Chapter 562 - 273: I’m Glad I Have You

Chapter 562: Chapter 273: I’m Glad I Have You

However, the situation in Sanmen Prefecture was extremely chaotic. The Major Sects fought endlessly over various resources, and even Mr. Zheng had clashed with Stewards from other Sects several times.

An ancient’s cave mansion in Sanmen Prefecture was set to open within a few months, and the conflict between the Major Sects would only intensify then.

Given Mr. Zheng’s Martial Arts Power, it was very likely he would encounter danger.

Although Luo Mingyu hadn’t said it outright, his meaning was clear: neither the Zheng Martial Arts Hall nor the Luo Family would be moving to Su State City for the time being.

Everything would have to wait until the situation in Sanmen Prefecture stabilized.

Mr. Zheng’s safety was tied to the fate of the Zheng Martial Arts Hall and the Luo Family. Luo Yunzhi was naturally worried and had come to discuss the matter with Chen Cheng the moment she received the letter.

Chen Cheng understood her implication. If anything happened to his master, Mr. Zheng, he would become the sole pillar of support for the Zheng Martial Arts Hall and the Luo Family.

"With my master’s Martial Arts Power, he should be able to protect himself. You don’t need to worry too much, Sixth Madam.

As long as I’m here, nothing will happen to the Zheng Martial Arts Hall or the Luo Family."

Chen Cheng reassured her.

Gazing at the calm, unperturbed, and handsome face before her, Luo Yunzhi felt a mix of relief and gratification.

Back then, on a whim, she had decided to cultivate this young man. She never imagined that one day, she would have to rely on him to protect her entire family.

"Ah Cheng, thank goodness for you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do."

Luo Yunzhi stood and gave a solemn bow.

"Sixth Madam, you mustn’t!" Chen Cheng quickly reached out to support her. "You have shown me great kindness by nurturing my talent, and my master’s grace toward me is as heavy as a mountain. Aren’t you embarrassing me by doing this?"

"Alas, it’s my fault for losing my composure." Luo Yunzhi sighed softly. "I’ve long known that you are a man who values loyalty and friendship, Ah Cheng."

...

After seeing Luo Yunzhi off, Chen Cheng returned to the Cyan Dragon Courtyard and went straight into his side room.

The Iron Balls, Iron Beads, and other items for cultivating the Dragon’s Roar Iron Cloth Shirt had all been moved to the front yard. The side room was empty and exceptionally quiet.

With the doors and windows closed, it became a secret chamber for Cultivating the Martial Dao.

Chen Cheng stood tall, his eyes slightly closed, his thoughts gradually drifting.

’This world is far more dangerous than I ever imagined.’

’Even for someone at Master Mr. Zheng’s level, it’s still incredibly difficult to secure a safe place for himself.’

’With my current Martial Arts Power, I can’t help my master at all.’

"If I could cultivate a Second Layer Realm, perhaps I could lend Master a hand," Chen Cheng muttered to himself, then shook his head.

’No, that won’t work. Master has already touched the threshold of the Third Layer Realm. If he encounters danger, it will surely be far beyond the level of a Second Layer Realm. I still won’t be able to help.

My Martial Arts Power... it’s still too weak!’

He glanced at his panel.

[Skills: Secret Skill: Concealment (Beginner Level 90/100)]

’I should focus on cultivating the Concealment Secret Skill to Small Success first!’

Muttering to himself, Chen Cheng held his breath, focused his mind, and began his Cultivation.

Lately, besides cultivating the Iron Armor Dragon Elephant Skill and the Dragon Elephant Bone Forging Technique, Chen Cheng had focused most of his energy on the Dragon Roar Realm and the Infinite Realm.

Cultivating a Realm was more about comprehension and required a great deal of Spiritual Power.

He had only used his spare time to casually practice the Concealment Secret Skill, so his progress hadn’t been significant. In fact, he had been surpassed by Mu Xiaowan, who had ample time and heaven-defying comprehension abilities.

Having witnessed the breath-concealing effect Mu Xiaowan could achieve with the Concealment Secret Skill, Chen Cheng was determined to master it as soon as possible.

The Concealing Breath effect might seem useless, but it was actually a deadly weapon, perfect for playing the pig to eat the tiger and launching sneak attacks.

Imagine it: on a dark and stormy night, a masked Martial Artist who appears to only have the strength of the Bone Forging Realm suddenly unleashes the power of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, thrashing Marrow Cleansing or even Organ Refining Realm Martial Artists. What a beautiful sight that would be.

Besides, he wasn’t far from his goal. It wouldn’t delay his other Cultivation by much.

[Cultivation Progress for Concealment Secret Skill has increased.]

...

「Two days later.」

Chen Cheng activated his body’s full Qi Blood Power. His projected aura suddenly became incomparably tyrannical, already very close to that of an ordinary Marrow Cleansing Realm Perfection Martial Artist.

Then, it gradually weakened, finally stabilizing at the level of an ordinary Great Success Martial Artist of the Bone Forging Realm.

