Night Raid on the Martial Arts School

The alleys of Wushan County were narrow, nestled against the mountains.

After nightfall, aside from the occasional clamor from the pleasure quarters and a few restaurants and teahouses in the central business district, nearly all human voices had withdrawn, leaving the place empty and deathly still.

Under cover of night, a figure swiftly crossed the deserted street and arrived before a large residence with a spacious courtyard.

The figure bent his knees slightly and sprang up, landing lightly atop the courtyard wall, nearly ten feet high.

With a brief sweep of the scene inside the courtyard, he began running along the palm-wide walltop, his form agile, nimbler than a cat. In a flash, he reached the end of the enclosing wall, then leaped again onto the roof of the main house within the courtyard.

He stood upon the roof ridge, tilting his ear to listen for movement in the room below. Suddenly, with a bit of force, there was a crisp crack—he had crushed a roof tile underfoot.

Whoosh!

At the same time, he flipped and leaped down, light and nimble as a sparrowhawk wheeling in flight, landing steadily in the courtyard grounds. Hands clasped behind his back, he faced the main hall's doors and quietly waited.

Looking again, the courtyard was filled here and there with wooden stakes, sandbags, stone locks, and other training equipment. Weapon racks stood on both sides, stocked with sabers, spears, staffs, and cudgels of every kind.

It was, unmistakably, a martial arts hall.

"Who's there?"

The person inside heard the noise and let out a low shout. Instead of coming through the front door, there came the sound of shattering glass—crash—as a burly man with a thick body and a short, stout neck burst out through the window.

This big man had clearly been startled awake from sleep and had not yet had time to dress. He wore only a pair of shorts, held a steel saber in hand, and glared with unfriendly eyes at the uninvited "guest."

He saw that the newcomer had a tall, slender figure and stood straight-backed, dressed all in black, his face covered by a black scarf. Only a pair of calm eyes examined him.

The big man took a step forward, pointed his steel saber, and said coldly, "Who are you?"

"Hall Master Zuo need not worry. I bear no ill will in coming here. I merely wish to ask the hall master to teach me a few moves."

The black-clad man's tone was flat.

This big man was Zuo Lie, the hall master of Wushan County's Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall. Hearing this, he spat. "Hiding your head and showing your tail, sneaking about like a ghost. If you want a martial contest, then come openly and honorably in broad daylight. In the dead of night, entering uninvited—that is burglary, not the act of a true man."

The black-clad man gave a laugh. "I'm doing this for Hall Master Zuo's sake. I heard that Hall Master Zuo recently lost a bout against someone. If you were to lose again in full public view, I'm afraid this martial arts hall's bowl of rice would be smashed."

Hearing the other party bring up his embarrassment, Zuo Lie flew into a rage. "That Yue Feng may be arrogant, but his martial arts are indeed formidable. I, Zuo, lost to him because my skill was inferior. It's not your place, brat, to mock me."

From the black-clad man's voice, Zuo Lie could tell the other party was not old.

And that Yue Feng was precisely the fierce dragon from across the river whose name had been spreading through Wushan County of late.

As soon as he arrived, he had challenged Zuo Lie and another martial arts hall master, establishing his might. Then he recruited men, went to war with the other gangs, and fought for territory.

"You've got quite the mouth, brat. Then come try this Zuo's saber. If you die, don't blame anyone."

Zuo Lie stomped hard on the ground, making the blue bricks beneath his feet quake violently. He lunged out in great strides, closing in on the black-clad man in just a few steps. His heel twisted against the ground, borrowing the force to spin his body, and his saber moved like flight as he cleaved out with a horizontal slash.

He had been defeated by an outsider, suffering a great loss of face, and these past few days, a crooked fire had already been pent up inside him. Now this malicious guest had dared sprinkle salt on the wound and mock him. At once, he could no longer suppress his anger, and the moment he struck, he left no room for mercy.

A rat who hid his face and skulked over walls into courtyards in the middle of the night—if he died, then he died. Others would only praise Zuo Lie for killing well.

Rip!

The long saber cut through the air, letting out a short, sharp whistle, its momentum vicious.

The black-clad man's figure suddenly retreated, easily avoiding Zuo Lie's slash. Zuo Lie's brows furrowed, and he thought, He dares come looking for trouble with me—sure enough, he has some ability.

Stepping with fine, rapid footwork, Zuo Lie pressed forward step by step, wielding the long saber into a whirlwind. Left, right, high, low—his offensive was fierce and swift, its angles tricky.

Yet the black-clad man's speed of response exceeded Zuo Lie's imagination. Whenever his saber momentum shifted, the other party's movement technique had already changed along with it. Again and again, he brushed past the saber light by a hair's breadth. It looked perilous, but in truth, Zuo Lie did not so much as graze a single hair on him.

