False Warriors and True Warriors

"You... you... you..."

Niu Kangsheng could not believe it.

He had considered everyone, but never Zhang Ming.

"What's wrong with me? Still want to make a move?"

"Why don't you look in a mirror? Your face is purple, old man!"

At this moment, the deadly poison had spread throughout Niu Kangsheng's body. His flesh had turned purple, his lips blackish-brown, and the star of death hung high above him.

"Heh... hiss..."

Strands of black, clotted blood surged backward. Niu Kangsheng opened and closed his mouth, pointing at Zhang Ming as though he wanted to say something.

But the backflowing black blood left him unable to utter a single word.

"Hmph."

With a cold snort, Zhang Ming watched Niu Kangsheng struggle desperately in the poison as he rapidly descended into the abyss of death.

"A false warrior: competing in hot-blooded ruthlessness, fighting a bitter battle before finally claiming victory."

"A true warrior: poisoning and ambushing the enemy, then quietly waiting for them to die."

With a soft chuckle, Zhang Ming looked at the small vial of poison in his hand. "This Crane Top Red, extracted and refined from ore, works quite well."

"A Postnatal Martial Artist won't last a quarter of an hour before the poison enters their organs and viscera, spreads through their body, and kills them."

"I wonder whether it works on Innate Martial Artists."

Zhang Ming did not know, but as long as Innate Martial Artists were still human and needed food and drink to survive—

Poison would always work.

It was merely a matter of dosage.

"Forget it. I'll worry about poisoning Innate Martial Artists later. First, I should deal with this guy."

To be safe, Zhang Ming waited a while in case the corpse was feigning death.

Only after confirming that Niu Kangsheng, this Postnatal Martial Artist, was completely dead did he stride forward, put on the gloves he had prepared beforehand, and begin searching the body.

"Nothing. Sure enough, those storybooks about people carrying secret manuals on them are all lies."

His gaze swept over the study.

"The Martial Arts School's various Cultivation Methods should be in this room, right?"

"But there's no rush. I should dispose of this corpse first."

With that, Zhang Ming dragged Niu Kangsheng's body into the courtyard.

He casually dug a deep pit and poured the prepared Bone Dissolving Water over the corpse.

'Sizzle, sizzle.'

After several wisps of foul-smelling yellow smoke, the corpse rapidly dissolved into bloody water, and he buried it again.

No one knew that Niu Kangsheng, the famed master of Yang City's Mighty Bull Martial Arts School, would be "lying" in his own little courtyard.

"Alright, time to collect the spoils."

A moment later.

"There's good news, bad news, and news that's neither good nor bad."

Looking at the Cultivation Methods and several letters he had just found, Zhang Ming murmured.

"The good news is that I found every Cultivation Method, Martial Skill, and everything else from the Mighty Bull Martial Arts School. Not a single one is missing."

"The bad news is that Niu Kangsheng was a discarded disciple of the Hundred Beasts Sect!"

"The Hundred Beasts Sect is a Martial Arts sect in Liangguang, neighboring Jiangnan Province. Its sect master is a Grandmaster, known as the Hundred Beasts Grandmaster."

"Although Niu Kangsheng was a discarded disciple, these letters show that he still kept in contact with his former fellow disciples."

"Every year, he offered those senior and junior brothers quite a few good things."

Zhang Ming's expression turned helpless.

"In other words, if they learn that Niu Kangsheng is dead, there's a ninety-percent chance they'll seek revenge."

"The final piece of neither-good-nor-bad news is that Niu Kangsheng did not contact those fellow disciples often, and his last contact with them was several days ago."

"Neither good nor bad means that for the next few months, Niu Kangsheng's fellow disciples probably won't notice anything. By the time they truly discover the problem and come to Yang City, it'll be at least half a year later."

"The Hundred Beasts Sect is powerful, but it has only one Grandmaster. Therefore, the strongest fellow disciples who could avenge Niu Kangsheng would only be Innate Martial Artists."

"So, I have more than half a year to prepare."

An urgent feeling rose unbidden in Zhang Ming's heart.

"Looks like I need to speed things up. Break through to the Innate realm within half a year..."

"Should be possible, right?" Zhang Ming was somewhat uncertain.

"Using conventional methods and cultivating properly seems a little difficult, but..."

With [Ignite Comprehension], Zhang Ming felt that he could push himself a little harder.

And while he was at it, place some faith in himself.

Several days flashed by.

Yang City's major Martial Arts Halls, Gangs, and certain hidden gray forces—

Before Zhang Ming, a Postnatal Martial Artist who possessed Medicine and Poison at Great Perfection, several Great Perfection offensive skills, had no shame, excelled at sneak attacks, and was backed by the Zhang Family's deeply entrenched intelligence network—

Eliminating the leading figures was effortless.

