Book 3, Chapter 109: A Night Of Rain Passing In An Instant

At the southwest region of Central City was Grand Morals District. The Heavenly Pardon Gang’s base was located there, in Longevity Hall.

Sitting under a banner with the words Examine the Heart written on it was Yu Hongming, the elder of the gang. Before him was a boy kowtowing to him.

Yu Hongming appeared to be around sixty years old, but he was actually already 110 years old. As one of the elders who created the gang, he had stopped managing the affairs of the gang forty years ago and focused only on teaching his disciples.

“Xiao Wu sent you?” he asked as he stared at the boy.

“Yes. He told me to see you,” the boy answered.

“If Xiao Wu asked you to come, it means that you’re pretty talented.” Yu Hongming spoke in a gentle fashion that made him appear amiable, but the two men standing behind him had stern countenances and gave off an unseen air of intimidation.

“What’s your name?”

“Guan Chengqi,” the boy answered.

“Your name means to become successful through training and discipline, hmm? A good name. You will begin your training tomorrow with Tian Er.”

Then, he turned to the man standing to his left. “Teach him, Tian Er.”

Tian Er gave him a respectful bow. “Leave it to me, Master. Since Senior Brother Wei regards him favorably, he should be able to become a good martial artist.”

“Take him with you to learn the rules.”

“Understood.” Tian Er walked over and said to the boy, “Come with me.”

Guan Chengqi kowtowed again to Yu Hongming before leaving with Tian Er.

After they left, the disciple to the right stepped forward and whispered, “Master, we just received word that Bayonet Zuo has located Senior Brother Wei.”

“Bayonet Zuo?” Yu Hongming repeated the name.

“He’s a pretty famous bounty hunter. I heard that he has a military background.”

“A former soldier, hmm?”

Yu Hongming seemed to have remembered something. A martial artist of his level could remember every part of his life in great detail. The moment he recalled a memory, many things would come to the forefront of his mind as well, but he soon put a stop to all those thoughts.

“There really are a lot of strong youngsters nowadays,” he lamented.

“Master, after Bayonet Zuo, Senior Brother Wei should master the secret technique, right?” the disciple asked.

“No. He still has a bit left to go. It’s up to him whether he can clear the last obstacle or not,” Yu Hongming said languidly before looking outside.

***

When Chen Chuan walked out of the arena, it was already 8 p.m..

There were more matches arranged during the night, but they were for contestants who lost during the day but didn’t end up dying. They were paired against those who stepped forward to participate in the tournament of their own volition.

If some of the contestants during the night reached a certain degree of fame, they could have a chance of joining the official tournament. It was even possible for them to participate in the finals.

Once they managed to reach the final stretch of the tournament, under the master agreement, contestants wouldn’t just receive money as a prize, but the sponsors would also provide their desired implants for free.

The better the contestants fought, the more support the companies would provide. If they were lucky, not only would they be able to get a high-class implant, but they could even leave with a large sum of money. Hence, plenty of martial artists registered for the tournament every year since it was first implemented.

However, while the high-class implants appeared attractive, from the moment the martial artists received them, they would need a large amount of anti-mutation medicine and tranquilizers every year. They would also need to undergo corrective surgeries and participate in certain tests from time to time, which meant that the money they earned would eventually end up in the companies’ hands.

The implants could also have domain frequencies secretly installed in them, so if these people had some sort of conflict of interest with the companies in the future, whether or not they could still use those implants would be up in the air.

Once Chen Chuan returned to the Arcane Palace, he set up a time to meet up with Tan Zhi tomorrow before taking the elevator to go back to his room. After washing up, he gave some food and water to Dawncall, then contacted Wu Bei to ask him about the situation.

Once the call went through, Wu Bei said loudly, “The moment you asked me to stop hiding your tracks, someone started trying to track you down, Chen Chuan!”

A flicker of emotion stirred in Chen Chuan’s heart. He walked to the window and stared at the pillar of light surrounded by countless neon lights. “Oh? Can you determine when that happened?”

“Around 11 a.m.,” Wu Bei answered.

Chen Chuan thought about what he was doing during that period of time and remembered that it was around an hour after he entered the arena. “Can you trace the source?”

“I can’t quite determine it. The resonators are using really advanced tech, so I’m sure that they have resonator nests too. I didn’t dare chase after their trail. They also only observed you for a short while before deleting all their tracks. They didn’t leave a single trace for me to find. If you didn’t ask me to pay attention, I wouldn’t have noticed,” Wu Bei replied.

“They’re that good?” Chen Chuan asked.

“They are. I’ve been exposed to domain information from big companies before, and those resonators are giving me the same feeling. I usually stop at the perimeter of those places and don’t go any further. Still, these resonators are somewhat different from those from big companies. I can’t quite pinpoint the specifics, but I feel like their styles are different,” Wu Bei said seriously.

Chen Chuan had an inkling of what had happened. Based on the time and the motive, it was highly likely that this was the group supporting Wei Wusheng. No average person would have such good tech support.

