Chương 18: Chapter 18 Uncle Huang Shows His Temper

"A martial artist's strength typically tops out slightly over one thousand catties; even with further training, the increase won't be substantial. What martial artists need is to develop Dark Energy. Once Dark Energy is cultivated, they are considered to have stepped into the Martial Master Realm,"

Backyard.

Liu Junshan learned of Chu Ning's purpose and helped to resolve his confusion.

Liu Junshan raised his right hand and lightly flicked the edge of the table with his index finger, and the table moved a foot away.

Chu Ning's pupils contracted slightly. With his current strength, he could also move the table with a slap, but to do so with just a light flick of the index finger was beyond him.

Was this Dark Energy?

"Bull Demon Strength actually focuses on cultivating Dark Energy, and the Bull Demon Fist is designed to enable you to develop Dark Energy faster. The reason you can unleash several times your own strength when executing the Bull Demon Fist is precisely because Dark Energy comes into play,"

"But your Dark Energy is not yet pronounced. Once you reach Minor Achievement in the Bull Demon Fist, you'll feel the Dark Energy within you and that signifies stepping into the Martial Master Realm."

"Are there realms above the martial master?"

Chu Ning posed another question that concerned him deeply, as it related to the upper echelons of this world.

Liu Junshan smiled faintly, "You sure think far ahead. Above martial masters are Martial Generals, and above them are Grandmasters... Beyond that, there's only our Great Ancestor, the pinnacle for a martial artist, the Great Grandmaster."

"Thank you, teacher, for clearing my doubts. I'm just a bit curious," Chu Ning said, scratching his head.

"No bother, I used to ask my teacher the same questions,"

Liu Junshan smiled indifferently. He too had asked his teacher such questions back in the day, dreaming of being different from others. But reality proved that most martial masters spent their lives just as that—martial masters.

"Teacher, is it really impossible to keep increasing strength indefinitely, or could excessive increases harm the body?"

Liu Junshan looked at Chu Ning with some surprise, and then asked, "How much can you lift now?"

"One thousand five hundred catties," Chu Ning replied somewhat sheepishly. "It's just that I have a feeling my strength may still increase a bit."

"It will still increase?"

Sitting in his chair, Liu Junshan was slightly taken aback. What kind of miraculous elixir had Chu Ning's father found to have such an effect?

"The greater your strength, the better, of course. As for whether it could be detrimental to your body, that's only if your strength were to reach an exaggerated level above five thousand catties."

Chu Ning blinked; the figure of five thousand catties seemed daunting, but he figured just by eating welfare food for a few years, he should be able to reach it.

"I probably won't reach that level, but why did you mention five thousand catties, Teacher? Is there a problem with having that much strength?"

"No," Liu Junshan shook his head, "I was just saying. There's no way someone can have five thousand catties of strength in this world. You should know that a person's strength only increases significantly during the growth spurts of adolescence. Even those born with immense strength can only achieve around two to three thousand catties at most. Otherwise, they would have burst during their youth."

"Burst?"

"To increase your strength, you must continuously consume food—people with great strength eat more than average. How much would someone with five thousand catties of strength need to eat in a day? Could their stomach even hold that much food?"

"I understand now,"

Chu Ning set aside his worries; his strength didn't come from eating food. The nourishment from his diet provided only the natural growth of strength he should have, with no risk of bursting.

After bidding farewell to Teacher Liu and leaving the academy, a smile spread across Chu Ning's face.

According to what Teacher Liu said, becoming a Martial Master was achievable upon reaching Minor Achievement in the Bull Demon Fist, which allows for unleashing up to five times one's own strength. With an average strength of a little over one thousand catties, that would be just over five thousand catties.

Currently, with his strength of two thousand catties, he could exert almost triple that force, which meant he had already surpassed the lowest level of martial master in terms of pure strength.

"No, that's not right. Martial Masters have cultivated Dark Energy; just witnessing Teacher Liu's move made it clear that a Martial Master's strength lies not in power, but in the ability to use different parts of the body to generate force quickly. Unless a martial master engages me in direct combat, my slight advantage in strength is useless."

Chu Ning dispelled his momentarily proud thoughts and concluded, "Facing a Martial Master, I have no speed advantage, so I would still need to rely on chili powder to catch them off guard, forcing them into direct combat. However... it's best not to confront a Martial Master for now."

As he pondered, Chu Ning walked towards the arrest office in Daning County. Upon arriving, he went straight to Zhang Tao, the arrest officer, and stated his business.

"You want to hand over the Tax Silver?" Zhang Tao looked at Chu Ning with meaningful eyes.

"Xiazhen Town has seen an increase in merchants over the past half year, and the Tax Silver I've collected has also increased several times over. Holding onto such a large sum can get too hot to handle,"

Chu Ning didn't spout any grandiose claims about public service but expressed his concerns plainly.

Turning in the Tax Silver from Xiazhen Town had been a decision he'd thought through carefully over some time.

He was aware of how many eyes were fixated on Xiazhen Town, evidenced by the furnaces burning nonstop for a month. If gang factions were interested, would the arrest officers not be envious?

Thanks to Director Huang, Chu Ning was currently able to stay in Xiazhen Town. Without that connection, he'd probably already have been reassigned.

Picking the ripe fruit was always a common theme, regardless of the era.

"It's rare to find someone as mindful and clear-headed as you. I'll let you in on some news: Qian Sheng and Wang Tie had previously suggested to Director Huang to assign an arrest officer to Xiazhen Town, but Director Huang rejected the idea."

