Why do I have so many masters?

He had only a single copper coin left on him, just enough to buy a bun, so his original plan had to be abandoned. Wang Anfeng put the withered purse back at his waist. Although he was by nature calm and steady, at this moment, there was a hint of dejection in his eyes as he turned and headed toward the Academy.

The distance to Fufeng Academy was neither near nor far, but with Wang Anfeng's current movement technique, it didn't take him long to reach the vicinity of the Academy. Due to most of the students preparing for their end-of-year assessments, the area surrounding the Academy was quiet and sparsely populated, leaving Wang Anfeng to walk the streets alone.

Just as he reached the middle of the road, three men suddenly turned a corner in front of him.

All were armed and had bulky muscles that spoke of considerable External Cultivation. The footsteps of one of them matched precisely with those who had been tailing Wang Anfeng earlier. His heart stirred slightly, but his face showed no change as he quietly continued, passing by the men.

His right hand brushed his belt as it fell, and then swiftly raised again. Like a flash of lightning, he struck before the three could draw their weapons, sending three silver needles flying through the air to puncture the acupoints in their palms.

One of the men grunted in pain, unable to draw the longsword from his back. The other two were purely External Cultivation practitioners who, from the start, had endured much pain. As the silver needles hit their acupoints, their expressions hardly changed as they reached for their weapons behind their backs and swung them diagonally from either side.

Immediately, a dull whooshing sounded as two heavy Wolf Fang Clubs stirred an ill wind, enveloping the entire area in front of Wang Anfeng.

The two martial artists had an indifferent expression. This move had defeated many martial artists before; if Wang Anfeng so much as retreated, they would close in, and with a whirlwind of blows, even a practitioner of Horizontal External Skill would be forced violently to the ground and overcome by the ensuing attacks.

With his extensive battle experience, Wang Anfeng was well aware of the might of such heavy weapons. He didn't attempt to withstand it directly. Instead, he lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his foot and, as light as a dandelion, he moved backward, narrowly avoiding the pincer attack of the Wolf Fang Clubs.

But it seemed the two burly men had anticipated this and immediately stepped forward, swinging with even more force, like boulders rolling down a mountain. The moves were crude, but not to be underestimated, especially in such a confined space where the power was enormous.

After several exchanges, Wang Anfeng's face grew slightly tense. Although he was not injured, he had not been able to break through their brute-force methods. At that moment, heavy footsteps could be heard from the alley behind; two more broad-shouldered men, each wielding a Wolf Fang Club, approached with large strides.

When they were about a dozen steps from Wang Anfeng, they stopped, holding their Wolf Fang Clubs. With a deep exertion of force from their waists, they lashed out with their clubs, their momentum fierce as they advanced with stomping steps.

Meanwhile, not far away, atop a high wall, a young man with a national-character face, stern and with thin lips, stood with his hands behind his back and a heavy hammer on his back. He watched Wang Anfeng narrowly dodging under the savage Vigorous Qi, before speaking in a deep voice:

"Wang Anfeng, the guardian of Fufeng's hidden books, is proficient in swordsmanship with complicated techniques and has combat skills. He can fight against Eighth Rank while being Ninth Grade, yet his Inner Strength and Qinggong are ordinary, and his External Cultivation is extremely poor."

He read aloud the commentary from the Constellation Ranking List. His voice was indifferent and lingering as he said:

"Only half of this can be trusted."

"Just by this display of Qinggong, it is clear that when he previously crossed swords with the Flying Cloud Swordsman, he must have been holding back."

There was a brief pause before he sneered again:

"But physical strength eventually has its limits. Skilled in combat techniques, one naturally struggles against the fierce onslaughts of heavy weapons, and accompanied by the narrow alleyway, even refined swordsmanship and evasion are constrained. Forced to face heavy weapons with a longsword, he is bound to be overpowered. This time, he will suffer severe injuries."

"What do you think?"

The wealthy merchant beside him nodded obsequiously, knowing that this lord was casually questioning him.

While he felt a chill from the young man's boldness and daring, he was also in awe of the latter's ability to retain his sanity amidst greed, refraining from chasing the guardian of the books. Instead, they set a trap on this inevitable path, designed specifically to counter their opponent's martial arts style. People were sent to stir up trouble, temporarily drawing away the nearby patrol officers, waiting for Wang Anfeng to fall into the trap.

Daring yet crazy, but not without meticulous planning.

He seemed to understand the Sect Leader's choice a bit more.

