Going All Out with the Cheat

The old man and the young man crouched at the corner together, watching the scene not far away.

A red sports car sat there with its trunk wide open, stuffed full of flowers. Beside it, the burly, guileless youth scratched his bald head.

Then there were the dumbfounded Zhong Yue and the face-covering Lu Yao.

Zhang Fusheng covered his face too. Was Old Zhu an idiot?

"You know them?" Hong Tianbao watched with great interest.

"Yeah. The guy's my best friend, and the other two are friends too." Zhang Fusheng sounded utterly listless, though he really did not want to admit it.

Smack!

At the muffled sound, the two of them stared eagerly over and saw the bald man drop to one knee with a thud.

That face of his was overflowing with deep affection.

"Idiot," the fat old man commented.

"Right to the heart," Zhang Fusheng mocked. "Old Zhu's brain is getting worse and worse."

"I like you! Can you be my girlfriend?!"

Zhu Xiaoming's duck-like voice was deafening.

Lu Yao began to stammer, clearly losing the ability to think.

"Y-you... what are you saying?!"

Her cheeks reddened all the way to her ears. She stumbled back three or four steps, then fled in panic.

While running, she even tripped and fell flat on her face. Then she scrambled up and kept fleeing.

That idiot Zhu Xiaoming did not go help her, much less chase after her. He simply sat on the ground, blankly scratching his bald head.

The fat old man was amazed beyond words.

"This fool is even more foolish than your Eldest Senior Brother was back then!"

Zhang Fusheng covered his face. Seeing that Lu Yao was fleeing in their direction, he immediately stepped out from behind the trees, pretending he had only just noticed her as he exclaimed in surprise.

"Lu Yao? Why are you so dusty and disheveled?"

The girl, whose face was red and whose mind was a pot of muddled paste, visibly froze.

"Zhang Fusheng?"

She did not know how to explain herself. Stomping her foot, she tried to flee again, but Zhang Fusheng stopped her and said with a bitter smile.

"Alright, alright, I saw it all. But you can't get a cab around here. Are you planning to walk all the way home?"

After a pause, he said seriously.

"I suspect Old Zhu specifically picked a place like this so you'd have nowhere to run."

Lu Yao was both angry and embarrassed.

"It'd be a miracle if he had that kind of brain! And he didn't even chase me for two steps..."

After taking two deep breaths, she barely calmed herself down and looked at the short, plump old man beside him.

"This elderly gentleman is?"

"My master. His surname is Hong."

"Hello, Grandpa Hong." Lu Yao greeted him gloomily as the fat old man ambled over with a cheerful smile.

Zhang Fusheng tried to persuade her a little more.

"That guy's just a block of wood."

The fat old man nodded in agreement.

"Fools like that are rare these days."

Lu Yao fell silent for a moment, then said bitterly.

"He's just a huge idiot!"

She did not keep running. Instead, she followed behind Zhang Fusheng and Hong Tianbao as they headed back.

"Huh? Lu Yao, you came back? Old Zhang?" Zhu Xiaoming sat on the ground, speaking sadly, until someone with a helpless expression yanked him to his feet.

He glanced at the flowers in the trunk and sucked in a breath.

"Who taught you to confess with white chrysanthemums?"

Only then did Lu Yao notice the large bunches of white chrysanthemums in the trunk. She burst out laughing.

From anger.

Zhu Xiaoming was dumbfounded.

"These are chrysanthemums? The shop owner told me they were white immortal flowers, symbols of purity and eternity."

Zhang Fusheng fell silent.

After a while, he listlessly introduced them.

"This is Zhu Xiaoming. This is Lu Yao and Zhong Yue. This is my master, surnamed Hong."

"Hello, Grandpa Hong." Zhong Yue politely greeted him. Zhu Xiaoming, however, looked astonished. "Huh? Old Zhang, when did you take a master? Hello, Grandpa Hong!"

The fat old man nodded with a smile.

Zhang Fusheng shut the trunk with one hand, bringing the farce to an end. The five of them simply took a walk down the path, with Zhu Xiaoming on the far right and Lu Yao on the far left.

The former did not dare move closer, while the latter was still grinding her teeth and sulking.

