Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 24: Chapter 23: Mountain Gate Sequence

The wind rustled.

In the cold, quiet classroom, numerous students were bent over their desks, writing furiously.

Wan Ze’s brow was tightly furrowed.

Zhou Xianchuan, sitting a table away, saw his expression and knew he was bombing the exam. But in reality, Wan Ze was thinking about the sudden feeling of being watched he’d had on the school bus that morning.

The prying gaze had vanished in an instant. If not for his recent surge in strength, he might not have noticed it at all.

The problem was that it had been too brief for him to spot anything unusual. Even now, that feeling of being watched, like a needle at his back, had not returned.

Although he had no proof, Wan Ze secretly remained vigilant.

...

”BANG!”

The moment their fists met, Wan Ze felt his body jolt. Even though his All Attributes had recently improved by leaps and bounds, his entire arm still went numb in that instant.

”Your reaction speed is fast, and your Power is nothing to scoff at. That natural talent is just unfair.” Lei Ming pulled back his fist and said with a smile, ”Our Dragon Eagle Secret Martial Arts naturally boosts Power, but you know that when your Power increases, your reactions tend to slow down... I think your talent might just make up for that shortcoming.”

”No matter how fast my reactions are, I still can’t take a punch from you, Brother Lei,” Wan Ze said, shaking his arm.

Lei Ming laughed heartily. ”I’ve been training for several years longer than you, after all. Experience counts... But with your talent, it might not even take you two years to reach my level.”

He seemed to think of something.

He hesitated for a moment. ”I looked at that Taming the Tiger Vajra Skill. It’s indeed very powerful, but I don’t plan to practice it.”

Wan Ze was taken aback. ”Why not?”

Lei Ming sighed softly. ”I’m already practicing another Cultivation Technique. I simply don’t have the energy to take on another one... That Taming the Tiger Vajra Skill actually has a solid foundation, and it also follows the Yellow Court path... You’ll have to decide for yourself.”

Wan Ze had a sudden realization.

’So that’s what my senior brother was worried about.’

But for him, this wasn’t a problem at all. He had the Illustrated Guide, which allowed him to reach the Beginner Level and even achieve mastery in his Cultivation much faster than anyone else.

Still, he asked cautiously, ”Brother Lei, do you think there’s... a problem with this Cultivation Technique?”

”Not exactly.” Lei Ming hesitated, unsure how to put it. Finally, he lowered his voice and said, ”The path of the Martial Dao is one where newcomers follow the roads of their predecessors. The experience accumulated by those who came before us helps us avoid many detours. The Martial Dao of the Dragon Eagle Martial Arts Hall is basically mature... Of course, I’m referring to the Body Refining stage. Having Master, who is at the Peak of the Body Refining Realm, is our greatest source of confidence.”

These were words from the heart.

Someone else might not have spoken so frankly to Wan Ze.

Wan Ze understood. It was just that with the Illustrated Guide in his possession, there were no detours for him to worry about. He nodded and smiled. ”I understand now.”

”Did that guy look for you yesterday?” Lei Ming suddenly asked.

Wan Ze nodded and briefly recounted the events of the previous night.

”What an impatient fellow.” Lei Ming shook his head after listening. Seeing Wan Ze’s confused look, he explained, ”I had already spoken to Master about this. I don’t think he’s a bad person, so I wanted to help him out. As a Martial Artist at the Blood Tempering Second Transformation, there’s no problem with him becoming an instructor here at Dragon Eagle.”

Wan Ze’s heart stirred. ”Brother Lei, is our Master really not afraid of offending the Secret Palace?”

Lei Ming chuckled. ”Unless the Secret Palace brings out their entire force, if they dare to make a move against us in the Holy City, they’re just asking to die! Dragon Eagle has nearly a hundred Martial Artists, not to mention a Grandmaster at the Peak of the Body Refining Realm. They know this full well. You don’t need to worry. Master already said last time that if they dare to come after the two of us, our First Brother won’t let them off.”

