Half a day later,
outside the gate,
Yang Qingyun, who could now slightly restrain his saber aura, personally saw Zhou Weilong out through the main gate.
"Brother Zhou, I'll have to trouble you to keep an eye out for any relevant news from now on."
"Don't worry. Just leave this matter to me."
Outside the gate,
Zhou Weilong and Yang Qingyun clasped their hands and bade each other farewell.
The martial arts school disciples who had been waiting outside for a long time had naturally built up some resentment.
However, before this, Yang Qingyun had asked Wang Xiaoshi to give each of them several taels of silver as hard-earned pay for escorting the medicinal herbs, which had dispelled much of their resentment.
When they saw Yang Qingyun personally escort Zhou Weilong, who was beaming with smiles, out through the gate, the atmosphere harmonious, and it was clear that the two had enjoyed a lively conversation inside,
the little dissatisfaction they had felt had long since vanished without a trace. They all praised the Young Master's high moral character and said they would be glad to deliver medicinal herbs again whenever he needed them.
After bidding farewell to Zhou Weilong,
Yang Qingyun watched as the others left, their figures disappearing at the end of the street.
At this moment, Yang Qingyun fell into deep thought.
Originally, he had only intended to ask around about the news of the stars' fall, to see whether he could gather all the fragments of that black saber, piece them back together, and comprehend the supreme Saber Dao.
Even if he could not gather them all, one more fragment would still help him comprehend the Saber Dao.
However, judging from that phantom image that day, the fragments had scattered in all directions across the sky. They had probably fallen in every corner of the world,
so in truth, Yang Qingyun had not held out much hope.
He simply had not expected that
although there was no news about the black saber fragments, he would instead gain something unexpected.
"A huge bird engulfed in flames? Could it be the legendary Phoenix, or perhaps some divine beast like the Vermilion Bird?"
Yang Qingyun mused inwardly.
But he quickly rejected the thought.
"No, it couldn't possibly be such a divine beast!"
"The legendary Phoenix and Vermilion Bird were born as gods. According to the rumors in my Previous Life, a single drop of their blood could crush an entire mountain range!"
"If it were truly such an existence, the moment it appeared, it would be enough to unleash a sea of divine flames and burn the heavens to ashes. Huangshi Town would have ceased to exist long ago. How could it have merely caused a mountain fire?!"
Yang Qingyun shook his head repeatedly.
However, Shi Meng of the Black Tiger Gang had definitely obtained a treasure.
He simply did not know what kind of treasure it was.
It should be extraordinary.
"Once I break through to the Viscera Refining Realm, if I get the chance, I can go there and investigate."
A glint flickered in Yang Qingyun's eyes.
In any case, the Black Tiger Gang was no benevolent organization.
Over the past few days, he had heard quite a few stories about the Black Tiger Gang running rampant, bullying the local people, and throwing its weight around throughout Huangshi Town.
He could just treat it as ridding the people of a scourge.
What was more,
they had inexplicably severed the source of the medicinal herbs he needed for cultivation. That enmity of obstructing his path had established a cause and effect, so naturally, he had to repay it.
"No rush. I need to be steadier. I'll set a small goal first and raise my strength to the Viscera Refining Realm before anything else."
In the end, Yang Qingyun suppressed the impulse in his heart.
Although he was confident that his current strength was not inferior to any late Viscera Refining Realm martial artist,
there was only one word's difference between arrogance and confidence.
But the consequences were worlds apart.
He did not want to charge into the Black Tiger Gang only to have some hidden method of theirs turn his confidence into arrogance.
"To completely open the meridians of the body's circulation, allowing the Qi and Blood flowing through the dantian and meridians to form a self-sustaining cycle within the body, constantly tempering the body—this is the Viscera Refining Realm."
"After entering the Viscera Refining Realm, the self-circulating Qi and Blood can greatly enhance every aspect of a martial artist's abilities. Once the Qi and Blood are activated, one can even achieve the stage of Bronze Skin Iron Bone!"
"Only after reaching the Viscera Refining Realm will I have the confidence to fear nothing!"
Having lived another life and gained such a great opportunity,
Yang Qingyun felt
that it was still better to be steadier.
For now, Sifang Society and the Black Tiger Gang were locked in a struggle between two powerful sides, so he would temporarily avoid getting caught in this whirlpool.
Once he possessed the absolute strength to crush everything, he could naturally do whatever he wanted.
With each breath,
Yang Qingyun had already made up his mind.
"But before that, I need to solve one problem first!"
Yang Qingyun's gaze suddenly turned cold.
Having grasped saber aura, he keenly sensed the eyes that had been watching him from a dark alley.
Then,
he leaped into the air. Like a great bird soaring across a height of eight or nine zhang, his figure nearly turned into a fading afterimage as he shot toward a dark alley beside the house!
Inside the alley, the figure who had been hiding in the shadows and spying on him paled in terror. He turned and tried to flee.
But in the blink of an eye,
a fierce gust of wind swept past,
and Yang Qingyun's figure had already appeared before him.
Looking at the panicked figure before him,
Yang Qingyun's expression remained calm.
"Take me to Qingwen Long. Otherwise, die!"
Yang Qingyun vaguely remembered this person.
Back at the market outside the city, among the Black Tiger Gang thugs following behind Qingwen Long, this man had been one of them.
Clearly, his guess had been right.
There was a ninety percent chance that Qingwen Long was behind the problem with the supply of medicinal herbs for his cultivation!
His icy voice carried terrifying killing intent. Along with a thread of saber aura erupting, it swept through the air and created an incomparably terrifying pressure!
The man's face was filled with utter horror, and his heart nearly stopped at that moment!
His legs went limp,
and he collapsed onto the ground.
Within Huangshi Town,
in a certain courtyard,
"You useless fool! You can't even handle such a small matter. What use are you?"
Inside the courtyard, a sixty- or seventy-year-old elder with a short, stocky build and a gloomy expression like a corpse glared coldly at Qingwen Long.
Bang!
The elder suddenly struck out with one palm like lightning. The palm wind shattered the air and slammed heavily into Qingwen Long, explosive force erupting and sending his entire body flying!
Qingwen Long spat blood as he was hurled several zhang away.
Yet not the slightest trace of anger could be seen on his face. Instead, he was filled with fear, hurriedly crawling across the ground and kowtowing to the elder as he begged for mercy.
"Second Elder, please calm your anger! It's not that this subordinate is incapable. It's just that medicinal herbs have been scarce these days, and the Deputy Gang Leaders took most of them. There truly was no way to gather enough!"
At this moment,
the usually arrogant and overbearing Qingwen Long, who acted fearlessly before outsiders, had none of his usual domineering manner. His heart was instead filled with terror.
The old man before him was no ordinary figure. As the gang's Second Elder, he held great authority and power, and his martial cultivation had reached the Peak of the Entering Realm.
Although he did not possess absolute power over the life and death of the gang's members, if he killed Qingwen Long, no one would likely dare say much about it!
"No way to gather enough? Then what use do I have for you?"
The elder's face twisted viciously as he planted one foot heavily on Qingwen Long's face.
He ground it back and forth, rubbing Qingwen Long's face against the coarse dirt until bloody abrasions appeared across his features.
Qingwen Long remained servile, his heart filled with terror, not daring to resist.
Yet at that moment,
a leisurely voice came from behind him.
"Looks like I came at a bad time!"
Yang Qingyun's figure had appeared in the courtyard at some unknown point.
The moment he entered, he saw Qingwen Long being trampled beneath someone's foot. This unexpected sight made him, who had arrived with killing intent, suddenly lose interest.
This was just a little nobody, yet he had caused him quite a bit of trouble.
However,
when the thin elder heard the voice and turned around, his gloomy expression was almost foul enough to wring water from it. His shrill voice carried frightening killing intent.
"Where did this little beast come from? Didn't the gang teach you any rules?!"
Before his voice had even faded, the thin elder clawed through the air. Tearing through the air and turning into an afterimage, it carried frightening killing intent as it reached straight for Yang Qingyun's throat!
Sorry, the second update will have to wait until the afternoon or evening.
Before you continue