Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 171: Chapter 132: Taiyin Advancement

Wan Ze found a moment to glance at his data panel.

Although the Taiyin Breathing Technique had successfully advanced, his Mystic Round Innate Qi Cultivation Technique had failed to reach its Ultimate Form.

’If that shockwave had just come a little later, he was confident he could have perfected it in one fell swoop.’

He suppressed the complicated emotions welling up inside him.

Wan Ze turned his attention to his personal Attributes.

...

[Physical Strength: 1.88]

[Intelligence: 1.72]

[Agility: 1.68]

[Endurance: 1.81]

[Power: 1.93]

[Coordination: 1.73]

...

[Spiritual Form Remaining: 618%]

[Magic Sense Remaining: 52%]

[Cultivation: Refining Viscera·Strength]

...

’Looks like my Power will break past 2 soon!’

Wan Ze looked away.

He threw himself into his boxing, not stopping his Cultivation for the night until the world was deep and still.

...

「Daybreak.」

The street was already bustling with activity.

The steamer baskets at the breakfast shop were billowing with white steam, fried dough sticks sizzled in a wok, and the owner, skillfully flipping flatbreads, greeted the steady stream of regulars without even looking up.

The woman selling soft tofu pudding next door had parked her tricycle at the street corner. A few office workers and elementary school students were gathered around, waiting for their takeout orders, their voices a constant chatter.

Wan Ze had just finished his morning run in a nearby park. Now done with his early Cultivation, he jogged over from the corner, beads of sweat on his forehead. Wiping them away, he stopped in front of the steamed bun shop and pulled out some change. ”Three steamers of buns and ten fried dough sticks, please.”

”You got it!” The owner deftly wrapped the buns in greaseproof paper and tied the plastic bag. ”Just finished your run?”

Wan Ze smiled and nodded, taking the breakfast and heading back.

...

In their room at the guest house, Father Wan stood before the mirror, struggling with a dark blue necktie. He kept craning his neck to read the newspaper spread out on the coffee table, his eyes darting constantly toward the page.

”This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!”

After finishing the article, Father Wan cursed resentfully without turning his head. ”The Chaos Empire unilaterally withdrew from the friendship alliance. They just up and left, without any respect for the agreement. What is this? It’s treachery!”

Mrs. Wan was setting bowls and chopsticks on the table. Hearing this, she didn’t even look up. ”Alright, alright, stop worrying about international affairs. You’re just a working man, what does it matter to you if they leave the alliance or not?”

”You... never mind, you don’t understand. There are big things happening, I’m telling you! Look at this section, it says things are getting chaotic over in the Sila Continent. And this... the Slavic Kingdom discovered an ancient civilization’s ruins, said to be thousands of years old.” Father Wan finally tied his tie and shoved the newspaper in front of her.

Mrs. Wan glanced at the newspaper and scoffed, ”It’s from thousands of years ago, what could be in there? It’s not like something is going to crawl out, is it?”

”You’d better believe it! A lot of people are talking about it, saying there are Immortals hidden in there! For real, some people even saw strange phenomena with their own eyes!” Father Wan immediately got excited.

Mrs. Wan slammed the chopsticks on the table and said irritably, ”Immortals? Where would Immortals come from? If there were real Immortals, they would have already taken over our whole area. Would you still be here tying your necktie?”

Father Wan opened his mouth, but before he could retort, Mrs. Wan had already shouted toward the inner room, ”Xiaozhe, get your sister up for breakfast!”

Wan Ze grabbed a cabbage and vermicelli bun, turned to knock on the door, and said indistinctly, ”Time to get up and eat! Three! Two!”

A rustling sound came from inside the room.

After a moment, Xiaoyu shuffled out in her slippers, eyes still half-closed, her hair a messy tangle with a few strands sticking up. She let out a series of huge yawns, plopped down at the table, grabbed her chopsticks, and started digging into the buns.

Mrs. Wan looked at her and said irritably, ”You stayed up late again, didn’t you? What were you doing last night? Your eyes are all swollen.”

Xiaoyu, her mouth stuffed with a bun, mumbled, ”I didn’t... didn’t stay up late... I just had a dream...”

Wan Ze sat down beside her and asked casually, ”What dream?”

Xiaoyu swallowed her bun, yawned again, her eyes still a little dazed. ”It was... some old charlatan who insisted on taking me as his disciple. Said something about ’a great evil descending upon the world’ and ’the world will fall into chaos,’ and that he wanted to take me to slay demons and save the world.”

