Mountain-Crushing Fist

The search ended after roughly five hours.

The mineral vein, the mine caves, and Miner Village had all been searched several times from top to bottom, yet nothing had been found.

"Master Hui Neng, it seems the item isn't here..."

Supervisor Wu cupped his hands. "The vein has already been shut down for a day. If this continues, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain things to those above."

Hui Neng remained expressionless. After a long while, he smiled faintly.

"I have made things difficult for Benefactor Wu. Since the item is not here, this poor monk shall take his leave."

"Master Hui Neng, I'll escort you back to the city."

Constable Lin said.

Before long, Constable Lin left Miner Village with his men and Hui Neng.

"There's no need to mine tonight either. Go back and rest."

Supervisor Wu ordered.

Seeing this, the miners could only leave with their heads hanging.

They had searched all day without finding so much as a hair, and they had not mined any ore either. They had not even earned back the money for today's meals.

After all the miners had left, Supervisor Wu looked at Steward Niu.

"Steward Niu, seal off Mine Cave No. 1 for now. No one is allowed inside. Find someone fleet-footed and send him to Mountains and Rivers Sect. Tell them something has happened at the Fire Crystal Ore mine."

"Supervisor Wu, what happened?"

Steward Niu was slightly startled.

"This matter is rather serious. We should not get too deeply involved."

Supervisor Wu patted Steward Niu on the shoulder.

Steward Niu immediately thought of Hui Neng. Could it be...

He did not dare dwell on it and promptly arranged for several swift mine guards to head to Mountains and Rivers Sect.

That night, Yang Ling continued cultivating the Vajra Wisdom King Art in his room.

Once he had gathered 5 experience points and confirmed they would not increase further, he went to sleep.

The next day.

"They won't let us into the mine?"

"What's going on?"

"They say work is being suspended for a few days."

Miner Village was bustling.

It should have been time to mine, but all the miners remained in the village.

"Uncle Wang, what's going on? Why aren't we allowed into the mine?"

Yang Ling glanced around, then immediately hurried over when he spotted Uncle Wang.

"Something happened."

Uncle Wang looked grave as he pulled Yang Ling aside.

"I heard Mine Cave No. 1 has been sealed off, and no one is allowed inside. It's very likely related to that master from Bitter Enlightenment Temple yesterday."

"Mine Cave No. 1 has been sealed?"

Yang Ling's heart tightened slightly.

This probably had nothing to do with the Vajra Wisdom King Art.

It was very likely that Fifth Brother and the others' corpses had been discovered...

"Yang Ling."

Zhang Wei called out from nearby.

"Uncle Wang, I'll take my leave first."

Yang Ling said.

"Go on, go on."

Uncle Wang waved his hand and began whispering with several other old miners.

After finding a quiet corner, Yang Ling looked Zhang Wei up and down.

"Zhang Wei, what scheme are you plotting this time?"

"While mining, I accidentally dug up a martial arts manual."

Zhang Wei spoke slowly. "You should know what that means."

"What martial art?"

Yang Ling narrowed his eyes. "You found something like that while mining?"

After a pause, he exclaimed, "Don't tell me it's a Buddhist scripture from Bitter Enlightenment Temple?

If you want to die, go die yourself. I don't want to die!"

"Keep your voice down! Don't get us killed!"

Zhang Wei looked around in panic. Only after seeing no one nearby did he relax and lower his voice.

"Yang Ling, if I had a Buddhist scripture, I would have handed it over for silver long ago. Why would I need to come to you?"

"Then what is it?"

Yang Ling said flatly, "If you want to sell it to me, stop keeping me in suspense. Take it out and let me see it."

"I'm not that stupid."

Zhang Wei said coldly. "I hid it somewhere no one can find.

Even if you go out and tell people I have a martial art manual, no one will believe you."

"Then this deal can't be made."

Yang Ling shook his head lightly. "I don't trust you, and you don't trust me. We should go our separate ways."

With that, he made as if to leave.

"Mountain-Crushing Fist."

Zhang Wei said seriously. "This fist art is called Mountain-Crushing Fist!"

A fist art?

Yang Ling's thoughts stirred.

His strength was high now.

He also had the Vajra Wisdom King Art.

What he lacked was a method for fighting enemies.

"If you have a martial art manual, why don't you practice it?"

Yang Ling scrutinized Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei pondered for a moment. "You may not know this, but martial arts cultivation in the Divine Realm has requirements.

Mountain-Crushing Fist has high requirements. You need 8 points of Strength.

I only have 4 points, so I can't practice it for now."

"What do you mean, Strength points!?"

Yang Ling asked in surprise. "You can see your own attributes!?"

"Just as I thought. It seems only Martial Artists can see their own attributes."

Zhang Wei studied Yang Ling for a while, then smiled.

"Actually, I'm already a Martial Artist, so I can see my Attribute Panel.

I currently have 4 Strength, 3 Agility, and 1 Mental Power."

Your Agility is clearly 5.

Yang Ling muttered inwardly, then asked with a solemn expression.

"You can really see the Attribute Panel?"

"What data is on the Attribute Panel? This may be the key to understanding the Divine Realm."

"Why would I lie to you? Once you master Mountain-Crushing Fist, you'll be able to see your own Attribute Panel too."

Zhang Wei said, "Unlike you, always hiding things, I'm a very frank person.

From what I've observed, the reason you mine so quickly is not merely because practice makes perfect. Your Strength must be quite high.

As long as you can cultivate Mountain-Crushing Fist, you'll immediately become a Martial Artist."

"Enough talk. Where's Mountain-Crushing Fist?"

Yang Ling asked in a low voice.

"Five taels of silver. Give me five taels, and I'll give you Mountain-Crushing Fist."

Zhang Wei said.

He's in a hurry to leave this place. He feels guilty and is afraid Zhang Hao's matter will implicate him.

Yang Ling was very curious about how this fellow had obtained Zhang Hao's martial art manual.

Could it be because they both had the surname Zhang?

That made no sense.

"I do have five taels of silver."

Yang Ling said slowly.

A flash of joy passed through Zhang Wei's eyes.

"But I need to inspect the goods first. In this kind of transaction, payment and goods must be exchanged at the same time. I won't give you the money first."

Yang Ling said.

Zhang Wei fell silent for a long while before slowly saying,

"Fine. I'll come find you tonight."

With that, he turned and left.

The sun set. It was midnight.

There was barely anyone left in Miner Village.

Zhang Wei quietly arrived outside Yang Ling's door.

"Open up."

Yang Ling opened the door, and Zhang Wei slipped inside with surprising agility.

"This is Mountain-Crushing Fist."

Zhang Wei took an ancient book from his robes.

Yang Ling glanced at it, and a message appeared before his eyes.

"Mountain-Crushing Fist, Unranked Technique"

"It's Unranked, just like Black Tiger Fist."

Yang Ling did not mind. After confirming it was indeed a technique, he took out five taels of silver and placed them on the table.

Zhang Wei set down Mountain-Crushing Fist, then took the five taels of silver.

After the transaction was complete, he visibly relaxed. Then he smiled.

"I'll be going now. Congratulations on becoming a Martial Artist soon."

After Zhang Wei left, Yang Ling picked up Mountain-Crushing Fist.

The system seemed to have determined that it now belonged to Yang Ling, and new information appeared.

"Mountain-Crushing Fist. Cultivation requirements: Strength 8, Mental Power 3"

"Requirements met"

"Comprehend?"

"Damn Zhang Wei. He never said there was a Mental Power requirement. So this was how he planned to screw me over."

Yang Ling laughed in anger.

Fortunately, he had 10 points of Mental Power.

Otherwise, he would have lost five taels of silver for nothing this time.

Clearly, the other party had already guessed that Mental Power was extremely difficult to increase.

With only 1 point of Mental Power, even if his Strength eventually rose to 8, he would still be unable to comprehend Mountain-Crushing Fist.

"Comprehend."

Yang Ling immediately chose to comprehend it.

The martial art manual in his hand instantly turned into a stream of light and entered his body.

A wave of warmth arose, and memories concerning Mountain-Crushing Fist once again appeared in Yang Ling's mind.