Dragon Snake

After hearing these words.

Yan Tieqiao remained silent for a long time before finally nodding slowly.

"You are a sensible person."

"Since you asked about the Coiling Dragon Stake, it means you have sensed the bottleneck. The Coiling Dragon Stake truly cannot support cultivation beyond the Bright Force."

Yan Tieqiao's tone steadied, regaining some of the demeanor befitting a master.

"The Force Refining Realm trains the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones; the Coiling Dragon Stake can make your blood boil and temper your bones until they are hard. But once you reach the Bright Force, the power must flow into the internal organs and generate a continuous stream of internal energy."

"To advance further, you must change your cultivation method. I actually possess a profound internal practice method that points directly to the Hidden Force."

He looked at Lu Zhen, his expression calm.

"However, I cannot pass it on to you."

"I obtained it from a major power during my travels in my youth. I swore a solemn oath and signed a blood pact back then; this method must never be privately transmitted to outsiders. Otherwise, both the martial arts school and you would face total annihilation."

"This disciple understands." Lu Zhen nodded.

He naturally understood the rules of the martial world: techniques are not to be taught lightly.

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

"And what about our martial technique, the Iron Wire Fist? Regarding the so-called seven-sound Limit Break, can it be further refined?"

Yan Tieqiao stroked his beard and pondered for a moment.

"Let's talk about the Iron Wire Fist first," he began slowly. "The so-called six-sound perfection means that a martial technique has unleashed one hundred percent of its original power. The force is thorough, not a fraction more or less."

"And the Limit Break is what exceeds that one hundred percent."

Yan Tieqiao's expression grew more solemn.

"In the martial arts circle, this state of exceeding the limit is called 'Force Extreme'."

"The seven-sound Limit Break means stepping into the 'second level of Force Extreme'. It can unleash two hundred percent of one's power. Beyond that, there is the third level of Force Extreme, the fourth level... all the way to the seventh level."

A hint of emotion flashed in his eyes.

"I have immersed myself in this fist technique my entire life, yet I have only barely reached the third level of Force Extreme."

Lu Zhen muttered to himself, "The third level?"

Yan Tieqiao glared at him. "What do you mean, 'only' the third level?"

"The vast majority of Hidden Force Martial Grandmaster practitioners are just hovering around the fifth level of Force Extreme."

"If someone can train a martial technique to the seventh level of Force Extreme... they would be an invincible figure among Hidden Force Martial Grandmaster practitioners. One in ten thousand, extremely rare."

Lu Zhen closed his mouth, firmly engraving these words into his heart.

"Are there any realms beyond that?"

Yan Tieqiao instinctively wanted to scold him for being overly ambitious, as he had only just entered the Bright Force and was already daring to look toward the heavens beyond the Hidden Force.

But the words reached his lips and were swallowed back.

Looking at Lu Zhen's age, yet seeing how he had managed to cross the chasm of the Bright Force in such a short time, who could say for sure how far he would go in the future?

His momentum deflated, and he simply muttered.

"I do not know."

"Legend has it that only by reaching the realm above the Hidden Force is it possible to truly grasp... to control the heavens and earth, to control the environment."

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

Yan Tieqiao withdrew his gaze and looked at Lu Zhen.

"In the legends of this Ocean City, the ancestor of the Xiao Family was at this realm."

He shook his head and sighed.

"It is just that, at least for me as your master, I have never seen it in this lifetime."

"Control Realm..."

Lu Zhen lowered his eyes, a flash of realization crossing his heart.

So that night, in the rainy night, listening to the rain hitting the bluestone, feeling the convergence of the energy of heaven and earth.

Was the mysterious realm he perceived in that instant...

The Control Realm?

It was a pity that such an ethereal state came quickly and left just as fast.

In that single moment, it dissipated like morning dew.

He raised his head, looked at Yan Tieqiao sitting on the stone stool, and cupped his hands.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master."

Yan Tieqiao waved his hand without speaking.

Lu Zhen paused for a moment, his expression calming down.

"There is one more thing."

"Speak."

"Since Zhang Lei has issued an Expulsion Notice," Lu Zhen said, looking straight into Yan Tieqiao's eyes with a steady tone, "three months from now, this disciple wishes to fight in Master's stead."

Yan Tieqiao's eyes snapped up, his graying brows knitting tightly together.

He was about to open his mouth to bark that this old man wasn't so decrepit that he couldn't lift his fists, but the words caught in his throat.

He looked at Lu Zhen.

Those eyes were bright and piercing, clear, resilient, and radiating an unquestionable sense of confidence.

A thirty-year-old at the Bright Force stage.

Recalling the terrifying, furnace-like heat of the blood energy that had erupted from Lu Zhen just moments ago, Yan Tieqiao's gaze gradually softened.

After a long silence.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and gave a heavy nod.

"Good."

Outside the quiet corridor.

Yan Shanshan kicked at the bluestone tiles in boredom, glancing toward the moon gate of the backyard from time to time.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded.

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

Yan Shanshan was stunned.

She found it strange.

Her father, who usually kept a stern face and had been shrouded in gloom for the past few days, now seemed to have shed most of that shadow; his mood appeared remarkably good.

Reaching the courtyard gate.

Lu Zhen stopped, turned, and cupped his hands in a salute to Yan Tieqiao.

Then, he turned his head, offered a faint smile to Yan Shanshan, and strode toward the outer courtyard.

Yan Shanshan watched Lu Zhen leave, then turned to look at her father standing on the steps.

She was filled with curiosity.

"Dad," she leaned in and asked in a low voice, "what did Lu Zhen just say to you?"

Yan Tieqiao stood with his hands behind his back, saying nothing.

He simply watched the back of Lu Zhen as he strode away, a strange luster flickering in the depths of his eyes.

It wasn't until Lu Zhen's figure turned the corner that he withdrew his gaze and muttered to himself in a low voice.

"Back when I was out wandering the world, I often heard storytellers in the martial arts circles talk about 'the transformation between the wooden goose and the dragon-snake'."

"At the time, I didn't understand what that phrase really meant."

"Now..."

He suddenly let out a soft chuckle. "Haha."

Yan Shanshan was left completely bewildered.

She scratched her head, her face full of confusion. "Dad, what are you talking about?"

Yan Tieqiao reined in his laughter and turned to look at his daughter.

He looked Yan Shanshan up and down and asked casually.

"Have you been spending a lot of time with Lu Zhen, Gu Yanzhi, and the others lately?"

Yan Shanshan was startled and replied in a small voice:

"Y-yes, I have."

"Not bad." Yan Tieqiao nodded, turned around with his hands behind his back, and strolled toward the back hall.

Left standing where she was, Yan Shanshan's cheeks flushed bright red in an instant.

She had long harbored feelings for Gu Yanzhi, the gentle and refined young master of the Gu Family who was always waving his folding fan. It was just that, being a young lady with a thin skin, she had never dared to reveal it.

Now, hearing her father bring it up so abruptly.

She couldn't help but lower her head, her hands subconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, her heart beating a little fast.

Could it be... that Dad knows what's on my mind?

She stood under the eaves, her face burning with shyness, thinking to herself.