Chapter 55

Wei He looked at the scene in confusion.

Last night, while revising the secret manual, he occasionally came out to check, never expecting so much activity in Jiang Su's mind.

However, even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

He helped Jiang Su out of a sense of basic righteousness as a fellow disciple. As for other things, he hadn't really thought much about them.

Seeing Jiang Su and Xiao Ran quarrel, although he didn't care much about these two, he still felt a bit of schadenfreude.

However, he soon continued on to the inner courtyard to ask Master Zheng for the red earth fish.

Now that he no longer had the silver-kissed black snake meat, he could only rely on this to replenish his qi and blood.

Originally, he had planned to hunt exotic beasts for meat, but now that he was about to break through, the realm-breaking pearl was almost complete.

His Five Ridge Palm's qi and blood were already sufficient, and he could break through to the third level of qi and blood at any time, advancing to the fourth realm.

At that time, with his enhanced strength, hunting would be much safer and more successful.

So he had been enduring.

Anyway, he was different from other fellow disciples. Others had bottlenecks preventing their progress, but he only needed the realm-breaking pearl to be complete to break through.

Waiting a bit longer wasn't a big deal.

Entering the inner courtyard,

Master Zheng was having a serious conversation with two tall, well-dressed men.

The three of them spoke without hiding their voices, occasionally letting out cold snorts that shook the entire courtyard.

One of the men was tall and imposing, with a full beard and two iron rulers on his back.

The other had leopard eyes and goat whiskers, dressed half like a scholar and half like a warrior, somewhat resembling a general in a scholar's robe.

"Please leave, gentlemen. I said before I returned to the mountain, and I still stand by those words," Zheng Fugui said firmly.

"Why be so stubborn, Master Zheng? In such a situation, recognizing the times is the way to a long future," the man with leopard eyes and goat whiskers said gently, stroking his beard.

"Hmph, I know what the Zhao family is up to. Enough talk, please leave," Zheng Fugui said coldly.

The two men didn't get angry; this wasn't the first time they had come to persuade him to return to the mountain. This time was just the most tense.

They bowed to Master Zheng and turned to leave, not even glancing at the others.

Wei He stood at the entrance to the inner courtyard, watching them go, feeling a bit heavy-hearted.

These two men exuded a powerful aura. As they passed by him, he could feel their long, powerful breaths and the thick, strong flow of blood in their bodies.

Though they were just two people, they gave him the feeling of encountering a large, fierce beast.

Wei He was no longer a novice hunter. He had encountered several large beasts on the mountain, such as brown bears and black tigers.

The beasts in this world were much larger than what he had known before.

Three-meter-tall brown bears, and tigers with a body length of three meters excluding the tail.

They seemed to have been fed hormones, with immense strength and speed. Wei He didn't dare to face them head-on; he would avoid them from a distance.

He was confident in his abilities, but not so much that he would rashly face such large beasts. Especially after seeing a brown bear shatter a large boulder with a single paw, he became even more cautious.

He could only make a fist mark with his full strength, unable to shatter a similarly sized boulder.

Using poison could kill, but then he couldn't eat the meat, so it was better to avoid them and wait until he broke through, when he would have a better chance of hunting them for food.

After the two men left, Wei He slowly entered the inner courtyard.

"Master Zheng," he said softly.

Zheng Fugui was feeling frustrated, but upon hearing the voice, he didn't want to pass his emotions on to the inner courtyard disciples.

He adjusted his mood, turned to Wei He, and forced a smile.

"What's wrong, Xiao He? Is there something wrong with your practice?"

"Nothing, but, Master Zheng, I need to collect this month's red earth fish..." Wei He said helplessly.

He didn't want to ask for meat every month, but he had no choice since he couldn't hunt exotic beasts.

Moreover, after seeing the beasts on the mountain, he was skeptical about his ability to hunt non-toxic exotic beasts.

So it was better to break through first before taking action.

"Go to Aunt Hong to collect it," Zheng Fugui said, looking at Wei He. He wanted to ask about his progress, but recalling the last time, he lost the motivation to ask.

'If all the red earth fish were given to Xiao Ran, could he advance further?'

His own, and Wei He's, all combined, might...

This thought suddenly came to Zheng Fugui's mind, but after hesitating, he dismissed it.

Xiao Ran had so many connections; he wouldn't care about this small amount of red earth fish...

For Wei He, without the Cheng family's exotic beast meat, he couldn't afford to lose this source of qi and blood.

Zheng Fugui waved his hand weakly, dismissing Wei He.

He now placed all his hopes on Xiao Ran. If Xiao Ran successfully broke through, the Huishan Fist School would finally have a successor.

Moreover, with a third-level qi and blood iron-skinned expert stationed at the Huishan Fist Academy, he could focus on other matters without being tied down every day.

The two men from the Zhao family came from the second and third branches, both third-level qi and blood experts skilled in combined attacks, known for their ferocity in the Seven Family Alliance.

