Chapter 112: Letting Go of Restraint

In the depth of winter, travelers outside the city were few and far between.

In such weather, one wouldn’t even encounter a merchant caravan.

Upon leaving the city, the world stretched out before the eyes, cloaked entirely in silvery white.

Chen Ming had changed his appearance, donned coarse linen clothes, with a long saber hanging from his waist and a bundle strapped to his back, striding along with great vigor.

Before long, the county seat of Dai Prefecture was already in sight.

It was the fifth day since he had left Qingfeng City, and he had arrived several hundred li away, within the territory of Dai Prefecture.

Neither the original host nor he himself had ever left Qingfeng Prefecture before—this was all quite novel.

"This Dai City isn’t even half the size of Qingfeng City."

Chen Ming gazed at the distant city, thinking to himself.

However, though Dai City was small, martial cultivation here flourished.

There was the Tian Family, a clan with a lineage spanning three hundred years.

Also present was a sect named Bishamen, and it was said that one of its elders was a Third Grade Expert.

Aside from that, there were many Fourth Grade experts.

In comparison, Qingfeng City seemed downright shabby.

Chen Ming looked up.

The sky had already darkened, and even if he hurried over now, the city gates would be closed—he wouldn’t get in.

He decided to spend the night in a nearby village and enter the city tomorrow morning.

Soon, he spotted a manor and made his way over.

Just as he reached the entrance, the sound of galloping hooves rang out.

Turning his head, he saw a dozen riders charging down from the hills.

The few at the front wore brocade and fur coats, clearly young masters from the city.

Running off to hunt in the dead of winter—they really had nothing better to do.

Chen Ming gave them a glance, then looked away.

At that moment, he caught sight of a small figure darting into the path—right in front of the leading horse.

The woman riding that horse showed no intention of reining it in. Instead, she raised her whip and lashed out."Get out of the way."

If that whip struck true, it would surely tear flesh.

Chen Ming saw it clearly.

The one blocking the horse was a little girl, only about seven or eight years old.

A cold gleam flashed in his eyes.

With a flick of his wrist, swoosh—down went the horse, crashing to the ground and throwing the woman off its back.

She twisted her waist mid-air and landed steadily on the ground.

Cheers rang out from her companions.

"Good."

"What graceful movement technique."

"……"

The woman looked at her beloved horse lying dead on the road, a bloody hole in its head still oozing, and felt as if a knife had pierced her heart. She screamed,"Hong’er—who? Who did this?"

She turned her head and quickly locked her gaze on the only martial man nearby—one with a long saber at his waist. With a face full of killing intent, she marched toward him."Was it you who killed my Hong’er?"

There were only a few people around.

That little girl and her family were ordinary villagers. So it could only have been this saber-wielding martial artist.

The man wore a bamboo hat, looked plain and unremarkable, and cast a cold glance at her."Yes. So what?"

The woman’s eyes turned red, and she gritted her teeth."Give me your life. You’ll die with Hong’er!"

As she spoke, she lashed her whip violently at him.

The other riders pulled their horses to a stop and watched with grins, clearly not the least bit worried that the woman would suffer.

After all, this martial artist was dressed in tattered rags. He couldn’t be much.

Anyone even slightly capable wouldn’t be in such a wretched state.

Just then, the woman saw a blur.

The saber-wielder had already closed the distance.

She was shocked—and her whip had already been snatched away.

"Do you enjoy whipping others that much?"

Chen Ming sneered.

With a flick of the whip in his hand, crack—it struck her arm directly.

A fiery pain shot through her arm and she let out a miserable cry.

Crack! Crack! Crack!…

He rained the blows down on her head and face. The woman shrieked and howled, writhing on the ground in agony.

"How’s that? Feels good?"

He lashed her over a dozen times, tearing her flesh open and leaving her bloody and battered.

"You dare hit me… do you know who I am…"

"Stop——"

"No——I was wrong——I won’t dare again…"

From yelling to begging for mercy, it only took a few lashes.

"Stop!"

"Brat, how dare you?"

"You’re courting death!"

At this moment, the woman’s companions finally reacted.

One by one, they flew into a rage, drew their weapons, and charged in, murderous intent rising.

