Government Office

Under the firelight, the Training Ground was stained with blood, chaotic beyond measure. No one noticed Chu Zheng's presence at all.

He moved through the shadowed corners, clutching an arrowhead in his hand, and quickly picked out a target.

Chu Zheng did not rush toward the center of the battlefield, where Song Tonghai was fighting. Instead, he first set his sights on a black-clad man at the edge of the battlefield.

He needed to get a feel for it first.

Chu Zheng's eyesight was now countless times sharper than in his Previous Life, and his strength was even less worth mentioning. The difference was immense; he needed to adapt.

Before long, Chu Zheng had crept to within a hundred paces of the man. Holding his breath and focusing, his gaze sharp as an eagle's, he did not hesitate. Raising his hand, he threw an arrowhead with fifty percent of his strength.

Whoosh!

A crisp whistle of an arrow rang out. A hundred paces away, the black-clad man fell at the sound.

The arrowhead pierced straight through his skull, splashing blood into the air.

This trial felt extraordinarily good to Chu Zheng—far easier than he had expected.

After cultivating Qi, the Sun Moon Essence had strengthened far more than just his physical strength. His five senses, even his reflexes, had undergone an all-around leap.

With that confirmed, Chu Zheng no longer had any reservations. His gaze locked directly onto several people beside Song Lingxue. Using his full strength, he hurled five arrowheads in the space of a breath.

He had never witnessed a Grandmaster's reaction speed before. Using these people as his first targets was the safest choice.

Whiiish—

The shrill whistles of Gold-Piercing Stone-Splitting rang out in succession, unceasing. The people besieging Song Lingxue had only just heard the sound when, before they could react, a vicious wind struck their faces. Their vision went black, and they lost consciousness completely.

"Watch out for Hidden Weapons!"

Grandmasters saw in all directions and heard from all sides, always keeping watch on the battle nearby.

The instant the people besieging Song Lingxue died, the three Grandmasters all reacted. They withdrew their force and retreated, their Internal Qi manifesting outside their bodies and flowing around them, protecting their heads and vital points. Their gazes were wary as they searched in every direction.

Before long, they discovered Chu Zheng standing at one side of the Training Ground.

Meeting the gazes swept over him by the three Martial Grandmasters, Chu Zheng's expression did not ripple in the slightest. Standing tall as a pine, he kicked a long spear from a pool of blood into his hand.

Then he leaned backward and raised the spear high. His Tendons and Bones tightened; the muscles swollen with blood throughout his body tore apart his clothes as every ounce of strength within him filled to the brim in an instant.

The next moment, the spear left his hand, like a volcano dormant for a thousand years suddenly erupting!

Buzzz—

The great spear streaked across the sky like lightning, releasing a deep, resounding boom as it tore through the air and shot toward one of the Grandmasters.

The terrifying killing intent rushing toward them made the three Grandmasters change color. They nearly all pulled back at once.

Song Tonghai did not miss that fleeting opportunity. He had already struck; sword Qi swept across the sky like Moonlight Essence, vast and surging like the sea, throwing the three men's retreat into disarray.

Chu Zheng's attack had come too suddenly, without the slightest warning. Like a venomous snake flicking out its tongue, the great spear caught up to one of the Grandmasters in the blink of an eye.

The horrifying force wrapped around it effortlessly shattered his protective Internal Qi and bored through the Grandmaster's body. Its remaining momentum undiminished, it nailed him dead to the bluestone wall.

"Retreat!"

The remaining two Grandmasters were scared out of their wits. After a loud shout, they did not hesitate in the slightest. With a tap of their toes, like hawks spreading their wings, they vanished into the night in an instant.

Of the three Grandmasters, one had died and two had fled. The deadlocked battlefield collapsed at once, and the surviving black-clad men began to flee in disorder without prior arrangement.

Somewhat drained, Chu Zheng slumped to the ground. Nearly all his essence, Qi, and spirit had been concentrated into that single great spear; now even his Tendons and Bones were trembling.

