Going Back on One's Word

Chen Fei haggled with Chi Defeng several more times before settling the price at ten percent above market value. He would collect the goods at this time six days later.

Chen Fei left the Dark market and returned to the courtyard he rented, a smile on his face.

In truth, even if the medicinal herbs had doubled in price, it would not have meant much to Chen Fei. Once the herbs were refined into pills, the profit had already multiplied dozens of times over.

But when doing business with others, he could not simply agree to whatever price they named. They would not think him generous; they would think him easy to fool, and all sorts of trouble would come knocking afterward.

He pulled a movement-technique manual from beneath the foot of his bed and began studying it.

Crossing River Cloud had already fused with thirteen manuals. The time needed to cultivate it to Great Perfection had become shorter and shorter, showing that each new manual was contributing less and less to the movement technique.

A quarter of an hour later, he finished reading the new manual, and information on Yan Shuangfei appeared on the panel. Chen Fei fused Great Perfection Crossing River Cloud with Yan Shuangfei.

Technique: Crossing River Cloud (Mastery 7325/10000)

It had nearly reached Great Perfection immediately after fusing. This showed that there was less and less room for improvement. Once a new manual fused in and it was already at Great Perfection, it would mean this technique had no further potential to advance.

Chen Fei had originally thought that he could rely on continuously fusing various low-tier techniques to improve without end and create ever stronger techniques. That notion now seemed rather like a wild fantasy.

After all, low-level techniques had simple concepts from the moment they were created. Fortunately, the panel could simplify those incomplete manuals. Otherwise, Chen Fei truly would not know where to find new techniques.

Several miles away.

"Help me kill someone. If this succeeds, the favor you owed me back then will be considered repaid."

"Who?"

"Chen Fei of Qingzheng Medical Hall!"

"If you kill someone from Qingzheng Medical Hall, the Zhang Family will not let it go."

"Bandits are running rampant throughout the county these days. Leave behind a few clues and pin it on those people—wouldn't that settle it? Besides, that brat is quite well-off now. That money will be yours for the taking!"

"Fine, I'll take the job!"

The room fell silent again. One person had already left, while the other limped toward the table. Under the candlelight, a ferocious face was revealed.

"We went together that day, yet my leg was broken and I became crippled! You, meanwhile, comfortably became an assistant steward. How can every good thing fall into your lap!" A venomous mutter rose and fell with the flickering candlelight.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. Pingyin County was unusually peaceful for a time, and those fierce bandits did not appear again, as though they had already abandoned Pingyin County.

Chen Fei traveled only between two points: refining pills, cultivating, and altering his face. His cultivation had reached a critical threshold, while his movement manuals had reached a dead end after sixteen had been fused.

Chen Fei then simplified the high-tier movement manual he had specifically collected, obtaining a technique called Soaring Sprint.

It was not a complete movement manual, merely a segment of a technique. According to the insight Chen Fei gained, using it would greatly increase his running speed for a short time.

He would feel somewhat weak afterward, but there were no other serious aftereffects.

Chen Fei was overjoyed and fused the technique into Crossing River Cloud without hesitation.

After fusing more than a dozen movement manuals, Crossing River Cloud had become extremely comprehensive. The fusion of Soaring Sprint did not turn it into some grotesque hodgepodge; instead, it gained an explosive secret art.

At the same time, its proficiency dropped to Mastery (8123/10000).

At Chen Fei's current speed of cultivating movement techniques, restoring it to Great Perfection would take only a day or two.

"Crossing River Cloud can perfectly contain the secret technique of a high-tier movement art because it has fused with more than a dozen techniques. If my swordsmanship wants to perfectly fuse a sword move like Immortal Points the Way, then aside from simplifying it a second time, fully fusing the basic sword techniques may also be a path?"

A thought involuntarily surfaced in Chen Fei's mind, but he immediately rejected it.

