Seeing Zhang Rongfang, Li Fuhua whispered in response, "That person is Yan Kun, an old acquaintance of Sister Zhao. He came over from another Dao Palace for exchanges and temporary residence, and somehow, the two started sparring."
"Is he also a Second Grade?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Third Grade now, but Sister Zhao has natural strength, so it looks like she didn't lose out," Li Fuhua replied.
Zhang Rongfang nodded, he could see it too.
Zhao Dachong deserves to be Second Grade, speed, strength, all aspects surpass him by quite a margin.
Really, if he went up to fight, he probably wouldn't last a few moves before his defensive stance was broken and he was heavily injured.
But this is also the result of her ten years of hard training. How long has he been practicing?
It's just that Zhao Dachong is strong, but that yellow-haired Daoist is even stronger.
Zhang Rongfang glanced at the people watching nearby, most of them were entry-level Martial Cultivators, mostly at the Blood Nourishment stage.
None were at the Entry Grade.
After all, those who reach the Entry Grade can go to the Spirit Official Hall for a post-assessment, and receive more monthly pay.
Many capable ones who reach Entry Grade, once they have money, will buy houses in Huaxin County. Generally, they won't come to the Martial Cultivator Dojo anymore.
People like Zhao Dachong are rare indeed.
Soon, the two in the arena suddenly collided with punches and both retreated, clasping fists in respect.
"Concession." Yan Kun said indifferently, cupping his hands, and turned to leave.
Zhao Dachong stood in place, her face slightly red, a sign of Qi and blood rushing throughout her body.
"Sister! Are you alright!?"
Zhang Rongfang and the others hurriedly stepped forward to inquire.
"I'm fine, but still lost...." Zhao Dachong sighed. "Didn't expect him to break through the third limit and step into Third Grade already...."
Several people together helped her to the side, and someone brought a wooden stool for her to sit on.
"Breaking through a limit once impacts your strength that much?" A young Daoist couldn't help but ask.
"Though Ninth Grade is assessed by the court, it's roughly divided, also known as the nine major limits.
The first breakthrough enhances the most, each subsequent one weaker than the last.
Yan Kun is three breakthroughs in, seriously speaking, not much stronger than me. Just slightly stronger in terms of strength. I lost because of my lack of real combat experience."
Zhao Dachong sighed.
"Earlier my natural strength was greater than his, so when we were the same level, he couldn't beat me. Now, well, he's back for revenge."
Zhang Rongfang listened on the side, deep in thought.
After resting for a while, seeing Zhao Dachong was alright, everyone went to find places to spar and practice moves.
Li Fuhua also sought out Zhang Rongfang. After all, on the surface, Zhang Rongfang was also just at the entry-level.
The two stood facing each other, with Li Fuhua making the first move.
She took a quick step, throwing a straight punch at the chest.
This move is called The Front Wind. It's also one of the thirty-two moves in the Mountain-shaped Talisman.
Li Fuhua's strength in movement, the coordination of moves and footwork, was good. After she made the move, someone nearby couldn't help but applaud.
But in Zhang Rongfang's eyes, her movements and footwork were clumsy and rough, the move lacked force and decisiveness.
He lightly deflected her, easily diverting Li Fuhua to the right side, almost causing her to fall.
"Again!" Li Fuhua, unconvinced, steadied herself, charged again with a move towards the underarm joint of Zhang Rongfang's right arm.
Bam.
Unfortunately, her arm swung halfway out before being precisely intercepted by Zhang Rongfang, unable to exert further force, she had to change moves.
In the ensuing ten or so moves, no matter how she varied them, Zhang Rongfang accurately deflected or blocked them.
Clearly Zhang Rongfang used less force than her, but the result was he was much more effortless.
"Eh?" Seeing the situation, Zhao Dachong looked surprised.
"This is the level where moves are practiced to perfection and transparency." She stood up from her resting wooden stool, observing Zhang Rongfang closely.
As the match continued, she became more and more certain. It truly was the perfected and transparent level of the Mountain-shaped Talisman.