Mrs. Wan’s chopsticks paused, and she exchanged a glance with Father Wan.

Wan Ze raised an eyebrow. ”So, did you agree?”

”I asked him...” Xiaoyu took a huge bite of her bun. ”I asked him,” she continued, chewing, ”if practicing this meant I wouldn’t have to do homework.”

”And then?”

Xiaoyu pouted. ”He went silent. Didn’t say anything for a long time... I think he was just a fraud.”

She started muttering to herself, ”These frauds nowadays are so unprofessional. If you’re going to trick someone, you should at least be prepared, right? If he really had the power to ’slay demons,’ what’s the big deal about helping me get out of some homework? Besides, if a ’great evil’ really descended and the world ended before I finished my homework, wouldn’t I be losing out big time...”

Mrs. Wan couldn’t help but laugh, reaching out to poke her forehead. ”Alright, alright, even a full mouth of food can’t stop you from talking.”

Father Wan laughed along. ”Kids these days, taking their dreams so seriously.”

Xiaoyu mumbled, ”I’m not taking it seriously, I’m just telling you about my dream... And that old Daoist looked pretty pathetic, too. Stumped by a single question from me, couldn’t get a word out for ages...”

The family laughed and continued with their breakfast.

Wan Ze lowered his head and took a bite of his bun, his peripheral vision catching his sister, Xiaoyu.

’A great evil descending upon the world...’

Those words, coming from her mouth, sounded like nothing more than a child’s nonsense.

But for some reason, he was reminded of the blood moon from last night, and that unfathomable world...

Wan Ze lowered his head and continued eating his bun.

...

”Brother, are you going to the martial arts hall again this afternoon? You haven’t walked to school with me in days!”

After getting off the school bus, Xiaoyu asked, her head drooping.

Wan Ze looked back at her. ”Is something wrong?”

”Brother, you haven’t talked to me in so long...”

”...”

Wan Ze gently tapped his sister’s head. ”What nonsense are you talking about so early in the morning? Be good in school. Dad will pick you up after he gets off work. I’ll be back late.”

”Okay,” Xiaoyu pouted.

But a child’s moods come and go quickly. Soon enough, she brought up last night’s dream again, saying mysteriously, ”Brother, do you think I might actually be a peerless genius?”

”Watch where you’re going.”

”Well, if I’m a genius, you must be one too, right?”

”You’re right.”

”...”

After finally seeing his sister into the elementary school building, Wan Ze watched her small figure bounce and skip down the hall until she disappeared, then turned and headed for the high school building.

Before he even reached the building, he heard a commotion from the direction of the athletic field.

Wan Ze followed the sound and saw Zhou Xianchuan surrounded by three or four other boys.

He quickened his pace, but as he got closer, he realized something was off.

It wasn’t that he was surrounded—that punk Zhou Xianchuan had cornered the other guys against a wall.

A tall, brawny boy had his arm twisted behind his back and was pinned against the wall, his face pressed into the brickwork. His awkward posture made him look like a turtle flipped on its back.

”Brother Chuan! Bro! I was wrong!” the brawny boy begged repeatedly, his face flushed red. ”You’re the man! You’re the real deal! I give up!”

Zhou Xianchuan grinned, holding the boy with one hand while the other was casually stuffed in his pocket. ”Even with one hand tied behind my back, you’re no match for me. Get lost, and don’t run your mouth next time... Focus on your studies from now on, stop messing around with useless stuff.”

He let go and slapped the back of the guy’s head for good measure.

The brawny boy staggered a few steps before steadying himself. He turned back, ready to curse, ”Zhou Xianchuan, fuck you—”

The words had just left his mouth when he saw Zhou Xianchuan raise an eyebrow. The guy swallowed the rest of his sentence, turned tail, and ran. As he fled, he looked back and finished his ’blessing’: ”...just you wait!”

Zhou Xianchuan flipped him the middle finger, not bothering to chase him.

He turned his head and saw Wan Ze standing nearby. His eyes lit up, and he trotted over excitedly.

”Ah Ze! I did it!”

Wan Ze looked at his face, glowing with excitement, and guessed what he meant. He smiled, ”Congratulations.”

”It really worked!” Zhou Xianchuan lowered his voice, his face full of pride. ”I just followed the method you taught me to stimulate my qi and blood. I thought it would take another half a month, but I tried it last night and... WHOOSH! The qi and blood just surged through! The Effect is insane! Ah Ze, you’re a true master!”

