From absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to achieving divine mastery in martial arts

Cang Lian slowly walked down from upstairs.

When the servants saw him come down, they merely glanced at him curiously before turning back.

No one got up, no one greeted him, as if he were just an insignificant shadow.

Apart from Gu Guolong, who was always by his side, no one else stood in his way.

It seems that the situation has not yet reached its worst point.

Cang Hong, that old fox, is still waiting, waiting for himself to slip up, or waiting for that elusive treasure map to surface.

If things had already turned ugly, he would probably be tied up in a dark dungeon by now, enduring all sorts of torture.

Having figured this out, Cang Lian felt much more at ease.

Time, that's what he needs most right now.

As soon as I stepped out of the mansion, a cold wind mixed with moisture hit me.

Several voices could be clearly heard from under the light not far from the door.

Those were rickshaw pullers chatting.

The Cang Mansion was very grand. Apart from the master and mistress and a few of the most favored young masters and ladies who could ride in Western cars, everyone else could only travel in the few rickshaws they owned.

At that moment, five rickshaw drivers were hunched over, leaning against the wall and smoking.

"Master Huang, is it true that the martial arts you mentioned, once mastered, can allow you to dodge bullets?" A young driver asked, exhaling a smoke ring with disbelief.

"Of course!" The man called Master Huang was an elderly man with one arm missing. He chuckled, his face wrinkled like cracked tree bark. "Don't even mention dodging, I could catch a bullet! I'll show you what 'power flowing through your fingertips' really means!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man pressed his right index finger on the edge of the flower bed next to him.

He lowered his body slightly, arched his back, and it seemed as if all the strength in his body was instantly concentrated in that one finger.

"puff!"

The dull thud was not the crisp sound of metal clashing against stone, but rather like the sound of an awl piercing wet mud.

Stone dust flew everywhere, and a hole the size of a thumb was drilled into the hard granite edge, with smooth edges, as if it had been pierced by some kind of high-speed rotating drill bit.

This scene shocked Cang Lian.

He abruptly turned his head to look at Gu Guolong beside him: "What kind of method is this?"

"Ming Jin." Gu Guolong's tone was calm and even, as if he were talking about something very ordinary. "This Master Huang was once a master of the peak of Ming Jin. Unfortunately, he lost an arm and had many hidden injuries, which ruined most of his skills, which is why he was reduced to pulling a rickshaw."

"Ming Jin?" Cang Lian took a deep breath. The cold air cleared his chaotic thoughts somewhat. Amidst his amazement, an indescribable excitement welled up in his heart. "This is martial arts?"

"Hmm." Gu Guolong nodded, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"He is Ming Jin, and what about you?" Cang Lian asked tentatively.

He knew very well that the man before him was the first key to understanding the true strength of the Cang family.

As one of the eight protectors of the Cang family, his status directly determines the weight of the Cang family.

"Transformation into Internal Strength." Gu Guolong made no attempt to hide it, as if it were no secret at all.

"Transformation Realm?" Cang Lian pondered the term. "Just how powerful is it?" Although he was a transmigrator and had some knowledge of such things, the world was different, and the manifestation of power was different. Moreover, this world also had demons, ghosts, evil gods, and the like, making it even more different. He had to find out for himself.

Gu Guolong finally looked at him properly, seemingly finding the question worth answering.

He pondered for a moment before slowly speaking: "The path of martial arts, from the outside to the inside, emphasizes the word 'strength'. The beginning is training strength, but it's just the strength of a bull. Then comes manifest strength, where the strength reaches the surface, and every punch and kick has the power to split rocks and shatter monuments, as you just saw. Above manifest strength is hidden strength, where the strength is generated from within, passing through the body, injuring the internal organs without being seen."

He paused, then continued, "The next level of internal strength is neutralizing strength. Neutralizing strength means being able to dissolve the immense force of an opponent's attack into nothingness, like flowing water. The body becomes as sensitive as a hair, able to sense changes in airflow and predict the direction of attack. Simply put, it's the level of 'dodging bullets' that they talk about."

Cang Lian gasped, feeling her worldview being completely reshaped.

"So, even guns... can't kill you?"

"I can't say I'm unkillable." Gu Guolong's answer was calm and cruel. "Unless I have no way to avoid it, or I'm bombarded by heavy artillery. Ordinary gunmen are nothing more than slow-moving targets in my eyes. To take my life, you'd have to bring in an infantry platoon, dozens of guns, to surround me in an open field and subject me to indiscriminate saturation fire. Only then could you possibly wear me down in the hail of bullets."

"However, I also have a gun!"

A platoon of soldiers... no, given that he had a gun, it was clear that even more soldiers would be needed to kill a master of the Transformation Realm.

