Jinguang Temple, Golden Cicada, Peerless Lightness Skill

The afternoon of the next day.

Zhang Chu was already a hundred li away.

The Sword Appraisal Convention was set to begin on the fifteenth of July, seven days from today.

Zhang Chu had set out so early for two reasons. First, he was unfamiliar with the route and could only leave in advance. Second, because of that blood letter—it was time to bring this matter to an end!

"Sir, may I ask whether Jinguang Temple lies this way?" Zhang Chu asked a man on the road.

With the Sword Appraisal Convention drawing near, countless Jianghu experts had been attracted here, and travelers filled the road.

"Indeed. It is roughly three hundred li from here."

Upon being called "sir," the man carrying a steel sword on his back visibly grew more pleased with himself.

"Thank you."

Zhang Chu cupped his fists, then mounted his horse and continued on his way.

Jinguang Temple and Sword Forging Manor both lay within the Southern Regions.

Only their directions differed somewhat.

If he moved quickly enough, he could rush to Sword Forging Manor after settling the matter of the blood letter.

Zhang Chu galloped all the way, finally arriving at the foot of a mountain before sunset. "According to the directions of the travelers along the way, once I cross this mountain, I'll reach Jinguang Temple!"

Looking at the mountain before him, Zhang Chu dismounted, took a drink of water, and decided to rest before continuing onward.

As a True Gang Realm grandmaster, a few hundred li naturally would not tire him. But his horse was different. After traveling through dust and wind for hundreds of li, it was already exhausted.

Just as Zhang Chu found a quiet, deserted spot with lush grass and water, a shout suddenly rang out!

"Big Brother Wang, hurry and help me stop them!"

Zhang Chu looked up and saw a woman sprinting toward him, several people behind her pursuing her with sharp blades.

Zhang Chu had excellent eyesight.

In an instant, he saw their faces clearly.

The leader was a beautiful woman around twenty years old. Her figure flickered as she moved, and her Lightness Skill was quite impressive.

The three behind her had enormous bellies and fat bodies, yet their movement techniques were not bad. They had not been easily shaken off by the woman and were chasing after her with steel sabers in hand.

The woman's eyes lit up when she saw the horse grazing nearby, and she immediately called out to Zhang Chu.

"Wonderful, Big Brother Wang, you finally came! I've already obtained the treasure. Hurry and help me stop them!"

Without waiting for Zhang Chu's response, she made to leap onto the horse, intending to throw off the pursuers behind her.

Heaven never bars every path—who would have thought she could pick up a horse in such a desolate wilderness!

And there was even a scapegoat. The woman secretly rejoiced, feeling that Heaven had treated her well.

But before she could mount the horse—

A figure had already appeared before her.

Zhang Chu frowned at the woman. Naturally, he saw through this little trick of diverting disaster onto another. He had only left Linjiang for one day, yet he had already witnessed the treachery of the Jianghu.

Seeing Zhang Chu approach, the woman revealed a savage expression and whispered, "Get lost! Otherwise, I'll kill you!"

As she spoke, a sharp dagger that had appeared from nowhere shot straight for Zhang Chu's heart!

"You're courting death!" Cold light flickered in Zhang Chu's eyes as he struck out with a palm carrying immense force.

This palm looked utterly ordinary and did not carry even a trace of Gang Qi, so the woman did not take it seriously.

But the instant the palm descended, she violently spat out blood and was sent flying backward.

Before she could hit the ground, a thunderous boom rang out in midair. Her entire body suddenly exploded into a mist of blood!

The whole process took no more than an instant. She vanished before she could even react.

[Merit Points +900!]

After seven rounds of bone and sinew strengthening, how terrifying was Zhang Chu's physical strength? Even Lu Chengfeng would shake his head at it!

How could a mere dagger possibly block it!

Zhang Chu led his horse over, looked at the three men arriving from behind, and said, "I have never met this person, nor do I wish to know what happened between you. Let us say I saw nothing today. How about you three step aside?"

The three men who had just arrived wore smiles on their faces.

The fat man in the lead clapped his hands and looked at Zhang Chu's tightly corded muscles. "What a body! What skill! This brother is clearly a martial man at first glance!"

