Chapter 106: Challenging the Hall

His father was defeated, his spine was broken. The mockery from Chaoyang Martial Hall, Rihuo’s wild laughter, and Xiao Jingyang’s cold stare. The bumpy journey, the disciples’ low spirits. Everything kept replaying over and over in his mind.

For her, those few short hours felt like the entire sky had fallen.

“What’s the use of you coming back now?”

“Why weren’t you there when I needed you?”

Watching as tears slowly rolled down the girl’s determined face, Zuo Zhicheng let out a soft sigh. “Senior apprentice sister, I’ve been keeping some things from you all. But now, I think maybe I don’t need to keep hiding them anymore.”

“Actually, I’m very powerful.”

“What?” While Jiang Qing was still stunned, Zuo Zhicheng had already shoved a strange fruit into her hand.

“This is for Master. It might be able to heal his injuries.” As he spoke, Zuo Zhicheng moved his hands slightly, as if wanting to hug Jiang Qing, but in the end, he just patted her head.

“I’ll handle the matters of the martial hall properly from now on. I’ll also seek an explanation from Chaoyang Martial Hall.”

Before Jiang Qing could react, he had already stepped out of the main gate and completely vanished.

The Shadow Corps’ reaction, the speculation about his identity, Old Man Song’s arrangements, Haoran Martial Hall’s next moves, Ghost Fist, the gangs.

All these matters flashed through his mind one by one. Although the timing didn’t quite match what he had planned these past two days, it wasn’t a big problem. He just needed to be careful about the intensity and not anger Qingyue Qiu.

Now, he needed to spend 20 out of 24 hours each day training, studying, and getting stronger. Many tasks required him to organize some forces for assistance. Like monitoring the movements in Xinlu City to prevent incidents like what happened to Haoran Martial Hall today from occurring again.

He also needed people to gather information in other parts of the New Continent, search for Spiritual Energy Food, and look for those ancient Ruins. The appearance of the American military’s Launch Silo always gave him a very uneasy feeling.

Besides that, he needed intelligence from the Central Plains Region, especially regarding Shen Zong. He also had to find ways to collect other Dao Arts manuals. Relying solely on the content of the Daoist Canon wasn’t enough.

Normally, he handled all these things alone. But now that all his time was devoted to training, he had to be more aggressive.

Organizing forces would inevitably bring him into contact with the Imperial Court. However, he now had the identity of Ghost Fist as a buffer between him and the Shadow Corps.

“It should be enough…”

As he pondered, he merged into the darkness and disappeared without a trace.

……

Chaoyang Martial Hall, though it was nearly midnight, was still brightly lit.

Over a dozen tables were set up in the large Training Ground. Various delicacies, dishes, and wine were brought out in a continuous stream.

Everyone present were martial arts instructors from Xinlu Port who had defected to Chaoyang Martial Hall. Almost all the martial halls in the Martial Arts Association were represented. Although it hadn’t been explicitly stated yet, Xiao Jingyang’s position as the head of the Martial Arts Association was practically confirmed.

After all, they couldn’t match Xiao Jingyang’s wealth, and they couldn’t defeat his disciples in a fight. They had hoped Jiang Tianzheng would teach Rihuo a lesson, but instead, he was the one who got beaten.

Several martial hall masters sat together, taking turns toasting to Xiao Jingyang, whose face was flushed with excitement.

“Brother Xiao, in Xinlu Port, there’s only one person I truly admire.” Qin Wu, the head of the Martial Research Society, gave Xiao Jingyang a thumbs-up. “In terms of Martial Arts, you fought your way through the entire port by eighteen. If you were ten years younger now, someone like Jiang Tianzheng wouldn’t even be called the ‘Xinlu Divine Fist’.”

“Ah, no, no, I’m already old.” Though he said this, Xiao Jingyang’s face was full of smiles, clearly pleased with Qin Wu’s words.

“Even aside from Martial Arts, Brother Xiao, your prestige and virtue are second to none!” Another master raised his thumb and said, “If you’re not the one to take the position as head of the Martial Arts Association, I’ll be the first to object.”

“Hahahaha.” Xiao Jingyang laughed. “Everyone is drunk. You shouldn’t say such things carelessly.”

On the other side, the disciples of Chaoyang Martial Hall sat together, taking turns flattering Rihuo. They heard Rihuo let out a wild laugh: “That Jiang Tianzheng calls himself the ‘Xinlu Divine Fist,’ but he couldn’t even take ten moves from me. I was genuinely looking forward to it for nothing.”

Another disciple nearby marveled, “Senior apprentice brother Rihuo, your Eagle Claw Technique has already surpassed Master’s, hasn’t it? In the future, you’ll be the strongest fighter in all of Xinlu Port.”

“Yes, yes! How about Senior apprentice brother Rihuo calls himself the ‘Xinlu Divine Claw’ from now on!”

“How can that be? Wouldn’t that be copying Jiang Tianzheng? In my opinion, why not call him ‘Sky-Supporting Hand’!”

“Jiang Tianzheng is nothing.” Rihuo said disdainfully. “If Master didn’t always stop me, the first place I’d challenge would be Haoran Martial Hall.”

As the people around him cheered, Wang Qiang, seated at another table, heard this and sneered.

“Everyone knows how you won.”

“What did you say?!” Rihuo slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Wang Qiang at the other table. “You cripple, say that again if you dare!”

Wang Qiang seemed not to expect Rihuo to hear him. Just over half a month ago, during the big competition, the other had broken one of his legs. His thigh was still clamped in wooden boards. Seeing Rihuo point at him, a fierce aura washed over him. He wanted to say something, but he clenched his fists repeatedly and ultimately didn’t utter a word.

“Hmph, useless trash. If you have the guts, say it to my face. Stop muttering behind my back.”

Wang Qiang’s fists were clenched tight, and his shoulders trembled. But the junior disciples beside him patted his shoulder, shaking their heads at him, urging him not to be impulsive.

Elsewhere, Zhou Xingyun and Xiao Changhe sat together. Xiao Changhe still looked somewhat unhappy.

Zhou Xingyun beside him advised, “Brother Xiao, why are you still looking so down? Are you thinking about that kid who ran away? Damn it, thinking back now, we were probably scared off by that kid.”

“No.” Xiao Changhe took a sip of wine. “I just keep thinking now that Zuo Zhicheng probably isn’t as simple as he seemed. His Eagle Claw Technique and Gongzi Fist didn’t seem like a bluff.”

“Hey, stop thinking about it. Even if he shows up now to cause trouble, he’d just get beaten half to death by Rihuo.” At this point, Zhou Xingyun glanced darkly at Rihuo and said, “Brother Xiao, how did that Hante dog suddenly become so strong? Look at him, damn it, a small man getting above himself.”

“I don’t know either. But at least Zuo Zhicheng is Han Chinese. Compared to him, I hate that dog thing even more.”

Just as the atmosphere in Chaoyang Martial Hall’s Training Ground grew increasingly lively, a loud boom sounded. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the noise, towards the main gate.

They saw that the two wooden doors had somehow fallen to the ground. Zuo Zhicheng stepped slowly over the doors and walked in. On his back was the plaque that had been hanging outside Chaoyang Martial Hall.

He wasn’t wearing any disguise, let alone a mask. He simply swept his gaze over the crowd.

“Haoran Martial Hall, Zuo Zhicheng.”

As he spoke, he threw the Chaoyang Martial Hall plaque onto the ground and stepped on it. With a crack, the two-finger-thick plaque snapped directly in half.

“I’m only here to deal with Chaoyang Martial Hall today. Anyone unrelated can leave.”