Had those two Grandmasters chosen to remain and continue fighting, no one could have predicted the final outcome.

Chu Zheng had sensed some threat from the Martial Grandmasters, so he had chosen to strike with all his strength and first cut off one of their arms.

The facts proved that his choice had not been wrong.

Song Tonghai gave Chu Zheng a deep look but did not approach. He gathered the remaining Martial Masters and began putting out the fires and clearing away the bodies.

Most of those Martial Masters had been locked in combat moments earlier and did not know exactly what had happened. Only Song Lingxue, Song Tonghai, and a handful of others had seen Chu Zheng attack.

Song Lingxue slowly walked to Chu Zheng's side. Pointing at the corpses with their heads pierced through, her expression somewhat dazed, she softly asked, "Were these people killed by you too?"

"I did all of it. Besides them, there were about ten more."

Chu Zheng had no intention of concealing anything. He nodded in admission, his tone different from usual, lacking a measure of its former respectfulness.

Constantly controlling the tone of his speech was not a particularly comfortable thing.

After this battle, Chu Zheng had gained a rough understanding of what level his own strength had reached.

Throughout Great Zhou, Grandmasters were already rare experts, while Great Grandmasters were like divine dragons whose heads were seen but never their tails.

He had previously overestimated the strength of these Martial Grandmasters somewhat.

His hundred days of Qi cultivation had not even passed one-fifth of the way, yet he could already kill Grandmasters. Once he truly stepped into the Spiritual Transformation Realm, his strength would undergo earth-shaking changes.

By then, no matter how strong the so-called Great Grandmasters were, they could not possibly be his opponents.

Beyond them were those from the Immortal Sects.

Song Lingxue crouched down. After hesitating slightly, she reached out and grasped Chu Zheng's wrist. Only after a long while did she release it, her expression growing increasingly dazed. "There truly is no Internal Qi."

For a moment, her heart was filled with shock and doubt.

"Then this strength of yours..."

"After cultivating the Dragon Tiger Body, I felt my strength grow considerably."

He clearly could no longer fob Song Lingxue off with the joke of Innate Divine Strength, so Chu Zheng simply attributed it all to the Dragon Tiger Body.

In any case, there was no way she could see through it.

As far as he knew, Qi Cultivators did not exist in this world at all. Many abnormalities naturally could not be explained.

"Is that so..."

His talent for cultivating Internal Arts was ordinary, yet his progress in External martial arts advanced with every passing day. Could someone truly possess Innate Talent so miraculous?

Besides, Chu Zheng's speed was simply too fast. In such a short time, he had crossed a distance others could not reach in a lifetime.

Song Lingxue's instincts told her there was definitely something wrong here, but for the moment, she could not tell what it was.

After a while, she came back to herself and suddenly bowed deeply. "It was only because you acted today that this crisis was resolved. Ling Xue offers you her thanks."

"Tomorrow, I will submit the matter to the Government Office and remove your Servant Status, restoring your freedom. If you have any other requests, you may make them. So long as my Song Family can fulfill them, we will not refuse."

"Eldest Young Lady, you overstate it. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring."

Chu Zheng shook his head. He did not care much about so-called Servant Status. From the world's perspective, Great Zhou was merely a corner of some remote region; one's public identity was not especially important.

To put it plainly, he had acted today only to repay Song Lingxue's kindness. Whatever else might be said, at least the benefits she had given him were real.

As the two spoke, the Training Ground had already been mostly cleared. The raging fires within the manor had dwindled to only scattered flames.

This time, Song Manor had suffered immense losses. More than half of the escort guards had died, Song Tonghai's injuries were not light, and Song Lingxue was in no better condition, her body covered in wounds.

Less than a moment after the fighting ended, the sound of hoofbeats suddenly rang out beyond the gates of Song Manor.

Only now did the Guard Army within Luofeng City arrive at long last.