Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

Chapter 43: Chapter 42 Good news, Old Ba Zi is injured

"Break limit?"

Shen Qing looked at the water ink characters in his sight, showing a faint look of bewilderment.

As far as he knew, the Martial Arts of the Nine Skills could essentially only be cultivated to the Great Perfection of Qi and Blood.

Once reaching this step, the Qi-Blood within one's body had already reached the physical limit it could endure, and no matter how much more one cultivated, it would not increase the Qi-Blood or produce any power.

It was like a cup filled with water; if you kept adding water, it would overflow, but the total amount of water contained would not change.

At this moment, the Water Ink Panel suddenly reminded him that the Nine Skills had a Limit Breaking Technique, which somewhat overturned the understanding of Martial Arts he had just established.

In fact, through continuous exploration over these days, Shen Qing had already discovered the pattern of the Water Ink Panel.

Generally speaking, as long as he had reached Entry Level in a skill, the Water Ink Panel would incorporate it.

After being incorporated into the Panel, each time he practiced, he could continuously improve his Progress, deepening his comprehension.

Upon reaching a bottleneck, he could subjectively Break Limit, integrating all the details he had practiced, and sometimes this would even bring about changes in some innate talents and skills.

Just like learning to recognize characters and read, practicing every day would deepen one's wisdom and comprehension, and then when quantitative change caused qualitative change, one would break through.

He also unexpectedly awakened the skill Never Forget.

Currently, the various skills in the Water Ink Panel can be basically divided into several levels: "Entry Level," "Skillfully," "Small Success," "Great Success," and "Great Perfection."

He had never encountered such a concept as breaking limits before.

"However, this is not a bad thing. Having reached the realm of Great Perfection of Qi and Blood, I already possess Half Bull Strength. If I continue to break through and reach the Break Limit, my overall strength should further improve. Undoubtedly, I will be stronger than others who are also at the Great Perfection of Qi and Blood."

A few threads of excitement laced through Shen Qing's eyes.

"Since that's the case, I shouldn't slack off; I should practice with unwavering diligence."

Shen Qing stood on the ground with his legs apart, steady as a rock.

He slowly raised his hands, palms facing upwards, his breath composed around him as he began to guide and cultivate the Qi-Blood within his body.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

After learning that the Nine Skills could be limit broken, Shen Qing devoted most of his energy to cultivating this Martial Art every day.

Through arduous cultivation, Shen Qing advanced the progress of the Nine Skills a bit further.

At this time, there was no obvious change in the Qi-Blood within his body.

But with consecutive cultivation of the Nine Skills, Shen Qing vaguely felt that he had become more robust, his muscles seemed fuller and filled with strength, and his mental status improved even more.

Shen Qing couldn't help but anticipate what it would be like after breaking the limit of the Nine Skills.

After ending three days of cultivation, he walked outside his house.

After many days without snow, Hongshan Village was bathed in radiant sunshine, all things basking in the glittering light.

The snow in the village had already melted, only the thick snow on the mountains remained.

Counting the days, it was time to go to the county town.

Now, having reached the realm of Great Perfection of Qi and Blood, his strength far surpassed that of ordinary people, and even if he passed through the shanty areas of the Outer City, he had the capability to protect himself.

As he was thinking this, Tian Xiaohu came running over with a beaming face and called out, "Qingzi, Qingzi, there's good news."

With a puzzled face, Shen Qing walked out and asked in surprise, "What good news?"

"One of my friends went to the county town yesterday," Tian Xiaohu said with a laugh. "He told me that Old Ba Zi was injured."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qing's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of confusion on his face, "Who is Old Ba Zi?"

Tian Xiaohu slapped his thigh and said, "Didn't you kill quite a few people when you left the city last time? I've looked into it, and those men were all under Old Ba Zi."

A look of surprise briefly crossed Shen Qing's face, followed by sudden realization.

He hadn't expected that Tian Xiaohu had been secretly gathering this information for him these past days, which took him quite by surprise.

"What happened? Tell me more about it."

"Right after you came back last time, Xiao Hu told us all about what happened on the road. I was thinking you'd have to go back to the city sooner or later, so I helped you keep an eye on the affairs of the Outer City. It's only in the past few days that I've come to understand some of it."

"I've heard from a friend that Old Ba Zi got into a fierce fight with Wang Mazi a few days back, apparently vying for territory in the West City area. They killed quite a number of people. Old Ba Zi was also severely injured and hasn't shown up for many days. You should be fine going into the county city for the time being."

"So that's the story." Shen Qing nodded earnestly, "Thank you for that. Without your mentioning it, I wouldn't have known about these behind-the-scenes happenings."

"My life was saved by you. If it weren't for you, I might have been killed by Chen Yuan, this is no big deal," Tian Xiaohu waved his hand and continued, "Besides, you offered a fair price last time; everyone still wants to sell mountain goods to you and keeps asking when you will go to the county. Helping you is helping everyone."

"The regard of everyone is truly humbling," Shen Qing reflected for a moment, then continued, "I'll let everyone know, I'm headed to the county tomorrow."

"Then I'll go and talk to Zhang Bazi later; he's the one who's best at this. Just like before, tomorrow, I'll have everyone bring their goods directly to you."

"That works, sorry to trouble you to make the trip."

"A trivial matter. I'll head back now."

After seeing Tian Xiaohu off, Shen Qing returned to the room and gazed at the bow and arrows hanging on the wall. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and his expression was as calm as water.

From killing the Chen Family Brothers to wiping out Chen Yuan's family, and then those lowlifes in the Outer City...

He had been a bit inexperienced at the beginning, but with each kill, he became more accustomed and adapted to it.

Old Ba Zi needed to be killed.

If he didn't kill him, according to what Zhang Shuyuan said, once Old Ba Zi recovered from his injuries, there might be conflicts anytime he entered the city.

Open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are difficult to guard against.

It's uncertain whether Old Ba Zi had backers.

"I am the only one capable of fighting here. If the other side has backing and sends a martial master, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it."

If he wanted to continue his trade in mountain goods, Old Ba Zi had to be killed—there was no other way!

Better to strike on the chosen day than to wait for the perfect one.

Tomorrow, I will act!

For the sake of caution, Shen Qing took out the poison powder he had gotten from the Chen Family Brothers and fetched a dagger as well, planning to take them with him when he left for the city the next day.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, as dawn broke, many villagers had already registered their mountain goods under Zhang Baqing's arrangements.

By the time Shen Qing came out, the goods were already being loaded onto carts.

Shen Qing had no money on hand and needed to buy on credit, but the villagers seemed to trust him implicitly and hardly questioned it.

The pettiness from before had vanished without a trace, which filled Shen Qing with emotion.

It wasn't long before all the mountain goods in the village were properly organized.

Considering Shen Xiaohu's youth and lack of experience, plus the potential need for martial arts training, Shen Qing also called upon Tian Xiaohu to go with him to Taiping County, having an extra hand for help along the way.

Tian Xiaohu gladly agreed, sorted out his family affairs, and followed suit.