Young People Don't Understand Martial Ethics

The disciples in the distance saw what had happened. Those who had fled far away ran for their lives, while those who knew they could not escape dropped to their knees, all praising the young hero's miraculous skill and saying he had rid the Star-Constellation Sect of Yun Zhonghe, a scourge who had plagued them for years.

Though Ren Ze had killed decisively earlier, it had only been because he could not swallow the rage of watching his master pass away. At heart, he was not a bloodthirsty man. Every grievance had its source, every debt its debtor—Ding Chunqiu was the one he sought. Seeing the Star-Constellation disciples kneeling all around him and the corpses scattered nearby, he felt a slight heaviness in his heart. With a soft sigh, he asked, "Where is Ding Chunqiu? Why don't I see him?"

"Master, his old—no, no, no! That Star Constellation Old Freak took some disciples to the Central Plains some days ago. This little one doesn't know exactly where they went."

Seeing that Ren Ze had stopped, one of the bolder disciples hurriedly answered, terrified that he might displease Ren Ze and provoke another massacre.

After the slaughter, Ren Ze had finally calmed down.

"You may disperse. I will certainly take that old thief Ding Chunqiu's life. If any of you commit evil again and cross my path, there will be no mercy!"

Ren Ze waved a hand. Without paying them further attention, he found several torches and set the Star-Constellation Sect and all the corpses ablaze, burning them clean away before striding off.

Ever since arriving in the Tianlong world, from the first time he had killed someone to this massacre at Star-Constellation Sea, Ren Ze had felt neither guilt nor nausea. These people had committed countless evils and deserved to die. At most, he felt a faint knot of gloom in his heart.

Unlike his journey there, when he had endured the elements and traveled day and night, Ren Ze had vented the anger in his heart even though he had failed to find Ding Chunqiu at Star-Constellation Sea. Since he had no idea where that old freak had gone off to strut now, he was in no hurry to head for Leigu Mountain. Along the way, he refined and fused the true qi within his body while traveling about, upholding justice, taking in the local customs, and easing the gloom in his heart.

One day, Ren Ze arrived at an inn in Xinyang City. He had just ordered some wine and dishes for a light drink when he heard hurried footsteps outside and someone shouting loudly.

Slightly puzzled, Ren Ze rushed outside. On the street, he saw a burly man covered in blood, seemingly crazed, roaring over and over, "Don't mind me! The enemy is here! Hurry and save my lord!"

Ren Ze's heart stirred. This plot feels a little familiar. He stepped before the burly man and asked, "Brother, who is your lord? Where is he?"

"Hurry and send word! My lord is at Small Mirror Lake. Hurry to Small Mirror Lake, go!"

The burly man urged him repeatedly, frantic with anxiety.

"So it's Prince Duan. Fine, fine. Since I know Duan Yu, and Qiao Feng has probably already gone into seclusion beyond the frontier with A'zhu, I can't just stand by and watch my friend's father die an untimely death."

Ren Ze muttered inwardly as he examined the burly man's injuries. Seeing that his life was not in danger, he took out a silver ingot and gave it to the innkeeper, asking him to look after the man. He then asked for the location of Small Mirror Lake and set off.

Ren Ze was unfamiliar with the roads. It took him more than half an hour before he caught sight of a bright lake. Slowing down, he walked to its shore and saw jade-green waters, smooth as a mirror. It truly lived up to the name Small Mirror Lake.

Better early than late, but best of all was arriving at just the right time. Before Ren Ze could properly admire the beautiful scenery, sounds of fighting erupted from the lakeside.

Near a bamboo lodge on the shore, seven or eight people were locked in battle. A man in a blue robe, supporting himself on two slender iron crutches, had a corpse-like face and crippled legs. He was pressing down a handsome, gold-crowned man in his forties so hard that the latter could barely raise his head. Who else could they be but Duan Yanqing and Duan Zhengchun?

Elsewhere, the other members of the Four Great Evils—"All Evils Unforgiven" Ye Erniang, "Ferocious Spirit" Yue Laosan, and "Utterly Wicked" Yun Zhonghe—had already beaten Duan Zhengchun's other three retainers into grievous injuries, leaving them unable to continue.

"Rapist, die!"

Without hesitation, Ren Ze charged straight at Yun Zhonghe, the extraordinarily tall yet skeletal man.

Sensing that the newcomer possessed no ordinary presence, Yun Zhonghe had no intention of receiving him head-on. With a thought, he retreated explosively toward Duan Yanqing.

"Think you can get away...?"

Ren Ze spoke coolly. Circulating his Beiming true qi, he stepped into Lingbo Micro-steps and pursued Yun Zhonghe.

