"Wu Xun was born dull-witted, and on top of that, he can barely walk. That girl Zhong Xiu may look plain, but she's actually proud and haughty. She definitely won't agree," the pale-faced man said, shaking his head.
"Won't agree? Heh. Now that she's come to our Wu Family, does she really get a choice? If you leave her to me, I'll make sure she learns to behave," Wu Tong said with a vicious grin.
"Do you think I never considered using force? But Zhong Xiu didn't come to our Wu Family alone. Someone else brought her here. Afterward, I had people look into him. He's young, but he has some connection to the Jin Family." The pale-faced man sighed.
"What? He's connected to the Jin Family? If that's the case, then let's drop it. We don't need to concern ourselves with that girl. If this gets out and brings the Jin Family down on us, we might not even be able to hold on to that thing. As for the story that a Bloodline Martial Artist once appeared among Zhong Xiu's ancestors, the Zhong Family themselves were the ones who first said it. Who knows if it's true? Maybe they were just boasting. Even if it is true, everyone knows that although descendants of Bloodline Martial Artists have a higher chance of awakening the same bloodline, it still takes a special secret method and a great deal of precious medicine to make it happen. Between the two, that thing is far more important and useful to our Wu Family." The Wu Family head was startled at first, but he quickly changed his mind.
The pale-faced man naturally had no objections.
The brocade-clad man was somewhat reluctant, but he nodded as well.
After discussing a few other matters, the group left the meeting hall one by one.
"Father, what's the name of the boy who came to our house with that ugly girl? And what's his connection to the Jin Family?" As soon as the arrogant young man returned to another room with the pale-faced man, he couldn't help asking.
"Oh, you mean the boy named Shi Mu. He isn't directly related to the Jin Family by blood; he's only an in-law from one of its branches. But his nominal mother is a formidable woman. It's best not to provoke her."
"His nominal mother?" The arrogant young man was confused.
"That's right, Jin Zhen. Her name differs by only one character from the Jin Family girl you like, but she's that girl's aunt, and their strength is worlds apart. She's on the same level as your eldest uncle. Few outsiders know of her, but she handles all the Jin Family's medicinal herb business and wields tremendous power in the family. What is it, Hua'er? Are you so concerned about Shi Mu?"
"I heard that after the ugly girl left, she ran back to Shi Mu. I'm not interested in her at all, but she was once engaged to me in name. Now she's gone to another man. If people find out, won't I lose face? Father, I want to teach him a good lesson!" Wu Hua snorted.
"Heh, foolish boy. It seems you've forgotten what I taught you. Didn't you befriend quite a few Jin Family youths while pursuing Jin Yuzhen? Our Wu Family can't conveniently make a move against that boy, but if the Jin Family's own people do it, then it has nothing to do with us." The pale-faced man was taken aback at first, then offered the advice with an indulgent smile.
"Thank you, Father. I know what to do now." Wu Hua's spirits soared.
"You two were beaten in no time by someone from a small gang?" On a sprawling training ground, a young man dressed entirely in white stared coldly at the two men in their twenties before him.
One of the men carried a spear in one hand; the other wore a whip coiled around his waist. Though they had changed into blue outfits, they were none other than the two Turbid Water Gang experts Shi Mu had defeated in an instant during the recent battle between the Turbid Water Gang and the Black Fox Society. Both were now drenched in sweat, seemingly terrified of the young man before them.
"W-Wang, Junior Brother, how did you hear about it?" the spear-wielding man stammered.
"Hmph. If I hadn't happened to hear people at the martial hall talking about it, were you two planning to keep it hidden forever and let the Jin Gang Martial Hall's reputation be dragged through the mud?" The young man in white gave a cold snort.
"Of course not. We only lost so badly this time that we planned to go back and learn from a few instructors before challenging Fierce Fist again," the other man, with the whip around his waist, said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and improvising in desperation.
"Oh? So you really were defeated by him in no time at all? Tell me what happened when you fought." The young man in white looked intrigued.
"Yes, Junior Brother Wang. This is what happened. The first to fight Fierce Fist wasn't the two of us, but the Turbid Water Gang's leader. At the time, he..." The two men, as if pardoned, hurriedly began their account.
"In the end, Old Yu was the one who shouted his surrender at the crucial moment, and that's how I escaped disaster. If the other man's kick had landed, I probably wouldn't have been able to stand again."
"If Fierce Fist could shatter your wooden spear by hurling a stick, then yank Senior Brother Li over by force, he must either have cultivated the Body Tempering Technique to at least the tenth layer or possess natural strength. No wonder you two were no match for him." The young man in white looked somewhat less stern after hearing them out.
