Master Zhou explained his reasoning, and Xu Yi suddenly understood.

Master Zhou was an intellectual. With such glaring faults, it was completely reasonable that he had seen through him.

“Don’t worry, brat, my Qi center has been destroyed, and I am simply living out my broken life. This secret of yours, I will take to the grave.”

Master Zhou has been involved in the martial world for a long time, and he knew clearly that killing people who knew secrets was extremely commonplace. He spoke to dispel any worries Xu Yi might have.

Xu Yi replied, “I have come to understand many things thanks to you, Master, and my debt to you is no small one. I only wish to repay you, and nothing else.”

Although he was a loner, he understood the value of repaying his debts. To him, Master Zhou could almost be considered his teacher.

“What debt? We’ve already made this clear. All of this was exchanged for your fine wine. We’re doing a proper business here. Don’t you try to sweet talk me, brat. Don’t even think of asking questions for free in the future without spending money on wine.”

Master Zhou took another mouthful of wine and laughed out loud.

Xu Yi smiled as well. “I have already left money with The Drunkard’s Winery and instructed them to send you a jar of wine once every five days for the next year. You can simply enjoy and drink all you can.”

Master Zhou suddenly stopped his cheery laughter. He stared at Xu Yi, not saying a word for a while. Suddenly, he sighed, then turned and walked into the shed. After a few moments, he walked out again. In his hands was an additional brown square chest.

“Didn’t you ask me earlier, how one could display the strength of three bulls when one should only have the strength of one bull at the Body Forging Stage? This is the ‘Raging Force Mantra.” Study it well.”

With that, Master Zhou handed Xu Yi the chest.

Xu Yi did not stand on ceremony and opened the chest right after he received it. Inside, he saw a scroll of thin, black paper. When he reached to pick it up, it felt as hard as metal. It was clearly an extraordinary material.

Xu Yi could not wait and began to flip through the martial technique. He heard Master Zhou say, “This ‘Raging Force Mantra’ was obtained while I was following my master to a secret location. According to what is described in the martial technique, if trained adequately, one can display the strength of three bulls even at the Body Forging stage. Take note, the intricacies of this technique lie in an unusual way of uncovering one’s potential. It requires a substantial cost in order to deliver a punch that exceeds one’s limits. If you succeed in training this technique, as long as your stamina is full, and your mental state is stable, you would be able to repeatedly deliver blows with the strength of three bulls. This mantra is separated into three levels. With every level, one can deliver an additional three bulls’ equivalent of power. When all three levels have been achieved, you would have the strength to move mountains, and the strength of your qi would be peerless. Your might would be unstoppable…”

Like all other martial arts practitioners, Xu Yi had an almost manic pursuit for attacking power. Hearing that this was a divine technique that could greatly increase one’s attacking power, Xu Yi was overjoyed. Without standing on ceremony, he began to read the manual once he got it. After a few moments, he murmured, “Top grade Red Training Grass, Hundred-Year Golden Snake Eyes, King Bear Gall… Master, what kind of martial technique is this? Why is it that so many medicinal herbs are needed to train in this technique?”

Hanging onto the scroll, Xu Yi was full of curiosity.

When he had practiced the Ox Demon Strong Fist, he had only followed the three forms and circulated his Qi across the right pathways and had trained to the peak of Body Forging just like that. Other than using a bit of low grade Wulong Grass to replenish his strength, he had relied on no other external assistance. He had thought that other martial techniques would only require hard training.

Master Zhou gave a look of surprise, then he laughed. “I really don’t know how you’ve managed to last till today. Your knowledge of the Martial Way is as good as a blank sheet of paper. I will spare you and become your teacher for now. In reality, an amazing technique would have to be coupled with amazingly rare herbs. But because human resources are often lacking, the martial techniques that our ancestors have researched and developed are, in fact, innovations to absorb the power of nature. For instance, the rare herbs listed in the ‘Raging Force Mantra’ belong to the material power of nature. This material power of nature cannot be simply transformed into a martial arts practitioner’s power. In the middle, there must be a bridge, and that bridge is your martial technique.”

Xu Yi was enlightened.

Master Zhou continued, “Truth to be told, I have had this ‘Raging Force Mantra’ for over twenty years. My old master and I both poured in our blood and sweat to gather the materials listed and train according to the martial technique. Every time we reached the stage of reversing the flow in our tendons, we would be overcome with mental fatigue and extreme pain, making it very hard for our mind and soul to bear and causing us to collapse in the process. Brat, with your unique strength of soul, I believe that you will achieve great heights with the ‘Raging Force Mantra’ in your hands.”

“Thank you for your kind gift, Master!”

Xu Yi was extremely grateful.

In his two years of cultivation, although he knew little about the Martial Way, he had heard from Liaochen that in this day and age that valued the martial arts so greatly, martial techniques more than qualified as a treasure. Especially the top martial techniques, which were exceedingly rare.

The Silent God Fist that required time to concentrate power for a blow with the strength of three bulls but left one with severe aftereffects was seen by an expert like Elder Feng as a treasured ultimate skill. What kind of precious martial technique must the Raging Force Mantra be, if it could allow him to continuously fire shots at the strength of three bulls?

Master Zhou waved his hand. “What kind gift? Don’t think that I’m giving you this for free; I have my conditions. Let me use this ‘Raging Force Mantra’ to exchange for wine for the rest of my life. How about that?”

“How can such a precious treasure be measured by mere alcohol?” Xu Yi waved his hands frantically in protest.

Master Zhou stared back at him. “Enough of that nonsense. This martial technique is as useful to me as scrap paper. But fine wine, however, is my life. I’m using scrap paper in exchange for my life. Who wins or loses in this deal is purely based on perspective; you do not need to say anymore.”

“Very well, all the wine that you want for the rest of your life is on me.”

Xu Yi argued no more. Just like how Uncle Mu was to him, he knew well that this debt was not something that could be repaid with mere words.

Master Zhou laughed. “Then our deal here is complete! Alright brat, this old man needs his sleep now. You should make good use of your time and prepare for battle. If you’re free, go take a look at East City.”

Xu Yi said his thanks, then turned and sped towards East City.

As he stepped through the stone doors into East City, Xu Yi understood the reason why Master Zhou had directed him there.

The entire East City was clearly a city built solely for martial arts practitioners.

Entering through the city gates and looking outwards, he saw a wide street that was ten horse carriages wide. The street was bustling with activity, with carriages and people streaming through it constantly.

Along the streets, there were rows of tall buildings with intricate ornaments of dragons and phoenixes. The beauty of the buildings was hard to keep up with.

A monk in robes carrying a staff, a bewitching beauty with pendulum hips, a barefooted priest in white robes, a scholar with a fan and a crown hat — the street was filled with tons of people of all different shapes and sizes, more than enough to overwhelm one’s sense of sight.

But the thing that captured his attention most were the varying eye-catching mounts that these people were riding. Imong the crowd, there were people riding lions and tigers and some atop deer and elephants. The most ridiculous one of all was a wide eyed young man dressed in full robes of shining gold. He was sitting on top of a giant snake that was over a dozen meters long, happily slithering its way through the city crowd.

The mount that Xu Yi was most jealous of, however, was a white eagle that was a few meters tall. A white robed man had walked out of a restaurant with a drunken gait, then took a seat on the saddle on the eagle’s back. Pulling the reins around the giant eagle’s neck, a screech was heard, and the eagle and the man took to the skies, flying into the clouds.

The phrases of a poem ran through Xu Yi’s mind just then: a hundred thousand taels in my pocket as I ride to Yangzhou on a crane.

At that very moment, Xu Yi truly felt that he had come to an extraordinary world.