"We’re here to kill you!"

Three masked men wielding short blades spoke with a cold tone, and the entire courtyard was filled with a murderous aura.

Chen Ming’s eyes narrowed as he silently recited the incantation in his mind, and his status panel quietly opened.

[Level: 30]

[Current Points: 7500]

[Cultivation Technique: "Iron Horse Stance" (Fifth Level Perfection), "Three Yang Body Refining Skill" (Seventh Level 101/50000)]

[Martial Skill: "Three Talents Fist" (Mastery), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Mastery), Zhuang’s Flying Knife (Mastery), Swallow Returning Sword Technique (Proficient 4884/10000)]

"Allocate points!"

He quickly raised the "Swallow Returning Sword Technique" to mastery.

The remaining points were all added to the "Three Yang Body Refining Skill."

Immediately, the values on the panel changed.

[Level: 30]

[Current Points: 0]

[Cultivation Technique: "Iron Horse Stance" (Fifth Level Perfection), "Three Yang Body Refining Skill" (Seventh Level 2485/50000)]

[Martial Skill: "Three Talents Fist" (Mastery), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Mastery), Zhuang’s Flying Knife (Mastery), Swallow Returning Sword Technique (Mastery)]

In an instant, a torrent of realization flooded his mind.

At the same time, a surge of heat coursed through his body, quickly spreading to every limb and joint.

Just then, the tallest masked man suddenly spoke, "Brother Knife, you forgot. Brother Seven said we should capture him alive, not kill him."

"..."

The one addressed as Brother Knife had a vein visibly bulging on his forehead and angrily said, "Stay quiet, or no one will take you for a mute."

The man spoke with a somewhat aggrieved tone, "But Brother Seven explicitly said to take him alive..."

"Alright, say no more." Another person tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to shut up.

Clearly, the big guy wasn’t very bright; their patience with him was due to understanding as companions.

Thanks to the interruption, Chen Ming had regained his composure and felt somewhat more confident.

Pirates are desperate men who live by the edge of the blade, incomparable to those pampered young noblemen.

At lower grades, especially among martial artists of the same level, cultivation isn’t always the decisive factor.

First, look at the mastery of techniques; second, the ability to adapt; third, the courage.

That’s why the ruthless pirates are far more terrifying than ordinary martial artists.

These three were likely more troublesome than Sun Shicai.

Chen Ming could easily kill Sun Shicai because he was well-versed in the "Five Elements Saber Technique" and was aware of every variation of Sun Shicai’s moves, allowing him to counter them in advance.

But he had no knowledge of what these three were skilled at.

...

At this moment, Brother Knife sinisterly said, "You’ve heard it, will you come with us quietly, or should we break your limbs before taking you?"

Chen Ming gently stroked the hilt of his saber, glanced at the three of them, "Are you coming at me one by one, or all at once?"

The big guy angrily shouted, "Alright, so you dare to look down on us. Let me see what you’re made of."

Infuriated, he attacked violently.

Brother Knife was so angry that he almost blew his top while glaring at his companion: Why did you bring this fool along?

The companion was helpless: If we didn’t bring him, who knows what trouble he’d cause on his own.

As the two exchanged glances, the "fool" had already engaged in a fight with Chen Ming.

Though this person wasn’t very smart, his skills were solid. His moves were unpredictable, throwing Chen Ming into confusion.

"He’s Seventh Grade!"

Upon engaging, Chen Ming tested the opponent’s cultivation and initially felt assured while dealing with the weird moves and keeping part of his focus on the two others.

In a flash, they had exchanged more than ten moves.

"Why is it this move again?"

Chen Ming noticed that the big guy used the same move for the third time, which sparked a bold guess in his mind: Could he only know these few moves?

Though the person’s moves were unusual, having seen them before made them easier to handle.

Sure enough, when the next move came, the opponent used the same technique again.

He immediately switched from defense to offense, and with a sweep of his saber, executing "Silver River Pouring," easily broke the opponent’s move, and with a twist of his blade, cut toward his opponent’s wrist.

"Ouch!"

The big guy reacted quickly, immediately dropping his knife, retracting his hand, and swiftly retreating to his companions, exclaiming, "Brother Knife, this guy’s saber skills are formidable, I can’t beat him."

[You defeated an LV38 opponent, gaining 1000 experience points]

Chen Ming was quite surprised that he conceded so easily?

The system determines victory by either knocking someone down or if the opponent directly concedes, even verbally.

So theoretically, you can exploit the system’s bug this way.

However, finding someone many levels higher willing to concede is incredibly difficult.

...

Brother Knife looked at Chen Ming with growing seriousness and shouted, "This one’s tough. Let’s get him together."

The big guy might be foolish, but his few strange moves were hard to deal with. The first time encountering him, even Brother Knife was somewhat at a loss.

The two attacked simultaneously, charging at Chen Ming.

They were also of Seventh Grade cultivation.

Chen Ming guarded tightly with his longsword, saying, "If I’m not mistaken, you were sent by Sun Shicai, right?"

"What Sun Shicai or Shicai Lord, I don’t know him. This kid’s strength can’t match ours. Stone, let’s go all out."

