Peak Bright Force

In the inner city, Zhao Feng arrived before a two-story octagonal tower. It was a shop called Four Seas Trading House, the place Wei Yuan had recommended for buying the dietary and medicinal supplements he needed.

After entering, Zhao Feng found all kinds of fierce beast meat, including tiger, bear, and leopard meat, as well as various precious medicines, medicinal herbs, and Treasure Fish. However, there was no exotic beast meat. That could only be bought at the Four Seas Trading House in the prefectural city.

According to Senior Brother Wei, the vitality contained in exotic beast meat was extremely violent and also carried baleful energy. One should not try it lightly before reaching Transformed Force. Otherwise, the body's meridians would be unable to endure it.

He bought a sufficient amount of bear meat, tiger meat, and Treasure Fish from Four Seas Trading House, spending more than fifty taels of silver in one go. From then on, his dietary supplements would mainly consist of fierce beast meat and Treasure Fish. Together with Vitality Pills, he would push the progress of his stake skill and Eight Extremes Fist as quickly as possible, while also keeping up with the Cloak Saber Technique.

The days flowed by like water.

At the martial arts school, Zhao Feng was focused on practicing his fist techniques. After finishing a set, Wei Yuan mysteriously pulled him aside.

"Junior Brother Zhao, there's good news today."

"Senior Brother, stop keeping me in suspense." Zhao Feng smiled faintly.

"I came to ask what plans you have for the most important matter in life." Wei Yuan said with a grin.

Zhao Feng was taken aback.

"Why are you suddenly asking about that, Senior Brother?"

"You're already eighteen, long past the age to take a wife. Haven't you thought about marrying? Look at me—even my second wife is pregnant, and I'm preparing to have another child." Wei Yuan said.

"I only want to focus on martial arts. I haven't considered that yet."

"How can that do? Martial arts won't interfere with marriage. Once you have a family and someone to look after you, you can practice martial arts with peace of mind. How about this? I'll arrange a match for you. I guarantee you'll be satisfied." As Wei Yuan spoke, he took out a prepared portrait of a woman.

Zhao Feng saw that the woman in the portrait wore a white ruqun dress. Her features were delicate and dignified, yet there was a hint of heroic spirit between her brows.

"She is my distant cousin, Xue Xiangling, sixteen this year. She is cultured and well-mannered, and the second young lady of Xue Family Trading House. Her family mainly deals in cloth, grain, and furs, and often travels between the prefectural city and the provincial capital. Though they cannot compare to the five great families, they are still quite well-off in the county city." Wei Yuan said.

Although Zhao Feng's potential was limited, he was steady and persevering. Wei Yuan appreciated him greatly. He wanted to draw him closer, so he planned to introduce his distant cousin to him and strengthen their ties through marriage.

"What?" Hearing those conditions, Zhao Feng was somewhat stunned.

"Senior Brother Wei, I'm just a poor village boy. How could a young lady of the Xue Family possibly take a liking to me?" He knew of Xue Family Trading House. It was considered a fairly large trading house even in the inner city.

"Junior Brother, that's not right. You're still young. You may yet succeed in breaking through and become a Dark Force expert someday." Wei Yuan paused, perhaps feeling that Zhao Feng's chances of breaking through to Dark Force were indeed slim. He then changed his tone.

"Even if you don't break through to Dark Force, with your solid foundation in fist techniques, you will surely achieve something. You could become an escort master or the head of a household guard. As for Cousin Xiangling, she has to marry eventually, and the Xue Family's assets have little to do with her anyway. These days, marrying an ordinary wealthy household is not as good as marrying a martial artist. I think you're quite suitable, Junior Brother Zhao." After knowing him for so long, Wei Yuan genuinely thought highly of Zhao Feng. His background was clean, and he was dependable and diligent. With martial skills that could earn him a living, he was an ideal match for any young woman.

So, when his elder sister mentioned arranging a marriage for their distant cousin Xue Xiangling, Zhao Feng immediately came to mind. This junior brother of his was far better than those rich young masters who spent their days drinking and indulging themselves.