"But you also know how dangerous the world is, brother. Some secrets can only be kept by the dead."

"It isn't that we brothers wish to make things difficult for you. Your luck is simply too poor—you saw something you should not have."

"Still, rest assured, brother. We have practiced our methods. Our blades are fast, and you won't feel any pain!"

From the moment they saw him, no matter what Zhang Chu said, he was fated not to leave alive today.

Moreover, this concerned a treasure, an exceedingly secret matter. They could hardly allow an unrelated outsider to learn of it.

As he spoke, the fat man in the lead drew his saber and swung it. Just as he had said, the strike was indeed incredibly fast!

With a flash of saber light, it had already reached Zhang Chu's chest, seeking to eliminate all future trouble with a single blow.

But in the next second, two fingers suddenly appeared and effortlessly clamped down on the fierce incoming blade.

No matter how hard the fat man exerted himself, the saber could not advance even an inch. It was clamped fast.

"I already said I would pretend I saw nothing today. Why must you insist on courting death?"

Zhang Chu's gaze grew increasingly cold. Then an incomparably fierce force instantly swept through the entire blade!

With a crisp crack, the saber shattered at once. Then a palm was already pressed against the fat man's chest, and a rain of blood erupted through the air once more!

[Merit Points +1200!]

Ever since breaking through to the True Gang Realm, Zhang Chu's strength had grown greater and greater. Whenever he struck, severed limbs carpeted the ground!

"Third Brother!!!"

The two fat men behind him watched their brother get smashed into fragments by a single palm, and their expressions changed drastically.

Terrifying! Too terrifying!

The sight before them sent chills down their spines. Their hearts nearly leaped from their throats, and fear almost suffocated them.

The two of them deeply regretted it now.

They regretted not agreeing to let this man leave.

This sort of monster was no weaker than an elder!

"Run!" Without a second thought, all sorrow vanished from their faces. The next moment, they turned to flee!

But though they were fast, Zhang Chu was faster. Two more deafening booms rang out in succession, and there were no living people left here!

[Merit Points +1200!]

[Merit Points +1200!]

In only a few moments, all four had become piles of parts, and his Merit Points had risen by 4,500!

This trip had gotten off to a blazing start.

He was another step closer to fusing two martial arts!

"Jinguang Temple isn't far from here. Judging by their builds, could they have all been monks from the temple?"

Though they had not shaved their heads, there was always a faint scent of incense on them, similar to the smell in a Daoist temple.

In these times, temple monks were more respected than even officials, and they were often fed until they became broad-shouldered and round-bellied.

These people had most likely come from Jinguang Temple!

Zhang Chu turned his gaze toward the woman he had killed first. Everything today had begun because of her.

If not for her, none of this would have happened.

"Hmm? What is this?"

Zhang Chu swept his gaze over the area and suddenly discovered an item hidden among the woman's remains.

It was something like a marble.

Zhang Chu walked over and picked it up, then took it to the river to wash it before carefully examining it from every angle.

"A precious medicine? Or a Buddha's relic?

"Neither seems quite right."

"Could it be some kind of divine martial arts manual?"

Zhang Chu examined it back and forth but could not make heads or tails of it. Still, he remembered the woman saying, "I've already obtained the treasure." It was presumably no ordinary item.

Otherwise, she would not have drawn those three men into chasing her.

And in the end, it had fallen into his hands.

Zhang Chu could not figure it out for the moment. Just as he was about to put the marble-like object away and ask Li Gang about it when they met in the future—

A startled cry suddenly came from atop a tall tree behind him.

"I know! I know what that is!"

"It's Golden Cicada!"

Only then did Zhang Chu notice that a small, thin person was standing on a distant tree at some unknown time!

"What astonishing Lightness Skill!"

"Are you here to avenge them?!"

Zhang Chu's expression shifted slightly.

Ever since entering the True Gang Realm, his five senses had become extraordinarily sharp. And after mastering the Bitter Gourd Palm, his Spiritual Power had greatly increased, making his senses far beyond what they had once been.

Yet even so, he had no idea when this thin man had arrived. Perhaps he had been there all along?