Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

That night, Gu Yanzhao secretly sneaked back to the Gu family's old house under the cover of darkness. As soon as he entered the backyard, he was cornered in the study by Gu Feng.

"Kneel down!" Gu Feng sat behind his desk, his face ashen.

"Who gave you permission to lead a team to rob the mine? Who gave you permission to get involved with the rebels? Today, He Ze even showed up at our door! The Gu family's legacy, built over generations, was almost ruined by you!"

Gu Yanzhao knelt down with a thud, his back ramrod straight, looking directly at his father with a burning light in his eyes: "Father, I did nothing wrong!"

"Still dare to talk back!" Gu Feng slammed his hand on the table.

"There was nothing wrong with it!" Gu Yanzhao's voice suddenly rose, his chest heaving violently, his emotions running high:

"Why did we, the Gu family, manufacture guns and cannons, mine and smelt iron? Wasn't it so that our people would have weapons they could use, so we wouldn't have to be at the mercy of foreigners? But what do we see now? The authorities are spineless. Foreigners are arresting people on our soil for experiments and running rampant, and they don't dare utter a single word!"

"Senior Li is a hero, Master Huo is a hero! They risked their lives to make this country better! Our Gu family has weapons; are we just going to cower in the background, making money while watching them die?"

He knelt forward two steps, his words ringing with conviction:

"Father, I've joined the organization. I want to work with them to overthrow this rotten regime and build a country where ordinary people can eat their fill, stand tall, and not have to kowtow to foreigners! Our Gu family's ironware shouldn't just be used to exchange for silver; it should be used to protect us Chinese people!"

The passion and sincerity of the young people seemed to brighten up the dimly lit study.

Gu Feng stood there, stunned, and slowly lowered his raised hand. He wanted to yell "Nonsense!" but the words wouldn't come out.

"Go back to the yard and reflect on your actions! You are not allowed to leave the house without my permission!" In the end, he put on a stern face and waved his hand.

Gu Yanzhao gritted his teeth, got up, and left.

The study had just quieted down when the second concubine came in carrying her three-year-old son, speaking softly:

"Master, calm down. Yan Zhao is just young and ignorant, getting involved in things that could lead to execution. If something really happens, our whole family will lose our heads. In my opinion, it would be better to lock him up to prevent him from causing any more trouble."

Gu Feng frowned and waved his hand impatiently:

"What do you know, you woman? Get out of here."

The second concubine, feeling slighted, pouted and left with the child.

Gu Feng sat in the chair, staring blankly at the candlelight.

He may have been verbally abusive, but he was actually moved by his son's words.

The Gu family had been in the arms business for decades and had seen too much of the foreigners running rampant and the authorities being weak. They had long since seen through the situation.

Two years ago, Western warships fired cannons along the river, and the Gu family's business in the east of the city was looted and vandalized by ronin. Three employees died in the street, and the authorities did not even dare to seek justice.

He gripped the arms ledger on the corner of the table with his fingertips, the edges of which were crumpled from being squeezed. It recorded the 30,000 yuan in military pay owed by the authorities and the iron purchase price that foreigners had been suppressing year after year. Every entry felt like a slap in the face.

If we continue like this, sooner or later the foreigners will invade, and the old ways of burning, killing, and looting will repeat themselves. The Gu family's legacy of generations, the entire clan, and the Gu family's legacy of generations will all be reduced to ashes.

If we want our country to be strong, and if we want our families to live long lives, perhaps we really have to follow the path our son suggested.

He got up and walked out of the study, the night breeze making him feel refreshed.

Turning the corner of the corridor, I came across Lin Yueru standing there in plain clothes.

"Sister-in-law." Gu Feng composed himself, cupped his hands in greeting, and said in a slightly unnatural tone, "I'm sorry you had to see this."

Lin Yueru nodded slightly, her voice calm: "Yan Zhao is a spirited young man, a family man, and that's how he should be."

Upon hearing this, Gu Feng gazed at the waning moon in the sky and sighed heavily.

The morning at Xishan Courtyard was just beginning to lighten.

As Lin Ji stood in the open space of the courtyard, after completing a set of Bajiquan, the moment he came to a stop, the Tianyanzhu in his sea of ​​consciousness suddenly trembled.

The energy between heaven and earth seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand, frantically drilling into the body through the pores.

The internal energy in the meridians surged like a river, and the barriers of the later stage of dark energy were easily broken through like thin paper. The energy was repeatedly compressed in the dantian and finally condensed into something as substantial as a substance.

boom!

His aura rippled slightly, and the powerful energy of Bajiquan exploded from the soles of his feet, causing the dust on the ground to rise gently.

The path of ants carrying grain at the base of the outer wall, dozens of steps away, was clearly imprinted in my mind. Every pore on my body opened and closed, allowing me to catch the pure air drifting between heaven and earth with the wind. It wasn't a deliberate effort to guide it; it was a natural process of merging into the morning light of this mountain valley.

A few pebbles rolled around at my feet, and the half-withered grass stalks in the corner of the yard bent down by half an inch.

Peak of Internal Strength!

Lin Ji opened his eyes, his heart filled with shock.

Even more remarkably, he could clearly perceive the flow of energy in the world around him, the trembling of the wind brushing against the grass, the crawling of insects underground, and the morning dew dripping from the distant mountains and forests—all of which were clearly reflected in his sea of ​​consciousness.

This feeling of being in harmony with heaven and earth...

He suddenly remembered the Miscellaneous Treatise on Transformation of Qi left by Tie Muling. The book said that the beginning of the Transformation Realm is to draw Qi into the body and make the whole body and nature in harmony.

Could this be... the feeling of reaching the pinnacle?

He was deeply shaken.

I thought breaking through to the peak of Dark Force was already a pleasant surprise, but I never expected to directly touch the threshold of Transcendent Realm.

Just then, a strange heat suddenly surged from deep within his dantian, rushing along his meridians to his limbs and bones, causing his skin to burn wherever it passed.

It is the legacy of the Ancestor of Hehuan!

Previously, due to his low cultivation level, the inheritance remained quiet. Now that he has broken through his cultivation level, the inheritance has awakened.

The heat intensified, and he gradually heard two familiar voices.

First came Bai Yu'er's charming complaint:

"You old codger, you've been gone for so long without a single word. You're so unyielding, I don't know how Sister Shen can stand you."

Then came Shen Jinluan's gentle yet helpless voice: "Yu'er, don't talk nonsense. He has his own things to do. I just hope he's safe and sound."

The two voices, one delicate and the other soft, were so clear they seemed to be speaking right next to your ear, making your heart itch with desire.

"Grandpa Lin?"

A clear, crisp female voice suddenly rang out.

Lin Ji snapped back to his senses and looked up to see Su Wanning standing at the courtyard gate, holding a rough porcelain bowl. The morning light fell on her delicate face, making her eyebrows and eyes appear curved.

She walked over and handed him the herbal tea. Noticing Lin Ji staring intently at her, she touched her face and asked curiously:

"Grandpa Lin, what are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"

The girl's fingertips, still faintly warm, flickered before my eyes.

Lin Ji snapped back to his senses, forcibly suppressing the heat within him, took the teacup, and tried to keep his tone calm:

"Nothing. I was just lost in thought while practicing my punches."

He tilted his head back and gulped down a large mouthful of cold tea. The icy tea slid down his throat, which slightly suppressed the inexplicable anger.

He knew in his heart that it wasn't Su Wanning's problem, but rather that breaking through to a higher realm had triggered the inheritance of the Ancestor of the Joyful Union, which caused these strange thoughts to arise.