A few hundred meters away from the Saint Luofa Church, in a residential house.
A man with a large brown Big Beard sat at a table, dozing off, with a lamp lit.
He had a curved sword beside him, and a dark green round shield the size of a human head strapped to his other forearm.
The room was pitch black, and he sat there all alone.
No one knew that he was a guard from the Secret Passage that the church had arranged to protect the area year-round.
Buzz.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from the bedroom of the house.
The Big Beard perked up, picked up a candle from the side, quickly lit it, and placed it on the table.
Then he got up and walked over there.
Leaning against the door, he carefully raised his scimitar and held the shield in front of him.
The iron-clad wooden door, lubricated with oil, slowly opened.
Basali's face came into the light.
Puff.
A short sword, like a venomous snake in the shadows, silently pierced the Big Beard's neck, slicing to the left.
Blood gushed out, Big Beard collapsed weakly to the ground.
Zhang Rongfang caught the curved knife in his hand and gently drew a few lines in the air.
"A nice knife."
Basali was pale-faced; he had already witnessed the ruthlessness of his opponent's attacks in the Secret Passage.
There were three trusted guards in the Secret Passage, all of whom were killed in a single encounter.
The decisiveness with which this person killed was simply... simply like those rumored guys. "Alright, tell me, who else knows about me?" Zhang Rongfang calmly drew his short sword and wiped the blood off the corpse's clothes.
"Who else knows that I crippled Lin Qixiao?" He simply stated it directly.
Basali, there was no expression, only the constant gurgling of his throat as he swallowed.
He had planned everything, but he never expected that Zhang Ying was not a Third Grade squad Captain at all.
With that kind of strength, and based on his performance just now, he's at least Sixth Grade or higher! At this moment, he felt regret and anxiety, and various guesses flashed through his mind.
"Kill me. Tomorrow, someone will expose all your secrets, and then you'll be hunted down by Lin Jiahailong and my Black Ten Sect!"
"Aren't you afraid of dying?" Zhang Rongfang.
"Death is merely a return to my Our Lord's Kingdom of Heaven. What is there to fear?" Basali said calmly.
"That's true." Zhang Rongfang nodded in realization. "You showed it last time; you're definitely not someone who's afraid of death."
He turned and sheathed the short sword.
In the candlelight, he gently stretched out his ten fingers, which were long and delicate like jade, like a sculpture.
"I originally thought your Tanyang Black Ten Sect was a den of dragons and tigers, but it seems tonight that I overestimated you."
"What do you want to say?" Basali said in a deep voice. He hesitated whether to shout and attract the attention of those outside.
But here, this Secret Passage is too far from the church. Even if he shouts, the only result will probably be that he is killed by the person in front of him, and then the other party escapes.
Therefore, the best course of action now is to stall for time, wait for our own people to discover that the Secret Passage has been opened, and then have a skilled fighter catch up.
As long as Annuowa and his group arrive, they will definitely be able to capture and kill this guy!
Along the way, he had already witnessed that Zhang Ying, a High Grade assassin skilled in assassination and speed, was far more lethal than ordinary High Grade assassins.
If Zhang Ying escapes, it's likely that none of the Black Ten Sect in Tanyang will be able to sleep soundly in the future.
"Are you trying to stall for time?" Zhang Rongfang smiled slightly.
"So what if you guessed it? My Black Ten Sect has many brothers and sisters, and our eyes and ears are everywhere in Tanyang. You can't escape," Basali said coldly.
"Escape?" Zhang Rongfang chuckled. "Why would I escape? How many people are there in the Black Ten Sect's upper echelons? Enough for me to wield my sword countless times?"
"What arrogance!"
Suddenly, a cold female voice came from outside the door.
Basali tried to shout, but a wave of weakness washed over him, accompanied by excruciating pain.
He looked down in a daze and saw a patch of blood flowing from his chest.
Zhang Rongfang slowly withdrew his fingers, discarded the severed trachea, and turned to look at the door.
"You've finally arrived. It wasn't for nothing that I waited so long for you."
Yes, he did it on purpose.
Only a true master could get here from the church so quickly.
His purpose in staying here was to see just how powerful the local experts of the Black Ten Sect really were.
The Thousand Household Commander of Tanyang Thousand Households Office is Ninth Grade official, responsible for suppressing all who dare to disobey. He certainly wouldn't dare to try.
However, the top experts from other forces are at most at the Seventh Grade or Eighth Grade, and with his current speed and agility, it would be enough for him to test them out.
Of course, just in case, he had inquired with his colleagues in the Ministry of Justice beforehand and learned that the masters of the Black Ten Sect were not specialists in movement techniques.
Cover your face with a mask.
Zhang Rongfang lightly tossed aside the scimitar and drew his short sword. He had never practiced swordsmanship, so the short sword was more convenient than the scimitar.
In many cases, it's best to use it directly as a claw technique.
"Where is the Grand Elder?" the female voice outside asked again.
"He's fine," Zhang Rongfang said with a smile, then suddenly grabbed Basali's body and slammed it against the window.
With a snap, the window shattered.
The body flew out.
A tall woman veiled in black, holding two swords, retreated rapidly outside the door.
Suddenly she looked up and saw that the flying corpse was none other than Basali, who was still bleeding.
"No!!"
The woman gasped in shock as she saw the blood on the corpse.
Just then, a Shadow flashed out from behind the corpse.
The short sword in the Shadow's hand transformed into the sharp fangs of a venomous snake, stabbing towards the woman's neck.
The speed of this attack far exceeded the woman's expectations.
But she was also a veteran of countless battles, and in her grief and indignation, she raised her scimitar one notch higher.
