Undercurrents Surge (Seeking Readership)

"Wang Lan has returned."

Liang Wanshan saw the expression on his eldest disciple's face and immediately said to Zhou Yun, "Very well, since you have already secured your spot for the martial arts tournament, go back and train hard."

"This disciple will take his leave."

Zhou Yun cupped his hands and departed, though he had also noticed Wang Lan's unusual demeanor.

Whatever could trouble a young master from a major city family and the Dark Force senior disciple of the Black Stone Martial Hall was likely beyond the reach of his current standing.

Of course, Zhou Yun had no desire to get involved; he only wanted to focus on honestly breaking through to the Dark Force realm.

Bright Force and Dark Force—though separated by only a single word, the significance between them was worlds apart.

Once Zhou Yun had left, Liang Wanshan spoke with a grave tone: "Well? Have you uncovered the full scope of the matter?"

"I have found some leads, but even this disciple finds them hard to believe..."

Wang Lan opened his narrowed eyes slightly and said with a somber expression, "This incident may not only involve the main city, but could also concern the Yan Kingdom's attitude toward our dynasty..."

"The Yan Kingdom? In recent years, our Great Jing has had constant friction with them, and many experts have fallen on the battlefield, some even above the Transformation Force level..."

Liang Wanshan frowned slightly. "How could the Shen Family, a mere small martial arts hall, be so deeply entangled in this?"

"No, Black Stone County is not yet involved in events of that magnitude, but I heard from somewhere..."

Wang Lan said with a stern face, "On the other side of the Black Profound Mountain Range, the Yan Kingdom is colluding with rumored demonic beasts, intending to launch a full-scale beast tide against the south of our dynasty... and our six counties of Xiang City will be the first to bear the brunt!"

"A beast tide? The grudge between our human race and the demonic beasts has long been deep-seated, starting from the very sustenance of martial artists... those great demons view our human martial artists as potent supplements."

Liang Wanshan seemed lost in memory as he sat in his chair. "How long until the beast tide erupts? That last war only ended ten years ago; even if the demon clans of the Black Profound Mountain Range wanted to set foot in the Central Plains again, they should need much more time to build their strength..."

"According to information from my main family, while there is only border friction for now... the time until a large-scale war breaks out should be no more than a year or two."

Wang Lan said in a low voice.

He was well aware that this Transformation Force grandmaster, renowned throughout Black Stone County, had been a participant in that beast-martial war ten years ago.

It was only after losing his strength above the Transformation Force level in that great battle that he had come to this county to recuperate.

Otherwise, given the influence Wang Lan and Chen Jingping held in Xiang City, how could they possibly end up as disciples in a small Black Stone County martial hall?

"A year or two, you say..."

Liang Wanshan fell into a long, heavy silence.

"If that is the case, the Shen lineage of the Sky Sea Martial Arts Hall must be trying to reshuffle the power of the entire Black Stone County to carve out a new path for themselves..."

Wang Lan continued, "This matter is of great importance. I have already reported it to my family in advance, but they have yet to respond..."

He knew that if Master Liang were not presiding over the Black Stone Martial Hall, the master of the Sky Sea Martial Arts Hall might truly have a chance to succeed... but could that path ever be a path of survival?

Black Stone County was adjacent to the Black Profound Mountain Range; once the Yan Kingdom and the demonic beasts joined forces, the outer counties to be leveled first would inevitably be the six counties of Xiang City.

Liang Wanshan surely understood this better than he did.

Geographically, all county towns served as a buffer surrounding the main city, whether against war, natural disasters, or man-made calamities.

Perhaps that Master Shen intended to unite the power of one county and then gradually reach agreements with the other five... as for what he intended to do, it remained unknown.

"Let us wait and observe the changes for now."

After saying this, Liang Wanshan picked up a heavy spear and began to practice.

The sound of the spear piercing the air echoed, the tip gleaming with a cold light.

Inner courtyard.

A figure swung a spear, the young man in the courtyard drenched in sweat.

Judging by Senior Brother Wang Lan's expression, some major event must be brewing.

Zhou Yun held his black iron spear, continuously consolidating the first rotation of the Thunder Meteor Spear Art.

He channeled the internal force within his body, as if merging it into the very length of the spear, and the momentum of the spear art in turn fed back into his own body.

"I am catching a glimpse of the second rotation..."

Zhou Yun stood still, retracting his spear, and took out all the medicinal pills he currently possessed, placing them on the small stone table in the courtyard.

He had five Blood Coagulation Pills and three Blood Solidification Pills.

Combined with tomorrow's daily settlement and the blood-energy reward from his solo victory over a peak Bright Force expert, breaking through to the Dark Force realm should not be a problem.

Thinking this, Zhou Yun once again executed the Thunder Meteor Spear Art, using his internal force to temper his meridians.

The internal force within his dantian grew thicker and thicker until it finally broke through the six-finger threshold, reaching the peak of the Bright Force realm.

"I have reached the peak of Bright Force. I shall rest well tonight... and prepare for tomorrow's breakthrough!"

Zhou Yun exhaled a long, turbid breath; for someone with his First Form Bone, reaching this stage was no small feat.

He only wondered if the daily settlement could reward a Qi Transformation Pill, or if there were pills capable of altering one's bone structure.

After all, the highest reward he had obtained so far was only Grade B-High, and that was for killing an enemy above his rank and single-handedly wiping out a hundred-man gang.

If he wanted to obtain a higher Grade A rating, or even Grade A-High, would he have to leap two ranks at once?

"Perhaps I could try the path of prestige."

Zhou Yun pondered seriously; if his achievements could influence many people, would the rating given to him in the daily settlement become higher?

This was a matter worth attempting, but it still required waiting for a suitable opportunity.

If his bone structure reached the Second Form, his breakthrough speed would inevitably become much faster, rather than being somewhat slow at digesting medicinal pills like it was with the First Form Bone.

"If I use my Eight Fingers force to breach the threshold of the Dark Force, what kind of changes will occur?"

Zhou Yun felt a sense of anticipation; after all, he had consumed a highly precious Qi Transformation Pill, which had increased the density of the force within his dantian.

He had asked Shen Qingxue at the Martial Master Chamber of Commerce, and she said that this Qi Transformation Pill had long been lost in Black Stone County, and could only be purchased within some large families in the Twelve Main Cities.

But even so, even within the main cities, Qi Transformation Pills capable of increasing force capacity were extremely rare.

It was said that even some Transformation Force grandmasters were searching for such pills; they were already considered items that could be sought but not found.

"Since things have reached this point, I should sleep first."

Zhou Yun bathed and changed clothes as usual, then walked into the main room to sleep.

He slept exceptionally soundly that night; with his strength having improved, he felt more confident in facing the various situations of the future.

Until the morning sun rose in the east, and the horizon revealed a hint of fish-belly white.

Zhou Yun sat up from the bed, dressed, and walked into the courtyard.

[Daily Settlement: Defeated an opponent of a higher rank, achieved minor fame in the countryside, rating: B-minus.]

[Obtained six wisps of force, one page of insight into any unarmed martial art, can build a martial foundation and comprehend martial arts.]

"I actually obtained a page of martial art insight?"

Zhou Yun was very surprised, and what he obtained this time was no longer ordinary blood-qi, but the force that could only be converted after breaching the threshold.

In this way, he could directly skip the intermediate conversion process, making it much easier when breaking through.

"Although it isn't insight into a weapon-based martial art, it is still precious enough..."

Zhou Yun picked up his Black Iron Spear, his eyes gleaming with intensity.

"Today, I shall breach the threshold of the Dark Force!"