Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 191: Chapter 147: Realm Breakthrough! Success

When he returned to the martial arts hall, he didn’t expect to run into Master Qin right at the entrance. Master Qin was polite enough to Wan Ze, giving him a nod of acknowledgment before his gaze suddenly swept over to Sun Fan. She immediately flinched.

Seeing this, Wan Ze cupped his fists and took his leave.

But just as Sun Fan was being dragged away, she turned her back to the others and winked at him. Her expression clearly said, ’We’ll talk when I get out.’

Wan Ze pretended not to see. ’You’re on your own, girl.’

When he had greeted Master Qin earlier, he’d briefly mentioned the full story... The group of people this girl had caught today included a murderer... and a Martial Artist, no less. If he hadn’t been so badly wounded by a gunshot... she likely would have been the one taken down, not him.

The police department had even called the martial arts hall specifically to thank them. It would be a miracle if Master Qin let her off easy.

But none of that had anything to do with Wan Ze anymore.

He left the martial arts hall and headed straight for the guesthouse where Miss Ling was staying.

The message he had received earlier at Century Square was from her.

Or more accurately, it was from the other woman.

...

When the door opened, Miss Ling was standing in the doorway. Her face was even paler than the last time he’d seen her, and her eyes were bloodshot, as if she hadn’t been sleeping well.

She stepped aside to let Wan Ze in, then turned to pour a glass of warm water.

"She was waiting for you."

Miss Ling handed him the glass. Her voice was calm, but her eyes held a complicated expression. "But... she can’t stay for long. She did leave a note for you, though."

She pointed at something on the table.

A piece of paper was folded and placed on the corner of the table.

Another sheet was unfolded, bearing only two words written with heavy strokes: "Show him."

"This is the one she wrote. I haven’t read it." Miss Ling passed the folded paper to him.

Wan Ze took it and unfolded it.

The handwriting was the same as on the other note—sharp and forceful, but a bit sloppier, as if written in a hurry:

"Something is wrong with that world. I haven’t figured out the specifics yet, but I can feel that something is off... The time I can stay here is getting shorter and shorter. I can’t keep wasting it like this. From now on, I will fully support her. Help me supervise and get her to follow the training plan as soon as possible. Once I figure out what’s happening in that world, I’ll tell you immediately."

"Also, investigate someone: Tao Zhixi!"

"Be extremely careful when you investigate. If you slip up, people from the Tail Society will come after you. They’re watching very closely."

"If you need help, contact Uncle Jiao. The address is below. There’s a code phrase, don’t mess it up... He’ll believe you."

The writing paused here, then continued with a bizarre sentence: "A ghost knocks at midnight, asking if he’s eaten."

Wan Ze’s gaze lingered on that sentence.

Below it was an address in the old district of the eastern city, a place he’d never been to.

He then folded the note and put it in his pocket.

Miss Ling sat across from him, her gaze resting on his face for a moment. She looked like she wanted to say something but held back.

"Is there something else?" Wan Ze asked, picking up the glass and taking a sip.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Will she... disappear completely one day?"

Wan Ze didn’t answer.

After a few seconds of silence, he put down the glass and stood up. "She’ll give you a training plan. I’ll help you with it."

He walked to the door and glanced back at her. "I’ll keep an eye on her situation. You need to work hard, too."

Miss Ling nodded. "I will!"

She silently added a thought: ’I definitely won’t hold you guys back!’

The door closed.

She was alone in the room.

She sat for a while, then picked up the unfolded paper from the table. Looking at the two words, she sighed softly.

Outside, Wan Ze went downstairs and walked into the night.

The snow had stopped, and there was no one on the street.

He took out the note again and read it over, memorizing the address and the code phrase before stuffing it back into his pocket.

’Tao Zhixi...’

’The Tail Society...’

’And that world where something’s gone wrong...’

Wan Ze looked up at the sky. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, casting a hazy glow.

’Things are getting more and more interesting.’

...

「Half an hour later.」

"Haaaah!"

Wan Ze let out a long breath, and the burning sensation in his chest and abdomen slowly faded.

After two thousand repetitions, his Palm Blade finally reached High Level.

He glanced at the data frame that popped up.

All Attributes +0.03.

Wan Ze flexed his fingers, feeling the new rush of power.

Now, only his Intelligence and Endurance had yet to cross the 2.0 threshold.

