The night deepened, and the entire city seemed to be asleep, save for the sound of the watchmen making their rounds and striking their clappers.

Inside a certain courtyard in the city, a fire was still burning.

Sun Shicai wore a black outfit, his expression as gloomy as water, seemingly talking to himself, "How did that useless Lu Chi learn about this?"

Standing before him were two individuals, heads lowered, not daring to breathe too loudly.

The taller one cautiously spoke, "Could it be that there was a leak from that side?"

Sun Shicai shook his head, "Even if there was a leak from that side, Lu Chi, that waste, shouldn’t have been the first to receive the information."

The shorter man asked, "Senior Brother, what do you mean?"

"Someone must be trying to use Lu Chi to get rid of me." Sun Shicai’s eyes flickered with a cold light, "We must find the rat hiding in the shadows!"

He was extremely frustrated, having always been the one to plot against others, and now he had fallen into someone else’s trap, suffering a major setback.

Originally, he was a secret pawn for Captain Yu; no one knew about their connection, and at critical moments, he could play an unexpected role.

Now, however, he had to be exposed, which significantly reduced his value.

Sun Shicai was determined to root out whoever was conniving against him in the dark to eliminate future threats.

The tall man asked, "Do you know who it might be, Senior Brother?"

Sun Shicai replied, "The fox will always show its tail." He changed the subject, "I called you here for another matter I need you to handle."

The two immediately responded, "Senior Brother, just tell us what you need."

Sun Shicai said, "There’s a pharmacy in town called Chunhe Hall. Tomorrow, arrange for someone to go buy some medicine and then have that person killed, claiming they died from the medicine. Make a big scene out of it."

Chunhe Hall?

The two exchanged glances.

The tall man cautiously reminded, "Senior Brother, but Chunhe Hall is owned by Chen Ming’s family..."

Sun Shicai narrowed his eyes dangerously, "What, are you afraid?"

The two felt a chill down their spines and didn’t dare to say no, quickly expressing their loyalty, "With Senior Brother leading, who are we afraid of? We just don’t know if you intend to scare him or actually finish him off?"

They wouldn’t dare act without clarification.

When gods fight, mortals suffer.

Chen Ming is a Seventh Grade, and if Sun Shicai just wanted to teach him a lesson and reconciled later, what would become of them?

If Chen Ming took his anger out on them, would Sun Shicai fall out with him for their sake?

Sun Shicai chuckled coldly, "What do you think?"

The shorter man said, "Are you stupid? Since Senior Brother wants to deal with Chen Ming, he won’t let the tiger return to the mountain alive."

The tall man scratched his head with a sheepish smile, "My mistake."

"Alright, you can go."

Sun Shicai dismissed the two.

After a moment, he calmly said, "Since you’re here, show yourself. Besides me, there’s no one else in the house."

With a creak, the door swung open from the outside.

A masked figure in black entered, voice cold, "Why activate the signal to summon me before the scheduled contact?"

Sun Shicai snorted, "Today, someone reported to Zhao Shouchang that I’ve been secretly colluding with pirates. How was this leaked out? You must give me an explanation."

The figure in black sneered, "You acted carelessly and got noticed, what’s it got to do with us?"

Sun Shicai responded coolly, "In that case, there’s nothing more to talk about between us, notify your boss that our cooperation ends here."

Impatiently, the black-clad figure said, "Stop pretending, what compensation do you want?"

He had long seen through this Patrol Envoy of Six Gates, greedy and insatiable; his airs were nothing more than a ploy for benefits.

Sun Shicai’s expression softened, "I’ve run into some trouble and need your help dealing with someone. Don’t worry, it’s not some formidable expert, just a Seventh Grade."

Hearing it was a Seventh Grade Martial Artist, the masked man wasn’t concerned and directly asked, "Who?"

"Chen Ming, resides on Xiushui Street. You should have heard of him."

"Chen Ming? Isn’t he your fellow disciple?"

The masked man’s tone became somewhat peculiar.

That sentence revealed he was quite familiar with the matters in Qingfeng City, even aware of the recently famous Chen Ming.

Sun Shicai calmly stated, "I need him alive. As long as you can capture him, I can help you unload that batch of goods from last time."

"Looks like you have quite a deep-seated grudge with your junior brother."

The masked man mocked, "When?"

"As soon as possible."

"Alright."

The masked figure said, then swiftly leaped out of the door.

Sun Shicai looked at the empty hall, pondering if there were any details he might have missed.

When he did things, he always prepared for multiple outcomes.

Knowing the master passed on the legacy to Chen Ming, he naturally wouldn’t hold back, but he couldn’t take on Chen Ming directly himself.

Therefore, he could only ask the pirates for assistance.

The scheme to frame Chunhe Hall was to capture Chen Ming’s elder brother.

With a hostage in hand, Chen Ming would have no choice but to comply.

At the thought, Sun Shicai felt a surge of heat in his heart.

With the sect’s legacy left by the old master, he would soon break through to Sixth Grade, and enter the ranks of true experts.

Though only a single grade separated Seventh from Sixth, it marked a fundamental difference.

Sun Shicai, endowed with excellent talent, had reached the peak of Seventh Grade at under thirty. Had the old master been willing to pass on the secret earlier, he would have already broken through to Sixth Grade.

...

At dawn, before the sky lightened, Sun Shicai was already up practicing. He never skipped the two hours of morning Pile Skill, taught by Huo Chengkun in the "Dragon and Tiger Stance."

He had just finished when the tall man from last night approached, flattering, "Senior Brother has reached Qi-Blood Perfection and still practices diligently every day. Such perseverance commands respect."

Sun Shicai wiped away sweat with a silk cloth, "Speak of the matter at hand."

"The person is ready. Once it’s past noon, the person will die, and will be sent to Chunhe Hall."

"Good."

Sun Shicai nodded, seeing he didn’t leave, asked, "Is there something else?"

The man rubbed his hands, "Senior Brother, I’ve made no progress in my skills for several months, so I seek some guidance."

Sun Shicai glanced at him, "It’s simple, you switched to ’Dragon and Tiger Stance’ too soon. The foundation wasn’t solidified, making progress increasingly difficult."

"Why is that?"

"Eldest Brother once said, ’Iron Horse Stance’ is for building foundation. The stronger the foundation, the higher future achievements. Didn’t you cultivate ’Iron Horse Stance’ to the fourth layer?"

The man answered sheepishly, "The progression of ’Iron Horse Stance’ is too slow. Eldest Brother said it would take at least another one or two years to reach the fourth layer. I couldn’t wait..." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Sun Shicai said blandly, "That’s the price for taking shortcuts."

The man further asked, "Senior Brother, up to which layer did you cultivate the ’Iron Horse Stance’?"

"Just reached the fifth layer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t completed." In Sun Shicai’s tone, there was a note of regret.

"Why not?"

"At that time, I’d exceeded twenty, and Master said there wasn’t much point in continuing ’Iron Horse Stance,’ so he taught me ’Fierce Tiger Stance,’ which made rapid progress."

"Does that mean completing the fifth layer of ’Iron Horse Stance’ before twenty brings great benefits?"

Sun Shicai’s face turned cold, "Who knows? When did Master ever tell us such things?"

While speaking, someone suddenly ran over in a hurry and said anxiously, "Master, something’s wrong..."

Sun Shicai said with displeasure, "What has you this frantic?"

"Someone went to the Admiral’s Mansion, accusing you of murdering the master—"

"What?"