"Sister, is practicing moves to perfection really that powerful?" Li Fuhua, once again easily repelled, asked breathlessly and unconvinced after hearing this.
"Yes, in sparring between disciples, moves practiced to perfection considerably restrain fellow disciples. You can't beat him now." Zhao Dachong nodded.
"To practice the Mountain-shaped Talisman to this degree requires quite good aptitude. The next phase is just waiting for time to accumulate, to get through the Blood Nourishment and Muscle Forging body transformation stage, then you can try to break limit and enter the Grade."
She sighed and said, "We Martial Cultivators actually need aptitude and Innate physique the most.
Aptitude allows one to learn and grasp martial arts faster. And Innate physique allows martial arts to better strengthen our bodies."
"Seems my aptitude is alright?" Zhang Rongfang saw Li Fuhua stop fighting and smiled as he stopped.
"That's correct." Zhao Dachong nodded, "If your physique can follow suit, breaking limit is estimated within four to five years."
"Then Sister, after breaking the limit, what changes will happen? Can you tell me?"
Zhang Rongfang, carefully adhering to the plan, showcased a bit of his potential, and began inquiring about new things.
"After breaking the limit, it depends on the focal point of the practiced martial arts, there will be varying degrees of physical enhancement. Strength increases, skin thickens. Nothing more...." Zhao Dachong shook her head.
She assessed Zhang Rongfang, from the earlier sparring practice, she could vaguely tell, Zhang Rongfang seemed to be hiding a bit of strength, this guy appears not as simple as he looks.
"In the future, do you still want to...."
"Sister Zhao, Senior Brother Zhang, Master wants you to go over there quickly!"
Suddenly, her words were interrupted, Sun Yuanfeng hurriedly ran over from a distance, his expression somewhat off.
"What's going on?" Zhao Dachong frowned.
"It's Sister Xiao Qingying, and the errand disciple who was with her... have disappeared." Sun Yuanfeng quickly said.
"Disappeared?" Zhang Rongfang was shocked, the first thought he had was of Chen Wuyou.
For such a long time, due to Xiao Rong's suspicion of him, Xiao Qingying mostly acted together with another female miscellaneous disciple.
But now....
Zhang Rongfang knew the situation had changed. If it was still Chen Wuyou who made the move this time, then....
The three did not delay, promptly leaving the martial arts venue to rush to the pavilion where Xiao Rong lived.
The first floor of the pavilion, inside the hall.
Xiao Rong's face was stern, and Xiao Qingying stood pale beside him.
The other disciples, including Jiao Teng as the senior brother, had also arrived and stood aside with an ugly expression.
Seeing Zhao Dachong, Zhang Rongfang arrived, and Jiao Teng looked towards Xiao Rong.
"Master, according to Junior Sister Xiaoying's description, I'm afraid the person is already.... The urgent matter is not finding out who did it, but ensuring Junior Sister Xiaoying's safety."
Xiao Rong remained silent, sitting in the grandmaster's chair without moving.
No one knew what he was thinking.
When Zhang Rongfang and Zhao Dachong entered, they saluted and then stood aside.
Seeing Zhang Rongfang, Xiao Rong's gaze flickered.
"From today onwards, Rongfang, you must follow Xiaoying everywhere, and you are not allowed to leave her side. If anything happens to her, you'll protect her with your life, even if you have to die! Do you understand?"
Zhang Rongfang's heart shuddered, quickly stepping forward, bowing in respect.
"Disciple understands!"
He was promoted to a cultivation disciple to protect and remind Xiao Qingying, and now that the other one had disappeared with the miscellaneous disciple, he naturally had to step up.
And in this world, as long as there's a reason, the master has the authority to dispose of his disciples at will. Even if executed, no one can say anything.
"Jiao Teng," Xiao Rong continued.
"Disciple is here!" Jiao Teng quickly stepped forward.
"The investigation is entrusted to you, make sure to give me an answer!" Xiao Rong said deeply.
