Overlord Breaks the River

Lin Qing understood at once.

Though the shop's business had improved, its earlier losses had been too great, and it still had to cover the expenses of his martial arts training. His sister must have been short on money, but too embarrassed to say so.

His heart ached. Without a moment's hesitation, he took a small pouch of silver from his clothes and pressed it into his sister's hand.

"Sis, take this money. Spend it when you need to. Don't try to save it."

Lin Qing spoke lightly, as though it were nothing important.

"I can earn some money now. You don't have to worry about the household expenses anymore."

The heavy coins settled in her hand. Lin Wan froze for a moment. Looking at her younger brother's calm, dependable eyes, she felt her nose sting and her eyes redden in an instant.

She quickly lowered her head, hiding her emotions.

Her younger brother had really grown up.

At some point, he had stopped being the boy who needed her protection and become the true pillar of their family.

He had grown so tall, so dependable.

"Mm. I understand."

Her voice choked, thick with a nasal twang.

Yet a tremendous sense of security enveloped her heart.

Lin Qing looked at his sister's reddened eyes and her hands, roughened with calluses.

His resolve to grow stronger only grew firmer.

"I'm going to make something of myself..."

"And give my family a more peaceful life."

More than two months passed in the blink of an eye.

At the Hong Family Martial Hall, the whistle of fists cut through the darkness before dawn.

Lin Qing stood bare-chested, his bronze skin exposed, his muscles sharply defined.

He drew a deep breath, his lower abdomen swelling slightly. Then he drove power through his waist and legs, alternating punches as short, forceful shouts burst from his mouth:

"Heh! Heh! Heh!"

Each shout came with a punch that tore through the air, its momentum fierce.

Then he demonstrated a more focused way of vocalizing.

He inhaled silently. The instant he exhaled and punched, a sharp, clipped sound forced its way from deep in his throat: "Tsk—!"

Like a steel wire snapping taut, it carried a penetrating force.

This was the Iron Wire Fist's distinctive method of cultivating power.

Concentrate your force with sound, and no attack would fail.

Then Lin Qing's fists shot out in rapid succession.

In his hands, the Twelve Bridge Hands were no longer a mere set of techniques. He had infused them with his own understanding.

His feet rooted themselves to the ground, his waist and legs working as one. As his arms swept through the air, fourteen dark iron rings clanged against one another.

Sometimes he used a rigid bridge, striking hard and pressing forward. Sometimes he used a yielding bridge, entangling his opponent's hands, redirecting force, and twisting into a killing attack.

Watching his display, Zhang Shun nodded in approval.

"Junior Brother Lin, your martial arts are improving faster and faster. At this rate, surpassing me won't be difficult."

Zhang Shun praised him sincerely. Lin Qing's natural aptitude might have been average, but his understanding was indeed impressive—far better than most of the other disciples'.

"Ah Min, spar with Junior Brother Lin. I want to see where you both stand."

Zhang Shun addressed a lean martial hall disciple nearby.

"Yes, Senior Brother Zhang." The lean man stepped forward and cupped his fist toward Lin Qing.

"Please guide me, Senior Brother Zhao." Lin Qing returned the salute.

The man was Zhao Min. He had entered the school a year before Lin Qing, but was still only at the Skin Refining Realm.

Sparring with him would be perfect for practice.

"Junior Brother Lin, watch out!"

Zhao Min barked a low shout and launched Fierce Tiger Climbs Mountain, both arms driving down with a fierce rush of wind.

Lin Qing remained calm. His footwork shifted. It looked as though he meant to meet the attack head-on with Bridge Hand Sinks the River, but at the moment of contact, he twisted at the waist, turning hardness into softness. His arm slipped past Zhao Min's grasp like a nimble fish, and he followed with an elbow strike straight toward Zhao Min's exposed ribs!

Caught off guard, Zhao Min grunted and stumbled back several steps, astonishment on his face.

Lin Qing's sudden change had completely broken free of the fist technique's set patterns. He had reached the stage of applying what he had learned with ease.

"I was careless just now. Again."

Clearly unconvinced, Zhao Min grew more cautious, his eyes fixed on Lin Qing's hands.

Lin Qing's expression turned grave. Both men shifted through different stances as they circled one another, sensing each other's movements and intent.

After a moment, perhaps Lin Qing's composure had begun to unsettle him. Zhao Min suddenly stepped forward, bent low, and punched straight at Lin Qing's lower abdomen.

Lin Qing retreated a step. Zhao Min immediately advanced with quick, stamping steps, turning his fist into a claw and striking toward Lin Qing's ribs.

But just then, Lin Qing seemed to see the move coming. He launched a Rigid Bridge, sweeping his arm across. His palm sliced through the air like a blade and struck Zhao Min on the neck.

Zhao Min broke out in a cold sweat.

"Junior Brother Lin, how did you know what I was going to do?" Zhao Min asked, shaken.

In a fight to the death, Lin Qing might have killed him in an instant.

Life and death often hung on a single moment.

"Thank you for the match, Senior Brother." Lin Qing withdrew and cupped his fist.

"I saw you instinctively press down with your hand just now, so I knew it was your habit to turn a punch into a grab."

"So I deliberately left an opening to lure you in."

Zhao Min took a deep breath. He knew his junior brother's martial arts had already far surpassed his own.

He immediately cupped his fist. "I'm convinced."

Lin Qing smiled and offered a few compliments in return.

The mood between them was warm and friendly.

The experience value for Iron Wire Fist quietly ticked upward on the Heavenly Dao Record.

[Iron Wire Fist (Mastery)]

[Experience: 1/20000]

Over this period,

as he sparred with fellow disciples who had different styles, Lin Qing continually tested and refined his fist techniques, drawing valuable lessons from real combat.

Every bout deepened his understanding of Iron Wire Fist.

On top of that, he used his mastery of pharmacology to keep improving the Blood Nourishing Powder he took, making it more potent. It nourished his qi and blood far beyond what an ordinary person could manage, letting him make twice the progress with half the effort.

With hard training and the help of the medicine, his martial arts had steadily advanced to the late stage of Skin Refining.

His skin had grown tougher; ordinary blows from a staff could no longer injure him in the slightest, and his overall physical strength had improved considerably.

For someone with only average natural aptitude, this pace was undeniably fast.

Hong Yuan sat in the hall's grand armchair, seemingly resting with his eyes closed, though in truth he was watching the entire training ground. Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

A flicker of surprise passed through his cloudy old eyes, and his gaze settled on Lin Qing.

As Lin Qing threw his punches, Hong Yuan clearly sensed a quality of effortless perfection in his movements. Lin Qing had already brushed against the threshold of fist intent.

"Average aptitude, yet such remarkable insight?"

"In barely more than five months, he's already achieved minor success in Iron Wire Fist..." Hong Yuan mused. His expression remained unchanged as he gave a slight nod.

Then he closed his eyes again, as though he had only glanced over by chance.

But from time to time, his gaze still returned to Lin Qing's movements.

That afternoon, Hong Yuan unusually did not have the disciples train on their own.

Instead, he gathered all the disciples, including Lin Qing, in the center of the training ground.

"Iron Wire Fist places great importance on fundamentals—and on killing!"

Hong Yuan's voice rang like a great bell as his gaze passed over the young faces.

"Today, I'll teach you a killing move from Iron Wire Fist: Overlord Breaks the River!"

Before his words had even faded, he suddenly slapped the stone table beside him.

"Clatter—!"

The eighteen thick, heavy black steel rings on the table, forged from refined steel, sprang into the air as if pulled by an invisible force.

Like a torrent of quicksilver, they dropped one by one onto his heavily muscled forearms.