Strength

"Junior Brother Zhao has remarkable comprehension. At least with the First Form, his mastery has reached the point of pure perfection."

Watching from the sidelines, Wei Yuan silently marveled. He recalled how, back at the Martial Arts School, Junior Brother Zhao had always trained quietly on his own from morning to night, no matter how noisy or lively his surroundings became.

He was living proof that Heaven rewarded diligence. In this first real sparring session with a martial master outside his school, he neglected nothing: spirit, momentum, Fist Style, or power. He fully demonstrated the advantages of Eight Extremes Fist—countering each move as it came and overwhelming opponents with momentum.

Earlier, when Xu Song's left arm had yet to replenish its bright strength, he had taken Zhao Feng's Clasped-Fist Combination Strike head-on. His entire left arm, all the way down to his palm, had been aching, weak, and wracked with pain ever since, leaving him unable to raise it against his opponent.

Blocking with his right palm alone, he lacked the strength to keep up. Several times, he tried to push Zhao Feng away with yielding force to gain room to breathe, but never succeeded. It was like having a fierce tiger latched onto him.

"Raging Waves Strike the Shore!" In desperation, Xu Song's lone palm flew, releasing bright strength in an unbroken tide. He continued parrying and striking simultaneously, trying desperately to curb Zhao Feng's offensive while opening up distance to regroup.

But one hand was insufficient, after all. Without both palms working together, the layers of palm force were thin. He could not bring out the layered power of Raging Waves Strike the Shore.

Spotting an opening, Zhao Feng broke through the palm force with a succession of short strikes and closed in on Xu Song again.

"Scout Horse Locks the Throat!" He stepped forward, his fist force twining like silk as he sealed off Xu Song's avenues of escape. The five fingers of his other hand curled into hooks and reached for Xu Song's throat like reins drawing tight around a horse.

Whoosh! Zhao Feng's clawed hand stopped at Xu Song's throat with a rush of wind, while Xu Song's right palm rested against his shoulder.

"Brother Xu, thank you for the match," he said politely.

Feeling the chill at his throat, Xu Song looked astonished. His opponent's chain of combinations had caught him completely off guard, leaving him no chance to use even one of Surging Waves Palm's killing moves. But a loss was a loss.

"The younger generation is truly formidable. Brother Zhao, your skills are outstanding. You have my admiration!" Xu Song accepted his defeat wholeheartedly.

"You had already fought a round earlier, Brother Xu. I took advantage of being fresh while you were tired. It was a lucky win!" Zhao Feng cupped his hands politely.

The other two martial masters nearby also looked at Zhao Feng with a trace of awe. The slight disdain they had initially felt because of his youth vanished without a trace.

Next, Zhao Feng sparred with both of them as well. Facing three different styles of fist and palm techniques gave him extremely valuable practical experience, particularly in one of Eight Extremes Fist's defining features: countering an opponent's moves in the midst of combat.

"Junior Brother Zhao's root bone is average, but his comprehension seems very high." The longer Wei Yuan watched, the more surprised he became. As an experienced practitioner, he could naturally see that Zhao Feng not only displayed Eight Extremes Fist's close-range interceptions and grabs, hard strikes and forceful breakthroughs, but also showed exceptional understanding of how to change and link techniques during battle. His counters flowed like drifting clouds and running water. It was hard to imagine that he was a young disciple who had joined less than a year ago.

Originally, he had chosen Zhao Feng as a retainer because he thought this junior brother was dependable and wanted to lend him a casual helping hand. Now, however, it seemed he had stumbled upon a treasure.

By then, the servants had finished loading the cargo carts. Zhao Feng, Wei Yuan, and Xu Song studied the route for this journey.

According to the map, Big Stone County lay in the eastern part of Ever-Peace Prefecture, while Three Yang County was directly north of the Prefecture City. The journey was not particularly long.

But since it lay to the north, there were more places where refugees coming down from the north gathered, so they still could not afford to be careless.

The route was clear, and the map already marked several villages where they could rest. The Wei Family's cargo carts also traveled this route frequently, which gave them some confidence. If everything went smoothly, they could return that very evening.

Zhao Feng mounted his horse and set off with the convoy. With nothing to occupy him, he brought up his panel.

