237: Chapter 237 Strengthening

A few days later, before the morning mist had dissipated, the rapid sound of wind being broken echoed within the courtyard walls.

Bang, bang, bang.

A short, sharp shout accompanied the rapid intertwining of two figures, creating two afterimages in the morning light.

Energy surged, shaking several withered leaves from the old locust tree in the courtyard, causing them to drift down and land silently on the ground.

Their footsteps were like drumbeats, sometimes dense, sometimes sparse.

The two in the courtyard went back and forth, the transition between offense and defense flowing like water; it was hard to tell who was winning.

One of them was a burly man, nine feet tall, like an iron tower.

The other was a very young man.

Chen Ran was not wearing his outer robe today, only a plain-colored training outfit, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a section of his well-defined forearms.

A few strands of hair were scattered by the morning breeze, sticking to his temples, yet he did not look disheveled at all, but rather, more heroic.

Grey Wolf swung a fist, carrying a heavy gust of wind, smashing straight toward Chen Ran's chest.

The fist wind was biting, and in an instant, it had flashed before Chen Ran.

However, Chen Ran did not retreat but advanced instead.

He tilted his body slightly, dodging the fist edge by a tiny margin, then twisted his waist and thrust his shoulder, reaching out with a palm to strike accurately on the side of Grey Wolf's wrist, skillfully deflecting that force away.

"Hiss."

Grey Wolf's eyes narrowed slightly.

He felt that light, pulling force, like using one's strength against oneself, which had neutralized more than half of his punch.

He did not have time to think, pushed off with his back foot, retreated, regained distance, guarded his front with both palms, his breath long and steady, ready to strike again.

Chen Ran stood in place, panting slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

After this punch, Grey Wolf had only swayed slightly.

This sparring session had lasted from the first light of dawn until sunrise, nearly half an hour.

Both of them were covered in a light sheen of sweat.

"Stop."

Chen Ran raised his right hand to signal a stop, walked to the stone bench by the courtyard, sat down, picked up the rough cloth towel draped over the back of the bench, covered his face, and wiped it messily.

Grey Wolf also ceased his movements, strode over, picked up a pot of water from the stone table, gulped down half a bowl, and then let out a long sigh.

He looked down at his wrist; the skin there was faintly red.

That pulling force just now was truly clever; it used the force of his own punch, backhanded against him. It looked effortless, but in reality, the hidden energy penetrated to the bone, making it very uncomfortable.

Although he had not used his own Qi and blood, he could still see the skill of his opponent.

This Young Master Chen, ever since his Breakthrough to Grade 5 Tongmai Realm a few days ago, had become truly more and more difficult to deal with.

Grey Wolf smacked his lips and said in a muffled voice: "Young Master, your martial arts have improved again over these past few days."

Chen Ran draped the towel back over the bench, squinted at the sky, gave a casual "Hmm" in response, but a faint smile played on his face.

Inside, however, he had other plans.

For the past few days, he had been following the instructions of Eldest Brother Lin Xiu, honestly staying in the residence without going out.

Naturally, at a time like this, taking a step back was the expected course of action.

But staying cooped up at home was truly boring, so after thinking about it, he sought out Grey Wolf, dragging the guard into daily sparring to pass the time.

Of course, he was hiding his strength.

Not using any Cultivation Technique, not mobilizing any Cultivate Internal Energy, he fought solely relying on his physical body and his martial Dao insights, disguising himself at the Peak of the sixth grade.

After all, Grey Wolf was a person of the Lin family, not his own.

Revealing one's cards is something to be avoided if possible.

However, showing a little talent did not matter.

So over these few days, his surface strength had also taken a new leap.

Directly breaking through from the Peak of the sixth grade to the Grade 5 Tongmai Realm level.

It was originally just a contest to relieve boredom, but interestingly.

Chen Ran picked up a fallen leaf and twirled it between his fingers.

Usually, when he fought, it was one strike to draw blood; there were few times he fought with restraint.

Fast, accurate, ruthless; fight and run, that was his consistent style.

But sparring with Grey Wolf these few days, the opponent was, after all, at the Return to Truth Realm, with solid foundations; relying on brute force alone would not win.

He had to put more thought into every Move, carefully studying how to break great force with little, and how to use angles and rhythm to compensate for the "deliberately suppressed" gap in strength.

Fighting like this, he actually made progress in the sophistication of his Moves.

This was likely what they meant by "sharpening the axe will not delay the woodcutting."

In actual combat, most fights were crushing victories; even if he killed the opponent, he rarely gained any insights.

Instead, during these few days of martial practice, this back-and-forth, grinding sparring had improved his practical combat experience quite a bit.

"Grey Wolf, have you rested enough?" Chen Ran raised his eyelids and asked calmly.

Grey Wolf immediately put the water pot on the stone table and spoke in a muffled voice.

"This subordinate is ready at any time."

For a Return to Truth Realm guard, accompanying a "Young Master" to practice some Moves was not difficult at all.

"Then let's continue."

Chen Ran stood up, shook his sleeves, and set his stance again.

The two clashed again.

This time, Grey Wolf changed his teaching method, no longer charging in with rigid, fierce force from the start, but testing with a few feints first.

Chen Ran, however, was not anxious; his footsteps were light and nimble, weaving and moving through the gaps in Grey Wolf's offensive, sometimes striking the wrist with his palm, sometimes using his elbow to hit the shoulder, every Move pointing to the opponent's joints and weak points.

Between their advances and retreats, they had already exchanged hundreds of Moves.

However, just as both sides were fighting at their Peak.

Chen Ran's brow suddenly twitched slightly.

His Divine Thought had long been quietly spread around the residence days ago, incorporating all movements within several hundred zhang into his perception.

At this moment, within his Divine Thought, he suddenly captured a very strong aura.

That aura came from the direction of the south city, approaching this residence at a not-so-slow speed.

Chen Ran weighed the strength of that aura in his heart, and the corners of his mouth quietly curved into an arc.

"So, you are finally coming."

He said softly in his heart.

After waiting for these few days, he had indeed waited for it.

He had thought the other party was going to give up on him.

Grey Wolf was still unaware, preparing to throw his second punch, when he suddenly saw Chen Ran stop, looking at him with a calm expression, and said:

"Grey Wolf, you have worked hard these past few days; go take a rest first."

Grey Wolf was stunned for a moment, not knowing what had happened.

Before he could react, he saw Chen Ran take a step closer, and without knowing when, he reached out and patted his shoulder gently, his tone casual, as if he were just saying the most ordinary farewell.

"Have a good sleep."

The next moment, a sharp and precise force silently penetrated through Chen Ran's palm, striking directly at the vital point behind his head.

Grey Wolf felt his vision go black, his legs went weak, and he fell down silently.

Chen Ran reached out to support him, took the opportunity to lay him down on the soft chair by the courtyard, and casually pulled a thin blanket over him.

After doing all this, Chen Ran stood up straight, clapped his hands, his expression as usual, and looked up in the direction outside the residence.

That aura was already close.

Chen Ran stood in place with his hands behind his back.

"Since you have come, it would not be right to let you make the trip for nothing."