Martial Master (Seeking Daily Reads)

Outer City, east side.

Ever since the Black Wind Stronghold's rebel army stormed the city and looted it that night, countless days had passed, yet many common folk still hadn't recovered from that evening.

The streets were silent; the once-bustling market roads now showed sparse crowds, and carriages and horses were nowhere to be seen.

Though it hadn't reached the point of nine out of ten homes standing empty, the county town had indeed lost many people compared to before.

Some had died, while others had packed up their families and fled the place.

After all, in many people's eyes, even the County Magistrate had met a violent end—what safety could this county town offer?

Before the Black Wind Stronghold's rebel army could strike again, fleeing was hardly an unwise choice.

Of course, leaving didn't guarantee safety either; more likely, it was just jumping from one familiar pit of fire into another unfamiliar one.

Some might not even make it to the next pit before being caught and devoured by roving refugee bands along the way.

Such was the cruelty of this era—whether you moved or stayed still, survival was a struggle.

Ordinary people could only gamble, while those with martial skill had more options.

Tang Family Martial Academy.

Though the Outer City's population had shrunk, the number of new disciples at the academy had clearly increased.

More people, desperate to live and survive, wanted to join the martial arts trade, training in combat to protect themselves.

Watching the growing number of disciples in the yard, Tang Niu was quite pleased.

It wasn't that he was happy about his martial arts spreading far and wide—he was simply delighted at the hefty tuition fees rolling in.

There was no helping it; his Hard Bone Technique was far too costly.

Without scraping together every bit of money, there was no way to train it.

Suddenly, three people walked in through the academy gate.

With just one glance, Tang Niu could tell the burly young man at the front was no ordinary person—clearly a martial artist himself.

He was about to step forward and greet them when a nearby disciple hurried over and whispered, "Master, that's Zhao An!"

"The Zhao An who wiped out the Python Gang and the Tiger Head Gang?!" Tang Niu's expression shifted as he asked at once.

"That's him! I've seen him before, Master—I couldn't be wrong!" The disciple spoke with a hint of fear in his voice.

Zhao An's past infamy, along with the fierce reputation now spreading about him, was enough to chill the blood of ordinary people.

In fact, it wasn't just common folk anymore—even the martial artists of the Outer City felt a twinge of wariness when they saw Zhao An.

After all, his record of single-handedly tearing through the Python Gang and the Tiger Head Gang was too brutal to ignore, striking fear straight into the heart.

"Are you Master Tang? This Humble One is Zhao An." Zhao An walked straight up to Tang Niu, announced himself, and gave a polite fist-and-palm salute.

The name above the man's head was a translucent, colorless white—no good deeds to his name, but no evil either, not even a gray name.

This meant he didn't do good deeds in daily life, but he still followed the law.

And as long as he wasn't a Red Name, Zhao An was usually harmless to them.

"Brother Zhao, your name thunders in my ears. I've long heard of you. What brings you to my humble yard today?" Seeing that Zhao An didn't seem here for a fight, Tang Niu relaxed a little and returned the greeting politely.

"I've long heard of Master Tang's hard bones and hard fists. I've come to seek a sparring match." Zhao An skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"Brother Zhao here to challenge my school?" Tang Niu's smile faded a few degrees.

"I'm not part of any martial academy. I'm simply interested in Master Tang's Hard Bone Technique." Zhao An shook his head.

That was the truth—whether it counted as a challenge or not meant nothing to him.

He wasn't an insider; he just wanted to see what made this eighth-rank martial art so special.

"In that case, please." Tang Niu agreed.

Zhao An really didn't seem like he was here to tear down the school's reputation.

Besides, Tang Niu wanted to see if this young man, so talked about in every street and alley, was truly that formidable.

"Please." Seeing Tang Niu raise only his fists, Zhao An simply tossed his long blade to Zhao Chunzi.

When it came to bare-handed combat, he had no fear now either.

Tang Niu struck first, his fist wind rushing toward Zhao An's face.

That fist was huge, the bones beneath the skin clearly defined, looking rock-solid—hitting a person would feel like being struck by a heavy weapon!

Zhao An didn't panic. He reached out and instantly wrapped his hands around Tang Niu's attacking arm.

With a simple twist and pull, he not only neutralized the force behind the punch but also threw Tang Niu off balance.

Tang Niu lost the initiative in that moment.

Zhao An then pushed out both palms, which Tang Niu blocked with bent arms, stumbling back several steps.

Before Tang Niu could recover, Zhao An closed in again, unleashing the full sequence of the Silver Snake Hand technique.

Sometimes slapping, sometimes threading and pressing.

Tang Niu felt as if two pythons had coiled around him, constricting his breath, his body tossed about like a toy as Zhao An toyed with him, staggering left and right.

He was horrified to discover that he had no ability to fight back against Zhao An's palm techniques.

What's more, Zhao An hadn't even circulated his Internal Breath to empower his palm strikes—he was purely relying on the exquisite precision of his moves to dominate the fight.

After a moment, Zhao An voluntarily stepped back, while Tang Niu leaped several meters away, his face still dazed from being toyed with.

"What palm technique is this? Have you already trained it to perfection?!" Tang Niu asked in shock.

"Yes." Zhao An nodded, admitting it openly.

Tang Niu opened his mouth but couldn't find words for a moment.

He understood better than the disciples in the courtyard just how rare and valuable it was to train a graded martial art to perfection.

And Zhao An looked so young—how could he have achieved this?!

"Again!" Tang Niu shouted, then stomped his foot hard, circulating his Internal Breath in an unusual manner.

His eyes bulged wide, like an angry Vajra, and veins popped across his face and entire body.

His muscles turned as hard as rock. When Zhao An raised his palm and struck him, Tang Niu's feet seemed rooted to the ground—he didn't budge an inch!

Not only was his flesh and skin tough, but it also produced a strange rebounding force.

Zhao An's palm landed, and instead, his own palm went numb!

"This is the Hard Bone Skill! What a treasure!" Zhao An was not alarmed but delighted.

Wanting to test the Hard Bone Skill, Zhao An held nothing back. He circulated his Internal Breath and struck again, his palm moving like a startled snake, the force penetrating deep into the flesh of Tang Niu's back.

Bam!

A dull, muffled sound rang out. Tang Niu had intended to withstand Zhao An's palm and then counterattack.

But then—

Internal Breath shot in like hundreds of fine threads, piercing into his flesh. The stabbing pain in his back instantly scattered the breath in his chest and abdomen.

His face turned pale, his stance wavered, and he collapsed face-first to the ground.

Seeing this, the nearby disciples rushed over to help their master up.

It was the first time they had seen Tang Niu's technique broken.

"Awe-inspiring youth! Not only have you perfected your palm technique, but your Internal Breath cultivation is also this profound—I am far inferior to you!" Tang Niu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, took a deep breath, and spoke with some bitterness.

He had trained the Hard Bone Skill for over a decade, yet he never expected Zhao An to break it with a single palm strike.

This wasn't because his Hard Bone Skill was unworthy of its reputation—it was purely that Zhao An's Silver Snake Hand, perfected at the third realm, combined with four hundred strands of Internal Breath, produced palm force that was simply too strong.

In every aspect, he was outmatched by Zhao An.

He could only say that the rumors were true—a man who could single-handedly slaughter two gangs was no ordinary character.