Zuo Lie's expression startled, and his saber technique could not help but stall.

"Faster. Faster!"

"With saber technique this slow, how do you make a living out here?"

The black-clad man was still urging him on. Though his voice was light, it provoked the veins on Zuo Lie's forehead into bulging.

"Brat, is all you know how to do hop around like a flea? If you've got guts, then have a real clash of blades and spears with this old man."

Zuo Lie advanced with his saber raised, a vicious aura rushing straight at him.

The black-clad man tapped his toes and retreated like a swift wind to the weapon rack, answering, "Fine!"

His palm struck the rack with a smack, and an iron spear flew out, caught in his hand. In an instant, he turned from retreat to attack, crossing twenty feet in a single step. Wrapped in violently surging force, the iron spear in his grip coiled like a lithe dragon, then suddenly thrust out!

"Clang!"

The explosive ring of metal against metal sounded out, shaking the night. The spearhead struck the saber blade with perfect precision, sending a few sparks flying. At the same time, Zuo Lie felt an irresistible surge of tremendous force rush in, and he staggered backward.

Whoosh!

The long spear came again, lifting and slapping.

Zuo Lie's arm had already gone numb from the massive force of saber and spear colliding. Now he could no longer keep his grip, and the long saber instantly flew from his hand.

A cold gleam flashed. The long spear drilled in like a venomous snake, suddenly darting toward his throat.

Zuo Lie had no time to react. His hands and feet went ice-cold with shock, and horror thundered through his heart. My life is over!

Yet the spear tip stopped the instant it touched his throat. The icy sensation made Zuo Lie's heart leap into his mouth. His whole body went rigid, and he dared not move.

"Hall Master Zuo, in your view, how does my martial skill compare to that Yue Feng?" The black-clad man smiled, moved his wrist, and withdrew the iron spear.

Zuo Lie touched his neck and immediately discovered that even the skin had not been pierced. His heart shook with amazement at the other party's control over force.

"Hard and soft in harmony, releasing and withdrawing at will?!"

Zuo Lie was also a martial man who had entered force, and he had both the eye and experience for it. Controlling pure strength was naturally no harder than controlling blood-and-qi force.

But to strike the blade of the steel saber he swung in the black of night, then flash out spear after spear, swift as fierce lightning, touching his throat without even breaking the skin—

Such fine control over strength was not something an ordinary martial artist who had entered force could achieve.

His lingering terror had yet to fade, and at once he felt that even though the other man was masked, his features seemed kindly and benevolent.

This man's martial arts were so formidable, yet he had not come in broad daylight to beat him senseless. Instead, he had come deep at night, unseen by others, practically giving old Zuo more than enough face.

It was one thing that he had failed to grasp the "expert's" intentions, but he had even spoken rudely. It truly should not have happened.

At this thought, Zuo Lie immediately felt incomparably ashamed and hurriedly said, "Yue Feng's martial skill naturally cannot compare to yours, brave sir. As for me, I am even farther behind, left choking on your dust."

"Good!" The man in black nodded and said lightly, "Now that we have tested skill with weapons, let us discuss fists and feet."

"Brave sir..."

Zuo Lie cried bitterly to himself, and before him, the black shadow was already swaying. The other man reached out with his large hand, and at once a vicious, savage wind came rushing in, like a fierce tiger extending its claws.

The corner of Zuo Lie's eye twitched. He drew back and retreated, only to find that the claw's momentum followed him like a shadow. No matter how he retreated, it always seized tightly toward him, forcing him to muster all the strength in his body and pour out every scrap of effort to deal with it.

Zuo Lie raised his focus to one hundred and twenty percent, not daring to be the least bit negligent.

He would not, just because the other man had shown mercy under the spear, wishfully believe that the other man would not strike to kill. What if he did?

Zuo Lie faced an offensive that surged like raging waves, forcing him to display all he had learned and reveal his lifelong skill without the slightest reservation.

There were even several times when he felt he had absolutely no chance of escaping, yet a few sparks of inspiration suddenly burst in his mind, and he struck out with wondrous responses he had never managed in his life.

It felt as though, under the pressure and coercion of this man in black, all his potential had been drawn out.

Only, the more this went on, the greater his exhaustion became. Zuo Lie was already faintly running short of strength when, all of a sudden, a palm pierced through the air and slapped toward his chest with incredible speed.

Before the palm even arrived, Zuo Lie sensed an unprecedented threat of death. With a sharp shout, he pushed out both palms and erupted with True Force.

The man in black withdrew his hand and spun his body, as relaxed as if he were going on a spring outing beyond the city, avoiding Zuo Lie's thunderous palm strike just like that. He turned behind Zuo Lie and clamped a hand around his neck.

It just so happened that once Zuo Lie released his True Force, all the blood and qi in his body poured out. He went limp and was about to collapse, but instead was held up by the man in black.

The man in black flung Zuo Lie away, tossing him onto a stone stool to the side, and said, "Hall Master Zuo, how does that Hall Master Shi compare to you in martial skill?"

There were only two martial arts halls in all of Wushan County. Aside from this Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall, the other was the Shi family's, and both had been challenged by that river-crossing dragon, Yue Feng.

Zuo Lie panted heavily, cold sweat rolling down his forehead. After a while, he finally answered, "That Shi Meng's martial skill is not beneath mine. What's more, he is many years younger than me, and his progress in recent years has been tremendous. I fear he may already be far above me."

Zuo Lie's eyes rolled. As soon as he heard this, he knew the man in black's intentions. Most likely, just like Yue Feng, after challenging him, he still intended to challenge Shi Meng.

Between the two martial arts halls in a single county, there was naturally no shortage of open and secret rivalry. He immediately began singing Shi Meng's praises. The suffering he had endured must absolutely not be any less for that old rival!

Yet he did not know that in the darkness, the man in black could see his expression perfectly clearly, and merely smiled. "Hall Master Zuo, how about I make another deal with you?"

A short while later, the man in black leapt out of the Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall and onto the long street. He gently pulled off his face cloth, revealing a handsome, heroic face. It was precisely Hong Yuan.

With a flip of his left hand, a thin sheet of paper covered in tiny characters appeared before his eyes. It was astonishingly the Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall's secret medicinal formula—"Bone-Forging Meridian-Clearing Oil"!

Aside from this prescription, there was also a bottle of medicine Zuo Lie had already prepared but had yet to use.

It could not really be counted as seizing by force. He had spent five hundred taels to buy it from Zuo Lie.

He believed Zuo Lie would not dare tamper with it to fool him. After all, this medicine was for external application; even if he used it, nothing much would happen. But if he noticed something wrong, then Zuo Lie would have to wash his neck clean.

Even for certain secret medicines that could be taken internally, the medicinal ingredients were plainly laid out.

It was still the deeds of that river-crossing dragon Yue Feng, which he had heard about in the restaurant, that had given Hong Yuan inspiration.

However, their purposes were somewhat different. Yue Feng had challenged the two martial arts halls to build his reputation at the fastest possible speed.

Hong Yuan, on the other hand, was using exchange after exchange of blows to absorb these martial artists' techniques and moves, their various force-exertion skills, their bodywork and footwork, and even to "trade" for secret medicinal formulas or ready-made medicine.

"I can't let the Shi Family Martial Arts Hall off either..."

Hong Yuan tapped the tip of his foot and swiftly swept into a small alley.

About two quarters of an hour later, Hong Yuan leapt out from a large courtyard and pulled off his face cloth, a trace of delight appearing on his face.

The Shi Family Martial Arts Hall's hall master, Shi Meng, was indeed slightly superior to Zuo Lie. This man's name was fierce and mighty, but the man himself was rather short and small. What he practiced was a kind of "Cat Fist"!

Most importantly, Cat Fist and the Tiger-Subduing Fist Hong Yuan practiced had many points in common. Though the former had lost some ferocity compared to the latter, it excelled in sharpness and speed, giving Hong Yuan no small benefit.

Moreover, Cat Fist was even more nimble in the shifts and turns of bodywork and footwork, giving Hong Yuan quite a bit of inspiration.

Aside from gains in martial arts, he naturally also obtained another secret medicinal formula.

Unfortunately, the ready-made medicine in Shi Meng's hands had just been used up. Otherwise, he could have saved himself the time of going to prepare the medicine.

Hong Yuan closed his eyes and recalled his earlier exchange with Shi Meng, integrating Cat Fist's moves, fist frame, and footwork into Tiger-Subduing Fist. He felt that within a few days, he would be able to digest it all completely.

After challenging the masters of two martial arts halls in succession, only about half an hour had passed. Hong Yuan thought that he could not let that river-crossing dragon off either, lest he favor one and neglect the other.

During the day, Hong Yuan had already asked around about Yue Feng's residence.

After Yue Feng plucked off the head of the opposing gang's leader, he led the underlings under his command to take advantage of the other side's chaos and crush that gang in one stroke. Then he turned around and directly occupied their original stronghold.

In this present age, the central authority had slackened, and local powers were rising everywhere.

When knights used martial strength to break the prohibitions, Hong Yuan was far from the only one doing so.

Of course, this was also because Ming Province had been a land of fish and rice since ancient times, and it occupied the throat of north-south water transport. Grain tribute, salt shipments, and commercial goods all converged here, earning it the name "the place where all the boats under heaven gathered"!

Such a flourishing spectacle naturally drew the covetous eyes of every faction—powerful clans, great families, honored nobles, military chiefs, martial sects...

