Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 27: Chapter 26: Exposed! Life-and-Death Alley Fight

[Illustrated Guide 1: Basic Swordsmanship] (Special Level Mastered)

[Effect 1: Enhanced Body Flexibility]

[Effect 2: Strengthened Power]

[Effect 3: Weakness Perception]

[Skill Ultimate Form Conditions: Condense Sword Momentum]

...

[Illustrated Guide 2: Squatting Horse Stance] (Special Level Mastered)

[Effect 1: Strengthened Lower Limb Strength]

[Effect 2: Enhanced Endurance]

[Effect 3: Deeply Rooted]

[Skill Ultimate Form Conditions: Cumulative duration of 10,000 hours] (2311/10000)

...

[Illustrated Guide 3: Iron Mountain Fist] (High Level Mastered)

[Conditions for Special Level: Cumulative fist practice of 1,000 hours (126/1000), and defeat 10 people with Iron Mountain Fist (10/10)]

...

[Illustrated Guide 4: Thunderbolt Breathing Technique]

[Conditions for Special Level: Breathe 100,000 times (100,000/100,000), and enter Deep Meditation once (0/1)]

...

[Illustrated Guide 5: Dragon Eagle Secret Martial Arts] (Basic Level Mastered)

[Conditions for Intermediate Level: Cumulative Martial Arts Posture of 100 hours] (31/100)

...

[Illustrated Guide 6: Taming the Tiger Vajra Skill] (Basic Level Mastered)

[Conditions for Intermediate Level: Qi and Blood Convergence 150 times] (79/150)

...

[Illustrated Guide 18: Hypnosis] (Basic Level Mastered)

[Conditions for Intermediate Level: Read 20 related books] (15/20)

...

”I have a long way to go.”

Wan Ze muttered to himself.

Skills at the Intermediate level provided Basic Attributes, and High Level Skills added an extra one. Special Level Skills offered the chance to gain special effects, which contributed to a bonus for All Attributes.

He recalled what he had seen at the dojo earlier today. There were twelve Official Disciples in this batch. Four of them, including Li Aisha, could generate 200 pounds of Punching Power, while the rest ranged from 170 to just under 200 pounds.

However, all of them had only just begun Qi and Blood Refining. They were nowhere near Brother Lei’s level.

’My current strength is probably somewhere between the two.’

’Brother Lei is quite busy, so for now, I could spar with Chen Rong...’

’I still have 1,800 on me, which should be enough for a while... Perfect. I’ll finish those time-grinding tasks first!’

As Wan Ze sorted through his thoughts, the horse-drawn carriage arrived at the city library. After paying the fare, he hopped down directly from the carriage.

The main doors of the city library were dilapidated, showing the marks of many years, but the plaque above them was new.

Legend had it that Holy City was once so poor it couldn’t afford to open a library at all.

Forty years ago, a prominent figure from Holy City donated this library after achieving great success. Though he later became embroiled in scandal and lived his final years in misery, the library itself remained.

There weren’t many people in the library at this hour. The staff member at the front desk was organizing books, glanced up at him, and then went back to work.

He walked up the gray-brown stone steps to the second floor.

The books here looked very old. From where Wan Ze stood, he could see two elderly gentlemen in their sixties or seventies sitting at a table a dozen paces away, poring over newspapers with magnifying glasses.

Wan Ze silently made his way to the applied psychology shelf. There weren’t many related books, but they would suffice.

The sound of pages turning was crisp and clear in the quiet reading room.

One by one, people in the room got up and left in a hurry.

Wan Ze continued to flip through the books. A stack had already formed in front of him. With his enhanced Intelligence, he could now read ten lines at a glance, so he was getting through them quickly.

”Alright everyone, it’s closing time. Please pack up your things and head out.” The librarian was a man in his forties with graying hair. He went from room to room, making the announcement. Fortunately, the city library only had four rooms in total, between its reading and study halls.

Everyone began to rise.

Wan Ze finally snapped out of his trance. He scanned the last page, closed the book, and stood up. As he returned the books to the shelves, the men and women in the rows behind him were already getting up, packing their things to leave.

He impassively glanced at the display beneath his retina.

...

[Illustrated Guide: Hypnosis] (Intermediate Level Mastered)

[Effect: Intelligence +0.01]

[Conditions for High Level: Read 30 related books and successfully hypnotize 1 person]

...

The moment his Intelligence increased, the exhaustion in his mind vanished, and Wan Ze felt a wave of clarity wash over him.