"Yes!" Jiao Teng responded, clasping his fists.
After that, Xiao Rong also instructed Zhao Dachong to cooperate in protecting Xiao Qingying but didn't even mention Senior Brother Chen Wuyou.
*
*
*
Outside Huaxin County, in the mountain forest.
In the dry, yellow grass and forest land, a figure quickly passed through bushes and grass, arriving quietly at a large tree marked with a white triangle, waiting silently.
At dusk, as night deepened.
Before long, two brawny men wearing old clothes, carrying long-handled knives, quickly approached and stopped a few meters from the figure.
"Brother, we've finished the job, shouldn't the payment be settled now?" The scar-faced brute coldly said.
"I asked you to kidnap, not to kill! And now you still have the nerve to ask me for money?" The figure said with emotion in his voice.
"Hey, the woman got caught, but she was still screaming, and we couldn't resist slicing her neck. Anyway, we did the job, and if you don't pay, think carefully about the consequences." The scarred brute sneered.
The figure paused, then raised his hand and tossed an object over.
It was a gray cloth money bag.
The brute caught it, looked inside, and then smiled broadly.
"I need you guys to handle something else." The figure spoke again. "Upon success, I'll pay double the price!"
"Speak, speak, we're all ears!" The scar-faced brute's tone changed. His face showed a hint of smile.
"Since the action has started, let's clean them all up!" The sunset light at this moment illuminated the figure's face completely.
It was none other than Chen Wuyou of Qinghe Palace.
"As long as you support my father's further advancement and secure his position, then Qinghe Palace will join forces with you, whether in trade or grain supply, it's not a problem."
"Are you implying...?" The scar-faced brute felt tempted.
"I want you to take people, capture Xiao Qingying, draw Xiao Rong out, and completely destroy him!" Chen Wuyou said viciously.
The last time, he almost succeeded, but Xiao Qingying escaped. He later tried to contact her, but was blocked by Xiao Rong.
Clearly, Xiao Rong was not only suspicious of that young boy named Zhang Rongfang but also suspected him.
During a subsequent Tao Palace meeting, Xiao Rong vaguely showed a tendency to align with the monitoring academy, which infuriated Chen Wuyou.
His father, on patrol, Chen Zihan, was also quite dissatisfied with him.
Since he couldn't persuade the old guy, he'd simply get rid of him. Now with the mountain bandit army joining forces, if not for the fear of exposure leading to a Spirit Court crackdown, they could directly seize the position.
After all, the Qinghe Palace Master, that old undead, had hardly any power left.
An old sixth-grade one who could hardly move, what's he going to do?
"Okay. But according to your data, the old man has some tough ones under him, two second-grade disciples, you'll need to negotiate payment separately. And afterward, you must help us purchase grain!" The scar-faced brute thought for a moment before responding.
"Boss Huang was once a fourth-grade master of the court, afraid of two second-grade ones?" Chen Wuyou frowned.
"Hey, alright, as long as the money is there, it's negotiable." The scar-faced brute laughed.
His Iron Tiger Skill had reached the cultivation technique limit, his whole body Qi and Blood was circulating, integrated, and he was in his prime, having been designated as fourth-grade shortly before the uprising in the Spirit Court.
To deal with skilled practitioners from a third-rate sect like Qinghe Palace, single-handedly picking off one or two was indeed no problem.
Moreover, he'd never act alone; he had over a hundred brothers under him who were all formidable.
"Besides, that old guy's eldest disciple, Jiao Teng, has already been persuaded to secretly cooperate. I'll create an opportunity to go out in a few days, this time it should be a surefire success." Chen Wuyou said.
"Sly, but I like it! Hahaha!" The scar-faced brute laughed heartily.
"By the way, last time two of my brothers were killed by that Xiao Qingying's lackey Daoist, this time be sure to lure him out, I want to get him myself!" He said fiercely.
"Just a minor Daoist without any grade, do as you wish." Chen Wuyou nodded, his eyes cold.