Republic of China Era: Entering the Dao through Divine Strike.

"Is Young Master going out?" Zhuang Hongxiu's attention was immediately diverted, and her emotions began to fluctuate.

"It's just an example. You can't stay in the garden all day long, can you?"

Li Xin raised his hand, took her slightly cool palm, and gently pressed the warm, pulsating golden dragon energy into her palm.

"For the past six months, you've been by my side. You're my closest and most trusted person. We agreed that no one can die before the world is at peace."

"What do you mean by 'dead'? Young master, stop talking about it."

Zhuang Hongxiu hurriedly interrupted, and whether she was thinking too much or not, she reached out and gently covered Li Xin's mouth, her voice trembling slightly.

It touched Li Xin's lips.

She quickly took it back, feeling embarrassed.

He simply lowered his eyes and stared intently at the golden light pulsating brightly in his palm.

The warm dragon energy permeated her skin and flesh, turning her eyelashes a pale gold color.

She slowly closed her fingers, tightly gripping the dragon energy in her palms, as if holding the most precious thing in the world, afraid that if she loosened her grip even slightly, this tenderness would dissipate.

"I'll do as you say."

Zhuang Hongxiu slowly raised her head, her eyes reflecting the lamplight, swaying gently.

Zhan Yan smiled and said, "Young Master, I can also help you kill enemies in the future and rush to the front."

"Slaying enemies can wait until you reach the Transformation Realm. This dragon energy isn't that precious. There's still some in the palace. I'll take some more back, and then we'll definitely have a surplus. Don't worry about saving it; just focus on improving as soon as possible."

"Mm." Zhuang Hongxiu took a soft breath, suppressing the surging emotions in her heart, her eyes softening. "In the future, when my martial arts skills are more advanced, I can also take the blows for you."

"By the time you take the knife for us, we'll be in a terrible state."

Li Xin chuckled and reached out to smooth the messy strands of hair from her forehead.

He let go of her hand and turned to walk towards the kitchen door.

As he reached the threshold, he turned back and looked at me with a warm gaze.

"Hongxiu, don't really think of yourself as a maid."

He pushed open the door and left.

Behind him, the embers of the stove burned brightly, their light spilling out through the paper window.

Zhuang Hongxiu stood there, covering her face with her hands, her ears burning red, her heart pounding.

Li Xin did not immediately return to the Bamboo Garden to rest.

He stood quietly for a moment under the moon gate in the courtyard...

The night breeze ruffled the hem of my clothes, calming my mind slightly. Then I turned through the corridor and headed straight for the west wing.

Cheng Feiyan has been staying at Li Garden for the past few days.

On the surface, he was entrusted by his father, Cheng Yuanhua, to stay behind and train the guards with Wang Jingya, and to teach new disciples.

In truth, Cheng Yuanhua knew perfectly well that only by staying by Li Xin's side could his daughter truly live a safe and worry-free life in the entire capital.

The south-facing room in the west wing was Cheng Feiyan's residence.

A string of delicate bamboo wind chimes, woven by her own hands, hangs at the entrance.

The night was deep and the breeze was cool. The evening wind swept through the courtyard, causing the wind chimes to sway gently...

The crisp, tinkling sounds broke the deep silence of the courtyard.

The door wasn't closed tightly, just a crack, through which warm orange light shone and fell on the bluestone floor.

Li Xin raised his hand to knock on the door, but the door was opened from the inside first.

Cheng Feiyan stood at the door, dressed in a clean and neat moon-white training uniform, her long hair loosely tied up with a plain wooden hairpin.

A few strands of hair fell beside her ears, their pale golden hue tinged by the indoor light.

She had clearly just finished her ascetic practice, as her forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat.

Her cheeks were flushed from exercise...

His breathing was still slightly rapid and had not yet completely calmed down.

Upon suddenly seeing Li Xin at the door, she was visibly startled for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and smiled:

"What are you doing standing at my door in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

"Ask your senior sister for a massage."

This was their secret code.

Of course, it is also necessary for daily strength training.

Pushing hands is actually a practice of honing, mastering, and guiding one's strength.

The more proficient you are in regular practice, the stronger you will be when facing an enemy.

Previously, Li Xin needed his senior sister's guidance to gradually become familiar with and eventually master the skills;

Later, he mastered the art of controlling his strength to a very high degree, far surpassing Cheng Feiyan in skill level, and the two began to push each other less often.

Because her senior sister's strength was no longer enough to have any effect on him.

"Now?"

Cheng Feiyan looked him up and down, her eyes full of suspicion.

A few days ago, when she was practicing push hands with Li Xin, she felt as if she was completely controlled by her junior brother and had no initiative at all.

Although there were some improvements, my entire arm was numb after the exercise, and it was even difficult to hold chopsticks. It was really tough.

But she never refuses to spar with her junior brother.

