Chapter 386: Total Boycott, Escalating Conflict

"Experience Points -20,000, Basic Lightness Skill Lv10 converted to Lightness Skill Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step Lv7/v30."

A surge of clear, spiritual Qi instantly shot up from the soles of Zhou You's feet, straight to the crown of his head, and every pore on his body felt perfectly smoothed and clear.

Countless footprints and figures, like a chaotic array of a hundred flowers, surfaced in his mind like a revolving lantern.

In an instant, his Lightness Skill, which had been stagnant for a long time, took a giant leap forward.

Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step is the Lightness Skill portion of the inheritance from Baiqin Laoren, which he had chosen to succeed his Basic Lightness Skill.

Birds are adept at flying, so this Lightness Skill is the core component of the "Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix."

Alas, Lightness Skill relies most on talent; the Six Birds, including those of Golden Crane Mountain, though they obtained partial chapters, could never find the way in, and not a single person succeeded in practicing this Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step.

It was only when Zhou You used the Wuxiang Tongkui to calculate the technique that he discovered this Lightness Skill had infinite potential and could supplement the parts where the Basic Lightness Skill lacked follow-through.

"Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step Lv7 is equivalent to Basic Lightness Skill Lv1, with a top speed of 10m/s."

"As it improves further, the speed increases accordingly; reaching Lv10 is a threshold, where the Lightness Skill reaches the speed of sound, 340m/s."

"Good heavens, even among many Advanced Martial Masters, few have reached this speed."

The speed of sound requires extremely high standards for the physical body and Lightness Skill; only the most elite Advanced Martial Masters can reach this level.

Once Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step is raised to Lv20, one can reach the speed of Mach 1, with infinite potential.

"Experience Points -700, Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step Lv7 → Lv8."

The speed at Lv8 is 50m/s!

Of course, this speed is the maximum speed, the fastest speed reached after a period of full-out sprinting, not something that can be achieved casually.

Hmm, it's about the maximum speed of driving in the city.

For those who don't have an intuitive sense of this speed, you can squat on the street and watch the heavy traffic.

A flesh-and-blood body comparable to a steel car is already a miracle; upgrading further, 100m/s or 200m/s would be no problem at all.

With just this speed, even without using fists or kicks, one could kill a person just by colliding with them.

And there's more...

Zhou You had tried sprinting at maximum speed; his body weight decreased, his muscles underwent creep, and he vaguely sensed the subtle changes of the "hard reaching its limit and turning soft" of an Intermediate Martial Master.

This Lightness Skill is not just a simple accelerator; during the cultivation process, it also has an auxiliary effect on improving one's realm.

High-speed states can accelerate the creep of the physical body, achieving the breakthrough of "hard reaching its limit and turning soft."

"Zhou You, many people have gone to the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall; you need to be careful about your home."

The repercussions of him injuring Tang Hui were still happening.

Most of the factions of Ox Fist and Tiger Fist in the city originated from Dayin Mountain, and they were taking this opportunity to unite against him.

Li Hao notified him the moment he received the news; this matter would not be easy to resolve.

Half a day later, the opponent's move had already landed.

Song Fugui, who had been away for many days, and Master Shen, whom he had just parted with, came to his door, bringing bad news.

"Over a hundred martial arts halls in the city have issued a joint statement, notifying us merchants who came from Gongliang City that we are not allowed to fund your opening of a martial arts hall."

"If anyone ignores this 'advice,' they will bear the consequences themselves!"

Song Fugui's oil shop was not large, and relying on the supply and market of Fucheng, it couldn't hold up if there was even the slightest disturbance.

Master Shen was still consolidating resources and hadn't opened his business yet, but he had also received the news.

They were the ones with closer relationships to Zhou You; other merchants originally from Gongliang City had also received warnings one after another.

It is well known that opening a martial arts hall requires the support of a wealthy patron; back then, when Bao Tiefeng, a powerful dragon, suppressed the local snakes, he had the backing of massive funds from Su City immigrants to open his martial arts hall.

This was just an appetizer!

"Zhou You, I just went to the street to ask around."