Swordsmanship was different from movement techniques. Soaring Sprint was more like an explosive state than a particular footwork technique, which was why it could be fully compatible.

"But fusing the basic sword techniques to perfection will still benefit my future fusion of other high-tier sword arts. At the very least, its compatibility will be much stronger."

Chen Fei pondered. His footwork had now risen to a new stage; next came his cultivation and combat techniques. Grinding proficiency was something without end, something that could never truly stop.

As for his cultivation, Chen Fei checked the panel. Only a few points remained.

Chen Fei could not help sitting cross-legged and continuously circulating the Wind Suspension Breathing Method. The qi and blood within his body began to surge without cease, his skin gradually reddening as a stream of heat flowed across it before slowly seeping into his muscles.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Fei's body trembled slightly. A new power blossomed from within, and he involuntarily opened his eyes.

Rustling sounds came from around him. In the darkness, Chen Fei could see farther than before.

Within the extreme stillness of the night were countless faint, chaotic sounds. The two sensations blended together, filling Chen Fei's mind.

"Someone's here!"

Chen Fei suddenly turned toward the door. In the ethereal clarity following his breakthrough, he sensed something unusual in the courtyard—someone was hiding there.

Chen Fei picked up the longsword in his hand, opened the door, and walked straight into the courtyard, looking like someone unable to sleep at night who had come outside to relieve his boredom.

Swoosh!

Chen Fei shifted to the left, and a flash of cold light streaked past. A throwing knife scraped against the courtyard wall. At the same time, a black shadow leaped from the corner onto the wall and gave Chen Fei a cold look.

The man in black said nothing. With a flicker of his body, he vanished from where he stood.

Chen Fei watched the man in black's retreating figure. Recently, he had always felt as if someone were secretly following and watching him, and he had assumed Sun Shu had sent them. But this man had hidden inside his courtyard and, upon being discovered, had immediately attacked. Clearly, this was more than simple surveillance.

Soaring Sprint!

The qi and blood within his body traveled along a specific path. Chen Fei felt his body suddenly become lighter, while everything around him seemed to slow at once.

The breeze brushed past him. As the branches swayed, Chen Fei could clearly see the trajectory of every leaf.

The next instant, Chen Fei pushed off with his right foot and arrived behind the man in black in the space of a breath. The longsword in his hand had already thrust out.

The man in black sensed something strange behind him and instinctively turned his head. He saw the sword stabbing toward him, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief. How could Chen Fei be so fast!

The information he had received clearly said Chen Fei had only recently broken through to the Skin Tempering Realm.

And out of caution, he had specifically followed Chen Fei for several days, confirming Chen Fei's cultivation and finding no one else protecting him. That was why he had chosen to strike today, to kill Chen Fei and end this commission.

But what was with the movement technique and sword move Chen Fei was displaying now?

Swoosh!

The blade pierced through his chest. The man in black collapsed onto the ground, his mouth full of blood.

Chen Fei flashed to one side and looked down at the man in black. "Who sent you?"

"Promise you won't kill me, and I'll tell you." The man in black clutched his wound and spoke in a low voice.

"Fine!" Chen Fei considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"Pu Liao. He's the one who sent me!" The man in black gritted his teeth, feeling that Pu Liao had tricked him. Once he returned, he would make Pu Liao pay the price!

Chen Fei's brows immediately furrowed, and he found it difficult to understand. He had not even gone looking for trouble with Pu Liao, yet Pu Liao had actually hired someone to kill him.

"Can I go now?" The man in black struggled to his feet. Chen Fei's sword had crippled his strength, but he could still barely move.

Looking at the man in black, Chen Fei shook his head slightly and walked toward him step by step. "Anything else you want to say?"

"What are you going to do? You just promised not to kill me! You can't go back on your word!" the man in black screamed in terror.

"I went back on my word!"

Sword light flashed. The sword tip passed through the man in black's heart. He stared at Chen Fei in utter disbelief before slowly falling backward.