Chapter 202: Consolidation of the Hammer Spirit–The Neutralizing Change
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Good! It’s incredibly powerful!”
Junior Leopard sank into a strange state the moment he swung his metal hammer. The 81 movements of Wild Hammering Skill, the Flipping Sky Hammering Skill, the Thirteen Punches of Desolation, and the Tai Chi Fist flowed like a stream across his mind, gradually merging together. His Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Internal Qi gushed out of his body and formed a glowing, golden red screen that enveloped him. When he breathed out, two red snake-like stripes of light appeared from his nostrils. The light fed into the glowing screen, forming an endless cycle.
Without realizing it, his Black Sun Fist Intent was released. It surged explosively from the black winds like a volcano eruption. The three Fire dragons intertwining the black winds let out a blinding glow and merged to form an enormous stripe before suddenly diving into the raging winds.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…!”
The sound of the raging winds traveled across the entire River Heart Island. It was no longer the desolate island overrun with water bandits anymore. It was now a crucial location where goods were gathered. The people who thronged the ports, docks, goods yards, drill grounds, new inns, along with merchants and workers made up more than 10,000 people. Alarmed by the eccentric winds, they gathered and moved toward Junior Leopard’s year.
w.a.n.g Cheng had been staring at the black raging winds in front of him with a shocked expression on his face. Realization suddenly dawned on him. He turned and ordered Zhu Ba and Jiang Xiao in a severe tone, “Quick! Tell all your subordinates to clear the scene. No one is to approach within 1,000 feet of the courtyard. If anyone ignores this command, execute them immediately!”
“Yes!” Zhu Ba and Jiang Xiao came to their senses. Glancing at the winds within the yard, they turned and left without a second look. They soon led a huge crowd of soldiers and formed a barrier that surrounded the courtyard 10,000 feet away.
“His Excellency is practicing. No one is to enter within 10,000 feet! Anyone who disturbs his cultivation will be executed immediately!”
Zhu Ba swung the large saber in his hands, loudly giving orders with a severe expression. The scar on his face twisted like a centipede as his face contorted and a violent spirit decorated his expression.
…
“So Zhou Bao is back! No wonder there’s such a commotion!”
“Really? I heard Zhou Bao is only a Level Four expert. No way he created such commotion!”
“Look, Zhao Bao isn’t just an ordinary Level Four expert. He once killed a Level Seven expert in a one-on-one fight! I was there and I saw it clearly!”
When the person who spoke recalled what happened that day, he could not help the fearful expression on his face. Looking at the black raging winds and remembering the power Junior Leopard displayed when he struck down Dragon Nanny, he said, “Oh G.o.d, this is even worse than the time he killed a Level Seven expert!”
“Well, of course! He’s the Commander after all!”
The person who spoke was a soldier preventing the crowd from getting past him. His face was so full of pride. It was as if he was the one who caused the current situation.
“You guys have really gotten lucky this time, getting such a powerful person as your Commander!” A soldier of the Garrison Mansion was also within the crowd, looking enviously at the soldiers forming the barricade and maintaining order. For an ordinary soldier concerned with earning their keep like him, it was a blessing to have a leader like Junior Leopard. He was not only powerful but also forthright with his subordinates.
The crowd kept a 10,000-feet distance away shuffled noisily as if they were watching an entertaining performance. Within the yard, Junior Leopard was oblivious to all this. He was doing his best to control his Black Sun Fist Intent.
When the three Fire Dragons merged and swooped into the raging winds, a subtle change happened to his Black Sun Fist Intent.
The Fire Dragon dived into the fist intent and the Black Sun Fist Intent abruptly exploded with full force. Tall flames of fire instantly enveloped the raging winds. The raging winds, originally hundreds of feet tall, became intertwined with the Black Sun Fist Intent. Its speed declined and, amid all this, a peculiar gravity emerged.
Within the winds, Junior Leopard held the metal hammer in his hands. He gathered the few types of hammering and punching skills he knew and integrated them. When he used a move similar to one from Tai Chi Fist, the fist intent and the winds interacted. The movement of the black hammer within his hands slowed the same way a slow-motion scene in a video did. A strange but wonderful spirit emerged from his hands and from within the hammer.
“Ooooh!”
A silent wind blew across. The surging Black Sun Fist Intent became calm and reserved after the explosion. The hammer in his hands traveled in a strange trajectory and Junior Leopard felt a sudden jolt in his mind. As if time had come to a stop, he sank into a strangely abstruse state. The fierce Qi Power, previously strongly affected by the Black Sun Fist Intent, became calm as well. The aura transitioned into an eccentric phase and seemed to continue infinitely.
