Yilin County's autumn grew richer by the day.
Chen Jianghe had been standing in the courtyard for nearly four hours.
In the four months since returning from the escort agency, he had plunged wholeheartedly into hard training.
By day, he went to the martial arts school to practice his fists. At night, he returned home, soaked in a medicinal bath, then stood in his stance. The cycle repeated without end.
He had used two of the three portions of Bone Tempering Soup ingredients.
After using the first portion, his stance training had broken through to mastery.
After using the second, he could flow through all five forms of the Five Elements Fist at will, and when Bright Strength surged, the sound of his sinews and bones ringing together had grown deeper and more resonant.
But that last thin barrier before Dark Strength remained unbroken.
[Fate: Heaven Rewards Diligence] [Current skill: Three-Body Stance (Mastered)] [Progress: 23%] [Current skill: Five Elements Fist (Minor Achievement)] [Progress: 97%] [Effect: None]
Chen Jianghe slowly opened his eyes and gazed out at the gray, overcast sky.
For the past four days, he had felt eyes watching him from the alley.
Whenever he returned from the martial arts school and passed through those familiar alleys, he felt eyes peering at him from the shadows.
The gaze was well concealed. If not for his stance training having reached mastery and his senses far surpassing those of ordinary people, he might never have noticed it.
At first, he had assumed it was just the neighbors' curiosity. But as it happened more and more often, something began to feel wrong.
Chen Jianghe thought of Zhang Mingyuan, who had died by his hand.
That Sun Moon Cult follower had roared before dying, "The steward is nearby!" and "The cult will never rest until you're dead!"
Four months had passed.
If the Sun Moon Cult truly wanted to investigate, it might well have uncovered a clue or two.
"Even when a tree longs for stillness, the wind will not cease..."
A chill flashed through Chen Jianghe's eyes.
He had planned to train until his progress was full, then break through to Dark Strength in one fell swoop.
But now, it seemed some people had no intention of letting him live in peace.
Only one portion of Bone Tempering Soup remained.
Chen Jianghe took the oil-paper packet from the hidden compartment beneath his bed.
"I can't wait any longer."
If he didn't break through to Dark Strength, he would remain at the Bright Strength stage.
If the Sun Moon Cult truly sent a Dark Strength expert—or once again used numbers to overwhelm the few, as at Black Wind Ridge—he might not be able to protect his mother and himself.
Only a breakthrough could give him more confidence.
Once the medicinal soup was ready, he strained out the dregs and poured it into the large wooden tub he had prepared.
Chen Jianghe stripped off his clothes and stepped into the tub. The scalding liquid enveloped him, pain surging like a tide.
He drew a deep breath and assumed the Three Body Stance in the tub.
His breathing gradually slowed. With each inhalation and exhalation, his qi and blood circulated, while the medicinal power seeped in through his pores, burning like fire.
Then it turned into hundreds and thousands of gentle, warm trickles, winding through his meridians and flushing the tiny sinews that were usually so difficult to open.
Before long, the medicinal power began to fade and the water cooled.
Yet the heat within Chen Jianghe surged ever more fiercely. The qi and blood he had accumulated had reached their peak!
His eyes snapped open. He sprang from the tub and, in the chill of the autumn night, settled into the Three Body Stance!
The five forms of the Five Elements Fist flowed one after another, each faster than the last.
The medicinal power rampaged through his body for about a quarter of an hour before finally settling. It transformed into a mighty, warm torrent of qi and blood, returning to his dantian before circulating along the Ren and Du meridians.
The circuit was complete; qi and blood arose of their own accord.
Chen Jianghe slowly exhaled, raised his right hand, and held it out toward the old locust tree three zhang away.
No wind stirred, and no sound rang out.
Yet a shallow fist print silently appeared in the trunk, its edges smooth and its depth half an inch, as though something invisible had slowly pressed it inward.
Dark Strength. He had done it.
[Fate: Heaven Rewards Diligence] [Current skill: Three-Body Stance (Mastered)] [Progress: 23%] [Current skill: Five Elements Fist (Mastered)] [Progress: 1%] [Effect: Power contained within; penetrates the body and shatters the meridians]
Chen Jianghe slowly relaxed his stance, feeling the utterly different power within him.
