"Trial Project Two (Unrated): The first chapter of the life-and-death duel has been completed. Experience Points +100." "Trial Project One (Unrated): Martial arts school apprentice promotion, in progress." "Name: Zhou You. Strength: 15. Speed: 15. Defense: 15. Experience Points: 606. Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice. Level: Initial Martial Force. Skills: Imperial Strike Hand lv8, Square Step lv8, Tiger Subduing Fist lv10."
After Zhou You killed Lu Zhigang, the killing intent in his heart surged fiercely and refused to settle for a long while.
He knew that unless he dealt with that venomous snake Tu Laosan, today's matter would only be the beginning.
He immediately turned and left, heading for Tu Laosan's residence. He had already found out where it was when he had gone there last time to offer an apology.
But this time, he was not going to apologize. He was going to wipe out the family.
Tu Laosan's household was a den of snakes and rats. None of them were good people, so there was no pity in killing them.
Having tested his Martial Force after mastering it, Zhou You's confidence swelled. He intended to strike while the iron was hot and stew all his enemies in one pot.
Otherwise, if he allowed them to scheme in the shadows, sooner or later they would strike at him and his mother with dirty tricks.
"Tu Laosan, you sought your own death. You can't blame anyone else."
As Zhou You strode swiftly onward, he operated the System Panel and raised his attributes.
"Experience Points -10. Strength +1." "Experience Points -10. Speed +1." "Experience Points -10. Defense +1."
He had just completed the trial, and together with the Experience Points he had saved up for so long, he could now lavishly strengthen himself.
His skin quivered in the wind, his blood boiled, and he could even hear the faint sounds of his fingernails and teeth compressing and strengthening.
Zhou You's foot suddenly sank into empty air. He had used too much force and snapped a bluestone slab by the roadside.
That huge bluestone was older than Zhou You's grandfather. It had been quarried from the deep mountains and transported into the city, remaining hard as ever through hundreds of years.
Yet beneath Zhou You's strengthened power, it had become as fragile as tofu and broke beneath a single step.
"Whew, whew... Looks like I've reached the limit."
Zhou You stopped and looked at the System Panel again.
"Name: Zhou You. Strength: 20. Speed: 20. Defense: 20. Experience Points: 456. Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice. Level: Initial Martial Force. Skills: Imperial Strike Hand lv8, Square Step lv8, Tiger Subduing Fist lv10."
The all-around improvement in his physical capabilities brought immediate results.
Zhou You took several breaths and stirred his Martial Force. A thicker, fiercer current of Martial Force suddenly burst forth.
With a moment's carelessness, outlines as thick as chopsticks bulged beneath his skin, Martial Force darting beneath it as nimbly as a serpent.
He still had Experience Points left over. Once he passed the promotion assessment, he would use them to upgrade Tiger Subduing Fist.
Lv10 was a threshold, the entry barrier for cultivating Martial Force. Beyond that, from lv11 to lv19, one steadily strengthened that Martial Force step by step.
Once he reached lv20, there would be another threshold. He would temper his Martial Force to perfection, until he could produce Blood Qi.
Martial Force was the threshold for official apprentices, while Blood Qi was the threshold from apprentice to disciple.
Once Tiger Subduing Fist broke through lv20 and reached the stage of producing Blood Qi, he could enter the Inner Court and become Martial School Master Wang Jianxiong's trusted confidant. Only then would he be qualified to openly and aboveboard call him Master.
"Hm?"
Zhou You arrived near Tu Laosan's home full of ambition, only to find nothing there.
Only a few Wild Fox Gang lackeys were idling around nearby. Tu Laosan himself was not home.
That dog had pretty good luck!
"Isn't that the kid?"
A low-ranking gang member saw Zhou You and pointed at him in shock, about to say something.
The next moment, Zhou You stretched out an arm and lifted him into the air. "Where is Tu Laosan?"
"Ugh, ugh, spare me! Third Master was called away by the Vice Gang Leader. He said there was something urgent."
"Before Third Master left, he said he wouldn't be back for three to five days and told us to guard the house."