The four young people chatted about everything under the sun, while the fat old man watched the scene with a cheerful smile, occasionally chiming in with a sentence or two.

Sunlight fell over them, and they brimmed with youthful vigor.

"Old Zhang, you still haven't said when you took a master!" Zhu Xiaoming asked carelessly. He had already thrown the sorrow of his "failed confession" to the back of his mind and acted as though nothing had happened, which made Lu Yao even angrier.

"Didn't I join a Martial Arts Academy? Master valued my talent and hard work, so he took me as his disciple."

"A Martial Arts Academy?" Zhu Xiaoming and the other two were clearly stunned. A Martial Arts Academy was not a martial arts school. It did not teach fists and kicks, but cultivation.

The School Master of a Martial Arts Academy had to be at least a major expert of the Fifth or Sixth Refinement.

The way they looked at Hong Tianbao changed, gaining a measure of respect. But when they found the old man kind and approachable, none of them felt particularly restrained.

They were still innocent young people, without so many notions of rank, status, and worth in their eyes.

"Is Grandpa Hong's Martial Arts Academy in District Three?" Zhong Yue asked curiously.

"Yeah. I originally wanted to choose District Four, but the rent was about the same on both sides, so I picked District Three." Hong Tianbao casually made it up.

Zhong Yue seemed to understand, yet not quite. Enviously, she said.

"The Snake Fist Gym is in the Seventh District, and the School Master already pays three thousand in wages. In District Three, the pay must be so much higher."

Hong Tianbao laughed.

"The wages for odd-job workers at the martial arts school seem to be five thousand. Little girl, do you want to come?"

Zhong Yue considered it seriously, then shook her head.

"The Snake Fist Gym is closer to my home, and School Master Huang treats us pretty well. Every now and then, he even teaches us a move or two."

She assumed a crude stance and threw one or two punches.

Hong Tianbao raised an eyebrow, clearly recognizing that rough stance. He looked at Zhang Fusheng, who gave a slight nod.

He understood. That old snake Huang Qiuxian had gone to the Seventh District to open a martial arts school.

As they walked and talked, they went from gossip in the woods to their hopes for Jiang University, occasionally pressing Zhang Fusheng for news about Genius Chen.

The fat old man quietly watched them, unable to stop a feeling of sentiment from rising in his heart.

Youth was wonderful.

More precisely, this kind of simple, unvarnished youth was wonderful.

"Oh, there's another huge piece of news." Zhu Xiaoming, scrolling through his phone, suddenly said, "A massive explosion happened in the Eighth District. Look, it's practically become a mushroom cloud."

He turned his phone toward them. Zhang Fusheng and the fat old man looked over, and their expressions tightened at the same time.

In the image, several residential buildings had clearly been blown apart. Flames shot into the sky and smoke billowed everywhere. In the distance, the sign for Ankang Hospital flickered in and out of view.

Just then, after circling around, they returned to where the car was parked. Zhang Fusheng pressed his lips together.

"Master and I have to head back first. See you later?"

"Sure. I'll take Lu Yao and Zhong Yue home first. Want me to pick you up tonight?"

"No need."

Watching the red sports car drive away, Hong Tianbao frowned slightly and made a call.

After a while, the call connected.

"The explosion in the Eighth District?" the old man asked. He was clearly not overly worried about Niu Dali's safety.

An explosion of that scale was far from enough to injure a great martial artist of the Twelve Refinements.

Eldest Senior Brother's coughing came through the phone.

"I had just led people to find the place. We had only entered when the explosion happened. Those little brats who came out of nowhere planted a whole pile of high explosives."

"There was also a guy at the Twelve Refinements. I fought him and suffered some injuries, but it's fine. Nothing serious."

"Twelve Refinements?"

The fat old man's voice became grave.

"Have you seen him before?"

"Never. He was from the East Cult. I've already killed him. It can be confirmed that he was the mastermind behind the scenes."

"I found the commission receipt from Bar No. 19 on him. It wasn't just for Junior Disciple Brother, but for me and the two junior sisters as well."

Hong Tianbao's expression remained blank.

"You're sure he was from the East Cult? That makes no sense."

"I'm sure. He used the Five Thunders Art. Luckily, I dodged quickly. I suspect Huang Qiuxian is taking revenge on you?"