The one-armed Zhuang Tie said steadily, "The shops on the street suitable for opening a martial arts hall have all received word that they are not allowed to rent space to you."

"Someone has threatened to make it so you have no place to stand in Fucheng." "Also, it has spread on the street that you are a cast-off apprentice, never having received the true transmission, and that the Tiger Fist you practice is neither fish nor fowl; Dayin Mountain doesn't recognize it, and even if you learned it, you can't claim a connection."

"This is pulling the firewood from under the cauldron!"

This three-ringed trap, from the aspects of capital, venue, and student recruitment, directly blocked every possibility for Zhou You.

If there were no capital, that would be one thing, but how could one open a martial arts hall without a venue?

If he couldn't find students, and there were no Apprentices to learn boxing and pay fees, it would clearly be nothing but a hollow show! The martial arts halls controlled violence and, combined with various local industries, monopolized market resources, making them far more powerful than they appeared on the surface.

The opponent's move was called a warning, but it was actually intimidation, cutting off Zhou You's financial support, venue, and recruitment.

Half of the martial arts world of Fucheng had pressed down, and the aftermath was already endangering others.

For a moment, the whole courtyard was filled with indignation! "This is bullying people too much!"

Zuo Shier said angrily, "They don't give us a way to live; who do they think they are, the King of Heaven?"

Beside him, Liu Bing patted his chest and asked directly, "Master Zhou, tell us how to fight back?"

People who practice martial arts have deep Qi and blood and cannot stand being provoked; facing the aggressive enemy, they wished they could fight them face-to-face.

But how to fight? The more than one hundred martial arts halls that came forward together occupied nearly half of the martial arts world in Fucheng, which represented the deep-rooted nature of Dayin Mountain.

With so many united, even noble families would have to be three parts wary.

They hadn't even made a move yet, just sent people to pass on a few words, and they had already pushed Zhou You into a dead end.

If the martial arts hall couldn't be opened, all other ways of making a living would surely be cut off, leaving only the option of sitting trapped at home and eating through his savings.

If things continued like this, there would be no other way to live except to go to the Doujichang to fight in underground matches.

Only at this moment did everyone realize the despair of that martial master who had starved to death in Zhou Family Village; tangible city walls are easy to enter, but intangible barriers are hard to break.

The power of Fucheng had already been carved up by the old, intertwined forces, leaving no room for newcomers to get ahead.

Just think, even opening a martial arts hall would mean facing so much filth.

"Leave it to me to find a way; everyone disperse!"

With one sentence, Zhou You dispelled everyone's thoughts, and they left one by one.

"Hmm, why haven't you left?"

Zhou You glanced over; it turned out to be Qi Fengzi, holding a porcelain bottle to present a treasure, "Taste the Blood-Qi Pill I just refined."

This pill lived up to its name, replenishing blood and Qi, and taking effect as soon as it was swallowed.

Zhou You ate two, and the effect was one to two times higher than ordinary secret medicines, but for him, it was still a drop in the bucket.

If given to Qi Qingdi and the others to take while practicing martial arts, it would be a great tonic.

"You've worked hard; rest for a few days, or go out for a stroll if you like."

Qi Fengzi shook her head, "There's nothing worth strolling for; I just heard that you've encountered trouble."

"It's not exactly trouble!"

Zhou You looked at her and said earnestly, "Solving this matter isn't difficult; I just need to copy someone's homework. Have you heard of Bao Tiefeng?"

"Huh?"

"I only need to find a prominent family in the city to rely on and marry off a sister as a concubine, then all problems will be solved."

"But you are an only child and don't have a sister."

Zhou You looked at her with a smile, "Don't I have a peerless beauty like you, who is stunning and unparalleled in this world? Feng Zi, have you considered letting my parents adopt you as my sister?"

Qi Fengzi's eyebrows shot up, and just as she was about to scold him for being shameless, she saw that Zhou You's expression was full of suppressed laughter.

Realizing that he was teasing her, she gave a coquettish shout, "Pah!" and ran off without looking back.

Watching her shy and slightly flustered back, Zhou You felt his mood become much more relaxed.

(End of this chapter)