said, "Zhang Mazi's home in Qingfeng Alley, Li Si's home in Black Water Alley, Chen Qiang's home in Wugu Alley—they have all been 'visited' by Liu Da and his men."

"What?" Chu Fan was even more puzzled.

He did not know a single one of the people Zhao Hu had mentioned.

But he naturally knew Qingfeng Alley, Black Water Alley, and Wugu Alley.

Those alleys were not in the same area. They were scattered far apart, with great distances between them.

What exactly was Huang Shouliang trying to do?

Though the local tycoon Huang Shouliang could not compare with the great Lineages within Qingyang Ancient City, his son Huang Yu was a Minor Leader in the Blood Saber Sect, and the family possessed some wealth.

He could easily buy a large residence in the Inner City.

Why had he set his sights on these broken homes and dilapidated courtyards of poor families in the Outer City?

Setting his sights on such ramshackle homes would have been one thing. Some wealthy families did indeed buy up all the houses in one nearby area, tear them down, and build a grand residence.

But the Qingfeng Alley, Black Water Alley, and Wugu Alley Zhao Hu had just mentioned were not in the same area!

Was this Huang Yu's doing, or the Blood Saber Sect's?

What did they actually want?

Chu Fan felt that something was not quite right.

After pondering for a moment, he crawled through the hole in his own front gate.

He had only just stood still in the courtyard...

When he crawled back out through the hole.

Then he took out a Copper Key, unlocked the gate, pushed it open, and walked inside.

"..." Zhao Hu stood stunned for a moment, then followed him in.

He advised, "Xiao Fan, hiding like this is not a solution... These people have utterly lost all conscience. They even tore up your fishing nets. They are not leaving anyone a way to live!"

"If it truly comes to it, I think you should find a broker, sell this house, and hide in South City!"

"If you cannot provoke them, can you not at least hide from them?"

"I understand." Chu Fan sneered inwardly, though his face remained calm.

Then he turned and asked, "Uncle Zhao, have they caught the Fishery Bully who killed Big Brother Liu?"

"Ah!" Zhao Hu gave a bitter smile and shook his head repeatedly. "We are not wealthy people, nor do we live in the Inner City. Why would those officials bother themselves to catch the murderer?"

"Even if they truly went after the murderer, it would only be because they wanted to squeeze some oil and water out of him."

"In truth, everyone knows those Fishery Bullies are men of the Blood Saber Sect, but so what?"

"Those officials in the yamen still rely on gangs like the Blood Saber Sect for tribute. Why would they make things difficult for Blood Saber Sect members?!"

"Oh." Chu Fan said no more.

He had actually anticipated this outcome long ago.

Asking that extra question was merely to ensure that what he intended to do next would be safe.

Human lives were as cheap as grass. Such was the world...

But that did not mean he could act wildly and slaughter people at will.

Cao Feng had told him to kill people and temper some ruthlessness.

That did not mean he could be ruthless without a brain.

Either do not do it at all; if he did, then naturally, he had to do it cleanly.