Heaven rewards diligence; he fought his way through chaos to become a saint.

Ye Ci felt an unprecedented sense of power within his body, every inch of his body was filled with explosive force.

Looking at the Panshi Martial Arts School, he was second only to Jiang Ding'an and a few others. In Songjiang County, the leaders of the two gangs were only at the Dark Force level.

Moreover, at the age of eighteen, Ye Ci's achievements are no less than those of geniuses like Xiao Hua.

Therefore, Huangguoshu's expression was very blank.

Is there a martial arts genius standing before me?!

What should I call him? Xiao Ye?

He rubbed his eyes again and carefully observed Ye Ci's exertion.

Ming Jin (manifested strength) and An Jin (hidden strength) are fundamentally different in their methods of exertion and their effects in actual combat.

Ming Jin (manifest strength) is the foundation of An Jin (hidden strength), and An Jin is the sublimation of Ming Jin.

Ming Jin (manifested strength) is outwardly powerful, characterized by wide, sweeping movements and rapid, forceful strikes, primarily driven by muscles and bones, relying on the coordinated burst of power from the entire limbs. An Jin (hidden strength), on the other hand, focuses on injuring the internal organs in actual combat, causing penetrating internal injuries, capable of damaging the core without breaking the skin.

"Brother Ye, what's wrong with you?"

Huang Guoshu got up from the recliner, took a cucumber from the fruit plate, handed it over, and asked cautiously:

"Big brother, want some?"

Ye Ci chuckled, speechless. "You call me 'Big Brother'?"

Huang Guoshu responded, "Then what should I call you? Master Ye? That sounds like grandpa, which would make you look old, given your handsome appearance..."

"Isn't it too obvious that he was arrogant at first and then obsequious?"

Ye Ci was in a good mood after breaking through the Dark Force, and spoke to the cunning young man.

Huangguoshu is a matter of course:

"Brother, have you never been in the underworld before?"

"How so?"

"When you're out in the world, you're bound to get hurt. To avoid getting hurt, you have to know how to behave. My principle is to bully the weak and kneel before the strong, to beat the weak and fawn over the strong. I will always be absolutely humble towards the powerful."

"What if someone is weaker than you?"

"I helped him move the ancestral tombstone."

"..." Ye Ci gave him a thumbs up, and then picked up a cucumber and took a bite: "You're really something for your age."

"You don't look very old either?"

Seeing Ye Ci eat, Huang Guoshu felt their relationship had grown closer and leaned in to say:

"I also have a second older sister, who's even prettier than my eldest. You and my brother-in-law are such good friends, why don't we become even closer through marriage?"

Ye Ci was speechless after what the kid said, and casually remarked:

"How's your temper?"

Huang Guoshu slapped his thigh and whispered, "Brother, you've hit the nail on the head. She has a bad temper… she used to whip my bottom with bamboo sticks all the time, she's my sworn enemy. Please, have pity on me, save me, please marry her!"

"Don't worry, once you marry her, if you two ever argue, I'll absolutely support you out of moral obligation!"

"OK."

Ye Ci nodded: "Go and tell her that you won't accept my betrothal gifts, and that you'll also allow me to take a concubine."

He followed the standards taught by Jiang Ding'an, adding his own stipulation of not requiring a bride price.

Huang Guoshu was initially pleased, but upon hearing that he had to speak on his own, there was no bride price, and he was even allowed to take a concubine...

The kid immediately fell silent.

Ye Ci returned to his room, considering that he could spend some time practicing his boxing techniques tomorrow.

Now that he has mastered the Baoshan Fist, Ye Ci stopped practicing it because his progress was a bit slow.

Ye Ci thought to himself, "Now that I have mastered the hidden strength, I can seize the time to perfect my fist technique, which will also improve my strength."

.......

Time flies, and more than twenty days have passed.

Upon hearing that Ye Ci had broken through to the Dark Force realm, Jiang Ding'an was greatly astonished and repeatedly expressed his amazement.

Hard work really pays off.

Master Yang's bone-reading skills also need improvement.

Jiang Ding'an thought this way, but he was genuinely happy that Ye Ci had reached the Dark Force level, far more so than when Xiao Hua broke through.