No matter how superb one's lightness skill was, it was useless before him.

"Damn it, how is this brat even faster than me? Even if he'd trained martial arts in his mother's womb, that shouldn't be possible."

Yun Zhonghe glanced back and was instantly horrified. All his life, he had prided himself on possessing the finest lightness skill under heaven.

Yet today, he finally understood that there was always someone greater beyond another, a higher sky beyond the heavens.

Cold sweat streamed down Yun Zhonghe's face as he shouted toward Duan Yanqing in the distance, "Boss, save me!"

Duan Yanqing had no choice but to let Duan Zhengchun go. Planting his crutch against the ground, he shot toward them.

Bang!

With a dull, heavy impact, Ren Ze's palm struck Yun Zhonghe squarely between the shoulder blades, Beiming true qi piercing straight into his heart meridian.

An expression of terror and utter disbelief suddenly appeared on Yun Zhonghe's face. His body pitched forward, and he moved no more.

Seeing Yun Zhonghe, the fourth of their number, die on the spot, Duan Yanqing gathered his strength and thrust out his One Yang Finger through his crutch, shooting directly at Ren Ze.

Unfortunately, Ren Ze had no intention of meeting him head-on. With several flickers of Lingbo Micro-steps, he left Duan Yanqing far behind.

Catching sight of a dead infant nearby from the corner of his eye, rage surged through Ren Ze as he rushed straight at Ye Erniang.

Having seen Ren Ze's Lingbo Micro-steps, Ye Erniang's face fell. She steeled herself and met him head-on. Yue Laosan, on the other hand, did not think much of it. The reckless brute raised his crocodile shears and joined Ye Erniang in attacking.

After only three to five exchanges, Ren Ze used his left hand to fend off Ye Erniang while his right hand hurled Yue Laosan into the lake. The move was so swift that Yue Laosan had not the slightest chance to resist. Immediately afterward, the Plum-Plucking Hand broke through Ye Erniang's technique and left her wide open. Ren Ze gathered the full force of his palm and struck her atop the head, killing another evil on the spot.

But at that moment, Duan Yanqing finally arrived and jabbed his crutch at Ren Ze.

This time, Ren Ze did not dodge. He took the blow head-on.

Duan Yanqing had not expected that his strike would accomplish nothing. Worse, even his inner force seemed to be slipping out of control. Horrified, he retreated again and again, demanding in ventriloquism, "Who are you, sir? Why have you come to interfere? What is Ding Chunqiu to you?"

"Ren Ze of the Carefree Sect! One was a rapist, the other a madwoman who stole children and tortured them to death. So I killed them!"

Ren Ze did not continue attacking. "As for that Star Constellation Old Freak, I leveled Star-Constellation Sea just a few days ago. Unfortunately, I don't know where that old freak Ding went, so I couldn't clean house."

The moment those words came out, not only was Duan Yanqing shaken, but even Duan Zhengchun and his party from Dali were aghast.

After the Gathering Virtue Manor assembly and Xiao Feng and his father's rampage through Shaolin, the name Ren Ze of the Carefree Sect had resounded throughout the martial world. No one had expected him to accomplish something so momentous again.

"Carefree Sect, Ren Ze. Hmph! Third Brother, we're leaving!"

No emotion could be read from Duan Yanqing's gloomy, corpse-like face. After speaking in ventriloquism, he took Yue Laosan and departed.

"Yue Laosan! If you keep casually snapping people's necks, then the next time I see you, I'll snap your dog head right off with a crack!"

Ren Ze did not stop the two of them. He merely shouted, and Yue Laosan staggered, nearly falling over before fleeing without even looking back.

Though evil should be rooted out completely, Ren Ze had his own principles for dealing with things. Especially after coming to the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils World, he did not need to overthink the consequences—he only needed to consider whether he could win and whether he could escape.

To him, if he encountered scum and felt they deserved to die, he would show no mercy. If he did not want to kill them, he would not play the righteous defender either. He had his own bottom line and rules.

Still, he had wasted a great deal more internal energy. Ren Ze had yet to fully integrate the power his master had passed down to him, so it was not advisable for him to absorb anyone else's internal energy again.

Ren Ze felt that his dantian was about to suffer indigestion. That was why he had gone straight for the kill, with no intention whatsoever of using the Northern Dark Divine Skill to draw out internal energy.

After the two retreated, Ruan Xingzhu gently released Duan Zhengchun, whom she had been supporting, and gave a deep curtsey. "Young Master Ren, thank you for saving us."

The few retainers who could still move also stepped forward to offer their thanks.

