Ultimate True Lord

That night.

The clear moonlight shone down, illuminating the entire courtyard.

Jiang Ming stood in the courtyard, quietly looking ahead. His five senses were exceptionally sharp, as if the whole world had become clearer and brighter.

In addition, Jiang Ming's Qi and blood are more abundant and long-lasting, and his entire body is undergoing a transformation. Besides the huge changes when he first broke through to the soft strength, there will be a period of slow nourishment afterwards.

"I broke through with strength in early May."

"It's mid-December now, and it's taken a total of seven and a half months."

His eyes flickered as he muttered to himself.

"Even a genius like Fang Heng, Master Liu only set a goal for him to break through to the Soft Strength level within eight months. In that sense, my aptitude for the Red Sand Palm is no worse than Fang Heng's."

Jiang Ming's cultivation speed is probably slightly slower than Fang Heng's. However, the time he needs to break through the bottleneck of soft energy is definitely less than Fang Heng's.

The two cancel each other out, so they're evenly matched.

"Perhaps it's time to reveal our true strength."

After weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Ming decided that he should inform the martial arts school soon that he had broken through to the level of Soft Strength. The reason was simple: he lacked money and medicine and needed more resources to nurture his martial arts.

Hiding things away will only hinder your spiritual practice.

Sometimes, martial arts training is like a snowball effect. Revealing your potential allows you to obtain more resources, leading to faster training. This, in turn, increases your potential, attracting even more resources, creating a vicious cycle.

In the courtyard.

Jiang Ming already had a plan in mind.

He snapped out of his daze and looked down at the two wooden boxes on the table. These were the spoils of war that Jiang Ming had obtained after destroying the Gray-Clad Gang.

One of the boxes contained a full hundred taels of silver, weighing six or seven pounds, quite heavy.

The other box contained several martial arts manuals.

Most of the techniques inside were powerful martial arts, with the only exception being a fist technique that could be cultivated to the highest level of soft power. It seemed to have been prepared for him by Xiong Ping, the leader of the Gray-Clad Gang.

Looking at his abundant harvest, Jiang Ming once again marveled at the value of the "golden belt" bestowed upon those who committed murder and arson. This was especially true in chaotic times, where order was disordered and there was no official force to patrol.

Taking the initiative to kill someone can greatly reduce the risks that follow.

He glanced at the two wooden boxes, a satisfied look on his face. But this wasn't Jiang Ming's biggest gain this time.

He slowly reached into his robes and took out a small, palm-sized manual with slightly yellowed pages, bound neatly with fine thread.

The book was opened, and the first page prominently displayed three words: "General Principles of Martial Arts".

"Wandering Under the Crescent Moon"

"The waning moon casts its shadow, yet nothing is visible beneath its feet."

"Concealing its breath and swallowing the light, it vanishes into silence and stillness."

Jiang Ming flipped through the pages one by one, and the process of breaking through from Gang Jin to Chan Jin was clearly recorded on them.

"Entangling Force martial arts is a relatively rare form of lightness skill."

"This time, we've made a killing."

He obtained this martial art by killing the young man in blue. It was probably treasured by the young man and carried with him at all times, but now it has fallen into Jiang Ming's hands.

"The only pity is that this Crescent Moon Step is a kind of unorthodox and evil skill. It progresses very quickly, but it is very easy to suffer from qi deviation."

To this end, the young man in blue made annotations in many of the earlier paragraphs as reminders. He didn't make annotations later on, probably because he hadn't studied them thoroughly yet.

He flipped through the Crescent Moon Steps once, then closed it again.

Regardless, this is a technique of coiling energy, far more valuable than hard or soft energy. You can then decide based on your own needs.

After summarizing the results of this operation, Jiang Ming returned to his bedroom to sleep, and the night passed uneventfully.

……

……

the next day.

On a mid-December morning, a thin mist hung in the air. A breeze rustled through the treetops, carrying a slight chill.

Jiang Ming pushed open the courtyard gate and slowly walked into the Red Sand Martial Arts Hall.

The outer courtyard was deserted, with only a few scattered disciples, far fewer than during his days of arduous cultivation there. Clearly, the environment in Wangyue City was deteriorating.

Jiang Ming walked over quickly.

One after another, he heard the greetings of his senior brother. He nodded slightly in response and continued walking without stopping into the inner courtyard.

As soon as I entered, I heard the voices of two formal disciples discussing something.

"Have you heard? Yesterday, the headquarters of the Gray-Clad Gang south of Fenghepu was massacred. The gang leader and deputy leader, along with three or four key members, were all beaten to death in a gruesome manner."

"It was said by a tall, thin man."

"Really? Xiong Ping, the leader of the Gray-Clad Gang, seemed to have reached the pinnacle of the 'Powerful Strength' technique. I heard his Mountain Bear Fist was incredibly powerful. Their deputy leader was also a seasoned 'Powerful Strength' martial artist, right? And they're all dead like that?"

Another young man with strong arms was somewhat shocked.

"Who knows? Maybe it was some expert from some unknown faction who made the move."

"The Gray-Clad Gang is too ruthless in their exploitation, and it seems to be related to the frequent disappearances in the past six months. They probably offended someone they shouldn't have, and were wiped out by a ruthless person. The person who did it must have at least the strength of a soft-style martial artist."

The tall, thin man continued his sermon.

Jiang Ming didn't stop, walking past the two expressionlessly, his demeanor completely calm. It was as if he himself hadn't been the one who massacred the Gray-Clad Gang yesterday.

He walked a little further and immediately saw Wen Jin, whom he knew well, chatting with his fourth senior brother Liu Mao.

Wen Jin's brows furrowed with barely suppressed joy, and his tone was light and cheerful.

"My dad finally relented about two weeks ago. He gave me a few pharmacies and assigned me some staff. From now on, I can manage and build my own shops and herb-gathering team."

Liu Mao immediately laughed and said, "This is great news!"

Wen Jin nodded and said a few more words happily. But then his brows furrowed, and there was a hint of helplessness in his tone.

"It's a good thing, but there are also many problems."

"My Wen family's herb-gathering teams are divided into two types. One type only goes to the middle section of the Yancang Mountains, which is relatively safe, less difficult, and easier to recruit. With my current capabilities, I can still assemble one."

"But the second one is different. It requires going deep into the mountains and forests, to places rarely visited by people. There, miasma pervades, and poisonous insects and ferocious beasts are everywhere, making it quite dangerous."

"Sometimes you might encounter bandits from the Yancang Mountains, or even herb-gathering teams from other medicine shops. In such remote places, they might just try to kill you."

"Therefore, we need a martial artist with mastered strength to hold the line. Ideally, it should be someone with soft strength to stabilize the situation."

He gave a wry smile.

"I have only recently established my own school and my foundation is still weak. How could I possibly invite a master of soft strength? Even within the entire Wen family, there are very few soft strength martial artists who can lead the teams deep in the mountains. It's simply not up to me to coordinate them."

Liu Mao comforted him, saying, "Actually, there's no need to force it. Forming the first type of herb-gathering team can also be profitable, and it's more reliable and stable."

Wen Jin shook his head, a hint of resentment in his eyes.

"That's true, but you don't know what's been going on lately, Senior Brother."

"In the past few months, the quantity of red medicine in the Yancang Mountains area has continued to increase, with shipments up by 70% to 80% compared to the same period last year. This is definitely an excellent opportunity."

"If I can seize this opportunity, I can open several more pharmacies and form more herb-gathering teams. I can even use the red herbs I gather as incentives to attract more martial artists who have mastered the Great Strength or even the Soft Strength..."

"If this cycle is repeated, it will definitely save me years of hard work."