Chapter 209: Soaring Strength, Worries Near and Far
TAP, TAP, TAP
Tang Wen, a large towel wrapped around his waist, walked barefoot across the floor.
He had eaten a whole banquet, slept for a day and a night, and then taken a hot bath.
It was indescribably comfortable.
He looked up at the sky. It was as blue as if it had been washed clean, utterly cloudless.
It gave him the sudden illusion of having returned to the world of the living.
"Young Master, your medicinal tea." The housekeeper handed him a cup of dark tea.
Tang Wen took it and drank it in one gulp. The bitter, astringent flavors immediately flooded his senses.
He drank it three times a day and had already had hundreds of cups, but he still wasn’t used to the taste.
However, anything that could make him better and stronger...
...was never going to taste very good.
Liang Yu handed him some clear water. He rinsed his mouth and spat into the spittoon.
The housekeeper handed him honeyed water.
Liang Yu held a cup of light tea.
Tang Wen reached for the tea, unable to help but shake his head and sigh. ’I once thought I could never peacefully enjoy being served by others, but how long has it been?’
’It’s only been a few months, give or take, since I became the Seventh Young Master.’
’And I’m already enjoying it this naturally?’
’It’s so easy to go from a simple life to one of luxury!’
Behind him, the corners of Liang Yu’s lips curled up. ’The Young Master works so hard; why would he like something as sweet as honey?’
The housekeeper pursed her lips. ’You’re just lucky.’
The two women left. Tang Wen stood alone on the balcony, enjoying the breeze. With a thought, a gray, semi-transparent Experience Panel materialized before his eyes.
[Body: 11.97]
Recently, he had been focused solely on closed-door Cultivation of his Meditation Technique, neglecting to temper his body.
The small increase in his Constitution value was to be expected.
In contrast, the improvement in his Spiritual Power was terrifying.
[Essence: 25.33]
It had more than doubled in just two weeks.
Now, with his Spiritual Power alone, he could hurl a boulder weighing ten thousand pounds.
This meant he had reached the Spiritual Power threshold required to break through to Sixth Grade Gang Martial.
The difference between Seventh Grade and Sixth Grade...
...wasn’t as great as the gap between Eighth Grade and Seventh Grade.
After just two short weeks, if he were to face Elder Li from the junkyard again...
...Tang Wen was confident that a single [Night Binding] would be enough to render him helpless.
With such a massive increase in Spiritual Power,
his progress in the Spiritual Meditation Method was naturally significant as well.
In his Sea of Consciousness, the thirty-fourth ancient pictograph had already formed.
The first thirty-three characters were all black.
They contained a terrifying amount of Spiritual Power.
Reaching Great Success in the Spiritual Meditation Method required sketching out thirty-six pictographs.
But achieving Great Success was incredibly difficult.
The painstaking effort required to form the final two pictographs would likely take another year or two.
The [Azure Stone Slab] was truly worthy of its status as a strategic-level Curiosity for a major power.
’I wonder how the Black Water Gang convinced the Boat Gang to give up on salvaging it back then.’
Without the Stone Slab, even a demon of a talent like Tang Wen would have had to cultivate his Spiritual Power slowly, bit by bit.
Of course, at his age, he had plenty of time.
Never mind one or two years; even if it took him three to five years to achieve Great Success in the [Spiritual Meditation Method] and step into the Sixth Grade Gangwu Realm,
he would still be considered a top-tier genius!
A look of regret appeared in Tang Wen’s eyes.
The gang’s [Azure Stone Slab] wouldn’t return to his hands for another month and a half at the earliest.
And next time, he would only get to use it for a mere week.
’I should use the one I snatched for a while before sending it back to the camp.’
’I’m sure General Zhao and the others won’t object.’
Speaking of which, the reason Tang Wen had been in such a hurry to send the [Azure Stone Slab] back to Flame Camp...
...was mainly to urge his powerful backer, the Queen, to cultivate and break through as soon as possible.
Among the major powers of Ganshan City, an Extraordinary’s combat power was, at most, that of a pillar of the community.
Once war broke out, or the so-called subterranean danger erupted,
Extraordinaries would be nothing more than strong cannon fodder on the front lines.
He would feel much more confident in his actions once the Queen advanced to Fifth Grade.
Tang Wen frowned. He had originally planned to keep the [Azure Stone Slab] for a month or two.
’On second thought, forget it. As soon as I can form all thirty-six pictographs, I’ll send the Stone Slab straight back to the camp.’
’Also, I need to figure out what’s going on with this subterranean crisis as soon as possible.’
’And then there’s the Thief Sect, the Childlike Face Lady, Li Zi...’
For a moment, many things flooded his mind.
Tang Wen patiently sorted through them all.
He went back to looking at the Experience Panel.
[Martial Arts Realm: Veteran Extraordinary (Transforming)]
Two weeks ago, Tang Wen had fought a Peak Extraordinary Powerhouse to a standstill.
So, he wasn’t surprised by the improvement in his Martial Arts Realm.
Generally speaking, the criteria for being considered a Veteran Extraordinary were simple.
As long as one was proficient in using their awakened ability and their Spiritual Power was substantial enough—
for example, being able to hurl a boulder weighing several thousand pounds—
then one could be considered to have reached the level of a Veteran Extraordinary.
[Extraordinary Ability: Dark (Awakening Progress 11.29%)]
[Visualization Martial Arts, Night Divine Fist, Mastery (397/6000)]
The mastery level of his Night Divine Fist hadn’t improved.
The awakening progress of his Dark Ability was also slow.
After all, the former had the most direct influence on the latter.
[Visualization Martial Arts, Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist (Sixfold Vibrating Force), Expert (4369/12000)]
The stacking of the Cannon Fist’s Vibrating Force was a notch stronger than before.
Tang Wen had never relaxed his training of the Shocking Fist.
With a Sixfold Vibrating Force, a single punch could shatter even a piece of refined steel.
This was basically his trump card.
The Night Divine Fist techniques also included a Shocking Fist move.
The Sky-soaring Shock!
Executing the Shocking Fist with Dark Power made it even more bizarre and lethal.
However, Tang Wen wasn’t very proficient with it.
When he used the Sky-soaring Shock, he couldn’t stack the Vibrating Force up to sixfold.
’I’ll have to focus on practicing it next.’
’Otherwise, if a fight breaks out and someone discovers that I, the great Seventh Young Master of the Black Water Gang, am using a Fire Department Technique...’
’...and with such veteran skill!’
’How would I explain that?’
’Being an undercover agent is such a pain!’
Tang Wen sighed internally.
He had to be careful about everything.
Footsteps approached.
The housekeeper and Liang Yu arrived together.
Liang Yu spoke first. "Young Master, there’s something... I’ve been thinking about it, and I believe you should be prepared."
From her tone, it didn’t sound like a small matter.
Tang Wen resisted the urge to turn around and said calmly, "Speak."
The two women exchanged a look, and Liang Yu began hesitantly, "At the end of the day, this is all because of the [Azure Stone Slab]. In a little over two months, the Black Water Gang will hold its annual assembly. When that time comes, I’m afraid the other Young Masters will make things difficult for you!"
Tang Wen was silent for a long moment.
The two women’s minds were in turmoil.
The housekeeper hadn’t experienced many of the world’s hardships and inwardly blamed the other Young Masters for not seeing the bigger picture!
’Who is the Seventh Young Master?’
’So what if he used the Azure Stone Slab for a few extra days?’
’And now some people are audacious enough to declare they want to "test" the Young Master’s strength in two months.’
’Once our Hall Master takes power, he’ll deal with them one by one, sooner or later!’
Liang Yu, on the other hand, had spent time in the Seven Kills Hall and was familiar with its dangers.
She knew this matter wouldn’t be resolved so easily.
If this wasn’t handled well, Tang Wen would not only lose face but could also get hurt.
His prestige within the gang would plummet, and it would be impossible for him to ever hold his head high again.
At that point, everyone in the gang would be calling him a pretty-boy gigolo!
Liang Yu’s chest heaved. Seeing Tang Wen’s silence, she grew even more anxious. ’My dear Young Master, the power struggles within the gang are no game!’
After half a minute of silence, Tang Wen turned his head. "Go on!"
"What?"
Tang Wen smiled. "Is that all?"
Liang Yu finally seized the opportunity to launch into a chirpy analysis.
She concluded that the Eldest Young Master would likely make a move, and even that Martial Fool, the Fourth Young Master, would come after Tang Wen.
Tang Wen turned around. "The Eldest Young Master is a Veteran Extraordinary. Would he personally step in?"
"It’s not that serious. The Fourth Young Master won’t step in personally either, but there will definitely be High-level Martial Artists taking action."
With a new Young Master in the gang to split the profits, there were bound to be many people who weren’t happy.
Sending people to challenge him or test his skills was a perfectly normal occurrence.
’Hmm, I was originally planning to send my ride—ahem, my Close Guard, Liang Yu—out to fight.’
’Looks like I’ll have to handle this myself after all.’
Tang Wen thought, unconcerned.