Not Much of a Figure

"Not him?"

A flicker of astonishment passed through Yang Chen's eyes. He had thought Meng Shijun was the one striking from the shadows, but the person in the recording was as different from Meng Shijun as clouds were from mud.

The recording showed a short man. His face was covered, making his features impossible to see clearly, but his sparse hair and eyebrows, along with the conspicuous mole above the outer corner of his right eye, made him easy to identify.

The image shifted. Under cover of night, the masked man crept to a corner of Yang Chen's spirit field. After cautiously looking around, he pulled a needle-like object from his robes and jabbed it into the formation. Then he took out a section of bamboo and inserted it inside. When the bamboo touched the Spirit Rice, several insects could vaguely be seen crawling out.

After finishing all this, the masked man swiftly left the scene and vanished into the night.

After watching the Recording Stone, Yang Chen was certain that this person had most likely been responsible for the previous two incidents as well. But it did not matter. Even if it had not been him, this matter had to be pinned on him.

What Yang Chen could not understand was that he did not know this person at all. The other man did not seem to be a new disciple from their batch in Area 8 either. The two of them had absolutely nothing to do with each other, so why had he harbored such malice and tried to harm him?

With those doubts in his heart, Yang Chen hurried toward the residential area.

He did not know this man, but he believed someone definitely would.

After returning to the residential area, he immediately went to Wang Kui's residence. After knocking and entering, he said—

"Senior Brother Wang, I found the evidence."

Before Wang Kui could ask anything, Yang Chen took the initiative to explain. After the Spirit Rice had been damaged for the second time, he had come to Wang Kui again. At the time, Wang Kui had told him that if he wanted to drag the culprit out, he needed evidence.

He handed the Recording Stone to Wang Kui. Wang Kui accepted it and examined it closely. When he saw the masked man's distinctive features, his expression darkened.

Yang Chen immediately asked, "Senior Brother, do you know this person?"

Wang Kui nodded slightly. He handed the Recording Stone back to Yang Chen and asked expressionlessly, "How do you want to resolve this matter?"

"Someone with such a vicious heart is not qualified to remain in the Sun Moon Sword Sect."

Yang Chen's words made Wang Kui frown, but he did not immediately reply.

Seeing his expression, Yang Chen's heart tightened, and all sorts of thoughts surfaced in his mind.

While he was letting his imagination run wild, Wang Kui said in a low voice, "With your current strength, what rank do you think you could reach on the Rankings Board?"

Yang Chen immediately understood. This masked man likely had some backing. Wang Kui did not want to fall out too badly with the other side because of him, yet he also seemed concerned about Yang Chen's attitude and was finding it difficult to choose.

"I haven't tested myself in a long time, so I don't know what rank I'd be at now."

"I'll go with you!"

Without further discussion, Wang Kui headed outside. Yang Chen followed him out.

Yang Chen came to understand that Wang Kui wanted to determine how severely to handle this matter based on his potential.

Soon, the two arrived outside the Testing Stele. Quite a few people were testing their strength at the moment; it had become a daily habit for many disciples.

"Greetings, Supervisor Wang!"

"..."

Seeing Wang Kui approach, the disciples around them all greeted him. Wang Kui gave a slight nod and led Yang Chen to the Testing Stele. Then he said meaningfully, "Give it everything you have!"

This strange behavior made quite a few disciples reveal curious expressions as they began making all kinds of guesses.

Yang Chen glanced at the Rankings Board. Aside from the last few, who were still at the Qi Martial Fifth Level, everyone from rank forty-seven onward was at the Qi Martial Sixth Level.

He took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and threw a punch!

The numbers on the Testing Stele leaped wildly before finally stopping at 9,011 kilograms.

At the sight of that number, the surrounding disciples cried out in surprise, and Wang Kui's eyelids twitched violently as well.