’My Intelligence used to increase quickly, and my thoughts were sharp... Now it’s lagging behind, but it doesn’t affect my ability to think.’

’But the key to breaking through in my Cultivation should lie here...’

Wan Ze pondered for a moment, then pulled up the data frame. His gaze swept quickly over the Illustrated Guides for several Martial Skills that were close to a breakthrough.

...

[Illustrated Guide 1: Eagle Claw Skill] (High Level Mastered)

[Skill Special Level Satisfaction Conditions: Grip hard objects with both hands 5,000 times (5,000/5,000), and perform two-finger push-ups 10,000 times (9,892/10,000)]

...

[Illustrated Guide 2: Dragon Eagle Combat Skill] (Basic Mastered)

[Skill Intermediate Satisfaction Conditions: Practice this fist style for 300 hours] (88/300)

...

[Illustrated Guide 3: Horizontal Training Technique] (Special Level Mastered)

[Skill Ultimate Form Satisfaction Conditions: Rub body with sandpaper 10,000 times (7,900/10,000), and withstand 50 hits (50/50)]

...

’Eagle Claw Skill only needs 108 more reps... That’s fast.’

’Dragon Eagle Combat Skill needs another two hundred and twelve hours... If I practice for ten hours every day, it’ll take about twenty days...’

’As for the Horizontal Training Technique... rubbing my body with sandpaper, another two thousand one hundred reps to go. I should be able to finish that this week.’

Wan Ze now had a clear plan.

He decisively ripped off his jacket, extended the index finger on each hand, and placed them on the ground.

’Let’s begin!’

"Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine..."

"Fifty-nine, sixty..."

Outside, the wind grew louder, howling as if it were about to snow again.

Wan Ze paid it no mind, just kept doing one push-up after another.

「One hour later.」

The barrier vanished.

He looked at the data frame.

...

[Illustrated Guide: Eagle Claw Skill] (Special Level Mastered)

[New Effect: Armor-Piercing (Intelligence +0.01; Physical Strength +0.04; Power +0.04; Endurance +0.04)]

[Skill Ultimate Satisfaction Conditions: Perform Armor-Piercing 30,000 times]

...

Wan Ze froze for a second.

’Armor-Piercing?’

He looked at the fine print, then at the requirement... thirty thousand times. His scalp tingled.

First it was gripping hard objects five thousand times, then ten thousand two-finger push-ups, and now thirty thousand Armor-Piercing attacks.

He shook his head.

’Forget it. I can’t finish the Ultimate task anytime soon, so there’s no point worrying about it... Raising my attribute values is the most important thing right now!’

He shifted his focus to the Horizontal Training Technique.

He still had enough time today.

He turned, took a sheet of coarse sandpaper from a drawer, and stripped off his tank top and pants, leaving only his shorts.

He took a deep breath, activated his Cultivation Technique, and as his qi and blood began to circulate, he picked up the sandpaper and started rubbing his body.

Starting with his arms, he rubbed methodically, applying even pressure.

The sandpaper scraped against his skin with a rustling sound.

Wan Ze’s skin quickly turned red, followed by a stinging pain, then a searing, burning sensation.

But he didn’t stop.

One hour.

Two hours.

Outside, it had indeed started to snow.

Heavy flakes fell thick and fast... The blizzard continued intermittently like this for seven days.

「Seven days later.」

A thick layer of snow had already accumulated on the windowsill.

This morning, the wind howled, sounding like something roaring in the distance.

In the room, Wan Ze’s entire body was bright red.

Qi and blood surged wildly beneath his skin, like a fire burning inside him.

With every pass of the sandpaper, the fire burned a little hotter.

He kept his eyes closed. Sweat evaporated from his forehead the moment it appeared, turning into wisps of white steam that swirled around him.

From a distance, Wan Ze looked as if he were shrouded in a thin mist, his dark red skin glowing through it like heated iron.

After an unknown amount of time, he felt a tremor as a shackle within his body shattered. Wan Ze opened his eyes.

He exhaled.

A jet of white vapor shot out like an arrow, dispersing only after traveling three feet.

He looked down at himself.

His skin was red all over, but not broken.

After all that time rubbing with sandpaper, it was only red—not even a trace of blood could be seen.

’But something’s different!’

