Ye Wudao was stunned by Hu Lianfeng's words.
Elder Qin and Hu Lianfeng had the same enemy?
Even a Xiantian Minor Accomplishment expert like Elder Qin had been crushed. Just how powerful was Zhang Jianye?
Seeing Ye Wudao fall silent, Hu Lianfeng smiled. "What? Scared?"
"If you are, then forget it. We're master and disciple, and now that we've opened our hearts and talked things through, I won't hold anything against you."
"Xiantian Great Accomplishment is indeed a little difficult for you."
"After all, the resources in the Martial Path world are now in the hands of those great families."
"The resources you can get by killing monsters in the Rift World are nothing compared to the Zhang Family's."
"All right! Stop thinking about it and go back to rest and recover."
"When the time comes, I'll teach you a saber technique. Train hard, and perhaps you'll have your chance someday."
"I don't expect you to wipe out the Zhang Family. If you get the chance to kill Zhang Yuanlin, I'll die without regrets!"
Ye Wudao smiled faintly. "It's not that I'm scared. I was just wondering how many years it'll take me to reach Xiantian Great Accomplishment."
Hu Lianfeng laughed heartily. "Ha ha! It's good that you're thinking about it, but you can't force your way along the Martial Path. Taking it step by step is the right way."
Ye Wudao nodded and said softly, "Then you'd better live a long time. Once I've helped you destroy the Zhang Family, I'll come back and give you the good news."
Hu Lianfeng nodded. "Good! I'll be waiting!"
"Still, you seem to have quite a few enemies!"
"Ye Haipeng's Ye Family, Li Yaozu's Li Family, and Zhang Jianye's Zhang Family."
"All three are among Sea City's top ten great families."
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just take it one step at a time."
Ye Wudao nodded. "I know!"
He had actually thought it over. By agreeing to help Hu Lianfeng deal with Zhang Yuanlin, he had effectively made an enemy of the Zhang Family.
He absolutely couldn't go after them without at least Xiantian Great Accomplishment, if not Xiantian Peak.
But he had the system, so he was confident that day would come sooner or later—and it wouldn't be long.
He could also clearly feel that after Hu Lianfeng had opened up and talked things through with him, a knot in his heart seemed to have come undone. His whole outlook had brightened.
Hu Lianfeng carried him farther down the road, and at last they reached the place where they had parked.
Just as Hu Lianfeng had said, more than a dozen commercial vans were parked behind their car.
Including the dozen or so vehicles at the landing site on the other side of the beach, there were more than thirty cars in all.
That meant nearly a hundred people from all the prisons in Sea City were hunting monsters in the Rift World.
Hu Lianfeng placed Ye Wudao in the back seat, folded the seat flat so he could lie down, then drove away from the beach.
In the car, Ye Wudao asked Hu Lianfeng again, "Master, who is that Demon Slayer Guard commander you mentioned?"
Keeping his eyes on the road, Hu Lianfeng shook his head. "They're not one person, but a group—a group made up of Grandmaster Realm experts."
"Every one of them is a commander in the Demon Slayer Guard. They're responsible for guarding the cities where spatial rifts are located, and they rotate to a different city each year."
"So I don't know who the current Demon Slayer Guard commander in Sea City is, either."
Ye Wudao pursed his lips and continued, "Are there many spatial rifts like the one in Sea City on Blue Star?"
Hu Lianfeng nodded. "Plenty! And their numbers keep growing every year."
"That's why the Blue Star Federation and the Demon Slayer Guard are working so hard to develop the Martial Path."
"I once heard an Xiantian Realm senior say that if the rifts fell, monsters would overrun all of Blue Star."
"Back then, the ten Grandmaster Realm experts ventured deep into the Rift World and encountered monsters of astonishing strength."
"Maybe the monsters discovered us after that, but they haven't invaded Blue Star yet."
"If the monsters ever do invade Blue Star, it'll be a nightmare for everyone."
Lying back in the seat, Ye Wudao murmured, "Monsters stronger than Grandmaster Realm experts? What realm would they be?"
Hu Lianfeng smiled. "Don't worry about things that far off. When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up."
"I heard Elder Qin mention that some Grandmaster Realm Peak experts are already trying to break through to a higher realm."
"But so far, it seems no one has succeeded."
Ye Wudao furrowed his brow. "What realm comes after Grandmaster Realm?"
