Chapter 74

"With regard to Strength and Resistance-Oriented Training Method, I have two choices, Chin Kaey, nicknamed Roly-poly, and Youny Fuure, Bronze Pillar." Le Xaan once went to the two dojos that the two persons ran. Roly-poly Youny Kaey was in his seventies and taught only commonplace martial arts at the dojo. On the contrary, Bronze Pillar Youny Fuure appeared more open-handed. In his dojo, one could learn some basic Strength and Resistance-Oriented Training Method, which Le Xaan was searching for after they paid for it. If one possessed promising talent, Youny Fuure said, he would take them under his wing as inner disciples and impart Bronze Pillar Skill to them.

"Learning in a dogo costs me too much time. The manual of a set of martial arts is all I need. As long as I have the manual and enter into the 'Inexperienced' level..."

As he pondered, he decided to go to the auction houses to search for martial arts. Perhaps at such places, he might stumble upon something on par with Dark Shadow. Who knows?

At this point in his thoughts, Le Xaan reached into his waist pouch, where he felt a few silver certificates and golden coins. Then, he let out a drawn-out sigh.

"I have to find some side hustles to make money."

If not for the incident involving Wein Zikua and the red ship, Le Xaan would have been in no hurry to enhance his strength.

After packing up his stuff, Le Xaan jogged down the road leading to Mountainside City. He made up his mind that he would go and look for Ney Rean, the Central Land martial arts master who was hailed as Smashing Soul Palm.

After he entered the city, he waved down a horse carriage, which rolled along the streets all the way to a relatively deserted block of the downtown area.

A quaint mansion adorned with a peachwood door plaque nestled at the end of the street. This mansion housed the prestigious Green Wood Dojo established by Ney Rean.

The gate was wide open. It seemed Le Xaan happened to come here during the visiting hours.

Inside the door, the raucous noises could be heard from the crowd. Elbowing his way through the people, Le Xaan was greeted with a square platform supported by four vermillion red pillars.

On the stage stood a white-haired middle-aged man who was exercising a set of palm techniques, bringing about a series of air-splitting sounds.

"Terrific!"

As the man's performance reached its highlights, the audience before the stage shouted appreciatively.

Le Xaan set his eyes on the man in the arena.

"So this is what a Central Land top expert looks like?"

Le Xaan was presently skeptical about what he was seeing. The man's palm strikes were indeed not bad, with enough swiftness and action accuracy, yet its flow could be viewed as a flaw, somewhat sluggish. Evidently, his strength was inadequate. But his technique made up for this, allowing for the air-splitting noises, which could be deemed as merely a gimmick.

And what was abuzz around Le Xaan made him speechless with resignation.

"Yesterday, Master Ney set up the fighting arena and invited all the experts in Mountainside City to compete with each other. Even the Second Commander under Ferrian General was attracted here to compete against Master Ney. Guess what?

In no more than thirty exchanges of moves, the Second Commander sustained a palm strike on his chest and backed up a few steps before admitting defeat!"

"Amazing! As expected of a Central Land guru! Truly extraordinary!"

"This is nothing! Do you know that Master Ney had once defeated all the masters from Bronze Pillar Dojo, Fierce Lion Dojo, Cloud Water Dojo, Distortion Heaven Earth Dojo..." Another gawker bragged about his witnessing experiences. "All of those martial arts competitions I have seen with my own eyes. None of those experts could go beyond fifty exchanges of blows with Master Ney!"

Awe-struck noises immediately were stirred up amid the surrounding crowd.

Le Xaan could tell that these people were not acting as shills but were sincerely marveling at Ney Rean's strength.

And then Le Xaan cast a glance at Ney Rean, who was performing martial arts there. By then, someone stepped onto the stage to challenge him, or rather, to attempt to draw lessons from Ney Rean.

The man who set his foot onto the platform was strongly built and appeared very respectful toward Ney Rean, saying something like "Please Master Ney for guidance".

The two of them soon engaged with each other in a fierce battle.

Le Xaan watched them exchange blows for a while and immediately realized why Ney Rean was so revered.

"Ney Rean's speed and force, in comparison to ordinary people, is already far superior..."

Upon seeing the awkward performance of the young man who initiated the challenge, Le Xaan was enlightened at once.

Without reference and having rarely combatted with other martial arts experts, Le Xaan could only speculate about his standing in terms of strength. After all, he had always been secretly practicing martial arts.

"From the looks of it.... I could knock off this Ney Rean within three moves." Le Xaan shook his head and forced his way through the crowd before leaving.

"Smashing Soul Palm is slightly stronger than Crashing Heart Palm. If I don't muster inner body Qi, perhaps he can stand up to me. Yet, otherwise... " Le Xaan thought for a few more moments and determined that he didn't need three moves to deal with Ney Rean.

With just a single blow, he could finish off Ney Rean.

"What I am in search of is not this type of martial arts experts." Le Xaan then left for his residence. Originally, he was of a mind to head for Bronze Pillar Dojo, but it was too late now. The nightfall had already descended.

The next day, Le Xaan went to the Bronze Pillar Dojo and another few dojos.

He watched the performance of Bronze Pillar Skill with his own eyes. The performer was able to bend a long spear against his throat, packing a strong visual impact for its beholders. But that's all there's to it. Le Xaan had watched similar performances before and wasn't impressed at all. If one wanted to achieve such a feat, all they needed was arduous, persistent efforts.

Practicing the Bronze Pillar Skill necessitated bathing the practitioner's body in a large number of elixirs. Otherwise, their bodies would be riddled with a lot of hidden injuries. Bronze Pillar Dojo made public their training method but never the matched recipe of elixirs.

Le Xaan inquired a few people about it and learned that only those who joined the dojo were allowed access to the elixir recipe.

He was greatly disappointed about this. After all, without the herbal recipe, his body would only end up torn and battered after practicing Bronze Pillar Skill. Even though the cheat tool stood a chance of making a difference, Le Xaan was in no mood to waste time trying it. The breakthrough of Dark Shadow into the Third Level left him with such grievous injuries that it took him half a year to fully recover. He hated to think that such an occurrence should take place once more.

After he left the dojo, it was already afternoon.

Without any gains, Le Xaan felt downcast and dropped by the street known as 'Ghost Market'.

The so-called 'Ghost Market' was a place where loot from tomb raiding, second-hand stuff, and stolen or blood-tainted goods were traded.

Le Xaan had brought along with him a stack of silver certificates and several gold coins worth roughly two thousand silver coins. As for the shop under his name, its monthly profits amounted to no more than dozens of silver coins, a slice of cake trivial to Le Xaan.

"Let me explore the street and see if I can stumble upon something worthwhile."