The shockwave dissipated, and Wang Anfeng swiftly turned to strike sideways, but the Ninth Rank Martial Artist who had taken an elixir staggered, still receiving a blow to the abdomen. The metallic clanging became increasingly piercing as the man coughed up blood, his clothes shattered, and a suit of thick armor directly split into pieces, scattering in all directions.
With a roar, the man transformed his fists into claws, tearing forward like a frenzied tiger, yet in the next instant, he lost sight of his opponent. At the same time, his ribs seemed to have been trampled by a ferocious beast. The powerful and overwhelming inner strength instantly penetrated his body, shattering his ribs and turning his complexion deathly pale.
As his bones splintered, the enormous force did not diminish in the slightest, hurling him away. He clenched his teeth, attempting to escape using Qinggong, but as his inner strength began to circulate, a shadow cast down enveloped him, and his pupils dilated with a look of panic on his face.
The madness induced by the elixir was suddenly overtaken by fear. Before he could react, a surging force, continuous like waves, violently crashed onto his back. Wang Anfeng's foot landed on his spine, channeling his inner strength, abruptly halting the man's ascent. Together, they crashed heavily onto the flagstones.
The body of a martial artist, as tough as common iron and stone, caused the ground to instantly crack, the shockwave surged, and dust shrouded them. The Iron Guards and the city residents finally felt their hearts recovering from their intense pounding, as they gazed with wide eyes at the gradually clearing dust.
In Shaolin Temple, a scholar with a stern face scoffed, a faint gleam in his eyes, while Ci closed his eyes, softly chanting Buddhist scriptures.
The grueling training that could be called cruel increased with the weight of the chains every day.
Body Tempering was merely incidental, the real goal was to consistently suppress Wang Anfeng's inner strength, compressing it to the utmost limit. Like a tidal surge imprisoned by a levee, the more the water surged, the stronger the levee became, until one day, the levee would break.
This was to accumulate the force of a thousand miles, to finally burst forth and sweep across tens of thousands of miles far and wide, with a momentum like the roar of a tiger and the chant of a dragon, unstoppable.
Whoever stood in its way would surely perish.
A glint of light briefly flashed in the scholar's eyes as he chuckled softly,
"Come now... lad, let them witness what the Flawless Lustrous Foundation is."
"What the Shaolin Golden Bell Shield is."
In the murmur, the dust dissipated, and the figure of the young man appeared in everyone's sight. He was panting slightly, his clothes were greatly tattered, somewhat disheveled. Yet the skin that was revealed was inscribed with golden-red characters, emitting a faint light, lending a solemn and majestic air to the young man's features. It was identical to the characters on the chains.
Inside the young man's body, the yang and mighty inner strength surged, breaking through the blocked meridians within his body and returning to the Dantian. Like rivers flowing into the sea, a slight tremor in the Dantian sent a residual wave sweeping through his limbs and body, resonating with the inner strength embedded within.
A clear and distant bell tone arose as if it could cleanse the heart of all its dust. Then, a Golden Bell appeared above the young man's body, its numerous characters flowing around before vanishing in an instant, like illusory bubbles. The characters around his body had also completely retracted, leaving Wang Anfeng's features clean and serene.
As simple as a boy next door.
Yet beneath his feet, the Ninth Rank expert who had previously been encircled and had carried someone away at high speed now lay collapsed like a puddle of mud, by the shattered ground, silently proclaiming the young man's formidable power.
Zhao Daniu and the others stared at Wang Anfeng, who seemed to be regaining his breath, frozen in place, unsure of approaching. Yet, a child wriggled free from Zhao Daniu, landed on the ground, and slowly walked towards Wang Anfeng, gently tugging at the hem of the young man's clothes.
Wang Anfeng looked down to see those clear and calm eyes, paused for a moment, then smiled and said,
"Are you alright, little guy?"
The child did not answer, only turned to the youth and opened his arms. The latter paused, his heart puzzled by his current state, but still smiled and gently picked up the child. The child did not act shy, with his hands unabashedly wrapped around Wang Anfeng's neck.
Meanwhile, a beautiful woman dashed out from the crowd, followed by two middle-aged men with pale faces and unsteady steps. The woman, not caring for any possible danger, ran straight toward the child. The two men, however, were horrified by the destruction around them and gasped when they noticed the man slumped on the ground.
One of them, holding a longsword, glanced at the cracks on the ground and then at Wang Anfeng, who was no older than fourteen or fifteen, and said with a rough voice,
"This villain... after consuming a Blood-Burning Pill, lost his mind but gained immense strength, even you and I are no match for him."
"And yet he was taken down by a youth?"
The man beside him wore a bitter expression, opening and closing his mouth before finally sighing and saying,
"Go stand by the lady and the young mistress."
A fierce battle had taken place here; it was chaotic. Several Iron Guards' soldiers lifted the half-dead Ninth Rank Martial Artist and started to search him right on the street. They finally breathed a sigh of relief when they found a dagger decorated with various precious stones and agates.
On the other side, the child was still clinging to Wang Anfeng, calmly watching his mother with clear eyes, unaffected by her many explanations.
Since they were on the main road and the beautiful woman failed to persuade her child, she had no choice but to ask Wang Anfeng to come back to their residence. Wang Anfeng was about to refuse when the four or five-year-old little girl suddenly looked up at him, gripped his arm tightly, and for some reason, he felt his heart soften and agreed.
The clear eyes slightly brightened, and for a moment, Wang Anfeng seemed to see a sky full of dazzling stars.
When they were about to leave, Zhao Daniu, carrying a cloth bag, offered it to Wang Anfeng. According to military convention, whoever captures the thief gets the thief's silver coins and belongings. Wang Anfeng was about to speak, but the little girl in his arms suddenly looked up at him.
Wang Anfeng paused, but then understood her intent and asked,
The little girl nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the contents of the bag. The youth smiled, followed the girl's gaze, took out an ordinary-looking jade stone from the bag, handed it to the little girl to play with, and then passed the bag to the grim-faced tavern owner as compensation.
This thrilling episode thus came to a close. The Iron Guards grimly carried off the half-dead martial artist, and Wang Anfeng, because of the small girl who refused to let go of him, had no choice but to follow the woman and the two pale-faced middle-aged men to the county lord's residence.
On the way back, the youth looked up at the medicine shop just five steps away, observing the neatly arranged, fragrant red clay furnaces, his expression slightly melancholic.
The others saw him as if deep in thought and did not dare to disturb him.
No one knew that the youth, whose skills were remarkable and whose eyes were calm, was actually only thinking about the fruit candy that had been snatched away by a yellow dog after he had taken just one bite.
Could it be that his good fortune had indeed been carried away?
The youth let out a deep sigh.