Returned Once More

Twenty minutes later.

Jiang Dao frowned slightly, learning everything he wanted to know from the man in black.

Just as he had guessed.

Magistrate Wang had deliberately let people leave the city, then ordered men to intercept and kill them halfway, plundering their wealth!

Only...

"What's going on with the strange incidents in the city? Did the imperial court cause them?"

Jiang Dao asked.

"I don't know, I really don't know that. Don't kill me..."

The man in black spoke painfully.

Jiang Dao pondered inwardly.

Could it be that the imperial court had joined forces with Malevolent Spirits, deliberately sealing off the city so the Malevolent Spirits could kill people?

But what was the purpose?

"What martial arts have you learned? What are they called?"

Jiang Dao stared at the man in black and asked.

"I learned Wind Chasing Saber, and Poison Sand Palm..."

The man hurriedly replied.

"Poison Sand Palm? Fine. Teach me both martial arts, and I'll spare your life!"

Jiang Dao said.

"Teach... teach them to you? Will you really spare me?"

The man asked.

"If you don't, I'll slice the flesh off your body piece by piece, then force you to swallow it yourself."

Jiang Dao looked down at him, his tone icy.

"Fine, I'll teach you, I'll teach you..."

The man in black was terrified and hurriedly agreed.

And so, enduring the pain in his arm, he first explained the essence of Poison Sand Palm to Jiang Dao, then went on to explain the principles and precautions of Wind Chasing Saber.

Before he knew it, more than half the night had passed.

Jiang Dao listened attentively from beginning to end, constantly asking about the details along the way.

Nor was he worried that the man would deceive him. Once the man lied, the panel would show no response, and Jiang Dao would know at once.

In the latter half of the night.

At last, two new supreme arts appeared on the panel.

Wind Chasing Saber can be modified

Poison Sand Palm can be modified

"At least my efforts weren't wasted..."

Jiang Dao's eyes flickered.

"Now... now you can let me go, right?"

The man in black asked fearfully.

"Why did every villain ask such a brainless question before dying?"

Crack!

His five fingers clawed out, gouging out the black-clad man's forehead bone on the spot and sending him to his death.

From the moment the man had seen him, he had been doomed to a dead end.

Jiang Dao rose to his full height, looked at the panel before him, and began modifying it.

Whoosh!

The words on the panel rapidly changed, blurring into indistinct shapes.

Wind Chasing Saber (sixty years later) cannot be modified

Poison Sand Palm (sixty years later) cannot be modified

Whoosh!

In an instant, Jiang Dao's body underwent another obvious transformation. Countless pieces of information appeared in his mind, while his body crackled and popped. His physique seemed to become even more robust, his veins and muscles tougher, and an invisible, terrifying aura emerged from thin air.

His hands in particular had grown a full circle larger. He could clearly sense a current of air within his palms.

With a burst of force, both palms would turn completely red, as though stained with cinnabar.

This was Poison Sand Palm at Grand Completion!

Deadly poison lurked within his palms!

Even the slightest touch would cause poison to flare up and kill a person.

He looked at the panel again and saw that all the data had changed once more.

Strength: 1.8

Speed: 1.6

Spirit: 1.2

...

Although the strength displayed on the panel had only risen by 0.3, in reality, his power had increased at least seven or eightfold.

Every increase of 0.1 in strength brought roughly twice as much power.

Looking at his palms, Jiang Dao once again had the thought from before.

"My current strength should be enough to contend with a Malevolent Spirit, right? The hunger in my body has vanished too. I no longer need to replenish energy as I did before."

Five martial arts had all reached Grand Completion, every one of them cultivated to the level of sixty years later.

Such strength might not be without equal, but it should still be rare throughout the entire Great Ye Dynasty.

Even a steel blade could be crushed barehanded by him.

Even ordinary weapons could no longer harm him when they struck his body.

"Are Malevolent Spirits... really impossible to deal with?"

His eyes narrowed.

As he gradually grew stronger, he increasingly wanted to test himself against a Malevolent Spirit.

Jiang Dao suddenly bent down and pulled a thick stack of silver notes from the dead leader of the men in black.

By the torchlight, he could see that they were almost all high-denomination notes, the smallest worth one thousand taels and the largest worth three thousand taels.

