NABC Chapter 42 The Visit
Chapter 42 The Visit
Lin Mu bowed respectfully, saying, "Lord Zhao."
Zhao Rong stepped into the courtyard, his gaze lingering on his face for a moment.
Lin Mu's face was pale, but his eyes were clear, and his back was straight. He stood under the pear tree, the hem of his clothes was gently lifted by the morning breeze, and he showed no signs of weakness.
He doesn't seem like someone who was struck by a palm strike from a master of internal energy three days ago.
A hint of surprise flashed in Zhao Rong's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
He took the food box and medicine packet from the servant behind him, turned his head and ordered, "Everyone, step back outside and stand guard."
The two servants responded and retreated outside the courtyard gate, standing with their backs turned.
Zhao Rong then placed the food box and medicine packet on the stone table in the courtyard, sat down, and sighed.
"The matter of Chang Le Gambling House was due to my lack of foresight, which has implicated you."
He paused, his voice lowering slightly, "I was thinking of giving you a sinecure, but I didn't expect the Wind Riding Gang to act so quickly."
"They're trying to destroy the Zhao family!"
Lin Mu asked, "Does the Wind Riding Gang have a grudge against the Zhao family?"
Zhao Rong lowered his voice, glanced at the courtyard gate to make sure no one was there, and then said:
"You copied the 'River Source Chronicle,' so you should still remember the sorcerer."
"When the demons were eliminated by humans, there were many survivors who were still in their infancy."
"Over the years, many people have inherited some of the bloodline of demonic beasts."
"If such people practice martial arts, they are naturally vigorous and have excellent physical constitution."
"Ling Feng is one of them. He has a kind of sinister and vicious snake king bloodline flowing through his body, making him the most troublesome."
He paused, then tapped his finger lightly on the stone table: "As for Yu Mubai, he has peacock blood and is extremely arrogant."
"They established the Xuanmen sect, specifically to recruit demons, because their cultivation is extremely fast and their power is immense."
"Furthermore, they sent people everywhere to search for geniuses with demonic beast bloodlines and bring them under their command."
"Are they very strong?" Lin Mu asked.
Zhao Rong raised his head and looked at him intently: "Extremely powerful. As far as I know, three people in the Xuanmen sect have already reached the Innate Supreme Body realm."
Seeing that Lin Mu's eyes were somewhat confused, he explained, "It's much stronger than the Transformation Realm."
Don't overthink it.
Your top priority right now is to recover from your injury.
"We also need to be wary of the Wind Riding Gang."
"Their stronghold is on the outskirts of the inner city, not far from here."
Zhao Rong dipped his finger in the tea and drew a rough direction on the stone table.
"Go east from here, across three streets, and you'll reach the area around the city wall."
Lin Mu nodded and silently made a note of it.
Zhao Rong added, "Besides Ling Feng, there are four other hall masters in the gang, all of whom are at the hidden strength level."
"The one who was killed that night was the White Tiger Hall Master."
"The remaining three are the Azure Dragon Hall, the Vermilion Bird Hall, and the Black Tortoise Hall, and all of them are quite powerful."
He paused for a moment, then said, "Chen Kui is also considered to have internal strength, but he has only recently broken through and has not yet officially been appointed as a hall master. He is being trained by Ling Feng."
Lin Mu did not ask any further questions.
"It's time to go back to the yamen."
"Take good care of your injuries; the Palace Guard's files are waiting for you to copy."
Seeing that it was getting late, Zhao Rong stood up, dusted off his clothes, took a couple of steps, and then stopped.
He took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, hesitated for a moment, and then took out three more porcelain bottles from his other sleeve and placed them on the stone table.
Four porcelain vases were placed side by side on the stone table, gleaming warmly in the morning light.
"It is already quite difficult for someone with inferior physical constitution to reach the level of internal strength."
"Three bottles of Qi and Blood Pills, one bottle of Dragon Transformation Pill. Use them as you see fit."
"If necessary, directly take the Dragon Transformation Pill to reach the Dark Force level."
