Chapter 19

This fugitive life isn't good; if one must point out a benefit, it's that it effectively tempers a person's spirit. After crossing over, Bai Lang has practiced martial arts for over three years, and he's actually become much stronger than before the crossing. This trek over mountains and ridges just makes him more resilient, letting him take adverse conditions in stride.

What fundamental change could there be in the martial way? Don't kid yourself—Bai Lang now can't even be said to have any martial way; he's merely got martial skills—skill leads to technique, and only after technique does one enter the realm of the Dao. Right now Bai Lang is just roughly versed in martial skills; having cultivated Tiger Form True Meaning in that world is still only a rough grasp of martial skills. Externally and internally, he still has a road ahead.

Bai Lang has opened the minor heavenly circuit, thus taking the first step into the martial world, yet he's long been accustomed to the jianghu life. During this time of fleeing through mountains and wilderness he hasn't neglected his daily training, but this training has made him realize one thing—that the cultivation of the Golden Bell Shield has reached its limit in this world.

Although it is about tapping the potential of one's flesh, it likewise requires the world's heavenly and earthly qi to open and mobilize, and the heavenly and earthly qi of this world can only let him break through the first level of the Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield; that's the limit. Bai Lang has almost worn the book out from reading, but in this regard there is ultimately nothing he can do. "However, this Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield actually requires maintaining a child's body before breaking through the fourth level, which is no wonder nobody seems to practice it. Even with elixirs and medicinal decoctions, given the circumstances of this world, breaking the first level may not be hopeless, but at the very least it would take ten years of effort.... As for the fourth level, one could never achieve it in a lifetime, and indeed there is no need to practice it."

So, the limit of this world is just this. The flying sky and dragon-like palm force seen in martial arts films are ultimately just special effects and the fantasies of adults; Bai Lang like this has already touched the world's ceiling—the human flesh can only go this far, and there is no way forward—"Is humanity not worth it?" Bai Lang muttered to himself, while his hands exerted more strength, firmly anchoring his body to the cliff.

With his current bodily strength, even this tight grip can cause the rock to crack—before the Golden Bell Shield is cultivated he could already shatter rock; now it merely requires no special qi circulation and just accumulating internal force. As his mind turns, his internal force follows his arm, making his fingers rub stone powder away with a rustling sound. It's been over a month since he entered the mountains; Bai Lang indeed somewhat overestimated his kung fu—the Lightness Skill Grass Flying is ultimately a low-level martial art, truly unable to fly from flat ground onto a cliff, and even the height gained by leveraging a jump is limited—this skill is better suited for gliding and sliding on level or slightly undulating ground by borrowing force, not for high jumps.

So the distance he has run in the past month is shorter than he previously estimated, but even so, Bai Lang can be sure that he has basically caused the police to lose track of him—as long as he doesn't cause trouble or withdraw money from bank cards, etc. If he were locked down by modern technology, Bai Lang truly isn't sure he could escape next time.

So his phone was thrown away long ago, and after thinking it over repeatedly, Bai Lang dismantled the hard drive of his laptop and threw it away; now, besides that bundle of provisions and the well-wrapped money on his person, he really has no modern electronic equipment left. His clothes are also quite ragged—good clothes are likewise packed neatly in his pack, anyway he plans to change into them once he's safely out.

His clothes are tattered, he has no shoes, his hair is messy and his beard has grown quite a bit, but that doesn't matter; Bai Lang has a dagger bought from a street stall—although it isn't very hard, at least it's stainless steel, and when he cleans himself up with it, no one will be able to tell he's a savage coming out of the mountains.

After achieving some accomplishment in his martial arts, the sharpness between Bai Lang's brows and eyes formed naturally, giving the impression of a tiger; when he moves, besides the tiger-like lightness and agility, there is also the solidity of a great bell. Over this past month, while honing his spirit, his martial arts have gradually become rounded and integrated, and the San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan has been completely merged into the Golden Bell Shield.

The task force responsible for capturing Bai Lang still has no leads; the meeting room is filled with smoke and haze all day, but since this suspect never leaves the mountains, there's really nothing that can be done—all they can do is set up surveillance in nearby cities, hoping that camera heads or networked hotel systems will detect his whereabouts. As for capture, although it's a problem, it's actually easier—if they want him alive they can use special net‑gun or stun gun, if they want him dead they can use live ammunition. Although Bai Lang's martial arts are quite exaggerated, capable of shattering a person's bones with a single palm, he is still, after all, just a person.

Bai Lang also clearly understands the limitation of the first level of the Golden Bell Shield—let alone the first level, even if he cultivated to the sixth level as described in the book, it still couldn't block bullets...... and there are many kinds of bullets; if they are 12.7 or 14.5 mm, even practicing to the eighth or ninth level would be useless. After all, mechanisms are beyond human strength; even the master who created this divine skill might never have seen such mechanical weapons.

However, Bai Lang feels that his first level might possibly block handgun bullets—at least the bullets from a 64mm small bombard, he thinks he could block them at a certain distance. "If modern firearms were taken to that world, could they be used?" Bai Lang also pondered this question; he thinks they probably could be used, but they would be very useful against low-level martial artists, whereas against experts they would likely be of little use—although he has never seen an Innate Expert, if the Golden Bell Shield in this book could really be practiced further, then after the tenth level guns would probably be useless and one would have to resort to cannons—but cannons would likely not hit such experts.

Bai Lang's current knowledge can only go this far. However, he never considered the possibility that if the propellant of this world couldn't be used in that world—since that world has fireworks and firecrackers, black powder would work, but Bai Lang simply assumed that these various explosives would also be usable.

And Bai Lang's case also spread out—who made Douyin and Kuaishou the friends and ATMs of rural people? Bai Lang's case of killing four people in one night, at the same time villagers reported it, villagers had already uploaded short videos—although it was harmonized in a very short time, the whole message had already spread.

The killer of the four people, at first everyone just said he was a very vicious person, but then so‑called "insiders" began to reveal some "inside details" of the case, and the online discourse shifted...... At first it was absolutely that such a person must be caught, too vicious, but when the news came out that the victims were villagers who bought brides and intermediaries in human trafficking, everyone immediately said it was well done, righteous knights...... and the authorities didn't really debunk rumors—because it was simply the fact, there was no rumor to refute; they just had the police issue a case bulletin, focusing on the illegal killing.

Everyone originally also wasn't ignorant of the law, and they knew that even if these four people deserved death in sentiment, they should still be punished by the state through proper legal process rather than lynching—these four were villagers, with no powerful backers behind them, and if they were arrested, people still believed there could be a fair trial......

Bai Lang doesn't know about the reversal online—actually, if he weren't a martial arts master, the news that he killed four people with a single strike wouldn't have leaked out, and the hype would probably have been even greater. At least now, over a month later, the heat around him has mostly dissipated—the so‑called hot topic lasted only a week. The present Bai Lang stands on the mountain peak looking at the distant town, wondering, "Should I go check the road signs to confirm where I am?"