"That's right, Junior Brother. Fierce Fist never shows his real face. He became the Black Fox Society's top fighter as soon as he appeared and has defeated plenty of powerful opponents. But over the past six months, he seems to have grown even more formidable. Not long ago, he even used his fists to break seven or eight ribs of Feng Jun, the famous fighter from Tianlu Martial Hall, in a one-on-one fight. Feng Jun is still in bed recovering." Senior Brother Li quickly echoed the young man's words.
"Feng Jun was defeated by Fierce Fist too? He narrowly missed being admitted to Kaiyuan Martial Academy back in the day, but he's now cultivated the Body Tempering Technique to the tenth layer. He also practices the extremely powerful external hardening art, Iron Garment Body. To be injured in a head-on clash and left bedridden even with all that... I'm even more interested in this secretive fellow." The young man in white laughed instead of getting angry.
"Junior Brother Wang, you mean..." The two men exchanged glances, and one of them asked cautiously.
"I don't care what method you use. Arrange for me to meet him. I want to have a proper match and see if he can withstand my Blazing Fire Spear Technique," the young man in white replied without hesitation.
"Well..."
"All right. We'll do everything we can to arrange a meeting with him," the spear-wielding man said at once, while Senior Brother Li was still hesitating.
Only then did the young man in white leave, satisfied.
"Senior Brother Li, are we really supposed to arrange a meeting with Fierce Fist?" Once the young man was far away, the spear-wielding man complained to his companion.
"You know what Junior Brother Wang is like. If we didn't agree, he'd probably turn around and beat us up himself. Forget it. At most, we'll have someone send a message to the Black Fox Society. Whether Fierce Fist agrees or not is none of our concern." Senior Brother Li wore a crafty expression.
"Right, I was being an idiot. If Fierce Fist refuses, Junior Brother Wang will surely go to the Black Fox Society himself. That'll help us get revenge, too. With Junior Brother Wang's abilities, Fierce Fist might have a whole body of brute strength, but he can't possibly be a match for him." The spear-wielding man suddenly understood.
"Exactly. The Fang Fire Spear Technique is one of the few Houtian martial arts capable of unleashing great power at the Martial Disciple level. Fierce Fist won't be able to withstand it." Senior Brother Li sneered.
The two left the martial hall in high spirits.
Shi Mu had no idea that the man he became as "Fierce Fist" had caught someone's attention again.
But even if he had received word, he probably wouldn't have given it much thought. Since putting on the silver mask six months ago, this sort of thing had happened several times already.
Feng Jun of Tianlu Martial Hall had been goaded into challenging him by a small faction. Shi Mu had shown no mercy, using three punches of his Crushing Stone Fist to smash through Feng Jun's defensive hardening technique and leave him bedridden for more than half a month.
The reason he had taken on the identity of "Fierce Fist" was actually quite simple.
Not long after he first arrived at Flowing Wind Martial Hall, Feng Li and Gao Yuan, who also trained there, happened to see that his Crushing Stone Fist was close to mastery. Delighted, they immediately came over to talk with him, and eventually they struck a deal: he would take the place of the former top fighter of the Black Fox Society, "Fierce Fist," who had just died of illness, and prevent the Black Fox Society from being wiped out by other factions while it was vulnerable.
In return, Shi Mu received a large sum of silver, filling his pockets once more after the expense of his many medicinal baths had nearly drained them dry.
At that moment, he had returned to Feng City and, in his own face, arrived at a rundown street under the Black Fox Society's control.
The street was barely thirty zhang long, with only a handful of shops on either side.
Yet Shi Mu had come to a shop marked with an iron hammer. He stood there, looking expectantly at the muscular man before him, who was bare-chested and had bronze-colored skin.
The man held a sheet of drawings in his hands and studied it with wide eyes. Before long, however, his brows began to furrow.
"What's wrong? Could even Master Ma be unable to forge this pair of weapons?" Shi Mu couldn't help asking.
"The design of these weapons is quite ingenious. Forging them would take a fair bit of work, but given enough time, I'm confident I can make them piece by piece. The only problem is that the Cold Iron required here is extremely precious, and I only have a small piece. Could another material be used instead?" The muscular man finally lifted his eyes from the drawings and replied after a moment's thought.
"No. These Sun and Moon Blades are extremely important to me. Even if you can't forge them so they'll cut through metal like mud, I still don't want them to shatter the moment another weapon strikes them. We absolutely can't skimp on the materials. I'll add another five hundred taels of silver. Gather more Cold Iron for me from other blacksmith shops, and make sure you forge them properly. As for the time, they must be finished within a month at the latest," Shi Mu said firmly.
(I've been in Shanghai for an annual gathering these past few days, and early this morning I flew to another city to take care of some other matters. I only checked into a decent hotel tonight, so I really haven't had much time to write. On top of that, I'm not in good health. I forced myself to write this chapter for everyone, but I really can't go on, so there'll only be one update today!)
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