Together, they could be a match for him, a half-dead strength master.

Wei He left the inner courtyard, carrying a bag of things, first returning home, then heading to the inner city.

His realm-breaking pearl was almost complete. To achieve this quickly, he decided to buy flower branch deer meat and take it to break through.

He had saved for a long time, finally accumulating enough money to buy a month's worth of meat to take home and eat slowly, hoping to break through in one go.

Walking through the increasingly deserted streets, he entered the inner city, which, despite its former prosperity, seemed to be affected.

The inner city was self-sufficient, with two city gates dedicated to supplying it, ensuring adequate logistics.

Called the inner city, it had expanded to half the size of the entire Feiye City.

The outer city was becoming more desolate, with a large population gradually becoming service personnel for the inner city.

Those who couldn't find a way out either left far away or joined small forts and various forces. The rest relied on small businesses to barely get by.

At this point, pure city residents were becoming fewer and fewer...

Wei He quickly bought a month's worth of flower branch deer meat from the Drunken Flower Pavilion.

This meat almost depleted his savings. With poor recent harvests, the bandits outside the city also seemed to have less income.

So he only had this much.

Carrying the meat in a bamboo basket, Wei He headed toward the outer city's Stone Bridge Town.

Everything was ready. His realm-breaking pearl was almost complete, and according to his own estimate, it would take no more than half a month to reach it.

Eating all this flower branch deer meat and the red earth fish he just collected, he estimated it would be enough to complete it.

The effect of the flower branch deer meat could shorten his qi and blood accumulation time by at least half a month.

This showed the powerful effect of exotic beast meat.

Sometimes Wei He thought that if he had been born into a wealthy family in this world, life would be much easier, with exotic beast meat available whenever he wanted, unlike now, where every meal had to be earned.

Carrying the items, Wei He hurried home.

But just a few steps out of the inner city, a person suddenly appeared from a side alley, blocking his path.

"Long time no see, Senior Brother Wei. You just came out of the inner city, what were you doing?"

The person was none other than Xiao Ran, whom he had just seen.

His face was half-smiling, half-serious, with a hint of resentment and anger in his eyes, staring at Wei He motionless.

He was blocking the path Wei He intended to take.

"Junior Brother Xiao? Why are you blocking me? Is there something you need?" Wei He asked calmly. Although he said this, he had already guessed why Xiao Ran was blocking him.

It was probably because last night's plans didn't work out, and now he was feeling resentful, wanting to teach him a lesson.

However...

Wei He gently put down the bag, about to continue speaking.

Suddenly, a figure flashed, and Xiao Ran leaped forward, delivering a straight punch to his chest.

The Straight Mountain Road was the fastest move in the Huishan Fist, known for its sudden, unpredictable, and rapid burst of speed.

With Xiao Ran taking the initiative, the punch shadow turned into a gray line, appearing in front of Wei He in an instant.

Peng!

Wei He raised his elbow, deflecting the punch to the side, causing it to miss.

He immediately countered with the Huishan Fist, engaging in a direct confrontation.

On the street, without any concealment, the two fists quickly turned grayish-white.

Both were giving it their all.

After a short while, Xiao Ran sneered and delivered a hook punch, changing direction three times mid-air, piercing through Wei He's defense and grazing his face.

Almost hitting him in the face.

Wei He's breathing quickened, and he retreated several steps, having taken a slight disadvantage. Not only had his face been grazed, but his arms were also swollen and painful, clearly showing that his qi and blood were no match for Xiao Ran's.

Xiao Ran's qi and blood enhanced his body, making his physical strength and punching power far superior to Wei He's.

No wonder he was known as a top genius.

His physical talent was truly beyond what ordinary people could handle.

In a direct confrontation, he couldn't match Xiao Ran. The gap was significant.

Wei He had to admit the other's talent and strength.

"Junior Brother Xiao, is that enough?" he asked calmly.

"Not enough!"

Seeing Wei He's calm face, Xiao Ran's heart filled with rage.

Thinking about how Jiang Su had slipped away, and how he had been taken advantage of by the person in front of him, he felt as if he had swallowed a fly.

Anger rising, he saw the meat bag next to Wei He and immediately rushed over.

Two dull thuds later, Wei He was forced back several steps. Just as he steadied himself, he saw the meat bag kicked up.

Xiao Ran sneered and punched the bag.

Peng!

The bamboo basket exploded, and the meat inside was torn into several pieces, flying in different directions.

Wei He couldn't stop it in time. In the city, he didn't dare to use underhanded tactics against his fellow disciples.

Hesitating, he was suddenly hit by Xiao Ran's punch on the meat bag. His heart racing, he rushed forward to grab it.

Unfortunately, he was too slow.

The meat pieces scattered, thrown far by the force, quickly flying over the rooftops and landing on other streets at least dozens of meters away.