Tengya Mountain Bandit Army

2024-07-31

Tengya Mountain Bandit Army

As for the Ox Demon Art for Body Refinement, he had tried practicing it early on, but he soon discovered that Body Refinement differed from practicing techniques.

Even in the Potential Unleashed state, he could not rely on a flash of inspiration to rapidly master a Body Refining Technique.

Though it did improve efficiency somewhat, it was only a few points faster than ordinary Body Refinement, and the process also required food and medicinal supplements.

If he spent a great deal of time on Body Refinement today, it would be no different from wasting this rare, time-limited state.

Therefore, he devoted all his remaining time to polishing his Light Body Technique, hoping to bring this high-level martial art, which was usually slow to practice, to the Mastered the Basics level as well.

Unfortunately, perhaps because his stamina had already been severely depleted by the end, his training efficiency kept declining. When the Potential Unleashed state finally vanished, he was still short of a little experience and failed to break through.

It was a small fly in the ointment.

Fortunately, the experience he had accumulated would not disappear. It would not take him long to bring the Light Body Technique to Mastered the Basics.

Meanwhile, the lamps in Father Song and Mother Song's room had remained lit. Worried about Song Changming's condition and unable to persuade him otherwise, they still had not slept by dawn.

Only after Song Changming stopped and collapsed to the ground from exhaustion did they hurriedly wrap themselves in their clothes and come out.

"Son, how are you?" Mother Song helped Song Changming up and asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Mother. Today was just unusual. I was in exceptionally good form while practicing martial arts, so I wanted to train a little more." Once he had caught his breath, Song Changming smiled.

"Come, come, have some water first and wipe yourself down." Father Song brought over a large bowl of water and fed it to Song Changming.

"This is far too reckless. No matter what, you shouldn't push yourself like this." Mother Song muttered, but Song Changming did not argue.

Once his hands and feet had recovered a little strength, he sent his parents back to their room to sleep. He himself went to the kitchen, lit the fire, and steamed chunks of meat.

His expenditure today had been enormous, and hunger came quickly. If he did not eat his fill, he would not even be able to sleep peacefully.

"This time-limited Potential Unleashed state is excellent, but its triggering conditions are simply too harsh. It really is something one can only stumble upon, not seek."

Song Changming sat beside the stove, feeding firewood into the flames as he pondered alone.

For him to deliberately create opportunities where life and death hung in the balance just to trigger Potential Unleashed—that would be truly insane.

In the instant between life and death, one misstep could mean dying on the spot. The risks involved were simply too great.

Even with one life as a safety net, he was unwilling to try racing down the road of courting death.

After all, accumulating thirty-six thousand days of Lifespan was no easy task. If he could avoid risks, it was better to keep them out entirely.

Steady progress in ordinary times was what he sought, and what he could control.

"Heaven Rewards Diligence is enough. As for Potential Unleashed, I'd better forget it." After weighing the matter, Song Changming shook his head and muttered to himself.

The next day, Mother Song had originally worried that Song Changming would continue practicing regardless of his body. But when she saw him brewing tea and playing chess with Father Song to recuperate, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Song Changming truly did as he said. He would only be a Martial Arts Maniac for one day.

That day, Song Changming did not touch his saber again. At most, he picked up a branch from the ground and made a few gestures through the air.

The wound on his back had shown signs of splitting open and worsening yesterday. Even if he wanted to continue training, he did not quite dare, or the wound might never heal.

While Song Changming patiently stayed home to nurse his injuries, news that the Nine Bends Society had been wiped out overnight by the Patrol Guard Headquarters had already swept through Houli Street like wind and rain. Many ordinary people who had suffered under the Nine Bends Society rejoiced wildly, lavishing praise upon Liang Chuanshan, the newly appointed Director of the Patrol Guard Headquarters.

For a time, Liang Chuanshan's reputation in the Houli Street district soared in a straight line.

His first blaze had burned fiercely—and with unparalleled success.

That day, Song Changming was scattering food for the Azure Water Silkworm beside the water vat when Lu Gang suddenly came to visit.

Like him, Lu Gang was recuperating from injuries at home. His sudden visit today came as something of a surprise.

"Changming, the gang leader you killed has a serious problem!" The moment Lu Gang saw Song Changming, he spoke with a grave expression.

"Which gang leader?" Song Changming asked as he invited Lu Gang to sit at the stone table in the courtyard and brewed him tea.

Lu Gang sat down and continued, "That Scarface—the leader of the Nine Bends Society! His true identity was actually one of the leaders of the Tengya Mountain Bandit Army. His name is on the wanted posters.

Diamond Saber, Cao Fushan! A reward of five hundred taels of silver!"

"Huh, he was worth that much? I wonder if Captain Liang will give me a share." Song Changming raised his brows, somewhat surprised.

"..." Lu Gang was left speechless by Song Changming's first reaction. He could not help tapping the table with a finger before adding, "The reward is not the point. The point is that he was a leader of the Tengya Mountain Bandit Army."

Song Changming took a sip of steaming tea and looked at Lu Gang. "That bandit army has been entrenched in Tengya Mountain for years. It's perfectly normal for them to send people into our Prefecture City, isn't it?"

Come to think of it, Cao Fushan was not the first member of the Tengya Mountain Bandit Army Song Changming had encountered.

Earlier, Chen Beihu had also been a minor leader of the bandit army. Song Changming had killed him as well, stepping over his corpse to earn the merit that made him a patrol guard.

To Song Changming, this did not seem like anything particularly unacceptable. After all, the Prefecture City was not that far from Tengya Mountain.

"It's different. If he had merely slipped into the Prefecture City, that would have been one thing. Alone, he could not have stirred up much of a storm.

"But he went to great lengths to establish the Nine Bends Society here, then spent years secretly developing and strengthening it. There must be some greater purpose behind it. It is highly possible that the bandit army was plotting something and directing him to do this," Lu Gang explained.

"Mm, that really does warrant a thorough investigation." Song Changming nodded, agreeing with Lu Gang. Then he continued.

"But now that we've destroyed the Nine Bends Society and killed Cao Fushan, even if the Tengya Mountain Bandit Army truly intended to use this to plot something, their plan has probably already fallen apart."

Lu Gang shook his head. "We cannot rule out the possibility that other gangs are also backed by the bandit army. This may not concern only the Houli Street district—it could even involve several other districts!"

"So, Brother Lu, did you come here because Captain Liang told me to return and report for duty to investigate this?" Song Changming asked.

"No. The Director went to the General Directorate to report this matter, and no orders have been issued yet. I only heard about it and came to tell you in advance.

"After all, you were the one who personally killed Cao Fushan. I'm worried that if he has comrades from the bandit army in the city, they may see you as a thorn in their eye and try to harm you," Lu Gang said seriously, explaining why he had come.

He wanted Song Changming to keep this matter in mind. Whether there were other bandit army comrades or not, it was better to be cautious.

After all, that was the Tengya Mountain Bandit Army, a force that gave the entire County Governor's Mansion an enormous headache.

No amount of caution would be excessive.

End of Chapter