Vice Gang Leader Tu Lao Er was Tu Laosan's elder brother, one of the Wild Fox Gang's higher-ups.
Unlike his useless younger brother, Tu Lao Er was a martial artist who had cultivated Blood Qi, comparable to an Inner Court disciple of the martial arts school.
As a gang higher-up, he had quite a few capable henchmen at his side, each at least a practitioner with Proficient Internal Force.
Zhou You knew this trip had come up empty. For the time being, he could not touch Tu Laosan.
"All of you, listen up! What is Tu Laosan? A despicable, shameless, lowly creature."
"Knowing he couldn't beat me, he actually bribed an outsider to ambush me. Bah! Sixty taels of silver—he sure has money."
"Zhou You stands tall between heaven and earth. Whatever you have, bring it at me."
Zhou You's voice spread in all directions. Not only the Wild Fox Gang lackeys, but also nearby residents and passersby heard every word clearly.
So Tu Laosan had hired someone to kill him, and he had even hired an outsider from Su City. Bah, what kind of thing was that?
There was nothing shameful about joining a gang, but colluding with outsiders to bully one's fellow townsmen was simply inhuman.
Zhou You had made such a huge display precisely to pin Tu Laosan down and prevent him from using underhanded tricks again.
Once the news spread, Tu Laosan—whose reputation was already in tatters—would have no way to show his face again.
Gangs relied on their local roots to grow and strengthen. What they feared most was the label of colluding with outsiders.
With Zhou You exposing it like this, Tu Laosan's secret hiring of outsiders could no longer be concealed.
Wild Fox Gang headquarters...
Tu Laosan was speaking with his second brother.
Vice Gang Leader Tu Lao Er was powerfully built, with eyes sharp as blades. His fists were covered in calluses, and crisscrossing scars ran across them.
He had truly fought his way into his position as Vice Gang Leader with those two fists.
There might not have been a hundred Mad Horse Gang members who had died at his hands, but there had certainly been eighty. His battle achievements were truly numerous.
"Brother, you're all still being too conservative."
"There are plenty of young, able-bodied refugees from Su City now. There are lots who know fist martial arts and dare to fight and kill."
"Our Wild Fox Gang should seize this chance to recruit troops, expand our power, and wipe out the Mad Horse Gang in one stroke."
"The streets are full of living people begging for a mouthful of food. How can you not see them?"
Tu Laosan was frantic as he earnestly tried to persuade his elder brother.
Tu Lao Er shook his head. After all these years, his younger brother was still a complete idiot, with no improvement whatsoever.
Did he really think everyone from Su City was a soft sheep? They might look impoverished now, but once they found an opportunity, they would definitely bite back.
Territory and silver were resources gangs fought over. There was only so much food on one plate—how could there be room for more people to snatch a share?
Even the roadside shops and restaurants understood this. When hiring workers, they looked for locals; no matter how cheap outsiders were, they would not take them.
Local ties were a bond, a moral restraint, and even the wisdom of survival and continuation.
No matter how Gongliang City's gangs fought one another, they could not let people from Su City profit from it.
"Stop talking. Listening to you gives me a headache. Get out!"
Tu Lao Er raised his hand. This younger brother was still only reliable when it came to eating, drinking, and entertainment.
Tu Laosan wanted to say something else when a gang member hurried inside. "Bad news, Vice Gang Leader! Everyone outside is spreading..."
"Spreading what? Speak!"
"They're saying Third Master spent sixty taels of silver to hire an outsider to ambush Zhou You, a youth from this city."
The veins on Tu Lao Er's forehead bulged. He slammed a palm onto the rosewood table, reducing the hard rosewood directly into wood chips.
"Third Brother, from today onward, you are confined to the courtyard. You are not allowed to leave."
"Don't touch that Zhou You either. How many times have I told you? Wait until his hundred days are up, and the outcome will reveal itself."
"If he cannot cultivate Martial Force and is expelled from the martial arts school, we can wipe out his whole family with the flick of a finger. Don't do anything unnecessary now."
Tu Laosan looked pitiful and still wanted to argue, but his brother spoke coldly. "Men, escort Third Master back to his room."
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