Wan Ze could feel power surging beneath his skin, layer upon layer, like countless fine nets wrapping his body tightly.

After practicing the Horizontal Training Technique for so long, his skin and muscles were now far stronger than those of other Martial Artists at the same Realm.

He remembered what Fatty Zhou had said about "killing an ox with a single punch." With his current Horizontal Training, forget an ox... even a tiger attacking him would probably be killed on the spot by the impact.

He just wondered who was stronger—him or someone using a Secret Palace’s Divinity Transformation.

Wan Ze shook his head and smiled.

Pushing the thought aside, he pulled up the data frame.

...

[Illustrated Guide: Horizontal Training Technique] (Ultimate Mastered)

[Effect: Vajra Indestructible (Immune to negative effects of Cultivation Techniques: All Attributes +0.1)]

...

’All Attributes +0.1? That’s ten times the boost!’

’No wonder!!!’

Wan Ze suddenly understood.

Still, he sucked in a sharp breath. He didn’t even bother to read the detailed description of "Vajra Indestructible," switching directly to his personal Attributes.

...

[Physical Strength: 2.28]

[Intelligence: 2.0]

[Agility: 2.11]

[Endurance: 2.13]

[Power: 2.28]

[Coordination: 2.1]

...

’They broke 2.0!!!!’

Wan Ze stared at the numbers for a full three seconds.

Then, he carefully focused on the feeling.

It wasn’t a vague "I think I got stronger" feeling, but a clear and specific sensation.

Every muscle felt as if it had been re-forged, filled with explosive power.

He clenched his fist, and his knuckles cracked. The force exploded from his palm, surged up his arm to his shoulder, and then spread through his entire body, wild and untamed.

His breathing was also deeper and longer than before.

"Inhale—Exhale!"

He took a deep breath that seemed to sink all the way to the soles of his feet, then slowly exhaled, feeling his entire body lighten.

He then slashed his wrist with a dagger, but it didn’t even leave a single scratch.

His body’s resilience had been greatly enhanced.

The most noticeable change was his Intelligence.

After breaking 2.0, his mind became crystal clear.

It was as if a fog before his eyes had been wiped away. Thoughts that were previously hazy were now perfectly clear, understood in an instant.

Wan Ze closed his eyes to savor the sensation for a moment, then opened them.

The power that came from breaking 2.0 in All Attributes was incredibly detailed.

A thought occurred to him, and his gaze quickly shifted.

Just as he expected, his Cultivation had also broken through.

...

[Cultivation: Refining Viscera Middle Stage·Breathing]

...

The changes to his Five Viscera and Six Bowels were the most precise.

Wan Ze focused his mind inward.

He could clearly feel his heart beating, his lungs expanding and contracting, his liver filtering, his spleen transporting, and his kidneys generating essence... Every organ was breathing, forming its own self-contained cycle, brimming with vigorous life.

This was Breathing!

’After so many days of arduous training, I’ve finally broken through!’

’It’s true, heaven doesn’t forsake a determined heart!’

Wan Ze stood up and walked to the window.

The snow was still falling. The world outside was a vast expanse of white, with the sunlight reflecting off the snow in a soft, white glow.

He stood there, looking out the window, his eyes bright. Suddenly, he smiled.

’So this is what the power of the Refining Viscera Middle Stage... feels like!’

He left his room and happened to run into Tan Xiao. The two of them took Zhou Xianchuan to a small diner near the martial arts hall.

"Has Ah Jia contacted you?" Tan Xiao asked.

"We spoke a few days ago. He said he wasn’t finished with his business yet." Wan Ze looked at him. "What happened?"

Tan Xiao glanced around mysteriously. "This is just my guess, but a criminal group popped up in Jiangnan recently, connected to a military corruption case. I think that’s what Brother Yu is busy with... The group’s leader, nicknamed Sang Hu, is still missing."

"He escaped?" Wan Ze was surprised.

Tan Xiao nodded. "I was surprised, too. Brother Yu was leading the operation, but the guy still managed to get away."

Wan Ze fell silent.

Even though Brother Yu had only just entered the Refining Force Realm, he was the real deal.

At that thought, the elation he felt from his breakthrough vanished. He urged Tan Xiao and Zhou Xianchuan to hurry up and eat so they could get back to their training.

Tan Xiao and Zhou Xianchuan glanced at each other, then could only shake their heads and chuckle.

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