Chapter 162: Poaching and Responding

After a simple welcome banquet, Zhou You bid the three farewell and entered the city.

Passing by a street, he saw City Gate Guards gathered in front of a residence, with bloodstains everywhere on the walls, tiles, and ground.

Fragments of conversation drifted from the crowd of onlookers, only hearing "So miserable" and "The whole family was killed."

A wooden plaque hanging in front of the door was long since ruined, its surface still wreathed in wisps of fragmented baleful energy.

"Jiba Martial Arts Hall!"

The baleful energy was the 'Vajra-Breaking Baleful Energy', unique to Vajra Fist, a method of using baleful energy to attach to objects to write characters on a wooden plaque.

The identity of this household was very clear; they were the family members of an important student of the martial arts hall.

The wooden plaque was damaged and the baleful energy destroyed, clearly having encountered a powerful enemy.

Zhou You took a hurried glance and discovered that the leader of this group of City Gate Guards was Zheng Qing, a subordinate of Captain Chang.

Zheng Qing's subordinates searched every corner, gathering clues.

"Zhou You, looking at your direction, did you just come back from outside?"

After Zheng Qing saw Zhou You, he waved to greet him.

Zhou You stepped forward and asked, "Something happened?"

Both of them were Qi and Blood practitioners, and as they spoke, they controlled their vocal cords to temporarily construct a one-on-one channel, so that even onlookers close at hand could not hear a single word.

"Indeed, this family had a baleful energy wooden plaque, which originally could defend against ordinary phantom spirits."

"This time, a Transformation Phantom broke in, shattered the baleful energy, entered the room, and ate this family clean."

"Mm, the head of the household was a Qi and Blood Disciple of Jiba Martial Arts Hall; he was at home at the time and also did not escape."

A Transformation Phantom openly broke into a martial artist's home and even ate a Qi and Blood warrior.

"Have you heard of Transformation Phantoms?"

Seeing Zhou You nod, Zheng Qing was slightly surprised and added, "This Transformation Phantom is extremely ferocious; in order to eat a Qi and Blood warrior, it brazenly broke into this family's home. The act was too arrogant."

"Mao Laoliu will not let this rest."

Zhou You thought to himself that the situation was so severe that he had to consider the safety of his own parents.

As time passed, the more deeply phantom entities hid and the more people they ate, the more powerful they became.

Simple means could only block phantom spirits; once a Transformation Phantom appeared, even a Qi and Blood warrior could not withstand it.

"Zhou You, if you find staying at the martial arts hall boring, why not come to my City Gate Guard."

"You are a Qi and Blood warrior; you would have an official rank upon joining. You can ask Li Hao; a low-level martial officer in the City Gate Guard is treated comparably to the master of a martial arts hall, much better than an Inner Court Disciple."

"The family members of the City Gate Guard all have special protection to avoid harm from phantom entities."

This was an attempt to poach him!

Zhou You still did not agree on the spot and cupped his hands, saying, "I will consider it."

He thought more deeply; the turmoil in the martial arts hall was not small, and it had already reached the City Gate Guard.

Zheng Qing knew, and Zhang Shiyu must also know. This guy had always been resentful of him; how could he miss the chance to kick him while he was down? Everyone thought he could not defeat Lu Jianqing and was taking the opportunity to recruit him.

Lu Jianqing's momentum was at its peak, his talent and potential were beginning to show, and he had been designated as the successor by Wang Jianxiong.

He had already become the number one person of the local faction, and even Zhong Shaoying had to give way.

No matter from which angle one looked at it, Zhou You was no match for Lu Jianqing.

Shen Sijing was one of his own, and Zheng Qing was an outsider, yet their judgments were surprisingly consistent, both advising him to leave the martial arts hall.

As the saying goes, Heaven, Earth, Monarch, Kin, and Teacher; the seniority and order in the martial arts hall were as solid as an iron bucket, and a mentor's grace was greater than heaven.

Once Zhou You took Wang Jianxiong as his teacher, he would have to listen to him for the rest of his life, and even after completing his apprenticeship, he would carry the mark of the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall.

Wang Jianxiong favored Lu Jianqing; no matter how Zhou You counterattacked, it was impossible to succeed.

Therefore, the best choice was that running away was the best policy.

