"You’re asking to die!"

"That’s mine!!"

Although this was Zhao Cheng’s residence, it was just a simple courtyard, not some complex with multiple sections. The moment he stepped inside, Qin Fang saw several groups of people already trying to kill each other.

Flames flickered; someone had set the doors and windows on fire. In the shifting light, about a dozen men, split into several groups, were hacking away at one another.

The leaping flames made their faces flicker in and out of the shadows, revealing expressions of pure savagery and greed.

"They’re all from the Water Dragon Gang..."

Monkey observed from the side, then gritted his teeth and whispered.

As their sworn enemies, he was naturally familiar with most of the Water Dragon Gang’s members.

Qin Fang nodded, his brows furrowing as he looked at the growing fire.

’Dammit... If you’re going to loot a place, just loot it. Why burn the house down?’

’So unprofessional.’

Just as he was grumbling internally, something flashed before his eyes. It was a man, an exquisite box tucked under his left arm, wildly slashing with a short blade in his right hand.

Three or four other men were ganging up on him, their gazes locked on the box, their eyes filled with greed.

They didn’t even notice Qin Fang and Monkey come in.

’The box is exquisite. It probably holds something valuable.’

Qin Fang raised an eyebrow. Without a moment’s hesitation, the Iron Nail in his hand shot out.

"Dammit, stop! We can split..."

The man with the box was already on the ropes, having been cut several times by his attackers. Unable to hold on any longer, he shouted, apparently trying to negotiate a deal to split the loot.

But his attackers had no intention of stopping. Halfway through his sentence, the man’s head suddenly snapped back, and his entire body went rigid.

The next moment, a blade plunged deep into his abdomen.

Struck by another devastating blow, the man’s eyes shot wide open.

None of them noticed anything strange before he was stabbed. Instead, their eyes lit up, and they started to move forward.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

With three soft sounds, three of the men suddenly went rigid and collapsed to the ground.

The last man, who had been rushing forward, was stunned by this sudden turn of events. He instinctively looked down at his comrades...

One of the fallen men’s heads was turned toward him. In the flickering firelight, he saw it clearly...

A bloody hole, starkly visible on the man’s forehead.

’This is...’

’A Hidden Weapon?!’

His eyes shot wide, and he looked up in horror.

Then he saw the two figures at the entrance.

One was a dark, skinny young man, who stood to the side, looking with reverence at the other young man before him.

’So tall...’

His first reaction was that the man was incredibly tall, easily clearing seven feet. He was a good two heads taller than the man behind him.

He instinctively tilted his head up, trying to get a look at the man’s face.

But at that exact moment, the man raised his hand.

In the next instant, he faintly saw a black gleam shoot from the man’s hand.

He didn’t even have time to react.

He clearly heard a sharp CRACK, and a sudden warmth bloomed between his eyes.

In the next instant, his eyes went wide, and his consciousness faded to black...

The corpse toppled to the ground.

Watching Qin Fang eliminate five men so effortlessly, Monkey couldn’t stop his whole body from trembling...

’He’d seen Master Qin in action on the road before.’

’But no matter how many times he saw it... he was still left shaken and breathless with awe.’

’...How could an ordinary Iron Nail become so terrifying in Master Qin’s hands?’

As he was marveling at the sight...

"Shit!! The Expert in Hidden Weapons is here!! Run!!!"

A terrified, almost distorted scream suddenly erupted from the back of the courtyard.

Qin Fang instinctively turned his head and saw the remaining six or seven men, who had been fighting fiercely just moments ago, all staring at him.

Their faces were deathly pale, their eyes filled with utter terror.

’...Someone had clearly seen him kill those five men.’

In the next instant, they acted with extreme decisiveness. Without a shred of hesitation, they scattered with a sudden rush, scrambling madly for the courtyard walls.

One man near a wall ran two or three steps up its surface and vaulted onto the top!

Qin Fang’s brow twitched, and an Iron Nail shot from his hand!

The Iron Nail was incredibly fast. The man was already on top of the wall, the world outside in his sights. He believed that if he could just jump, he had a good chance of making it out alive...