Brother Knife indeed had battle experience, noticing although Chen Ming’s saber techniques were exquisite, they had weaknesses.

The two cooperated seamlessly, attacking from front and back, putting Chen Ming in a difficult position. The greatest threat was there was still another person on the side.

If he hadn’t perfected the "Swallow Returning Sword Technique," he definitely couldn’t handle this situation.

The strength of these two people was only slightly weaker than Sun Shicai, but they posed a far greater threat than Sun Shicai.

Chen Ming continued, "Sun Shicai is already dead. Capturing me would be meaningless. If you don’t believe me, you can go back and ask your leader..."

As he spoke, the two attackers became more aggressive, each move targeting vital points with vicious precision, unaffected by his words.

Bang!

Bang! 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Several times, there was no way to avoid the attack, and Chen Ming could only take them head-on. After a few exchanges, his arm felt numb, and the pain in the base of his thumb was intense, making it almost impossible to hold the saber.

Upon seeing him expose a flaw, another person cheered, "He’s almost done!"

Suddenly, he lunged forward, aiming a short blade at Chen Ming’s shoulder.

Just as he was about to strike, his eyes suddenly caught a flash of white light.

Not good!

Frightened, he managed only to twist his body, feeling pain in his chest as he screamed miserably and fell to the ground.

This unexpected development shocked everyone.

Knife Brother was both angry and surprised, yelling, "Stone!"

Instead of retreating, he advanced with a strike from above, aiming at Chen Ming’s head.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

He heard the sound of something cutting through the air, and three flashes of white light shot toward his chest.

With a quick turn of his short blade, he blocked the three flying knives, ready to finish off Chen Ming, when suddenly his abdomen ached, a surprise not to be underestimated.

"When did I get hit by the knife?"

Clearly, there had been only three flying knives just now; how did one appear out of nowhere?

For a moment, he was unnerved and shouted, "It’s tight, pull back."

Then he flipped over the wall and vanished.

The other two were quick to react as well, with the big guy helping up the wounded Stone and slipping away.

Chen Ming felt relieved yet regretful that he hadn’t managed to kill these two. Their reactions were so quick. At the critical moment, they avoided vital spots, making it impossible to achieve a one-hit kill.

[You defeated a level 39 enemy and gained 1100 experience points.]

[You defeated a level 37 enemy and gained 900 experience points.]

However, gaining a total of three thousand experience points was somewhat comforting.

This Flying Knife Skill, used for the first time in combat, worked like magic. In a critical moment, it turned defeat into victory. Otherwise, it would have been hard to escape this calamity today.

He thought with some relief, "This Sun Shicai is truly insidious, framing my brother on one hand and having pirates ambush me on the other. Luckily, I struck first and killed him."

...

Chen Ming walked out of the gate, quickly spotting Chunxiang and Xiaxiang on the other side of the street, looking anxious.

"Second Master!"

The two maids rushed over, their eyes reddened, "Are you okay?"

Chen Ming said, "I’m fine. How about Sister-in-law and Lide and Lirong?"

"As per your previous instructions, we sent them directly to the pharmacy."

"Good."

Only then did Chen Ming feel at ease.

Since he knew Sun Shicai was up to no good, he took precautions. The words to Chunxiang and Xiaxiang earlier were actually a code.

Indicating danger at home, instructing them to quickly take Sister-in-law Wei and his nephew and niece away from Chen Mansion to a safe place.

Chunxiang asked, "Second Master, do we need to move back to the old mansion this time?"

"No need."

Qingfeng City is likely going to enforce martial law next; if those pirates dare show up, they’ll surely face death.

At night, when Brother and Sister-in-law returned home, there was naturally another round of explanations.

...

The night was dim.

Outside, the sound of steady marching could be heard, coming hurriedly and leaving swiftly.

Chen Ming sat in the courtyard, his right hand grasped by Chunxiang, who was applying medicine.

His thumb was split, causing some injury, which would probably take three to five days to heal.

"The Six Gates reacted quite swiftly."

He thought to himself.

Clearly, the incident of young masters from noble families being attacked had already reached Zhao Shouchang, prompting a thorough investigation in the city.

As he pondered, Xiaxiang suddenly walked in quickly, "Second Master, there’s someone outside with the surname Zhao, saying they want to see you."

A person with the surname Zhao?

Chen Ming found it a bit odd; there was indeed someone with the surname Zhao he knew, but Xiaxiang recognized them all. Her words indicated she hadn’t seen this person before.

In the middle of the night, with martial law outside...

He said, "Bring them in."

Xiaxiang hesitated for a moment, quietly asked, "Bring them here?"

"Yes."

After a while, when Xiaxiang brought the person in, Chen Ming finally understood why she hesitated. He stood up abruptly, shocked, "Miss Zhao? Why... why are you here?"

The visitor turned out to be the daughter of Admiral Zhao Shouchang. Although disguised in men’s attire, it was obvious to a discerning eye what her true gender was.

She only brought along a maid, casually fanning herself, wearing a mischievous smile, seemingly satisfied with his surprise.

"Brother Chen, how have you been?"

PS: Third update asking for a monthly ticket. Nine thousand words, truly pushing the limit. As usual, the first update tomorrow around eleven in the morning.