The Situation

These men were all experts retained by the City Lord's Mansion, a hidden force unknown to the public.

Each of the five was a Viscera Refining powerhouse. Even in Laiyang City, they counted as absolute top-tier combat strength.

They were the main force behind the attack on the two higher-ups of the Ox Demon Martial Arts School.

"Two Viscera Refiners from the Ox Demon Martial Arts School have already died. Their strength has fallen by at least a tenth."

"Old Wang and Old Qin deserve the greatest credit for this battle!"

"Hahaha, no, no. This was the result of everyone working together. We'll still need everyone's joint efforts in the future!"

"Indeed, this is only the beginning. From here on, we must be even more careful. Like boiling a frog in warm water, sooner or later, Laiyang City will have only one voice—the voice of our City Lord's Mansion!"

One martial artist spoke calmly, while also subtly warning off certain people's private ambitions.

They could seek credit, and they could seek rewards, but they had to fulfill the City Lord's Mansion's demands.

The skies over Laiyang City belonged to the City Lord's Mansion. No others would be tolerated!

"Rest assured, Steward Qian, we understand. We will certainly complete Lord City Lord's task! The joint attack technique of us brothers is no ordinary Viscera Refiner's match!"

Another retainer declared confidently. This was hardly surprising; after all, their joint attack technique had already allowed them to kill two martial artists of the same level with ease.

Ordinary Viscera Refiners were not so easily killed. One needed to be significantly stronger than one's opponent to have any chance of killing them.

The strength of those present was not particularly formidable among Viscera Refiners. The reason they could kill experts of the same level was precisely because of a miraculous joint attack technique.

In this world where the Martial Path had transcended the ordinary, there were many similar methods. Yet the most famous of them all was undoubtedly the Military Formation.

A Military Formation was, in essence, an enormous joint attack technique capable of linking thousands upon thousands of martial artists together and unleashing power far beyond what ordinary people could imagine!

When Qi-Blood martial artists joined forces in a Military Formation, they could even strike down Innate Experts. The terror of a Military Formation was plain to see.

No one knew what fortuitous opportunity these men had encountered to learn such a joint attack technique. It was truly astonishing, but it was also why the City Lord's Mansion had paid such a great price to recruit them.

As the representative of the City Lord's Mansion, Steward Qian naturally understood the ways of the world. Hearing their assurances, his expression eased considerably.

"Rest assured, everyone. The City Lord's Mansion is by no means cold or ungrateful. As long as you can help us reclaim the authority we once held, your benefits will certainly not be lacking. At the very least, First-class Martial Arts will be yours to choose from!"

Upon hearing this, the others' breathing grew noticeably heavier.

First-class Martial Arts—these were powerful Cultivation Methods that led directly to the Innate Realm, utterly beyond comparison with the Second-class Martial Arts they currently cultivated.

A higher Realm was undoubtedly the greatest temptation of all, especially for martial artists who had been constrained by their Cultivation Methods for so many years.

Most of the martial artists present were already over fifty. If they could obtain a First-class Cultivation Method, they might even be able to look toward a higher Realm.

Once one broke through to the Innate Realm, one's Lifespan would increase by at least a hundred years!

Longevity, even immortality, was what countless martial artists pursued.

Though they knew Steward Qian was dangling an empty promise before them, they could not resist taking a bite.

"Rest assured, Steward Qian. We will surely serve Lord City Lord unto death!"

Steward Qian watched them put on expressions of utter devotion, ready to toil until death, and seemed deeply moved on the surface. Inwardly, however, he sneered. "Pitiful fools. Do they Really Thought a single joint attack technique makes them invincible among Viscera Refiners? What wishful thinking. If they truly encountered a Peak Viscera Refining powerhouse, wouldn't they still be nothing but cannon fodder? In the end, the City Lord's Mansion will have to step in. Lord City Lord has already entered that Realm. Once his cultivation stabilizes, what Four Great Martial Arts Schools? They'll all be nothing but clay chickens and porcelain dogs! These people are merely sacrifices meant to wear down the Four Great Martial Arts Schools, yet they still want First-class Martial Arts. I truly Don't Know who gave them such courage."