Chen Ming let out a cold laugh, tossed aside the whip in his hand, drew his saber, and with a single swing, sent the two men at the front flying.

He moved like a tiger among sheep—every strike brought someone down.

In the blink of an eye, over a dozen people had already fallen.

He sheathed his saber, unfastened a wine pouch from his waist, pulled the stopper, took a swig, and exhaled a long breath."Refreshing!"

Since he had changed his appearance, he naturally had to live differently too.

After leaving Qingfeng City, he began letting go of all restraint—doing whatever he pleased, acting on every whim.

These young masters had the misfortune of running into him.

Among this group, most were Ninth Grade Martial Artists or Eighth Grade Martial Artists.

Only two were Seventh Grade Martial Artists.

In front of him, they didn’t stand a chance.

…

Night fell. Inside an abandoned little courtyard, a bonfire was lit.

Chen Ming sat by the fire, drinking wine and eating meat.

In front of him, a group of people stood in a row, obediently and silently, not daring to breathe too loudly.

Beside them lay a few others—those had tried to sneak away while he wasn’t looking, only to be struck down by a stone flying from who knows where.

Their bones had cracked.

After he was full, Chen Ming spoke."Why aren’t you looking at me? Are you dissatisfied with me? Come on, pick up your blade, let’s spar again."

"We wouldn’t dare."

Everyone present shivered and shook their heads vigorously, on the verge of tears.

They deeply regretted provoking such a moody madman.

In just over an hour, he had found all sorts of excuses to beat each of them several times. Last time, the excuse had been:"Why are you glaring at me? Not convinced?"

Then he dragged someone out and gave them a brutal beating.

It was a real beating—whatever would hurt the most, he did it.

They screamed like ghosts and wailed like wolves.

These people had never endured such torment.

At first, some still spoke tough, yelling that their families wouldn’t let this slide. But after a beating, they quieted down completely—not even daring to fart.

Chen Ming had only said that to scare them.

Earlier, he had already harvested all the experience points he could from each of them.

Altogether, it was just over two thousand points.

Although not much, getting revenge and venting his anger felt immensely satisfying.

Chen Ming didn’t plan to let them go. If he didn’t teach them a lesson, how would they remember?

So that night, those young masters and their guards spent the night freezing in the courtyard.

It wasn’t until dawn that they realized the mysterious saber-wielder had apparently left.

If they didn’t run now, when would they?

…

By then, Chen Ming had already entered Dai City through the gates, and was charged a head tax of twenty coins upon entry.

No wonder Dai City was poor—even entering required a tax.

He shook his head to himself. In Qingfeng City, even with goods in tow, there was no tax for entering or leaving. That’s why Qingfeng City’s prosperity had its reasons.

He first found an inn, took a hot bath, then went to a higher-end restaurant for a meal and to gather information.

A bit of tip money was enough to get a lot out of the waiters.

For instance, who the experts in the city were, and who shouldn’t be provoked.

Chen Ming spent a few days asking around the city, gathering intelligence. Then he made a list.

By the fifth day, he began challenging them one by one according to the list.

In all of Dai Prefecture, there were many Sixth Grade Martial Artists.

Just within Dai City, there were around twenty—half of them untouchable, either from aristocratic families or sects.

The other half either had no background or their backers were far away.

Those were his targets.

Chen Ming struck swiftly.

In just one day, he had challenged all thirteen of them and harvested over fifty thousand experience points, then gracefully left before the city gates closed, heading to the next destination.

There were more than a dozen counties under Jiangzhou’s jurisdiction. If each yielded fifty thousand, a full circuit would net seven or eight hundred thousand points—enough to leap directly into Fifth Grade.

"Truly, being unrestrained makes for rapid progress in strength."

With the blood-red setting sun behind him, Chen Ming headed west.

Surrounded by a snow-blanketed world, he felt an unprecedented sense of freedom and ease.

This ability to challenge whomever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without caring about image—was simply wonderful.

No wonder so many people liked using aliases.

His next destination: the neighboring Tianhai County.

With his pace, he’d get there in two or three days at most.

By this calculation, ten days per county, he could finish the entire Jiangzhou circuit in about half a year.

This efficiency far surpassed the slow cultivation in Qingfeng City.

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