"Could it be that this is truly the only path?"

Zhou You returned to the martial arts hall with this thought.

Along the way, the gazes of both new and old Apprentices toward him were extremely complex. Shi Gaofei was instructing introductory fist techniques in the Outer Courtyard; seeing him, he nodded, his eyes signaling him to look out for himself.

Unexpectedly, the other side did not give him any show of force, and the first few days back at the martial arts hall were calm.

Zhou You, however, knew that this was the calm before the storm.

Beneath the calm surface, dark currents were surging; one could detect clues from certain events.

Zuo Shier did not come to the martial arts hall and was 'recuperating' at home; there was no need to ask, this was forced by Lu Jianqing.

He was regarded as Zhou You's confidant and was naturally one of the targets for suppression.

He had already been slapped in public; if he still stood his ground, he might have his hands or ribs broken.

Several Apprentices of the city faction had also recently been transferred to positions similar to a 'cold palace', with their monthly stipends reduced and all perks gone.

Pressing in step by step! The master's attitude was also unclear.

This time, Zhou You had merit in escorting the artillery machine and even brought back a gift from Commander Chen, a 10-meter-long tiger skin.

Logically speaking, he should have been granted an audience and rewarded with something.

Jiang Hua guessed on the return journey that it was highly likely he would be taught a unique skill of White Tiger Seven Kills this time.

As it turned out, there was nothing?

After Jiang Hua returned to the martial arts hall to report, he rushed to the next mission without stopping, not even seeing Zhou You's face.

Zhou You could smell the malice overflowing in the air, all directed at him.

Next, how should he respond?

The wasteland of Tianjing Fang...

The one-armed man Zhuang Tie punched out, the soil on the ground rolling like a dirt dragon turning over.

After he finished his move, he spoke as usual, "Your state of mind is truly good; you can still practice boxing with a calm heart at a time like this."

Responding to him was a strike of the Tiger Head Hammer.

"There is no trouble in the world, only mediocre people disturbing themselves."

Zhou You blocked the opponent's fist force with the Tiger Head Hammer, then suddenly whipped his back leg over his head, "Tiger Tail Kick."

With the Tiger Head Hammer in front and the Tiger Tail Kick following like a shadow, he was actually using two moves simultaneously, neither coming before the other.

Caught off guard, Zhuang Tie was thrown into a panic by this strange move and hurriedly retreated a few steps.

"Using two hearts at once, this is the path of the Two Hearts Fist; you actually integrated it into the routines of the Subduing Tiger Fist."

It is common knowledge that fist techniques must follow conventional logic, emphasizing single-mindedness.

When throwing a punch, both feet must be planted on the ground, relying on the lower limbs and waist for power, so the legs cannot move randomly; when leaping to kick, the arms must maintain body balance and cannot attack with punches at will.

The Subduing Tiger Fist is exactly like this; every punch gathers the strength of the whole body, with the point of output being either a fist, foot, claw, or hammer, singular and pure.

Zhuang Tie's understanding of the Subduing Tiger Fist was different from the average person, yet he was suddenly thrown into a panic by Zhou You.

He could see that Zhou You had integrated the Two Hearts Fist into the Subduing Tiger Fist, innovating and doubling its power.

"That move of yours just now resolved the doubts in my heart; you already had a plan."

Zhuang Tie looked at Zhou You seriously, "How do we break the deadlock?"

"To me, this is just a small matter; let's first talk about the barrier of breaking through from Qi and Blood 3rd Stage to the 4th."

After the 3rd stage of Qi and Blood comes the 4th, moving from the elementary level to the intermediate, beginning to fold and compress to increase density.

On the night the Great Leader was torn apart by five horses, Zhou You went down to observe the severed parts of the corpse at close range, pondering the internal structure of a martial artist, and gained a rough understanding of the direction for future breakthroughs.

The first thing to do upon this return was to break through the middle stage of Qi and Blood, changing from a Stone Tiger to an Iron Tiger.

"You have already reached this step?"

The scene that appeared before Zhuang Tie's eyes was still the day he went to challenge the gym, when Zhou You was merely an inconspicuous Strength Apprentice.

Now, he was about to break through to the middle stage of Qi and Blood.

(End of this chapter)