Afterwards, the Huang family patriarch held a banquet to celebrate his son-in-law's newfound friendship with a man of hidden strength.

Such a young martial arts master with hidden strength would be favored by wealthy families wherever he went.

Ye Ci spent the day having a few social engagements, but mostly he devoted himself to practicing his fist and sword techniques.

[Techniques: Basic Combat Techniques (Perfect), Basic Archery (Perfect), Baoshan Fist (Minor Mastery) (Perfect), Liuhe Saber (Minor Mastery) (1/600)]

In recent days, Huang's second sister has also made it clear that she appreciates Ye Ci.

This girl was quite pretty and a skilled martial artist. There weren't many women in this world who could practice martial arts, since ordinary families couldn't afford to support them.

Huang's second sister usually has very high standards, but she has a good impression of Ye Ci.

She hinted several times that she wasn't actually a picky woman.

A handsome young man who is diligent and hardworking, and who is not fond of wine and women, is a good match.

Although the Huang family was not a large clan in the area, they still owned a hundred acres of fertile land.

Sensing that the Huang family truly intended to marry off their daughter, Ye Ci persuaded Jiang Ding'an to leave before his brother-in-law, Huang Guoshu, could even offer any advice.

Seeing this, the Huang family could not persuade them to stay any longer and could only see them off.

On this day, amidst the reluctant gazes of the crowd, the three mounted their horses.

"Second sister, I really can't bear to part with you!"

Huang Guoshu, wiping away tears, sat behind Jiang Ding'an and waved to the Huang family patriarch:

"Father! I'll definitely practice martial arts diligently when I go to Songjiang, and I'll become a disciple of Master Yang! I'll definitely study even harder than I did at home, and I'll take Brother Ye as my role model. I'll definitely take the imperial examinations to become a scholar and then a provincial graduate... Waaah..."

"I'm going! Waaah..." he squeezed out tears.

His mother wiped her eyes and said, "The fruit tree has become sensible!"

Upon hearing this, everyone bid farewell with tears in their eyes.

Ye Ci saw Huang Guoshu pinch Jiang Ding'an hard: "Hurry up! What are you dawdling for! Be careful my older sister beats you up!"

The group set off on their horses.

Since his brother-in-law joined the group, their pace has slowed considerably. The boy has never been out of the house before, so everything is new and exciting to him. He's also spoiled and refuses to spend the night in the wild.

On the first day, the group traveled to a rural area and paid for lodging for the night. The elderly couple thanked them profusely.

In fact, without natural disasters or man-made calamities, people could have survived in their hometowns.

Only during famine or war will there be refugees.

Ye Ci could see that the Southern Barbarians' breach of the border had not had much impact on the people.

The next morning, the group quickly set off again.

The journey was uneventful.

They traveled all day, arriving at a village where they would stay overnight.

Every evening after dinner, Huang Guoshu would stroll around the village, catching chickens and cattle; he clearly had a personality that cats and dogs disliked.

Fortunately, everything is calm.

On the night of the sixth day, they arrived at a place in the middle of nowhere, but fortunately there was a dilapidated post station there.

This place is a connecting post station between the eastern and western official roads, and it is completely deserted.

There were usually post stations.

Was anyone there when you arrived?

Jiang Ding'an walked around the courtyard a few times and asked Ye Ci.

Ye Ci looked around and said, "We didn't stop on the way here; we spent the night in the mountains."

"Never mind," Jiang Ding'an said. "Let's just stay here for the night..."

Huang Guoshu had already slipped into the inn's kitchen, then came running out happily, carrying two taro roots: "There's still taro to eat..."

Before he could finish speaking, the smile on his face froze instantly.

"Waaaaah—!!"

A long horn, desolate, fierce, and carrying a wild and untamed aura, suddenly roared from afar.

Not a sound.

It is a continuous, resounding chorus of bugles.

The sound pierced through the howling evening wind, like a piece of red-hot iron, slamming hard into their hearts.

The courtyard was deathly silent.

Ye Ci was very familiar with this kind of bugle call; it was neither from government soldiers nor mountain bandits.

This is the bugle call unique to the Southern Barbarian army.