Some had put down roots in Ming Province for several generations, or even more than a dozen; some had racked their brains to squeeze their way in; and countless more eyes watched from the shadows, itching to make a move!

The factions' roots were tangled and knotted, each balancing the others, which resulted in there being no single power that could bring the hammer down with one final word.

Outside Ming Province, the other provinces and prefectures already had powerful forces carving out a whole prefecture, several prefectures, or even directly ruling an entire province.

On that kind of territory, ordinary people of the martial world, and even gang forces, could only lie in the mud like loaches. If they dared overstep even slightly, they would be beaten to death, let alone try to challenge the great clans or the authorities.

Only martial grandmasters at the minute-realm level dared jump around a little on such territories.

As his thoughts turned, Hong Yuan moved extremely quickly, and a moment later he arrived outside a manor in the west of the city.

Compared with the two great martial halls, there were quite a few more guards here. Patrols of thugs moved both inside and outside the walls.

But in the end, this was still a newly formed gang; one could not expect them to be particularly elite. Though the thugs were not drinking or making noise, quite a number of them were yawning, listless and dispirited.

Hong Yuan did the same as before, swiftly vaulting onto a roof. Looking down from above for a while, he confirmed that there were seventy or eighty thugs in the entire manor, as well as a dozen or so servants.

The main house was lit. Light seeped out, and Yue Feng was inside. Two silhouettes were visible, clearly discussing something with someone.

Two thugs patrolled back and forth in the courtyard, their gazes sweeping left and right. They were much more cautious than the people outside.

Hong Yuan hooked one foot over the eaves and lightly dropped down. Just as his face was about to touch the ground, he braced one palm against the earth and rose steadily to his feet, without making the slightest sound.

Hiding within the shadows, he quickly moved to a spot several zhang away from the two guards, then darted out like the wind and swung a palm at the backs of both their heads.

His palm force was soft and yielding, carrying not the slightest whisper of wind. It fell lightly, and the two men's bodies instantly shuddered violently, their mouths gaping wide, yet they could not cry out a single word. They died on the spot!

Before the two could fall, Hong Yuan had already caught one in each hand and gently lowered them down.

For those two palms, he had used a soft-force technique. The instant his palm touched the backs of their heads, his strength lightly released, and in an instant a force as soft as water eroded its way in, destroying the structures inside their brains.

As for methods like knocking someone unconscious without harming their life, Hong Yuan did not have any for the time being.

Even if he did, there was no need. Since they were people of a gang, killing and being killed were both perfectly reasonable. If one day Hong Yuan were killed, he would only feel that his skill was inferior, and would not curse heaven or blame others.

The essence of martial arts in this world after entering force was actually increasing total quantity and controlling output.

Opening the source!

Restraining the flow!

When one had just entered force, there was too much ineffective overflow.

For example, the palm Yang Erhu had shown that shook a jujube-wood post until it cracked—killing someone did not require such powerful force at all. Striking a vital point, one tenth of it was already enough.

Subsequent cultivation was actually for the sake of controlling output and reducing ineffective overflow. That was why, after gradually gaining control over force, there were the Three Stacked Waves, Ninefold Mountain, Twelvefold Tower...

Once one reached the level of freely releasing and withdrawing it, it could be divided into several dozen portions or even more, and the force could be contained within a single palm, released or withdrawn at will.

And if Hong Yuan's force was regarded as one hundred, then killing these two guards with soft force had not even used up one part. With a little breathing and exhalation, he could recover it again.

His root bones were too powerful.

The generation of force came from a martial artist's own tendons, bones, qi, and blood, so in terms of total force, Hong Yuan was in fact already extremely deep and abundant. He simply did not know how he compared to a minute-realm grandmaster.

Hong Yuan looked forward to finding out.

The "minute realm" was not some mysterious and unfathomable state; it was only a technique for controlling force. But it definitely also required a powerful physique to command it.

Soundlessly arriving beneath the shadow of the eaves, Hong Yuan was not in a hurry to act. With his hearing, he could clearly hear the conversation of the people inside.

"After taking in this batch of manpower, I'll have two or three hundred men under my command who can be used. The remaining gangs in Wushan County are no match for me. The only thing worth worrying about is those few wealthy households in the county..."

A young voice said, "Relying on this mob of rabble in my hands to go against those wealthy households is still too difficult. We must have the manor lord send more manpower to support me."

"You defeated Zuo Lie and Shi Meng. How are those two? Their skills aren't weak, and they brought out many martial-hall apprentices with them. If those two can be subdued, that would add two great helping arms."

A steady and gentle man's voice rang out.

Hong Yuan's brows lifted, and a trace of amusement flitted across his face, simply because he knew this voice very well. But encountering it here truly left him exceedingly surprised.