Their true strength

"Junior Brother Zhao, you've just broken through to bright strength. Why don't we spar a little?" Wei Yuan walked over and said.

"Exactly what I had in mind. Please instruct me, Senior Brother!"

Zhao Feng immediately settled into his fighting stance and struck first, attacking Wei Yuan with his newly awakened bright strength coursing through his punches.

"Good!" Wei Yuan raised his fist to block, and their arms collided with a dull thud.

Seeing that Zhao Feng had only swayed slightly, Wei Yuan's eyes lit up. He was a hidden force martial artist and had used sixty percent of his strength, yet this disciple who had only just attained bright strength had merely swayed. Clearly, his foundation was exceptionally solid.

"Again!" When Zhao Feng's second strike came, he swept his fist in a semicircle to dissipate the force of the punch, then reversed his hand and pushed back.

Zhao Feng used that force to retreat half a step, adjusted his footwork and stance, and punched again. This time, he had clearly grasped something. Rather than attacking as directly as before, he began to feel the bright strength flowing through his body.

Wei Yuan exchanged more than twenty moves with him-or, more precisely, fed him moves. Wei Yuan held back, allowing Zhao Feng to clearly experience how bright strength was circulated, concentrated, and released.

After completing the sequence, Zhao Feng cupped his fists toward Wei Yuan in grateful thanks.

Outside the Treasure Brocade Workshop, Leopard Lord and several of his men waited in the alley.

"Incense Master, are we making our move today?" one of his men asked.

"Today. Master Hu from the neighboring county has taken a fancy to this girl. He's willing to pay thirty taels of silver," Leopard Lord said.

"Thirty taels?" His men were dumbstruck. Buying a young girl from a broker only cost ten taels these days. Thirty taels was a fortune.

But Master Hu from the neighboring county had quite a reputation. He had tortured several maidservants to death, so charging him thirty taels was only reasonable.

"What about that cousin of hers?"

"Heh, he hasn't shown up lately. He probably washed out and went back to his village long ago. A mud-legged peasant dreaming of leaping through the dragon gate like a carp..." Leopard Lord abruptly stopped midsentence, his gaze turning toward the other end of the alley.

His men followed his gaze and saw a figure approaching at an unhurried pace. It was Zhao Feng, dressed in a brand-new training uniform.

The large character for "Huo" stood out vividly on his new navy-blue uniform. Leopard Lord hurriedly pulled his men aside. Zhao Feng seemed not to notice them and walked straight into the Treasure Brocade Workshop.

"Did he pay another tuition fee, or did he succeed in the gate breakthrough?"

A mud-legged peasant might scrape together the ten-tael tuition fee once, but not twice. Besides, this brand-new training uniform was different from an apprentice's. Had he really succeeded in the gate breakthrough?

A chill crept up Leopard Lord's back. He had seen the deputy gang leader shatter bricks and stone with a single effortless punch. If a punch like that landed on him, he would be crippled even if he survived.

They would need enough men to overwhelm him. But the gang was currently fighting the Three Harmonies Gang for territory everywhere. How could they spare men for such a minor matter?

Besides, as far as he knew, bright strength martial artists at the Martial Arts School were already the school master's registered disciples. Even his gang leader could never afford to offend those transformation force masters. Even if he gathered more men from the gang, they might not dare act unless they could pull it off without leaving a single seam showing. Was it worth the risk?

His face darkened as he led his men away. For now, he could not touch this juicy piece of meat. It seemed that mud-legged peasant had not noticed him, which was a blessing amid misfortune.

Deep down, however, he had not given up on this juicy prize. He secretly planned to wait a while and find an opportunity. As long as he abducted Qiao'er without gods or ghosts knowing, that peasant would never trace it back to him.

What he did not know was that, as he disappeared down the far end of the alley, Zhao Feng came back out and watched his retreating figure. In the little ledger in Zhao Feng's heart, a red cross had already been drawn over his name.

Whether you make a move or not, I'm coming for you.

Before that, of course, he still needed to learn the Black Tiger Gang's true strength. As the saying went, know yourself and your enemy, and you could win a hundred battles.

At the Martial Arts School, Wei Yuan and Zhao Feng sparred and worked through moves for a while.