"I will convey your suggestion to Director Huang. Qian Sheng and Wang Tie won't have a reason to keep an eye on Xiazhen Town any longer. You, the sole constable of Xiazhen Town, won't face any changes for the time being,"

Zhang Tao couldn't pinpoint the exact nature of Chu Ning's relationship with Director Huang, but it was evident from the latter's rejection of Qian Sheng and Wang Tie's suggestions that Director Huang cared for Chu Ning significantly.

"Thank you for your care, sir. I will take my leave now. This is a token of my appreciation. Please don't refuse it,"

Before departing, Chu Ning placed another bag of silver on the table.

The silver notes in the previous bag were the Tax Silver to be turned in, but this bag of money was for Zhao Bing.

Zhao Bing picked up the bag of money Chu Ning had given him alone and couldn't help but smile when he saw the denomination of the silver notes inside. Little Ning is really something, aren't we all under Director Huang's command, on the same side? How could I not look after him?

...

"Are you saying that Chu Ning took the initiative to turn in seventy percent of the Tax Silver?"

Huang Zhongtai listened to Zhao Bing's report with a somewhat strange expression.

Wang Tie and Qian Sheng, like Zhao Bing, were his trusted followers in the patrol house. Of the eleven arrest officers in total, the remaining eight were either the county magistrate's men or from the big families in town and were not wholly aligned with him.

He had regretted it internally after rejecting the suggestion to send more people to Xiazhen Town, proposed by Wang Tie and Zhao Bing last time.

If Chu Ning had been his confidant, that would have been one thing, but the key was he wasn't.

Huang Zhongtai's feelings toward Chu Ning were somewhat complex. In the beginning, he had simply done him a favor without really taking it to heart.

It wasn't until Chu Ning's second letter that he was moved and lent him a hand once more.

Later, when Chu Ning wrote to inform that he would leave the academy in six months, Huang had asked Zhao Bing to look after him then.

Although Chu Ning became a constable, he hadn't gone around announcing his connection to Huang, which pleased him greatly.

Afterward, Chu Ning would send something to his mansion every month or two. Although not very valuable, they were all given with care.

Take last month, for example, Chu Ning sent a carp that didn't seem extraordinary at first glance. However, Chu Ning told the steward that this carp was caught by fishermen from Xiazhen Town. Allegedly, the fishing net was six feet high, but the carp jumped out of it.

Chu Ning felt that the carp had spirit, so he bought it from the fishermen and sent it to the mansion at the first opportunity.

A true heart of loyalty.

After turning down his trusted followers' suggestion last time, Huang Zhongtai thought about why he had done so and laughed to himself when he figured it out.

He realized that he had indeed started to regard Chu Ning as a friend and junior, and saw himself as Uncle Huang.

From the perspective of an elder, naturally, he wanted to maintain his radiant image in the hearts of the younger generation, which led to his subconscious refusal.

"Director, Chu Ning says he knows that he got to Xiazhen Town thanks to your care, but he also knows that there are many merchants there now and doesn't want to put you in a difficult position, which is why he took the initiative to suggest turning in the Tax Silver," said Zhao Bing, seeing Huang Zhongtai deep in thought, and added another sentence.

"Difficult position? What difficult position do I have? I am the Director, and I still have the final say in Daning County's patrol house affairs. Tell Chu Ning to stay in Xiazhen Town at ease, as long as Huang Zhongtai is still the Director, no one can touch him."

Huang Zhongtai spoke with full authority, and Zhao Bing couldn't help but step back a few paces. The Director must have grown stronger again.

If it weren't for the additional comment from Zhao Bing, Huang Zhongtai would have found Chu Ning to be sensible and would have done as Chu Ning suggested.

But with Zhao Bing's words, Huang Zhongtai imagined Chu Ning as a junior who respected his elder and would rather suffer some distress himself than trouble his elder.

How could he let Chu Ning suffer distress then?

...

Chu Ning, who had been called back to the patrol house and then left again, had a somewhat strange expression on his face.

Director Huang had told him not to turn in the Tax Silver and assured that no one could touch him?

Had Director Huang taken a liking to him in a moment of sentiment?

"I just hope those guys from the patrol house don't come to bother me. Let's all make money in harmony." said Chu Ning.

Chu Ning hoped for harmonious money-making, but at that moment, in a certain tavern, someone had set their sights on him.

"What does Director Huang mean by this? A constable wants to monopolize Xiazhen Town and not turn in the Tax Silver. Could it be that Chu Ning is Director Huang's illegitimate child?"

"I've heard that Xiazhen Town brings in over a hundred taels of Tax Silver a month, and it's almost catching up with the big towns like Chuanxi."

The two talking were arrest officers from the patrol house, neither of whom were Huang Zhongtai's confidants. As soon as Director Huang made his decision, the news spread through Zhao Bing's mouth.

Director Huang's meaning was clear; Chu Ning is my man, nobody else should think about touching him.

"Since Director Huang has made a statement, you and I, as brothers, naturally can't openly act against Chu Ning. But don't forget the constable competition that occurs every three years is starting soon."

"What do you mean, Brother Gan?"

"The winner of each constable competition, besides getting rewards, also has the right to choose their jurisdiction at will."

"I have a constable named Zhang Tao under me with a strength of eight hundred catties. I'll help him, and when the time comes, even Director Huang's favoritism won't help Chu Ning."

"Brother Gan, to this drink."

...

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