”First Brother? Aren’t you the First Brother?” Wan Ze asked, stunned.

Lei Ming laughed. ”Me, First Brother? I’m only at the Blood Tempering Second Transformation; I haven’t even formally graduated. But that’s my fault, I didn’t explain it clearly before. Master has a total of seven disciples. Including you, that makes eight. Most of the Official Disciples in the hall are under Master Qin, Master Ma, Master Gu, and Master Pang...”

”Then what about the First Brother and the others?”

”They’re all very busy. Besides First Brother, who has already entered Refining Force, Second Sister is right behind him. Third and Fourth Brothers are twins, and they’re currently around the Middle to Late Stage of Refining Viscera. Fifth Sister entered the second stage, Refining Viscera, at the beginning of the year.”

Seeing Lei Ming suddenly stop, Wan Ze asked in confusion, ”And the sixth person is?”

”That person... it’s better not to talk about him.” Lei Ming started to speak, then stopped.

”Why?” Wan Ze was a little curious.

Lei Ming didn’t seem to think highly of this Sixth Brother. He said flatly, ”Gao Qi joined Dragon Eagle halfway through. His family’s elders were old acquaintances of Master, so he was accepted as a disciple as an exception. Although I don’t like him, I have to admit his talent is truly high. Some of the masters in the hall even say that within ten years, his achievements will be no less than First Brother’s.”

His words made it clear that he respected First Brother much more, which only made Wan Ze more curious. However, there was no time to meet them at the moment.

”First Brother and the others take on the big jobs, not like us with our small skirmishes.” Lei Ming sounded a bit wistful. He suddenly thought of something and added, ”By the way, are you free on Saturday? If so, take half a day and come with me to Lingyun Manor. I’ll introduce you to some friends.”

Wan Ze heard this and nodded in agreement.

「Half an hour later.」

After Lei Ming left, a bare-chested figure stood in the courtyard, lifting a stone weight half his height. Sweat streamed down his chiseled muscles. With every squat, the dust at his feet kicked up from the slight tremor.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Wan Ze finally set down the stone weight. His gray lantern pants were soaked with sweat. Wiping his face, he ended his training for the day.

He was just about to look for Sun Fan when she found him first, a somewhat resentful look in her eyes.

”You became a Martial Artist and you didn’t even tell me!”

Wan Ze explained, ”I only just succeeded in the tempering process. After the Qi Blood Transformation, I’ve been busy trying to control this new power. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have sought out Brother Lei for help.”

Sun Fan’s curiosity was instantly piqued. ”Is the change really that big after the Qi Blood Transformation?”

”You could call it a qualitative change, especially after practicing the Dragon Eagle Secret Martial Arts... You’re almost there too,” Wan Ze replied. ”Tonight, I’ll control my strength. You try to push yourself to your limit and carefully feel the flow of your qi and blood.”

Sun Fan’s eyes lit up. ”Let’s do it!”

The two of them sparred back and forth until ten o’clock at night.

「Under the night sky.」

Wan Ze pulled back his hand. ”That’s enough. Hold on to that feeling. I suggest you increase your training difficulty.”

Sun Fan gasped for breath, letting the sweat drip from her forehead. She looked up and asked, ”Is your solo training always this intense?”

”You call this intense?” Wan Ze retorted, taking a clean white towel from a wooden cabinet nearby and handing it to her.

Sun Fan was left speechless.

She felt a little ashamed, and also a little frustrated.

She had indeed been slacking off lately.

’I shouldn’t have been!’

After a moment of silence, she looked up.

”Wan Ze, thank you for tonight.”

”You’re just going to dismiss me with a ’thank you’?” Wan Ze suddenly said with a grin.

”Huh?” Sun Fan was confused.

”Treat me to a meal.”

Sun Fan was stunned for a moment, then she caught on and smiled. ”No problem. Tonight, you can eat anything you want in the Holy City, my treat! But Wan Ze...”

”What is it?”

”I feel like... you’ve changed somehow.”

”How so?”

”It’s just... a feeling.”