Loach Street, Wang Residence.
After obtaining the hidden force method for the Great Tablet Shattering Hand, Wang Sheng studied it and, after less than half an hour of seclusion, successfully advanced the Great Tablet Shattering Hand to the major mastery stage (1/3000).
Wang Sheng gained another measure of hidden force within his body.
"Both the Forging Gold Technique and Great Tablet Shattering Hand have reached the hidden force stage. I now possess double the force, and I'm a Body Refiner, with the second level of the Blood Stacking Technique as my safeguard. It's time to make a move!"
Wang Sheng muttered to himself.
Under the cover of night,
Ershui City was far less peaceful than usual.
Dressed in black with his face covered, Wang Sheng wore an ordinary longsword at his waist as he traveled across the rooftops.
With his physique tempered by hidden force, all of Wang Sheng's senses had become sharper. He could hear people killing, setting fires, hunting others down, and fleeing in many distant places.
"Have things already reached this point?"
Wang Sheng looked around and realized that Ershui City by day and by night were practically two different worlds.
During the day, it was tranquil and harmonious, peaceful and secure.
At night, danger lurked at every step, with flames springing up without end.
For now, however, the slaughter was limited to certain groups and had not spread to ordinary people. Many commoners were even delighted to see those wealthy yet heartless lineages meet misfortune, applauding in satisfaction.
Wang Sheng did not interfere in any of the chaos, content to be the oriole waiting behind.
His target tonight was clear: kill Jin Cang.
Thousand Cranes Tower.
Standing in a shadowy alley, Wang Sheng looked up at the brightly lit building. The faint sound of silk and bamboo drifted from within, while large red lanterns hung outside in festive splendor, creating the illusion of a golden age filled with song and dance.
Jin Cang was somewhere inside Thousand Cranes Tower, drinking and making merry.
"Your last supper. Eat up."
Wang Sheng spoke softly, then his figure vanished completely into the darkness.
Time passed.
The moon continued to climb higher.
The ground was draped in silver, and the night unexpectedly grew quite bright.
Wang Sheng had originally been sitting cross-legged in the shadows, studying and cultivating the third level of the Blood Stacking Technique.
As the moon shifted, half of his position was exposed.
Wang Sheng was just about to change locations.
Suddenly,
A figure vaulted over the wall and crashed into the alley.
The smell of blood instantly filled the entire alley.
Even without looking, Wang Sheng could guess that this person had practically been hacked into a blood gourd.
"Save me! Please, save my life! I'm a young master of the Liu family. Quickly, take me into Thousand Cranes Tower. I'll give you a hundred taels of gold."
The blood-drenched man who had fallen to the ground tried to struggle to his feet, but he simply could not rise. He could only beg the seated Wang Sheng to save him.
Wang Sheng had no desire to involve himself in this sort of pursuit. Rising to his feet, he intended to leave and find another spot.
But when he heard the words "Liu family," his gaze shifted slightly, and he stopped.
"The Liu family? Which Liu family?"
Wang Sheng asked.
"Ershui City's largest Liu family! I'm a young master of the Liu family. Hurry and take me into Thousand Cranes Tower. I'll definitely give you a hundred taels of gold! Hurry! Take me inside!"
The Liu family young master spoke with extreme agitation, glancing behind him from time to time, terror visible in his eyes.
Wang Sheng had not expected the night to be so lively. Even the Liu family had suffered disaster.
Wang Sheng was about to approach and question him properly, to see what had happened.
Then,
Wang Sheng stopped.
He raised his eyes.
Three breaths later,
Several figures vaulted over the wall in pursuit.
"Hehe, Young Master Liu, you ran rather fast. Your Thunder Leg is cultivated quite well! What, not running anymore? Thousand Cranes Tower is right in front of you! What a pity, what a pity!"
Among the pursuing figures, a bald, masked man at the lead sneered.
"You'd best not seek trouble for yourself! Leave immediately!"
Another masked man looked at Wang Sheng and spoke with a threatening air.
Wang Sheng nodded and prepared to leave.
Anyone capable of wiping out the Liu family was certainly no simple matter.