If he remembered correctly, Yang Chen's Punching Force had been around 7,400 kilograms at the end of last month. Less than a month had passed, yet it had increased by 1,600 kilograms. He was only a few days away from the Qi Martial Seventh Level.

He looked up at the cultivation Rankings Board and saw Yang Chen's rank begin to soar. It crossed rank ninety, rank eighty, then surged all the way to rank sixty before finally settling at rank fifty-two!

"This fellow..."

From being utterly unknown at the start to charging forward with unstoppable momentum after making the rankings, this trend made Wang Kui's heart pound in alarm.

Among those currently on the Rankings Board, only the top ten could still maintain such momentum. Beyond the top ten, only a scant few could continue growing so rapidly.

"Junior Brother Yang, leave this matter to me!"

Wang Kui thumped his chest until it rang, then enthusiastically dragged the somewhat uncomfortable Yang Chen back to his residence.

"Junior Brother Yang, I do know the person in the Recording Stone. He is a disciple from the previous batch named Zhou Tao. His older brother is Zhou Han, the supervisor of the mining area. Did you have any conflict with them?"

Wang Kui found it rather strange. Zhou Tao and Yang Chen did not know each other at all, so why had he targeted him again and again?

"So he's Zhou Tao?"

Yang Chen was so angry that he laughed. "Looks like I've suffered a calamity from the blue. I don't know Zhou Tao, but I heard Zhu Xi mention him before. The two of them had some conflict in the medicinal garden. Last time, he told me to be mentally prepared, saying this Zhou Tao might target me. I never expected that after so long..."

Wang Kui could not help laughing bitterly. "Last time, he even wanted to take your position, but I suppressed it."

Yang Chen tactfully said, "Thank you for looking after me, Senior Brother Wang. I will remember this kindness."

"I didn't say it to make you feel grateful."

Wang Kui waved a hand. As for whether he truly thought that way, naturally no one could know.

"Junior Brother Yang, the way you proposed handling this will inevitably offend Zhou Han. Are you certain you want to do this?"

Zhou Tao's actions had already seriously violated sect rules. If someone pursued the matter, expulsion from the sect was inevitable. However, there was still room to turn things around—it depended on Yang Chen's attitude.

Wang Kui naturally did not fear Zhou Han, but Yang Chen might not feel the same. Zhou Han was, after all, a mining area supervisor with some authority in Area 8, and he also had hopes of advancing into the Outer Sect.

Yang Chen pondered briefly. "May I ask, Senior Brother, what is Zhou Han's cultivation level, and how long has he been in the sect?"

"He has been here for four years. His cultivation is on par with mine, and he is currently at the Blood Martial Eighth Level."

Wang Kui's eyes shifted as he suggested, "There is another way to settle this. Have Zhou Han compensate you for your losses on behalf of his brother. Zhou Tao was in the wrong first, so he will have nothing to say. That way, Zhou Tao will be punished, you will gain spirit crystals, and Zhou Han will not be offended beyond repair. Junior Brother, you might consider it."

Yang Chen smiled faintly but shook his head without hesitation. "I appreciate your good intentions, Senior Brother, but Zhou Han took four years after entering the sect just to reach the Blood Martial Eighth Level. He probably isn't much of a figure."

Wang Kui's expression froze.

Why did those words sound so unpleasant?

Soon, he laughed bitterly to himself. He too had been in the sect for four years, and he was likewise at the Blood Martial Eighth Level. Yang Chen's unintentional words had included him as well.

"Senior Brother? Senior Brother?"

Yang Chen waved a hand in front of Wang Kui's eyes, puzzled as to why he had suddenly drifted off.

"Cough, cough!" Wang Kui coughed twice to hide his embarrassment, then forced out a smile. "Junior Brother is a dragon and phoenix among men, so naturally you need not fear Zhou Han. Since that is the case, we will do as you say and severely punish Zhou Tao!"

"Go wait at the supervisors' cultivation grounds. I'll immediately send someone to capture Zhou Tao."

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