Chapter 5: Pre-Heaven Realm

Li Musheng tucked the silver notes into his bosom and glanced around.

The situation in the arena changed drastically; the Zhahe Seven Thieves were acupointed and subdued, and all the disciples and apprentices were no longer in mortal danger.

However, at this moment, everyone's gaze was fixed on Li Musheng, their eyes revealing strange emotions such as surprise, unfamiliarity, and disbelief.

Li Musheng paid them no mind; in the fifteen years at the martial arts hall, the talent and aptitude he had displayed were far too poor, earning him no favor among the hall's people, so he was not close to any of them.

"Old Man Yu, since you are so straightforward, I will help you one more time."

Li Musheng raised an eyebrow and suddenly extended his palm to strike a person beside him.

Yu Zhentian did not know what he meant by those words, but the next moment, his entire face turned pale with shock, and he hurriedly shouted:

"Stop!"

Yet Li Musheng did not halt his hand, continuing to strike down straight at Yu Xian's head.

Clearly, given the strength Li Musheng had just revealed, once this palm landed, Yu Xian would surely be dead.

Just then, Yu Xian, whose limbs had been broken and whose breath had been faint, suddenly snapped his eyes wide open.

His feet erupted with powerful force, stomping heavily so that the floor tiles cracked and flew up, while his entire body slid rapidly backward, flat against the ground, attempting to dodge Li Musheng's palm.

However, he clearly overthought it; no matter how fast his reaction, how could he escape Li Musheng's palm?

As soon as his figure slid halfway, he felt his dantian internal energy stall; his body instantly went numb, and he fell directly to the ground, unable to move.

For a moment, fear arose in Yu Xian's eyes on the ground, because from start to finish he had not seen how the opponent had acupointed him.

"What is going on?"

Yu Zhentian rushed to Yu Xian's side immediately.

Having seen the other person just now strike out unharmed, even if he did not fully understand the reason behind it, he knew there was something wrong with his eldest son.

Li Musheng did not even glance at the person on the ground; he touched his chin and said:

"The Zhahe Seven Thieves should, by rights, number seven; I guess this is the last one among them."

Hearing this, Yu Zhentian reached out and grabbed the face skin of Yu Xian on the ground.

Sure enough, he tore off a human-skin mask, revealing the face of a strange middle-aged man roughly over fifty years old.

Seeing this scene, the others, including Zhe Laosan, all felt their hearts sink.

"Are you Zha Laoda, the first-ranked among the Zhahe Seven Thieves?"

A chill instantly rose on Yu Zhentian's back; this person was not only deeply skilled in Wu Gong but also truly sinister.

He had even impersonated Yu Xian to deceive him; if Li Musheng had not exposed the other, he would surely have been ambushed, and at that time, even if he did not die, he would have been suffering deeply.

Thinking of this, Yu Zhentian's beard and hair bristled; he angrily grabbed Zha Laoda from the ground and roared:

"Where is my son now?"

But Zha Laoda merely locked eyes with him and could not speak at all.

Yu Zhentian was inwardly amazed; Li Musheng's acupoint-finger technique was truly unheard of; in an instant, he had even sealed the mute acupoint!

He immediately channeled internal energy into his fingers, wanting to unseal Zha Laoda's mute acupoint.

But to his shock, Zha Laoda's mute acupoint was as solid as a rock; his internal energy could not move the qi mechanism sealing the acupoint by even a fraction.

"Let me handle it."

Li Musheng flicked his finger lightly; Zha Laoda felt his throat loosen, and finally managed to utter a sound. He stared at Li Musheng and exclaimed:

"Wu Gong true qi, a Pre-Heaven Realm expert? Who exactly are you?"

The path of Wu Gong is divided into the Three Great Realms: the Post-Heaven Realm, the Pre-Heaven Realm, and the Heaven-and-Mortal Realm!

The Post-Heaven Realm focuses on tempering the bones, muscles, and skin, generating internal energy to flood the body's meridians.

