Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Chapter 86: Chapter 16 Significant Advancement in Boxing, Qi Blood Perfection is Imminent!

Outside Dongling City.

By the Si River.

“Why would you let me go, Cao Rong?” a man with a full beard and rough features showed a puzzled expression.

Cao Rong said, “I’ve heard that although your name, Tian Buyi, carries ‘injustice,’ you are actually known for your sense of loyalty and you take promises very seriously!”

Upon hearing these praising words from Cao Rong, the bearded man immediately responded with pride, “Of course, I, Tian Buyi, value nothing more than loyalty when mixing in the martial world. I always keep my word and never go back on my promises.”

“Good!” Cao Rong said, “Today, I spare your life, and you owe me a favor! Is that fair?”

...

Tian Buyi replied, “Absolutely fair!”

Cao Rong continued, “I need you to do something for me, using this favor.”

“No problem!” Tian Buyi patted his chest vigorously, “You spared me, and you have my gratitude! Whatever you ask, if it’s within my power, I’ll risk my life to accomplish it.”

Cao Rong nodded, “I want you to kill someone.”

“Who?” asked Tian Buyi.

“See for yourself!” A roll of white paper slid from Cao Rong’s sleeve and was thrown to the bearded man named Tian Buyi.

Tian Buyi hurriedly caught the rolled white paper and then unfolded it.

A few breaths later, he had finished look through it.

He nodded, “Simple, to kill a greenhorn whose Martial Arts practice hasn’t even reached any official grade, I could knock him out with a stone!”

Cao Rong said, “Complete this task, and you’ll be free of the debt you owe me, and we’ll have no more involvement with each other.”

Tian Buyi smiled, revealing his yellow teeth, “I understand, Lord Cao is rising in the ranks and naturally doesn’t want to get entangled with a great bandit like me.”

He patted his chest again, “Rest assured, Lord Cao! I will take care of this, and afterward, I will never contact you again.”

Cao Rong instructed, “Remember, don’t make it too obvious! Stir up some trouble along the way, and then flee to Luoshui County to finish off this person.”

Tian Buyi chuckled, “Understood! Rest easy, Lord Cao, I’ve done this sort of thing a few times before! Such a young whelp, and Lord Cao has sought me out, which means Lord Cao doesn’t want the Cao family to be linked to this at all!”

After saying these words, Tian Buyi leaped toward the torrential river waters.

Splash—

With a splash, Tian Buyi dived into the waves and vanished into the turbulent Si River in an instant.

Cao Rong stood quietly by the bank of the Si River, watching the surface of the river where Tian Buyi had disappeared, musing.

“Jiang Ning! You have caught the eye of Shen Congyun! And my Cao family has made an enemy of you!”

“In that case, I cannot let you live!”

“I have no desire to gamble on your future! To bet on your mercy and magnanimity!”

“May you be born into a better life in your next incarnation!” @@novelbin@@

Then, Cao Rong turned and walked away.

Tian Buyi, the bandit of the riverways.

An Eighth Grade expert!

In his eyes, enough to strangle Jiang Ning in the cradle.

Moreover, by using Tian Buyi, as long as he does a clean job, no one would be able to guess it was he who ordered it.

In this way, even if Shen Congyun were to return one day, he couldn’t be blamed.

Being valued by Shen Congyun, regardless of the reason, he preferred not to gamble on that future.

What’s more, even if something were to happen with this matter in the future, it would be years away.

A few years later, if he truly stood against Shen Congyun, he would no longer be afraid!

…

Three days later.

[Five Animals Fist Experience Value +1]

[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Great Success 551/1000)

After completing a set of boxing.

Jiang Ning exhaled a breath of impure energy softly.

Then he picked up a large bowl beside him.

Glug glug—

As he swallowed, a bowl of sweet and refreshing well water entered his stomach.

The heat on his body was immediately relieved a great deal.

He then perceived the Qi Blood Power surging within him and thought to himself.

“I will reach Qi Blood Perfection in just a day or two!”

“Faster if today, slower by tomorrow.”

Just then.

“Brother Jiang!” A voice suddenly came from the entrance, startling him.

Jiang Ning turned around, the visitor was Cheng Ran.

He immediately showed a smile, “Long time no see, Brother Cheng.”

Cheng Ran shook his head, “Don’t call me ‘brother,’ nowadays, you should call me ‘disciple.’”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Ning looked puzzled.

Cheng Ran gave a wry smile, “Brother Jiang, how much longer do you intend to keep it from me? Master Wang has already taken you as a True Disciple, now I am at best a nominal disciple.”

“Mastering boxing is really hard!!”

Hearing this, Jiang Ning understood immediately.

A few days before, Wang Jin had spoken to him about delaying the announcement to the Martial Arts Hall disciples about taking him as an apprentice.

The purpose was to avoid attracting too much attention to Jiang Ning. After all, it’s the outstanding tree that is torn down by the wind.

Attracting too much attention can lead to unnecessary trouble and is not always a good thing.

When he heard this, Jiang Ning agreed.

He was past the age for showing off.

Now he just wished to practice his Martial Arts diligently, accumulating strength bit by bit.

There was no unnecessary boasting he wished to engage in.

Now that Cheng Ran displayed such an expression, it indicated that he already knew about Wang Jin taking him in as a True Disciple.

Afterward,

Jiang Ning still asked, “Brother Cheng, how did you find out?”

Cheng Ran said, “Don’t worry about how I found out. And don’t call me ‘Brother’ anymore, I’m not worthy of it now.”

“Then… then I’ll call you ‘Brother Cheng’!” said Jiang Ning.

Hearing this, Cheng Ran hesitated slightly before slowly nodding, “That… that works!”

After that, he also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

To be honest, he had been called ‘junior brother’ by Jiang Ning for over a month, and now suddenly being called that himself, it was somewhat hard for him to accept.

Now Jiang Ning’s way of addressing him had eased a lot of pressure in his heart.

Subsequently, Cheng Ran said, “Master Wang has just announced it, officially taking you as his True Disciple. From now on, we nominal disciples, upon seeing you, must address you as ‘Brother’!”

Then, Cheng Ran sighed, “It’s really unbelievable when you think about it. You’ve only started for so short a time, yet you managed to get ahead of me, becoming the first of Master Wang’s True Disciples.”

“No wonder a few days ago, such an important figure as Shen Congyun took a fancy to you at first sight, and then even stepped in himself, rescuing you from the Cao family’s hands.”

Faced with Cheng Ran’s exclamation, Jiang Ning could only smile.

At this moment, Cheng Ran’s gaze fell on the stone table in the courtyard beside them.

“This knife… Brother Jiang must have had it for a while, it must be that Master Wang had taken you as his True Disciple long before this,” he speculated.

“And then delayed telling us for so many days.”

Jiang Ning nodded upon hearing this, without denying, “Brother Cheng’s observation is indeed thorough; it is indeed as you said.”

Cheng Ran couldn’t help but give a wry smile at this, “The gap between people is truly vast! After seeing you, Brother Jiang, I understand what talent is! It suddenly made me feel like all the hard work in martial arts seems meaningless.”

“With Brother Jiang’s kind of talent, even a lifetime wouldn’t be enough for me to catch up.”

“And not only do you have high talent, Brother Jiang, but you’re also so determined, so hardworking!”

As he spoke, Cheng Ran couldn’t help but feel a bit downhearted.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning patted Cheng Ran on the shoulder with a smile.

“Brother Cheng, you shouldn’t set your gaze on others. In this world, there are mountains beyond mountains, people beyond people. Comparing oneself with others, who can truly surpass everything?”

Cheng Ran said, “The Martial Saint can!”

Jiang Ning smiled noncommittally and did not argue with the statement.

Then he said, “What’s most important is to focus on oneself, set oneself as the goal. As long as you keep surpassing yourself, breaking your own limits! Someday, perhaps you will encounter an unexpected reward!”

“Moreover, Brother Cheng, you have a wide network of information. I believe you can also see that the world is becoming increasingly chaotic!”

“In these troubled times, power is most important!”

“Wealth is but an external possession!”

Hearing Jiang Ning’s words, Cheng Ran looked somewhat dazed, lost in thought.

After a long while, he clasped his hands together and bowed to Jiang Ning.

“Brother Jiang, your words are truly enlightening!”

“You’re right, Brother Jiang! Setting oneself as the goal and surpassing oneself is the proper way.”

“I’ve also heard these words from a Grandmaster before.”

“That Grandmaster said that it was by setting himself as the goal and surpassing himself step by step, breaking limits.”

“When he looked back, he found that all those peerless geniuses who had competed with him had been left far behind.”

Jiang Ning smiled, “That’s the idea! As long as you can keep surpassing yourself and keep improving, one day you will achieve rewards.”

Cheng Ran said, “And you’re right, Brother Jiang, the world is getting more and more chaotic!”

“Not long ago, there was a rebellion in Baishan County, and after the rebellion was quelled, the Black Wind Army that had wandered into Baishan County is now heard to have moved into our Dongling County’s territory.”

“In this world, indeed we need strength.”

After speaking, Cheng Ran once again bowed in thanks to Jiang Ning.

As he bowed, a piece of white paper slipped from his sleeve and fluttered down at Jiang Ning’s feet.

Jiang Ning bent down to pick it up, “Brother Cheng, hold onto this!”

Just then, he glanced over it unintentionally.

“This is…”

He looked slightly startled, then quickly scanned the document attentively.

Then he looked at Cheng Ran, “Brother Cheng, was this prepared for me?”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Ran took the piece of white paper from Jiang Ning’s hand and gave a wry smile.

“It was originally prepared for you, Brother Jiang. It’s an investment that I convinced my father to agree to, an investment in you, in exchange for a favor and also as an apology for having put you in danger earlier.”

“But it seems there’s no need for it now!”

“Brother Jiang was already valued by Building Owner Shen, my little family fortune would hardly catch your eye.”

Having said that.

Rip—

Cheng Ran tore the piece of white paper in his hand to shreds.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning’s mouth opened slightly, about to speak.

But then he sighed inwardly, muttering to himself,

“Forget it!”

“Building Owner Shen has done so much for me and even told me to find Lin Qingyi after I achieve Qi Blood Perfection.”

“That should count as an investment from Shen Congyun. Since I’ve accepted it, it wouldn’t be appropriate to accept Cheng Ran’s as well.”

“And besides… it’s hard to say whether Cheng Ran is sincere, or just putting on an act!”

With that thought,

Jiang Ning decided to hold his tongue.

After tearing the piece of white paper, Cheng Ran tucked the shreds into his pocket.

Then he said, “Brother Jiang, would you like to go to the front courtyard and greet the other disciples? They all want to meet you!”

Jiang Ning nodded, “That sounds good!”