A Grudge Never Goes Unpaid

Martial Arts: I Was Assassinated at the Start and Awakened the Max-Level Dragon-Elephant Art

Dreaming of Becoming a Fish All Day Long

This book was produced and distributed as an electronic edition by Zhangyue Technology under authorization from Zongheng (Dejian)

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Infringement will be prosecuted

Chapter 1: A Grudge Never Goes Unpaid

At the foot of a mountain outside Yongtang City stood two earthen graves.

One was new, the other old.

Bai Yan was kneeling before the graves, sprinkling wine. His mother had passed away more than a decade ago, while his father had gone to Black Wind Stronghold to suppress bandits three days earlier and returned with only half a corpse, battered and bloody.

"Father, may you rest in peace. I'll avenge you very soon. The Imperial Guard has been pressing me hard these past few days, and I'll have to report for duty tomorrow."

"Although you never wanted me to join the Imperial Guard, afraid that I was too timid and would be bullied, rest assured. Your son can protect himself now. So long as I can avenge you, I'll brave this den of dragons and tiger's lair no matter what."

"And besides..."

Bai Yan glanced at a masked corpse in the distance and said in a low voice,

"Even if I don't go, it's no longer up to me..."

He had never told anyone that he was actually a transmigrator. It had already been two years since he had broken free of the mysteries of the womb and become fully aware of his past life.

Bai Yan's father, Bai Lizheng, had been an Imperial Guard officer. With his father's protection, Bai Yan's life had been fairly comfortable. He could not claim to have lived in luxury, but at least he had never lacked food or drink.

Perhaps because his father had protected him too well, Bai Yan had never come into contact with the fighting and killing of the martial world. He only knew that martial arts flourished throughout the Great Yu Dynasty, and that this world truly had experts capable of splitting mountains with a sword and severing rivers with a palm. But those were merely hearsay, or things he had learned from his father. He had always treated them as stories.

But good times never lasted. Three days ago, everything changed.

A masked man carrying a sharp blade, bloodlust flashing in his eyes, had secretly infiltrated Bai Yan's home.

The masked man was highly skilled—at the very least, he was an expert of the martial world—and had driven Bai Yan into a perilous situation.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Bai Yan awakened a system called the Max-Level Martial Arts System.

The system's function was simple and brutally direct. As long as he completed the tasks it issued, he could obtain max-level martial arts. Internal arts, external arts, Lightness Skill, swordsmanship, fist and palm techniques... Anything was possible.

His first task was to kill the intruder.

Driven by an extreme will to survive, Bai Yan fought the masked man to the death, staking his life against his opponent's. In the end, he slew him and completed the task. He then obtained a peerless max-level technique—the Thirteenth-Level Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art.

This caused Bai Yan, whose cultivation had originally been at the Third-rate level, to leap straight into the realm of a Grandmaster.

He had originally thought the matter would end there. Unexpectedly, the assassinations had not stopped. Today, when he came to pay respects at his father's grave, he encountered another attack.

"Father, I investigated both groups of people. They weren't from any legitimate path. At first, I thought they were old enemies you'd made in the martial world, but now it seems that isn't the case."

"They struck viciously, every move aimed to kill, and they carried nothing that could prove their identities. They're clearly desperate killers who make a living from murder. I suspect they may have connections to the Imperial Guard..."

The Imperial Guard had always followed the tradition of sons inheriting their fathers' positions. When a father died, his son had to take over. It was not a matter of simply refusing if one did not want the job.

In outsiders' eyes, the Imperial Guard were the personal guards of the Son of Heaven, impressive and imposing. But only those within the Imperial Guard knew that it was a livelihood with one's head tied to one's belt. A moment's carelessness, and they could lose their lives without warning.

In a feudal dynasty, the saying that human life was as cheap as grass was no mere figure of speech.

Bai Yan's natural aptitude was poor. Despite years of practicing martial arts, his cultivation had barely improved. It was only because Bai Lizheng had piled medicines into him, whipped him with a rattan switch, and forced him to study that he had barely reached the Third-rate level.

There were eight Martial Arts Realms. Starting from Third-rate, they were, in order: Second-rate, First-rate, Xiantian, Master, Grandmaster, Heaven-Man Induction, and Shattering Void.

Heaven-Man Induction and Shattering Void were already legendary realms. There were many rumors of them in the world, but no one had ever seen their traces. Grandmasters were mighty experts who guarded entire regions and were rarely seen in daily life. Those who truly contended in the martial world were mostly Xiantian experts and Masters.

Third-rate was the starting point of the entire Martial Artist system. They were the lowest-level disciples of the major sects and, within the Imperial Guard, mere pawns sent ahead—cannon fodder that could be sacrificed at any time.

That was also why Bai Lizheng had never wanted Bai Yan to join the Imperial Guard. Being bullied was one concern, but the greatest concern was the threat to his life.

By rights, with Bai Yan's unimpressive cultivation, he should not have been in danger of being killed. The problem lay in his identity. He was the son of Bai Lizheng, a Brigade Leader of the Imperial Guard. According to regulations, once Bai Lizheng died in battle, Bai Yan would have to take his place and be promoted to Brigade Leader.

The Imperial Guard was already a precarious, life-for-pay occupation. Everyone wanted to climb higher, and the Brigade Leader position Bai Yan had inherited naturally blocked the path of certain people.

These past few days, Bai Yan had been busy arranging his father's funeral and had not yet reported to the Imperial Guard. Before the position had even been settled, there were already many ways to manipulate the situation. After all, once a man died, his position naturally became vacant.

"Father, please watch over me from beyond the grave and bless me in uncovering the person behind all this."

The moment he finished speaking, the notification chime in Bai Yan's mind rang out again.

Ding! The host has triggered a task: A Grudge Never Goes Unpaid!

If others do not offend me, I will not offend them. If others offend me, I will exterminate them root and branch!

Please find the person behind the scenes and personally slay him!

Task reward: Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms