A Show of Force

"Steward Sun is in his room at the moment. Shall I go announce you?"

Inside North City Medical Hall, Liu Jun followed beside Chen Fei and asked in a low voice.

Ever since he had heard that North City Medical Hall would be receiving a new deputy steward, Liu Jun had been paying attention. As someone on the fringes of the medical hall, only by clinging to a powerful thigh could he possibly climb any higher.

The new deputy steward had only just arrived and would surely be unfamiliar with many things. If Liu Jun approached him now, he would certainly gain his favor and eventually become his right-hand man.

"No need. We can speak once Steward Sun is free."

Chen Fei shook his head. Sun Shu clearly knew he would be arriving today, yet he had not specifically come out to greet him. Evidently, he either disliked Chen Fei, this outsider dropped into the position, or simply did not care.

Either way, it already revealed Sun Shu's attitude.

Chen Fei did not care either. When he had come to North City Medical Hall, he had never intended to dig up any evidence against Sun Shu or anything of the sort. He only wanted to refine pills in peace, make good money, and improve his cultivation.

As for the grand pie the Zhang Family had painted for him, Chen Fei had no intention of swallowing it.

"What hobbies does Steward Sun usually have?" Chen Fei took a lap around the Pill Chamber before turning to Liu Jun.

"Steward Sun likes kicking people," Liu Jun said, his expression somewhat strange.

"Kicking people?"

Chen Fei's expression shifted slightly. What kind of bizarre hobby was that? But then he thought of himself. In other people's eyes, he was probably even more of an oddball.

"Spare me! I'll never dare again!"

A clamor came from ahead. Chen Fei walked out of the Pill Chamber and into the rear courtyard, where he happened to see several guards dragging along a menial servant. The servant's face was bruised and swollen, with blood at the corner of his mouth.

He was now kneeling on the ground and repeatedly kowtowing, his eyes filled with terror.

"He hid medicinal herbs and was caught," Liu Jun explained quietly when he saw Chen Fei looking over.

Chen Fei frowned slightly. According to the medical hall's rules, a menial servant caught concealing medicinal herbs was to be beaten crippled. Of course, in practice, such cases were relatively rare. Usually, the servant would merely receive a severe beating and have three months' wages deducted, enough to teach him a lesson.

Cases where someone was truly crippled were uncommon. That generally only happened to repeat offenders.

"My child is sick. I truly had no other way. I'll never dare again! Please spare me!" The servant wept bitterly.

Creak!

The door to Sun Shu's room opened, and Sun Shu slowly strolled out. Step by step, he came before the servant and looked down at him from above.

"Steward Sun, I'll never dare again! I'm begging you!" The servant slammed his forehead against the ground, and blood soon began to flow from it.

"With me, there has only ever been one chance for such things."

A faint smile appeared on Sun Shu's face. The servant's eyes widened in horror, and just as he tried to retreat, a foot had already stepped onto his palm.

"Aah!"

The servant screamed in agony. Sun Shu remained utterly unmoved; instead, his foot began to grind down. Blood quickly seeped from beneath his sole and soaked into the dirt.

"Spare—"

Crack!

Before the servant could finish speaking, Sun Shu kicked both of his arms. The bones snapped at once. Before the servant could react, his body involuntarily pitched forward.

Crack!

Another crisp snap rang out. At some point, Sun Shu had appeared behind the servant and stomped on his calf. The bone shattered, and blood splattered everywhere.

"Don't say I left no path for you. I spared one of your legs."

Sun Shu spoke as casually as if discussing the weather. The servant had already fainted from the pain, but one of the guards immediately splashed water onto his face to wake him.

"Th... thank you, Steward Sun!" The servant's lips trembled as he looked at the lofty Sun Shu and spoke in a low voice.

Sun Shu's mouth curled slightly. He turned and glanced at Chen Fei in the distance, then unhurriedly returned to his room.

Liu Jun instinctively shrank his neck. Sun Shu's gaze just now had been far too terrifying, enough to send a chill down one's spine.

Chen Fei said nothing. He glanced at Sun Shu's retreating back, then turned to look at the servant on the ground.

This was the fate of servants in this world: struggling to survive, yet liable to lose everything at any moment. Chen Fei's original self had not wanted to become like this, and the present Chen Fei naturally wanted it even less.

Only when great power belonged to oneself could one escape such an ending.

Chen Fei officially began his post at North City Medical Hall. He put on a harmless appearance and voiced no opinions whatsoever about any of the medical hall's existing affairs, focusing only on refining pills every day.

Chen Fei continued increasing the number of Blood Qi Pills and had the medical hall sell them, all so that he could save up those five hundred taels faster. He was truly coveting Immortal Points the Way.

At the same time, Chen Fei simplified the Revival Pill he had only recently acquired. Somewhat to his surprise, after simplifying the Revival Pill, refining Blood Qi Pills could increase its experience points.

Chen Fei had always believed that this would only happen after cultivation methods were fused and simplified. It turned out that pill formulas from the same lineage could work as well.

After all, half the medicinal ingredients required for the Revival Pill overlapped with those of the Blood Qi Pill. That was probably why.

There was no need to cook. He was already refining Blood Qi Pills, and the Revival Pill's experience points were rapidly rising every day.

Meanwhile, Chen Fei had never stopped practicing his movement techniques. Finally, on the fifth day after obtaining the techniques, Chen Fei completed the fusion of all four movement techniques and cultivated it to the Great Perfection realm.

Technique: Crossing River Cloud (Great Perfection)

Compared with before, Chen Fei had made tremendous progress in both agility and speed. He had also seen Skin Tempering Realm martial artists sprinting before. After making a slight comparison, Chen Fei discovered that his movement technique had already far surpassed theirs.

But he still could not judge exactly what level he had reached. Moreover, the current Crossing River Cloud was far from its endpoint. Chen Fei intended to continue integrating other movement techniques into it.

Under the cover of night, Chen Fei wrapped a cloth over his face and ran freely through Pingyin County. The exhilarating feeling made him want to throw back his head and howl at the sky. In the end, however, he forcibly suppressed the urge. If he let out that roar, the next scene would probably be quite different.

"Hmm?"

As he ran into an alley, Chen Fei's ears twitched slightly. At the same time, a faint scent of blood drifted through the air.

Chen Fei instinctively looked up. At some point, a person had appeared atop the alley wall and was now watching him with great interest. Chen Fei narrowed his eyes. Although the man also had his face wrapped and wore black night clothes, he gave Chen Fei a strange sense of familiarity.

"That bandit!"

Chen Fei suddenly recognized him. Wasn't this the man he had encountered outside the city some time ago? Pu Liao's injuries had yet to heal, and it was unknown how well he would recover in the end.

"Little brother, why not sleep properly at night? Why bother running around everywhere?"

Jian Liang's ghostly voice drifted over. Like a startled wild deer, Chen Fei sprang backward in an instant.

The next moment, a flash of light appeared where Chen Fei had been standing. With a dull thud, a throwing knife embedded itself in the ground, still trembling faintly.