The tall, thin man and the short, fat man behind him immediately rolled up their sleeves and surrounded him. One of them reached out to grab Chen Du's arm, while the other reached out to grab his collar.
Chen Du did not dodge.
He slowly raised his head, looked at Wang Toutou's trembling, fleshy face, and suddenly chuckled softly.
Wang Toutou was taken aback, then frowned and demanded an explanation.
"Why are you laughing?"
Chen Du spoke calmly and slowly.
I laugh at your stupidity.
Wang Toutou's expression suddenly changed drastically. He raised his right hand high and slapped Chen Du hard across the face.
But Chen Du moved just as his hand was raised halfway up the air.
He suddenly flipped his right hand, revealing his full Third Tier cultivation level without reservation.
Within this seemingly ordinary Third Tier law power, there was a faint gray halo so faint it was almost impossible to detect.
That was a wisp of great power he borrowed from the Fourteenth Tier Soul Heart, compressed to its extreme, so light and subtle that no one in the arena could perceive its mystery.
He reached out and firmly grasped Wang Toutou, then gently twisted it downwards.
Click.
A crisp sound of bone cracking suddenly rang out.
Wang Toutou immediately let out a shrill scream as Chen Du twisted his arm in the opposite direction, and his body was pressed down onto the mud.
Before the tall, thin man and the short, fat man could react to the sudden turn of events, Chen Du subtly moved his legs and precisely kicked the sides of their knees.
Two more cracking sounds of bones breaking rang out, and the two men's legs buckled, causing them to fall heavily to their knees, their kneecaps shattering inch by inch.
Chen Du released Wang Toutou's wrist, then gently placed his foot on Wang's back, the immense force pressing Wang's face firmly into the muddy ground.
Within his mind, the system panel flickered violently, displaying a series of prompts.
[Deliberate Revenge triggered; the opponent's arrogance is extremely high; a successful slap in the face; Hatred Qi Value increased by 100 years.]
[Super Upgrade triggered, talent enhanced: Deliberate Revenge, Hatred Qi Value Sublimation Multiplier: 10x, Enmity Qi Acquisition: 1000 years.]
Wang Toutou lay sprawled in the mud, his mouth and nose covered in filth, still shouting and cursing incoherently.
"Zhang Shun, you little bastard... how dare you lay a hand on me... my cousin is an outer disciple... he could crush you with a single finger!"
Chen Du slightly increased the pressure under his feet, and Wang Toutou's ribs cracked repeatedly as he was being pressed down, his fierce curses instantly turning into heart-wrenching howls.
The tall, thin man and the short, fat man knelt to one side, their bodies wracked with excruciating pain. Large beads of cold sweat rolled down their foreheads. Gone was their previous arrogance. They trembled and begged for mercy.
Chen Du lowered his eyes and looked down at the three people on the ground, his voice calm and even, revealing no emotional fluctuations.
"How many bundles of firewood did you secretly take away from me? How many bags of food did you forcibly take from me? How many times did you kick me when I was massaging your legs?"
The three of them were trembling all over, their teeth chattering, and they couldn't utter a complete sentence.
Chen Du increased the pressure on his feet, and Wang Toutou's shrill screams echoed continuously in the open space behind the dining hall.
The commotion attracted many of the servant disciples, and the crowd gradually gathered around.
Some people were stunned by what they saw and instinctively stepped back, afraid of being drawn into the conflict. Others, who were usually bullied by Wang Toutou, had a glint of relief in their eyes.
Chen Du struck, crippling the cultivation of the three men, then kicked them out of the servants' courtyard, clearing the area completely.
After doing all this, he raised his hand to brush the dust off his palms, then turned and walked towards his hut.
After closing the wooden door and isolating himself from all outside noise, Chen Du finally drew out all the sublimated Enmity Qi accumulated over a thousand years and sent it into the Heaven's Way's Gift.
The power Heaven's Way's Gift suddenly trembled, and after a moment, a small and exquisite miniature palace model slowly appeared in the depths of his consciousness.
The entire palace was forged from dark gold divine material, and the heavy palace doors were engraved with layers upon layers of dense ancient array patterns.
The interior of the palace is more than ten thousand times larger than what is visible from the outside; it is a Twelfth Tier palace-type magical artifact.
Chen Du probed the hall with a wisp of Spiritual Power to investigate carefully.
This treasure has a wide range of uses. It can not only be used to store resources and treasures, but also to contain living beings and set up large formations. It has top-notch defensive capabilities and can also generate powerful offensive forces. Its uses are endless.
He carefully stored the palace treasure deep within his sea of consciousness and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
What was originally a hundred years of Enmity Qi, after being sublimated tenfold, has been exchanged for such a Twelfth Tier supreme treasure. This deal is truly worthwhile.
Chen Du thought to himself that he would likely encounter several more wonderful people like Wang Toutou who would come to him willingly in the future.
For the next three months, Chen Du lived a fulfilling and peaceful life, not wasting a single moment.
During the day, he still adhered to his outward identity, going out on time to chop wood and fetch water, completing all the miscellaneous tasks assigned to him. His words and actions were no different from the taciturn Zhang Shun of the past, without the slightest arrogance.
To outsiders, he remained the same ordinary handyman who worked quietly and didn't like to chat with others; there was nothing unusual about him.
But once night fell and everyone in the servants' quarters had rested, he closed the door tightly, sat cross-legged on the yellowed, worn-out straw mat, and devoted himself to cultivation.
The body left behind by the original Zhang Shun Xiantian indeed inherently weak and frail, with narrow meridians and old injuries. If it were someone else, it would take at least several years of hard work to steadily break through from the Third Tier. If they were not careful, they would be stuck at the bottleneck and unable to make any progress for a long time.
But Chen Du was different. The Fourteenth Tier Soul Heart that quietly floated in his sea of consciousness was the most incredible treasure in the world.
With the continuous flow of spiritual energy from his Soul Heart as support, his cultivation was like having a shortcut to heaven; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had a cheat code.
The breakthrough was incredibly fast, yet remarkably stable without a trace of instability.
It only took him half a month to advance from the Third Tier to the Fourth Tier.
Once the Fourth Tier is completed, it will only take about twenty days to break through to the Fifth Tier.
Moving up from the Fifth Tier to the Sixth Tier also only takes about twenty days.
In his remaining free time, he didn't rush to reach higher levels, but instead focused on consolidating his foundation.
He meticulously refined and solidified every law within this physical body, repeatedly reviewing and verifying it to eliminate any potential hidden dangers that might result from breaking through too quickly.
Every bit of strength must be rooted in flesh and blood, perfectly integrated with oneself, and one must never leave behind flaws that are difficult to repair later in the pursuit of speed.
Time flies, and soon it was time for the assessment of the handyman disciples.
Behind the dining hall is a spacious and flat training ground paved with hard bluestone slabs. It is used by disciples to practice their martial arts and test their cultivation levels.
On this day, the martial arts arena was bustling with activity, with over a hundred people gathered there. Almost all the disciples who were still in the servants' quarters came to this place.
A simple platform was erected at the front of the crowd, where the steward in charge of the assessment sat solemnly.
On the table in front of him were two important testing tools: a thick, dark, Force-Testing Divine Stone, and a Law Sensing Formation that shimmered with a faint light.