Early the next morning, Gu Yuantao visited again. Upon seeing Chen Ming, he asked with a stern face, "Have you been holding back on me all this time?"

Chen Ming did not expect this question and replied, "That depends on how you interpret the situation."

Gu Yuantao stared into his eyes, "I just want to know why you did it."

He had heard the news of Chen Ming killing Sun Shicai at the Admiral’s Mansion yesterday and was greatly shocked.

A few years back, his older brother had fought Sun Shicai once, ending in a draw. It showed Sun Shicai’s prowess.

Yet to this day, he hadn’t reached the heights his brother had before.

Comparing the two, he realized that Chen Ming had been holding back when sparring with him.

"Sit down."

When they reached the courtyard where he lived, Chen Ming invited him to sit. After organizing his thoughts, he said, "Brother Gu comes from a prestigious family, so it’s only natural you can’t understand a martial artist like me, who doesn’t have a legacy. For me, continuously sparring with others, encountering various martial arts, and learning from them is the only way to continuously improve my saber technique. Brother Gu’s swordsmanship is honed to perfection and is extremely classic. Every time I spar with Brother Gu, I gain insights."

Gu Yuantao seemed to accept this explanation and did not press the matter further. Instead, he made a request, "I want to see how large the gap is between us, so I hope Brother Chen won’t hold back."

Chen Ming looked at him, saw the determination in his eyes, and agreed, "Alright."

This is a true martial arts enthusiast, actively seeking to endure hardship.

...

A moment later.

With a clanging sound, the long sword in Gu Yuantao’s hand flew out, spinning several times in the air before embedding itself in the gap between the stone slabs.

He stood there, dazed, without any reaction for a long time.

Three moves!

He couldn’t even take three moves from Chen Ming. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Moreover, Chen Ming’s right hand was injured, and he was using his left hand.

Was the gap really this vast?

After a long while, light returned to Gu Yuantao’s eyes. He silently walked over, pulled out the treasure sword from the ground, cupped his hands toward Chen Ming, and turned to leave.

Watching his desolate figure, Chen Ming thought a bit regretfully that, after receiving such a blow, he probably wouldn’t come back again.

...

In the following days, Six Gates began to take action, arresting people left and right, rigorously investigating those with unclear origins, and fights frequently broke out.

Chen Ming naturally stayed indoors and only sent people to gather information.

Zhuang Xiaotian took time to visit a few times, sharing with Chen Ming the news he knew.

It can now be confirmed that eight young masters from noble families are missing.

Additionally, four others encountered attacks, but because they had experts beside them, they managed to escape the First Tribulation.

Among the missing eight were Tian Qiming and Wang Ruisheng, whom Chen Ming had crossed paths with at the Martial Arts Gathering. There was also the young master from the He Family in Gu Commandery, who once visited Wu Martial Arts Hall to "ask after" Old Liu.

He was, in fact, the son of Old Liu’s enemy.

When Chen Ming heard this name, he even wondered if Old Liu had a hand in it.

...

On the fifth day after Chen Ming killed Sun Shicai, a Seventh-Grade Patrol Envoy from Six Gates came to visit, specifically asking to see Chen Ming.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Ming hurried out to greet him. He saw a man in his thirties, dressed in a blue official robe, and greeted him, "My lord, may I ask why you are seeking Chen?"

The patrol envoy laughed heartily and said warmly, "Master Chen Er is indeed as handsome and suave as the rumors say. My name is Chen Yong, and technically, we are from the same family."

"Lord Chen, you flatter me."

Chen Ming was somewhat puzzled; he didn’t know this person. Wasn’t his enthusiasm a bit over the top?

Chen Yong said, "A few days ago, was Master Chen not attacked by bandits? According to your description, we’ve caught three people and would like you to come and identify them."

"This—"

Chen Ming was already thinking about how to refuse.

For such a matter, would a Seventh-Grade Patrol Envoy personally come to visit? Impossible.

He sensed the smell of conspiracy.

At this moment, Chen Yong whispered, "Miss instructed me to come, saying it was to fulfill a promise."

Miss?