The next day, Chen Jianghe pushed open the martial arts school's gate and headed home as usual.
His steps were steady, his breathing as normal. Only the corner of his eye had already locked onto the two faint, scarcely perceptible gazes in the shadows at the end of the alley.
They'd finally come. They had followed him for four days and were finally about to make their move.
Twenty steps, thirty steps... He turned past the first alley entrance, his peripheral vision sweeping over a pile of discarded wooden crates on the left.
Someone was there. Their breathing was light, their heartbeat suppressed. Clearly, they were trained.
Chen Jianghe's expression did not change. He continued forward.
Fifty steps.
The second alley entrance came into view. It was narrower than the stretch behind him. Mottled earthen walls stood on either side, with broken jars and rotten bamboo baskets—discarded by who knew whom—piled at their bases. Moonlight couldn't reach inside; it was so dark he couldn't see his hand before him.
A good place to strike.
Chen Jianghe's steps faltered slightly, as though he had tripped over something, and he staggered half a step.
In that instant, two black figures swooped down from the shadows atop the walls like night owls!
A flash of steel cut through the darkness, aimed straight at Chen Jianghe's back and neck!
Fast, vicious, precise—every move a lethal strike.
But Chen Jianghe seemed to have expected it. His stumbling body twisted abruptly, slipping between the two blades like a fish in water. At the same time, he pulled a pouch of lime powder from his clothes and flung it hard behind him without even looking!
"What the—agh!"
The screams rang out almost simultaneously.
The lime powder hit the two men full in the face. Caught off guard, the black-clad men had their eyes blinded in an instant, and the pain sent their blades wildly off course.
Chen Jianghe had already turned around. His fists, sheathed in brass knuckles, shot out like venomous snakes striking!
Five Elements Fist—Crushing Fist!
His left fist slammed into the chest of the black-clad man on the left.
The man shuddered all over, his eyes bulging. He opened his mouth to cry out, but only spat a mouthful of filthy blood mixed with pieces of his organs.
Dark Strength pierced through his body, shattering his heart and lungs.
Though the black-clad man on the right couldn't see, he read the wind and sound. He swept his single blade wildly across, trying to force Chen Jianghe back.
Chen Jianghe neither dodged nor yielded. His right fist shifted from Crushing to Drilling, rising from below. The Drilling Fist spun like an awl and drove in!
His fist slipped through the gap in the blade's arc and struck precisely beneath the man's ribs.
"Crack!"
The crisp snap of breaking ribs rang clear.
Dark Strength bored through the gaps between the broken ribs, crushing the man's liver and spleen.
The black-clad man grunted and crumpled to his knees. His single blade clattered to the ground.
Chen Jianghe stepped forward and clamped his left hand over the man's jaw. With the fingers of his right hand held together like a blade, he made a precise cut along the gap in the sinew beside the man's throat.
Blood gushed like a spring.
The black-clad man convulsed all over. A wheezing "khh, khh" leaked from his throat, and his eyes brimmed with terror and unwillingness.
He stared fixedly at Chen Jianghe and, using the last of his strength, rasped out a few words. "Y-you've... already reached Dark Strength... and yet you still use such despicable tricks... against us Bright Strength fighters... How are you any different from those heretical, wicked fiends?!"
"Surviving is what matters."
He crouched and swiftly searched the two men.
Each had five taels of silver in loose coins and a wooden Sun Moon Cult token. The front bore the sun-and-moon emblem; the back was inscribed with the words "Cult Follower." Beneath that, in smaller characters, were their names: one was Zhao Si, the other Qian Qi.
So they really were from the Sun Moon Cult. He pocketed the silver and tossed the tokens into the foul-smelling ditch beside him.
The injuries caused by Dark Strength were different from those caused by Bright Strength. There might be only purple bruises on the surface, while the organs within had already been shattered.
He took a small porcelain bottle from his clothes. He had prepared it specially.
He splashed lamp oil over the two corpses and the surrounding debris, struck a fire starter, and tossed it lightly.
"Boom!"
Flames leapt up and quickly spread.
Chen Jianghe stepped back to the alley entrance and watched the fire swallow the two corpses, covering the bloodstains and every trace of the struggle.
Thick smoke rose and spread across the night sky.
From far away, voices could vaguely be heard. "Fire!" "Quick, put it out!"