Chapter 80: The Seven-Orifice Exquisite Sparring Partner

Zhou You landed on both feet with a graceful posture, making only a faint sound of crushing pebbles.

Before him, the headless corpse of the Second Master slumped softly to the ground.

The powerful enemy was slain; how satisfying! A piercing pain shot through his arm...

Zhou You frowned; the Bone-Drilling Force was still inside his body and had to be removed.

A walnut-sized lump bulged on his right forearm, trembling slightly; had it not been for his force suppressing it, it would have already wreaked havoc within him.

Zhou You gritted his teeth and pinched the lump with two fingers until it burst, a spurt of blood splashing onto his face.

The Bone-Drilling Force had detonated prematurely; although the wound was a bloody mess, it hadn't reached his insides, which was fortunate.

Zhou You breathed a sigh of relief and took out the Purple Gold Ointment to apply to the wound.

After resting for a moment, he stood up and returned to the Shan Shen Miao, looking at the tall Bronze Bell with a thoughtful expression.

Zhou You was determined to obtain this fortune of tens of thousands of catties; he had to pocket it.

The good news was that everyone who knew about the Bronze Bell was practically dead.

"Li Hao!"

This name surfaced in Zhou You's mind, but he immediately shook his head; things hadn't reached that point yet.

The Second Master's corpse was still lying outside the temple; he could be considered to have made wedding clothes for Zhou You.

This Bronze Bell was too big and heavy to be moved by one person, and it wouldn't be easy to convert it into money afterward.

Moreover, judging by the Second Master's implications, the inscriptions on the Bronze Bell were even more precious.

Zhou You saw the scattered inkstone and brush on the ground, as well as the cloth the Second Master had been copying onto.

One piece of cloth was filled with dense text, all recorded from the Bronze Bell without a single character missed.

Zhou You didn't recognize this script, but after comparing the two, he was certain the Second Master had copied it completely, without a single error.

He stuffed the cloth into his bosom; there was no shortage of literate tutors in the city, and there were plenty of ways to translate the content.

"I can't take this Bronze Bell back, so I must find a place to Zang it, then find a way to liquidate it later before breaking it into copper chunks to transport out."

Zhou You circled the Bronze Bell a few times, and after confirming there were no other characters, he set to work grinding away the inscriptions.

He formulated a plan in his mind for how to pocket this fortune.

This act was a risky one, destined to be carried out privately behind the martial arts school's back; if discovered, he would be in deep trouble.

"First, find Li Hao's whereabouts; I must see the person if he's alive, or his corpse if he's dead."

After leaving the Shan Shen Miao, Zhou You used a tiger's roar to contact Li Hao.

Li Hao's situation was not very good; he had called out five or six times in succession, but there was no response for a long time.

He was likely suspicious, fearing that it was a trap set by the Second Master to capture Zhou You and lure him out to his death.

When facing a strong enemy, being cautious was never a mistake.

Zhou You continued to contact him with the tiger's roar while venturing deeper into the mountains to search for him.

Among the Apprentices of the Jian Xiong Martial Arts School, besides the tiger's roar, there were also specific symbols and arrangements used as secret communication signals.

By evening, Zhou You found Li Hao by a stream.

There were no wounds on Li Hao's body, but his face was pale and his breathing carried the scent of blood; he had clearly injured his internal organs.

"Zhou You, you escaped?"

Li Hao was slightly startled to see that Zhou You was uninjured.

After contacting Zhou You yesterday, he had been the first to reach the Shan Shen Miao, only to be injured the moment he came face-to-face with the Second Master.

The Bone-Drilling Force was like a maggot on a tarsal bone; if not for his General Unloading Armor Great Mantle having the beginnings of a foundation, he would have already fallen into the opponent's hands.

"It wasn't an escape; I came to find you openly."

Zhou You added, "The Second Master was killed by me; our errand is finished."

A violent coughing fit erupted; Li Hao's eyes were filled with disbelief—the Second Master was dead.

The opponent was a master with refined force and had mastered the technique of the Bone-Drilling Force; one touch meant death or disability.

