Chapter 106 - Tidal Fist Advancement

Chapter 106: Tidal Fist Advancement

He already had 225 units of energy. With another 75 units, he could directly break through to the mortal realm ninth stage.

If he advanced Tidal Fist now, he would have to slow down his own progress.

Just as Xu Ning was thinking about it, he heard Han Yue calling for him.

“Deputy Hall Master Xu, it’s time to eat.”

“Coming.”

Xu Ning put aside the problem of whether he should advance Tidal Fist. He would decide whether to do so after eating.

“Is Hall Master Han eating?”

When he arrived at the dining room, Xu Ning asked Han Yue.

Xu Ning, Han Yue, and Du Che sat at the dining table.

“I’ll just bring some food over to my dad.”

Han Yue used a clean pair of chopsticks to grab a bowl of food and porridge, which she then delivered to Han Huxiao’s room.

Only Xu Ning and Du Che were left at the table.

“Deputy Hall Master Xu, go ahead and eat. Otherwise, the food will get cold.”

Du Che said politely.

Xu Ning picked up the bowl and chopsticks.

He glanced at Du Che. He always felt that Du Che was a bit cautious.

“Deputy Hall Master Xu…”

Du Che raised his head and glanced outside the room. After seeing that Han Yue hadn’t returned yet, he finally asked.

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Favor?”

Xu Ning put down the chopsticks in his hand and stared at Du Che for a few seconds.

In fact, the two were not particularly close with each other.

After being stared at by Xu Ning, Du Che felt his muscles tighten unconsciously, his expression a little unnatural.

“Go ahead.”

Xu Ning chuckled, behaving as usual. He didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with Du Che.

Seeing that Xu Ning was not doubting him, Du Che breathed a sigh of relief.

“Deputy Hall Master Xu, I want to conduct an escort mission.”

Du Che spoke, “You know that our Shadowmoon Martial Arts Hall has been in serious trouble in these past few days, but fortunately, you have come forward and stabilized the situation.”

“But even so, Master is injured, and the reputation of our Shadowmoon Martial Arts Hall is still damaged. The several escort missions we previously agreed to, were all given to others, and the impact of that was quite significant.”

Xu Ning listened seriously. “Continue.”

“In order to reduce the negative impact, I made a special trip yesterday in order to save the business.” Du Che said while observing Xu Ning’s expression, “Tomorrow, a caravan is planning to go to Qingyi Prefecture. They previously arranged with us to provide an eight-person escort team to help them through the journey.”

“But because of Master’s injury, the other party changed their mind. I went there to recover the deal, but the other party said that they are planning to be escorted by someone else. But I was stubborn, and the other party finally decided to look past the situation before they agreed to let me escort them again.”

It seemed that he was afraid that Xu Ning would not believe his words, so Du Che spoke rather cautiously.

“Although this deal won’t greatly improve the operation of our martial arts hall, it will display the confidence of our martial arts hall to the public. Let the public see that our martial arts hall still has enough strength to protect our customers.”

After hearing this, Xu Ning nodded, seemingly agreeing with Du Che’s statement.

“If that is the case, why do you need my help?”

Xu Ning asked Du Che.

Du Che paused, “I hope Deputy Hall Master Xu can escort us out of the city. We won’t go too far, just ten miles away.”

Du Che felt sweat forming in his palms.

“But why do you need me to escort you?”

Xu Ning asked again with a puzzled look.

“Here’s the thing, Deputy Hall Master Xu…” Du Che felt his heart beat out of his chest, “although I am the only escort, this deal is considered part of the Shadowmoon Martial Arts Hall’s operations. Thus, I am afraid that our opponents will deliberately go after us. After all, they will definitely hear news about this.”

“But we will probably be safe after we reach 10 miles out of the city.”

Du Che felt his throat dry up, and he quickly drank some porridge.

For some reason, the pressure Xu Ning gave him was much greater than when he faced Han Huxiao.

Xu Ning nodded thoughtfully after hearing his words, then he went silent.

The silence made Du Che internally panic. ‘Could it be that I’m being too obvious that I want him out of the city, causing him to be suspicious?’

The more Du Che thought about what he had just said, the more nervous he felt.

He even felt that there was a big loophole in his words.

‘I was pushing him too much.’

However, just when Du Che felt that Xu Ning was suspecting him, he heard Xu Ning saying, “Okay, I will escort you out of the city.”

After hearing this, Du Che was overjoyed. “Thank you, Deputy Hall Master Xu!”

