CHAPTER 655: CHAPTER 408: CHENG FENGXIAO AND THE IRON-ARM MONKEY GROUP!

Fan Zhong is in his early twenties, yet by the beginning of this year, his strength was already close to reaching the Qi-Blood limit. In the Guangling Academy at the start of the year, Fan Zhong was undoubtedly considered a first-level elite, and another step forward would lead to a breakthrough.

He was born a commoner, a small-time independent cultivator, even with some talent, he was still largely expected to be trapped at the breakthrough limit and ultimately fade into the crowd.

Fortunately.

Fan Zhong had extraordinary luck.

At the beginning of this year, he had a fateful encounter with a noble benefactor at the Divine Doctor Valley of Nanyue Lake, obtaining the ’Thirteen Forms of Flying Sand and Stone Saber Technique.’ This saber skill consists of three to four variations per form, totaling over forty complex changes across thirteen forms. Combined with the circulation of inner strength, it focuses on the word ’quick,’ with each move faster than the last, and each form faster than the previous one. If practiced to the Tenth Form, it would already be an unparalleled quick saber in the world. If all thirteen forms could be executed, the final strike would be supremely fast, surpassing the saber skills of the Mortal World!

He integrates boxing techniques, boxing principles, saber skills, and methods of inner strength circulation, with boxing as the foundation, driving the inner strength with the saber skill, and its subtleties are anything but ordinary.

During that period, Fan Zhong diligently practiced the ’Thirteen Forms of Flying Sand and Stone’ while also following the Divine Doctor Valley Master to listen to lectures on various boxing and martial arts, progressing rapidly.

After the Black Tide outbreak, the Divine Doctor Valley was destroyed, and the Valley Master disappeared.

Fan Zhong searched for a long time without success, yet his saber skill never fell behind. When he mastered the Tenth Form of the ’Thirteen Forms of Flying Sand and Stone Saber Technique,’ the breakthrough realm he had long dreamed of arrived quietly.

Fan Zhong.

Breakthrough.

However—

"Even with a breakthrough, in front of two hundred Black Dragon Heavy Cavalry, in a situation that two Du Heads of Black Dragon Heavy Cavalry are needed to manage, I’m still not enough."

Fan Zhong first frowned with worry, but quickly thought: "If there are changes in Nanxiong City, could the Valley Master reappear?"

A single thought.

Fan Zhong became lively.

He wanted to confirm whether the Valley Master, who was like half a teacher and had greatly benefitted him, was alive or dead after the Black Tide. If dead, he needed to see the body to build a tombstone and pay annual respects. If alive, he wished to meet the Valley Master in person after his breakthrough, to express his gratitude face-to-face.

If there were drastic changes in Nanxiong City at this moment, perhaps the Valley Master might reappear then.

Fan Zhong grew expectant.

...

"Little Jin—"

"Please address the title, Du Head Fu."

Feng Jin’s expression was cold, keeping others at a distance, showing no interest in Fu Zhe, a fellow Black Dragon Heavy Cavalry Commander deeply in love with her and with promising prospects. After greeting him with clasped hands, her attention was more on what was under Fu Zhe’s command—

"Chasing Wind has made more progress in the ’Horse Form Boxing’ these days, Little Jin, let’s enter the city first." Fu Zhe, seeing Feng Jin still showing interest in his horse, was overjoyed.

"No rush to enter the city, there’s someone behind us."

Feng Jin waved her hand.

Someone else?

Who?

Could it be that rascal Chi Suo again?

Just as Fu Zhe wanted to ask.

However, Feng Jin first glanced at the Black Dragon Colt beneath Fu Zhe, then at Nanxiong City, and spoke first: "I remember you met that horse trainer within the realm of Nanxiong City. Du Head Fu, coming here a few days earlier, did you find that person?"

Fu Zhe’s train of thought was interrupted, but he always answered Feng Jin’s questions: "After the Black Tide, I searched in Nanxiong City and in Nanyue Lake, couldn’t find them. Later, I had my Iron Clothes Army separately station a Du Head unit here, solely to look for them, but to no avail. That person seemed to vanish into thin air."

Fu Zhe was troubled as well.

He initially befriended a commoner wanderer who had just broken through, purely out of appreciation for talent, not expecting that person to teach ’Horse Form Boxing’ to what was then his local Black Dragon Colt unit.

At the time, it didn’t manifest, but after the Black Tide outbreak, when ’Chasing Wind’ under Fu Zhe’s command made a breakthrough in ’Horse Form Boxing’ significantly progressing, Fu Zhe was suddenly astounded—

That person!

A genius!

Thus, he hurriedly sent people to search but always came back empty-handed.

Ironically, he possessed a unit of Black Dragon Colts mastering ’Horse Form Boxing,’ seeing substantial improvement in their strength, repeatedly achieving merits in battle from the beginning to the end of the year, eventually being promoted from Local Chief to Du Head, advancing three levels.

For a while, Fu Zhe’s prominence was unrivaled, even the goddess Feng Jin, whom he had long pursued but always overlooked by her, took the initiative to visit, observing Black Dragon Colts practicing ’Horse Form Boxing’ and inquiring about Fu Zhe’s experiences in Nanxiong City.

The goddess’s favor.

This left Fu Zhe ecstatic, even deploying his eight hundred Iron Clothes Army separately to station a Du Head unit in Nanxiong City for a long time, intending to find the horse trainer to impress Feng Jin and win her favor.

This time.

As expected.

Feng Jin came asking again.

Unfortunately, Fu Zhe’s search was fruitless and failed to satisfy the goddess’s wishes.

"That person—"

Feng Jin frowned, "He can teach Black Dragon Colts to do ’Horse Form Boxing,’ make turkeys perform ’Chicken Form Boxing,’ then, can he perhaps make Iron-Arm Monkeys perform ’Monkey Form Fist’?"

Fu Zhe laughed: "Little Jin and I share a Spiritual Rhinoceros connection. These past few days, I’ve been exploring Nanyue Lake, and the Iron-Arm Monkey Group practicing Monkey Fist indeed bears some resemblance to the ’Monkey Form’ of that horse trainer’s self-created ’Xingyi Boxing’ in the ’Twelve Forms.’ I too suspect that this group of Iron-Arm Monkeys is likely cultivated by him."

"Wasn’t that person just in the Basic Breakthrough phase?"

"Could they have the ability to cultivate the lawless ’Iron-Arm Monkey Group’ dominating Nanyue Lake?"

Feng Jin was skeptical.

Fu Zhe laughed again: "We indeed share a Spiritual Rhinoceros connection. I too am puzzled, that person undoubtedly made a Basic Breakthrough at the beginning of the year, there’s no mistake. And the Monkey Fist performed by those Iron-Arm Monkeys seems both similar and dissimilar, perhaps it’s merely a coincidence. Therefore, I only reported that the Iron-Arm Monkey Group controls Nanyue Lake, without mentioning any information regarding the horse trainer and Xingyi Boxing, for fear of causing misunderstanding."

"Who on earth shares a Spiritual Rhinoceros connection with you?!"