Chapter 30

Zheng Anyu immediately noticed the old man's unusual state and hurriedly asked, "Senior, what's wrong?"

The old man continued to eat the roasted chicken in his hand, muttering, "Fifth Rank."

Fifth Rank?

Zheng Anyu was startled and followed his gaze, seeing a young man getting off the carriage in front. He looked ordinary. Could he really be a Fifth Rank cultivator?

The young man appeared to be in his early twenties.

At such a young age, with such cultivation, he must be a core disciple of some prestigious family or sect.

Even in the Zheng family, there was no one of his generation who was this outstanding.

For such a person to come to Xiang County was no small matter.

Why hadn't he received any news about this before?

Zheng Anyu carefully observed, but neither the carriage nor the clothes the young man wore revealed any clues about his background.

Generally, disciples from prestigious families and sects would carry some distinctive items or patterns when they went to other places for training, making it easier to move around.

However, this person had nothing, and it was impossible to tell his background.

"Zhou Qing must be here for this person!"

At the same time, Zheng Anyu realized this and felt a bit uneasy.

He finally understood what the old man meant by it being better not to watch the commotion.

The Lin family sent Zhou Qing to intercept this unknown Fifth Rank martial artist, clearly not wanting anyone to know. Now, he had stumbled upon it.

Would they kill him to silence him?

Thinking of this, Zheng Anyu felt a sense of distress.

However, he felt a bit more at ease knowing that a senior was with him.

"With a senior here, there shouldn't be much danger."

...

"Fifth Rank?"

Gu Yang got out of the carriage and walked over step by step. Zhou Qing, sensing his aura, slightly raised his head, his tone filled with surprise.

The information he had was that the target was a Sixth Rank cultivator.

The other party didn't speak, silently drawing out a machete.

It was a very ordinary machete, only the blade was polished to a bright shine, with a few small notches visible.

He looked at the other party, confirming that he had the right person as he matched the description, and said, "You're going to fight me with this knife?"

"Killing you is enough."

As soon as he finished speaking, the other party's aura changed dramatically, and he swung the knife at him.

In an instant, Zhou Qing could see nothing but the knife in front of him.

This is—

His eyes narrowed, and a look of shock flashed across his face.

Knife Intent!

A sharp and overwhelming knife intent instantly shattered his mind, filling him with an indescribable fear.

No—

By the time Zhou Qing finally reacted, the blade was already in front of his eyes.

Blood splattered.

The sword in his hand had only been drawn halfway.

Zhou Qing fell to the ground with a thud, his vision filled with a large expanse of red. He saw the young man shake off the blood from the blade and turn around, walking step by step towards the carriage.

He moved his mouth, trying to say something, but no sound came out. Soon, he fell into infinite darkness.

...

On the Zheng family's carriage, Zheng Anyu was dumbfounded. He had witnessed the young man kill Zhou Qing with a single slash, as if it were a child's play.

For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating.

Zhou Qing was a secret agent planted by the Lin family in Xiang County, specializing in doing things that couldn't be exposed. To the Zheng family, he was a thorn in the side.

The Zheng family had thought about getting rid of him before, spending a great deal of effort to hire an independent Fifth Rank martial artist, but he was killed by Zhou Qing.

This person's strength was formidable, and even the Zheng family's few Fifth Rank martial artists had no confidence in dealing with him.

As for Fourth Rank, the Zheng family only had a few, and if they acted, it would be impossible to hide from the Lin family, which would only make things more complicated.

Such a troublesome person was actually killed with a single slash!

Zheng Anyu looked at Zhou Qing lying in a pool of blood, confirming that he was dead, and swallowed hard.

"Se... Senior, what kind of knife technique was that?"

The old man's hands were trembling, the oil from the roasted chicken dripping onto his clothes, but he didn't notice. After a while, he muttered, "The Mountain-Cleaving Knife Technique!"

The Mountain-Cleaving Knife Technique?

Zheng Anyu carefully recalled and finally remembered, exclaiming, "Tianxin Martial Hall!"

Tianxin Martial Hall was known as the number one martial hall in the world.

Its founder, Cheng Tianxin, had a legendary background, rising from a commoner to the Second Rank through the cultivation of the *Xuan Yuan Gong*.

After becoming famous, he refused to join any faction and instead founded the Tianxin Martial Hall, accepting disciples regardless of their background, only based on talent. As long as one had enough talent, they could enter the hall to learn advanced cultivation techniques.

Over twenty years, the hall had produced three Third Rank martial artists, nearly ten Fourth Ranks, and countless Fifth and Sixth Ranks.

For countless commoners, the Tianxin Martial Hall was undoubtedly a holy place of martial arts.

Jiangzhou was quite far from the capital, and Zheng Anyu had only heard of the number one martial hall.

So far, no disciple of the Tianxin Martial Hall had ever visited Xiang County.

Zheng Anyu was conflicted about whether to go and pay respects.

Disciples of the Tianxin Martial Hall mostly came from humble backgrounds and were said to be very hostile towards disciples of prestigious families.

While he was conflicted, a person from the carriage in front came down, buried the body by the roadside, and continued on.

"Never mind, I won't go."

Zheng Anyu didn't want to get involved in the conflict between the Tianxin Martial Hall and the Lin family, as neither side was one the Zheng family could afford to offend.

...

After nightfall, the Zheng family's group arrived at a small town. To avoid the disciple of the Tianxin Martial Hall, they deliberately slowed down.

After making the arrangements, Zheng Anyu personally brought the dishes to the carriage. When he opened the door, he found it empty; the old man had disappeared.

On the seat, there was only a torn piece of cloth with a few hastily written lines.

He sighed in disappointment, knowing that the senior had left.

Moreover, he vaguely guessed that the senior had likely gone to find the disciple of the Tianxin Martial Hall.

Finally, he looked at the piece of cloth, thinking that at least he hadn't come away with nothing.

...

About ten miles away was a city called Tianmu City, which was quite prosperous.

Gu Yang and his group arrived in the evening. After settling Su Qingzhi and the others, he went to the Four Seas Bank in the city and exchanged the 4,000 taels of silver notes he had obtained from Dong Xuan for cash.

He also tried to exchange the silver notes he got from Su Qingzhi, but was told that they required a secret code to be exchanged.

Su Qingzhi hadn't lied to him.

After getting the money, Gu Yang found a secluded place and recharged the money into the system. Seeing the balance increase to over 4,000, he felt much more at ease.

With money, he could become stronger.

Now, he could perform two more life simulations, further enhancing his strength.

Ps: Requesting recommendations on Monday.