But just as he prepared to leap, a black gleam shot into the back of his head. His body went rigid, then fell limply from the wall.

The others who saw this were scared out of their wits.

Those near the walls tried to climb over them to escape.

But a pair of men further from the walls grew desperate.

They could see clearly that the man’s Hidden Weapon was too terrifying. If they turned their backs to run for the wall, they’d likely be struck down before they even got there.

Now, seeing him kill one man and already reaching for another Iron Nail, one of them snapped, a mix of fear and desperation driving him mad.

"Die!!!"

He suddenly charged, raising his long saber to bring it crashing down on Qin Fang’s head, his face a mask of pure ferocity.

Seeing this, Monkey panicked. Clutching his short blade, he lunged forward without a second thought, intending to block the blow for Qin Fang.

But Qin Fang merely frowned. In the next instant, he dropped low, kicked off the ground, and shot forward with far greater speed, closing the distance and driving himself inside his opponent’s guard.

The next instant, Qin Fang put force into his shoulder. A dull THUMP, the Skin Membrane Drum Sound, echoed from within his body as he slammed into the man’s exposed chest.

There was a muffled THUD.

Followed by a sickening CRACK.

To Qin Fang, it felt less like hitting a person and more like smashing into a block of soft styrofoam.

The man, meanwhile, looked as if he’d been hit by a wild bull, his entire body sent flying backward.

His entire chest had caved in from the force of the blow!

The man sprayed a fine mist of blood in mid-air. He struggled for a moment after landing, staring wide-eyed at Qin Fang, before his head slumped to one side and he breathed his last.

Monkey froze mid-stride, then let out a long breath, feeling a little embarrassed...

’Who was Master Qin? He certainly didn’t need my help.’

Qin Fang himself was also a bit stunned...

’That collision just now... felt amazing.’

’It wasn’t like hitting a living person at all... more like smashing into a giant piece of styrofoam!’

’...That’s it.’

’He had been practicing the Wild Bull Hundred Forgings for a week or so now. In that time, he’d broken countless sandbags... Just yesterday, he had even replaced the sand inside with gravel...’

’When he’d charged just now, he had subconsciously braced himself as if he were hitting a bag of gravel...’

’Hitting the sturdy gravel bag would have made his shoulder ache.’

’But hitting a person... he hadn’t felt a thing!’

His eyes brightened...

’With a Training Method, the Root Skill is finally complete.’

’He was clearly on a whole other level compared to when he first broke through to the Mingjin realm!’

"Master Qin... they’re getting away..."

Monkey’s anxious voice broke through Qin Fang’s daze.

Snapping out of it, Qin Fang saw that one of the remaining men had just jumped off the wall.

Two others were already on top of it.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Fang flicked his wrist. Iron Nails shot out, felling the two men who had just reached the top. One tumbled back into the courtyard, while the other fell outside.

Qin Fang’s figure blurred as he dashed forward, leaping onto the wall in a single bound. A quick scan of the area revealed a figure fleeing for his life in the distance.

He pinched an Iron Nail between his fingers and flicked his wrist.

WHOOSH!

A black gleam shot through the air in pursuit.

The fleeing figure suddenly went rigid. His own momentum sent him tumbling forward, skidding to a halt on his face. His body bent backward at an almost impossible, back-breaking angle, but instead of snapping, he just rolled twice before lying completely still...

’That kind of momentum... shows you just how desperate he was to get away.’

But in the end, he didn’t make it.

Qin Fang scanned the area outside the wall for a moment longer. Confirming there was no one else, he jumped back down into the courtyard.

He glanced around. Seeing no one else left alive in the courtyard, he walked toward the corpse by the entrance, the one still clutching the box.

’...What could be in this box?’

He thought to himself.

"Master Qin, I’ll go search inside. The fire’s getting bigger. Wouldn’t want any Silver Notes to get burned up."

Monkey quickly volunteered from the side.

Qin Fang raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Go on."

Monkey immediately took his leave and ran into the house.

Qin Fang, meanwhile, crouched down and opened the box.

One look, and his eyes lit up...