With a sigh in his heart, he turned to look at the young man in blue struggling in the alleyway, noting that the boy had hardly any time even to draw his longsword. Feeling a touch of pity amid the sorrow of the impending fall of the one pursued.

And at this moment, within the alleyway.

Wang Anfeng took another step back, his heart already aware that this was a calculated ambush in anticipation of his return to the Academy. An ill wind struck, and with just the tips of his toes touching the ground, his body fell back horizontally, as level with the earth as a swan crossing the sky or a fish frolicking in the moonlight, done naturally without the slightest hint of warning.

He avoided the heavy vigorous Qi swinging his way and seized the opportunity to glance behind him, where two brawny men were no more than ten steps away from him. Should they encircle him, attacking both front and rear, their combined power in such a narrow place would be no less formidable than the Great Qin military formation, pressing in with wave upon wave of momentum, putting him in mortal danger.

With this thought in mind, he no longer sought to discern the background or stance of the peculiar technique his opponent used. With a clear shout, he spun around, his body engulfed in vigorous Qi as he moved forward. His feet stepped closer, his hands transformed into palms, and he thrust forcefully at the wrists of the two brawny men, using a deft force to gently deflect the direction of their swinging Wolf Fang Clubs.

There were two crisp crackling sounds, and the two men suddenly screamed in agony as their Wolf Fang Clubs smashed against the walls on either side, creating two large holes. The two brawny men wailed ceaselessly, sending shivers down one's spine. The martial artist behind them fixed his gaze and his complexion suddenly went pale with a churning in his chest and abdomen.

In the left arms of the two brawny men, the joints were visibly dislocated, and in their right elbows, stark white bones protruded, smeared with blood and flesh, chilling to the bone.

Wang Anfeng seemed to have anticipated this outcome, for his expression did not change. He stepped forward and threw out his previously retracted fist, striking both men in their chests and abdomens. His wrists shook instantly, and with a second exertion of force, he sent the two brawny men flying several meters away, where they landed on the ground.

With the intense pain from their injuries and the collision of external Inner Strength, they fell directly into unconsciousness, and if Wang Anfeng had wished to take their lives, it would have been but a backhanded blow.

The alleyway fell into immediate silence.

The confident expression of the young man across the way suddenly shifted, and his hands clenched into fists behind him, veins bulging.

The wealthy merchant next to him widened his eyes as if thunder roared in his mind, leaving him utterly bewildered.

How is this possible?!

Those two were foreign warriors he had recruited at great cost, paying a hefty sum of Silver Coin. Although their martial arts weren't highly advanced—being only at Ninth Grade despite their thirty-odd years of age—they possessed natural superhuman strength and were skilled in coordinated combat.

When they demonstrated their might, even some Eighth Rank martial artists with lesser physical strength had no choice but to retreat before them, admitting inferiority. After joining the merchant's command, they had shown considerable prowess several times, but now, both fierce fighters were easily defeated by the youth with a single casual move.

Was there a monster hidden within that slender frame?!

At the same time, the two strongmen wielding Wolf Fang Clubs on the other side also reined in their strength, merely allowing the momentum to carry the clubs for a couple of more swings before stopping them beside their bodies. They no longer dared to take a step forward, their eyes full of fear as they looked at Wang Anfeng.

The youth exhaled a turbid breath, his expression calm.

The move he had just used was one from an opponent in Copper Man Lane, borrowing the opponent's force to counteract their speed with slowness.

He had pondered over it for a long time and had just begun to understand it. By pushing along with their force unawares, the reason those two men ended up in such a sorry state was not due to Wang Anfeng, but because of their own great yet uncontrollable strength.

Unlike a martial artist like Wang Anfeng who could retract nine-tenths of his exerted force, this move of his only had the effect of restraining the opponent.
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However, the others didn't know the true nature of what had happened, and since the encounter happened in the blink of an eye without a clear view, they believed he had stopped those two heavy Wolf Fang Clubs and even beaten two naturally superhuman strongmen to the point of breaking their bones and falling unconscious, all with his own physical strength.

What had seemed like a task easily within their grasp, all going according to plan, was overturned in an instant; such a violent shock left the several martial artists bewildered and filled with regret.

And the martial artist who had been earlier struck by Wang Anfeng's Silver Needle and had his pressure points hit, now stepped back twice, his face as pale as paper, wishing he could turn around and flee with his face covered.

PS: The second update for today...