Hu Lianfeng shook his head. "I don't know its proper name, but I saw the term 'Martial Dao Golden Core' in an ancient book. I don't know if that's the realm beyond Grandmaster."
"Martial Dao Golden Core..." Ye Wudao murmured.
After that, master and disciple chatted in the car.
Now that they had cleared things up, the barrier between them was gone.
For most of the trip, Hu Lianfeng talked while Ye Wudao listened.
Hu Lianfeng taught Ye Wudao about the Martial Path and the major sects in the martial world.
That included the Four Blade Sect, which had forced him off a cliff.
The Four Blade Sect's strongest was that old woman, its current sect master. She was only at Houtian Initiation Realm.
The Four Blade Sect wasn't powerful, and it didn't have many disciples.
Back then, Hu Lianfeng had made an agreement with one of its disciples to pay two million for the Four Blade Sect's secret art—"Four Life-Taking Blades!"
Who could have guessed that the disciple would take the money and refuse to hand over the manual?
Hu Lianfeng wasn't a pushover. He'd simply killed the disciple and stolen the manual, making an enemy of the Four Blade Sect.
Now that enmity had passed on to Ye Wudao.
Ye Wudao had already decided: after he got out of prison, the Four Blade Sect would be the first one he dealt with.
If Elder Qin hadn't been there today to catch him and pass a wisp of Xiantian True Qi into him, he would have died right there.
At the same time, Ye Wudao realized something about the martial world.
The martial world wasn't a place for ordinary people.
In the martial world, killing for treasure was commonplace.
When out in the world, you had to keep your guard up around anyone you couldn't truly trust.
The two chatted along the way, and soon they were back at Haicheng First Prison.
In Cell No. 1, Ye Wudao lay on his bed, and Hu Lianfeng didn't go back to the Rift World.
It was already past ten. By the time he got to the Rift World, he'd have to leave again in five or six hours, so there was no point wasting the trip.
The Rift World opened from eight at night until six the next morning.
Outside those hours, everyone had to leave the Rift World.
With nothing else to do, Ye Wudao opened the system panel to check his cultivation progress.
Over an hour had passed. Northern Dark Divine Art had gained another 3,500 proficiency points, and its realm experience had reached 790. He was about to advance to Body Forging Realm.
Eight Extremes Fist had also gained 1,800 proficiency points. Mountain Crushing Fist, on the other hand, was progressing slowly, with only 1,900 proficiency points so far.
"Mountain Crushing Fist, your training speed is a little slow!"
Seeing this, Ye Wudao started using the PUA method.
[Your martial skill Mountain Crushing Fist has been spurred on by you and fights with growing vigor. Martial skill proficiency +20/minute.]
Sure enough, the next second, a message appeared on the system panel showing that Mountain Crushing Fist's training speed had increased.
This technique still needs a good whipping! Otherwise, its training speed is far too slow!
By now, he had completely figured out how to use the system.
After a technique advanced, its automatic training speed doubled.
For example, before Eight Extremes Fist reached Initiation, its training speed was +10/minute. After it reached Initiation, that became +20/minute.
If he stimulated a technique and it responded, automatic training would activate. Stimulate it successfully again, and its automatic training speed would double.
For example, after he stimulated Northern Dark Divine Art once, automatic training activated. Then he encouraged it again, bringing its speed to +20/minute. After it reached Initiation, that became +40/minute.
He looked at Eight Extremes Fist, the only technique that hadn't yet been stimulated twice, and started PUAing it again in his mind.
"Eight Extremes Fist, look at Mountain Crushing Fist. It hasn't even reached Initiation, and its training speed has already caught up with yours!"
[Your martial skill Eight Extremes Fist has been spurred on by you and fights with growing vigor. Martial skill proficiency +40/minute.] [Your martial skill Eight Extremes Fist encounters a first-tier monster, its fighting spirit erupts, and it engages in a fierce battle. Martial skill proficiency +50!]
Seeing the new notifications on the system panel, Ye Wudao smiled faintly.
Now, all three techniques had been stimulated twice. He couldn't keep stimulating them.
Stimulating a technique repeatedly could send it into a state of qi deviation like Northern Dark Divine Art, which would do more harm than good.
Sometimes, knowing when to stop was a lesson in itself.
Before you continue