Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“What is going on?”

Cheng Dongfeng was troubled.

As the saying goes, the left eyelid twitches when one is about to lose wealth, and while the right twitches when one was about to suffer. But now, both his eyelids were twitching

“I'm a rank-seven grandmaster now; I can't be fl.u.s.tered for no reason. Still, could someone really be gunning for me?”

Rubbing his temples, Cheng Dongfeng poured himself a cup of water from his Thermos flask and ate a pinch of wolfberries. Then, he could not help sighing when he remembered the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General. “How did Jiang He even cultivate?”

“A rank-five advanced turning the tables against grandmasters, and not novice grandmasters at that. How did he manage to do that?”

After Jiang He left, Cheng Dongfeng had thoroughly examined the scene of the battle. From the sword marks, footprints, the damage on the Earth Demon Heavenly General's gloves as well as the cut over his body, he put together a general picture of the fight in his mind.

Even when he closed his eyes now, his mind was still projecting Jiang He's swordplay!

“His way of the blade must have been unmatched in speed, each slash quicker and more vicious than the next, and so much so that the Earth Demon Heavenly General could only pa.s.sively block them, until he eventually caved and was cut in half!”

That said, weren't rank-seven intermediate-pinnacle grandmasters supposed to have unlimited moves at their disposal?

Even so, all the Earth Demon Heavenly General could do was block Jiang He's blows without having any s.p.a.ce to use other moves. How frustrating was that?

Of course, one could determine from a lateral perspective how ruthless Jiang He's swordplay was!

“Hold on…”

Suddenly, Cheng Dongfeng's eyes straightened as he muttered, “Wasn't that brat supposed to be good at palm techniques? The sheer power of his strength goes from strength to strength, unleas.h.i.+ng a draconic bellow that shook the heavens as the shadow of a dragon takes to the air… it could not be powerful, so why is he so good at swordplay too?”

At that thought, Cheng Dongfeng chuckled coolly. “There's little wonder why the kid kept asking Duan Tianhe how he could kill a martial arts grandmaster. So, his real trump card wasn't palm techniques, but swordplay.”

 As a matter of fact, that was what Jiang He was going for.

You thought my palm techniques were brutal?

Sorry, but my swordplay is even more awesome.

Wait, are you now under the impression that my blade technique was my trump card? Heh, that is only because you had seen my sword…

And sorry, when the time comes, I would just summon the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers. They have the power of seven grandmasters, and with my Enzo-brand Transformer, that's eight.

1

Whoops.

Cheng Dongfeng took a sip of his tea whilst holding his Thermos flask, and chewed on the wolfberries, smelling, “Luckily, I'm prudent and did not try to settle the score right after I ascended, or I'm getting slapped and trampled all over by Jiang He… eh?”

At that thought, Cheng Dongfeng scowled.

He felt like he had forgotten something.

Then, the hand which he held the Thermos flask with shook, spilling much water out of it. He promptly whipped out his phone and dialed Su Ze's number.

Su Ze, however, did not answer and hung up directly instead—because he had already stepped out of the elevator to Cheng Dongfeng's doorstep.

His face was utterly swollen, and he looked utterly miserable.

He directly crashed through the door, dropping to his knees at Cheng Dongfeng's feet with a plop and clutching his thigh as he wailed, “Master Cheng, you have to avenge me!”

“…”

Cheng Dongfeng did a double-take before asking, “What happened to you?”

Su Ze took a moment to compose himself, before seething through clenched teeth, “Master Cheng, didn't you tell me to go to Jiang He?”

Boom!

A bolt from the blue!

Cheng Dongfeng felt as if a thunderclap resounded in his mind. His hand twitched then, dropping the Thermos flask and scattering red wolfberries all over the floor.

He raised a shuddering finger at Su Ze, quietly asking, “You really went?”

Su Ze was dumbstruck at that.

Isn't that reaction a little exaggerated, Master Cheng?

Surely there's no need to be so thrilled, right?

Nonetheless, Su Ze nodded and said, “I went to Jinyintan Village and found Jiang He to tell him about your ascension to grandmaster. I was about to try to provoke him so that he would hit me and you would have a reason for payback, but even before I could do that…”

“He laughed insolently, saying that mere rank-seven novices are nothing!”

Cheng Dongfeng, however, thought that it was not wrong for Jiang He to say that. Staring at Su Ze, he seethed, “And then?”

Su Ze, under the impression that his master's peer had been enraged by Jiang He, smugly added, “He insulted you in my face, and of course I can't stand it, so I scolded him, saying that he wouldn't dare to breathe too loudly with you around…”

“And then, what?”

Su Ze's voice became much softer than, and he rubbed his cheeks, saying, “I felt that I must have touched a nerve, but he didn't follow the script and beat me up instead.”

“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

Cheng Dongfeng abruptly slammed his hand on his desk. It was made from genuine wood, but it was still smashed into pieces under his palm.

Su Ze was about to say more when his vision went dark, and the bottom of a 43-sized shoe rapidly enlarged before his eyes—

Pow!

Cheng Dongfeng had kicked off Su Ze with a single sweep of his foot, cursing, “Doggone it, who told you to insult Jiang He?!”

“He had foiled the schemes of the Sky Demon Cult on multiple occasions, and slayed the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General, two of their seventy-two Fiends, contributing to our country and the people. Is he someone you should insult?!”

“I… I…”

Su Ze was left blank by the beating, and clutched his face in grievance. “Master Cheng, I didn't insult him, and… I didn't say much, although I did act a bit c.o.c.ky, and then he beat me.”

“b.a.s.t.a.r.d, did anyone tell you to act c.o.c.ky in Jiang He's face?!”

Su Ze suffered another kicking then.

Then, he left Cheng Dongfeng's room muddleheadedly, the words ‘Get lost', ‘Get the h.e.l.l out of here', and ‘The Eight Trigrams School have no dumb disciple like you' still echoing beside his ears!

“What the h.e.l.l?”

“Weren't you the one who told me to provoke Jiang He? Why aren't you settling the score in my stead after I did just that, but hitting me and scolding me instead?”

Su Ze felt as if his heart was falling to pieces.

In truth, he and Jiang He had long since held no grudges against each other. They were both young, and Su Ze himself had only suffered a beating because he tried to put on airs. In his later encounters with Jiang He, there was no conflict even if their conversation were not so pleasant.

And now, Cheng Dongfeng had him provoke Jiang He, only to beat him up later instead?

Meanwhile, Su Ze had arrived at the main entrance of the Martial Arts Department (MAD) and sat on the floor. He was about to lit himself a cigarette when he heard two security officers whispering to each other.

They seemed to have been talking about the uproar at the Ningdong Mines last night.

That two martial arts grandmasters of the Sky Demon Cult had been slain by Jiang He.

“Heh.”

Su Ze smirked. “You people know nothing. Do you even know what grandmasters are? Jiang He is powerful, but how could he put down a grandmaster… eh?”

Even before he could finish, Su Ze froze.

He suddenly remembered what Cheng Dongfeng had told him.

Jiang He, killing two of the Sky Demon Cult's seventy-two fiends—the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General?

Thud!

The cigarette and lighter in his hand dropped to the floor.

Meanwhile.

Jiang He was blanking out in his yard.

He was staring at the grave he had almost completely forgotten about. How many days had it been since then?

Why was the gra.s.s growing over it more than a meter tall now?