Such a terrifying enemy had actually died at Zhou You's hands. When Zhou You brought him back to the Shan Shen Miao and he saw the Second Master's headless corpse, Li Hao no longer doubted it.

"Take your medicine first; we'll talk about everything else later."

Li Hao's mind was in chaos; he couldn't understand how Zhou You had killed the Second Master.

Could it be that his Wind-Chasing Triple-Layer Technique had been practiced to a powerful level? He couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged; although the two were sparring partners, they had always practiced on their own, both harboring a competitive spirit toward each other.

Yet, judging by this mission, Zhou You had already surpassed him by more than a notch.

Li Hao's dejected gaze swept over the collapsed wall of the Shan Shen Miao and saw the giant Bronze Bell sitting inside.

His mood changed abruptly; this was a massive fortune.

Ugh! A dangerous premonition rose in Li Hao's heart; the hunters were all dead, and right now, only the two of them knew.

If Zhou You wanted to keep it all for himself...

He struggled a few times, but his chest ached intensely and his limbs were numb; he couldn't muster any force at all.

"Li Hao, it's getting late; I'll build a fire and boil some water for you to drink."

Zhou You carried a large bundle of firewood over and set it down, not forgetting to urge him to rest more.

Li Hao clutched his chest, countless thoughts rising in his head.

He decided to lay his cards on the table...

"Zhou You, you deserve ninety percent of the credit for completing this mission; you will surely be highly valued upon returning to the martial arts school, and your future will be boundless."

This sentence reminded the other party that they still had a martial arts school behind them, and one couldn't act without restraint.

"I owe you my life for saving me this time; Li Hao is a person who knows how to repay kindness."

A person who knows how to repay kindness won't be ungrateful or compete with you for anything; I am no threat to you.

"Mm, I have one thing I must entrust to you; you are my sparring partner, as close as a brother, so you must help me."

Hearing this, Zhou You became interested, "We are fellow Senior Brothers, just ask if there is anything I can do to help."

"You also know that besides the Tiger-Subduing Fist, I also practice my family's Thousand-Army Breaking-Evil Fist."

"This fist technique is passed down within the City Gate Guard, and my father mastered a unique Hard Qigong skill."

"It is called... General Unloading Armor Great Cloak."

This Hard Qigong skill withstood the lethality of the Bone-Piercing Force, earning Li Hao a glimmer of survival.

"It is also because my cultivation is not up to par, and I have been working behind closed doors, so progress is slow."

Li Hao said with regret, "If I had cultivated this unique skill to a minor accomplishment, I would not be in such a sorry state."

"Now that I want to recover as quickly as possible, I need you to help me sort out the flow of force in this unique skill."

"I intend to dictate the cultivation steps and secrets of this unique skill; you help me study it and correct my oversights."

Zhou You waved his hand, "I thought it was something else! A small matter."

He then mentioned, "By the way, that Bronze Bell in the temple..."

"What Bronze Bell? When we arrived earlier, there was only a stone bell."

Li Hao's eyes were clear, his expression was incomparably sincere, and his tone was even more resolute.

He then muttered to himself, "This General Unloading Armor Great Cloak was exceptionally bestowed upon my father by the City Gate Guard, limited to father-son inheritance; if it is discovered that I leaked it to others, I will be in big trouble."

"Please keep it a secret for me; this concerns my life and livelihood."

This cleverness of his sparring partner made Zhou You very satisfied.

The two reached a tacit understanding; Li Hao gave him the unique skill as a handle, showing his determination to keep the secret, for if the news of the Bronze Bell leaked, Zhou You could cause his family to be ruined.

Both had a handle on the other, restraining each other; Zhou You obtained a unique Hard Qigong skill, why not do it? "Hey, I accidentally took too much firewood, it's more than enough to boil water."

Zhou You picked up the remaining firewood and lit it, burning the corpse of Second Master, "Can't waste it."

Li Hao looked at the lit fire and couldn't help but shiver.

(End of this chapter)