“Hammer Spirit?!”
When time seemed to have disappeared completely, Junior Leopard felt himself being completely one with the black hammer in his hands. The Qi Power surrounding him also merged with the hammer, including the Black Sun Fist Intent.
This was the Hammer Spirit!
The fist had a Fist Intent of its own, the sword its Sword Intent. The hammer, too, had its Hammer Spirit!
He apprehended the feeling he had when he first gained insight of the hammering skill and comprehended the Hammer Spirit!
Or perhaps he should say, he had expanded the function of the fist intent a little further beyond what he had comprehended the last time!
Technically, his Black Sun Fist Intent and his newly comprehended Hammer Spirit could not be considered independent intents. They were merely evolved from his primitive fist intent, the imitation universe.
The imitation universe started to release large amounts of energy, bringing him unparalleled benefits.
With his current abilities, or in other words, even if he exhausted his entire life, it was almost impossible for him to utilize entirely the Fist Intent of his imitation universe. But as time went by, he gained power continuously, so he became able to make use of more and more parts of the imitation universe. First, the Black Sun Fist Intent, followed by the Black Hole Fist Intent, and lastly the Hammer Spirit he comprehended that day. All of these intents merely made up a tiny part of the imitation universe.
The black sun rotated slowly, releasing endless amounts of light and heat. Apart from the black sun, a black metal sphere revolved around the black sun with a fixed frequency.
This was a galaxy!
A planetary system with only a star and galaxy.
This was the simplest kind of system within the universe.
The Fist Intent he had comprehended was a galaxy.
Of course, within this simple system, the interactions between the star and the planet were not only things that existed. In fact, what was really operating was the huge gravity covering the entire planet.
The fist intent that Junior Leopard had comprehended this time was different from the previous two. It not only integrated with his Internal Qi but his Divine Awareness and weapon as well.
The black planet in orbit was formed by the trajectory of his metal hammer in motion. Within the huge gravity within the galaxy, it contained the very essence of the Tai Chi Fist.
The metal hammer in his hands was put into motion again. This time around, he did not use the Wild Hammering Skill nor the Thirteen Punches of Desolation or the Tai Chi Fist. The hammer moved along with the gravity of the galaxy, slowly adapting to the feeling. Within the Hammer Spirit, the trajectory of the planet was changing slightly as well. Both his hammering skill and Hammer Spirit were probing each other, adapting to each other, and slowly moving toward the single final trajectory!
“Hong!”
The metal hammer looked as it was moving slowly, but was vibrating at high speed in actuality. The barely perceptible vibration caused the hammer to fall into its final and perfect trajectory. The foundation of the Fist Intent was thus strengthened.
“The time is now!” Junior Leopard felt his Fist Intent solidify entirely and let out a long and deep breath. The Fist Intent had completely exceeded his expectations this time. He had only wanted to test out the hammer. He did not expect to comprehend his own Hammer Spirit out of the blue.
With the completion of his Hammer Spirit, he was now in complete control of it!
With such a thought, Junior Leopard made the Hammer Spirit disappear in the blink of an eye. When everything returned to normal, Junior Leopard could not help baring his teeth and cursing under his breath.
His courtyard had been annihilated and the land he was standing on was completely flattened without a single rock intact. Everything had been reduced to dust by the raging wind, the dust on the ground forming a peculiar image surrounding him. Junior Leopard could tell the image was that of the galaxy formed by his Fist Intent, obviously formed due to the gravity from within it.
Without thinking, Junior Leopard lifted his foot and brought it down hard. A wave of energy traveled in all directions and erased the image on the ground.
He tried to hang the hammer on his belt behind his back but found that he could not. The hammer was no longer the pair of silver hammers he had previously. Smiling wryly, he carried the hammer in his hand and walked slowly out of the courtyard.
He was pretty exhausted after such vigorous movements.
“Your Excellency, you have come out!” Seeing Junior Leopard, Zhu Ba hurriedly rushed to his side. The courtyard was already destroyed, so technically there was nothing to go into or come out of. Zhu Ba only said this out of habit.
Glancing at Zhu Ba, and then at the crowd a thousand feet away, Junior Leopard said, “What are all those people doing there? Watching a circus? Disperse them! Make them all leave!”
“Yes, yes, yes…!” Zhu Ba immediately ran, waving his arms at the crowd. “Everyone, please leave! Go back to whatever you were doing. Haven’t you seen an expert before? Please leave now!”
The crowd rapidly dispersed, with most people could not help glancing at Junior Leopard a few times as they left. It was as if they wanted to see what kind of a fearsome monster the Navy Commander of Jiang City was.