[Eight Extremes Fist minor mastery (398/1000)]

That round of sparring had significantly improved his progress in Eight Extremes Fist, raising it by several points.

[Archery minor mastery (1507/2000)]

[Eight Extremes Stake Skill minor mastery (350/1000)]

Zhao Feng could feel that, aside from Archery, progress in Eight Extremes Fist and Eight Extremes Stake Skill was becoming increasingly difficult. He would have to increase his dietary and medicinal supplementation to keep pace.

I urgently need ferocious beast meat, treasure medicine, and Treasure Fish. In short, it all came down to a lack of money.

After leaving Big Stone County's seat and heading north, Zhao Feng could clearly see that the sights along the road had deteriorated considerably since his first escort trip out of town over a month ago. Refugees were everywhere, their cries of misery filling the land and sending a chill through him. If this was not an age of chaos, what was?

Although his home, Jiazi Ravine Village, lay south of the county seat and relatively few refugees had wandered there, he wondered whether trouble would break out if things continued to worsen.

Once I have the means, I should bring my family into the county seat. Otherwise, I won't be able to rest easy, Zhao Feng thought. But to achieve that level of financial security, he would have to wait until he broke through to hidden force before making plans.

Ordinary refugees hurried out of the way in fright when they saw the convoy and its fierce-looking martial guards armed with sabers and swords.

Near noon, however, they encountered a band of several dozen robbers. The group was clearly made up of fierce, able-bodied young refugees wielding hoes, iron pitchforks, and wooden clubs. At a glance, they were nothing more than a disorganized rabble.

After Zhao Feng and the others wounded their leader and more than a dozen men, the band scattered in a rush.

As they neared Three Yang County, they encountered another band of robbers. This group was clearly stronger. Its leader was a bright strength martial artist, and his followers included both burly men armed with sabers and swords and refugees.

Although Zhao Feng and the others likewise wounded and dispersed these robbers without any losses to the convoy, their hearts remained heavy. Wandering martial masters were already gathering bands of followers. Before long, another Blood Wolf Bandits or Black Cloud Stronghold would gather in the mountains and forests, perhaps even growing powerful enough to become a rebel force.

Zhao Feng thought of his older brother, Zhao Shuo, whom he had yet to truly meet. His brother had gone to You Province to work on the river channels in his place. That region not only bordered the Northern Barbarians but also lay close to rebellion-torn Bing Province. It was an extremely dangerous place.

They abandoned their original plans to rest in villages along the way and instead picked up the pace, heading straight to Three Yang County. After handing over the goods to the trading company there, they immediately turned back. They even ate lunch on the road.

They finally returned to Big Stone County at nightfall. Only when he entered the county seat did Zhao Feng completely relax.

Both bands of robbers they had encountered on this trip were small, disorganized mobs. If a large group of refugees gathered into a bandit force, or if they encountered the Blood Wolf Bandits, they would have no choice but to abandon the goods. Staying alive came first.

Even if that meant letting Senior Brother Wei Yuan down, there would be nothing he could do. He still had an entire family to support and an older brother to find. He would not throw away his life for these goods. If he died, Senior Brother Wei Yuan would feel guilty for a while, but what would become of his father, mother, Little Aunt, and nephew? His loved ones would weep until their hearts broke, while everyone else would soon forget him.

Fortunately, the routes arranged by the Wei Family were still reasonably safe. If conditions worsened further, however, that might no longer hold true.

The imperial court really needs to pull its weight. Powerful clans and great families will only shoulder the responsibility of protecting their own little patches of land. As for these vast stretches outside the cities, even their long whips cannot reach.

After returning to the Cargo Yard and completing the handover for his assignment, the Wei Family's steward brought out a money pouch and a large sack and handed them to him.

"Martial Master Zhao, this is your payment for the month." Zhao Feng accepted them and opened them to take a look.

"Why are there twelve taels of silver? And why is there an extra Treasure Fish?" he asked.

"Young Master Wei Yuan instructed us to add them as extra payment for the escort work," the Wei Family's steward said with a smile.

Zhao Feng did not stand on ceremony. He nodded and put them away, planning to thank Senior Brother Wei Yuan in person tomorrow.

He left the Wei Family's Cargo Yard and returned to his row house by the river. But before he even opened the wooden door, he sensed that something was wrong.