Martial arts mastery? But I'm just a spoiled brat!

During these ten days, Gong Ruomei only came over in the morning to watch Yan Qing practice Baguazhang twice, then answered some of the questions Yan Qing had, before returning to her own courtyard.

Although Yan Qing did not have Wan Xing arrange for someone to monitor Gong Ruomei, he already knew that Gong Ruomei would start practicing intensively as soon as she returned to the courtyard these past few days.

To this end, Yan Qing also sent a lot of cultivation resources, such as blood-activating pills and qi-tonifying and spirit-nourishing herbs.

Needless to say, Wanxing arranged everything for him meticulously, and she would even go over occasionally to give him a massage.

Gong Ruomei did not refuse these offers, and because of Wanxing's meticulous care in daily life, she seemed to get along well with Wanxing and Lanyue.

He would even take the time to give the two of them pointers.

Wanxing benefited the most, as he practiced Plum Blossom Mantis Boxing and was a specialist in the Mantis Cunning Hand technique.

The most important thing is speed and accuracy. Every move is aimed directly at the enemy's eyes, throat, groin, etc. Because the pursuit is the ultimate speed, the moves are all straightforward and can even be done in the fire.

However, while this style of play is very advantageous among players of the same skill level, it is not very effective when facing truly skilled opponents. It is easy for such players to defend against it and then kill the opponent.

Therefore, Gong Ruomei specifically taught Wanxing a lot of hidden strength techniques and attack rhythms, as well as tricks like switching between feints and real attacks, which greatly benefited Wanxing and made her show signs of breaking through.

Even Lan Yue seemed to be favored by Elder Jiang, and received a lot of guidance on weaponry.

So in their spare time, the two women began to practice diligently.

However, their progress paled in comparison to Yan Qing's.

Yan Qing was still in the training room, but what he saw in front of him was no longer a wooden dummy, but an iron figure cast from pig iron.

The Iron Man was covered in several layers of cowhide, and it was the object of Yan Qing's current practice of internal energy cultivation.

"Bang~"

Yan Qing struck the cowhide on the iron man's body with his palm, causing a slight dent in his hand and producing a soft sound.

However, when Yan Qing removed his palm, the surface of the leather would recover slightly, making it appear as if the palm strike had no effect whatsoever.

However, small pieces of cowhide would slowly fall from the bottom of the iron figure through the gaps in the cowhide covering it.

Clearly, Yan Qing's palm strike was not ineffective; rather, the effect was not manifested on the surface of the cowhide, but rather it was unleashed internally.

Baguazhang: Hidden Strength 833/2500

"Soon..."

Staring at the numbers on the text that appeared before him, Yan Qing's eyes lit up, and then he struck the cowhide covering the iron man with his palm again.

"Smack! Smack! Crack!"

After two consecutive palm strikes, Yan Qing opened his eyes and then pushed out another palm strike. This time, however, the sound of his palm hitting the cowhide was much crisper.

"Phew, it's done!"

But when Yan Qing withdrew his hand, a deep palm print was clearly visible on the originally intact cowhide. Moreover, as Yan Qing withdrew his hand, this time the cowhide did not bounce back, but began to peel off.

As the cowhide peeled away, it revealed cast iron that had been polished to a smooth finish.

Baguazhang: Hidden Strength 834/2500

Before Yan Qing, a familiar line of text reappeared, and the progress bar had now exceeded one-third.

This also proves that Yan Qing's internal strength has already reached a certain level of mastery.

"The current internal force burst is not so difficult to generate, and the total amount has also increased significantly. Even if it does not strike the opponent's joints or vital points, it can still cause great damage."

Looking at the iron man behind the palm print, Yan Qing smiled slightly. Ten days of hard training had finally paid off.

"However, the cultivation of internal energy is becoming increasingly slow. In the past, it only required a few strikes to increase progress, but now it requires unleashing all the internal energy several times to increase progress. It seems that we need to consider other methods of cultivation."

As the internal energy accumulates, the progress bar begins to slow down.

This is unavoidable. Although the explosive power of internal energy is formidable, the more profound the internal energy is each time it is released, the heavier the burden on the body becomes.

Even though Yan Qing has no shortage of resources, his body is still his own. If he keeps pushing himself to the limit in his cultivation, the burden will be too heavy, and he will have to rest after only a short time.

Therefore, Yan Qing tried his best to control the burst of internal energy within a certain range so that he could continue his cultivation.

"Young master, please rest for a while."

Lan Yue, who was cultivating nearby, saw Yan Qing stop and quickly took a towel to wipe Yan Qing's face.

"Um."

Yan Qing took the towel, then walked to a chair nearby, and began to ask questions:

"How's the search for the tiger going?"

Yan Qing's cultivation was too intense; the entire jar of tiger blood wine had long been consumed. Without the replenishment of tiger blood wine, his cultivation speed was affected.

"We've been gathering intelligence on everything we can, but after two trips, we haven't found any trace of the tiger."

Wanxing dabbed some medicinal wine on her hands, then squatted down to massage Yan Qing's arm, answering Yan Qing's questions as she spoke.

Seeing Yan Qing begin to frown, Wan Xing didn't make any excuses, but continued speaking:

"However, I have collected a recipe that can boil tiger bones into pills. Although it is not as good as tiger blood wine in replenishing qi and blood, it is more effective in strengthening muscles and bones and calming the mind."

The pill has been made and its effects are currently being tested. If it is safe, the young master will be able to use it tomorrow.

Regarding tigers, I will also expand the scope of my search.

"Hmm, not bad! Spending more money is fine."

Hearing this, Yan Qing's brows relaxed a little.

During this period, there was no Tiger Blood Wine available, so after each cultivation session, Wanxing could only give her more massages to prevent any hidden injuries to her body.

"Yes! The word has been spread that anyone who has sightings of the tiger, once confirmed, will receive a substantial reward."

Wanxing spoke as she massaged him.

"How is my father doing lately?"

After asking about the tiger blood wine, Yan Qing finally remembered his father.

"The warlord has led his army out of Shanxi Province and is currently in contact with other warlords, but has not yet taken any action."

Wanxing truly lived up to her reputation as Yan Qing's intelligence steward; no matter when Yan Qing inquired, she could always provide an answer.

"How has the city been lately?"

Yan Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned back. Lan Yue hugged Yan Qing in her arms and pressed her slender fingers against Yan Qing's head.

"The common people and officials are all normal, and there is nothing unusual about the army and major factories. However, there have been many more martial artists in the city recently. These martial artists do not seem to be from the same faction and have many characteristics of the Northwest and Northeast."

"Hmm, it seems that Father's trip south has aroused the interest of many people, who have ordered him to be closely monitored so that no unusual activity can be missed."

Yan Qing's body had completely relaxed, but his tone had become much colder.