Peerless Martial Expert in the City
Chapter 660 - 656: So That’s How It Is

Chapter 660: Chapter 656: So That’s How It Is

(Many thanks to seanzhao88 and Urban Patron for their support with tips, thank you! Tomorrow is Sunday, at least three more updates! For every additional ten monthly tickets or an extra thousand starting coins in tips, one more update will be added! I hope everyone can push the evil youth a bit, give some motivation and pressure, heh heh!)

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Chapter 656: So That’s How It Is

In the beginning, he even thought he was dreaming, unable to believe that one day he would lead such an incredible life, the kind that he never dared to imagine, let alone ever conceived of before.

As a man approaching fifty who had only recently entered the Bone Tempering Period, he was very aware that no matter how arduously he trained, his martial path cultivation didn’t hold much hope for the rest of his life.

With his current strength, he was also quite content. Among tens of millions, how many could enter the Bone Tempering Period and unlock the gate of martial arts like he had?

He certainly wasn’t a frog at the bottom of a well; he had seen other high-level experts and was worldly, so his contentment didn’t stem from ignorance. In fact, he knew many masters, just within the Zhang mansion there were no fewer than a dozen. But he saw clearly that each one of them had been meticulously selected from millions of people all over the country.

Besides, entering the Bone Tempering Period was already so difficult, and martial path cultivation grew exponentially tougher with each step. As he thought about progressing further, the hardships he would face were something he didn’t even dare to imagine.

Moreover, with his natural aptitude, advancing further wasn’t something he could achieve through his own efforts alone anymore. Without the full support of a powerful faction, advancing further was nothing but a dream!

As a member of the Zhang mansion, the only support he could rely on was naturally the mansion itself. But gaining the support of the Zhang mansion, how easy could that be?

Although he was a rare cultivation prodigy among tens of millions, who managed to fight his way into the Bone Tempering Period, the Zhang mansion had so many other masters, almost every one of them more talented than he was. And in terms of connections, he who had always practiced arduously had no background, and couldn’t compare with them. Otherwise, why would he have been assigned to follow a lesser-talented master from a branch family?

So whatever way he looked at it, the chances of getting the Zhang mansion’s support were extremely slim.

If he could no longer advance on the martial path, then what was wrong with living a rich and luxurious life following a master like the one before him? After all, with his current strength, as long as he didn’t encounter any misfortune, living to seventy or eighty years old wouldn’t be a problem. Enjoying a lifetime of blessing was better than constantly suffering in the Zhang mansion, enduring a monotonous life of cultivation, wasn’t it?

To enjoy his current lifestyle, he couldn’t do without the person who provided it, the branch family disciple who, at first, didn’t seem so important in his eyes, even making him feel depressed for a few days when he heard he was assigned to be by his side.

However, this should not be difficult for him. That branch family disciple was just a student after all. To serve him well, he simply had to follow his wishes and discipline some short-sighted fellows at school.

With his Bone Tempering Period strength, taking care of such minor matters was truly easy. He almost never had to do it himself, just sending out a couple of his subordinates was more than enough.

Just like that fellow what was his name again? Seemed to be surnamed Xiao, sending Plank and Chopstick to discipline him was way more than enough, it was using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken.

If it weren’t for the fact that the guy was lucky these past few days, not going to school and hiding who knows where, he would have already been beaten to a pulp and lying in a hospital bed.

But even if he managed to dodge the initial trouble, he wouldn’t escape forever. He finally seemed to have gone to school this morning, huh huh, calculating the time, shouldn’t it be about time? Why hasn’t Chopstick called back yet?

Zhang Fang frowned, reached for his phone, and considered whether to call and check on the situation.

"Buzz..."

Just as Zhang Fang was deciding whether to make the call, his phone buzzed violently, preempting his actions.

It was Chopstick’s call!

He must have taken care of the kid, right? He wondered how well he’d disciplined him. He hoped Chopstick hadn’t been too harsh, it wouldn’t do to have killed the boy—that would be troublesome, and he’d inevitably have to smooth things over.

Zhang Fang abruptly picked up the phone, saw the caller ID, and a slight, relieved smile appeared on his face as he pressed the answer key, "How’d it go, Chopstick? You took care of that kid, right? I’m telling you, you better have shown some restraint; you can’t go killing him..."