Chen Ming was taken aback, "The Miss Lord Chen mentioned is?"

Chen Yong smiled, "I’m originally a servant in the household of Lord Admiral. I’m used to calling her Miss."

So it was Zhao Xiyan who sent him.

Chen Ming recalled her saying a few nights ago that she would help him find a place to spar with others. He thought she’d forgotten, given her busy life as a noble.

He said, "I didn’t expect you to be a close confidant of Lord Admiral. I’m honored. In that case, let’s go."

...

Chen Ming followed Chen Yong to the Great Prison at the Six Gates Government Office.

This wasn’t the place Chen Ming was previously held; back then, he was just an ordinary person and didn’t qualify to be locked up here.

The Great Prison at Six Gates only held martial artists.

The guard here was stringent, with fully armed armored warriors stationed everywhere.

The gate of the prison was entirely forged from steel. Once closed, even a Third Grade expert couldn’t break through.

Holding the writ, Chen Yong successfully brought Chen Ming inside.

As the gate opened, the sound of mechanisms echoed, reminiscent of a gear structure.

Once they entered the Great Prison, the gate closed again.

Chen Ming felt the temperature around him drop a few degrees.

Chen Yong introduced, "There are three layers here. Below the Seventh Grade, they are all held on the first layer. The ’A’ level cells hold Ninth Grade and Eighth Grade prisoners, while Seventh Grade prisoners are all in the ’B’ level. You just pass through that door."

As Chen Ming walked through, he saw many prisoners reaching their hands out of their cells, loudly proclaiming their innocence.

He asked, "Are these people recently caught?"

Recently, Six Gates had been arresting people everywhere. Whether they could catch the culprits who attacked the noble scions was uncertain, but one thing was for sure: the public order in Qingfeng City would improve significantly for the next year or two.

"Yes, all people with unclear backgrounds, including many pirate informants and spies from enemy nations. Of course, there are also innocent people. But since they can’t prove their innocence, they can only consider themselves unlucky."

"Yeah, encountering a crackdown, how can they not be unlucky?"

As they chatted, the two finally passed through the middle door into the ’B’ level cells.

The temperature inside dropped a few degrees.

The number of prisoners in cell B was noticeably fewer.

"This is the person assisting this official in interrogating the prisoners."

Chen Yong introduced Chen Ming’s identity to the prison guards, with the official order in hand; naturally, whatever he said went. The prison guards wouldn’t ask unnecessary questions.

Before long, the guards led the two to a prison cell, "These are the three caught just yesterday, smelling of the sea; no need for interrogation to know they make a living at sea."

Chen Yong asked Chen Ming, "Is it these three?"

"Yes."

Chen Ming recognized at once that the three guys inside were the ones who ambushed him at home a few days ago.

Chen Yong ordered the prison guards, "Open the door."

Once the guard opened the door, he patted Chen Ming’s shoulder and said, "Go ahead. As long as you don’t kill them, you can deal with them however you like."

So, the place Zhao Xiyan mentioned where you could spar with anyone you wanted, and they wouldn’t refuse, was the Six Gates’ prison?

One must admit, she had some interesting ideas.

Chen Ming’s eyes lit up and suddenly grabbed the departing Chen Yong, saying, "Does that apply to all the prisoners here?"

Chen Yong smiled, "Of course. But it’s best not to kill anyone; otherwise, it might be a bit troublesome."

Just "a bit troublesome" meant that killing one or two wasn’t a big deal.

Chen Ming was genuinely a bit surprised that the daughter of an admiral had such influence.

From small things, one can see how severely the system in the Great Jin Dynasty had been corrupted.

...

As Chen Ming walked into the cell, the man on the ground, Brother Dao, looked up, his face changed, and he exclaimed, "It’s you?"

Chen Ming pointed at him and instructed the guards, "Take this man to the interrogation room."

"Yes."

Two guards stepped forward and dragged him away.

"Brother Dao—"

"Brother Dao, you have to hold on, don’t betray Brother Seven..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ming couldn’t help but smile; was that big guy really dumb or just pretending?

Brother Dao shouted, "If you have the guts, let me go and fight me one-on-one..."