“Could you keep watching? Don’t alert them, though,” he requested.

“Will do,” Wu Bei promised with great seriousness. He could tell that this opponent was different from Chen Chuan’s past opponents. He was really strong, so Wu Bei couldn’t afford to make a single mistake.

After ending the call, Chen Chuan went to the platform to check and see whether there were any updates, but after Bayonet Zuo posted his last message, there were no further updates.

If Wei Wusheng had killed Bayonet Zuo, based on his current style, he would have posted photos of his murder, but there was nothing on his end either.

As Chen Chuan stood in front of the window, he watched the dazzling cacophony of lights outside. After a long while, he turned around, grabbed the Frost King Saber, returned to the sofa, drew the saber out of its sheath, and started wiping it with a cloth.

Now, every time he took the medicine before meditating, he placed the Frost King Saber next to him. As Chen Chuan grew stronger, his connection with the mutated weapon grew stronger, and he could communicate with it better.

Wind blew in from the window, causing the curtains to sway, and when the moonlight shone in, it made the blade reflect a cold light.

The night soon passed, and morning came. Even so, there were no updates on the platform.

Neither Wei Wusheng nor Bayonet Zuo provided any news, making the people wonder whether they had both died in the fight.

The day before, the Resolution Department had hurried over to Deep End District—the place from which Bayonet Zuo had posted his message. But after they arrived, they found that Bayonet Zuo was no longer around. After asking around, they learned that he seemed to have left Central City.

Did that mean that Wei Wusheng was also outside the city?

They wouldn’t be able to use much of their technology outside the city. Meanwhile, Third Limit martial artists were really tenacious, so they could hide in any random place in the wilderness, and no one would be able to find them.

Thus, the Resolution Department had no other choice but to cast their sights outside the city and at the edges of Central City.

***

Meanwhile, Wei Wusheng was in a house within Martial Order District.

He was not actually outside the city.

Next to him was Bayonet Zuo’s head. Yesterday, Bayonet Zuo had managed to pierce through the center of his brow, but after a night of rest, the wound had closed up, and Wei Wusheng was in an even better state than before.

The day before, he had lured Bayonet Zuo outside the city and fought against the bounty hunter without holding back.

Bayonet Zuo lived up to his fame. While he wasn’t the strongest opponent Wei Wusheng had ever met, he was definitely the most dangerous to date. He wielded his bayonet with extreme proficiency, and his weapon had been made with special mutated tissue. Even Wei Wusheng had been unable to block it with his body hardening technique and strong bones.

However, while Wei Wusheng could make multiple mistakes, Bayonet Zuo couldn’t. Hence, even if Wei Wusheng wasn’t as fast and Bayonet Zuo tried to retreat once he sensed that he couldn’t kill Wei Wusheng with his great mobility, Wei Wusheng had great stamina and had people helping him. In the end, he was able to kill Bayonet Zuo and return to Central City.

Before, he had always posted photos of his killings online the moment he murdered someone, so everyone thought he would do the same again. This time, though, he didn’t, because everything he had done before this was to prepare for the fight today.

Wei Wusheng picked up a tube of nutritional paste and ate it slowly. Then, he took medicine to replenish stamina and get a boost of energy.

Once he was done, he put on the new martial arts uniform the team supporting him had delivered to him. He rolled his joints, secured the hammer to his waist, and walked to the courtyard.

It had rained at night, so the weather was great. The sun cast its rays on the ground, making the whole city bright and dazzling. Wei Wusheng could even see fog moving about.

Suddenly, a muffled voice spoke to him through his Realm Pass. “It’s almost time. We’ll block the domain signal for you and get an exit route ready.”

Wei Wusheng looked up and thanked the person before walking forward.

Since he couldn’t send any messages back, none of the people within the area where the domain signal was blocked could hear him. Still, they could decipher what he said through the movements of his mouth and his expression.

One of them exclaimed, “Wei Wusheng actually thanked us? That’s rare. It seems like he’s placing a lot of importance on this target.”

The leader watched him for a while before he suddenly said, “Check that student again.”

“Understood!”

***

Back in his room, Chen Chuan opened his eyes and got out of his meditative state. He cast a glance at the bright light outside. The morning sun always weaved its light together with the darkness of the previous night, but it brought with it energy and hope.

When Dawncall saw that Chen Chuan was awake, it spread its wings and chirped a pleasant tune at the sun.

Chen Chuan stood up slowly and went to take a shower, then took a tube of nutritional paste and some medicine before putting on his clothes.

Then, he put on a protective shirt over his dress shirt and the Resolution Department’s uniform. He also picked up the wide-brimmed hat, dusted it, and put it on his head.

In the end, he put on the protective gloves that went along with the uniform and grabbed the Frost King Saber. The saber trembled, as if sensing his emotions, but Chen Chuan said, “Patience, now.”

The saber calmed down.

With the saber in hand, Chen Chuan went to the door, waved goodbye to Dawncall, and left.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep