To Train in Martial Arts Is to Kill

Zhou Yi went straight from the rear courtyard into the second courtyard, where the First Grade Tower's manager lived.

By then, he had already awakened the others. At the manager's shout, more than a dozen thugs and attendants carrying sabers and clubs gathered around him protectively.

"It's you? Do you know who my elder brother is?" The manager's face darkened as he snarled, "My brother is the County Magistrate's advisor! I'll have you convicted of treason and exterminate your entire clan!"

Zhou Yi snorted. "An advisor? I thought he was the reigning emperor! Let me ask you: was Brother Ning Caichen harmed by you?"

"So what if he was? In Guo Bei County, anyone who dares hurt one of my attendants—what does killing Ning Caichen amount to? Zhang Family Tea House will have to come and apologize as well!"

"Good, good, good! Since I've found the right man, I won't hold back!"

Zhou Yi flexed the sinews and bones in his legs. With a sharp crack, he leaped three zhang into the air.

Wind Breaking Saber Technique.

The thugs ahead had never expected Zhou Yi to still dare kill.

They hastily raised their sabers to block, only to be cleaved in two along with their weapons. Blood splashed across the manager's face.

Rather than being afraid, the manager became even more vicious. His saber technique was not weak.

Unfortunately, he was already past fifty, and his stamina had declined severely. Zhou Yi was in the prime of youth, his strength ferocious beyond measure.

The Wind Breaking Saber Technique grew faster with every slash. In an instant, he struck eighteen times.

The manager's head flew into the air, and he was killed on the spot.

As for the other thugs, Zhou Yi cut them down one by one. They had long since been terrified by the slaughter and scattered in all directions.

Zhou Yi found the manager's corpse, tore off his clothes, wrapped up the head, and tied it to his waist.

He had intended to leave, but then returned and simply set a fire, throwing all the bodies into the flames.

Ancient buildings were largely made of wood, and the weather was dry. Before long, towering flames rose into the sky.

When he returned to the rear courtyard, there was no one left.

Guo Bei County might have been chaotic, but it rarely saw such a terrifying fiend as Zhou Yi. The attendants had already fled for their lives.

Zhou Yi found the Stable, mounted a horse, and rode straight out of the city.

The county gates appeared closed, but were actually only half shut. After he gave the night guards a few dozen coins, they opened the gate and let him leave.

After using the manager's head to pay tribute to Ning Caichen, Zhou Yi rode back to the Golden Saber Sect.

He washed the blood off himself, returned to his room and changed into clean clothes, then drank several large bowls of Apricot Blossom Village wine until he broke into a sweat.

He slept fully clothed, with the Ghost Head Saber beside his pillow.

After falling asleep, Zhou Yi dreamed of more than a dozen ghostly figures. The leader appeared to be the First Grade Tower's manager.

Just as the books described, they had become vicious ghosts and come to claim his soul in his dreams.

Then Zhou Yi killed them all once more in the dream and set another fire, burning them to ash. Only then was everything completely quiet.

Morning.

Several rays of sunlight shone through the window lattice and fell across Zhou Yi's face.

The shouts of Golden Saber Sect disciples training woke him.

He abruptly opened his eyes from sleep. Seeing the plain and simply furnished room, he remained dazed for several breaths before coming to his senses.

"I killed someone yesterday?"

Zhou Yi recalled being scolded by his boss while working overtime in his previous life. Yesterday's sudden outburst of killing and the scenes from those two worlds intertwined before his eyes like a film.

With a weapon in hand, the urge to kill arose naturally!

Zhou Yi now possessed strength far exceeding a thousand jin. Ordinary people were no different from chicks in his eyes.

Training in martial arts had also nurtured a body full of Malevolent Qi. Stirred by Ning Caichen's death yesterday, it had erupted all at once into murderous intent.

"No wonder the legends say Martial Dao Grandmasters contemplate the Yellow Court, read Daoist scriptures, and cultivate their minds and character. If the Malevolent Qi produced by external martial training is not dispelled, it will surely cause grave trouble in the future!"

Malevolent Qi arose from the heart. Under ordinary circumstances, it might cause no harm.

But once triggered, it was like a volcanic eruption. The entire person would be controlled by Malevolent Qi.

They would do things they normally would not dare do and kill people they normally would not dare kill.

The Daoists called it an inner demon, while the Buddhists called it karmic obstruction.

Instead of going to the Training Ground to practice his stance, Zhou Yi went to find his master, Chen Hong, and told him about what had happened yesterday. Even though Zhou Yi had not covered his face during the killing, the truth could have been quickly uncovered even if he had concealed his appearance completely.

Chen Hong did not think much of it. He could not even be bothered to ask about the cause and instead said, "Not bad, not bad. To train in martial arts is to kill. Back when I first achieved success in martial arts, I slaughtered the gambling den that swindled me out of my silver."

"I had originally planned to arrange something to let you see some blood. This saves me the trouble. How many did you kill yesterday?"

After carefully recalling it, Zhou Yi said, "Eight or nine, I think. I'm not sure of the exact number."

There had been more than a dozen, perhaps twenty, thugs in First Grade Tower, but most had scattered at the first sign of trouble and vanished into the vast night.

His primary target was already dead, and Zhou Yi could not be bothered with a few minor lackeys.

Chen Hong waved a hand. "There's no need to worry about it. Let alone a mere advisor—even Magistrate Tao came to pay respects to our Golden Saber Sect on his first day in office. In Guo Bei County, sabers carry more weight than official seals."

The chaos in Guo Bei County far exceeded what Zhou Yi knew. Or rather, the entire world was like this.

The Great Jing Court's administration had deteriorated day by day, nearly losing all control over the local regions.

The great clans of Guo Bei County knew exactly how the previous three county magistrates had died. They had all blamed it on bandit raids, and the higher authorities had not even issued an order to suppress the bandits.

"The important thing for you now is preparing for the wedding. You can't keep living at the Golden Saber Sect after marrying, or you'll become a live-in son-in-law. That would harm your reputation later. If you're short on silver, just ask your master."

By this point, Chen Hong was speaking from the heart and considering everything for Zhou Yi.

No matter how many people Chen Hong had killed, whether good or evil, he had at least fulfilled the duty of a master toward Zhou Yi.

"Thank you for your concern, Master. I wiped out a group of petty scoundrels some days ago and gained quite a bit."

"Haha! Rob the rich to aid your own poverty—that's exactly how it should be."

What happened afterward was indeed as Chen Hong had said.

The First Grade Tower case was closed as an accidental fire that had burned everyone to death. Magistrate Tao sent someone to apologize and even had the advisor's legs broken before throwing him out of the county office.

Guo Bei County remained as chaotic as ever...

The next day, Zhou Yi found a courtyard two streets away from the Golden Saber Sect.

It was a two-courtyard residence, and it cost him only ten taels of silver.

As the world had gradually descended into chaos, land prices had fallen again and again. He also hired a foreman to level the front courtyard and turn it into a training ground.

At the slave market, he spent five taels of silver to buy two male and two female servants, then hired a cook.

Zhou Yi did not know Miss Chen's temperament, but handling things in advance would always save him much trouble.

Poor couples found sorrow in every matter; conversely, money could solve a hundred kinds of sorrow.

"My True Self is merely an office worker, but my Other Self has a thousand-square-meter mansion, with no shortage of servants or maids."

Over the next five days, he settled all the miscellaneous matters, asked his master for leave, strapped the Ghost Head Saber to his back, and headed straight for Black Mountain.

Black Mountain.

More than ten li from Guo Bei County stood a dilapidated temple called Lanruo Temple.

Everyone in the county knew that Lanruo Temple was haunted. Countless brave men had entered it and never returned.

Naturally, Zhou Yi knew his own limits. He had no desire to become the Thousand-Year Tree Demon's Blood Food. He had come to find someone.

Xiahou the Swordsman, known as the Number One Swordsman Under Heaven, who would eventually be drained into a dried corpse by Tree Demon Granny.

Xiahou the Swordsman died after Ning Caichen went up the mountain. By the count of days, it should be about time.

Zhou Yi's idea was simple. If the Number One Swordsman Under Heaven died, he would surely leave behind some inheritance.

If there was no martial arts cultivation method, a sword manual would do.

If there was not even a sword manual, notes on swordsmanship would be acceptable.

At worst, a famous sword worth a thousand gold pieces would still make the trip worthwhile.

Anything left behind by someone called number one under heaven in any field was incomparably precious.