Chapter 17 Squaring The Accounts (1/2)

Zhou Donghuang sat on the edge of the bed in Lin Lan’s room with a stern expression, telling Lin Lan, who was half lying in bed, “Mother, in the future, whenever you encounter such situations, don’t hide it from me… the person I am now, I can already hold up a patch of sky.”

“Yes, yes, yes… I know that now.”

Although Lin Lan was still pale, there was a radiant smile on her face, and her eyes were full of relief.

Without her realizing it, her son had grown up and was now a strong and capable man.

“Young Master, my lady acted as she did because she did not know Young Master had the ability to kill Wang Yukun.”

Granny Lian looked at Zhou Donghuang curiously.

“Young Master, what move did you use to evade Wang Yukun’s blow earlier?”

Earlier, everyone’s attention had been on Wang Yukun’s blow when he had struck out at Zhou Donghuang.

Only Granny Lian had happened to glance at Zhou Donghuang’s legs and had seen Zhou Donghuang’s feet move in a curious sequence of steps.

“Move?”

Lin Lan’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at Zhou Donghuang with an inquisitive expression.

Martial art techniques in the country of Yunyang were extremely rare and valuable. The most widely used techniques in the country of Yunyang were lesser-grade techniques, and in the country of Yunyang, only the Imperial Court and the Royal Family possessed third-grade techniques.

However, a small place like Qingshan Town did not even have any lesser-grade martial art styles, and even though the preeminent families in the prefecture capital did possess specialized styles, usually only those of their direct lineage could practice them.

“Hmm.” Zhou Donghuang nodded. He really had demonstrated an interesting move, and a third-grade technique at that. It was called “Star-Stepping Footwork.”

Although there were many martial art styles in his memory, he could only utilize third-grade techniques with the qi he currently had.

Even though he was familiar with second-grade martial arts and even more powerful martial arts, the qi within his body was still insufficient to allow him to utilize those martial arts.

Right now, his level of practice was too low, and though he had a head full of precious martial arts, he could only utilize third-grade techniques.

My level of practice is too low, and the qi within my body is spread thin. When I used the Star-Stepping Footwork earlier, it cost me a third of my qi.

After that, when I used the third-grade technique, Weighted Sand Palm, to kill Wang Yukun, I expended almost all the qi within my body.

Moreover, the power it released was not from the technique I practiced, but the maximum strength from all the muscles in my body.

At this thought, Zhou Donghuang sighed inwardly.

His level of practice was still too low, and if he had attained level-one of the gathered qi, he would not need to expend almost all his qi to utilize these two forms of martial arts.

Sss!

At Zhou Donghuang’s confirmation, both Granny Lian and Lin Lan could not help but suck in a breath of cold air.

They never imagined that Zhou Donghuang had really mastered any martial art techniques, much less martial art techniques of the rarer style of swiftness techniques.

Of course, they did not know that the move Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated was a third-grade technique. Otherwise they would surely be even more shocked.

“Mother, you must rest well… when you have recovered, I will pass on that style of swiftness technique to you,” Zhou Donghuang said with a slight smile. Seeing the shock in Lin Lan’s eyes, he understood her feelings.

“Can it really be done?”

Lin Lan’s eyes showed anticipation but still betrayed some hesitation. After all, she did not know where the martial art her son had mastered had come from or whether it could be passed on to her easily.

The Lin Family of the prefecture capital also possessed a style of lesser-grade martial arts, but it was a purely offensive martial art and could not match the specialized swiftness technique in terms of value.

Even so, only the elders of the side branches and those of the direct lineage of the Lin Family were allowed to practice this style of martial arts.

A side relation, such as Lin Lan, was not entitled to practice it.

However, just because she was not entitled to practice, it did not mean Lin Lan had no desire to practice it.

“Of course,” Zhou Donghuang nodded in assurance and glanced at Granny Lian who was standing to one side. “If Granny Lian would like to learn as well, I can pass it on to her too.”

“Young Master…”

Zhou Donghuang’s words moved Granny Lian immensely. Even in the prefecture capital, martial art techniques were greatly treasured.

From what she knew, in the prefecture capital, lesser-grade martial arts were possessed by only the Governor’s Household. The other preeminent families had at most one or two styles of specialized offensive and defensive martial arts.

In a small place like Qingshan Town, even if a level-one adept had practiced only lesser-grade martial arts, it would be enough for him to sweep aside other level-one adepts who had not practiced any martial arts.

Martial arts were techniques produced by the deep study of using qi at the highest level, and although one could create a martial art from scratch, it was extremely difficult.

Even when it came to lesser-grade martial arts, very few people were capable of creating them from scratch, and the vast majority of people were merely enjoying the fruits of their ancestors’ labor.

“Granny Lian, take good care of my mother… I’m going out for a while, I have matters to attend to.”

Zhou Donghuang waited till Lin Lan had fallen asleep before he stood up. He quietly left Lin Lan’s room.

It is public knowledge in Qingshan Town that I am the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant… anyone would think that I have deep connections to the previous owner Zhao San and would fear me as a result.

There was an unpleasant expression on Zhou Donghuang’s face at the thought of the day’s events as he walked out of the Magnolia Guild.

He never imagined that the Wang Family would come seeking revenge.

Under usual circumstances, even if the Magnolia Guild had lost the support of the Lin Family of the prefecture capital, his identity as the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant would be enough to deter the Wang Family.

However, the Wang Family had come.

This was evidence that the Wang Family had some source of intelligence… at least, if the Wang Family would not have dared to act thus unless they were certain that Zhao San would not come to his aid.