Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 54: A Sudden Incident

The young man smiled. "Uncle Jin, don’t be so serious. There are so many mountain goods in Beiye City, I can hardly wait. If I can get my hands on a Qinglian from Jiyun Mountain and have the Old Matriarch refine it into a great medicine, I might just break through my bottleneck and achieve Great Mastery of Muscle Training."

Uncle Jin was taken aback, then chuckled. "If you can really do that and become a First-Level Martial Artist before you’re twenty-five, then there’s hope you’ll master the Outer Three Harmonies by forty."

"More than just the Outer Three Harmonies! My goal is to become a renowned master of the Blood Exchange Realm. When that day comes, I’ll have made a name for myself in the Mortal World!"

Seeing the young man’s proud and confident expression, Uncle Jin looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just patted the young man’s shoulder.

"Fengzi, it’s good to have ambition, but the most important thing is to keep your feet on the ground. We have to take things one step at a time and not bite off more than we can chew. As the old saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step..."

When Fengzi heard Uncle Jin starting to ramble on again, he quickly waved his hand. "Uncle Jin, I’m going to check if anyone in the caravan has fallen behind. I’ll be off now."

Watching Fengzi leave as if he were fleeing, Uncle Jin shook his head helplessly.

He turned his head to see a small, delicate face peeking out from behind the curtain of a sedan chair, curiously observing everything.

He said, "Miss Chi, the city gates are already closed. We’ll have to wait until dawn for them to open."

Miss Chi nodded, her voice soft.

"I’ll leave the arrangements to you, Uncle Jin."

Uncle Jin nodded.

"There happens to be a grove of withered trees next to the city gate. The terrain is sheltered from the wind. With a little setup, it will provide a good windbreak. How about we head there?"

Miss Chi gave a slight nod. "Then let’s go."

After a pause, she added, as if still a little worried, "Uncle Jin, this shipment is for our business with the Wu Family Castle. We must guard it well."

Uncle Jin smiled. "Rest assured, Miss. There won’t be a single mishap."

With Miss Chi’s approval, Uncle Jin began directing the caravan to make camp in the nearby grove of withered trees. They set up pots to cook, planning to have a hearty meal before restocking once they entered the city.

Fengzi’s steps were light, and he could cover a great distance in a single stride. His footwork was nimble as he darted back and forth, busily directing everyone to move the cargo into the grove.

...

Having reached the foot of Beiye City’s walls in the dead of night, he found the gates already closed. To enter, he would have to wait until morning.

Xu Yunfan didn’t mind. He casually slipped into a nearby grove of withered trees, found a spot sheltered from the wind to make do for the night, and stripped off the black clothes he was wearing, tearing them into shreds with his bare hands.

Just as he was about to gather some firewood to burn the scraps, he froze. The relaxed muscles all over his body instantly tensed, and the Great Tendons within him were pulled taut like a bowstring drawn to its limit.

His gaze sharpened, and he stared coldly at the thin young man in gray martial attire who stood before him.

In an instant, a cold sweat soaked through the clothes on Fengzi’s back.

Although Xu Yunfan made no move, his very presence was like that of a fierce tiger crouching low, its limbs gathering strength, waiting for the right moment to unleash an earth-shattering burst of power. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The aura emanating from the man made his heart pound wildly, and he dared not make the slightest rash move.

Fengzi was certain that if he made even the slightest movement, the other man would explode forward with terrifying speed and be upon him in an instant.

’It’s no use. There’s no way I can escape!’

He mentally discarded one escape route after another, only to realize with despair that no matter what he did, the man could close the distance in the span of a breath and kill him on the spot.

’Most importantly, it seems I’ve stumbled upon something I wasn’t meant to see.’

’He’s destroying something that must be kept secret.’

’If it’s not meant to be seen, what happens to the person who sees it?’

He forced a smile onto his face.

"Th-this brother," he stammered. "We were also planning to spend the night here and were just about to gather some firewood. I didn’t expect to find another traveler out in this snowstorm. You see, the Northern Territory is just so bitterly cold. Even though the snow is deep, the dead branches aren’t the least bit damp. I’ve always heard from travelers that one careless move in the winter can easily start a forest fire..."

As he spoke, Fengzi slowly began to edge backward, trying to create some distance.

"Move one more step," Xu Yunfan said.

Fengzi’s entire body went rigid. He knew exactly what Xu Yunfan meant. If he dared to move back again, the man absolutely would not tolerate it.

His first strike would be a killing blow.

His gaze couldn’t help but drift to the long, pole-like object wrapped in black cloth on Xu Yunfan’s back.

’A heavy weapon,’ he thought. ’Based on my years of experience traveling the lands, it’s most likely a heavy weapon like a long-handled Heavy Hammer.’

’If it’s forged entirely from Refined Steel, it must weigh over two hundred pounds.’

’Anyone who uses a weapon he’d be afraid of crushing himself with is either out of their mind or an absolute monster.’

’Clearly, the man before me is the latter.’

Xu Yunfan felt a touch of exasperation himself. He truly hadn’t expected that the man, who specialized in a Lightweight Skill, could achieve Silent Landing and get within thirty meters of him without making a sound.

If he had been alone destroying the items, or even if he had started a fire, Xu Yunfan wouldn’t have cared if the other man saw him.

But as luck would have it, the man had seen him tear the black clothes to shreds.

’The Black Market thirty li west of Beiye City is a bustling place. The fact that I turned the tables and killed those vendors who ganged up to trap me with fake manuals tonight will definitely cause a stir.’

’If someone with an agenda starts investigating...’

"A pain."

Hearing Xu Yunfan mutter something, Fengzi didn’t quite catch it and asked instinctively.

"What did you say?"

"I said..."

BOOM!

A huge patch of snow exploded outward, scattering into the air.

Fengzi’s pupils constricted. Before he could even react, the powerful man before him moved like a raging tempest, a sharp whistle of displaced air announcing his arrival as he appeared in front of him with ferocious, overwhelming force.

"A pain!"

As the two words reached his ears, a large hand shot out and instantly covered his face.

’So fast!’

’His explosive power over a straight line, showcasing both his speed and strength, is simply unimaginable.’

Only then did Fengzi finally react.

His expression changed drastically as he brought his hands together, shaping them like a bird’s beak.

"Phoenix Falcon!"

Fengzi roared. The vital energy in his body instantly began to roil like boiling water, heating up so rapidly that moisture from his body evaporated into white steam that seeped from his pores.

He stretched out his arms, the great tendons within them twanging.

HISS! HISSHISSHISS!

The frequency of Fengzi’s punches was astonishing. Toward the end, every fist tore through the air with a sharp whistle, hammering relentlessly against Xu Yunfan’s body.

An attack of such high frequency carried enough terrifying destructive power to reduce a person’s body to pulp.

To his despair, this was the most ferocious attack he had ever unleashed in his life, yet the other man seemed completely unaffected.

’Too weak!’

Xu Yunfan sighed internally. The man’s attack speed wasn’t bad, but each blow landed like a raindrop, unable to cause the slightest ripple.

In the next instant, Xu Yunfan’s muscles bulged, becoming as hard as cast steel.

"AAAHHH!!!"

As his next punch landed on Xu Yunfan’s body, Fengzi felt an excruciating pain shoot through his fingers. He yanked his arm back and looked at his hand, only to see that four of his five fingers were broken, with a shard of bone even sticking out from one of them.