"Zhang... Master Zhang, we’ve got trouble!"

On the other end of the line, the man who had just escaped from Xiao Yi’s subordinates and rushed into the crowd with a companion on his back, looked anxious and nervous as he held the phone. The moment the connection was made, he had intended to speak, but didn’t expect Master Zhang to speak first, and so quickly at that. Completely misunderstanding his intent, his urgency mounted. As soon as he found a pause in Master Zhang’s words, he hurriedly interrupted, speaking frantically.

"What do you mean by ’not good’?"

Zhang Fang’s expression froze for a moment before he suddenly felt that things might not be developing in the direction he had anticipated. The tone of the person on the phone didn’t seem at all like someone who had given that kid a lesson—could there have been some accident, or was the caller playing some trick?

Zhang Fang’s face instantly darkened.

"Master Zhang, this time, we have completely screwed up!"

On the other end of the phone, the man reported with a look of utter dismay, "The other party isn’t just some student who knows a couple of tricks but a real master! Plank didn’t even survive a single move against him—all the bones in his hand were shattered, and I’m rushing him to the hospital right now!"

"What?"

Upon hearing the report from the other side of the phone, Zhang Fang could no longer stand still. His entire body abruptly rose from his chair, his face displaying an expression of utter shock as he exclaimed, "Plank didn’t even withstand a single move?"

"Yes, Master Zhang, I’m not uttering half a lie. Actually, saying Plank didn’t withstand a single move is somewhat inaccurate. The other party didn’t even strike—he was injured directly!" The man at the other end of the line recalled the scene of his companion being injured and the terrifying feeling when the young man with slightly squinted eyes looked at him. His body shivered again as he nervously said, "Master Zhang, the other party... he must be an expert like you! You... you should also be careful!"

Not even one move?

Even, without striking, he directly took out Plank?

Zhang Fang’s hand, tightly gripping the receiver, buzzed in his head, and he was completely stunned, not even hearing what was said on the phone afterward.

He knew very well the strength of his two men; although they did not have any martial path cultivation, both were from the army and not just any army but a special forces unit. They were extraordinarily skilled and most notably, ruthless and precise in their attacks with no unnecessary movements and lethal force. When he took charge, he had personally tested their strength. Even under his hands, the two of them together could last ten moves without defeat!

He never tried their solo combat ability, but he presumed that even if he gave it his all, it was absolutely not likely that he could take down the opponent in one move!

"Master Zhang... I... I had no choice just now; if I didn’t say it, I might not even have had the chance to call you!"

The man on the phone, hearing no response for a long time, thought Master Zhang was angry and suddenly became panic-stricken, aware that offending him could have severe consequences, not to mention Master Zhang’s skills, which he had experienced himself. The man feared what might happen if Master Zhang wasn’t satisfied with his earlier divulgence and decided to take it out on him.

"I understand now. Tell me carefully, what exactly happened just now? How was Plank injured?"

Zhang Fang finally snapped out of it, his expression darkening as he spoke in a heavy voice.

"Yes, it was... just now, Plank and I..."

The man, sensing from Zhang Fang’s words that he wasn’t looking to blame him, immediately breathed a sigh of relief and began to recount, in earnest, the entire event of Plank getting injured, not daring to leave out a single detail—even how he had divulged Master Zhang’s information. Of course, he did not mention that he had given up Master Zhang without Xiao Yi laying a finger on him but rather under the immense pressure from Xiao Yi’s threats.

So that’s what happened!

Hearing the details of the injury over the phone, and learning that Plank was injured after striking Xiao Yi and then falling to the ground, Zhang Fang’s originally solemn face relaxed, and he let out a sigh of relief.

I knew it, just a little student, roughly twenty years old, how could he possibly be so formidable, stronger than me? Turns out, the so-called ’without striking a single move’ was like this.

These two fools had no idea about the difference between people who had entered the martial path cultivation and practitioners like themselves!

Attacking that kid in such a manner was simply courting death. The opponent probably had long been ready, prepared for him to jump in, and then used Dark Energy to break Plank’s hand bones.

If that’s the case, as long as he made sufficient preparations, he could do it too. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)