He could not be bothered to offend an unknown force over a little money.
"Hold on. I saw that you seemed to intend to save someone just now. Since that's the case, don't leave."
Seeing Wang Sheng retreat on his own initiative, the bald man assumed he was afraid. Killing intent immediately rose in him, and he wanted to kill Wang Sheng as well, taking a little more wealth in the process.
"Save him?"
"You're mistaken. I have a grudge against the Liu family. I can hardly wait to kill him!"
Wang Sheng said.
However,
To the bald man's ears, Wang Sheng's explanation only made it seem that he was even more frightened, forcing himself to argue and trying to distance himself from the Liu family!
"Hahahaha..."
"Where did all this nonsense come from? You're exactly who we're killing!"
The bald man laughed loudly and waved his hand, ordering one of his subordinates to test Wang Sheng's strength.
Wang Sheng's previously calm expression immediately turned icy.
"Why? Why did you have to force me to make a move?"
He had long seen that these men were all at the bright force level. He did not know their exact cultivation, but the strongest was likely no more than bright force perfection.
"We're forcing you to make a move. What can you do about it?"
Before the masked man stepping forward to probe him could finish speaking,
Pfft!
A sword light like a strip of white silk flashed past.
The masked man's head flew off with a whoosh. Several breaths later, blood finally burst from his severed neck.
His corpse hit the ground with a thud.
The entire alley fell into utter silence—or rather, deathly stillness!
"Gulp!"
Someone swallowed hard.
The sword light had been too fast!
Far beyond what bright force could possibly block!
"A hidden force martial master!"
"That man who had just backed down on his own was actually a hidden force martial master!!!"
The bald man felt his mind collapse as he roared wildly within.
You're a dignified hidden force martial master—why the hell were you afraid of a few bright force cultivators like us? Wasn't that deliberately luring people into killing you?!
No, this is an insidious martial master. He deliberately used retreat as a means of advancing. Too vicious. Too damn inhuman!
In an instant,
Countless thoughts surged through the bald man's mind, and he cursed Wang Sheng's ancestors for eighteen generations.
If you can't find a book by its title, try searching for the author. It may simply have been renamed!
But now,
The bald man spoke respectfully, in an extremely fawning tone. "Senior, we failed to recognize Mount Tai before our eyes and offended you. We are willing to offer all our possessions as compensation! Please spare our lives, Senior!"
"Please spare us, Senior! Spare us, Senior..."
The other two men in black hurriedly begged bitterly as well.
Wang Sheng remained expressionless and said nothing as he walked forward with his sword.
The Killing Intent of death rushed toward them head-on.
An enormous pressure instantly enveloped the hearts of the three masked men, like a massive boulder pressing down on their bodies. They trembled violently in terror.
When a hidden force martial master wanted to kill, who besides someone of the same level could stop them!
They were going to die!
They were really going to die!!!
"Senior, Senior, Senior, think twice, Senior! Senior!"
The bald man panicked, cold sweat covering his head. After shouting several times and seeing Wang Sheng draw closer and closer, he disregarded the cult's rules and cried out,
"We are disciples of the Heavenly Mandate Cult! The Heavenly Mandate Cult is about to take command of the great tide! The Southern Ridge army is pressing against Jiangling Prefecture! Why not abandon darkness and embrace the light, Senior, and submit to the Heavenly Mandate Cult!"
Yet,
There was still no response.
Tap, tap, tap...
Every footstep Wang Sheng took seemed to land upon the hearts of the bald man and the others, making their hearts pound violently. Blood rushed to their faces, forcing savage expressions onto them.
"Damn it, fight him! Charge into Thousand Cranes Tower!"
The bald man roared.
The other two men in black immediately drew their swords and charged forward.
However,
The next moment,
The bald man fled in the opposite direction.
"Fuck your—"
Before the two men in black could finish cursing, Wang Sheng's sword light enveloped them, and they were instantly separated from their heads.
The bald man did not escape either. Wang Sheng threw his sword, striking him through the heart.
"Ah!"
"Why did you have to force me?"
Wang Sheng sighed.
The bald man retained a sliver of consciousness, his heart filled with boundless resentment. He only wanted to curse Wang Sheng to the skies. Who the hell had forced him?
On the other side,
A figure stood up. It was the Liu family young master whom no one had paid any attention to earlier.
His entire body was covered in blood. He swayed several times, yet did not fall.
"After taking some pills, I've barely managed to hang on to my last breath."
Knowing that his condition was terrible, the Liu family young master spoke directly to Wang Sheng.
"Senior, spare my life. Name any condition you want."
Wang Sheng nodded and said earnestly, "Really? Any condition I want?"
"Then I—"
"Want you dead!"
Wang Sheng raised his palm and attacked.
"Roar..."
"You forced me to do this!"
The Liu family young master had long been prepared. Seeing that Wang Sheng would not agree, he immediately unleashed all his potential.
"You just went through a fierce battle. You must have expended a great deal."
"You cultivate sword techniques. Without a sword in hand, you can't unleash the full power of your hidden force method barehanded!"
"I'll now use the third level of the Blood Stacking Technique and push my body's potential to the utmost limit."
"I still have hope. I definitely have hope to rush out, fight my way out, and survive!!!"
The Liu family young master had initially been muttering to himself. In the end, as he unleashed his potential, the muscles all over his body swelled explosively, making him seem like a small giant. When he collided with Wang Sheng, he roared with overwhelming momentum.
Wang Sheng's expression remained calm.
With a single palm strike.
Double hidden force surged forth like a raging tide.
Then,
The Liu family young master was like a punctured leather ball. The fist and arm he had thrown out shattered into dozens of pieces, while his enormous body suddenly collapsed beneath the terrifying force, shrinking violently. His entire body suffered crushing fractures, and he nearly turned into a dwarf before flying backward with a whoosh and slamming heavily into the wall behind him.
His entire body was embedded in the wall, reduced to a puddle of flesh.
Then the wall collapsed with a thunderous crash, kicking up great clouds of dust.
"Who told you I was skilled with a sword? Without a sword, I'm only stronger."
Wang Sheng shook his head.
When he had wielded a sword just now, using hidden force to execute the White Dragon Sword Technique, which was still at the bright force stage, was like changing a gasoline-burning engine to burn diesel. It could indeed increase the White Dragon Sword Technique's power.
But because his sword technique realm had not yet reached that level, the killing power it unleashed was inferior to a method that had truly reached the hidden force stage.
Thus, without a sword, Wang Sheng's fundamental strength was using hidden force together with its corresponding method.
"What a pity. I won't have a chance to kill Jin Cang!"
Wang Sheng sensed someone approaching.
Still, the night had not been without gains. The Liu family was finished. He had also killed a Liu family young master, which counted as venting some of his anger.
"I think I just heard the voice of my Liu family nephew."
"Which friend is inside? Would you be willing to come out and meet me?"
At that moment, Jin Cang's voice rang out from outside the alley, solemn and tinged with urgency.
Wang Sheng halted in his tracks.
Jin Cang—
He had come out!
After a moment's thought, Wang Sheng understood why.
No wonder this young master of the Liu family had come here. He was probably seeking Jin Cang's help.
The Zhao Family Martial Arts Academy had always maintained ties with families such as the Liu, Dan, and Zheng families.
It was only natural that Jin Cang had connections with the Liu family.
Perhaps Jin Cang was even the Liu family's son-in-law. The odds were high.
"I did indeed encounter a young master of the Liu family being hunted down. I saved him, but he is unconscious now."
"I don't want to go outside. Come in and save him yourself. But I require three hundred taels of gold."
Wang Sheng said.
Outside the alley—
"Don't go in. It could be a trap!"
Jin Cang's companion eyed the alley, thick with dust and shrouded in dark shadows, and spoke cautiously.
"No matter!"
"Even someone at Late Dark Energy cannot kill me within a few moves."
"If I am in danger, you may rush in to support me."
"Besides, I do not believe the friend inside is foolish enough to dare lay a hand on the personal disciple of a Transforming Energy Grandmaster."
Jin Cang spoke in a voice loud enough for Wang Sheng inside the alley to hear.
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