At dawn, Lin Yi returned to the martial arts hall.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a pungent stench of fishy rot hit him, mixed with the noisy sound of snoring.
He pushed the door open. The curtains were drawn shut, the room was dim, and everything was a mess.
Wine bottles littered the floor alongside the braised snacks that had sat out all night and gone sour. A huge puddle of vomit stained his bed.
Two fellow disciples lay sprawled across the other beds: one was burly and broad-shouldered, while the other was as skinny as a rake.
"Rrriiip—" Lin Yi yanked the curtains open. Blinding sunlight flooded the room.
"Who the hell is that?" The burly man by the window rubbed his bleary eyes and glared at Lin Yi, swearing, "Who the fuck are you?"
"Bed three," Lin Yi replied coldly.
"Bed three?" The burly man froze. It took him a moment to realize what Lin Yi meant. Then he said as if it were only natural, "You came back at just the right time. This room stinks. Clean that up... Oh, and close the curtains." With that, he pulled the blanket over his head again and went back to sleep.
"Ha..." Lin Yi laughed.
He was laughing because he was furious.
He'd certainly seen it all now.
Lin Yi quietly closed the door, a glint of cold light flashing in his eyes. A moment later—
"Bang!"
A thunderous crash rang out, followed by the sound of a bed frame breaking. The burly man and his bed slammed heavily onto the floor.
"You're asking to die!" Before the burly man could finish, Lin Yi jabbed two fingers straight toward his eyes.
"Ah!" The burly man cried out in pain, letting loose a shrill scream.
Lin Yi attacked in a relentless flurry, giving him no chance to fight back.
The commotion naturally woke the skinny man sleeping in the other bed.
He sat up, startled to see Lin Yi fighting, then quickly recovered. With a vicious look, he grabbed the brass candlestick beside his bed and swung it hard at Lin Yi's head.
A trace of coldness flashed in Lin Yi's eyes. He ducked the blow, twisted aside, grabbed the skinny man by the head, and slammed him face-first into the disgusting puddle of vomit on his own bed.
"Bang!"
The door was flung open, and dozens of people crowded into the doorway.
The burly man yelled at them, "What are you standing around for? Kill him! If you hurt him or cripple him, I'll take responsibility!"
Lin Yi glanced over, his eyes narrowing. Quite a few among the dozens had reached the second or third level of Martial Pass. They would be troublesome to deal with.
Should I use the methods of the Corpse Puppet Path?
But this was inside the martial arts hall. The risk of being exposed was too great.
As Lin Yi silently focused, a faint wisp of Corpse Qi had already gathered in his hand.
"What the hell are all of you doing gathered here?" A deep, furious voice suddenly rang out.
The Corpse Qi in Lin Yi's hand instantly dissipated.
Everyone turned toward the doorway in unison, their expressions immediately turning respectful. "Senior Brother Liu."
Liu Lie strode into the room and swept his gaze over the mess. The burly man hurried to complain first. "Senior Brother Liu, he attacked us!"
"Oh? He took on all of you by himself?" Liu Lie said mockingly.
"He ambushed us. That's no way to fight!" The burly man protested.
"You're Li Niuhe, right? You've been at the martial arts hall for four months and broken through three Martial Passes, yet someone who just arrived beat you like this. Are you useless?" Liu Lie said sarcastically.
Li Niuhe was left speechless.
Liu Lie turned to Lin Yi. "Come with me."
Liu Lie led Lin Yi to a corner by the outer wall of the martial arts hall.
"You dared to fight with all those people there. Pretty brave, aren't you?" Liu Lie said with interest.
"If I don't fight back, they'll probably bully me even worse next time," Lin Yi replied.
Liu Lie smiled. "You're quite clear-eyed, and you've got guts. I told you yesterday that those guys belonged to the Fishermen Gang. They've formed a little clique in the martial arts hall, at least a dozen strong. They started out as lackeys, so they're vicious as they come. You just went and fought them like that. Aren't you worried about what might happen afterward?"
Lin Yi said nonchalantly, "If soldiers come, I'll send a general to stop them; if floodwaters rise, I'll pile up earth to hold them back."
Heh.
What kind of normal person cultivated the Corpse Puppet Path?
He was already cultivating the Corpse Puppet Path. How could he not have a few dirty tricks up his sleeve?
"Hahaha..." Liu Lie burst out laughing. "I've assigned plenty of people to that room before. None of them lasted more than a few days before crying and begging to move out."
"You've got some spirit. I'm starting to like you. Want to switch rooms?"
Lin Yi replied, "There's no need. I have a place to stay outside."
Liu Lie patted his shoulder. "All right, suit yourself. If anything comes up, you can use my name."
Half a month passed.
During that time, Lin Yi had been staying at Yu Qinglian's house.
Yu Qinglian had wanted him to move in with her from the start, but Lin Yi wanted to keep some personal space, so he had refused.
But after the trouble with the Fishermen Gang, he had no choice but to move in.
When Yu Qinglian heard about it, she put on an indignant face, but inside she was delighted.
As it turned out, those people from the Fishermen Gang rarely showed up in front of Lin Yi over the past half month.
It seemed their cultivation had stalled, so they had simply given up. They spent all day drinking and chasing women, returning to the martial arts hall only once every ten days or half a month.
Lin Yi ran into them once while training. But with everyone watching, they couldn't attack him outright. They tossed out a couple of threats and left.
Lin Yi's days followed a steady routine.
He cultivated in the morning, replenished himself through dual cultivation at noon, continued cultivating in the afternoon, then trained again after recovering in the evening.
He trained three or four times a day. With Hu Ma's experience on top of that, his cultivation speed was like riding a rocket.
It hadn't taken much effort for him to break through to the third level of Martial Pass—the Blood Pass. He was just two passes away from channeling qi through the Martial Way and becoming a true Martial Artist.
Then, today, [Know Heavenly Fate], which had been silent for a long time, finally reacted.
In Lin Yi's sea of consciousness, a crude bamboo slip etched with immortal patterns hummed and flipped over. Before long, a line of divinatory text appeared.
Recent fortune: [Minor Auspiciousness]
Minor Auspiciousness: Tonight, after the evening fish market at Jiangze Huaiye closes, a boy who arrives late to fish will catch a Treasure Fish—a Three-Eyed River Goby.
A Treasure Fish was actually going to be sold today!
Lin Yi was stunned.
Treasure Fish were rare and expensive. Even the most ordinary kind cost at least a dozen taels of silver per catty.
A single Treasure Fish was worth as much as an eighth-grade treasure material. It could greatly help a Martial Artist refine their qi and blood and break through to a new realm.
For Lin Yi, who was eager to break through, it was just what he needed.
Delighted, Lin Yi silently committed today's divination to memory.
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