"Mhm. I understand."

He hung up.

Zhang Fusheng softly asked.

"Master, what exactly is the East Cult?"

"Of the Federation's four great evil cults under pursuit, one is Daoism. Daoism is further divided into the East and West Cults. The East Cult does nothing, while the Western Sect stops at nothing."

"That old man Huang is from the East Cult? There's no reason for him to kill me."

"I know."

Hong Tianbao lowered his eyelids.

Zhang Fusheng shook his head, then suddenly asked curiously.

"Master, what are the four great evil cults?"

As he thought, Hong Tianbao replied.

"One is the Myriad Gods Cult, formed from the merger of many smaller cults. The other three are Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism."

Zhang Fusheng froze. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism.

"Alright. Since your Eldest Senior Brother has already dealt with the mastermind, this matter can be considered over. I'll go take a look at the scene."

Hong Tianbao said calmly.

"Since I have already paid them a visit, Number 19 will know enough to withdraw the commission. You go back first."

After a pause, he added.

"The Five Thunders Art should be hidden in your bones. Once you return, you can look inward and try cultivating it. This art of the East Cult is a true great killing technique, with an extremely high ceiling."

"Also, don't wait for me. Your master needs to meet with someone from the Investigation Bureau. I may return in a few days."

"Yes, Master."

After watching his master leave, Zhang Fusheng returned to the Martial Arts Academy, bought three servings of special nourishing food from the cafeteria, and silently ate them.

With the more than ten million from Zhou Quan in hand, he could achieve Star Beast Meat freedom for the time being.

After the three servings of special nourishing food entered his stomach, the Contract Book within the Ancestral Aperture between his brows shone once more.

"Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism..." Zhang Fusheng murmured in a low voice, utterly unaware.

The waters of this world seemed far deeper than they appeared.

He stood in horse stance at the Martial Arts Academy for an entire night, silently observing himself inwardly. He truly saw an exquisite text upon his bones.

Well then.

He could not understand it.

Like Great Sun Illuminates Seventy-Two Snow Mountains, it was difficult to comprehend. He could only roughly understand the opening portion.

The next morning.

Having studied the Five Thunders Art for an entire night, Zhang Fusheng was somewhat exhausted. This technique truly was profound, involving the so-called Five Directions and Five Thunders.

Southeast, northwest, and center; wood, fire, metal, water, and earth.

But according to the text, only those who had opened the great realm of the five viscera could initially command thunder arts. Alternatively, those who had grasped the Mental Spiritual Realm could unleash true lightning within that realm and kill people through illusion.

"The great realm of the five viscera should be the level of a Martial Arts Master. I'm still far from that, but the Mental Spiritual Realm... I already possess it."

"The troublesome part is that the Five Thunders Art is too profound."

Zhang Fusheng pondered, his thoughts turning over a thousand times.

"Has the assassination matter truly come to an end?"

He felt that something was not right.

The matter had ended far too abruptly. Most importantly, that explosion was too suspicious.

It was like someone was erasing the traces.

Moreover, there was no way to explain how they had learned of his progress in the Spring Thunder Technique.

Unless...

He pressed his lips together. Eldest Senior Brother and the two senior sisters, who had only just returned, were all resting on the same floor at this moment.

"My constitution limits my progress in martial cultivation, but a Visualization Method can be piled up through time alone."

Zhang Fusheng went down to the second floor and entered the cafeteria.

"How much Star Beast Meat is left in stock?"

"In reply to you, only two taels remain. The next shipment will not arrive until the middle of the month," the cafeteria chef answered respectfully.

"Two taels, one hundred grams."

Zhang Fusheng pondered for a moment.

"Grill it all. Deduct the payment from the account I put under my name yesterday."

To push the Visualization Method to true Perfection, how many years of bitter cultivation would it take?

Zhang Fusheng did not know.

But however many years it took, he could have that many years.

Trading with martial artists required careful planning and arrangement; the trading partners themselves also needed to be chosen with care.

Yet there were far too many people who had practiced the Visualization Method their entire lives and achieved nothing.

His master had once said that a Visualization Method at Perfection was a true road to the heavens.

If he was going to cheat, he had to cheat big!