When!!
The hilt and the short sword struck heavily, sending a faint spark flying.
The Shadow missed its attack, used the momentum to flip over, stepped on the wall, and disappeared into the shadows to one side.
The woman slowly lowered her arms, looking at the rolling body of Basali on the ground.
She tilted her head back, tears streaming down her face.
"Father!"
Suddenly, she tilted her head back and let out a roar that sounded like a scream, but more like the howl of a wild beast.
A desolate roar echoed through the night sky.
Laugh!!
Just then, another Shadow appeared silently behind her, and a short sword stabbed fiercely towards her back.
When!!
The curved blade struck the short sword with lightning speed, sending it flying.
The Shadow grunted, withdrew, and disappeared back into the shadows in the blink of an eye.
The woman took a few steps forward to try to catch up, but her movement speed was at most at the Third Grade level, which was at least one grade lower than her opponent's.
They could only watch helplessly as the Shadow disappeared into the shadows, never to be heard again.
Gazing in the direction the Shadow had fled, the woman suddenly raised her twin swords high and let out another frenzied roar.
***Under the cover of night.
Zhang Rongfang ran wildly through the alley.
Halfway there, he suddenly turned and entered another alley.
At the same time, he used his Eagle Claw Skill to tear apart the throat of a Big Beard who was caught off guard. He then continued to move forward.
The two Big Beard behind the corpse didn't have time to react. They had just raised their sticks when they felt a pain in their throats, had difficulty breathing, and collapsed to the ground.
Zhang Rongfang's incredible speed meant that every move he made was equivalent to a one-on-one duel.
In a one-on-one fight, these ordinary martial artists who haven't even reached the Entering the Ranks are simply throwing their lives away.
In just a hundred meters, he killed more than a dozen Big Beard Black Ten Sect members who were chasing after him.
A Black Ten Sect expert with at least Fourth Grade agility technique tried to stop him, but was quickly injured and forced to retreat.
His Fourth Grade body technique was already comparable to Zhang Rongfang's.
However, the key to this master is that, apart from his movement techniques, he is not good at anything else. The drawback of focusing on movement techniques is that his overall combat strength is relatively weak.
Besides his agility being close to the Fourth Grade, Zhang Rongfang's explosive power from his Breaking Limit Skill directly equates to Fifth Grade specialized agility.
Adding to this the overall Breaking Limits from the other techniques, which increased his movement speed by Fifth Grade, it was equivalent to Seventh Grade power burst. He almost completely overwhelmed his opponent.
The sheer power of Breaking Limit Skill lies here.
Back in the Qinghe Temple, Master Zhang Xuan's Heavy Mountain was enough to intimidate the Rice Gang for many years. Not to mention Zhang Rongfang now, who uses the Shrinking Step Heavy Mountain technique, a fusion of Breaking Limit Skill.
Half an hour later.
Zhang Rongfang circled around a few times before quietly returning home.
Change the clothes, throw them into a bucket of water, then rub them and pour the water out.
'What a pity about that short sword.'
He returned to the courtyard, wearing a crisp white robe draped over his shoulders.
"The last woman to emerge from the Black Ten Sect was quite powerful. Although her movement technique was weak, she was skilled with dual swords, possessing extremely high burst speed at short distances. Even though I attacked first, she managed to strike first despite being the one who attacked first."
As he mentally assessed the woman from before, Zhang Rongfang frowned slightly.
It seems there's a reason why the Black Ten Sect was able to gain a foothold in Tanyang.
And then there's Basali, who has been able to maintain his prestigious status, and it seems that it's not solely due to his own efforts.
He had heard the woman's voice just now. She was Basali's daughter; judging from her strength and explosive power, she was at least a Seventh Grade expert.
Zhang Rongfang raised his hand; his wrist was still throbbing slightly.
If he hadn't practiced Eagle Claw Skill, his hands would probably have been ruined in the collision just now.
The woman's burst of power over short distances was extremely strong.
"We really shouldn't underestimate others."
Suddenly, he felt a tingling or itchy sensation in his lungs.
'Wrong!'
Zhang Rongfang quickly closed his eyes.
A row of Attribute Panel slowly appeared.
Zhang Rongfang - Life 22-22.
Skill: Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic - Third Grade.
Leg technique - Third Grade.
Fist Palm Claw: First Grade.
Breaking Limits: None
Breaking Limit Skill: Shrinking Step Heavy Mountain.
Available Attributes: 1.
Everything is normal.
Leg techniques are the same as body techniques. Among them, three martial arts Breaking Limits, and there is also the Bewildering Smoke Step of the Vitality Talisman, which has been integrated into the Talisman Canon, making a total of Fourth Grade body techniques.
Thanks to the accumulation over the past few days, I've gained a few more Attribute Points.
The only thing is that life expectancy has "dropped so much again?" Zhang Rongfang remembers that last time it was 25, but now it's only 22.
Moreover, the Life Attribute was still flickering slightly, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.
Soon, life suddenly took another hit.
It became 21-22.
"Wait! I think I've been poisoned!"
Zhang Rongfang quickly returned to his room. The first thing he did after being poisoned was to wash his face and rinse his mouth, and then drink a lot of water to detoxify.
He hadn't studied toxicology, but he wasn't injured and had no wounds. The only possible way he was poisoned was through his eyes, mouth, and nose.
Sure enough, when he rinsed his nasal cavity with water, he felt a burning, stinging pain in his nasal mucosa.
After drinking plenty of water and resting for over an hour, his health points returned to normal, settling at 19-20. 'When exactly was he poisoned?'