No one knew Steward Qian's thoughts. These men had already become completely immersed in the grand promise he had painted for them.

Yet no matter how deeply the City Lord's Mansion resented the Four Great Martial Arts Schools, they knew that for those schools to possess their current prestige, their foundations could not be shallow.

Thus, to eliminate them while preserving as much of their own strength as possible, they would need to proceed slowly.

And what Shen Fan needed was time to grow.

Before long, Shen Fan threw himself back into the days of bitter cultivation. His only daily task was practicing martial arts.

As for assignments, they were still far off. The martial arts school was not very strict with newly inducted Disciples; only after a year would it arrange some assignments for them to complete.

What those assignments were depended on the businesses the martial arts school mainly focused on.

For instance, the Ox Demon Martial Arts School primarily controlled gambling houses and escort agencies, along with some brothels. To the martial arts school, these businesses were veritable money trees.

The martial arts school's Disciples enjoyed such generous treatment entirely because of the income supporting it. Thus, helping the escort agency expand and maintaining order in the gambling houses and brothels were among the most basic assignments.

But these were clearly not matters Shen Fan needed to worry about yet.

Practice martial arts, increase Qi and blood, break through Realms.

Practice martial arts, advance Cultivation Methods, increase Lifespan and Talent.

Several days later, Shen Fan finally brought the Ape Strike Technique to the entry level. The Attribute Panel finally changed once more.

Host: Shen Fan

Talent: 15 (Somewhat Gifted)

Lifespan: 82

Martial Path: Savage Bull Fist (Minor Accomplishment), True Combined Strength (Minor Accomplishment), Three Yuan Art (Minor Accomplishment), Ape Strike Technique (Entry Level)

Realm: Muscle Refining

As Shen Fan gained entry into the Ape Strike Technique, his Lifespan increased by another two years, but his Talent remained unchanged.

Clearly, the Lifespan gained from allocating points was not enough to drive an increase in Talent.

Moreover, entry-level Cultivation Methods gave Shen Fan noticeably less improvement. He estimated that eventually, they would cease to improve him at all.

Shen Fan had long suspected as much. Now, he had merely confirmed that suspicion.

Still, Shen Fan did not find it strange. If the gains could stack without limit, then his Talent and Lifespan could grow infinitely just by relying on entry-level Cultivation Methods. Would that not be far too absurd?

But now, it seemed that the saturation point of entry-level Cultivation Methods was still far from being reached, and they could still improve him.

Thus, Shen Fan patiently continued practicing the Ape Strike Technique.

After practicing the Ape Strike Technique for two hours, Shen Fan began practicing old Fist Techniques such as the Savage Bull Fist again. After all, these Cultivation Methods had yet to reach Great Accomplishment and still had plenty of room for improvement.

By Shen Fan's estimate, it would take him roughly a month to raise a Fist Technique at Minor Accomplishment to Great Accomplishment, about the same amount of time it had taken for the Thousand Mechanisms Hand to reach entry level.

Therefore, a month later, barring any surprises, Shen Fan would see a substantial improvement, whether in Talent or Lifespan!

Yet unlike the quiet peace within the martial arts school, Laiyang City saw more and more Martial Artists fighting to the death, and most of it took the form of assassinations.

Those targeted were, for the most part, people from the Four Great Martial Arts Schools.

However, they were not targeted all at once. Rather, after a period of time, the Disciples of one martial arts school would suffer grievous losses.

Even so, the ones hit hardest were still the common people of Laiyang City. No matter which Martial Artists clashed, they were always the most likely to be caught in the crossfire.

Martial Artists possessed immense strength. Ordinary people would be injured if brushed by it, and die if touched by it.

And once they saw an assassin's face, they could easily be silenced forever.

As time went on, no one knew how many Martial Artists had been killed or wounded, but the casualties among the common people were plain for all to see.

The medical clinics were packed with commoners accidentally injured in the clashes between Martial Artists, and even more injured civilians could not squeeze their way into the clinics at all!

If you can't find the book by searching its title, try searching for the author instead—perhaps it was merely renamed!