"Junior Brother Zhao, our Eight Extremes Fist emphasizes striking like an exploding thunderclap, fierce and violent, but it isn't blindly rigid. Sometimes it also requires agility and deft force. Take this move, Locking Dragon Twisting Wrist. It calls for deft force, following the opponent's strength before reversing your hand to twist their wrist. Swallow Scoops Water, on the other hand, emphasizes agility and lightness. When using it, you must release the cross-sinking force in your stance and use void force instead," Wei Yuan said.

"Thank you for your instruction, Senior Brother Wei. I've learned a great deal." Zhao Feng bowed gratefully with his hands clasped.

"We're fellow disciples, and Master asked me to guide you. There's no need to be so polite."

After working through more moves, they took a short rest and each drank some water.

"Senior Brother Wei, do you know the Black Tiger Gang?"

"The Black Tiger Gang?" Wei Yuan thought for a moment.

"I've heard of them. There are more than thirty gangs of all sizes in the Outer City, fighting one another over territory. The Black Tiger Gang is one of them. Why are you suddenly asking?"

He frowned slightly. Had Junior Brother Zhao started thinking about joining a gang? Indeed, among the county town's martial arts schools, quite a few bright strength disciples made a living in gangs as well as holding nominal posts. But the work in those gray areas could not bear the light of day, earned contempt in martial circles, and often carried the risk of dying in gang clashes. Unless necessary, it was better not to deal with such forces.

"Nothing much. I just saw them attacking people openly in the street and got curious about their background," Zhao Feng said.

"Some gangs in the Outer City have wealthy Inner City households backing them, but as far as I know, the Black Tiger Gang doesn't. They're just a rabble pulled together by their gang leader-a collection of local thugs and hooligans from the west side."

"So there aren't any particularly strong fighters in the gang?"

"Of course not. What experts could a bunch of thugs collecting protection money and tolls have? The leaders of these Outer City gangs are at most at bright strength, and they generally have only two or three bright strength martial masters."

"I see." Hearing this, Zhao Feng felt considerably relieved.

Over the next few days, Zhao Feng went to the Martial Arts School as usual to train diligently in stance training and fist techniques.

"Senior Brother Zhao already succeeded in the gate breakthrough, but he still comes so early every day to practice."

"His perseverance really is astonishing."

The disciples discussed him in hushed voices. They had seen other senior brothers who had newly succeeded in the gate breakthrough. In the following days, those men either sought nominal posts and sponsorship or went to restaurants to celebrate. They invariably slacked off for a few days, including Senior Brother Chu Fan, who had drawn everyone's attention.

Only Senior Brother Zhao still came early to practice, just as he always had.

After these two days of sparring and working through moves with Wei Yuan, his progress accelerated again. He would soon break through his bottleneck.

Just as he finished a sequence of Eight Extremes Fist, white light flashed through his mind. Small words appeared before his eyes:

[Eight Extremes Fist: minor mastery (1/1000)]

At that moment, his master, Huo Shan, walked over and said, "I see you've become thoroughly proficient in the First Form. Now I'll teach you the Second Form." He handed Zhao Feng a fist manual.

"The Second Form has fifty-six postures in all. Unlike the small frame stance of the First Form, the Second Form uses a large frame, with broad, sweeping movements! It incorporates Pigua's long-range strikes without losing its coiling force."

If the forty-two postures of the First Form relied on fierce, rapid attacks at close quarters to secure a swift victory, the fifty-six postures of the Second Form came into play when caught in a drawn-out exchange. They opened up the distance to continue the fierce, rapid assault, preserving that hard-hitting nature while developing an understanding of coiling force. If one could break through to hidden force, coiling force would play an even more pronounced role.

As the saying went, combine Eight Extremes with Pigua, and even gods and ghosts would tremble.

Huo Shan focused on correcting his stance and explaining the key points of generating power in his punches. The rest would largely depend on Zhao Feng's own comprehension.

After becoming Huo Shan's registered disciple, his included meal became two steamed cornmeal buns and a piece of dried meat. Of course, for a bright strength martial artist, that piece of dried meat was merely symbolic-a symbol of the difference in status and treatment.