Chapter 225: Chaos in Songyang

Zhang Yu knew that ever since Fuji had recovered some of her evil god power and returned to the level of a 1st-rank lower evil god, she had become especially sensitive to changes in the network signal.

After all, the essence of the Kunxu network was a network of divine power, and as beings capable of stealing divine power, evil gods were naturally extremely sharp in their perception of network signals.

"Signal not so good?"

Upon hearing Fuji's warning, Zhang Yu guessed in his heart that this was probably related to gang fighting.

Ever since becoming a gold-tier teacher of the Dark Study Gang, although Zhang Yu mainly focused on teaching classes, he had also come into contact with plenty of inside information about gang conflicts.

In particular, Bai Zhenzhen was now fighting on the front lines, experiencing life-and-death battles with experts from the Gold Course Gang time and again, sometimes returning with injuries late at night, and during these two months she had often talked with Zhang Yu about various gang conflicts.

"When gang fights happen, in order not to alert the constables and the orthodox gods, they usually pick locations that are sparsely populated, have poor infrastructure, and preferably no surveillance."

Zhang Yu glanced at the suburban path before him and thought to himself that this place probably met the conditions of being sparsely populated and having no surveillance.

"Next, they use signal jammers to temporarily block the network signal."

"But this kind of signal jammer can only operate in places where the orthodox gods don't pay much attention, and at most can only last a few minutes; otherwise, it will trigger an inspection by the Divine Department…"

Various thoughts raced through his mind like lightning, and Zhang Yu had already made a judgment: "It seems Black Crow's warning was correct. The Gold Course Gang has me in their sights—they want to attack me, a gold-tier teacher, to deal a blow to the Dark Study Gang…"

Just as Zhang Yu made his judgment, four incredibly powerful figures had already appeared unnoticed ahead and behind on the path, trapping him in a pincer.

Under the low temperatures of early December, puffs of white breath spewed out with the four men's respirations, stretching far under the streetlights before slowly dissipating.

As the four of them simultaneously paced toward Zhang Yu, waves of intense martial intent surged forth with the operation of their mental cultivation methods, pressing violently against Zhang Yu.

At the same time, as their steps quickened, the tendons and bones within their bodies burst out with crackling explosions, like war drums being pounded, echoing through the night sky.

Whether it was the gushing airflow from their breaths, the martial intent rushing toward his face, or the sounds of bones and tendons colliding, Zhang Yu could perceive that all four of these men attacking him from front and back possessed bodies honed through a thousand refinements and a battle will forged in life-and-death combat—they were all peak Qi Refining experts who had graduated long ago.

If it had been half a year ago, or even two months ago, encountering such a pincer attack from four peak Qi Refining experts, Zhang Yu's only choice would have been to run.

But now, Zhang Yu’s mana and physical strength had both numerically reached the limit of Qi Refining, and he had pushed over a dozen techniques to level 10, several of which were top-tier Qi Refining techniques.

Moreover, he had just recently formed his Martial Saint Embryo.

Sensing the four experts closing in from both sides, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Good—today I'll use you four to test what this newly formed Martial Saint Embryo is really worth."

So he took a single step forward, charging straight at the two men in front.

Seeing this, the four experts raised their eyebrows, and a silver-haired man sneered, "Oh? You're not running?"

"I don't need to run," Zhang Yu said calmly. "But you four—if you run now, it's not too late."

The silver-haired man snorted, "Arrogant."

Before they came, they had known that Ma Yunteng was no pushover, but no matter how strong he was, with all four of them at the same peak Qi Refining level, fighting one against four gave them an absolute advantage.

The next moment, the four men charged at Zhang Yu from front, back, left, and right, bringing with them sounds of wind and thunder.

Amid a series of booming noises, Zhang Yu blocked the fists and feet of the two in front with his hands, while the two behind took the opportunity to slam their palms—bursting with fierce qi—hard into the center of his back.

With a bang, the silver-haired man sneered at Zhang Yu, who had taken the hit directly: "Now who’s the one who needs to run?"

Zhang Yu paid him no attention, instead carefully experiencing the effects of the Martial Saint Embryo.

Over the next ten-plus seconds, Zhang Yu continued to parry his opponents' attacks while taking their fist force, palm power, and sword qi directly on various parts of his body…

He silently felt the opponent’s palm force, after being neutralized by the Bronze Corpse Skin and the Formless Cloud Qi, then being borne and dissipated by his flesh, bones, and internal organs—all tempered by techniques like the Thunderous Marrow Cleansing Scripture, the Sinew Nine Transformations, and the Five Qi Internal Organs Method.

While withstanding these ferocious attacks, Zhang Yu could feel: "Bones and internal organs are almost completely unharmed."

"Skin, flesh, and fascia have some wear from the heavy blows, but they are recovering quickly."

"Under the coordination of the six techniques of the Martial Saint Embryo, they function as a single entity, giving my damage resistance a qualitative leap—at least 60% stronger than before."

"This whole body of flesh, with all six techniques running together, seems to come alive—bruised blood is expelled, wounds close and heal, and the body itself reduces swelling, inflammation, and fever…"

Zhang Yu estimated to himself: "For ordinary blunt trauma like punches and kicks, given my strong damage resistance, it will take about one or two minutes to fully heal."

"For cuts from swords or knives, it would take about five or six minutes to heal."

"So this is what they call a surge in damage resistance and external injury self-healing ability?"

At this moment, Zhang Yu had gained a general understanding of his newly formed Martial Saint Embryo.

