Dragon and Snake

After hearing this,

Yan Tieqiao fell silent for a long while before finally nodding slowly.

"You're a sensible man."

"You asked about the Coiling Dragon Stake, which means you've noticed the bottleneck. The Coiling Dragon Stake truly can't support cultivation beyond Bright Force."

Yan Tieqiao's tone settled, and he regained some of the bearing of a master.

"The Force Refining Realm trains the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones. The Coiling Dragon Stake can make the qi and blood in your body boil and temper your bones until they're hard as iron. But once you reach Bright Force, your power has to flow into the five viscera and six bowels, and you have to produce a steady, unending stream of inner qi."

"To go any further, you have to change your cultivation method. As it happens, this old man has a profound internal cultivation method that leads straight to Dark Force."

He looked at Lu Zhen, his expression frank.

"But I can't pass it on to you."

"I obtained it from another great power while traveling in my younger days. Back then, I swore a solemn oath and signed a blood pact: this method must never be secretly passed on to outsiders. Otherwise, both the martial arts school and you would face annihilation."

"I understand, Master." Lu Zhen nodded.

He understood the rules of the martial world: techniques could not be passed on lightly.

Having settled the matter of the cultivation method, Lu Zhen thought for a moment, then asked about something else.

"There's also our Iron Wire Fist. Can the so-called Seven-Sound Limit Break be pushed further?"

Yan Tieqiao stroked the beard beneath his chin and pondered for a moment.

"First, let's talk about Iron Wire Fist." He spoke slowly. "When a technique reaches six sounds and perfection, that means it's being used at one hundred percent of its original power. The force flows through perfectly, not a fraction too much or too little."

"Limit Break means going beyond that one hundred percent."

Yan Tieqiao's expression grew more solemn.

"In the martial world, this surpassed level is called 'Force Extreme.'"

"Seven-Sound Limit Break means you've stepped into the second layer of Force Extreme. You can exert two hundred percent of your strength. Beyond that, there are the third, fourth, and so on, all the way up to the seventh layer of Force Extreme."

A hint of emotion flashed across his eyes.

"I've spent my whole life immersed in fist techniques, and even now, I've only just managed to reach the third layer of Force Extreme."

Lu Zhen murmured, "The third layer?"

Yan Tieqiao glared. "What do you mean, 'only' the third layer?"

"Most Martial Grandmasters who cultivate Dark Force only make it to around the fifth layer of Force Extreme."

"If anyone could train a technique to the seventh layer of Force Extreme... they'd be an unrivaled figure among Dark Force Martial Grandmasters. One in ten thousand—exceedingly rare."

Lu Zhen fell silent and committed every word to memory.

"Are there realms beyond that?"

Yan Tieqiao instinctively wanted to curse him for aiming too high. He'd only just entered Bright Force, and already he dared to gaze toward the heavens beyond Dark Force.

But the words reached his lips, then he swallowed them.

Looking at Lu Zhen, who at such a young age had crossed the chasm of Bright Force in a remarkably short time, who could say how far he might go in the future?

The force went out of Yan Tieqiao's voice. He only murmured,

"I don't know either."

"According to the legends, only when one reaches the realm beyond Dark Force is it possible to truly grasp... to control heaven and earth, to control one's surroundings."

"In the martial world, that realm is called—Control Realm."

Yan Tieqiao drew his gaze back and looked at Lu Zhen.

"According to the legends here in Ocean City, the Xiao Family's old ancestor reached that realm."

He shook his head and sighed.

"But at least I've never seen it in my lifetime."

"Control Realm..."

Lu Zhen lowered his eyes, a flicker of understanding passing through his heart.

So that night, as he listened to the rain striking the bluestone in the downpour and felt the currents of heaven and earth converge,

the profound realm he had sensed for that fleeting moment—

was that Control Realm?

Unfortunately, that state of emptiness had come and gone in an instant.

It had vanished like morning dew.

He raised his head and looked at Yan Tieqiao, who was sitting on the stone stool, then clasped his hands.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master."

Yan Tieqiao waved a hand without replying.

After a brief pause, Lu Zhen's expression settled.

"There's one more thing."

"Go on."

"Since Zhang Lei has issued an Expulsion Notice..." Lu Zhen looked straight into Yan Tieqiao's eyes, his voice steady. "Three months from now, I'm willing to fight in your place, Master."

Yan Tieqiao's eyes snapped up, his grizzled brows drawing tightly together.

He was about to open his mouth and snap that he wasn't so old he couldn't throw a punch, but the words jammed in his throat.

He looked at Lu Zhen.

Those eyes were bright and clear, steadfast, and filled with unquestionable confidence.

Bright Force at thirty.

Remembering the terrifying, furnace-hot qi and blood that had just erupted from Lu Zhen, Yan Tieqiao's expression gradually softened.

After a long while,

he slowly let out a breath of turbid qi and gave a firm nod.

"Good."

Outside the quiet corridor,

Yan Shanshan idly kicked the bluestone beneath her feet, glancing now and then toward the moon gate leading to the rear courtyard.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded.

Lu Zhen and her father emerged from the courtyard, one after the other.

Yan Shanshan froze.

She found it strange.

Her father, who usually kept a stern face and had been especially weighed down with worry these past few days, now had most of the gloom between his brows swept away. He seemed to be in quite a good mood.

At the courtyard gate,

Lu Zhen stopped and turned to cup his hands to Yan Tieqiao.

Then he turned to Yan Shanshan, gave her a smile, and strode toward the outer courtyard.

Yan Shanshan watched Lu Zhen leave, then looked back at her father, who stood on the steps.

Curiosity filled her.

"Dad," she went up to him and asked softly, "what did Lu Zhen just say to you?"

Yan Tieqiao clasped his hands behind his back and said nothing.

He simply gazed at Lu Zhen's retreating figure, his eyes glinting with something strange.

Only when Lu Zhen disappeared around the corner did he turn away and murmur,

"Back when your father was out making his way in the world, I often heard storytellers in the martial world talk about 'the change between the wooden goose and the wild goose, the transformation of dragon and snake.'"

"Back then, I couldn't figure out what those words meant."

"But now..."

He suddenly chuckled. "Hahaha."

Yan Shanshan was completely bewildered.

She scratched her head, utterly confused. "Dad, what are you talking about?"

Yan Tieqiao's smile faded as he turned to look at his daughter.

He gave Yan Shanshan a once-over, then casually asked,

"You've been spending a lot of time with Lu Zhen, Gu Yanzhi, and the others lately?"

Yan Shanshan froze and answered in a small voice,

"Y-yes."

"Good." Yan Tieqiao nodded, turned around with his hands behind his back, and ambled toward the rear hall.

Left where she stood, Yan Shanshan's cheeks flushed scarlet.

She had long been smitten with Gu Yanzhi, the refined young master of the Gu Family who always carried a folding fan. But she was too shy to ever let him know.

Now, hearing her father bring it up so suddenly,

she couldn't help lowering her head, twisting the hem of her clothes between her fingers as her heart began to race.

Could it be... Dad knows how I feel?

Standing beneath the eaves, her face burning with embarrassment, she wondered to herself.