Keeping a high profile?
Zhang Teng smiled and patted Tieniu on the shoulder.
"It's no good having people think our Martial Arts Grounds are weak and easy to bully. You wouldn't want something like what happened to Niu Er to happen again, would you?"
Tieniu nodded emphatically.
"Now we're killing a chicken to warn the monkeys, so everyone in Qingyun Town understands that our Nameless Village isn't to be trifled with!"
Zhang Teng smiled. "In the world of martial artists, the strong reign supreme. If Master wants peace and freedom from worldly affairs, he has to strike fear into others."
Tieniu nodded in wholehearted agreement.
"Senior Brother Zhang, none of the nearby villages have names. Wouldn't calling ours Nameless Village make it hard to tell apart? How about... we give the village a name?"
After a moment's thought, Zhang Teng replied.
"There's no need. Nameless Village is fine. At least this way, people will also be wary of villages like ours, and the common folk will have better lives."
As he spoke, he pointed at the Martial Arts Grounds.
"Look, don't our Martial Arts Grounds lack a name too? The sign only says 'Martial Arts Grounds.'"
"You still haven't grasped the depth of Master's intentions!"
"Nothingness is the beginning of all things. Strip away ornament and return to the true essence. Understand?"
Tieniu and the apprentices around him all looked as though enlightenment had suddenly dawned on them.
"So Master had such profound intentions..."
Time passed.
The lingering glow of the setting sun spilled across the paving stones of Qingyun Town.
The normally bustling town suddenly fell quiet.
At the town entrance, five ox carts were making their way inside.
On the ox carts...
Martial artists lay sprawled every which way, their faint groans drifting into the air.
"Are those... martial artists from the Six Harmonies Martial Hall?"
"Isn't that Hall Master Cheng, the one who hunted the mutant tiger? What happened to him? Why is he unconscious?"
"That's Zhao Bao! Heavens, why is he covered in blood? His arms are bent out of shape!"
"What happened?"
The sight before them was utterly shocking!
In everyone's eyes, martial artists were lofty beings who stood far above them.
Yet now, those once-lofty martial artists...
Were piled haphazardly on the horse carts like heaps of useless rubbish.
Tieniu and several apprentices held their heads high and puffed out their chests, brimming with vigor as they pulled the horse carts straight toward the Six Harmonies Martial Hall.
Just then, a well-informed innkeeper spoke in a grave voice.
"I heard Hall Master Cheng took some men to challenge a martial hall in a little nameless village."
"So they lost the challenge and got beaten? Heavens, that's just too brutal."
"I know about this. There was a fellow named Niu Er who loved to boast..."
A tavern attendant spoke up, immediately drawing a crowd that stopped to listen.
Seeing this, the attendant began his tale with an air of importance.
"That Niu Er said there was a reclusive master in his village who called himself an immortal cultivator. Later, he talked back to Master Zhao Bao in our tavern and got beaten."
"While beating him, Master Zhao called that immortal cultivator a fraud and said he'd go challenge him. Guess what happened?"
The gossip-hungry crowd around him spoke up.
"Stop keeping us in suspense! Tell us!"
"What happened next?"
The attendant smiled. "Then the eldest disciple of the Martial Arts Grounds in Niu Er's village went to the Six Harmonies Martial Hall himself to issue a challenge and gave Master Zhao a thorough thrashing."
"After that, Hall Master Cheng returned. Naturally, he wanted to reclaim their honor, so he personally led his men there to challenge them."
At this point, the attendant shrugged.
"And then... well, you can all see for yourselves."
The attendant gestured with his lips.
"There!"
Everyone turned to look at Tieniu and the others, understanding dawning on their faces.
"What's an immortal cultivator?"
"Right, I've never heard of one. Is it a martial artist who practices some special kind of martial arts?"
"I've heard of some unusual martial arts schools. These Immortal Cultivation martial artists probably belong to one of those."
Quite a few people around the tavern offered their opinions, including several martial artists.
There was no such thing as an immortal cultivator in their understanding, so many assumed immortal cultivators were martial artists from a special school.
"But this school really is powerful! Just a few days ago, Hall Master Cheng hunted a mutant tiger on South Mountain. I heard he'd broken through to the Dantian Sea Realm, yet now he's been beaten this badly."
A martial artist whispered, "It's worse than that. From what I can see, Hall Master Cheng's qi has dispersed. His dantian has probably been crippled."
"His dantian's been crippled? Doesn't that make him a cripple?"
Cries of shock rose all around.
"The people from this Immortal Cultivation martial arts school are truly ruthless!"
Now, the gazes directed at Tieniu and the others held both awe and curiosity.
Tieniu and his companions felt they could finally hold their heads high.
Wherever they went, the people of Qingyun Town stepped aside-even the martial artists.
Among the crowd, a white-clad girl wearing the uniform of the Qingyun Martial Arts Headquarters happened to witness the scene.
A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, and she immediately stepped forward to stop Tieniu and the others.
When their path was blocked, one of the Martial Arts Grounds' apprentices scowled.
"Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?"
Seeing this, Tieniu hurriedly held him back.
"Don't be rash. Look at the embroidered emblem on her shoulder. She's from Qingyun Town's Martial Arts Headquarters!"
The Martial Arts Headquarters!
The apprentice he had restrained paled slightly.
In this world, martial might reigned supreme.
The powers formed by martial artists fell broadly into three major categories.
The lineage powers, built around lineages.
The Martial Arts Headquarters, built around martial halls.
And the martial arts academies, built around schools.
Of these three powers, the martial halls were the largest, thanks to their vast base of commoners.
Every town had numerous martial halls, and the body that governed them was the town's Martial Arts Headquarters!
Once recognized by the Central Hall, these martial halls were assigned jurisdictions and granted authority to maintain public order.
When a martial hall received the authority to maintain public order, it automatically gained the right to collect taxes as well.
This was how martial halls sustained their operations and provided martial artists with abundant resources.
Though the Six Harmonies Martial Hall was only a third-rate hall, it was still officially recognized by the Central Hall.
Now, the entire hall, including its master, had been severely injured, and even the hall master had been crippled.
Since someone from the Central Hall had encountered this...
She naturally could not turn a blind eye!
After blocking their path, the white-clad girl immediately identified herself.
"I'm a martial artist from the Azure Cloud Headquarters. My name is Mu Qingyue."
As she spoke, the girl displayed her martial arts badge.
"Who are you? Why have you beaten the people of the Six Harmonies Martial Hall like this?"
Though Mu Qingyue's voice was not loud, it placed tremendous psychological pressure on Tieniu and the others.
In their eyes, people from the Martial Arts Headquarters had always been important figures. How could they not feel nervous when questioned by someone like her?
Tieniu took a deep breath and replied, neither servile nor overbearing.
"We're from the Martial Arts Grounds. The Six Harmonies Martial Hall came to challenge us and lost. We're bringing them back."
At his words, Mu Qingyue's gaze sharpened slightly.
They had lost a challenge and were being brought back?
At first, that statement seemed perfectly reasonable, but a closer look made it chilling.
Why?
Because an entire martial hall had gone to challenge them, yet not a single person could still walk...
How was that merely a defeat?
It was an utter rout!
Before you continue