Only by connecting the Twelve Primary Meridians and opening the Ren and Du vessels can one invite Wu Gong true qi into the body and step into the Pre-Heaven Realm.

In a remote small city like Ancheng, Post-Heaven experts are already rare; martial artists who can step into the Pre-Heaven Realm are even rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Zha Laoda, a cultivator half a step into the Pre-Heaven Realm, never expected to encounter a true Pre-Heaven expert here.

Li Musheng glanced at Zha Laoda in Yu Zhentian's hand, completely ignoring the other's intent, and said:

"These fellows are no good people; kill or flay them as you see fit."

Yu Zhentian watched Li Musheng cautiously; after his expression shifted rapidly for a moment, he nodded.

Li Musheng said no more, turned, and walked toward the martial arts hall's rear courtyard.

Halfway there, he turned back to look at Zhang Dazhuang, who was still standing there in a daze:

"Brother Zhang, there is nothing more for you here; why not leave?"

Hearing this, Zhang Dazhuang rubbed his cheeks hard with both hands, his gaze lingering for a moment on Yu Zhentian and Zha Laoda, then immediately hurried to follow Li Musheng.

At this moment, how could he not understand that Li Musheng had deliberately made him carry Yu Ermei, actually to save his life?

Otherwise, if he had fallen into the hands of Zha Laoda, who was impersonating Yu Xian, where would the chance of survival be?

However, in this matter, Zhang Dazhuang had actually overthought it; even if he had fallen into Zha Laoda's hands, if Li Musheng did not let him die, he would not be able to die even if he wanted to.

As for why he did that before, it was purely because Li Musheng had never thought of fleeing.

Not long after, Li Musheng arrived at a dilapidated, cramped small house in the far corner of the rear courtyard and began to pack his bundle.

Zhang Dazhuang stood outside the door, looked around for a while, did not know what to say, and could only cautiously and curiously ask:

"Ah Sheng, how did you suddenly become so powerful? Even the notorious Zhahe Seven Thieves are no match for you."

"Guess?"

"Could it be that you secretly took a peerless expert as your master? Or found a divine martial arts secret manual? Or perhaps..."

Li Musheng picked up the packed bundle, slung it over his shoulder, and smiled:

"None of those; it is all thanks to my extraordinary talent and self-taught success!"

Hearing this, Zhang Dazhuang instinctively rolled his eyes.

As everyone knows, within the entire Yu Family Martial Arts Hall, only he and Li Musheng possessed the poorest aptitude; after so many years of practicing martial arts, they had made not the slightest progress, and their status in the hall was even lower than that of servants.

However, the moment he thought of Li Musheng's current strength, he quickly controlled his expression, fearing that if he made this fellow unhappy, he might be slapped away with a single palm strike!

"I knew you wouldn't believe it, but the fact is exactly as it is!"

Li Musheng shrugged, looked down for a moment, and finally pulled out a stack of crumpled straw paper from beneath a bed leg that was broken halfway.

He stuffed the straw paper into Zhang Dazhuang's hand and said carelessly:

"Before we part, I have nothing good to give you. On this is a divine skill named Vajra Indestructible, which happens to suit your practice, so I give it to you!"

Zhang Dazhuang took the straw paper, feeling both delighted and hesitant in his heart, somewhat unsure whether the divine skill written on such inferior straw paper was real or fake.

But very quickly, he sighed and shook his head, saying:

"Ah Sheng, I appreciate your kindness, but I know my own situation clearly; my bone structure and aptitude are far too poor, so I probably cannot practice this divine skill."

Li Musheng patted his shoulder and smiled, saying:

"Rest assured, this Wu Gong requires no martial arts aptitude or bone structure at all; it depends solely on the practitioner's perseverance and state of mind. As long as you persist in practicing it, there will be no problem with self-defense in the Jianghu in the future."

(End of this chapter)