Chapter 176 - 99: Han Hu, Come Out and Receive My Blade!

Chapter 176: Chapter 99: Han Hu, Come Out and Receive My Blade!

As Zheng Jun recalled the battle, he felt that his ability to defeat Han Hu so cleanly and decisively was indeed partly due to luck.

It was obvious from Han Hu’s performance that he hadn’t engaged in life-and-death combat for a long time. Once the fight moved to close quarters, he completely lost his composure. However, if they fought again tomorrow, Han Hu might just correct this flaw.

Aside from that, Han Hu’s rash decision to discard his staff and rely solely on his Fist Technique was another reason for his defeat. It was far too reckless. That was no longer a strategy of trading a life for a life. It was trading a life for a mere injury. His strike, at best, would have caused Zheng Jun to cough up a couple of mouthfuls of blood and suffer minor injuries, but Han Hu himself would have absolutely been killed with a single Slash. He had fought with the desperation of a sore loser, gambling that Zheng Jun wouldn’t dare to kill him.

"This man is impatient and perverse," Zheng Jun analyzed silently. "Judging by his past, he likely suffered quite a bit of scorn when he was a servant in the Han Mansion. Once he gained power, he became an ungrateful cur who bites the hand that feeds him. Living with such smooth sailing for so long would naturally breed this kind of volatile temperament."

He continued to ponder, "The key to winning our next battle will likely be the same. Since he lost to me today, he definitely won’t accept the result and will seek a rematch. In our next fight, he’ll be extremely anxious, rushing to create some distance between us—but not too much distance..."

Before he could finish his train of thought and head downstairs, a wave of needle-like pain swept through his entire body.

HISS...

Zheng Jun drew in a sharp breath of cold air. Although he had endured this several times already, every single instance felt like a fate worse than death. His pores had opened completely, rapidly absorbing the medicinal efficacy. Taking a deep breath, he gritted his teeth and pushed through the agony, thinking to himself, "If only I had a Martial Arts discipline that required intense mental focus right now. Every time I train, it would definitely provide a massive boost to the repayment progress..."

[Refining Earth Evil Qi to promote True Gang. Broken Jade Skill repayment progress +495. Current repayment progress: 2855/5000.]

Two hours later, Zheng Jun finished washing up and changed into the dark-gold silk shirt Qingdai had prepared for him, fastening a white jade belt around his waist. Glancing into the bronze mirror, he looked as heroic and dashing as ever.

"The progress from this Blood Soul Qi Fiend is indeed impressive—far superior to a True Essence Pill." Zheng Jun let out a long sigh. "I just don’t know if absorbing four bottles of Blood Soul Qi Fiend will provide any special benefits to my True Gang."

At that thought, his eyes flashed, and a streak of True Gang Qi shot out from his sleeve in an instant. The True Gang surged forward with a Momentum like a Rainbow, the Gang Qi mixed with a violent storm of shattered jade. Zheng Jun sharply noticed that the True Gang he unleashed now carried a faint trace of blood-red.

It exuded an aura of Evil Qi that soared to the heavens. It seemed that in battle, it could shock and disorient an opponent’s mind. However, the trace was far too weak, so the effect was naturally not very profound.

"Judging by this soaring Evil Qi, I’ll need to absorb at least four or five more bottles before it slowly starts to have a real effect." Zheng Jun massaged his temples, finding the situation somewhat troublesome. He had no idea where this Blood Soul Qi Fiend was naturally harvested. Relying solely on silver to buy it would be a massive drain on his funds.

After rubbing his temples and stretching his limbs to relax, Zheng Jun was about to continue his cultivation when he noticed Qingdai waiting outside his door.

"Young Master," she said, "while you were taking your medicinal bath, a gentleman who introduced himself as Mr. Liu asked me to present this item to you."

"Liu?" Zheng Jun was taken aback.

Among the people he knew surnamed Liu, aside from the powerful Liu Family that he had wiped out, there was only Liu Yaozu, the constable he used to patrol the streets with. He later heard that Liu Yaozu had been killed by Lou Wei, which was truly a great pity. However, since he had also killed Lou Wei, in a way, he had avenged Liu Yaozu. Other than them, he didn’t know anyone else with the surname Liu.

Why would someone like that come looking for him? Could it be another situation like with "Southern Chu"? Wait, no. When Southern Chu said her surname was Chu, he could make the connection. But what was this "Liu" business? Was the Great Han looking for him to revive the Han Dynasty?

Zheng Jun was utterly confused. Seeing his puzzled expression, Qingdai immediately realized he didn’t know the man. She quickly added, "Young Master, the visitor was only at the Blood Refining stage. I’ve also inspected the parcel he delivered—there are no traces of poison."

She sounded highly confident as she said the latter part. Coming from Jishi Hall, she was an expert at testing for poison!

Hearing this, Zheng Jun nodded and reached out to take the parcel. Upon opening it, he couldn’t help but freeze. The item inside was actually a hand-copied manual.

It was none other than the Heavenly Gang Nine Staves!

In addition, there were several pages of paper tucked beneath the manual. As Zheng Jun looked them over, he saw that they detailed Han Hu’s situation with crystal clarity. For instance, it revealed the secret that his right leg was injured, suggesting that attacking it might yield miraculous results. The Life Gate of the Heavenly Gang Nine Staves was located at the crown of the head; striking there would suppress his movements. It also mentioned that after launching the Celestial Zen Strike, he would experience a brief period of stiffness.

This made Zheng Jun feel incredibly bizarre.

"This information is interesting," Zheng Jun chuckled softly after skimming it. If it was fake, there was no harm in reading it. If it was true, then Han Hu was in big trouble.

Zheng Jun couldn’t be sure if it was genuine or not. Such obscure information could only be known by a Martial Artist who ate and lived alongside Han Hu and had learned the very same Martial Arts. There was no other way!

"It doesn’t matter. I’ll find out as soon as I test it." Zheng Jun casually set the Martial Arts manual aside, not paying it too much mind, and began a new round of training.

Sleep? Impossible. Sleeping meant losing several two-hour blocks of cultivation time compared to others. On the path of Martial Arts, a single two-hour block could weed out hundreds of Martial Artists. Naturally, Zheng Jun had to forge ahead bravely!

After a night of training, Zheng Jun remained full of vigor. Grabbing his Beirong Saber, he stepped out the door once again, heading straight for the city’s northern military camp’s training grounds.

In the early morning, the streets were mostly deserted. It wasn’t until he reached the northern part of the city that he spotted a few soldiers guarding the military camp.

Upon seeing them, Zheng Jun flicked his sleeves with a calm and breezy demeanor. Standing right outside the camp, he infused his True Qi into his voice and shouted coldly toward the interior, "I’m here! Han Hu, come out and face my blade!"

His voice boomed like a massive bell, the sound waves rolling endlessly!