Chapter 89 - 85: The 3rd Identity

Chapter 89: Chapter 85: The 3rd Identity

For several days straight, Su Mu didn’t return home even once.

By day, he rushed around handling various disputes in South City. By night, he continued his patrols and night watch. The man was like a tireless machine.

Wang Guan tried to speak with him several times, but Su Mu turned him away each time, claiming he was too busy with official duties.

Xiang Xiaoyuan came looking for him at the South City Bureau on multiple occasions, but she couldn’t even catch a glimpse of him.

After a few days, in between his official duties, Su Mu finally managed to pin down the whereabouts of the person Yang Jin had mentioned.

On this day, the sky was thick with dark clouds, hiding the moon from sight.

A pitch-black curtain of night enveloped the whole of South City. Its streets and alleys were completely deserted.

Aside from the faint, distant sound of the night watchman’s clapper, there was hardly another noise to be heard.

Su Mu lay prone on a rooftop, his figure all but melting into the darkness.

While keeping his eyes fixed on a courtyard ahead, he called up his system panel.

[Name: Su Mu]

[Identity: Constable / Taiping Bureau White Clothes (Ninth Grade)]

[Points: 710]

[Realm: Third Stage of Body Tempering (Extreme Skin Tempering Realm, Extreme Flesh Tempering)]

[Cultivation Technique: Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Tendon Tempering Technique (Entry/+)...]

[Martial Arts: Cloud Rain Saber Technique (Perfection), Submerging Wave Saber Technique (Perfection), Wind-Breaking Swordsmanship (Perfection), Archery (Entry/+)]

Just after midnight, the Points on his system panel had finally surpassed six hundred.

Seeing the candlelight in the courtyard ahead go out, Su Mu knew his target wouldn’t be coming out for at least two hours.

With a thought, he pressed the plus sign next to the Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Tendon Tempering Technique.

A scorching, tingling sensation instantly flooded his entire body. It felt as if his major tendons were being seared by a blazing fire, the impurities within them constantly being refined and expelled.

For an ordinary Martial Artist, advancing in Tendon Tempering from Entry to Minor Attainment would take several years of hard work and countless silver coins.

But on the system panel, it was accomplished with just a single tap.

Still, these Points were all earned through his own relentless grind, so he felt no guilt in using them.

’Minor Attainment in Tendon Tempering... The benefits of the Extreme Skin Tempering Realm and Extreme Flesh Tempering are finally starting to show. My strength now is likely even greater than someone at Tendon Tempering Perfection.’

Su Mu felt the changes in his body, a thoughtful look on his face.

’This is the power of the Extreme Realm.’

Confidence surged within him.

’Ding Zhidou is a Captain in the City Defense Army, with cultivation at the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering and Minor Attainment in Bone Tempering. He’s a full stage higher than me. However, I reached the Extreme Realm in the first two stages of Body Tempering, and for Tendon Tempering, I’m practicing the supreme Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds Tendon Tempering Technique.’

’In terms of raw power, he might not even be stronger than me.’

’And as for skill? I’ve comprehended the Second Layer of Momentum with the saber and the first with the sword. Compared to me, he doesn’t even qualify!’

Su Mu mused to himself.

Body Tempering Techniques focused on the "tempering" aspect. Unless someone had absolutely no aptitude for cultivation, they could always pile on time and resources to advance through the Body Tempering Realm.

But the Martial Dao was different. It emphasized "practice" and "enlightenment." Enlightenment was a mysterious, profound thing. You either had it, or you didn’t.

If you couldn’t achieve it, it wouldn’t matter even if you were royalty.

Take Luo Anning. Her background was as high as they come, and she’d even cultivated her Bone Tempering Technique to Perfection, yet she had only just grazed the threshold of the Second Layer of Momentum.

Ding Zhidou was over thirty and only at Minor Attainment in Bone Tempering. At best, he had grasped one layer of momentum.

He might not have even grasped the first layer.

’So, even in a head-on fight, I have a fifty percent chance of victory. If I ambush him, those odds increase to eighty percent.’

Su Mu reached his conclusion.

He had always been cautious, one to plan before taking action. Even though he’d been tracking Ding Zhidou, he wouldn’t have made a move without at least an eighty percent certainty of success.

Like a hunting cheetah, Su Mu lay motionless on the roof ridge.

Over an hour later, the extinguished candlelight in the room below was relit, followed by the rustling sound of someone getting dressed.

A flicker of contempt crossed Su Mu’s eyes.

’That Ding Zhidou really is a piece of trash.’

’Lust may be in a man’s nature, but there are brothels for that.’

’Who preys specifically on the wives of his own subordinates?’

After learning Ding Zhidou’s name from Yang Jin, Su Mu had naturally done his own investigation.

The investigation had been a real eye-opener.

Ding Zhidou was a Captain in the City Defense Army. It wasn’t a high rank, but he still had dozens of men under his command.

Yang Jin used to be one of them.

The man had a peculiar fetish, much like the infamous Cao Aman. But Ding Zhidou was even more shameless, preying exclusively on his own subordinates.

He would often send a subordinate away on some pretext, then go to the man’s home and use threats and coercion to sleep with his wife.

One of Yang Jin’s comrades in the army, a married captain, had his wife violated by Ding Zhidou. Unable to bear the humiliation, she hanged herself.

The captain, furious, went to seek revenge on Ding Zhidou, only to be beaten to death for his efforts.

As a result, Yang Jin and his comrades were also kicked out of the City Defense Army.

Yang Jin and his brothers-in-arms had been lying low in South City ever since, looking for a chance to kill Ding Zhidou and get their revenge.

Unfortunately, Ding Zhidou was too powerful, and they could never find an opening.

That is, until Yang Jin met Su Mu.

"Scum!"

Seeing Ding Zhidou walk out of the room, looking utterly pleased with himself as he adjusted his belt, Su Mu couldn’t help but spit in disgust.

The owner of this courtyard was also a soldier, likely sent away by Ding Zhidou just for this purpose.

Ding Zhidou was in his thirties, short, stout, and powerfully built. His face was fleshy and cruel, and a palm-sized birthmark on his forehead made him look particularly ugly.

He whistled as he strolled down the alley.

The Outer City was chaotic, with gang fights frequently breaking out at night, but he was powerful and had no fear.

He mentally sifted through the family situations of the grunts under his command, wondering whose home he would visit for some "fun" tomorrow.