He even made a few gestures as he spoke, as if afraid Wan Ze wouldn’t believe him.

”Want to practice together tonight?” Wan Ze invited.

The smile on Zhou Xianchuan’s face froze instantly.

He shook his head like a drum rattle. ”No, no, no, no, no!”

”?” Wan Ze looked at him.

”I just broke through, so I can’t completely control my strength yet. What if I can’t hold back...” Zhou Xianchuan looked serious, placing his hands on Wan Ze’s shoulders and saying earnestly, ”Ah Ze, you’re my most important brother. I can’t... and I don’t want to hurt you.”

After speaking, he patted Wan Ze’s shoulder and walked away.

Leaving Wan Ze standing there alone, watching his retreating back, his expression gradually stiffening.

’Wait...’

Wan Ze opened his mouth, then closed it again.

’I can’t believe I let that punk get away with that act.’

’I’m such an idiot.’

...

The morning’s monthly exam had just ended. Wan Ze packed his things and went to the office to speak with his homeroom teacher.

Sun Deming looked up at him, didn’t ask any questions, and just nodded. ”Go ahead.”

For an ordinary teacher like Sun Deming, the Dragon Eagle Martial Arts Hall was a very distant entity.

Martial Artists, the rich and powerful, the martial world—those words were too far removed from his life.

But he knew one thing... as long as Wan Ze’s grades didn’t slip, he wouldn’t interfere with any of the student’s activities.

Some students simply couldn’t be measured by conventional standards.

...

At the school gate, a bulletproof vintage car was parked quietly by the roadside.

Tie Feiyang was leaning against the car door. When he saw Wan Ze come out, he hurried forward to open the door for him.

Wan Ze got in the car and immediately asked, ”How’s your father’s health?”

Tie Feiyang paused, hesitating to speak.

After a moment, he shook his head with a bitter smile. ”He already had some old injuries, and this latest incident aggravated them... his condition is worse. I tried to get him to go for a check-up today, but he absolutely refused.”

Wan Ze was silent for a moment, then nodded. ”I’ll talk to him later.”

Tie Feiyang said gratefully, ”Thank you, Brother Wan.”

The car slowly pulled into traffic.

Tie Feiyang sat in the back with him, silent for a good while.

The street scenes flew by the window, but his gaze seemed to be fixed on something far away. ”Brother Wan, you’re a smart man...”

Wan Ze looked up at him.

Tie Feiyang’s expression was more serious than ever. ”Whether it’s Sun Shengji from the Yu Shang Group or President Qin from that night... now that we at Tie Shizhe have secured the western renovation project, we’ve become a public target. Ten years ago, I would have had one hundred percent confidence in my old man. But now...”

He sighed.

”We’ve already secured the plan, and the project is moving forward. At this critical juncture, there can be no mistakes.”

The light ahead turned red.

The vintage car came to a steady stop.

Tie Feiyang turned his head and looked directly at Wan Ze, his words coming from the heart. ”So, Brother Wan, I’d like to ask you... or rather, ask Dragon Eagle, which stands behind you, to intervene.”

He paused, then added, ”This project is highly profitable. I don’t think Dragon Eagle would turn its nose up at the money.”

Wan Ze looked at him without an immediate reply.

After a long moment, he asked a key question: ”Is this your idea, or your father’s?”

Tie Feiyang gave a bitter smile. ”It’s my idea, I suppose. I mentioned it to my old man. His intention was not to get Dragon Eagle involved, but...”

The light turned green, and the car moved forward.

Tie Feiyang continued, ”This is a legitimate project. But given Tie Shizhe’s current situation, there’s no way we can handle it all ourselves. Only with Dragon Eagle’s protection can we secure our piece of the pie.”

As he spoke, a note of emotion crept into his voice. ”Brother Wan, don’t laugh, but I used to think my old man was invincible. Now I know that there’s always someone better, a higher sky.”

”The administrative council here in Holy City is happy to see the Yu Shang Group make a move against us. They just want to test if my old man can still keep things under control.”

He withdrew his gaze, his voice low. ”But this business with Sun Weilong... it caught everyone by surprise.”

Wan Ze leaned back in his seat and was silent for a moment. ”I’ll discuss this matter with your father in detail.”

A smile appeared on Tie Feiyang’s face, one of relief. ”Brother Wan, thank you. Whether it works out or not, I’m grateful.”

Wan Ze looked out the window. ”Don’t mention it.”