Altogether, they amounted to at least four or five hundred thousand taels of silver.

"These silver notes must have belonged to the young masters who secretly left the city these past few days and were intercepted and killed."

After all, there were many wealthy merchants in the city.

Facing attacks by Malevolent Spirits, they would surely rack their brains to ensure their Lineage continued.

Yet they had not died to Malevolent Spirits within the city, only to die at bandits' hands after leaving it.

Jiang Dao stuffed all the silver notes into his clothes, casually picked up a steel blade from the ground and tucked it at his waist. Turning back, he said in a deep voice, "Stay in the ruined temple for the night. At daybreak tomorrow, Second Brother will take the others to neighboring Fengzhou City to lie low. Once you reach Fengzhou City, send word home!"

His younger brothers had long been frightened out of their wits by Jiang Dao's methods.

Hearing this, his second brother Jiang Feng said in a trembling voice, "Big Brother, what about you? Aren't you leaving with us?"

Jiang Dao gave him a deep look. "I have to go back and check on our father!"

He took the lead in walking toward the ruined temple.

His younger brothers hurriedly followed behind Jiang Dao.

His little sister, Jiang Ruyan, was still vomiting without pause, trembling all over, weak and limp as she struggled toward the ruined temple.

"Ruyan, sleep with me!"

Jiang Dao looked at Ruyan and spoke.

Although Jiang Ruyan was afraid, she still nodded hard. With so many corpses outside the temple, there was no way she would dare sleep alone.

And so, the night swiftly passed.

Early the next morning.

Jiang Dao handed the black bundle his father had given him to his second brother Jiang Feng and instructed him, "Be frugal with the silver inside. And don't bully Little Sister. If I find out anyone bullied her, I'll skin him alive myself when I return!"

His gaze was icy as it swept over his five useless brothers.

All five brothers shuddered and repeatedly forced out flattering smiles.

"Don't worry, Big Brother. How would we dare bully Little Sister?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Ruyan, go with Second Brother. When you reach Fengzhou, remember to send word back!"

Jiang Dao casually lifted his little sister and placed her on Jiang Feng's fast horse.

"Big Brother, be careful..."

Jiang Ruyan spoke timidly.

Jiang Dao nodded lightly, turned and mounted his fast horse, then galloped once more toward Hengzhou City.

Having fled in such a sorry state, even he felt less than human.

With five martial arts consecutively reaching Grand Completion, he refused to believe they would be of no use at all.

Even if he could not kill a Malevolent Spirit, he should have more than enough strength to protect himself.

"Hyah, hyah..."

Twenty minutes later.

Jiang Dao appeared beneath Hengzhou City and shouted upward, "Head Constable Zhang, open the gate quickly! It's me!"

Head Constable Zhang's expression changed as he looked down at Jiang Dao.

He was unharmed?

How could this brat possibly be unharmed?

Had Fang Biao and the others failed?

"Young Master Jiang, where are your other brothers?"

Head Constable Zhang shouted, trying to draw out some information.

"Head Constable Zhang, open the gate first. Let me enter the city, then we'll talk!"

Jiang Dao shouted.

Head Constable Zhang furrowed his brow and pondered deeply. In the end, he waved his hand and had someone open the small gate.

Jiang Dao immediately rode into the city.

Head Constable Zhang quickly came forward, cupping his hands with a smile. "Young Master Jiang, didn't you have several brothers with you last night? Where did they go?"

"I sent them to Dengzhou City, then returned overnight by myself."

Jiang Dao said.

"Did nothing happen on the road?"

Head Constable Zhang asked suspiciously.

"Something? What something?"

Jiang Dao deliberately asked.

"Uh, nothing, nothing."

Head Constable Zhang chuckled, unwilling to say more. "Since you're unharmed, Young Master Jiang, hurry home. But once you've entered the city, you won't be able to leave again!"

"Thank you, Head Constable Zhang!"

Jiang Dao nodded, gave Head Constable Zhang a deep look, and sneered inwardly as he rode toward the Jiang residence.

Magistrate Wang had dared to scheme against him.

No matter what, he would not let this matter rest.

Once he figured out the matter of the Malevolent Spirits, he would settle accounts with Magistrate Wang!