20: Chapter 20 Yanghe Martial Arts School, the restless Zhou family!

After training ended, Lu Cheng first went to the armory to exchange for the D-grade alloy gloves.

They were a pair of dark gray metal gauntlets that fit snugly against his palms. They were quite heavy, but wearing them didn't hinder his movement; instead, they gave him a feeling of solid power.

Lu Cheng tried clenching his fists.

"Click."

The metal joints emitted a faint, crisp sound.

"Good stuff."

His eyes lit up.

After putting away the gloves, Lu Cheng didn't go home, but headed straight for Yanghe Martial Arts Hall.

Yanghe Martial Arts Hall was located in the East District of Rong City, with a massive entrance and quite an imposing decor.

Just the giant black-gold sign at the entrance exuded a vibe of "I'm very rich."

There were many students coming and going, all of whom had stronger Blood Energy than the average student.

As soon as Lu Cheng walked to the entrance, he saw two familiar figures.

Zhou Lize.

And a young man wearing the martial arts hall's training uniform with an arrogant look on his face.

That guy was standing with Zhou Lize, clearly waiting for someone.

Lu Cheng guessed at a glance that this guy was likely the son of the Yanghe Martial Arts Hall master.

Sure enough, when Zhou Lize saw him, a sneer immediately appeared on his face.

"Yo, you actually came?"

Lu Cheng didn't stop walking and glanced at him.

"A loser like you still talks so much."

This one sentence immediately choked Zhou Lize until his face turned green.

The young man beside him frowned, stepped forward, and blocked the entrance.

"You're Lu Cheng?"

"I am Cheng Shaoyang, the Young Master of Yanghe Martial Arts Hall."

"You aren't welcome here, get lost."

Lu Cheng looked at him with a calm expression.

"Just because you say I'm not welcome, I'm not?"

Cheng Shaoyang sneered: "Yes, that's what I say."

"This martial arts hall belongs to my family. If I don't want someone to enter, they don't enter."

Quite a few people nearby had stopped to watch the commotion.

After all, one was a No. 3 High School student who was currently in the limelight, and the other was the Young Master of Yanghe Martial Arts Hall. With Zhou Lize there too, this combination looked like trouble was brewing.

Lu Cheng didn't get angry; he just slowly took the ticket out of his pocket and waved it in his hand.

"I have a ticket."

"On what grounds can I not enter?"

They certainly knew that after what happened on the playground today, Instructor Qin Feng had rewarded Lu Cheng with a ticket to the Energy Room.

Zhou Lize had specifically rushed to the martial arts hall to block him precisely because he had seen it with his own eyes.

Lu Cheng looked at Cheng Shaoyang, his tone remaining unhurried.

"Or perhaps..."

"Your Yanghe Martial Arts Hall is open for business, but you don't honor your commitments?!"

"You let in whoever you want and kick out whoever you don't want?"

"In that case, I'll have to have a good talk with Instructor Qin Feng."

Once these words were spoken, the eyes of the onlookers changed.

He came with a legitimate ticket, and you, as the Young Master, are blocking him from entering... The martial arts hall's reputation... would suffer.

Cheng Shaoyang's expression immediately became even uglier.

"Don't you dare try to pressure me with Instructor Qin Feng! He's just a special operations team member!"

"I'm not letting you in today, what can you do about it?"

Just as the atmosphere became increasingly tense, a gentle voice suddenly came from inside the martial arts hall.

"Shaoyang, that's enough."

Everyone turned to look.

They saw a slightly older young man walking out from inside. His features were two parts similar to Cheng Shaoyang's, but his temperament was significantly more composed.

It was Cheng Shaoyang's older brother, Cheng Shaohe.

He walked up close, first glanced at the ticket in Lu Cheng's hand, and then smiled.

"Apologies, my younger brother has a bit of a hot temper."

"Since you are a guest with a ticket, you can naturally enter."

Cheng Shaoyang's face darkened: "Cheng Shaohe! What is the meaning of this?"

Cheng Shaohe glanced at him indifferently.

"If Father knew you were causing such a scene at the entrance, what do you think he would do?"

At the mention of their father, Cheng Shaoyang's arrogance was immediately suppressed. Although his face remained ugly, he didn't say anything more.

Lu Cheng looked at Cheng Shaohe, his eyes narrowing slightly.

This person is very dangerous.

However... the trace of killing intent that just leaked from him wasn't directed at me...

Interesting.

It seems this Yanghe Martial Arts Hall is more complicated than I thought.

Cheng Shaohe smiled and said: "Student Lu, please come in."

Lu Cheng didn't waste words; he put away the ticket and walked straight inside.

As he brushed past them, he could even feel the gloomy gazes of Zhou Lize and Cheng Shaoyang.

But he couldn't be bothered to care.

After entering the martial arts hall and having staff confirm the ticket was valid, Lu Cheng was quickly taken to the Intermediate Energy Room.

The moment the thick metal door closed, the noise from the outside world was completely cut off.

The concentration of Source Energy in the room was significantly higher than at school or home.

Lu Cheng had only just sat cross-legged and activated his Guiding Technique when he felt the surrounding Source Energy rushing toward him like a tide.

"Comfortable."

He let out a long breath and quickly sank into a meditative state.

Once the Origin-level Guiding Technique was activated, the absorption efficiency was extremely domineering.

The Source Energy continuously tempered his skin, flesh, and blood, and the Blood Energy consumed in the battle during the day was also recovering rapidly.

Time passed bit by bit.

When the five hours were up and the door to the Energy Room slowly opened, Lu Cheng opened his eyes.

He looked down to feel his state, and a look of joy flashed in his eyes.

