Chapter 57: 56 Approaching II

All the patrolling soldiers instantly froze, rigid in place.

The only constable who narrowly avoided the critical moment, a Third-Grade expert, was now clutching his right face tightly.

He avoided the forehead, but not the cheek.

A violent numbness spread from his face, quickly enveloping his entire body.

Thud.

The constable fell to his knees, opening his mouth to make a sound.

His vision began to blur; he had worked hard to reach this level.

But now…

He thought of his wife who had warmed up meals waiting for him at home, and his son whom he had promised to help with calligraphy practice in the morning.

His eyes filled with deep reluctance…

“Reluctant, huh…”

Suddenly, a pair of silver-white women’s boots appeared before him.

“An unexpected reward,” a woman’s voice echoed hazily.

The constable suddenly felt a cool sensation in his mouth as if something cold was flowing in.

As the coolness spread, the numbness on his cheek began to rapidly fade away.

In the blur, he saw the woman’s face, still and expressionless like a mask.

The one who saved him was none other than the notorious Celestial Maiden Tong Zhang from the Sensing Sect.

*

*

*

Late night in the room.

Zhang Rongfang returned to his room, finally letting out a slow breath.

He touched his right arm, recalling how he used the power of the Limit-Breaking Skill to shrink the step and re-mount.

Indeed, the last slash severed the blocking finger and head of the Mountain Opening Daoist.

But the opponent was once a Sixth-Grade.

Even though he had been hiding for a long time, taking advantage of the drunken, unbalanced moment of the Mountain Opening Daoist to launch a sneak attack.

He still got injured…

Under the lamplight, Zhang Rongfang moved his right arm, feeling pain even with the slightest movement.

He rolled up his sleeve, finding his arm, wrist, and elbow all swollen.

The skin of his palm, which held the dagger, was a bloody mess.

’It seems that although I’ve broken through to Fourth-Grade with the aid of other martial arts, in terms of absolute upper body strength, I’m still far worse than the Mountain Opening,’ he thought.

The Mountain Opening Daoist, in his dying moments, put all his strength into it, disregarding the dagger wounds.

Just that would have caused him such severe damage.

Previously, the Mountain Opening Daoist avoided clashing head-on with him due to the dagger.

In other words, without the dagger, without the silent ambush using a body technique advantage, Zhang Rongfang would have been killed on the spot in less than ten moves against the Mountain Opening Daoist.

The Sixth-Grade may have weakened, but its power was still beyond what he could compare to now…

Thinking of this, Zhang Rongfang sighed.

This assassination taught him his problem.

His speed increased, but his strength was lacking. When encountering experts with weapons,

his mishmash Fourth-Grade probably couldn’t defeat a proper Fourth-Grade martial artist.

“Besides… the woman I met just now…” For some reason, Zhang Rongfang felt that woman was odd.

But after all, she was just a passerby; he soon pushed it out of his mind.

The next morning.

A large group of officials arrived at Mingjing Palace very early to investigate.

Zhang Rongfang had just completed his morning practice, preparing to replace the patrol when he was called for questioning.

Initially, he thought it was about the death of the patrol house owner.

He was mentally prepared before the questioning.

But unexpectedly, the officials were not just asking about the patrol house owner, the Mountain Opening Daoist; the real focus was on whether he had seen a woman with a mask-like face last night.

Zhang Rongfang naturally said no.

The officials came quickly and left quickly as well.

Soon, the news of the Mountain Opening being killed spread.

The Mountain Opening’s family came to sort out his belongings, crying and wailing, their eyes swollen red.

Within Mingjing Palace, the disciples and subordinates of the Mountain Opening also looked mournful.

But who knows how many were genuinely sad among them.

After killing the Mountain Opening, Zhang Rongfang naturally did not forget to take the money pouch.

To his delight, the Mountain Opening’s money pouch contained five one hundred tael silver notes, three fifty tael silver notes, and a pair of golden earrings seemingly meant as gifts.

However, he couldn’t use the money immediately; a corpse had just been found, and if he went out spending those large notes,

wouldn’t it be obvious he was suspicious?

For now, he resisted the urge to buy medicine and continued his daily patrol routine as usual.

The new patrol house owner was soon appointed, and it was the former rival of the Mountain Opening Daoist.

As soon as this person took office, he summoned all the subordinates for a lecture and immediately replaced the Mountain Opening’s people with his own.

Unashamedly so.

Which finally made Zhang Rongfang fully realize, this world is truly rotten to the core.

He then devoted himself each day to practicing other talismanic skills diligently.

Besides getting started with the One Element Talisman, he also had the Fourth Spirit Gathering Talisman and the Fifth Primordial Talisman left to master.

These were the exercises Zhang Xuan had taught him in advance; once he got started, he could quickly improve with attribute points.

Out of seven talismanic skills, once five are mastered, he could become a solid Fifth-Grade expert. This is not even counting his additional mastery in Dragon and Snake Ascension Skill and Eight Steps to Catching a Cicada.

At this point, he calmed his mind, waiting quietly for the time, practicing talismanic skills diligently daily.

*

*

*

“The Mountain Opening actually died??” In the dormitory, Xu Tao furrowed his brows.

The Mountain Opening was an important spokesperson that the Xu family had supported for many years.

His Sixth-Grade talismanic skill had made quite a name for himself in Tan Yang in his younger days.

And now he suddenly died on the nightly path back from watching opera without a sound.

“If it were ordinary people, getting ambushed on the night path, I might believe it. But that was a Sixth-Grade!”

Xu Yanguan, the elder brother standing nearby, was utterly perplexed.

Although the martial arts of the Great Dao Teaching were not impressive, with the highest being only of the Seventh Grade, and not effective in actual combat,

they were still of the Sixth Grade. These were formidable martial artists who had genuinely broken through six limits.

Who could kill such an expert in such a short time?

“Could it be that Mountain Opening Daoist made enemies outside?” Xu Yanguan speculated.

“Regardless of whether that’s true, the issue now is how our Xu family should handle this,” Xu Tao replied gravely.

The foundation of the Xu family lies with the Patriarch, who is one of the three Hall Masters of Mingjing Palace.

If this matter is not handled properly, others who are dependent on the Xu family will certainly have concerns.

“Someone who can kill Mountain Opening Daoist quickly must be a master. We cannot rely solely on ourselves; we’re not good at martial combat. Professional matters should be handled by professionals,” Xu Yanguan analyzed.

“Are you suggesting… letting the Inspection Department intervene?” Xu Tao understood. “Exactly, with over a dozen patrol officers dead in one go, including one of the Third Grade, this matter has blown up.”

“Although the investigation suggests it wasn’t done by a single person, since things happened together, the authorities will certainly take it more seriously,” Xu Yanguan nodded. “Besides, this issue also involves Black List Sensing Sect experts….”

Sensing Sect…

This name is synonymous with infamy throughout the Great Spirit.

On the Black List of thirty people, the Sensing Sect alone occupies a third of the positions.

Their strength is so formidable, their influence so widespread, that even the Spirit Court finds it difficult to deal with them.

Snow Rainbow Pavilion has organized several expert hunts, but the results have been mixed.

The Inspection Department is the Great Spirit’s organization with the most experts from Snow Rainbow Pavilion.

Whenever a Black List expert appears, a Ninth-Grade Expert is sure to come to patrol.

*

*

*

At first, Zhang Rongfang was a bit worried, but as time went on, in an era without cameras or surveillance,

finding a murderer at night was an extremely difficult task.

He relaxed daily, practicing martial arts and studying Daoist scriptures.

The Daoist scriptures brought peace to his body and mind; this was something he discovered recently.

Once the case of Mountain Opening Daoist was resolved, it didn’t surprise him that his external assignment still wasn’t resolved.

The new overseer at the patrol house was just the same, corrupt and embezzling, even to a worse extent than Mountain Opening Daoist.

Zhang Rongfang understood; this world was simply like this.

Soon, the moment he had been waiting for appeared again.

Without medicinal supplements, he managed to accumulate a bit of new attribute points.

Adding the remaining point from before, he had two points.

These two points were just enough to break the limits of the One Element Talisman.

Splash.

Zhang Rongfang poured all the water from the wooden basin into the muddy corner of the wall.

Carrying the basin, he turned back to his room, ready to start breaking the limits of the One Element Talisman.

With the One Element Talisman limit broken, he would be a Third-Grade expert of the Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual.

If he included the two hidden limit-breakings, that would make him Fifth Grade!

Unknowingly, he had already stepped into this realm.

“Is Xia Rongrong here?” A woman’s voice inquired outside the courtyard at this time.

“She’s not here.” Zhang Rongfang replied casually, but when he turned his head, he found the whole courtyard gate blocked…

A large woman round like a ball, wearing a black and purple long dress, trying to conceal her round figure.

Unfortunately, the layers of fat on her stomach refused to stay hidden, bulging out from the middle of the dress.

“I’m Xia Rongrong’s best friend, sorry to bother, but when Xia Rongrong returns, could you tell her Wanyan Road came to see her?”

The obese woman looked at Zhang Rongfang, revealing a smile aligned like three lines.

Hmm… two eyes and a mouth, precisely three lines.

“Alright.” Zhang Rongfang nodded expressionlessly.

Though surprised at her degree of obesity, having been subjected to the impact of the modern information era, he could at most afford a moment of astonishment.

His indifferent reaction, however, made Wanyan Road’s eyes light up.

In the past, whenever she met someone, seeing her full figure, they’d retreat in fear.

Some even worse would scream ’monster’.

But this Zhang Rongfang…

“Daoist brother, you’re not surprised by my figure?” Wanyan Road asked, curious.

“I’ve been surprised.” Zhang Rongfang replied.

“But I couldn’t tell.” Wanyan Road said, puzzled.

“I naturally have few facial expressions,” Zhang Rongfang answered casually.

“Then, if there was a girl, with good personality, kind heart, all other good traits.

But with a figure like mine, if she was to be your wife, would you be willing?” Wanyan Road asked, the emotions within her a bit uncontrolled.

“I wouldn’t.” Zhang Rongfang, getting a bit impatient, still wanted to return to his room to break the talisman limits and had no time to waste with this woman.

“Why?” Wanyan Road’s heart suddenly sank. “Is it because she’s fat?”

“Is the girl sick?” Zhang Rongfang countered.

“No, she’s not.” Wanyan Road answered, a bit at a loss.

“Does she want to lose weight?” Zhang Rongfang continued.

“Of course. She’s desperate to.” Wanyan Road nodded.

“Then why doesn’t she lose weight?” Zhang Rongfang asked again.

“Uh…” Wanyan Road suddenly found herself stuck.

“Therefore, I like someone with determination and perseverance,” Zhang Rongfang concluded simply.

“So as long as there’s perseverance, even if she has a figure like mine, it doesn’t matter?”

“Of course.” Zhang Rongfang nodded.

“However, someone who’s not sick, yet determined, and doesn’t want to be fat, would they let themselves become like this?”

Hearing this, Wanyan Road stood frozen on the spot.

Watching Zhang Rongfang return to his room, she vaguely seemed to understand something.

“By the way, a little tip for losing weight: eat less rice and wheat products,” Zhang Rongfang’s voice came from the room’s doorway.

Wanyan Road’s face flushed, realizing that he had understood her intentions.

She hurriedly turned around, wobbling away into the distance.

A few servants approached to assist her, but she pushed them aside.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep