Chapter 48 - 42: This Inner Power Seems a Bit Unorthodox

Chen Jue took out his phone and searched for the user ID of "Primordial Hand Old Playful" on both his Douyin and Bilibili accounts.

He didn’t have many followers—just over 200,000.

That was a far cry from the big-name Martial Arts influencers who just practiced forms, showed off flashy moves, and tried to look cool.

However, this guy clearly had real skills and genuine abilities. As Chen Jue scrolled through his past videos, he saw that not only could the man himself make his hands swell and contract at will as if they were being inflated...

...but even the few apprentices he taught could do the same.

Though he couldn’t understand the principle behind it, seeing such a powerful video for the first time left Chen Jue feeling incredibly excited.

’Traditional Martial Arts... The real arts are the ones that are passed down.’

’As long as the lineage isn’t broken!’

「...」

After watching the video, Chen Jue looked up at Elder Wu.

The old man was also looking at the influencer in the video with a hint of envy. Cradling a thermos, he asked with feigned mystery, "Young man, take a guess. How old am I?"

"You must be... in your sixties or seventies, right?" Chen Jue said, sizing him up.

His hair was gray, his skin was covered in wrinkles, and his face was dotted with age spots. He was clearly no spring chicken.

"I’m seventy-five! I’ve been retired for fifteen years. Xiaofang is my youngest granddaughter."

Elder Wu gave him a mysterious smile, then pointed to the Primordial Hand Old Playful in the video. "And how old do you think he is?"

"Him? ...Fifty-something?"

Chen Jue glanced at the video. The badass who could slap reinforced concrete with his bare hands was wearing a training uniform. He had medium-length, ramen-noodle hair that was flecked with gray, a ruddy complexion, and a mustache and beard. Judging by looks alone, he seemed to be a middle-aged man in his fifties.

"The man’s the same age as me. Just two months younger!"

"I pulled some strings and looked up his information before."

Elder Wu capped his thermos, shooting a smiling glance at Chen Jue’s shocked face.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jue was completely floored, his face a giant question mark. ???

Comparing the appearances of Elder Wu and the Primordial Hand Old Playful again, it felt like he was seeing a ghost!

Their appearances weren’t even in the same ballpark, age-wise!

Visually, there was at least a twenty-year gap!

"No beauty filters. The videos are all shot on a raw camera feed."

"Does practicing Inner Power really make that much of a difference?" Chen Jue was dumbfounded.

The visual was so shocking, his mind couldn’t even process it.

"There’s definitely a difference. You can see it in the man’s appearance and aura."

"My father practiced Inner Power and lived to the ripe old age of 102. That’s considered a pretty long life."

"At my age, I only learned the basics of my family’s style. I practice external martial arts, not some life-preserving discipline. Ten to one I won’t live that long!" Elder Wu said, half-joking.

「...」

Seeing that Chen Jue was still reeling from the world-shattering implications of Inner Power, Elder Wu didn’t disturb him. Chuckling, he picked up his Red Tassel Spear and thermos and headed over to the chess tables to find a game.

’Anyway, I’ve said all I needed to say. My task from my granddaughter is complete. Whether Chen Jue believes it or not is his own business.’

’Besides, the young man seems rather ordinary. Even with his impressive skill with Darts, Elder Wu felt he wasn’t good enough for his granddaughter just yet.’

’After all, skill with Darts isn’t such a rare talent these days.’

’Plenty of people practice Darts online, but very few actually make big money and live a life of luxury from it.’

As for Chen Jue, once he had processed the shock of the Primordial Hand Old Playful, his heart filled with a newfound yearning for Inner Power, a world he had never entered.

’If someone else has mastered it, then I definitely can too.’

The sight of the man’s expanding hands—just like Luffy going into Third Gear—not only improved their Resistance Ability but also seemed to increase his Strength. The prospect greatly tempted Chen Jue.

’If I learned that, what if I could make any organ swell up like that? That would be insane!’

’I just don’t know how to contact him...’

Chen Jue scrolled through the past videos and the creator’s Introduction but was stunned to find no specific address.

’It seemed the Primordial Hand Old Playful was just online to make money from views, not to pivot to selling merchandise. He even had his private messages turned off.’

’He was clearly a different breed from other video creators.’

「...」

By the time he finished scrolling through all the videos, it was already almost noon.

When he snapped out of it and looked around, Elder Wu was nowhere to be seen.

’Damn it! I didn’t even say goodbye!’

Chen Jue slapped his forehead, annoyed at his own rudeness.

’After all, he’d come seeking real martial arts. And even though he didn’t find it in the old man himself, Elder Wu had at least pointed him down a clear path.’

’I’ll have to thank the old man next time I see him,’ Chen Jue thought to himself as he picked up his large bag and left the park.

He found a fast-food place, had a quick meal, and sat down to continue scrolling through videos.

He planned to look for some leads in the comments section.

But after a round of scrolling, he found it was all fucking jokesters and trolls. There wasn’t a single piece of useful information.

"Can the OP post a video of the growing process! Also, can you use it on other limbs? I’m talking about feet (dog face)."

"I’m almost too embarrassed to call you out (dog face), but you mean the third leg, right? (smirk)"

"Can you train this power... anywhere? (tongue out)"

"To the commenter above, where are *you* thinking of training it? (eating popcorn)"

"So Stephen Chow’s ’fists the size of sandbags’ line was real (shocked face)."

"Mister, did you eat a Gum-Gum Devil Fruit? (onlooker)"

"..."

Since he couldn’t find any contact information, Chen Jue had no choice but to turn off his phone for the time being, putting the thought of finding a master on the back burner.