Rootless Duckweed

She stared blankly at Lin Zheyu, suddenly feeling that marrying him didn't seem as hard to accept as she had imagined. Bang! Suddenly, Lin Zheyu landed a heavy punch squarely on Chen Mu's chest, jolting him back several steps. "I take back what I said earlier. You're an opponent worthy of respect—much better than those few useless fools watching over there!" Chen Mu grinned, his arrogance undiminished. Not a trace of pain showed on his face, as though that heavy blow hadn't landed on him at all. Pain only stoked his ferocity and battle lust; it would never make him quail. "Show me everything you've got. If this is all you have, I'll be sorely disappointed." Lin Zheyu looked calmly at Chen Mu. He had engaged in this fight precisely to experience Chen Mu's momentum. Yet so far, Chen Mu's momentum had failed to impress him. It was a bit too weak. The faint insight that had just begun to stir within him had cut off prematurely because the other man's momentum lacked sufficient power. "Fine!" Chen Mu barked. He slammed his right foot onto the ground. His muscles swelled, blood vessels bulged, and veins throbbed beneath his skin as his expression turned savage. In an instant, his aura surged by several degrees. An even more terrifying murderous aura flared out from him, his eyes tinting a faint, bloody red. Thump! Power erupted from beneath Chen Mu's feet, propelling him like an arrow toward Lin Zheyu. The moment he reached Lin Zheyu, his body twisted in an uncanny fashion, converting punch into kick as his right leg swept up from an oblique angle without warning. Smack! Lin Zheyu shifted his fist into an open palm, caught Chen Mu's calf, yanked it back, and fired a straight punch directly toward Chen Mu's face. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two clashed fiercely once more. Lin Zheyu kept his strength capped at the middle stage of the Bone Tempering Realm, matching Chen Mu blow for blow, but his discerning eye remained genuinely that of the Qi and Blood Realm. Though Chen Mu's strikes were ruthless and his combat experience vast, he still could not gain the upper hand against Lin Zheyu. As time wore on, the aura surrounding Chen Mu grew steadily more ferocious. A dense murderous intent enveloped his entire body, clouding his mind. Crimson fully suffused his eyes, and a stench of slaughter and gore radiated from him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Chen Mu attacked with ever-increasing ruthlessness. He abandoned all defense, launching into a berserk frenzy where every strike inflicted eight hundred wounds on the enemy at the cost of a thousand to himself. "Not good, Chen Mu is losing his mind!" Chen Xihong cried. "Run, Young Master Lin! My cousin is going mad!" Xu Yuxiang could not help but shout, her face filled with anxiety. Whether she feared for her cousin or for Lin Zheyu was anyone's guess. Lin Zheyu fell back swiftly, dodging Chen Mu's suicidal onslaught. 'What a pity. His momentum still isn't strong enough,' Lin Zheyu mused inwardly. He had deliberately prolonged the fight so that Chen Mu's momentum could steadily climb to its peak, but alas, even this fell short. The momentum on Chen Mu offered him some inspiration, yet it was meager. The man was simply too weak. Had Chen Mu been at the peak of the Viscera Tempering Realm, the insight he could have provided would have been vastly greater. Lin Zheyu had no intention of letting this drag on any longer; continuing would only ruin Chen Mu. Though the Mad Battle Art was wondrous in how it nurtured momentum through combat—growing stronger the longer the fight lasted—it was not without cost. It achieved this by overdrawing physical vitality. If Chen Mu continued pushing it higher, he could easily end up dead of utter exhaustion. Unleashing the Golden Goose Skill, Lin Zheyu's speed surged. With a swift shift of his frame, he evaded Chen Mu's strike and appeared right behind him. Smack! Forming a blade with his hand, he chopped down viciously against Chen Mu's neck. Chen Mu felt a searing jolt of pain in his neck as his vision swam. He swayed several steps, yet miraculously refused to lose consciousness. 