"Senior Brother Wei, but I truly haven't considered marriage yet. Besides, you haven't even asked Miss Xue."

"Don't worry about it, Junior Brother. Leave this matter to me. In a couple of days, I'll arrange for the two of you to meet." Wei Yuan was brimming with confidence.

"Then I'll trouble you, Senior Brother Wei." Zhao Feng was somewhat helpless. He truly wanted to refuse, but Wei Yuan had helped him greatly, and with the man being so enthusiastic, it would be hard to reject him outright.

At the martial arts school, Zhao Feng stood atop plum blossom stakes, a faint sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead.

The minor mastery stage of the stake skill tempered vitality even more fiercely and demanded a longer duration as well.

[Eight Extremes Stake Skill, Minor Mastery (820/1000)]

He had reached the peak of Bright Force.

He was not far from breaking through to Dark Force. As expected, after using fierce beast meat as his main dietary supplement for the past two months and taking Vitality Pills, his progress had sped up considerably.

Having reached the peak of Bright Force and standing on the verge of breaking through to Dark Force, Zhao Feng discovered that his consumption of dietary and medicinal supplements was far greater than he had imagined. For example, he now needed two or three catties of tiger, bear, or leopard meat every day as a base. He had to take a packet of Vitality Powder every two days and undergo a medicinal bath every three days. As for Vitality Pills, he took one every few days. Only then had he managed to raise his progress value into the later stage in just over two months.

It was obvious that advancing the Eight Extremes Stake Skill during the Bright Force stage required an enormous consumption of vitality, utterly different from the requirements when he had first begun.

Zhao Feng had always thought that several hundred taels of silver would be enough, but now it seemed he had been far too naive. The further he progressed, the more staggering the expense became. He could imagine that after breaking through to Dark Force, he would need to spend even more silver to ensure that his progress value continued to rise steadily.

He set aside those thoughts and began practicing his fists. He assumed a broad stance and launched into the second routine of Eight Extremes Fist, his movements whistling through the air. Before he knew it, night had fallen. The disciples in the front courtyard had mostly left in twos and threes, so he simply took off his upper garments and continued practicing bare-chested.

Every punch and every kick was forceful and resonant. Bright Force erupted through his fists and legs, flinging sweat into the air. It gathered into wet patches on the ground, only to be quickly dried by the wind, over and over again.

The same Eight Extremes Fist routine also consumed a great deal of vitality at the Bright Force stage and required substantial replenishment. With sufficient tiger and bear meat, along with precious medicines to strengthen his vitality and physique, his Eight Extremes Fist improved greatly as well.

Through the panel, he could clearly see his progress rising bit by bit.

[Eight Extremes Fist, Minor Mastery (811/1000)]

At some point, Huo Shan had come to stand behind him, watching silently. Seeing the solidity of Zhao Feng's horse stance, the force and angles of his punches, the coordination of his footwork, the sweat on his body, the damp marks on the ground, and the small pits his stomping feet had left behind, he could not help but be moved.

At first, there had even been times when he could barely remember Zhao Feng's name. Now, however, this disciple had left a deep impression on him.

His unyielding will, tenacious perseverance, and diligence had all been seen by Huo Shan. These were the most precious qualities a martial artist could possess.

What a pity... He sighed. Huo Shan knew all too well how difficult the martial path was. One's innate physique played a decisive role. If one's physique was lacking, then no matter how strong one's will or how desperately one worked, one's achievements would ultimately be limited.

He recalled his own youth. He had been much the same, training diligently in the sect. Other than eating and sleeping, all he did was practice martial arts, enduring every hardship. Yet after half a lifetime, he had still remained in the outer sect, unable to enter the inner sect. The difference had been his innate physique. In the end, when he grew older, he could only leave the sect in disgrace and open a martial arts school in the county city.

Even he had possessed a lower third-grade physique. Zhao Feng, however, only had a fifth-grade physique. His ending was already foreseeable, clear at a glance.