Dark clouds pressed down on the city, a violent wind arrived swiftly, and a heavy rain threatened to fall but did not, casting the sky in a somber shade of grayish yellow.

The carriage passed through the streets, amid the bustling conversation, numerous sounds reached Song Cheng's ears.

"Kill the savages," "Victory is certain," "Form Realm Expert personally teaching," these phrases penetrated his ears from all directions.

Bodies outlined in stark white lines, varying in height, weight, and shape, sprinting and rushing about in the world of ink, shouting and hurrying from one place to another.

"Steward, go through the Central City District, and make a detour around the Prefectural Yamen," the young man suddenly commanded.

The steward respectfully answered, "Yes, young master."

Inside the carriage, all hell broke loose.

"What's this? Young master? What young master?" Old Master An exploded like a dog whose tail had been stepped on.

Mr. Wang, who had said "shut up" twice, dropped his pretense, disregarding even the basic decorum between master and servant.

"Shut up."

He coldly uttered, his voice devoid of warmth and even carrying a hint of murderous intent.

Old Master An was a complete fool, immediately losing his temper at the scare, but just looked at Mr. Wang and softly said, "I was just asking. Mr. Wang, what young master is that blind lad? Whose young master is he?"

Mr. Wang clenched his fist.

Old Master An wasn't stupid, his voice trembling as he said, "It couldn't be from my family, could it? It's not... my father, hasn't my lady already..."

Mr. Wang said, "Old Master, many things have happened at home, President An will explain to you once you return."

Old Master An hesitated and asked, "President...is it...Changsheng?"

Mr. Wang replied, "It is President An Chenyu."

Old Master An: ...

Song Cheng listened to the foolishness of his father-in-law behind the curtain, also at a loss for words, whereas the carriage, amidst the thunderous roars and flashes of lightning, had already arrived at the Central City District.

In front of the county government office, many people gathered, martial artists from all places converged here like a multitude of rivers joining the sea, and it seemed only the beginning, as more and more people were hurrying over.

The air was tinged with a scorching scent.

The noise of the crowd formed a high-spirited morale.

Blind Song felt something stirring, suddenly slowly turned his head towards a spot, focusing his attention there, as the surrounding noises were pushed away, sounds from that spot faintly coming through.

But just for a moment, those faint sounds erupted like oil catching fire, spreading the wave of sound all around.

"It's the Shanhe Martial Arts Hall's Foreign Affairs Envoy, the Form Realm great master, 'Six-armed Old Ape' Yuan Qianke!"

"Master Yuan!"

"Foreign Affairs Envoy Yuan!"

"Master Yuan is really here to recruit people!"

"I heard that if you pass the test, you can enter the Shanhe Martial Arts Hall!"

Many excited voices intertwined, booming so loudly that even the thunder in the sky couldn't suppress them.

Which martial artist doesn't long for the Form Realm?

Once reaching the Form Realm, apart from anything else, one will be immune to all diseases.

Yet in such frontier Prefectural Cities, "Form Realm Techniques" are extremely rare.

Should one hope to acquire them, there are only three places: Shanhe Martial Arts Hall, White Camel Estate, and Pearl Mountain Taoist Temple.

Amidst it all, further rumors were spreading, suggesting these three major powers were the true rulers behind Hanping Prefecture; joining them meant limitless prospects.

Song Cheng lifted his eyes, gazing into the distance at a figure surrounded by numerous others, the tallest figure there:

93~184.

Obviously, this was the strength of 'Six-armed Old Ape' Yuan Qianke from Shanhe Martial Arts Hall's External Affairs.

Song Cheng fell silent for a moment, then glanced at himself.

143~286.

It appeared that even within the same realm, the discrepancy was significant.

However, it wasn't significant enough.

The other's "184" surpassed his "143."

A mere Foreign Affairs Envoy was threatening to him; he was still not safe enough.

But, no matter, he had not yet fully assimilated his current resources, nor had he fully strengthened.

His robust martial system was not yet perfected, the newly cultivated vigor had not yet evolved into form.

He needed time to practice, to assimilate, to consolidate.

However, first he had to deal with the matter of the swindling An Family's peripheral disciple from Shanhe Martial Arts Hall, as well as the son of the Chen Family.

This matter...

Honestly paying up would lead to endless extortion.

Exposing it to Shanhe Martial Arts Hall would earn their resentment, creating endless hidden dangers.

So, pay up to clear the suspicions, after all, several families were being extorted, then conveniently kill them and take the money back.

This was Song Cheng's plan.

Today, he was going to check out the target he was intending to kill, to avoid killing the wrong person.

...

...

Old Master An returned home and after asking around, was completely dumbfounded.

His father was dead, his wife was dead, his elder son was also dead, and moreover, their heads had been chopped off by the government office.

Now, his daughter completely controlled the An Family.

And that blind lad truly turned out to be his son-in-law...

Old Master An didn't know what to say, wanting to cry but realizing that his emotional connection to the An Family had faded over the years; it wasn't his fault, this was common with everyone in his generation in the An Family.

Thinking about making a fuss, what was there to fuss about?

Thus, he approached Miss An, smiling ruefully, "My daughter, perhaps... you could give me some money, let your old dad live elsewhere."

He planned to find young beauties in the brothel district, pouring his grievances beneath their pomegranate skirts.

When he ran out of money, he would come back for more.

But Miss An had long seen through the nature of her father. After thinking it over, she called over Zhao Hua, saying, "Hua, take An Xu to practice martial arts. It doesn't matter if he doesn't succeed, just practice."

After several events, Hua's capabilities had been recognized by Miss An. Now as she reorganized the business structure, she allocated a good portion of power to Zhao Hua, tasking him with gathering information and handling some external affairs.

Since Zhao Hua had decided to stick with Song Cheng, and, knowing the tough history of the Miss rising up, he had immense respect for this sister-in-law, hence he didn't refuse and readily took up the task.

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