Ambush

Medicine King Temple, the entrance to the old stage of the Black Market.

With a grinding sound of stone against stone.

The stone table inside the pavilion slowly shifted aside.

Lu Cheng emerged, led by a figure wearing an Asura Mask.

Before the stone table could slide back into place, the Asura guide flickered and vanished back into the depths without a sound.

Lu Cheng removed his veil hat and stepped out of the pavilion.

In the pack on his back were ten portions of Blood-Activating Powder and six taels and three mace of silver.

After successfully refining the first batch of Blood-Activating Powder, Lu Cheng had made no mistakes with the remaining fourteen portions of medicinal herbs.

In less than an hour, he had finished refining them all.

He left four portions for the man to sell.

Following their seventy-thirty split, Lu Cheng had taken five taels of silver from the man in advance.

The two had spent three days together, yet both tacitly avoided mentioning their true identities.

Because the man always wore a leather mask.

Lu Cheng had given him the nickname Old Pi.

Beyond the finished Blood-Activating Powder and the silver.

Lu Cheng's proficiency in refining Blood-Activating Powder had also surged overnight.

It had reached one hundred and eighty-six in one go.

He quickly scanned his consciousness.

[Alchemy-Activating Powder]
[Grade: None]
[Realm: Minor Mastery (199/300)]

The greatest gain had come from the very first successful refinement of the Blood-Activating Powder.

His proficiency had instantly increased by fifty.

The subsequent thirteen refinements had pushed his proficiency to one hundred and ninety-nine.

Although the gains diminished as he progressed, Lu Cheng estimated that within ten more batches, he would be able to break through his technique for [Blood-Activating Powder] to Great Mastery.

According to Old Pi, an alchemist like Old Yang could refine at most three portions of Blood-Activating Powder in a single furnace.

Lu Cheng, however, had managed to refine two portions in his last attempt.

At this rate, once he reached Great Mastery, Lu Cheng could likely refine at least five portions per furnace.

If he reached Perfection, the limit would probably only depend on the size of the furnace.

For the short term, he no longer needed to worry about money or the issue of "Refining Strength."

From now on, he would come every ten days to refine Blood-Activating Powder for the man to sell.

The rest of his time would be dedicated to fully improving his cultivation to prepare for the duel in three months.

Tightening the pack on his back, Lu Cheng slowed his pace, walking toward the alley with his guard fully up.

Even though he had walked this small alley for three days, the deep, lightless, narrow passage still made Lu Cheng's heart drum with unease.

Next time, he would have to ask Old Pi where the entrance in the north of the city was.

This narrow alley was truly unsettling.

Not only was it nerve-wracking every time, but it was also easy to capsize in the gutter.

Thirty steps were neither long nor short, but Lu Cheng remained as vigilant as if facing a formidable enemy the entire way.

Just as he was about to exit the alley, Lu Cheng's heart suddenly sank.

Two suppressed breaths from just a few steps outside the alley entrance reached his ears.

Lu Cheng did not stop, nor did he change the rhythm of his footsteps, slowly approaching the mouth of the alley.

When he was only two steps from exiting, Lu Cheng stomped his left foot hard against the ground, twisted his waist and hips, and with the explosive force of his early-stage Refining Strength, he lunged two meters forward in an instant.

The two people outside the alley only instinctively swung their blades downward when they heard the movement.

But by then, Lu Cheng had already darted out, and the blade light naturally missed its mark.

"Oh? You've actually refined strength! I underestimated you."

"But that's to be expected; after all, a crippled Human Hero is still a Human Hero."

Lu Cheng turned to look back at the alley, only to see a figure drop from the wall of the Medicine King Temple.

The person stood slowly at the mouth of the alley, blocking Lu Cheng's view.

"Stop looking. Once you're out of the alley, Bogu Hall doesn't care anymore."

The man was dressed in a moon-white silk robe, his hair tied back with a golden silk cord.

He looked at Lu Cheng, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.

With a wave of his right hand, he signaled the two men holding blades to attack Lu Cheng.

The long street outside the alley remained silent.

The gates of the Medicine King Temple, just a few steps away, were shut tight, the banner outside fluttering in the night wind.

The two men's long blades glinted with cold light as they closed in on Lu Cheng from the left and right.

"Courting death!"

Lu Cheng let out a cold snort, his body suddenly tilting to the left. He swerved in a blur, appearing behind one of the men in the blink of an eye.

This was a movement technique from the Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk: Slanting Wind Returning Wing.

Once this technique was unleashed, one could dodge rapidly to the side, shifting positions with the agility of a hawk's wing in flight.

The two men had been about to strike, but suddenly, they felt a flash before their eyes, and Lu Cheng had vanished.

When he reappeared, the long blade in the man on the left's hand clattered to the ground, and the man's body went limp, collapsing to the floor.

Before the man on the right could recover, Lu Cheng repeated the same maneuver.

But this time, there was no sound of a blade hitting the ground, only the dull thud of fist meeting palm.

As the sound faded, the two figures abruptly separated.

Lu Cheng looked at the man opposite him and shook his hands.

"Refining Strength mid-stage? Who are you?"

The man's punch had arrived after his, yet it possessed far greater force than Lu Cheng's, clearly placing his cultivation realm above Lu Cheng's.

However, the fact that the force had failed to penetrate Lu Cheng's body indicated he had not yet reached the late stage.

The man opposite was quite surprised that his punch had failed to take Lu Cheng down:

"Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk?"

"I didn't expect you to have mastered a martial skill, and to such a degree at that!"

"The Long Wind Escort Agency certainly kept things well-hidden, but it's a pity—you shouldn't have come to this place alone."

He tilted his head, signaling the blade-wielding man beside him to step aside.

But that man collapsed with a loud thud.

The man's expression finally turned grave.

He hadn't even noticed when Lu Cheng had struck.

Lu Cheng looked at the man as if he were an idiot.

Dressed in white in the middle of the night without even covering his face, the man had done nothing but chatter since he appeared.

His strength was clearly mediocre, yet he postured like a peerless expert; Lu Cheng couldn't fathom what was going through his mind.

But deep down, Lu Cheng began to feel a surge of excitement.

He had never used the Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk in actual combat since he first learned it.

Based on his previous experiences, Lu Cheng knew well the benefits of combining training with combat.

From their brief exchange, this man's strength was greater than his own, but only by a limited margin.

He was the perfect target to test his fists against and help increase his proficiency!

Thinking of this, Lu Cheng was instantly filled with fighting spirit.

Hitting a stationary wooden dummy was nowhere near as effective as fighting a real True Person!

"Too much talk. Come, come, let me see how much you're worth, daring to spout such nonsense here!"

With that, Lu Cheng stomped his foot and lunged forward.

His hands spread open in a light, airy gesture as he reached toward the man.

As he neared, his hands suddenly shifted from palms to claws—one high, one low—hooking like talons, one striking at the face, the other at the chest and abdomen.

"Well come!"

The man snorted coldly, stomping his feet as force surged from his legs to his hands.

Simultaneously, with a sharp intake and release of breath, he unleashed a burst of internal power.

He formed his hands into fists and met Lu Cheng's attack.

The man's internal energy was already generated, and the explosive force of his entire body was far greater than Lu Cheng's.

But Lu Cheng's strike was a technique from the Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk.

As fist and claw met, Lu Cheng's wrist suddenly twisted at an uncanny angle.

To the man's utter disbelief, Lu Cheng pressed his fist force downward.

Using that leverage to vault into the air, Lu Cheng kicked both feet toward the man's face.

The man had no choice but to arch his back and retract, slamming both fists toward Lu Cheng's feet.