…
“I’m not some fearsome monster. I have only comprehended something when I received this hammer today!” Junior Leopard patted the handle of the hammer, his face turning an odd shade. The power of this hammer was great, but it was too heavy. The weight was not a problem; the problem was finding a place to store the hammer. If he put it on a table, well, there were not many tables that could support its thousand kilogram weight. If he put it on the ground, it would most likely create a large pit on the ground. There was already a shallow pit beside his chair.
Even with his decent cultivation level, it would still be a ma.s.sive burden if he held the hammer in his hands all the time. He also had to get an excellent horse, or else he would not be able to ride a horse when he wanted to travel. He could not ask a bunch of soldiers to carry his hammer and follow him every time he wanted to go out, could he?
That was obviously out of the question.
For the first time since his return, Junior Leopard settled down inside the tent of the navy. He looked at his subordinates with a warm smile on his face.
“You have all worked hard in the past few months!”
“We have just done what we are supposed to do, sir! We are not tired!”
“I have largely understood what is going on here. Apart from the change in the Guard of Jiang City creating some trouble for us, everything else has been handled very well. Zhu Ba, why don’t you marry your wife as soon as possible?”
“Ah? Yes!”
Zhu Ba did not expect that Junior Leopard would suddenly turn the focus on him. Furthermore, Junior Leopard was expressing concern about his personal matters and he was immensely grateful for it.
“Your Excellency, it’s been so long. Supervisor Zhao should have arrived by now!”
‘Supervisor Zhao is waiting outside the tent!” Jiang Xiao reported.
“Let him enter!”
“Yes!”
The Wu Family supervisor of Jiang City, Zhao Cheng entered the tent not long after.
“Zhao Cheng of Jiang City pays his respect to Elder Zhou!” After he entered, he bowed to Junior Leopard. However, he addressed him as an Elder instead of commander.
The Wu Family had great power and influence which the Navy of Jiang City could never measure up to. As the supervisor of the Wu Family in Jiang City, he was of equal prestige with the city magistrate. He paid his respects to Junior Leopard only because of his position as an Elder, not for his position as navy commander.
“I have already received the present you sent me. It’s great. I’m very happy with it!” Junior Leopard slapped the hammer beside his hand and it gave off shock waves that everyone could feel.
“I don’t dare to claim credit for it. The Family Head ordered the present. I was only in charge of delivering it!” Zhao Cheng immediately said. In the Wu Family, he was only a lowly supervisor. For things like these, he only contributed some manual labor at most and nothing he could truly claim credit for.
“Okay, let’s not talk about these meaningless matters. I have a question for you. Who exactly is the new Garrison? Guard Ding hadn’t even completed his term. How could he be replaced so easily? And there was no hint of the change beforehand!”
“This…” Supervisor Zhao hesitated, glancing at the various members of the Navy of Jiang City who were watching.
w.a.n.g Cheng and the rest were all men with years of experience. They naturally understood what he meant.
“Your Excellency, we…”
w.a.n.g Cheng stood up and brought his hands into a fist, wanting to excuse himself when Junior Leopard gestured for him to sit.
“Supervisor Zhao, everyone here is my trusted subordinates. You can speak your mind here!”
“Yes!” Since Junior Leopard had spoken, Supervisor Zhao did as asked. “The surname of the new garrison is Zheng. He was originally a guard of the Prince Ning Mansion!”
“A guard of Prince Ning Mansion?” Junior Leopard’s eyes became focused and the expressions of the seated navy leaders became unpleasant.
Prince Ning was the seventh prince of the current Emperor and the most outstanding and well-known of them all. He yielded a great deal of power and influence in the imperial court.
It must be admitted that the Emperor of Qian was not only a wise person but also good at producing heirs. With sons alone, he had 18 of them. Including his daughters of all ranks, he had more than 30 children.
The princesses were not much of an issue since they had to be married off eventually. But when there were too many sons, it was definitely troublesome.
This was especially true in a royal family. The more the number of sons, the more the trouble. The Qian Royalty was not an exception.
Seven of the princes had already come of age and Emperor Qian had arranged various positions for them, where they had a certain amount of authority. As they completed the tasks a.s.signed to them, each continuously tried to expand their influence at the same time. The Crown Prince may have been long determined, but how many of those who ascended thrones were previously Crown Princes? Even the current Emperor was only a regular prince in his time. The future was unpredictable. The river may flow east for thirty years but flow west for the next thirty. These years, as the princes grew up, the struggle for power, whether covertly or overtly, happened continuously.
None of the princes were easy to deal with. All did everything in their power to place their collaborators in important positions. Trusted subordinates had their places, servants had theirs as well. The new garrison, Zheng Xi, was Prince Ning’s guard.