"No need to thank me. Prince Duan's son, Duan Yu, and I have shared trials together, so we can be considered brothers. Today, I happened to encounter one of your men coming to deliver word, which was why I could arrive in time. Though he is badly injured, his life is not in danger. He is recuperating in Xinyang. I still have important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

With matters settled, Ren Ze did not continue disturbing Prince Duan's romantic pursuits. He cupped his hands and bade farewell.

Should I make a trip to Heavenly Mountain and subdue the Spirit Vulture Palace on Misty Peak? Otherwise, I don't even have anyone under my command to use. I can't even find out where the Star Constellation Old Freak is.

Ren Ze pondered to himself. He had grown tired of wandering around these past few days. Despite making inquiries everywhere, he had learned nothing of the Star Constellation Old Freak's whereabouts. Without his senior brother issuing a Guangfa Hero Invitation to gather the heroes of the realm and solve the Zhenlong Chess Game, the martial world had become much quieter for the time being. By rights, with the Star Constellation Old Freak's habit of traveling with his own backing band, his trail should not have been difficult to find. Yet more than ten days had passed without a single scrap of news.

Forget it. I'll return to Leigu Mountain first and discuss it with Senior Brother before deciding.

Having made up his mind, Ren Ze stopped wandering aimlessly and headed for Leigu Mountain.

By the time Ren Ze reached the vicinity of Leigu Mountain, dusk was approaching, and he was feeling a little hungry as well. Rather than hurry up the mountain to eat plain tea and simple fare, he found an inn in a nearby town and prepared to order some wine and meat to fill his stomach first.

Just as Ren Ze was about to enter, he saw the townsfolk fleeing from the inn in a panic. Loud commotion came from within; clearly, martial artists were fighting again.

"Well, well. I searched everywhere for you without success, only to find you here without any effort. No wonder I couldn't find you—you came to raid my home!"

Inside the inn, a group of punks were yelling noisily. Three people lay on the ground, while an old man and a young nobleman were fighting. The old man was presumably the Star Constellation Old Freak, Ding Chunqiu, while the young man was likely Murong Fu of Gusu.

Ren Ze had originally been somewhat wary of Ding Chunqiu's poison arts. In the original story, his senior brother Su Xinghe and Xuannan, the head of Shaolin's Dharma Hall, had both been easily poisoned to death by his Three Smiles Free and Easy Powder. Given such a fine opportunity, Ren Ze naturally would not foolishly speak of martial honor and gamble on whether his powerful Northern Dark true qi could withstand the other man's poison arts.

Against a shameless villain and disgrace to the sect like this, if he wanted to clean house, then of course he could not care about martial virtue. He had to launch a sneak attack. While Ding Chunqiu's attention was wholly focused on Murong Fu, Ren Ze pushed Lingbo Micro-steps to its limit. His figure flashed, and he arrived at Ding Chunqiu's side, kicking directly into the back of his knee.

Crack!

The side of the knee was at its weakest, and it shattered instantly beneath the kick.

"Ah!"

Ding Chunqiu immediately let out a miserable cry. In the midst of danger, madness flashed in his eyes. He grabbed Ren Ze's left arm and activated the Great Skill Dissipation Technique.

His hair flew wildly, his face turned dark red, and an icy, sinister aura radiated from his entire body.

Little did he know that this was exactly what Ren Ze wanted. In an instant, seeing the faintly smiling expression on Ren Ze's face, Ding Chunqiu froze slightly and immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"You! The Northern Dark Divine Skill!"

As if he had seen a ghost, Ding Chunqiu felt his internal energy constantly draining away. He tried to release his grip, but no matter what he did, his hand would not let go.

"Thank you. Your several decades of internal energy belong to me now."

"No!"

In that instant, Ding Chunqiu refused to await death helplessly, only to discover that he could not muster even a trace of strength throughout his body.

Ding Chunqiu was utterly horrified. For the first time, he experienced the profound helplessness of facing death.

As more than half of Ding Chunqiu's cultivation was absorbed—

Bang!

Ren Ze struck with the fingers of his right hand, landing directly on Ding Chunqiu's throat. Ren Ze mobilized all of his internal energy and concentrated it entirely at that single point, unleashing the strongest possible penetrating force. A crisp sound rang out, and Ding Chunqiu, eyes wide open, crashed to the ground. Even in death, he never understood who had killed him or why.

It was simply perfect timing. Ren Ze had not intended to use the Northern Dark Divine Skill, but at the final moment, Ding Chunqiu had counterattacked with the Great Skill Dissipation Technique, practically offering his internal energy up himself.

Feeling as though his dantian was about to explode, Ren Ze could not spare the effort to drain him dry. He hurriedly killed him first.

The group of punks scattered and fled, while Murong Fu stared at Ren Ze in utter shock, unable to regain his senses for a long while.