"Whoa! This Concealment Secret Skill truly is profound!" Chen Cheng revealed a satisfied smile.

He glanced at his panel.

[Skills: Secret Skill: Concealment (Small Success 1/1000) Small Success Effect: Concealing Breath. Maximizes the concealment of one’s projected aura. The effect is related to the strength of one’s physique and the Cultivation Progress of the Concealment Secret Skill.]

’My physique is far stronger than Xiaowan’s, and the Iron Armor Dragon Elephant Skill, an Inner Breath Technique, also has some breath-concealing properties. That’s why the effect I can produce is much stronger than hers.

But this Concealment Secret Skill is truly difficult to cultivate. Even with the panel’s help, it still took me a full two days to increase my progress by just ten points.

Xiaowan started from the Beginner Level and reached Small Success in just a few short months. Her talent is truly terrifying!’

...

In the following days, Chen Cheng once again focused on cultivating the Dragon Roar Realm and the Infinite Realm.

Meanwhile, Linji City slowly grew restless.

Xia Lingfeng personally led the Purple-clothed Guards of the Demon Suppression Department deep into the Great Wilderness Mountain Range.

There, they discovered the hidden Black Lotus Sect Headquarters, which had tens of thousands of followers—men, women, elderly, and children alike.

Among these Black Lotus Sect followers, two to three thousand were Skin Grinding Realm Martial Artists.

Although most of these Martial Artists were cultivated using a Secret Technique and their true combat power was below Great Success in the Skin Grinding Realm, the combined strength of two or three thousand of them was not to be underestimated.

Of the ten thousand-plus Protectorate Army soldiers in Linji Prefecture, most were stationed in the various subordinate counties, leaving only five or six thousand available for deployment.

Such a force was clearly insufficient to eliminate the Black Lotus Sect.

Xiao Nianci conscripted a large number of Swordsmen from the Four Great Clans of the Inner City, and after more than a month, she finally assembled a force of eight thousand men.

However, eliminating the Black Lotus Sect was still no easy task. In addition to the Swordsmen from the various clans, Xiao Nianci also mobilized two Perfect Martial Artists of the Organ Refining Realm: City Lord Jiang Botao and the Shen Family Ancestor, Shen Zhaoyi.

With Xia Lingfeng, that made four Perfect Martial Artists of the Organ Refining Realm who had cultivated a Second Layer Realm—a force powerful enough to annihilate the Black Lotus Sect in one fell swoop.

This eradication campaign would clearly last for several months. After the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the grand army left Linji City and headed for the Great Wilderness Mountain Range.

To prevent any trouble from erupting in Linji City, City Guard Director Mao Yong took command of the remaining one thousand Protectorate Army soldiers and the City Guard Department Officials to maintain order.

As the other highest-ranking official left behind, Chen Cheng was also entrusted with a heavy responsibility: overseeing security in the Inner City District.

The manpower under his command consisted of soldiers from the Inner City Guard Headquarters and over a thousand Shen Family Swordsmen.

This military operation had little effect on the common people, and on the surface, Linji City appeared as peaceful as ever.

As for the Inner Sect Disciples of the Four Major Sects, they had already set out for the Great Wilderness Mountain Range back in July.

They too were operating under the banner of eliminating the Black Lotus Sect bandits, but upon arriving in the Great Wilderness Mountain Range, they went to the Mist Valley region and were active near the Fog Concealment Cave Mansion.

During this time, many rumors spread, such as Zhang Daozong using his Eight Trigrams Heaven and Earth Realm to slay a Tier Five Demon Beast.

Zhu Jiu had also unleashed his Second Layer Killing Realm to slay a Tier Five Demon Beast.

Fan Jinhua and Hassamutira had also slain Tier Four Demon Beasts.

This news sent shockwaves through the Martial Arts Realm of Linji City, and nearly everyone secretly broke out in a cold sweat for Chen Cheng.

The power of a Tier Five Demon Beast surpassed that of an ordinary Perfect Martial Artist of the Organ Refining Realm. The fact that Zhang Daozong and Zhu Jiu could slay them meant their true combat strength was clearly far beyond that level.

The reason Fan Jinhua and Hassamutira hadn’t slain a Tier Five Demon Beast was likely only because such creatures were difficult to find.

At the end of the year, Chen Cheng was set to face these four on the Life and Death Arena. It was equivalent to one man challenging four Perfect Martial Artists of the Organ Refining Realm. How could he possibly win?

"If Master Chen wants to save his own skin, his only option is to surrender on the spot!" Nearly everyone thought so.

Upon reaching this conclusion, those who had placed bets before were naturally a mix of joy and sorrow.

Those who had bet on Chen Cheng to win were all crestfallen, drowning their sorrows in alcohol day after day.

Meanwhile, those who had bet on the disciples of the Four Major Sects to win were already carousing and celebrating in advance every day.

Chen Cheng showed no reaction to any of this. He continued to live in seclusion, rarely going out, and focused wholeheartedly on Cultivating the Martial Dao.