More than the skill quest for Hypnosis, he cared about the actual knowledge related to it.

This was the key to whether he could enter a state of Deep Meditation.

’First, what exactly is Deep Meditation?’

’It’s a state where the consciousness becomes highly lucid and the mind is exceptionally calm...’

’Second, how do I enter it?’

As Wan Ze pondered this, he descended the stairs.

He pushed open the library’s main doors. The evening wind swept past. A chill that would have made an ordinary person shiver had no effect on Wan Ze.

But... in the next second, that feeling of being watched, like thorns on his back, appeared again!

He steadied his nerves, his gaze sweeping over the fork in the road ahead. Then, he calmly walked toward the alleyway in front of him.

”Your Perception Power is pretty good. You found me this quickly?”

Just as he reached the mouth of the alley, a man’s voice suddenly came from behind him, raspy and hoarse, as if filtered through a sheet of paper.

Wan Ze’s heart sank.

’Such sharp Perception!’

He looked up.

Just as he was about to get a look.

But a sudden whoosh cut through the air.

Wan Ze instinctively raised his arm to block.

”BANG!”

The immense force made his entire arm go numb. The next instant, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder as he was slammed violently against the wall, sending up a cloud of dust.

”Heh.”

The attacker let out a soft chuckle, clearly enjoying the cat-and-mouse game. ”Good Perception, but terrible reflexes... So this is the standard of the Dragon Eagle nowadays?”

Wan Ze remained silent, quickly adjusting his footing. He had already taken the man’s measure in that brief exchange.

Feeling another blast of wind rushing toward his face, his heart tightened. He protected his head with one hand and did a sideways roll, diving into the alley.

His opponent was fast, but the alley was narrow, which would limit the man’s movements to the greatest extent possible.

The attacker clearly understood this as well, but it seemed he believed killing Wan Ze would be as easy as flipping his palm. He simply strode into the alley, unhurried.

”I thought you’d be strong, considering Ah Qi died at your hands, but it seems I overestimated you... If I’d known, I would’ve just made my move that morning.”

”I know you have a sister, and your parents are still alive... Don’t worry, I don’t mean anything by it. A family should be together, neat and tidy.”

”You’re from the Secret Palace?”

Wan Ze finally spoke, asking the question in return.

And it was only then that he finally got a clear look at his attacker’s appearance!

He wasn’t tall and wore a black peaked cap. Beneath the cap, his face was covered with a black cloth, leaving only holes for his eyes and mouth.

Almost instantly, the man sneered. ”I don’t know whether to call you smart or stupid! Exposing my identity does you no good!”

”And if I didn’t say anything, you wouldn’t have attacked?” Wan Ze shot back.

”Is there any point in saying that now?” The man approached, his pace unhurried.

”This is Holy City. If you dare to kill me, aren’t you afraid the Dragon Eagle will hunt you down?” Wan Ze asked in a low voice.

”I have to admit, that one from the Dragon Eagle is certainly strong. But my killing you has nothing to do with the Secret Palace. This is a personal grudge.” The masked man gave a bloodthirsty smile. ”Don’t worry, I’m very good at killing. I especially love the sound of bones breaking.”

The moment he finished speaking, Wan Ze suddenly lunged forward, throwing a lightning-fast punch.

The masked man sneered. ”I can see you’re angry. And of course, I know... the Black Mountain incident had nothing to do with you. But that’s how the Martial Dao is. I don’t ask for reasons. I only know that Ah Qi died by your hand. Of course... in this line of work, the weak are always meat for the strong!”

After speaking, he abruptly raised his hand. His arm shot out like a spear, thrusting straight for Wan Ze’s face. It was so fast that his sleeve snapped with a series of sharp CRACKS.

His presence was like a great, surging river—vast and mighty.

This was Wan Ze’s first time in a face-to-face Martial Dao battle to the death. Even his fight in the jungle hadn’t been this intense.

But in this moment, his mind was calm. There was no panic.

This was the benefit of his increased Intelligence.

Covering the distance in a single bound, he met the attack head-on. He threw his left arm up in a block, catching the man’s forearm. A surge of Qi and Blood erupted from him, directly parrying the man’s fist aside.

The masked man’s momentum clearly faltered.

He had been practicing his fist techniques for seven years. Although his pride and arrogance had kept him from achieving the Second Transformation of Qi and Blood as he’d wished, this punch still held at least two hundred pounds of Power. And it was just parried away like that?

He snapped his head up, a look of shock and anger on his face.

Only now did he realize that this kid had been faking it from the very beginning!