His Blood Energy had increased by another two points!

At this rate, he would be able to completely finish tempering his skin tomorrow and move toward the Tendon & Bone Stage!

Meanwhile.

The sky gradually darkened.

In a shop near the city gate, Su Wan sat by the window with a cup of tea that was more than half finished in front of her.

She was wearing black clothes, and her whole person blended into the night, so quiet that she had almost no presence.

She was waiting.

Waiting for the Zhou Family.

Her memories from her past life couldn't be wrong; tonight was the night the Zhou Family would transport that batch of problematic exotic beasts into the city.

Before long, a convoy finally appeared at the end of the street.

Several members of the Zhou Family were entering the city from the outside, keeping a low profile, but they couldn't hide the hurried nature of their actions...

Su Wan's eyes turned slightly cold; she put down her teacup and got up to leave.

Using the surrounding crowd, she blended in near the convoy.

As the distance closed, she could vaguely hear the sounds coming from the carriages. These Polluted Exotic Beasts had been suppressed by the Zhou Family using special methods!

Su Wan stared at one of the carriages, a chill flowing in her eyes.

The next instant, she raised her hand. A wisp of nearly transparent cold air quietly condensed at her fingertips and, following the night wind, silently drilled into the gap of the carriage.

The moment the chill seeped in, it didn't erupt immediately.

Instead, like an extremely fine ice needle, it precisely pierced into a flesh node of one of the Polluted Exotic Beasts that had been forcibly suppressed by medicinal power.

Cold.

Intense pain.

"Roar!"

Inside the carriage, a roar that had been suppressed to the extreme suddenly exploded.

The next moment, the entire carriage shook violently!

The pollution fluctuations that had been barely suppressed by drugs and sealing materials were like someone having pried open a crack, and a trace immediately leaked out.

Although that trace of pollution aura was brief, it was already eye-catching enough.

The expressions of the soldiers guarding the city changed instantly.

"Wait!"

"This aura is wrong!"

"Stop! Everyone stop!"

"Everyone back off, surround the convoy!"

Following this shout, the defensive forces near the city gate reacted almost instantly. Several city guards drew their weapons simultaneously, their Blood Energy erupting as they moved directly to surround the convoy.

The leading guard shouted sternly:

"Open the carriages! Inspect them immediately!"

The expressions of the Zhou Family's transport personnel finally changed.

They obviously hadn't expected the pollution, which had been perfectly suppressed, to suddenly spiral out of control at this moment.

But before they could think of an excuse, a dull thumping sound came from the second carriage.

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang!"

The heavy carriage walls were struck repeatedly, making them ring out. Even the black cloth wrapped around the outside was pushed out into a bulge, and one could vaguely see something struggling frantically inside.

At the same time, wisps of gray-black pollution aura began to seep out through the gaps.

Even if it was extremely faint, it was enough to prove the problem.

The city guards were completely enraged now.

"Polluted Exotic Beasts?!"

"You have a lot of nerve!"

"Take them all down!"

The killing intent at the city gate instantly surged.

The few Zhou Family transport personnel on the scene were suddenly in a dilemma; they didn't dare to resist, but they couldn't let the city guards open all the carriages either.

The situation was suddenly stretched to the extreme.

And at the same time that all the city defensive forces were attracted over.

In the darkness, several auras suddenly locked onto Su Wan.

At the same time the chaos broke out, several figures in the dark suddenly lunged toward Su Wan.

Their movements were ruthless and merciless.

Su Wan's eyes turned cold, and she instantly retreated.

She had long known that the Zhou Family couldn't possibly have no precautions.

But when she truly felt the aura of one of them, her heart still sank heavily.

Meridian Opening Realm peak!

You have to know, the strongest person in the entire Rong City was only at the War General Realm. A Meridian Opening Realm expert could be considered a pillar in any place, and a peak Meridian Opening Realm expert was even more of a high-level figure in most organizations.

The Zhou Family only had sixteen peak Meridian Opening Realm experts in total.

They actually sent one tonight.

"Take her down!"

In the darkness, that person's voice was cold.

Su Wan didn't hesitate at all. Her cold energy erupted instantly, and her figure shuttled rapidly through the narrow alleyway, attempting to use the terrain to maneuver.

But the gap in their realms was ultimately too large.

"Bang!"

A palm strike landed, and Su Wan let out a muffled groan. Her entire body was sent flying backward, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

She braced herself against the wall, her face pale, but her eyes remained cold.

Since when could a Meridian Opening Realm expert act so wantonly in front of me!

She still had one final trump card! An extremely special forbidden technique!

However, just as she was preparing to risk her life, that Meridian Opening Realm martial artist suddenly stopped.

He seemed to have sensed something, suddenly raising his head to look in a certain direction, his expression changing slightly.

The next second.

"Retreat!"

The order came extremely abruptly.

Although the rest of the Zhou Family members were puzzled, they immediately pulled back and retreated, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.

Su Wan was stunned for a moment. She tried to force herself to chase after them, but she only felt the world go black before her eyes.

Her injuries and exhaustion erupted at the same time.

Her body swayed, and in the end, she collapsed.

The night was deep.

A moment later, a figure appeared silently nearby.

Xia Xi.

She stood at the entrance of the alley, her gaze sweeping across the surroundings. After confirming that the Zhou Family members had completely retreated, she quickly walked to Su Wan's side.

She crouched down and checked Su Wan's breathing.

Still alive.

Just severely injured.

Xia Xi breathed a sigh of relief, but her expression gradually turned cold.

"The Zhou Family..."

She murmured a sentence in a low voice and didn't linger.

After confirming that Su Wan was not in immediate danger of death, she stood up and disappeared into the night again.