Chapter 166: Ah, Martial Arts

To go a thousand li away, you naturally have to take a carriage or a boat, at the very least ride a horse. Following the official road, stopping at relay stations each day for a bite, traveling segment by segment to the destination. Those capable masters naturally have their own ways of traveling, perhaps even soaring on clouds and mist to cover a thousand li in an instant, but Bai Lang still just walks it all the way.

Bai Lang is wealthy; his official salary is not low, so buying a horse is easy. Ordinary common horses are indeed like that, but some horses have exotic bloodlines that can travel a thousand li a day, and that is beyond what his salary can afford—he must reveal his Innate Expert status to seize one.

"A hundred li a day is already enough." The horse Bai Lang has his eye on is a yellow Biao horse, tall and sturdy, able to bear weight, but the only problem is it isn't fast enough; compared with famed steeds like Jue Ying Fei Dian that can cover several hundred li a day, the gap is huge. Riding eight hours a day yields about two hundred li, which is already far better than any horse Bai Lang remembers.

"If we used the horses from that other region, they'd be exhausted after two or three days, or even need two or three days of rest after a single day's ride. The horses here must have some different bloodlines, far stronger in stamina and sprint speed." Patting the yellow Biao horse's neck, Bai Lang felt quite satisfied.

With the purchased beans in hand, Bai Lang quickly equipped his saddle and mounted, riding toward Huaiyang Prefecture.

Huaiyang Prefecture spans about a thousand li, roughly 1,800–1,900 li from Ji City, and its prefectural capital, Huaiyang, sits at the center where two rivers meet. The area is shielded by mountains and water yet has convenient transport, serving as a barrier protecting the grain‑rich heartland of Great Yan. The whole prefecture is heavily populated, likely tens of millions living there.

And the fellow known as Mao Dongshan is active here. "The cultivated martial art… Yin‑Yang Grind?" Bai Lang looked at the documents in his hand—any wanted criminal who knows the techniques they practice has already been listed as information attached to the bounty notice.

Yin‑Yang Grind was originally a legitimate Daoist martial art; it is difficult to cultivate and progresses slowly, yet its power is considerable, capable of grinding down an opponent's Internal Force, turning it into nothingness through Yin‑Yang transformations. Yet some have devised a perverse shortcut, turning the wholesome Daoist skill into a brutal demonic divine art.

By exploiting the lives of boys and girls and the yin‑yang of Yuan Yang and Yuan Yin to practice, the shortcut grants rapid entry and simple advancement, its power even surpassing the original with an added bitter, vengeful poison. The Internal Force of Yin‑Yang Grind erodes a person's Internal Force and vitality like a festering ulcer, truly a first‑rate yin‑poison martial art. Throughout the ages it has been harshly suppressed as a demonic skill, yet practitioners of this evil art have kept appearing.

There are always those who take this crooked path, always those ruthless enough to disregard innocent women and children; even though the demonic art offers quick entry and rapid cultivation, it is prone to madness and invites collective attacks, yet it cannot be completely eradicated as people keep practicing it in secret. Mao Dongshan is one such case.

He is cunning, and no one has caught him for years; many chivalrous heroes try to eliminate him for the people, but either cannot locate his trail or are covertly harmed by him. He is also quite cautious, always conducting business in villages with the lowest scum and the Beggar Sect, using them to lure the kidnapping or trafficking of boys and girls. He almost never targets the families of martial‑arts masters, which is why he has lived comfortably all this time.

Moreover, his martial skill, according to records over the years, has reached a level just one step shy of an Innate Expert; ordinary cultivators are no longer his match, and with the Yin‑Yang Grind added, even an Innate Expert would find him a thorny opponent. Bai Lang flipped through the records; recently an Innate Expert suffered a heavy loss at his hands, escaping only by luck.

"Skilled in disguise and poison… indeed a tricky fellow, but perhaps we can get the latest intel and assistance from the local Guard Officer?" Bai Lang was not very confident; this person might have ties locally. Bai Lang also saw the gangs behind him that seemed linked to Mao Dongshan—none of them were not Mountain Bandits or water bandits, even some land‑based loot‑splitting gangs. The only missing piece was any connection to the orthodox martial world, perhaps deliberately concealed.

Bai Lang rode at a steady pace; this official road is certainly trouble‑free for at least the first five hundred li out of Ji City. Bandit attacks are rare; at most, some local ruffians at relay stations or towns illegally levy tolls or run underground gambling dens to swindle money.

Bai Lang rode alone, so no one would take special measures against him— even if Six‑and‑a‑Half Hall held a grudge, they showed no reaction while he was at the Mountain God Temple, let alone after leaving Ji City. Such gangs lose influence the farther they are from their own territory; the branches become more independent— the Chang Le Gang, which now seems confined to a single prefecture, actually wields greater control and territory than Six‑and‑a‑Half Hall.

Yet in terms of strength and influence, the gap is astronomical…

"Azure Dragon Society, Blue‑Clad Tower…" Bai Lang muttered the names, thinking that if the wuxia novels were true, how these groups could enforce absolute bans. Wuxia books lack radios or telephones, yet this world at least possesses the ability to transmit messages across thousands of li quickly, and even god‑like masters can instantly traverse thousands of li to appear in multiple places.

Bai Lang let his mind wander like this; riding the horse he could only refine his Qi, not practice martial arts for long— merely throwing a few punches each stop to loosen his muscles. He treated himself well on the road, staying in good inns and eating well. The only thing that worried him was that after three days of travel he wondered whether the food might be poisoned.

How effective is Golden Bell Shield Divine Skill against poison? Bai Lang wasn't entirely sure, but poisons in this world are like those in modern society— they can enter through skin contact or airborne transmission, not just ingestion. Their components aren't limited to inorganic toxins; there are also terrifyingly strong organic poisons never seen before. In the data Bai Lang examined, there were even "conceptual poisons," wholly idealistic and bizarre toxins.

"What kind of poison could this be? What's the cure?" Bai Lang wanted to experience it, though it would be better to wait until he ascended beyond the Innate level. The journey was safe, and Huaiyang City now appeared on the horizon. Huaiyang City lies at the confluence of two rivers—the Gan River and the Xiang River—within the triangular basin formed by their meeting. Thus the city is flanked by river water on two sides, while the side not bounded by water stretches into expansive fields that widen outward; about a hundred li away lies a transverse mountain range. The two rivers loop around the mountains, one to the south and one to the north.

Huaiyang City spans several dozen li; its urban population is five to six hundred thousand, and the surrounding plains host scattered villages and towns with at least one to two million people living there, truly a grain‑rich region. Bai Lang slipped silently across the ferry, entered the prefectural capital, and stepped into the city.