At that very moment, Lu Cheng spread his body like a soaring hawk, suddenly vaulting higher. He tucked his legs toward his abdomen, shifted his center of gravity, and dove down with claws extended. His five fingers, sharp as hooks, clamped onto the man's shoulder sockets like lightning.

A crisp "crack" echoed out as tendons snapped and bones shattered.

"Ah!"

The man let out a pained howl, his arms hanging limp and lifeless.

Lu Cheng used the momentum to flip over the man, taking the opportunity to stomp down with both feet.

The man spat out a mouthful of blood, stumbled forward two steps, and collapsed to the ground.

No matter how he struggled, he could not get back up.

[Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk]
[Grade: Mortal Rank, Mid-Grade]
[Proficiency: Entry (17/200)]

Lu Cheng swept his consciousness through his mind, unable to help but curl his lip.

He had expected it to be stronger; as it turned out, even including the two lackeys from earlier, his proficiency had only risen from three points to seventeen.

Still, this Mortal Rank, Mid-Grade martial art was indeed formidable.

Not only was the footwork agile, but the offensive capabilities were also top-tier.

In that brief instant, Lu Cheng had unleashed three moves in succession.

He had cleanly and efficiently taken down a man who was a full realm higher than himself.

No wonder Feng Qi and the others could contend with a peak Body Refining expert when working together.

Lu Cheng picked up his long saber and walked toward the man.

Before he could even get close, he heard the man shout:

"I am Zhang Yuchuan! My father is Zhang Rensheng! If you kill me, he won't let you off!"

Lu Cheng paused, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.

Why did another son have to pop up?

First a Young Gang Leader, now a young hall master.

Was he cursed to clash with everyone's family lineage?

Lu Cheng pressed the blade against the man's neck, lightly drawing a thin line of blood:

"So, your father sent you here to ambush me?"

That old dog really had no shame.

After agreeing to a duel, he actually sent his son to assassinate him.

Having shouted his father Zhang Rensheng's name, the man felt a sense of relief.

In his eyes, his father was a Body Refining expert, an existence akin to the heavens in Yang City.

No matter how bold Lu Cheng was, he wouldn't dare to kill him.

But with the blade at his throat, he didn't dare ignore Lu Cheng's question:

"No, no, no! My father knows nothing about this! It was that old dog Yang Biao who incited me to come!"

"Yang Biao?"

"He's the leader of the Fish Gang. He promised me five hundred taels of silver to kill you."

So that was it. But as Lu Cheng thought about it, something felt off:

"Five hundred taels is certainly a lot, but there's no need for you to do this yourself, is there?"

The Vermilion Bird Martial Arts Hall had plenty of disciples. As the young hall master, wouldn't it have been simpler to just find a few brothers at the Refining Strength stage to do it?

At this point, the man only wanted Lu Cheng to spare him.

Without needing Lu Cheng to press for details, he spilled the entire sequence of events:

"The martial arts hall's treasury is in my hands, and I spent five hundred taels of it."

"Usually, that wouldn't be a problem, but my father is currently buying up massive amounts of medicinal herbs. The treasury is nearly empty, and if I don't replace those five hundred taels, he's going to find out."

"That's why I agreed to Yang Biao's offer."

Hearing this, Lu Cheng suddenly recalled the fleeting thought he'd had when he heard Old Pi mention how hard it was to get medicinal herbs.

So that was the reason.

Shen Yi had demanded that seventeen families prepare a massive amount of pills as a wager.

With so many herbs needed, no one could possibly have that much in stock.

Naturally, they would have to scramble to buy herbs and refine pills.

Since the Vermilion Bird Martial Arts Hall was clinging so tightly to a mere five hundred taels, it seemed they were truly broke.

Thinking of this, a violent surge rose within Lu Cheng's heart.

Perhaps he could collect some interest from those seventeen families ahead of schedule.

Lu Cheng smacked his lips.

He pressed the blade in his hand down two points harder.

"I ask, you answer. If you dare hesitate for even a second, I'll send you to meet the Young Gang Leader!"