'This fellow's willpower is truly formidable,' Lin Zheyu thought, preparing to step forward and deliver another blow. "Stop!" "I'm fine. I lose this round." Seeing Lin Zheyu advance, Chen Mu gritted his teeth against the throbbing pain in his neck and the dizziness in his head to concede. That single chop had knocked him out of the murderous frenzy's grip. The crimson in his eyes had faded, and he had pulled himself free from the Mad Battle Art's influence. "Incredible, Brother Lin! You actually managed to suppress this brute!" Ren Qingfeng exclaimed in admiration. How could he fail to see that Lin Zheyu had shown mercy? Had Lin Zheyu deployed that nimble lightness skill alongside his fist technique from the very start, Chen Mu would have been defeated within a few exchanges. "A fluke. I relied on the lightness skill to gain an edge," Lin Zheyu said modestly. "If I had clashed head-on with Young Master Chen, I would have been the one to lose over time." "Hmph, a loss is a loss. Lightness skills are part of one's strength, and I, Chen Mu, can afford to lose. Losing to you leaves me thoroughly convinced!" Chen Mu shook his head, clearing his thoughts considerably. "Come, come, sit and rest a while." "Xiao Cui, pour tea." Xu Qinyi smilingly beckoned everyone over to sit and enjoy some tea. Lin Zheyu was someone his father held in high regard, practically bearing the stamp of the Xu clan already. If the marriage arrangement with Xu Yuxiang succeeded, he would belong entirely to the Xu family. The higher Lin Zheyu's talent and the greater his strength, the happier Xu Qinyi became. When they returned to the gazebo, Xu Yuxiang's heart thumped wildly. From time to time, she stole glances at Lin Zheyu from the corner of her eye, finding him more pleasing to look at with every passing moment. "Has your heart been set aflutter?" Ren Qingying whispered teasingly into Xu Yuxiang's ear. "Nonsense!" Xu Yuxiang protested in a soft, delicate voice. Her voice had slipped out a bit too loud, drawing everyone's eyes toward them, and her cheeks instantly flushed crimson. "Haha! Brother Lin's strength is truly extraordinary. I am full of admiration! In place of wine, let me toast you with tea!" Xu Qinyi said with a laugh. The atmosphere relaxed once more, and Xu Yuxiang caused no further trouble, sitting quietly with blushing cheeks. "Have you really been practicing martial arts for less than six months?" After a long silence, Chen Mu finally could not resist asking. He had begun to question his entire life. Could seven or eight years of bitter cultivation truly not measure up to someone who had practiced for half a year? No—not even half a year. Chen Mu knew his natural talent was nothing remarkable; whatever achievements he possessed today had been bought through brutal training, blood-soaked skirmishes, and relentless combat. Yet Lin Zheyu's talent was so monstrous that it stirred an involuntary pang of jealousy within him. "Yes," Lin Zheyu nodded. "Less than half a year... Heh, to think I lost to someone who hasn't even practiced martial arts for six months," Chen Mu muttered in self-deprecation. His gaze wavered for a split second, only to gradually turn steely once again. Chen Mu was inherently that sort of person: wild, stubborn, and never willing to admit defeat. "It must be that I haven't worked hard enough. I must work harder—ten times harder than before!" Chen Mu clenched his fists, unyielding conviction blazing in his eyes. He had never considered himself a genius; he had only ever used diligence far surpassing others to overtake those so-called prodigies. Now, an even greater genius, Lin Zheyu, had appeared. Yet Chen Mu would not give up. He would redouble his efforts, and one day, just as he had surpassed all the other prodigies, he would overtake Lin Zheyu as well! "Brother Lin, once I have cultivated for a while longer, let us fight again!" Chen Mu said solemnly. "Agreed!" Lin Zheyu nodded. He held deep respect for Chen Mu; this was a genius forged purely from relentless effort. "By the way, that Mad Battle Art you used just now—can it be taught to outsiders?" Lin Zheyu could not resist asking. That art incorporated combat momentum, and the essence of that momentum bore certain similarities to the fist momentum of the Wild Bull Fist. Perhaps it could offer him some guidance. "Is Brother Lin interested in the Mad Battle Art?" "Unfortunately, the Mad Battle Art is an ancestral technique of my Chen clan and cannot be taught to outsiders. If Brother Lin wishes to learn it, you could marry into our Chen residence as a matrilocal son-in-law. Would Brother Lin be interested?" Chen Xihong teased with a chuckle. After witnessing this match, even he had begun eyeing Lin Zheyu. "Get out of here! Even you're trying to poach from my Xu clan's corner?" Xu Qinyi rolled his eyes at him. "Exactly! First come, first served. I was planning on having Brother Lin become my brother-in-law... Oww, ouch, ouch! Sister, take it easy!" Halfway through his sentence, Ren Qingfeng felt a soft hand pinching his waist. Though he was thick-skinned and tough, he still yelped aloud, earning a sharp glare from Ren Qingying. "Mind your tongue!" Ren Qingying scolded him. "Hahaha!" The others could not help bursting into laughter. Xu Qinyi turned to Lin Zheyu and said, "The Mad Battle Art has major limitations. Powerful though it is, as you saw just now, prolonged combat causes murderous aura to invade the mind, stripping away all reason. "Many who cultivate the Mad Battle Art do not fall at the hands of their foes, but die of sheer exhaustion. Because they fight into madness and lose their wits, they cannot stop, and ultimately perish when their strength runs dry." Ren Qingfeng nodded. "Indeed. Chen Mu, you must be careful in the future. Don't let yourself lose your senses in the heat of battle." "Don't worry. The clan patriarch and the elders have already devised a countermeasure. Chen Mu won't walk that old path," Chen Xihong said. The Mad Battle Art could only be mastered by those who loved battle and dared to be ruthless toward themselves. The more ruthless one was with oneself, the more one could grasp the true essence of the art. Yet such people were also the most prone to falling into battle frenzies and losing their sanity. As a consequence, most members of the Chen clan who cultivated the Mad Battle Art in the past had perished on the battlefield. 'A pity,' Lin Zheyu thought to himself. Since it was a family heirloom forbidden to outsiders, Lin Zheyu could only drop the idea. The spar was merely a minor interlude. The group returned to enjoying the opera and playing parlor games. By the time Lin Zheyu arrived home, night had already fallen. In the courtyard, he practiced the Wild Bull Fist, replaying his match with Chen Mu in his mind. The fist momentum of the Wild Bull Fist was imbued with an overbearing resolve—an indomitable, peerless will to charge headlong through all obstacles. Chen Mu's momentum, by contrast, reeked of blood and slaughter. It was a madness carved out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood—an immensely powerful conviction forged through life-and-death struggle after life-and-death struggle. Though soaked in gore, that conviction was anchored far more firmly in reality. 'I always felt something was missing before. Was it the crucible of the battlefield?' 'Only by ceaselessly fighting, clawing victory out of real life-and-death clashes, can one accumulate a conviction that is truly invincible.' Lin Zheyu murmured to himself, seeing the path toward elevating his fist momentum. Combat—ceaseless combat. To build invincible conviction and unshakeable confidence through round after round of mortal peril. He had simply experienced too few battles. The fist momentum he had grasped through sheer comprehension was exceedingly overbearing and filled with an invincible will, yet like rootless duckweed, it drifted somewhat hollow. *** At the Xu Residence. Xu Qinyi and his father, Xu Jingwu, sat playing a game of go. Clack! Xu Jingwu placed a stone and asked softly, "How was the gathering today?" "Today, Xu Yuxiang brought Chen Mu over, and he had a spar with Lin Zheyu," Xu Qinyi replied. After a moment's thought, he placed a stone in an idle corner. "Chen Mu didn't strike too heavily, did he?" Xu Jingwu asked. "No. Chen Mu lost," Xu Qinyi said with a smile. His eyes remained fixed on Xu Jingwu, catching the astonishment and marvel that flashed across his father's face. 'As expected, even Father never imagined Brother Lin would be this outstanding!' Xu Qinyi noted inwardly. "That is indeed unexpected." "To think an impulse back then would bring us such an astonishingly gifted youngster," Xu Jingwu said with a chuckle. Matters in this world were truly unpredictable. At the time, he had merely felt bored and thought Lin Zheyu's storytelling was quite good, wishing only to invite him over to tell stories. Who could have foreseen discovering such an extraordinary martial talent as a result? "How did Yuxiang react? Is she still resistant?" Xu Jingwu placed another stone and asked. "Afterward, Yuxiang quieted down. She kept sneaking glances at Brother Lin, so that shouldn't be an issue anymore. As for whether it works out, that will mostly depend on whether Brother Lin has any interest," Xu Qinyi said. "Raise Lin Zheyu's monthly allowance to fifteen taels of silver." "The garrison at Baishi Mountain rotates in a few days. Put Lin Zheyu in charge of a squad to guard the southern sector. The terrain there is treacherous, so it won't be as dangerous," Xu Jingwu instructed. "Understood, Father." "Now, tell me in detail about what happened this afternoon..."