That evening, at the Guo family home.
Father Guo was middle-aged and slightly stout, with a mild manner, perhaps because he was a businessman.
If Guo Renyu had not dared to hide the fact that he had nearly died, Father Guo would not have laid a hand on him.
"Xiao Ning, Renyu, come to the study with me for a talk."
After dinner, Father Guo stood up.
"All right."
Ning Chuan knew the main event had arrived, though he was not expecting too much.
The study, on the second floor.
Father Guo looked at Ning Chuan and sighed. "You saved Renyu's life. Uncle Guo originally wanted to pay for your university education.
"But when I saw that you could even kill Zhao Weiping, I knew you had no need of that little bit of money from Uncle Guo."
"It's nothing."
Ning Chuan smiled. "Renyu and I are good friends. Of course I had to save him."
Father Guo shook his head and said solemnly, "A life-saving debt can't be forgotten. Uncle Guo doesn't have much to give you. The only thing worth anything is a breathing technique passed down by my ancestors.
"Renyu told me you were looking to switch breathing techniques, weren't you?"
As he spoke, Father Guo stood up, locked the door from the inside, then went to the window and drew the curtains tight.
Once he had done all that, Father Guo walked over to a bookcase and put his eye to a small hole.
"Iris match confirmed!"
A cold notification sounded, and the bookcase began to shake. A moment later, it parted down the middle, revealing a safe.
At this display, Ning Chuan exclaimed in surprise, "Uncle Guo, you don't really have an A-rank breathing technique, do you?"
"The ranks from E to S were only established after the Federation was founded. My ancestors' breathing technique is far older than the Federation itself!"
Father Guo turned around, his expression solemn. He held a wooden box in both hands, its interior lined with soft cotton cloth.
In the very center lay a golden jade tablet with strange patterns. A golden light flowed faintly along them, so weak that it seemed it might fade at any moment.
"An ancient martial seal!"
Ning Chuan focused his gaze and recognized the golden jade tablet.
As for which era before the Federation it came from, that was beyond his knowledge.
Father Guo picked up the golden martial seal and rubbed it a couple of times. "This breathing technique is called the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture. It was very famous in its day."
Ning Chuan asked curiously, "Uncle Guo, what rank would it roughly be equivalent to?"
"It has no rank. If it had to be ranked, it would be number one in the Federation today."
Uncle Guo spoke solemnly.
"Uh..."
Ning Chuan blinked.
It was not that he disbelieved Uncle Guo.
It was simply too fantastical.
It was like walking down the street and having a huge crowd of Divine Generals suddenly appear, kneel before him, and shout, "We welcome the Dragon King's return!"
"Ning Chuan, my dad isn't lying to you."
Guo Renyu spoke up at just the right moment. "Don't let the fact that my family is only lower-middle-class now fool you. Before the Federation, my family was the imperial house of the strongest empire of the time.
"But the bird that sticks its head out gets shot. During the Twin Martial Star War, the Heavenly Martial Realm destroyed our empire.
"Otherwise, I'd be a prince at the very least!"
Guo Renyu clicked his tongue, seemingly imagining the wonderful life of a prince.
Father Guo said irritably, "Get to the point!"
"Hehe!"
Guo Renyu grinned and continued, "The Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture was the imperial family's secret inheritance back then. People called it the strongest martial art for laying a foundation.
"In each generation, only a handful of talented imperial princes were allowed to cultivate it."
Father Guo added for Ning Chuan, "I know that after the Federation was founded, martial arts cast aside distinctions of birth and underwent explosive development.
"Powerful martial arts emerged one after another, and many ancient martial arts could no longer compare.
"But the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture is different!
"It wasn't created by a member of the imperial family. A Divine General serving the imperial family fought desperately to snatch it from prehistoric ruins.
"According to him, the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture far surpassed a Divine General's understanding of the martial way!"
After hearing that, Ning Chuan was eighty percent convinced.
The Guo father and son really had no reason to lie to him.
Ning Chuan's eyes returned to the golden martial seal.
This time, his gaze burned with desire.
The number one martial art in the Federation today!
Seeing that, Father Guo did not hold anything back and handed it straight to Ning Chuan.
"Xiao Ning, both the Guo Family Dynasty and the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture are entangled in too many things. The Federation has laws, but even they can't guard against the wickedness of people's hearts. Keep these matters to yourself," Father Guo cautioned.
Ning Chuan nodded and said solemnly, "No one outside the family but me will know."
"I believe you."
Father Guo smiled. Before deciding to pass the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture on to Ning Chuan, he had asked someone to investigate him, and there was nothing to fault about his character.
Otherwise, he would not have spoken of these things.
Turning the golden martial seal over in his hands, Ning Chuan pondered for a moment before asking, "Uncle Guo, since the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture is so extraordinary, just how strong is it?"
Father Guo kept him in suspense and asked instead, "Do you know how much punching force someone at Peak Awakening Stage Nine has?"
Punching force was, without exception, the most important measure of physical fitness.
It did not refer to the maximum force a single punch could deliver.
A single figure was meaningless.
No matter how powerful a punch was, it was useless if it was too slow to hit anyone.
What was called punching force was measured by throwing numerous punches in rapid succession within a set time, with the exact number depending on one's realm, then taking the average. This figure combined various factors, including the human body's strength, speed, and flexibility, and could reflect physical strength with considerable accuracy.
"Roughly between three and five tons."
Ning Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Part of the difference comes from individual talent, but more of it comes from the difference in the rank of their breathing techniques."
Punching force was also an important measure of a breathing technique's quality.
"That's right! Even an S-rank breathing technique can't push punching force in the Awakening Realm past six tons!"
Uncle Guo nodded and declared, "But according to historical records, someone at Peak Awakening Stage Nine who cultivated the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture could shake a great cauldron weighing thirty-six thousand jin with his punching force.
"By punching it continuously, he could send the cauldron flying into the air and keep it from falling for half a day!"
"Thirty-six thousand jin!"
Ning Chuan quickly converted the figure, and his heart gave a startled leap.
Eighteen tons!
That was only the weight of the cauldron. To knock it into the air, the punching force would clearly have to be considerably greater.
And it stayed aloft for half a day.
That meant cultivators of the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture had astonishing stamina.
A breathing technique that could almost be called flawless!
Ning Chuan was excited.
Just then, Guo Renyu curled his lip and poured cold water on it. "It's not as incredible as my dad makes it sound!
"After the Federation was founded, several members of the Guo family cultivated the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture too.
"At Peak Awakening Stage Nine, their punching force was only around six tons, hardly any different from an S-rank breathing technique."
"Hm?"
Ning Chuan looked at Father Guo, waiting for an explanation.
Father Guo was not the kind of person to exaggerate.
After pondering for a moment, Father Guo said, "Neither Renyu nor I said anything untrue.
"To shake a great cauldron weighing thirty-six thousand jin, the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture must reach the Perfect Realm.
"That's as difficult as ascending to heaven.
"Since the Guo Family Dynasty was destroyed, no one has managed it."
Hearing this, Ning Chuan felt relieved.
The difficulty of a martial art was not a problem for him.
Although reaching the Perfect Realm required an epiphany, and he might not be able to achieve one.
Still, the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture at the peak of the Expert Realm would surely grant him over ten tons of punching force.
It would still crush an S-rank breathing technique!
Father Guo glanced at Ning Chuan and smiled wryly. "Since the Federation was founded, not a single member of the Guo family in any generation has reached even the second realm, Proficiency, let alone the Perfect Realm. By my generation, no one even dares cultivate the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture."
"Why? Does the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture cause a backlash?"
Ning Chuan asked in surprise.
He recalled that Guo Renyu's breathing technique was an inheritance he had obtained at school.
Father Guo shook his head. "No. The Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture's martial seal can only pass on its inheritance one last time. With Renyu's talent, how could I dare let him cultivate it?"
Guo Renyu felt glum hearing that.
"This..."
The golden martial seal suddenly felt hot in Ning Chuan's hands.
It could only pass on its inheritance one last time!
Its value was plain to see.
But Ning Chuan could not quite bear to give it back.
The Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture was beyond comparison with the A-rank breathing technique he had planned to buy.
Buy it with money?
The thought flashed through Ning Chuan's mind, only to be snuffed out immediately.
Leaving aside whether he had that much money.
If the Guo family had really wanted to trade the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture for money, he would never have had a chance at it.