She stepped aside to open the door, tilted her head slightly towards the room, and laid out the three rules in advance.

"Alright, come in and practice with me. Let's make it clear first, no internal energy allowed. My bones can't withstand your force."

"Definitely not."

Li Xin responded and walked into the middle of the room.

Cheng Feiyan moved to stand opposite him, bent her waist and assumed a stance, and slowly raised her palms.

Assume the starting stance of Baguazhang.

The palm contains hidden strength, and the edge of the palm is turned outward.

Li Xin also stretched out his hands and slowly pushed them up.

The moment their palms touched, Cheng Feiyan instinctively softened her palm strike and flicked her wrist, trying to use Li Xin's force against him and deflect his attack.

But the next second, all her gentle strength seemed to be melted away by a tremendous force.

My body froze, and I could no longer control it.

"fraud."

For no apparent reason, Cheng Feiyan felt a surge of grievance.

We agreed not to use internal energy.

Does my junior brother never tell the truth?

A warm and dense internal force surged from Li Xin's palm, exerting a strong suction force rather than pushing or pulling, firmly locking down her palm strike.

A wisp of pure, golden dragon energy slowly seeped into her Laogong acupoint along the palms that were pressed together.

It ascends steadily along the Pericardium Meridian of Hand-Jueyin.

It passes through the forearm, crosses the elbow, and goes straight to the Tanzhong acupoint on the chest.

This dragon energy is condensed and pure, although it is only two ounces.

The effect, however, is extremely powerful.

It travels through the meridians without any sense of impact or tearing pain, only like the gentle soaking of melting snow in spring.

She could clearly feel that her blood and qi were being ignited as if by fire, and a force far exceeding her own strength soared into the sky.

It's as if they want to blow their own bodies to smithereens.

However, this force barely lingered on the edge of explosion, repeatedly washing and impacting the meridians and bones from the outside in, strengthening the internal organs.

The subtle, wispy internal energy.

It spreads throughout the body's energy channels, slowly forming a vast net.

It was like water flowing into a channel, without any obstacles whatsoever.

"This is……"

"Junior brother, you didn't come here to spar at all."

Cheng Feiyan suddenly looked up and met Li Xin's clear and calm eyes.

His eyes were calm and composed, as if he had everything under control. Clearly, he had made up his mind from the very beginning, and this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision to practice his skills.

Recalling her casual, joking question, Cheng Feiyan's cheeks flushed with annoyance.

She bit her lower lip and said in a low voice, "Let go of me right now, don't take advantage of me not recognizing what you gave me."

That's the aura of the dragon vein, a treasure from the palace, right? Father once mentioned it."

"Don't move."

Li Xin's palm remained unmoved, and he laughed:

"Senior sister has been stuck at the Dark Force stage for quite a while. Her body, mind, bones, and internal strength are almost perfected. There's no need for her to hone her skills for a few more years."

This dragon energy is your final push.

If we let go now, the dragon's energy will dissipate, wasting at least 30% of the opportunity.

I don't know how long it will take to break through to the Transformation Realm. Senior Sister, do you still want to help me?

"To be honest, you didn't perform very well in today's battle, senior sister."

Cheng Feiyan stared at him for a long time, her heart filled with a turbulent mix of emotions, before finally slowly closing her eyes.

My eyes feel slightly sore.

From the day she accepted Li Xin as her junior brother, this young man remained forever.

He never says what benefits he has gained or what he wants to help with; he just does it quietly.

The Cheng Family Bagua sect has risen from a declining school, barely able to teach poor students and earn a meager living, to become the most prominent sect in the capital, attracting worldwide attention.

Whose achievement is this? It goes without saying.

Although his father, Cheng Yuanhua, was known as one of the Six Masters of the Capital, he was considered a grandmaster.

When you're out in the world, not many people really give you a second glance.

After all, these days you not only need to be capable, but also have status, position, and money.

You're just a struggling martial arts instructor. People will call you Master Cheng out of respect, but if they don't, they won't even acknowledge you.

But now?

Wherever my father went, he was treated as an honored guest.

Even the most arrogant and domineering figures in the martial arts world wouldn't dare to stand up straight in his presence.

Who doesn't know that Li Yanluo is his disciple? Who would dare to show him the slightest disrespect?

Even Master Yin Changshou, who usually didn't pay much attention to this junior brother, didn't dare to say a single word of offense.

Cheng Feiyan herself was no exception.

She joined the sect earlier and was older, so she should have been the one to take care of her junior brother.

In the end, she was always silently protected and supported by this junior brother.

A variety of thoughts flashed through my mind.

The next instant, the warm dragon energy burst forth from her Tanzhong acupoint.

Cheng Feiyan could clearly hear her steady, powerful heartbeat suddenly quicken.

It was as if the invisible shackles that had imprisoned my body for decades had suddenly shattered, or as if the boulder that had been pressing on my chest for many years had been completely removed.