As for the four experts who had been attacking him for over a dozen seconds, their gazes shifted from the initial coldness and excitement to confusion, then shock. The silver-haired man shouted, "This guy is proficient in many body-protecting divine arts! Ordinary punches and kicks are useless—we need to use special mana to wound him!"

In an instant, aside from the silver-haired man who was already wielding sword qi, the other three experts also changed their techniques, their attacks either blazing with heat, rampant with cold, or flickering with lightning.

Clearly, they were all using martial arts that unleashed special types of mystical power.

Facing such an onslaught, Zhang Yu, who now had a general understanding of the Martial Saint Embryo, did not continue to resist head-on. Instead, with a bang, streams of Formless Cloud Qi surged from his entire body, enveloping him all around.

Swoosh!

The silver-haired man slashed out with sword qi from his fingertip, but felt as if the sword was caught in a deep-sea undercurrent, veering off and stabbing straight toward his companion.

At the same time, another companion's fist, radiating blazing heat, was guided by the Formless Cloud Qi and blasted toward the silver-haired man's waist.

The silver-haired man twisted his waist and shook his sword with all his might, managing to dodge that punch while also evading his own sword strike.

He fiercely thrust another sword at Zhang Yu, but as the sword qi collided with Zhang Yu's palm, he felt the power surging from the palm was icy cold—wasn't that his companion's Frozen Palm force?

As the fierce battle continued, the silver-haired man and his three companions grew more alarmed with each exchange.

At this moment, they felt no advantage of outnumbering their opponent at all. Instead, their own moves were always deflected toward their companions, and even the special powers they blasted out were absorbed by Zhang Yu, channeled through his meridians, and then slapped back at them with a palm strike.

!

Clearly, it was four against one, but they felt as if they could only fight Zhang Yu one-on-one.

Sometimes they even had the illusion that Zhang Yu was the one constantly being shielded and assisted by companions, that he was the one with superior numbers.

The silver-haired man's heart shook violently: "This man's techniques in channeling power and using force against force have reached the pinnacle!"

"Add to that his tempered physique and the enhancement of several defensive techniques, the more chaotic the melee, the more advantageous it is for him!"

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu was fighting more and more smoothly. He thought to himself: "With the boost from the Martial Saint Embryo, my resilience and external wound healing are accelerated. When I use force against force, I can withstand higher limits, borrow and channel stronger power, making the fight much easier..."

But just then, Zhang Yu sensed the retreat intentions of the four before him.

"Oh? You only think of running now?"

The silver-haired man indeed had thoughts of retreat, since the network jamming time was limited and this area was near a stronghold of the Dark Studies Gang; the enemy would soon have reinforcements.

"Relying on the four of us alone, it's hard to take this man down. Any further delay will spell trouble."

Thinking this, the silver-haired man decisively shouted: "Retreat!"

But in the very next instant, Zhang Yu's Formless Cloud Qi suddenly swelled, and as his Great Sun Qi Sea circulated, it turned pitch black, like an abyss that completely swallowed the figures of the four.

The silver-haired man and his companions felt as if they had arrived at the bottom of a bottomless sea. The violent qi simulated the circulations of Back Dragon Overturning Hand and Dragon-Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm, destroying their centers of balance.

At this moment, they realized one thing: although their opponent should be at the same Qi Refining peak realm as them, there was still a gap between peaks.

Moments later, when Black Crow arrived with a group of gang members, they only saw the four lying on the ground, already knocked unconscious.

Zhang Yu stood to the side, meeting the awestruck gaze of Black Crow and the others, and said casually, "I'll leave these four to you. There should be a bonus for me, right?"

Black Crow quickly replied, "Teacher Ma, since you defeated experts of the Gold Lessons Gang, there will definitely be a bonus. I know you want cash. I'll prepare it shortly, and you can pick it up next time you come."

On his way back to the apartment, Zhang Yu recalled today's battle and thought to himself, "The Martial Saint Embryo has indeed greatly improved me."

"And although they're also at the Qi Refining peak, these guys—compared to the current Azhen and that previous guy (Ye Lingxiao)—are far too inferior."

"If I had my current strength in the last Foundation Establishment exam, I could have contended with that guy (Ye Lingxiao), right?"

Zhang Yu recalled Ye Lingxiao's performance in the last Foundation Establishment exam, and a fighting spirit surged within him: "In this final month, I still need to keep earning money and training, to raise the Martial Saint Embryo even further..."

As the assassination attempt on Zhang Yu failed, the conflict between the Dark Studies Gang and the Gold Lessons Gang grew even more intense.

Over the next ten-plus days, the two sides engaged in multiple brawls. Not only did they throw copyright bombs at each other, but they even printed and freely distributed each other's pirated martial arts, forming a mortal enmity.

Under such fierce fighting, even the security teams of the Deep Sea Group and the Xianyun Group began to suffer casualties.

Amidst these consecutive gang wars, Le Mulan (Bai Zhenzhen) broke through encirclements several times, defeating enemy leaders in melees of hundreds and withdrawing unscathed. She earned a great reputation in the dark tutoring world of Songyang City and became unrivaled in prestige within the Dark Studies Gang for a time.

Especially because of her multiple deployments of copyright bombs and the lightning that flashed with her moves, she was called the Copyright Lightning of the Dark Studies Gang, said to bring ruin wherever she went, capable of stopping the poor from crying at night.

And so time, amidst the chaotic gang conflicts, gradually reached mid-December.