In the world of martial arts, grind your skill level to become a saint.

"Join the guard?"

Xia Jin was stunned for a moment.

Su Hao was just a blacksmith, and he had never heard of the other party practicing martial arts before.

"Young Master Lin Hong, you must have misunderstood. This Su Hao is just a blacksmith..."

He had known Su Hao's family for many years and had never heard of Su Hao joining any martial arts school.

Moreover, the cost of learning martial arts is not low, and given the current circumstances of Su Hao's family, they could not possibly afford it.

Xia Yingying, standing to the side, was even more puzzled, looking at Lin Hong with the same confusion.

She had previously looked down on Su Hao for being just a blacksmith and was also dissatisfied with her father's forced marriage, so she studied diligently from a young age, becoming proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and eventually became a talented woman.

The goal, of course, was to break free from his father's arrangements and one day achieve great success, obtaining the life he desired.

Because she didn't want to end up like her eldest sister, being arbitrarily assigned a marriage, marrying an ordinary, useless person, living a poor life with no future.

She also had to endure ridicule and beatings from her incompetent and useless husband every day.

So after Lin Hong took a liking to her and the two established a relationship, the first thing she did when she got home the next day was to have her father completely sever ties with Su Hao's family.

What she didn't expect was that Su Hao, who seemed ordinary to her, had actually become a martial artist and had even received an invitation from the Lin family.

"If his name is indeed Su Hao, and he is a blacksmith, then there's no mistake."

Lin Hong shook his head, no longer thinking about these unimportant things. He then looked at Xia Yingying beside him and said, "Yingying, I'll go back first and talk to my mother about us. Given how filial I've been to her these past few days, I think she'll agree."

Lin Hong walked up to Xia Yingying and stroked her soft, beautiful hair as he spoke.

The Lin family is large and powerful, while Xia Yingying is just the daughter of a small merchant. If the two want to be together legitimately, Lin Hong must obtain the consent of his family elders.

His mother, in particular, was very particular about marrying someone of equal social standing.

"Hmm... Young Master, please be careful on your journey. As long as Yingying can be with you, status is not important to me..."

Xia Yingying's eyes were filled with reluctance and concern. She held Lin Hong's hand tightly with her slender fingers, and her voice was soft and sensible.

"Okay! Wait for me!"

Lin Hong nodded vigorously, then gently released Xia Yingying's hand, bid farewell to Xia Jin, turned and walked out of the shop, and got into the carriage.

"Did you go and tell Su Hao about the annulment of the engagement last time?"

Now that Xia Yingying has Lin Hong as her backer, she speaks with more confidence. Looking at her father behind her, her voice becomes much colder.

If it weren't for her getting close to Lin Hong and gaining his support, the Xia family's rice shop business wouldn't have grown so large.

She herself had always been dissatisfied with her father's previous arrangements, so deep down she also looked down on her father.

She believed that the other party would only sacrifice her daughter to gain benefits for herself; the older sister had done so before, and so had she.

"Everything has been explained clearly, but I didn't expect that kid to have hidden so much..."

Xia Jin's smile faded, and his eyes flickered.

He felt a bit scared at that moment.

If what Lin Hong said earlier is true, then wouldn't Su Hao be a true martial artist now?

Otherwise, he would never have received an invitation from the Lin family to join the guard team.

He thought about what he had done to the other party before, and he was equally afraid of the other party's retaliation.

Although he has some relationship with Lin Hong now, it's only because of Xia Yingying, who is merely a concubine who hasn't yet been formally married into the family...

If Su Hao really wanted to deal with them, the consequences would be unimaginable...

"He probably saw our relationship with Young Master Lin Hong just now, so there's no need to worry about what he might do..."

Xia Yingying seemed to sense Xia Jin's worry, and a hint of annoyance appeared in her eyes.

Xia Jin always shows this side of herself whenever something happens.

"What I need right now is to keep Young Master Lin Hong from finding out about the engagement, or everything will be over! It's a good thing he didn't join the Lin family, so you all better keep your mouths shut, understand?"

Xia Yingying said coldly.

Faced with his increasingly assertive second daughter, Xia Jin could only nod in agreement.

If it weren't for his second daughter, his rice shop would have gone out of business years ago.

So now, the one who actually speaks in the family is Xia Yingying.

Seeing that Xia Jin agreed, Xia Yingying said no more and turned to walk inside.

Xia Jin watched his second daughter's retreating figure for a long while before sighing. He glanced at the direction Su Hao had left in before shaking his head and returning to the counter to continue his own business.

...

Su Hao returned to Yueshan Boxing Gym around afternoon.

Because I had been busy negotiating with the forces that came to invite me to take up a temporary post, it took quite a while.

However, before Su Hao could even begin his cultivation, he heard some unexpected news.

That means Tang Huang has broken through the Stone Skin level!

This news, like a storm that swept through the Yueshan Boxing Gym, will also sweep through the entire Hongqiao Town, or even the entire outer city.

Su Hao was also somewhat surprised.

After all, he knew that Tang Huang had only been cultivating for less than half a month.

To be able to break through the stone skin in such a short time, one's martial arts talent is indeed formidable!

Only now did Su Hao truly understand what it felt like to be crushed by someone else's talent.

It's worth noting that he was able to break through the Stone Skin level in a month because of his proficiency panel. As long as he put in the effort and sweat, he could reap the rewards, and there were no bottlenecks in his breakthrough, which is why he achieved such a decent result.

Tang Huang, on the other hand, relied entirely on his own talent to shorten the time it took to break through by half!

Although Su Hao was surprised, he didn't take it too seriously.

The path of martial arts is long, and Shi Pi is just the beginning; there's no need to be anxious about it.

After all, anxiety is useless and only wastes your energy for no reason.

He glanced at Tang Huang, who was being watched by a crowd after his breakthrough.

He had no intention of joining in the fun, but instead returned to his own practice area to continue his daily training.

As evening approached, Su Hao looked around the training ground but did not spot Zhou Zhengtang.

He had originally planned to confirm the temporary assignment with the other party today, but it seems that Zhou Zhengtang has something else to do and won't be coming.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, Su Hao received his two doses of Blood-Strengthening Soup for the day and prepared to leave the boxing gym to visit the Hongqiao Town Market and update his progress in defeating Bai Jie.

Just as they reached the door, they heard what sounded like an argument coming from the girls' quarters, along with a woman's shouts.

The entire boxing gym suddenly became noisy.

"What happened?"

At this moment, most people in the martial arts school looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what had happened at the girls' college.

However, judging from the sound, it seems like people are arguing.

Su Hao frowned slightly, also unaware of what had happened, but upon seeing a carriage parked in front of the girls' courtyard, he immediately felt that the arguing sound was somewhat familiar.

boom!

Before Su Hao could confirm his guess, the gate of the girls' college was suddenly pushed open, and a woman in a black training uniform strode out and nimbly leaped onto the carriage.

With a neighing of hooves, the carriage sped away, kicking up a cloud of dust.