Unfortunately, with heavy shackles on his hands and feet and his collarbone pierced, he couldn’t exert any strength, lying there like a cripple, dragged all the way to the interrogation room by two guards.

Called an interrogation room, it was actually a torture room, containing various dreadful instruments of torture, many of which still had bloodstains on them.

As soon as they entered, they were greeted with a bloody smell that seemed never to dissipate.

Brother Dao’s face turned pale at once, and he screamed, "If you’ve got the guts, kill me..."

Chen Ming ignored his façade of bravado and said to the guards, "Kindly trouble you two big brothers to unlock his shackles."

This "big brother" made the two guards feel light as a feather, "The lord is too polite. This person possesses Seventh Grade cultivation and is a desperado. If we unlock him, I’m afraid..."

Chen Ming said, "Don’t worry, with me here, he won’t stir up any trouble."

Seeing him say so, the guards said no more, stepping forward to unlock the shackles on Brother Dao’s hands and feet, and even removed the chain that pierced his collarbone.

At this moment, Brother Dao had quieted down, feeling the shackles removed, the familiar strength returning. He was confused and didn’t know what Chen Ming wanted to do.

The two guards quickly slipped away, not daring to confront the wrath of a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist with their weak strength.

Chen Ming picked a saber from the wall and tossed it to his feet, saying, "Pick it up and fight me. If you can beat me, I’ll let you go."

Brother Dao sneered coldly after hearing this, "A man can be killed but not humiliated. Do you think I will do as you wish? If you’ve got the guts, just kill me."

His abdominal wound had not healed, and he was further injured when captured yesterday; how could he be a match for Chen Ming?

Knowing he couldn’t win, he wouldn’t humiliate himself.

Chen Ming was in no hurry and said, "Do you know there’s a punishment in prison called solitary confinement? Put a person in a small cage where they must squat, cannot sit, and cannot lie down. In complete darkness, seeing nothing and hearing nothing. And it’s half a month long. Can you imagine how it feels?"

Brother Dao shivered uncontrollably upon hearing the description.

Being a pirate, he had seen water torture used to punish disobedient subordinates, but solitary confinement sounded even more terrifying than a water dungeon.

Chen Ming said, "Don’t fight, and you’ll be in solitary for fifteen days. Fight, and even if you lose, you’ll get an extra meal of meat every day. Your choice."

Brother Dao looked at him with bloodshot eyes, picked up the saber, and charged at him madly.

Chen Ming countered with a single saber strike, knocking him down to the ground.

Brother Dao’s strength was now pitifully weak, unable to withstand even one move.

He lay on the ground, unable to get up for quite a while.

[You defeated another LV39 opponent, gaining 550 experience points.]

Seeing this prompt, Chen Ming rejoiced inside.

Finally, I’ve found a loophole!

So the system determines experience points solely based on the opponent’s level. No matter how poor their condition, as long as the level is right, you still get the full experience points.

Once Brother Dao caught his breath, Chen Ming said, "I can give you another chance."

Brother Dao looked at the smile on the young man’s face, as terrifying as the devil’s.

...

When Brother Dao was once again shackled and dragged back to the cell, the big happy fool called Shitou inside the same cell anxiously asked, "Brother Dao, are you okay?"

"Brother Dao, you didn’t spill anything, did you?"

After being thrown inside, Brother Dao lay motionless, his eyes vacant, with no trace of light.

The two men were filled with indignation, "Brother Dao, what did that bastard do to you?"

At this moment, two guards approached, each grabbed one person and dragged them off, "It’s your turn."

"Let me go, I don’t know anything..." Shitou’s face turned pale, struggling desperately.

"I would never betray Brother Seven!" The happy fool shouted.

At this time, Shitou couldn’t hold it in, "Shut up, you fool! If it weren’t for you, how would we have gotten caught?"

The happy fool flew into a rage, "You’re the fool. Clearly, you were discovered by the Six Gates’ people first."

Shitou appeared to be in a frenzy, "Let me go, I’ll kill this idiot first."

PS: Second installment, please vote. The evening Chapter is around eleven o’clock.