Chapter 188: Insight (I)

Late at night, bright moonlight fell across the bluestone streets of Bafang City, covering them with a layer of silver sand. Out of nowhere, a muffled sound burst out. With a dull thud, two figures groaned and collapsed into a pool of blood. Lin Zheyu stepped out from the darkness, the dagger in his hand reflecting a blood red gleam under the moonlight.

Here we go again. These people really did trace everything back to me.

Lin Zheyu was somewhat speechless. Recently, he had noticed many sneaky figures around him, hiding in the dark with ill intent. He grabbed one at random, interrogated him, and easily learned the reason.

Among the three Forest Net Temple members Lin Zheyu killed that day, Ge Wuning and Ge Bing were the son and grandson of Ge Yichen. As a Marrow Refining Realm martial artist, Ge Yichen held considerable influence in the Forest Net Temple, and the deaths of his outstanding son and grandson enraged him.

According to the information from Yan Jun, although Liang Song had interfered in secret, Ge Wuning still traced the matter to Lin Zheyu. Unable to find Liang Song, they planned to capture Lin Zheyu to force Liang Song to appear.

Fortunately, Han Tianshu has natural talent and has been selected by the Yuan Family for focused training. The Forest Net Temple does not dare to touch them, or things would become troublesome,

thought Lin Zheyu as he looked at Han Tianshun and Han Xuefan playing outside, feeling somewhat relieved.

Han Tianshu's martial talent was good—even slightly better than Han Mo's. Han Mo, like Lin Zheyu, started his martial path late in his teens and relied on the third-rate Sixfold Saber technique to break through to the Blood Qi Realm. Such talent was considered impressive even in Bafang City.

Han Tianshu had received Han Mo's careful guidance since childhood and showed good talent at a young age. After joining the City Guard, he quickly stood out and was selected by the Yuan Family.

His senior brother's family found backing in Bafang City and were no longer in danger, which greatly relieved Lin Zheyu. As for being targeted himself, he was not concerned at all.

After his last fight with Yan Jun, he gained a more complete understanding of his own strength. Ordinary Marrow Refining Realm martial artists posed no threat to him, and with the Golden Scale Saber in his hand, he could even kill them easily. Even against the strongest individuals in the Marrow Refining Realm, as long as they were not skilled in lightness techniques, Lin Zheyu could easily escape, even if he could not defeat them.

***

After killing the two sneaky men, Lin Zheyu searched the area again. Only after confirming that no one else was lying in ambush did he return to his courtyard.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed. It was now autumn, and the nights had grown much colder.

During these twenty days, Lin Zheyu gained plenty. With Little Black's help, he could hunt one or two Blood Qi Realm beasts each time he left the city. Little Black, being a local tyrant of the deep forest, knew the territories of the beasts like the back of its paw. Working together, Lin Zheyu was able to accumulate over 3000 taels of silver.

I'm almost there. Just 3 more units of Origin Force, and I can reach Perfection in the Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual!

Lin Zheyu glanced at the data in his consciousness, a smile appearing on his face.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 0]

[Skills: Raging Wind Slash (Perfection), Golden Goose Technique (Ninth Stage: 100%), Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual (Third Stage: 85%), Tortoise Breath Grand Method (Third Stage: 100%)]

This was the confidence that allowed him to remain unafraid of the Forest Net Temple. Even though he had not yet cultivated the Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual to Perfection, his defensive power was already no weaker than that of ordinary Marrow Refining Realm martial artists.

The amount of blood qi his body could withstand had increased significantly. Using the blood qi burst technique at full strength, his Mountain Shattering Palm could erupt with five times its normal power. It was an unbelievable feat.

With the fivefold blood qi burst, Lin Zheyu's speed rose to another level. However, he felt that the flexibility of his movement techniques had dropped greatly. With a fivefold blood qi burst, he could no longer perform precise or nimble maneuvers. He could only use it when escaping. However, it could only last three minutes.

"When I cultivate the Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual to Perfection, I should be able to withstand a sixfold blood qi burst. At that point, though, I'll probably last only about a minute," Lin Zheyu murmured to himself.

After his defensive power increased, blood qi became his weak point. Even if he could withstand a sixfold blood qi burst, he could not use it casually and could only keep it as a trump card. Otherwise, once his blood qi was exhausted, he would be left helpless.

After warming up his body slightly, Lin Zheyu retrieved a set of black silver weighted armor from inside the house. The weighted armor was forged from heavy iron and consisted of thirteen parts, including the forearms, upper arms, breastplate, wrists, calves, thighs, and ankles.

Forging this set of heavy armor had cost Lin Zheyu more than 2000 taels of silver. This is why he had only saved 3000 taels of silver, even after so much hunting.

When fully equipped, the total weight reached an astonishing five hundred kilograms. Lin Zheyu could not train fully from start to finish while wearing the entire set. With a five-hundred-kilogram load, he could only last less than an hour before his blood qi was exhausted. After that, he needed to reduce the weight slowly, or he would pull a muscle before reaching his physical limit.

"

Hu...

"

Lin Zheyu put on the entire weighted set, his muscles bulging all over. A load of five hundred kilograms was no small burden even for him.

Hu, hu, hu.

Lin Zheyu began training, and the power of blood qi erupted as his figure moved swiftly. With blood qi supporting him, five hundred kilograms meant little, and his movements remained light and fluid.

Soon, in less than four minutes, all of Lin Zheyu's blood qi was depleted. Without the support of blood qi, his body sank under the immense weight. Letting out a long breath, he began practicing the Barbaric Ox Fist.

With the Golden Goose Technique paired with the Barbaric Ox Fist, his punches carried a heavy, weighted force under the five-hundred-kilogram load. Each punch blasted out with howling wind, immense force, and unstoppable momentum.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Suddenly, a fierce momentum qi surged from Lin Zheyu's body, filled with unstoppable, fearless, and invincible ferocity. As time passed, his eyes grew brighter, and the momentum surrounding him grew stronger.

"Momentum... Barbaric ox, brute force, raw wildness..." Lin Zheyu murmured softly.

Training the Barbaric Ox Fist under a five-hundred-kilogram load gave him an unusual insight. The heavy load made every punch carry a deeper, heavier sense of force. His physical strength, combined with the weight, greatly enhanced the power.

Lin Zheyu faintly sensed the true essence of the Barbaric Ox Fist—it was supposed to be a single overwhelming force that could shatter ten thousand techniques, just like a barbaric ox could.

As long as the force was great enough, he alone became the truth. The Barbaric Ox Fist's domineering momentum relied on nothing but fearless courage, unyielding ferocity, invincible confidence, and unmatched brute strength.

Poof.

A punch blasted out, cutting through the wind and releasing a faint, tearing sound.

"So that's it. This is the true way to use the fist momentum of the Barbaric Ox Fist."

A sharp light burst from Lin Zheyu's eyes as the momentum around him subtly shifted, growing stronger. Every punch carried powerful fist momentum, making each strike heavier and more forceful than before.

Lin Zheyu then applied the momentum usage from the Raging Wind Slash into the Barbaric Ox Fist. With his newfound understanding infused into it, the power increased slightly. After all, this momentum was derived from the Barbaric Ox Fist itself, making it perfectly compatible.

Boom.

Another punch erupted. Caught in sudden inspiration, Lin Zheyu struck a stone pier in the courtyard. A burst of immense force exploded and shattered the stone with a loud crack.

"So strong. With fist momentum added to the fist technique, the punch produced twice the normal power."

Surprise filled Lin Zheyu's face. He had relied purely on physical strength just now, without using even a trace of blood qi.

Momentum was a mysterious field formed when essence, qi, and spirit twisted into one, built upon different martial convictions and one's accumulated insights. It could act upon enemies, inducing fear, chill, heat, or other sensations. It could also act upon oneself, drawing out hidden potential. In the Raging Wind Slash, momentum served to stimulate physical potential.

After applying the momentum method from the Raging Wind Slash into the Barbaric Ox Fist, Lin Zheyu felt as though he had been hypnotized. His strength erupted in an instant, and with the domineering momentum, it produced twice the usual power.

This was only an initial attempt and was still clumsy. Once mastered, he might be able to unleash three times or even four times the power, and all of this came purely from fist momentum, without using borrowed force or any stored power.

No wonder it is said this was once the foundational technique used by a powerful ancient force to select disciples. It is truly extraordinary.

Lin Zheyu sighed in admiration.

He felt the Barbaric Ox Fist had great potential—even greater than the Raging Wind Slash. Although he had gained new insights into momentum, they merely made the momentum fit better with the Barbaric Ox Fist, without greatly increasing its raw strength. If he mastered momentum usage and condensed it further, the power it could unleash would become terrifying.

Lin Zheyu did not stop to rest. Having experienced the power of momentum fused with the Barbaric Ox Fist, he continued practicing, aiming to merge the momentum completely into the fist technique. Since this momentum originated from the Barbaric Ox Fist itself, its compatibility with the fist technique far surpassed that of the Raging Wind Slash.

However, he was still far from proficient. The earlier punch had only succeeded because inspiration struck. After several attempts, he only managed to unleash three more double-strength punches, then felt a wave of mental fatigue and a sense of physical emptiness.

With my physical endurance and mental resilience, I can barely throw four punches before reaching my limit. Ordinary people would likely manage only one punch before their essence, qi, and spirit were heavily depleted

.

That earlier state consumed essence, qi, and spirit at an alarming rate, so even he could only manage four punches. The Barbaric Ox Fist differed from the Raging Wind Slash. The Raging Wind Slash produced power through borrowing force and storing force techniques, but such techniques, paired with weak momentum, could only produce triple the power at most. To improve further, he needed to work on momentum.

Lin Zheyu trained for a while longer. When his stamina dropped too low, he removed the weights from his wrists and ankles before continuing. But after that, no matter what he tried, he could no longer unleash a double-strength Barbaric Ox Fist.