A buzzing sound came from Cang Lian's mind.

The Cang family has eight protectors. If each of them is at the Transformation Realm... how many armies would it take to shake this mansion?

This is no longer a family force; it's practically an individual army capable of taking on a hundred men single-handedly!

The peace that had just settled down was instantly gripped by an even heavier pressure.

Only then did he realize just how enormous the behemoth he was about to face was.

The young rickshaw drivers stared in disbelief, only recovering after a long while. One of them stammered, "No... Master Huang, you... you're really that legendary martial arts master?"

"Of course it's true!" The one-armed Master Huang withdrew his hand, chuckled, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow from smoking. "What? You kids want to learn? Sure! For the sake of me being your employer, I'll reluctantly teach you a few tricks for five silver dollars a month!"

"What?! Five silver dollars a month?" The young driver's face instantly fell. "Master Huang, aren't you trying to kill us? We toil away all month and can only save two or three dollars!"

"Hehe!" Master Huang squinted, a shrewd glint in his cloudy eyes. "I'm an old man like this, if I don't try to save up for my funeral, who will feed me when I can't pull the cart anymore?"

"Young Master, Protector Gu!"

Just then, a sharp-eyed driver spotted the two people at the door and quickly lowered his voice to remind them.

Upon hearing this, the smiles on everyone's faces instantly froze. They all composed themselves, stood at attention with their hands at their sides, and looked over respectfully.

Master Huang reacted quickly, his slick, street-smart demeanor instantly replaced by a humble smile. He limped forward to greet him: "Young Master, are you heading out? I'll prepare your car right away!"

"I'm not going out, I just had some free time and came out for a walk." Cang Lian waved his hand, but his gaze fell on Master Huang. "By the way, Master Huang, you just said that teaching martial arts costs five silver dollars a month?"

He paused, then took out five heavy silver dollars from his pocket, weighed them in his palm, and they made a crisp, pleasant metallic clanging sound.

"How about you teach me how to use these five silver dollars?"

"Young master, you want to learn martial arts?" Master Huang was taken aback.

"Yes, Elder Huang, would you be willing to teach me?" Cang Lian's tone was calm, yet carried a serious tone.

Since the path of martial arts is so powerful, he has no choice but to take it.

Perhaps, this is the key to breaking free from the Cang family.

"Young Master, you're making this old man too proud!" Master Huang waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head like a rattle-drum. "My meager skills are nothing compared to yours. Our Cang family is a martial arts family, full of masters. In the backyard, there's a special martial arts hall for young masters and young ladies to learn martial arts, with professional martial arts instructors. It's the right path for you to learn there!"

"My aunt never let me go to the martial arts academy when I was little." Cang Lian churned through his memories, his voice carrying a perfectly measured hint of melancholy.

"This..." Master Huang hesitated.

Although the servants didn't know the ins and outs of the situation, they vaguely understood that the Ninth Concubine and the First Madam had a strained relationship, and that the young master's status in the mansion wasn't much higher than theirs.

"What, is Elder Huang unwilling to teach me because the money is too little?" Cang Lian raised his eyes, took out five more silver dollars from his pocket, and stacked them together with the previous five to make ten.

"Here are ten silver dollars, is that enough?"

"Young master, it's really not about the money..." Master Huang's face showed a troubled expression.

Teaching the young master is fine, but the young master's identity is too sensitive. If the first wife finds out, this old man will really be thrown into the Shengjiang River.

Cang Lian saw through his concerns and did not press him further. Instead, she turned her gaze to Gu Guolong, who was standing silently to the side.

Gu Guolong paused for a moment, then said calmly, "You teach him."

After saying that, he slowly turned around and walked to a spot not far away.

With these words, Master Huang felt relieved, because he knew that Gu Guolong was the First Madam's confidant and his words carried weight.

"Old Huang, here are ten silver dollars, please take them." Cang Lian struck while the iron was hot, stuffing the ten cold silver dollars into Master Huang's cotton-padded jacket pocket without saying a word.

"Oh, young master, you mustn't! You are the master, how dare I accept your money!" Master Huang hurriedly tried to take out his money, but Cang Lian held his hand down.

"This money isn't given to you for nothing," Cang Lian said. "I'm naturally slow-witted and learn slowly, so please bear with me, Elder Huang, and put in more effort. Consider this money as an advance payment for your tea."

Upon hearing this, Master Huang hesitated for a moment, then stopped refusing and put the ten silver dollars into his pocket.

He straightened his slightly hunched back and solemnly cupped his hands in a respectful bow: "Young master, rest assured! I will impart all my knowledge and skills to you without reservation!"

"Good, good, good!" Cang Lian was overjoyed.