Seven Resonances, Limit Break

Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall, Inner Courtyard.

It was utterly different from the front courtyard, where the sour stench of sweat hung in the air and dozens of people crowded together, scrambling for stone locks amid a clamor.

The Inner Courtyard was so quiet one could hear birds beating their wings as they skimmed past the eaves.

The courtyard was paved with broad, level bluestone slabs. Plum Blossom Stakes, small sandbags, and several iron-clad Wooden Dummies wrapped in cured cowhide stood in the corners.

A faint medicinal fragrance lingered in the air year-round. It was the scent wafting from the "Secret Medicinal Bath" reserved exclusively for Inner Sect disciples.

This was the Inner Sect.

Once one crossed that threshold, there was no longer any need to worry over firewood, rice, oil, and salt. What one trained was genuine killing skill; what one cultivated was a martial artist's spirit and vitality.

Lu Zhen, dressed in black silk training clothes trimmed with gold, stood before a Wooden Dummy, idly getting a feel for the inch force of the Mid Force Refining Realm.

Not far away stood several Inner Sect senior brothers who had entered the hall before him.

They gathered in twos and threes, their sidelong glances occasionally sweeping over Lu Zhen, but none took the initiative to speak to him.

One burly man with bronze rings around both arms curled his lip and murmured to the man beside him, "See that? That's Junior Brother Lu, the one who only ground his way into the Mid Force Refining Realm at thirty."

"He's got some strength, sure, but he's too old." Another man shook his head, making no attempt to hide the contempt and certainty in his eyes. "At thirty, his blood and vitality have already taken shape. He'll be heading downhill soon.

"If he can remain steady at the Mid Force Refining Realm for the rest of his life, his ancestors will have blessed him. As for the Late Force Refining Realm, or even Bright Force? Don't even dream of it."

Their voices were extremely subdued, but to martial artists' ears, they were hardly secret.

In their eyes, Lu Zhen was like an old soldier who had barely muddled his way in by putting in enough years. His potential was exhausted; he was not worth befriending, much less worthy of being a rival.

Just then, light footsteps sounded from the moon gate of the Inner Courtyard.

Yan Shanshan entered in a fitted purple training outfit that outlined her proud figure, blazing in like a ball of fire.

The senior brothers immediately put on smiling faces and eagerly greeted her. Yan Shanshan gave a slight nod, her gaze sweeping across the grounds before landing on Lu Zhen striking the Wooden Dummy.

Her steps paused briefly. She walked over, watched Lu Zhen exert force twice, and casually offered him some advice.

"Junior Brother Lu, Iron Wire Fist emphasizes fierce power, but at your age, the gaps between your bones have already grown shut. Don't force yourself into head-on collisions. Relax your Jianjing Acupoint a little more when you punch, lest you damage your tendons and bones and leave yourself with a chronic ailment."

Her tone was fairly polite, but it went no further than politeness.

It was as though she were instructing an elderly guard hired by the martial arts hall.

Giving him a few pointers was merely fulfilling the duty of the hall owner's daughter. Whether Lu Zhen listened, and how well he trained, did not concern her at all. After speaking, she walked straight to the side.

Lu Zhen's expression remained calm. He withdrew his stance, cupped his fists, and continued practicing his punches.

Before long, Gu Yanzhi arrived as well.

The moment he appeared, the atmosphere in the Inner Courtyard immediately came alive.

During this period, Gu Yanzhi had been quite the prominent figure in the Inner Courtyard.

Not only was he exceptionally talented, producing Triple Resonance punches in less than a month, but more importantly, he carried the generous, free-spending bearing of a wealthy family's heir and was witty and well-read.

Bolstered by both personal charm and abundant wealth, quite a few people in the Inner Courtyard had gradually gathered around him. He had faintly become the center of a small circle.

Even Yan Shanshan, who normally held her head high above everyone else, took the initiative to approach him now, chatting and smiling with him as ripples of light flickered in her eyes.

Gu Yanzhi was sharing amusing stories with the others when a glance from the corner of his eye caught Lu Zhen standing alone before a Wooden Dummy in the corner.

His eyes lit up. He immediately closed his folding fan, parted the crowd, and strode over.

"Brother Lu! Why are you practicing alone with your head down? Come, come, take a break over here!"

With that, Gu Yanzhi naturally grabbed Lu Zhen's arm and, without allowing any argument, dragged him into his lively little circle.

When the few people in the circle saw this, the smiles on their faces stiffened slightly.

They looked at the suave and elegant Gu Yanzhi, then at Lu Zhen, dark-faced and only barely admitted into the Inner Sect at thirty. No matter how they looked at it, it was an eyesore.

Who among those in this circle was not either gifted or born to wealth?

Lu Zhen, a lowly laborer who had once pulled rickshaws, standing among them was like a rough black earthenware jar mixed into a pile of exquisite jade artifacts.

Though no one spoke up to drive him away out of respect for Gu Yanzhi, the distance and barely perceptible disdain in their eyes formed an invisible wall that shut Lu Zhen out completely.

Lu Zhen's expression did not change, as though he had seen nothing.

He had never intended to fit into such a circle anyway.

Yet this entire scene played out without missing a beat before the eyes of several people on the other side of the Training Ground.

They were another group in the Inner Courtyard, all experts of the Late Force Refining Realm. Proud of their formidable strength and seniority, they had always disdained currying favor with others.

One sinister-looking young man folded his arms and watched Lu Zhen being pulled into Gu Yanzhi's circle. A mocking curve tugged at his lips.

"I originally thought that young master of the Gu Family was a rare talent, and I was considering making his acquaintance. Who would have thought he had so little taste? He pulled every kind of lowlife to his side, lowering his own status for nothing."

He shook his head, his gaze lingering briefly on Yan Shanshan. His tone carried a sour edge. "What a pity for Junior Sister Yan, circling around a young master who knows no rules all day long."

The man standing at the center was built like an iron tower. It was Zhang Lei.

Listening to his junior brother, he cast a cold glance at Gu Yanzhi before finally shooting Lu Zhen a vicious look.

"Hmph."

The instant Zhang Lei's cold snort landed, the tightly shut carved wooden doors of the main hall creaked open from within.

Everyone in the Inner Courtyard immediately composed themselves, stopped what they were doing, and stood solemnly along both sides.

Yan Tieqiao wore a loose gray cloth robe. He held no purple clay teapot, instead clasping his hands behind his back as he crossed the threshold with measured, square steps.

His seemingly clouded eyes swept over the courtyard, lingering slightly on Lu Zhen for an instant. There was some scrutiny in his gaze, some indifference, but he said nothing more.

"Stop for now."

Yan Tieqiao walked to the center of the Inner Courtyard and spoke blandly.

"Today, our Inner Courtyard has gained newcomers."

His gaze passed over Lu Zhen, and his voice was weathered yet steady. "Once you enter through this door, throw away those crude farmhand tricks from the outer courtyard, where you only grind yourself into dead strength. By the rules of the martial arts hall, when new disciples enter the Inner Sect, the master must personally show you the foundation. Open your eyes wide and watch carefully!"

The moment his words fell, Yan Tieqiao's shoulders gave a slight shake. His loose gray robe billowed as if filled by a gale, snapping loudly.

He planted his feet on the ground, neither splayed nor pigeon-toed.

Boom!

Everyone felt the floor beneath their feet shudder violently.

Coiling Dragon Stake!

Lu Zhen's pupils contracted. Yan Tieqiao's body before him seemed to grow several inches taller, while a low series of crackling sounds came from his spinal joints, like an ancient old dragon lying dormant in an abyss suddenly stretching its sinews.

Then Yan Tieqiao moved.

There was none of the teeth-gritting savagery of the outer courtyard apprentices. His punch was exceedingly slow, yet inconceivably fast. As his fist cut through the air, it actually dragged up a visible white wave.

Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!

A string of explosions like firecrackers erupted through the Inner Courtyard!

Not three resonances, not five, but seven in all!

The seven crisp reports joined into a single line. They were not thin like a whip cracking through the air, but like spring thunder bursting forth, making the weapon racks beside them hum. An unstoppable, fierce gust from the punch made the cheeks of the disciples in the front row sting.

After the punch, Yan Tieqiao slowly withdrew his stance.

His chest did not rise or fall in the slightest. He was neither panting nor flushed, as though that earth-shattering punch had been no more than a casual flick of his sleeve.

Even Zhang Lei, who had always thought highly of himself, lowered his head at this moment, his eyes filled with awe.

"How many resonances did you hear?" Yan Tieqiao's gaze was like lightning as it swept across the crowd.

"Seven..." Gu Yanzhi swallowed. His folding fan had long since been put away, and his expression was one of shock.

"Correct. Seven resonances."

Yan Tieqiao clasped his hands behind his back again and said slowly, "With Iron Wire Fist, three resonances are merely minor mastery, barely touching the threshold of issuing force. Five resonances are major mastery, where sinews and bones ring in unison. If one can strike six resonances, that is the realm of perfection—force flowing freely, as easy to command as one's own arm."

"And what of this seventh resonance?" Yan Tieqiao paused, his voice abruptly rising. "This seventh resonance is called 'Limit Break'!"

His gaze swept over the Late Force Refining Realm disciples present, mercilessly lifting the veil from the cruelty of the martial path.

"Among you, some are in the Mid Force Refining Realm, and some are in the Late Force Refining Realm. You think yourselves figures of some standing in Ocean City."

"But today, I'll tell you something straight from the heart—under Bright Force, all are ants!"

Yan Tieqiao snorted coldly and pointed at his own chest.

"The Mid Force Refining Realm trains skin, flesh, and great tendons; the Late Force Refining Realm trains sturdy bones and vigorous blood. But even if you talk until the sky breaks, it is still dead strength!

"Once you face a true Bright Force martial artist, their blood and vitality have been trained through the five viscera and six bowels. A single breath of theirs runs long and unbroken, and their force can pass through the body.

"Fighting you is like smashing a clay jar with an iron hammer. One touch, and it shatters!"

These words made everyone present shiver inwardly.

"However—"

Yan Tieqiao's tone shifted, gaining a measure of sharp arrogance.

"Heaven never bars every road. If someone possesses extraordinary talent, or cultivates without cease, and can train a martial skill to the realm of 'Limit Break'—such as the seventh resonance of Iron Wire Fist—"

"Then even if you are only in the Late Force Refining Realm, far inferior to Bright Force in stamina, resistance to blows, and lasting blood vitality, the killing power of that Limit Break strike alone can still reach seventy or eighty percent of a Bright Force martial artist's level!"