Everyone’s expression turned odd when they heard that Garrison Zheng was from the Prince Ning Mansion. The men all knew their limits. With their current power, it was impossible for the Navy of Jiang City to go against Prince Ning Mansion. They could destroy the navy with only a fraction of their power.
“What’s a guard from the Prince Ning Mansion doing in Jiang City?”
Supervisor Zhao smiled wryly for a brief moment as if he had some opinion about Prince Ning himself. “Looks like Prince Ning has set his eyes on Zhonghe Prefecture. Since Jiang City is the most important part of Zhonghe Prefecture, he sent Zheng Xi here to test the waters.”
“He wants to test the depth of waters here in Jiang City?”
“Zhonghe Prefecture as well,” Supervisor Zhao said. “Besides Zheng Xi, 14 other men from the Prince Ning Mansion have entered Zhonghe Prefecture. Their positions aren’t high, but like Zheng Xi, they are all placed in crucial places. I also heard that the imperial court wants to replace Admiral Li!”
“Replace Admiral Li?” Junior Leopard could not longer keep a straight face. He started out as Li Yuan’s personal guard and his current position was thanks to him. On the surface, Li Yuan could be regarded as his backer. If Li Yuan left, he would be left without a backer. He had no friends, connections, nor understanding of the local culture in Zhonghe Prefecture. Besides, he had been rude to the Magistrate in the beginning. Once Li Yuan was gone, it would be a piece of cake for anyone to deal with him.
“Is this news dependable?”
“It’s very likely.”
“d.a.m.n! This is really troublesome!” Junior Leopard furrowed his brow and cursed under his breath. “Supervisor Zhao, you have a certain influence within Jiang City. Have you met Garrison Zheng? How is he?”
“He’s much stronger than Guard Ding and quite the figure. He’s no weakling either. I heard he’s a Level Five expert!”
“A Level Five expert coming to Jiang City to be a Garrison?” Junior Leopard was stunned, finding it unbelievable. Experts of Bone-Forging Realm were a rarity, never mind a Level Five Expert coming from Prince Ning Mansion. Garrison Zheng had more than enough qualification to be the admiral of some faraway prefecture! Why would he be a.s.signed here to be some lowly garrison?
“This is what we haven’t been able to understand. Zheng Xi’s cultivation level is not the highest. Among the other 14 men, even the weakest was at the peak of Level Three. The strongest was at Level Six, yet he was a.s.signed to a lowly position in Jibei City!”
“Interesting!” Junior Leopard rubbed his chin. He thought for a moment and asked, “What about Guard Ding? What happened to him?”
“He has been transferred to Yun City. His position is now one level higher, but he no longer has any real power!”
“I see!” Junior Leopard nodded.
This time, even he could tell that Prince Ning had his schemes about Zhonghe Prefecture. But even if he had these plans, he should not have been so obvious. Was he not afraid of being discovered to make his scheme so conspicuous by sending so many experts here?
Noticing the tense atmosphere, Zhu Ba could not help opening his mouth. “Your Excellency, we don’t have to fear him. Even if he is the Garrison of Jiang City, he has no power to take you down, does he?”
“That’s true. But if the Admiral Li really leaves Zhonghe Prefecture and the new Admiral wants to get rid of me, he can do so in a single order!” Junior Leopard said slowly, his fingers tapping the handle of his hammer.
“Then what should we do?” Zhu Ba asked worriedly. The expression of the leaders of the navy, including w.a.n.g Cheng, changed as well. They understood very well that they owed Junior Leopard for the position and power of the navy today. It would not be easy to get another leader who was both powerful and generous like Junior Leopard. Once he was transferred away, the navy would lose everything even with their control over River Heart Island. They would not be able to get any benefits from it and they could just forget about the docks and goods yards as well. Even if w.a.n.g Cheng became the new Navy Commander, it would be impossible to retain their control over these places.
Therefore, they became panicked when they heard this.
“If the Admiral leaves, who will replace him?”
“The general of the imperial army, w.a.n.g Zheng. He’s Prince Ning’s brother-in-law!” Zhao Cheng said.
“Looks like Prince Ning is determined to take control of Zhonghe Prefecture!” Junior Leopard smiled wryly. “Supervisor, what do you think? If the Admiral is really replaced, would Prince Ning’s men let me continue as the Navy of Jiang City of Jiang City?”
“Of course not. Jiang City is located in a crucial position and River Heart Island is its throat. If Prince Ning really wants to exert his influence in Zhonghe Prefecture, he will never give up River Heart Island!” Zhao Cheng said.
“This is your speculation?”
“No, it’s the Family Head’s speculation!”