Chapter 166: 155 Thoughts, Part 1

“Extreme State…. According to what the Celestial Maiden said, it should be a stable structure, a balanced setup.”

Zhang Rongfang was slowly practicing Talismanic Skills in the yard, each time he was about to use a Limit-Breaking Skill, he would suddenly restrain himself.

In the night.

His solitary figure in the courtyard occasionally sent out the sound of clothes flapping.

He was constantly sensing the flow routes of Qi and Blood for several Limit-Breaking Skills, as well as the force flow paths.

For instance, some Limit-Breaking Skills require you to squat, borrowing the spring force of your legs.

Some Limit-Breaking Skills require you to straighten your legs and twist your waist for a sweeping attack.

You have to squat and also straighten your legs.

This is obviously contradictory, so it’s impossible to use them together.

Zhang Rongfang carefully experienced these.

The Limit-Breaking Skills he currently mastered are the Great Dao Teaching Talismanic Skills’ Heavy Mountain and Songyun.

The Shrinking Step of the Dragon and Snake Ascension Skill.

A total of three types.

Other martial arts, because they are not high-level martial arts, do not have Limit-Breaking Skills.

All low-grade martial arts do not have Limit-Breaking Skills.

Because martial arts with Limit-Breaking Skills would no longer be considered low-grade.

Zhang Rongfang experienced each move carefully.

“Songyun and Shrinking Step both have postural requirements for muscles and joints, the two cannot be used together. Heavy Mountain, on the other hand, does not….”

Songyun is a kick explosion, attacking the front.

Shrinking Step is to suddenly tense the muscles of both legs, and after stepping on the ground, to accelerate movement.

Both Limit-Breaking Skills involve the legs, and the force direction is entirely different.

Zhang Rongfang thought for a moment, discarding Songyun and choosing Shrinking Step to use in conjunction with Heavy Mountain. Then finally, if he had strength left, he would use Songyun as a supplement.

“In this way…”

He stood in the courtyard, his heart slowly settling, his gaze fixed on the stout wooden stake to the side.

Suddenly, Shrinking Step and Heavy Mountain erupted simultaneously.

The Qi and Blood within him simultaneously activated two large areas of his body.

This sensation was remarkable.

It’s like a force split into two parts, simultaneously activating two states.

Wham!

In an instant, his figure dashed forward, Zhang Rongfang raising a palm to heavily strike the surface of the stake.

Thud!

The stake tilted backward, bent, and was dented with a deep palm print.

Zhang Rongfang exhaled deeply, carefully observing the depth of the palm print.

“Shallower than simply using Heavy Mountain alone, but not much, about twenty percent less.”

Recalling his burst speed just now.

“Slower than using Shrinking Step alone, probably because the Qi and Blood were divided, leading to insufficient power usage.”

However, using both Limit-Breaking Skills at the same time reduced the load on his body significantly.

Because the power of Limit-Breaking Skills mainly depends on heart and limb load.

And with the Qi and Blood divided into two sections, the burden on various body parts was much lighter.

So it could also last longer.

The heart side, as long as the total Qi and Blood used doesn’t exceed a certain amount, is fine.

Zhang Rongfang stood in place, pondering for a moment.

Then, he turned on his heel and began to dart around the courtyard.

Shrinking Step was used again and again, each time consuming only a small portion of Qi and Blood.

He was trying to extend the usage time of Shrinking Step and turn it into a continuous normal skill.

First, decrease the intensity of the Limit-Breaking Skill, in exchange for more frequent use and longer duration.

Then consider combining different Limit-Breaking Skills.

This is the correct research direction.

This is the way to maximize body potential and load limits.

*

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Several days later…

In a restaurant in Xicheng District called the Piaoxiang Meeting Pavilion.

In a light yellow private room.

Paintings of mountains and rivers hung on the walls, each elegant and simple in black and white.

At intervals, there were reddish-brown faux wooden windows inset beside the scroll paintings.

In the private room, Lu Meisha was having a private gathering with her circle of friends.

Four close friends were seated together.

The rectangular narrow table divided them into two rows.

“Meisha, calling us over so urgently, what’s going on now?”

A pretty lady wearing a gold-orange flower hair ornament traced her fingers along the patterns on the decorative wooden window on the wall, looking disinterested.

“Xiu Xiu, Ah Ping, Xiaolong!” Lu Meisha solemnly slapped the table.

“Something big happened this time! It’s troublesome! I might need your help!”

“Not available.”

“Goodbye.”

“Awaiting death.”

The three immediately got up and prepared to leave.

“A box of Treasure Sound Pills!” Lu Meisha sat upright with a clenched jaw, offering loudly.

The three instantly sat back down.

“Sigh…. a box is barely enough to fill the gaps between one’s teeth.” Ah Ping, donned in a red dress with a white shawl, said lazily.

“Let me state my terms first!” Lu Meisha glared at her.

“Alright, alright, go ahead.” Ah Ping waved her hand.

“Here’s the situation.” Lu Meisha immediately seized the opportunity and recounted how she boasted to her brother and sister-in-law, exaggerating the facts.

“Now, my brother is asking me to introduce a gentle, beautiful, well-educated, sensible, and homely good girl for Brother Zhang. I, Lu Meisha, thought long and hard, and among my thousands of friends, only you three could meet these criteria!”

Lu Meisha solemnly slapped the table.

“Three heroes! Just fool them for a bit, then say there’s no chemistry, find some minor flaws and let it dissipate.”

“A box of Treasure Sound Pills after it’s done! Plus a month of Fengwei Restaurant meals, one meal a day, each meal not exceeding four taels of silver! How about that!?”

She was really bleeding money here!

To cover for the bragging she had done earlier, she had to swallow this bitter pill with tears.

Who told her to be so concerned with appearances, refusing to admit she couldn’t do it?

“This… You’re meeting the younger brother of your sister-in-law? That guy from a barbarian Confucian background?” Ah Ping asked. “Forget it, if word gets out, people will think even someone like me, Xue Jingping, is meeting someone of such status, it’d ruin my reputation.”

“Ah Ping, it’s just to humor them…”

“No, no, if this gets out, people would definitely think I’m desperate, lowering my standards so low because no one wants me. Wouldn’t that make people look down on me in the future?

I’ll pass, you all think about it.” Ah Ping waved her hand dismissively.

Lu Meisha was at a loss, and turned to another person.

Beside them, Xiaolong was wearing a white fitted dress, with a blue satin shawl, her black hair draped over her shoulders, and two long black pearl earrings that were particularly eye-catching.

Compared to the other two, she looked more like a delicate and gentle lady, with a quiet demeanor.

“Coming from a barbarian Confucian background is indeed a bit troublesome. Just being from a barbarian household is barely acceptable, adding a Confucian background to it…”

She shook her head slightly, indicating she didn’t want to get involved either.

“Actually, Brother Zhang has already joined the Daoist sect, as a disciple of the Great Dao Teaching, and his martial arts have been ranked. Eighteen years old and ranked, aren’t you at all tempted?” Lu Meisha questioned.

She specifically chose these three friends because their positions in their families were extremely awkward.

Therefore, their desire for money and power was much stronger than her other friends.

“Unless it’s the next generation, otherwise the Confucian imprint remains, and this generation won’t have much of a future…” Xiaolong gently shook her head.

“I can go.” Xiu Xiu, who hadn’t spoken much, suddenly said.

“But you’ll need to pay more!”

“How much?!” Lu Meisha gritted her teeth and asked.

“My mother got ill, at least fifty taels!” Xiu Xiu stated seriously.

“Fifty!?” Lu Meisha herself had no source of income, relying solely on the monthly stipend from the Commercial Office, and fifty taels was a considerable sum for her.

Just for meeting once, to humor someone, it cost this much….

“Meisha, you have to know I’m sacrificing my reputation here. If it weren’t for urgently needing the money, I wouldn’t take this job.” Xiu Xiu persuaded.

“Fifty… It’s too much, forty!” Lu Meisha gritted her teeth.

“Deal!”

Lu Meisha looked at her friend who agreed so quickly, and suddenly felt swindled.

*

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*

“Go to Huining Academy to meet?”

In the Commercial Office.

Zhang Rongfang looked at his sister in surprise, not knowing why she suddenly came up with this.

“You’re not young anymore, boys your age already have children toddling around. You haven’t even held a girl’s hand. If you wait much longer, no one will be interested in you.”

Zhang Rongyu gently advised as she spoke, carefully watching Zhang Rongfang’s expression.

Afraid he might suddenly lose his temper.

She knew her brother well, a stubborn person who doesn’t turn back until he hits the wall.

Once he decides on something, he absolutely won’t listen to any other advice.

Unless he runs into a dead-end and realizes it himself.

But in this world, a person’s life is over once they make one or two mistakes.

There are only so many opportunities, miss them, and there won’t be a second chance.

To prevent him from having regrets, she had to keep a closer eye on him.

“But I don’t even know anything about the other person.” Zhang Rongfang sighed.

At his age, in this era, the biggest headache was the issue of marriage.

To continue the family line is the greatest responsibility and duty of a man in this era.

Carrying on the family’s bloodline is something everyone sees as a vital matter.

“No matter what, you should at least meet and understand things first; not meeting at all would waste Meisha’s goodwill.”

“Fine, fine…” Zhang Rongfang replied impatiently.

He was originally accompanying his sister for a walk in the back garden, not expecting that a few sentences would direct the discussion toward him.

It was truly self-inflicted.

“The specific time is this afternoon at two o’clock, in front of the academy.” Zhang Rongyu had also set the time.

“And you should clean up nicely, stop being all casual, just dismissing it with any long robe.”

“Got it, got it.”

Zhang Rongfang kept agreeing.

But his sister clearly didn’t trust his words, seeing his insincere attitude, she immediately used all tactics of persuasion, pleading, tears, and fake crying in self-pity.

Zhang Rongfang gave in to gentleness but not force, helplessly getting dragged into cleaning up by her.

After lunch, Zhang Rongyu specifically had the estate’s carriage take Zhang Rongfang to Huining Academy.

The meeting was quite relaxed and pleasant.

The other party was named Jin Xiu, a graceful and pure sixteen-year-old girl.

Her conversation was insightful, and she seemed quite mature for her age.

The quiet atmosphere of the academy, plus the fact that both were somewhat disingenuous, led to a particularly harmonious interaction.

Soon, amid pleasant chatting and strolling, their first meeting came to an end.

Since Huining Academy was also in Xicheng District, they didn’t take a carriage back but walked.

The day was getting late.

Soon, Zhang Rongfang arrived at his door.

“We had a good chat today, so I’ll head back now. Goodbye.”

He smiled and waved goodbye to Jin Xiu, then turned and was ready to head inside.

Jin Xiu’s face broke into a smile, ready to say something polite. But she saw him turn and rush off.

Her smile instantly froze.

From the academy to here, they had clearly enjoyed the conversation, hadn’t they???

Just now she thought this Zhang Rongfang would invite her to arrange another meeting.

Then she would gently decline, gracefully closing the Chapter.

But now what’s going on???

He left faster than she did???

And shouldn’t he have escorted her home first? Then returned to his own home.

What’s happening now???

This guy got home and just left? Not caring about her?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep