Ultimate True Lord

A little over fifteen minutes passed.

Suddenly, a middle-aged couple rushed into the courtyard; they were Fang Heng's parents.

They looked haggard, and as soon as they entered the courtyard, they looked for Liu Longquan, crying and speaking in a mournful voice.

"Master Liu, please, you must find Heng'er!"

"Heng'er was severely injured after the martial arts competition and is now missing, his fate unknown! He was practicing martial arts at the martial arts school when he suffered this misfortune. We demand that the martial arts school give us justice!"

As the crying subsided, the inner courtyard descended into even greater commotion.

Jiang Ming raised his eyes and glanced at the people in the courtyard.

The ordinary disciples all wore solemn expressions, as if they were sharing a sense of unease. Their expressions revealed a slight sense of anxiety.

The expressions of the fifth senior brother and his group were more complicated. He had funded Fang Heng early on, intending to invest in his development and reap the rewards in the future.

As a result, Fang Heng's fate was uncertain, and he most likely met with misfortune. All the investment was wasted, and the fifth senior brother naturally felt a sense of regret and resentment.

As for the fourth and sixth senior brothers, and Wen Jin, they usually don't get along with Fang Heng. If it were simply that Fang Heng was seriously injured by the mysterious person, they would only secretly feel smug.

However, Fang Heng's disappearance late at night suggests a grim prospect. Amidst their elation, a slight sense of unease was added.

Outside the courtyard gate.

Before long, a travel-worn Master Liu returned with his second and third senior brothers. They looked exhausted and their expressions were somewhat gloomy and depressed.

Fang Heng's parents immediately rushed forward, pleading with Master Liu to find the murderer.

Liu Longquan took a deep breath, looked at the two of them, and spoke in a deep voice.

"Don't worry, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and find the culprit."

But he knew in his heart that Fang Heng's mysterious disappearance was due to the perfect timing of the person who secretly took action, and that they left no useful traces, making it impossible to investigate.

However, the mysterious man who severely injured Fang Heng yesterday at dusk was most likely Shen Zhou, a genius disciple of Hengjiang Fist.

If the reason for Fang Heng's disappearance cannot be found, the blame will most likely fall entirely on Heng Jiang's fists!

"Ugh."

Liu Longquan sighed softly, looking as if he had aged considerably in an instant.

The reason he treated Fang Heng with such favor and valued him so highly was because Fang Heng was the most likely among the many disciples of the Red Sand Martial Arts School to break through to the level of Entangling Force in the future.

For example, Wang Zheng, the second disciple of the martial arts school, and Chen Jian, the third disciple, had previously tried to break through the entanglement force, but all of them failed.

After the first failure, trying a second or third time will only become increasingly difficult, and the hope will be slim.

Fang Heng was different. He had excellent aptitude, progressed incredibly quickly, and broke through bottlenecks at an astonishing pace. After entering the realm of "Gang Jin" (a type of martial arts technique), he advanced rapidly, and in a short time, he was already on his way to the mastery of Gang Jin.

This is also the fundamental reason why Liu Longquan has always focused on cultivating him.

There are more than a dozen martial arts schools of all sizes in Wangyue City. The vast majority of martial arts masters can only train their disciples to the level of soft strength, and very few martial arts schools can train disciples to the level of entangling strength.

If the Red Sand Martial Arts School can produce a master of the Entangling Force technique, the school's status will be directly elevated, placing it among the top martial arts schools in Wangyue City. Various factions will also pay more attention to it.

Moreover, Liu Longquan himself was getting old, his energy was declining, and his physical strength and combat power were decreasing year by year. He had long wanted a strong enough disciple to take over the heavy responsibility and become the future pillar of the martial arts school.

Originally, Liu Longquan intended to groom Fang Heng to become this pillar of support.

But now, Fang Heng's fate is unknown, and the odds are against him.

This hope was thus abruptly extinguished.

Liu Longquan's eyes dimmed slightly, and his spirit and energy dissipated considerably in an instant.

In the somber atmosphere of the inner courtyard, he felt utterly powerless.

"A genius like Fang Heng, who has the potential to break through to the level of Entangling Force, is a rare find."

"Next time, I don't know when..."

……

……

Time passed slowly.

Since the day Fang Heng was seriously injured and went missing, the atmosphere inside the Red Sand Martial Arts School has become much more tense, and its relationship with Hengjiang Fist has become increasingly strained.

Jiang Ming, however, was not affected much. He kept practicing his palm techniques and enjoyed this period of rapid progress.

That night, Jiang Ming obtained half a red peony and several dozen taels of silver from Fang Heng. Fang Heng was indeed enviable; he didn't need to take up any post anywhere to receive a steady stream of financial assistance.

But now, all of these belong to Jiang Ming.

Without much hesitation, he used the half of the red herb called Purple Ridge Flower. Jiang Ming used the Wen family's internal price to exchange for some ordinary white medicine, mixed it with the red herb, and made a simple medicinal soup.

The new home, with white walls and a courtyard, under a large, shady tree.

Jiang Ming, his strong upper body bare, slowly retracted his fist. Sunlight shone on his bronze skin, and beads of sweat slid down the contours of his hard muscles, glistening in the sunlight.

He quickly turned around, walked to the table, picked up the bowl of Ziling flower soup with an extremely strong aroma, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

Jiang Ming's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and he felt a thick, warm current slowly seeping into his stomach, spreading gently throughout his body.

He took a deep breath and put down the medicine bowl.

"Half a pearl of red medicine is enough to make ten bowls of medicinal soup."

"Now, a single bowl of this costs five or six taels of silver, so the effects are naturally far beyond what is common."

In these ten days, Jiang Ming experienced a rapid increase in his cultivation speed. His Red Sand Palm technique, which had previously achieved effortless mastery, had taken another significant step forward. Its power had become more profound, and his qi and blood had become more refined.

"In Fang Heng's package, there are still several dozen taels of silver. I also have a monthly allowance of seven or eight taels of silver. If I save it up, I might be able to buy half a plant of red medicine and speed things up."

Jiang Ming's eyes flickered as he made his plans.

Thanks to the effects of this red herb, his cultivation progress has completely caught up with, and even surpassed, the powerful disciples of the Red Sand Martial Arts School. As for actual combat, needless to say.

Jiang Ming was somewhat moved.

Practicing martial arts and skills is still about competing with money and resources.

It's hard to imagine how fast the young masters and chief disciples of the five great families in the inner city and the three major sects outside the city could cultivate by frequently consuming red medicine.

Perhaps the only thing that can restrain them is the various bottlenecks on their martial arts path. In this respect, although their outstanding physical attributes give them many advantages, it is already the fairest point compared to ordinary people.

Even if someone is a young master of a family or the chief of a sect, it's all in vain if they can't break through that bottleneck, no matter how fast they cultivate.

In this respect, Jiang Ming undoubtedly holds the advantage after several enhancements.

The Red Sand Palm technique has only one-tenth of the bottleneck; if word gets out, it will probably make countless people envious and jealous.

His current situation is that breaking through barriers is easy, but cultivation is slow.

"We still need to continue to increase our cultivation speed!"

Jiang Ming looked down at the primitive furnace on the back of his hand.

The surface of the furnace is covered with dense black and gold taotie patterns, which is thanks to the red medicine.

"Um?"

"Have the taotie patterns on the original stove become denser?"

Jiang Ming suddenly noticed something and raised an eyebrow.