In just a few days, every Martial Arts Hall master and Gang leader had died.

Their sudden deaths caused a small amount of chaos in Yang City.

But with those powerhouses gone, and under the pressure of the Zhang Family and Zhang Ming, they could not stir up any great storm.

That day.

In the study.

Looking at what he had gained over the past few days, Zhang Ming was extremely satisfied.

[Great Sea Claw], [Blood Saber Scripture], [Chain Arrow], [Withered Glory Palm], [Longevity Cultivation Method], and a whole series of other Cultivation Methods.

"Not bad. Murder and arson really do bring golden belts. The ancients did not deceive me."

"If I had gathered these dozen or so Cultivation Methods through legitimate means, who knew whether I'd have to wait until the Year of the Monkey or the Month of the Horse."

"But now, I got them all in just a few days."

"It's just a pity that these Cultivation Methods aren't of high grade, though they are fairly comprehensive."

After sorting them slightly, Zhang Ming divided the dozen-plus Cultivation Methods into several broad categories.

"[Longevity Cultivation Method], [White Cloud Method], and the like can serve as nourishment and be incorporated into [Mighty Bull Cultivation Method]."

"[Withered Glory Palm], combined with my current Medicine and Poison, should produce marvelous results."

"I can even extend it—rather than limiting it to the palm, I can expand it toward sabers, fists, legs, even bows and arrows."

Over the past few days, Zhang Ming had personally experienced just how lethal Medicine and Poison at Great Perfection was against ordinary Warriors.

Liquid poisons, scent poisons, mixed poisons, and all manner of poison arts—he wielded them with perfect ease.

Zhang Ming even had the confidence that, given enough time and resources, poisoning everyone in an entire city to death would merely take a bit more effort.

It was truly the best assistant for slaughtering low-level Warriors.

"[Chain Arrow] happens to suit bows and arrows. Firing in linked succession will multiply its power and give me another means."

"But I can tell from the name alone that this Cultivation Method is very simple. I'll use [Ignite Comprehension] to strengthen it a little and develop it in the direction of concealed weapons."

"[Blood Saber Scripture], [Overlord Saber], and the like can be fused into [Five Tigers Saber] to enhance my saber techniques."

"Movement-type Cultivation Methods like [Light Cloud Steps] can be integrated into [Great Wind Leg] to increase my movement speed."

Nodding, Zhang Ming was extremely excited.

"Once all these Cultivation Methods are fused and upgraded through [Ignite Comprehension], my strength should swell by another level."

"I'm really strong!"

Even Zhang Ming himself could not estimate how strong he was now.

At least, when he had eliminated the last Martial Arts Hall master, Zhang Ming had tried not to use any tricks.

He had fought him head-on, saber against saber.

The result went without saying.

That Martial Arts Hall master, also a Postnatal Martial Artist, had been cut down by Zhang Ming after merely a few exchanges.

One had to know that Zhang Ming's strongest offensive method was not saber techniques.

It was the fist and leg techniques that came with [Mighty Bull Cultivation Method], this Innate Cultivation Method!

"I really wonder how powerful I'll become after fusing these."

"How great will the gap be between me and those Innate Martial Artists?"

After his excitement faded, Zhang Ming thought of something else.

"My Martial Arts have achieved something, and the future looks promising."

"But what about my Immortal Path?"

"Spiritual Energy... Spiritual Energy... what exactly is Spiritual Energy? In this world that appears to be a Martial Arts World, how am I supposed to cultivate immortality?"

Zhang Ming had already entertained the notion of using [Ignite Comprehension] to attempt immortal cultivation months ago.

But after using [Ignite Comprehension] a handful of times to no result, he had not the slightest clue.

Still, Zhang Ming had sensed that the greatest factor preventing immortal cultivation was Spiritual Energy.

This world did not have something as illusory, ethereal, and invisible as Spiritual Energy.

"Wait. Maybe it isn't absent—maybe ordinary eyes and ordinary senses simply can't perceive it?"

"Or maybe Spiritual Energy exists, but relies on some kind of substance to exist?"

"Hmm... perhaps."

"Maybe I should find some Cultivation Methods that improve eyesight or cultivate the spirit?"

With a soft sigh, Zhang Ming lamented.

"But such special Cultivation Methods with miraculous effects would be difficult to collect in this tiny place of Yang City even in a hundred years."

The cruelty of reality left Zhang Ming helpless.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll deal with that later."

"For now, I should honestly remain Yang City's local tyrant. I'll wait until my cultivation reaches the limits of my Cultivation Methods, when there's nowhere further to advance."

"Besides, I have a long life ahead of me. There's no need to rush."

"[Ignite Comprehension] isn't some system. It won't force me to do anything, so there's no need to hurry."