Even the weakest form of internal force is still incomparable to external force.
Lin Mu glanced at it, didn't refuse, and accepted it. "Thank you, Lord Zhao."
Zhao Rong hummed in agreement and turned to walk out of the courtyard.
......
Two days later, on a rainy night.
Raindrops leaked through the pear tree leaves, pattering on the blue bricks like countless tiny fingers knocking on a door.
Lin Mu stood in the courtyard, shirtless, rainwater streaming down his shoulders.
As the body-strengthening technique was activated, qi and blood surged through the meridians, flowing even more smoothly than two days ago.
Zhao Rong sent one Qi and Blood Pill a day, and the effects of the Rejuvenating Pill were still nourishing the body. The broken meridians had already healed, like a dried-up riverbed being soaked with water again.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt the cool raindrops on his face.
He started boxing.
A draft swept through the room, and his right fist flew out from his waist, striking straight into the rain.
The raindrops were shaken apart by the force of the punch, bursting into a cloud of mist in front of them. The raindrops were pushed away and then gathered back together, as if they had been hit and then returned to their original state.
He frowned, then struck out with the "Willow Swaying in the Wind" move, his palm angled, the rain swirling in the wind, drawing an arc.
The wind blew against the willows, using their force against them. The palm strike brought back a shower of raindrops, which swirled in the air and fell, landing coldly on his shoulder.
He practiced again and again, each punch faster and each palm strike harder than the last, but he always felt something was missing.
Rain pelted his body, trickling down the grooves of his muscles, and he suddenly stopped.
Rainwater is soft, yet it can penetrate clothing, seep into the skin, and get into every nook and cranny.
The wind is invisible, yet it penetrates everywhere.
Lin Mu gained new insights from observing the boxing techniques of Zi Lingfeng and the school master.
He stood in the rain, closed his eyes, and let the rain hit his face.
He stopped trying to shatter the rain and instead let his fist merge with it, allowing the wind from his palm to slip through the gaps in the raindrops.
A draft through a passageway is no longer a straight line, but a curve within a straight line;
The willows swaying in the wind are no longer just curved lines, but rather a permeation within those curves.
The punch was thrown, but the raindrops were not shaken away. Instead, they were carried by the force of the punch and spun on the surface of the fist like a thin film of water.
It's just like the internal energy within your body.
He retracted his fist, lowered his waist, and focused his mind on his dantian.
That wisp of transformed energy was enveloped by layers of qi and blood, like a dormant seed.
He took a deep breath and tried to touch it gently with his mind—but there was no response.
Even stimulating the flow of qi and blood won't work.
It was like a stubborn rock, completely still.
Lin Mu wasn't in a hurry. He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling of the rain sliding down his skin.
It's not about sweeping away everything, but about leading the way.
He let his thoughts seep into the gap of the energy dissolving power, like rainwater, and slide to the top.
The force trembled slightly, like a branch being pulled.
effective.
He pressed on, constantly arousing that wisp of energy with his will.
The force, guided by the mind, transforms into a spinning top.
One lap. Two laps. Three laps.
It suddenly stopped rotating.
Lin Mu opened his eyes. Rain hit his face, and the chill seeped into his bones from his skin.
He didn't give up; he closed his eyes and tried again.
That night, he locked himself in the courtyard, repeatedly using his mind to manipulate that wisp of transforming energy.
Each dip is smoother than the last, and each rotation is one more turn than the last.
Four circles, five circles, six circles... By the seventh time, that wisp of energy could spin more than a dozen times in a row.
He opened his eyes. The rain had subsided at some point, leaving only fine drizzle, like a gauze curtain hanging on the pear tree branches.
He raised his right fist and gently pushed it towards the rain.
The force, carrying a string of raindrops like a transparent little dragon, flew out from the fist and struck the pear tree trunk. With a "plop," a thin crack appeared in the bark.
He closed his eyes and pulled up the booklet.
[Long Wind Fist: Minor Success 99/100]
[Body Tempering Technique: Beginner 99/100]