Wushan County's narrow lanes nestled against the mountains.
After nightfall, aside from the occasional clamor from the pleasure quarters and a few restaurants and teahouses in the central shopping district, human voices all but vanished, leaving an empty hush.
Under cover of darkness, a figure swiftly crossed the deserted streets and reached a large residence with a spacious courtyard.
Bending his knees slightly, he sprang up and landed lightly atop a courtyard wall nearly ten feet high.
After a quick glance around the courtyard, he ran along the palm-wide wall, his movements nimble, more agile than a cat's. In a flash, he reached its end and leaped onto the roof of the main building.
Standing on the roof ridge, he tilted his ear toward the sounds below. Then he suddenly pressed down with his foot, crushing a tile with a sharp crack.
Whoosh!
At the same instant, he flipped and leaped away, wheeling as lightly as a hawk before landing firmly in the courtyard. He stood with his hands behind his back, facing the main entrance, and waited quietly.
Wooden posts, sandbags, stone weights, and other training equipment stood throughout the courtyard. Weapon racks lined both sides, stocked with sabers, spears, staffs, and clubs.
This was clearly a martial arts hall.
"Who's there?"
Hearing the disturbance, someone inside barked a low challenge. Rather than emerging through the front door, a burly man with a thick, short neck burst through a window amid the crash of breaking wood.
Clearly startled awake, the man had not had time to dress. Wearing only shorts and holding a steel saber, he glared menacingly at his uninvited "guest"!
The newcomer was slender and stood straight, dressed in black with a black cloth masking his face. Only his eyes showed, calmly appraising the man.
The burly man stepped forward and pointed his saber. "Who are you?"
"No need to worry, Hall Master Zuo. I mean no harm. I only came to seek a few pointers in martial arts."
The man in black spoke evenly.
The burly man was Zuo Lie, master of the Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall in Wushan County. He spat. "Hiding your face and skulking about! If you want a match, come openly in broad daylight. Sneaking in uninvited in the dead of night is a thief's work, not a true man's."
The man in black chuckled. "I'm thinking of you, Hall Master Zuo. I heard you recently lost a match. Lose another in front of a crowd, and you might smash the rice bowl that keeps this hall fed."
Hearing his humiliation brought up, Zuo Lie flew into a rage. "Arrogant though Yue Feng is, his martial skills are truly formidable. I lost because I was outmatched. That's no business of a brat like you to mock!"
From the masked man's voice, Zuo Lie could tell he was young.
And Yue Feng was precisely the fierce dragon from across the river whose name had recently spread through Wushan County.
Upon arriving, he had challenged Zuo Lie and another hall master, establishing his reputation. Then he recruited men and fought other gangs for territory.
"You've got quite a mouth, brat. Come try my saber, then. Don't blame anyone if you die."
Zuo Lie stamped down hard, shaking the blue bricks beneath his feet. He surged forward, closing the distance in two or three strides, then twisted his heel against the ground and spun, sending his saber flying into a sweeping horizontal slash.
Defeat at an outsider's hands had badly damaged his reputation, and he had been nursing a bellyful of bitter anger lately. Now this unwelcome guest dared rub salt into his wound by mocking him. Unable to contain his fury, he attacked without holding back.
A skulking rat who hid his face and climbed walls at midnight could die without consequence. Others would only praise him for the killing.
Sssht!
The long saber tore through the air with a brief whistle, its momentum fierce.
The man in black abruptly retreated, easily avoiding the slash. Zuo Lie frowned. Sure enough, anyone daring to trouble me has some skill.
With swift, short steps, Zuo Lie pressed forward, whirling his saber into a cyclone. Left, right, high, low—his attacks were forceful and fast, their angles treacherous.
Yet the masked man's reactions far exceeded anything Zuo Lie had imagined. Whenever his saber began to move, the other man's footwork had already changed accordingly. Each time, he slipped past the gleaming blade by a hair. It looked perilous, but not a single hair on him was harmed.
Alarm crossed Zuo Lie's face, and his saber faltered involuntarily.
"Faster, faster!"
"How do you expect to earn a living with saber work that slow?"
The man in black kept urging him on. His voice was quiet, yet it made the veins bulge on Zuo Lie's forehead.
"Brat, can you only dodge around like a flea? If you have any courage, fight this old man with real weapons!"
Zuo Lie advanced with his saber poised, a savage aura rushing ahead of him.
The masked man pushed off with his toes and swept back to a weapon rack like a gust of wind. "Fine!"
He slapped the rack, sending an iron spear flying into his grasp. In an instant, he turned retreat into attack, crossing twenty feet in one stride. Surging power swept with him as the iron spear writhed like a dragon in his hand, then suddenly stabbed out!
Clang!
An explosive ring of metal rang through the night. The spearhead struck the saber's blade with perfect precision, scattering sparks. Zuo Lie felt an irresistible surge of force and staggered backward.
Whoosh!
The spear came again, lifting and striking.
The force of the first clash had already numbed Zuo Lie's arm. Now he could no longer maintain his grip, and his saber flew from his hand.
Cold light flashed. The spear darted in like a venomous snake, suddenly striking toward his throat.
Zuo Lie had no time to react. His hands and feet went cold with terror. My life is over!
But the spearhead stopped the instant it touched his throat. Its icy touch sent his heart leaping into his mouth. He froze, not daring to move.
"Hall Master Zuo, how would you say my martial skills compare with Yue Feng's?" The masked man smiled and withdrew the iron spear with a flick of his wrist.
Zuo Lie felt his neck and immediately discovered that even the skin remained unbroken. The man's control over his strength astonished him.
"Hardness and softness in harmony, receive-and-release-at-will?!"
Zuo Lie was himself a martial artist who had developed force, and he possessed the necessary discernment. Controlling raw strength was certainly easier than controlling blood, qi, and martial force.
But this man had struck the flat of his swinging saber in darkness, then flashed his spear like savage lightning to touch his throat without breaking the skin.
Such fine control over strength was beyond ordinary force-wielding martial artists.
His fright had yet to subside, but suddenly, even behind that mask, the man seemed kind and benevolent.
With skills this formidable, the man could have come during the day and beaten him senseless. Instead, he had arrived late at night, away from public eyes. He had truly spared Zuo Lie's dignity.
Failing to understand this "expert's" intentions was bad enough, yet he had even spoken rudely. How utterly improper.
At this thought, Zuo Lie felt deeply ashamed. He hurriedly said, "Yue Feng's martial skills naturally cannot compare with yours, noble warrior. As for me, I cannot even glimpse the dust behind you."
"Good!" The man in black nodded and said evenly, "We've tested our weapons. Now let's discuss fists and feet."
"Noble warrior..."
Zuo Lie inwardly cried, What misery! A dark shadow was already moving before him. The other man reached out a large hand, bringing a vicious gust, like a fierce tiger extending its claws.
Zuo Lie's eye twitched. He pulled back, only to find the claw following him like his shadow. However he retreated, it kept reaching for him, forcing him to muster every ounce of strength and focus to respond.
Zuo Lie sharpened his concentration to its utmost, not daring to be careless.
Just because his opponent had spared him with the spear, he would not wishfully assume the man would never strike to kill. What if he did?
Faced with attacks surging like towering waves, Zuo Lie had no choice but to display everything he had learned, holding none of his martial skills back.
Several times, just as he believed escape impossible, a spark of inspiration burst into his mind, and he produced exquisite counters unlike anything he had ever managed before.
It felt as though the masked man's relentless pressure was squeezing out all his hidden potential.
But the harder he fought, the more he exhausted himself. Just as Zuo Lie began to feel his strength failing, a palm suddenly pierced the air and shot toward his chest with incredible speed.
Before the palm arrived, Zuo Lie felt an unprecedented threat of death. With a fierce shout, he thrust both palms forward, unleashing his true force.
The man in black withdrew his hand and spun as easily as someone strolling through the countryside in spring. He evaded Zuo Lie's thunderous palm strike, circled behind him, and seized his neck.
Having unleashed his true force, Zuo Lie's blood and qi were utterly drained. He nearly collapsed, limp, only to be held upright by the masked man.
The man tossed Zuo Lie onto a stone bench nearby and asked, "Hall Master Zuo, how do Hall Master Shi's skills compare with yours?"
There were only two martial arts halls in Wushan County. Besides the Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall, there was the Shi family's, and Yue Feng, that dragon from across the river, had challenged both.
Zuo Lie panted, cold sweat rolling down his forehead. After a while, he answered, "Shi Meng's skills are no worse than mine. Besides, he's much younger, and his martial arts have improved tremendously in recent years. I fear he is already far above me."
Zuo Lie's eyes shifted. From that question alone, he understood the masked man's intention. Like Yue Feng, he likely meant to challenge Shi Meng after defeating him.
Rivalry was inevitable between a county's two martial arts halls. He immediately began praising Shi Meng. His old rival absolutely could not be allowed to suffer any less than he had!
He did not realize that the masked man could see every change in his expression clearly in the darkness. The man merely smiled. "Hall Master Zuo, how about we make another trade?"
A short while later, the man in black leaped out of the Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall and reached the street. Gently pulling down his mask, he revealed a handsome, striking face. It was Hong Yuan.
Turning his left hand over, he held up a thin sheet covered with small writing. It was none other than the Zuo Family Martial Arts Hall's secret medicinal recipe for Bone-Forging Meridian-Clearing Oil!
Besides the recipe, he had also obtained a bottle that Zuo Lie had prepared but had yet to use.
It hardly counted as taking by force. He had paid Zuo Lie five hundred taels for them.
He trusted that Zuo Lie would not dare tamper with the recipe to deceive him. After all, the medicine was applied externally, so using it would do little harm. But if he noticed anything wrong, Zuo Lie would have to wash his neck and await the blade.
Even for secret medicines taken internally, the ingredients were laid out in plain sight.
Hearing the exploits of Yue Feng, that dragon from across the river, at the restaurant had given Hong Yuan the idea.
Their aims differed, however. Yue Feng had challenged the two halls to establish a reputation as quickly as possible.
Hong Yuan, on the other hand, used successive bouts to absorb these martial artists' techniques, methods of exerting force, movements, and footwork, and even to "trade" for secret medicinal recipes or prepared medicines.
"I can't let the Shi Family Martial Arts Hall off either..."
Hong Yuan pushed off with his toes and swiftly swept into an alley.
About half an hour later, Hong Yuan leaped out of a large courtyard and pulled down his mask, delight appearing on his face.
Shi Meng, master of the Shi Family Martial Arts Hall, was indeed slightly better than Zuo Lie. Despite his imposing name, he was rather short and practiced a style called "Cat Fist"!
Most importantly, Cat Fist shared many similarities with Hong Yuan's Tiger-Subduing Fist. Though the former lacked the latter's ferocity, it excelled in sharpness and speed, benefiting Hong Yuan greatly.
Cat Fist was also more nimble in its turns and changes of footwork, giving Hong Yuan plenty of inspiration.
Besides the gains in martial skill, he naturally acquired another secret medicinal recipe.
Unfortunately, Shi Meng had just used up his prepared medicine. Otherwise, Hong Yuan could have saved himself the time needed to make it.
Hong Yuan closed his eyes, recalling his bout with Shi Meng and incorporating Cat Fist's techniques, stances, and footwork into Tiger-Subduing Fist. He felt he could fully assimilate them within a few days.
Challenging both hall masters had taken only about an hour. Hong Yuan thought he should not let that dragon from across the river off either, lest he favor one over another.
During the day, Hong Yuan had already asked around for Yue Feng's address.
After taking the rival gang leader's head, Yue Feng had led his followers to crush the gang in one stroke amid its chaos, then simply occupied its former headquarters.
In the present age, central authority had fallen into decay, and local powers were springing up everywhere.
Warriors broke the prohibitions through martial might, and Hong Yuan was hardly the only offender.
Of course, this was also because Ming Province had long been a land of fish and rice. It controlled the vital throat of north–south waterways, where grain shipments, salt shipments, and merchant cargo converged. It was famed as "the gathering place of all the realm's boats"!
Such prosperity naturally attracted covetous eyes from every quarter: powerful clans, great families, hereditary nobles, military leaders, martial sects...
Some had rooted themselves in Ming Province for generations, even more than a dozen. Others had exhausted every scheme to squeeze their way in, while still more watched greedily, itching to act!
Their powers were intertwined like tangled roots, each checking the others, leaving no single force capable of settling matters with one hammer blow.
Outside Ming Province, other provinces already had formidable powers occupying one or several prefectures, or even directly ruling an entire province.
In such territories, ordinary martial wanderers and even gangs could only lie low in the dirt like mud loaches. The slightest overstep would get them killed, never mind challenging great clans or the authorities.
Only martial grandmasters at the subtlety level dared leap about a little in those places.
As these thoughts turned in his mind, Hong Yuan moved swiftly. Before long, he reached a manor on the western side of town.
Compared with the two martial arts halls, this place had far more guards, with numerous fighters patrolling both inside and outside the walls.
Still, it was a newly formed gang; expecting elite men was unrealistic. Though the fighters were neither drinking nor making a racket, many yawned and looked listless.
Hong Yuan repeated his earlier method, swiftly leaping onto a roof. After observing from above for a while, he established that the manor contained seventy or eighty fighters and a dozen or so servants.
Light shone from the main house, where Yue Feng was present. Two silhouettes were visible; he was evidently discussing something with someone.
Two fighters patrolled the courtyard, their eyes scanning from side to side. They were considerably more alert than the men outside.
Hooking one foot over the eaves, Hong Yuan lowered himself lightly. Just before his face touched the ground, he braced one palm against it and rose steadily without a sound.
Keeping to the shadows, he swiftly moved within a few dozen feet of the two guards, then darted out like the wind and struck each on the back of the head.
His palms moved softly, without the slightest whistle of wind, and descended lightly. Both men shuddered violently, their mouths opening wide, yet neither could utter a word. They died on the spot!
Before they fell, Hong Yuan caught one in each hand and gently lowered them.
He had used soft force in those two strikes. The moment his palms touched the backs of their heads, he released a trace of force. Soft as water, it instantly seeped inside and destroyed the structures within their brains.
As for techniques that knocked people unconscious without killing them, Hong Yuan did not possess any yet.
Even if he did, there was no need. For gang members, killing and being killed were perfectly reasonable. If Hong Yuan were killed someday, he would only consider himself outmatched, not blame heaven and resent others.
In this world's martial arts, once force had been developed, the essence was simply increasing the total reserve and controlling the output.
Expand the source!
Stem the flow!
When force was first developed, too much spilled out uselessly.
For example, Yang Erhu had demonstrated a palm strike that cracked a jujube-wood post. Killing someone required nowhere near that much force. A tenth of it would suffice if it struck a vital point.
Further cultivation was really about controlling output and reducing useless leakage. Thus, progressive control over force produced the three-fold wave, the nine-layer mountain, the twelve-story tower...
Upon reaching receive-and-release-at-will, one could divide it into dozens of portions or more, contain the force within a single palm strike, and release or withdraw it at will.
If Hong Yuan's force were taken as one hundred, killing these two guards with soft force had consumed less than one point. A little regulated breathing would restore it.
His root bone was simply too powerful.
Force arose from a martial artist's own sinews, bones, blood, and qi. Thus, Hong Yuan's total reserve was already tremendously abundant. He simply did not know how it compared with a subtlety grandmaster's.
Hong Yuan looked forward to finding out.
"Subtlety" was no mysterious, unfathomable realm, merely a technique for controlling force. Still, it surely required a powerful physique to wield it.
Reaching the shadows beneath the eaves without a sound, Hong Yuan did not rush to act. With his hearing, he could clearly make out the conversation inside.
"After taking in this batch, I'll have two or three hundred men available. The remaining gangs in Wushan County are no match for me. My only concern is the county's few powerful households..."
A young voice said, "Taking on those households with this rabble of mine will still be too difficult. We must have the manor lord send more men to assist."
"You defeated Zuo Lie and Shi Meng. How are those two? Their skills are decent, and they've trained many martial arts hall apprentices. If you can bring them into the fold, you'll gain two strong helping arms."
A man's steady, gentle voice rang out.
Hong Yuan raised an eyebrow, and a playful expression flickered across his face. He knew that voice very well, but encountering it here truly surprised him beyond measure.
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