“However, Deputy Hall Master Xu, will you please keep this matter a secret from Master and Junior Sister.”

Du Che looked distressed, “If Master and Junior Sister knew about this, they would definitely worry about my safety and not let me escort the carriage. If that happened, I would just be wasting my efforts. After you come back from escorting me tomorrow, please explain the situation to Master and Junior Sister.”

“No problem.”

Xu Ning agreed. “You worked hard for this, I understand.”

“Good… good…”

Du Che felt his heart relax. “In this case, let’s meet at the city gates tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Xu Ning agreed.

After finalizing the matter, the two continued to dine in silence.

Han Yue seemed to be still nursing Han Huxiao, as she still hadn’t come back yet.

After Xu Ning finished eating, he stood up.

“Oh yeah…”

After Xu Ning got up, he suddenly turned around and asked abruptly, “The owner of the Fenghe Martial Arts Hall is Xie Ninghe?”

Du Che felt his heart skip a beat.

He looked at Xu Ning and forced a smile. “Yeah.”

“Oh…”

Xu Ning nodded slowly. “This person is likely to be the man behind the recent attacks on our martial arts hall. We must beware of this person.”

“Yep… yep…”

Du Che smiled. “We must beware.”

“Don’t forget, tomorrow morning.”

Du Che reminded Xu Ning.

“Yes.”

Du Che responded.

After what he needed to say, Xu Ning left.

Du Che’s stiff face instantly collapsed.

‘Xu Ning is suspecting me.’

Du Che was already aware of this problem. ‘No, he is already certain that I’m a traitor.’

The inattentive look in Xu Ning’s eyes before he left the room made Du Che break out in cold sweat.

‘But why is he still willing to go out of town with me?’

Instantly, Du Che felt really confused.

‘Am I baiting Xu Ning, or is Xu Ning baiting me?’

‘If Xu Ning already knows that I am baiting him, then how is he going to counter it?’

Du Che felt confused.

‘We’ll take it one step at a time.’

Du Che knew very well that he had no other choice.

If Xu Ning turned around and killed him right now, there was nothing he could do about it.

“Senior Brother, what’s wrong with you?”

Han Yue returned with the empty bowl that Han Huxiao had eaten from. “You don’t look so good?”

“I’m fine.”

Du Che didn’t bother to talk with Han Yue any longer, so he stood up and said, “I’m done.”

He then left in a hurry.

“Strange.”

Han Yue murmured. She didn’t think much of it as she ate at the table alone.

…

‘There really is something wrong with Du Che.’

Xu Ning returned to his room with a smile on his face.

Du Che’s excuse for making Xu Ning leave the city made Xu Ning feel odd at first.

He spoke anxiously and forcefully.

But at that time, Xu Ning was not sure whether Du Che was targeting him.

But after Xu Ning got up and asked about Xie Ninghe, Du Che’s intentions were instantly revealed.

Xu Ning clearly sensed Du Che’s malice towards him.

Now that he reached the intention realm, Xu Ning’s perception of danger and malice directed towards him had become more sensitive.

‘I don’t know what method Du Che used to hide his aura, but it seems that he was able to fool Hall Master Han.”

In this regard, Xu Ning felt a little bad for Han Huxiao.

Everyone in the Shadowmoon Martial Arts Hall respected Han Huxiao, and even in the face of a crisis, no one resigned.

But Du Che, the disciple he most valued, had a huge problem.

‘This Du Che is probably related to Xie Ninghe.’

The moment Du Che heard Xie Ninghe’s name, his qi was instantly disturbed, which explained the problem.

‘Chances are that Du Che is Xie Ninghe’s mole at the Shadowmoon Martial Arts Hall.’

Xu Ning speculated in his mind, ‘And the conversation at the dinner table was clearly baiting me to leave the city. I guess they are planning to ambush me and kill me like they did to Hall Master Han. After all, I am the pillar of the Shadowmoon Martial Arts Hall right now.’

‘Xie Ninghe…’

Xu Ning thought about the name.

Han Yue and Han Huxiao talked about the Fenghe Martial Arts Hall being the mastermind behind the scenes.

Afterwards, Han Yue informed Xu Ning of Han Huxiao’s inference.

Xu Ning also knew that, besides Xie Ninghe of Fenghe Martial Arts Hall, there was another force against the Shadowmoon Martial Arts Hall.

‘Tomorrow after I leave the city, the one fighting me should be the strongest warriors of the two forces.’

Xu Ning had basically figured out their whole plan.

‘But if you guys want to kill me, why don’t I just kill you first?’

Xu Ning’s eyes shone with a glimmer of light.

This was why he was still willing to go outside the city after seeing through Du Che’s scheme.

Xu Ning’s current strength was almost invincible in the same realm. Even if there were two or three intention realm warriors, Xu Ning could easily defeat them.

Even if the opponent sent a martial artist in the mortal realm ninth stage: spirit realm, Xu Ning could still escape using his own skills.

‘However, in order to prevent the worst from happening, I have to advance Tidal Fist first.’

Xu Ning had already made a decision in his mind. He was afraid that the opponent’s spirit realm warrior would also have mastered a void realm secret technique.

Although this possibility was very low, since he was going to risk everything alone, he should be more cautious.

‘After I advance Tidal Fist, there are not many people in the mortal realm who can kill me, right?”

After understanding the power of a void realm secret technique, Xu Ning knew well that even if he only raised Tide Fist by one level, it would still be enough to compete against a spirit realm martial artist and even gain the upper hand.

It was difficult for a mortal realm warrior to fight a mortal realm warrior of a higher realm, but it was possible with the help of a void realm secret technique.

Xu Ning no longer wasted any time. He made a decision to improve Tidal Fist first.

‘Martial Arts Panel.’

As Xu Ning began to think, the Martial Arts Panel appeared in front of him.

—

Name: Xu Ning

Martial Arts:

Spring Breeze Tactic (Mortal realm eighth stage: intention realm) +

Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic (Perfection Realm)

Gale Knife Technique (Perfection Realm)

Light Feather Bow Technique (Elementary Realm) +

Tidal Fist (Unlearned) +

Available energy: 225 units

—

Xu Ning took a deep breath and pressed the “+” besides Tidal Fist. He was full of expectations.

—

Consume 100 units of energy to advance Tidal Fist?

Yes/No

—

“Yes!”

After confirming, Xu Ning felt that new knowledge about Tidal Fist entered his mind.

This included the understanding and application of Tidal Fist, as well as various actual combat experiences.

In addition, there was another change that shocked Xu Ning.

Xu Ning discovered that the meridians in his body had begun to strengthen, becoming more resilient and stronger.

‘Isn’t Tidal Fist essentially the same as the Gale Knife Technique? Why does it improve my physical body?’

Other than the Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic, Xu Ning had never seen a technique that could increase his physical body strength.

‘No wonder this is a void realm secret technique!’

Xu Ning had slowly sorted out the new knowledge in his mind.

It turned out that these changes in his body were all physical optimizations that allowed him to better use Tidal Fist.

‘This void realm secret technique is too powerful!’

Only now did Xu Ning realize how good of a deal Han Huxiao gave him.

—

Name: Xu Ning

Martial Arts:

Spring Breeze Tactic (Mortal realm eighth stage: intention realm) +

Tidal Fist (First Level)+

Source Breath Body Building Tactic (Perfection Realm)

Gale Knife Technique (Perfection Realm)

Light Feather Bow Technique (Elementary Realm) +

Available energy: 125 units

—

Xu Ning looked at his Martial Arts Panel.

Besides Tidal Fist, the “unlearned” section turned into “first level”.

This was different from other external skills.

Mortal realm external skills were divided into beginner, elementary, intermediate, and perfection realms, while void realm secret techniques were divided into levels.

Xu Ning knew about this long ago.

This was related to the system of void realm secret scrolls.

Void realm secret scrolls and void realm secret techniques had a complementary relationship.

‘Let’s see how powerful this Tidal Fist is!’

Xu Ning began to use Tidal Fist to circulate his internal energy and accumulate his strength.

“Ha!”

Xu Ning punched, giving off a muffled explosive sound.

This punch seemed unremarkable, but in fact, it was the accumulation of Xu Ning’s full strength, his strongest and most powerful attack.

Prior to this, Xu Ning needed to prepare for such a perfect punch, but now, Xu Ning could punch like this at will.

But although he made such a perfect punch easily, Xu Ning was not excited.

This was because Xu Ning knew very well that this punch was just the beginning of Tidal Fist!

With the help of the momentum just now, Xu Ning once again followed the technique of Tidal Fist and punched again.

Bang!

This time, the muffled noise was even louder.

Xu Ning even felt that with this punch, the strength of the aftershock blasted his fist with pain.

‘The power of this punch has doubled!’

Xu Ning felt some strain on his body.

But he still didn’t stop, instead he continued to throw out a third punch.