In the Donghuayuan of the Xingyi School, the candle in Teng Qingshan's study still burned, its light faintly visible from the outside.

Inside the study.

Teng Qingshan sat at his desk, meticulously examining the intelligence reports that had just arrived. They detailed the course of the recent incident, along with some speculative analysis: "How vicious. Not only were the weapons poisoned, but the arrows too. Clearly, they intended to wipe out this entire merchant convoy. These were boys barely in their teens; how could these people bring themselves to do such a thing?"

"If they have a grudge against me, Teng Qingshan, they should come directly for me. To resort to such despicable means." Waves of killing intent surged within Teng Qingshan, his eyes flashing with cold light.

The sheer ruthlessness of these intercepting martial artists sent a chill down Teng Qingshan’s spine.

They chose suicide over capture!

The greater the opponent’s cruelty seemed, the angrier Teng Qingshan became.

"Don't let me find out who was pulling the strings behind this..." Teng Qingshan was far from a man of saintly virtue. Back when he was seventeen, during the battle at Dayan Mountain, his father and elder uncle suffered misfortune. Though his strength then was far inferior to that of Qinghu Island, he dared to retaliate fiercely nonetheless!

Moreover, the Teng Qingshan of today found no one in the world truly deserving of his awe.

The Xingyi School immediately mobilized its greatest resources, beginning the intensive investigation into the true identities of the more than a hundred people who had died. Remember, those hundred sets of top-grade armor, numerous weapons, and the poisons were all crucial leads for the investigation! Furthermore, it was highly unlikely that a hundred powerful martial artists were all completely unknown figures.

In just seven days, a result emerged that was shocking enough to cause alarm.

……

In the late morning, within the flower garden courtyard of the Donghuayuan, a young woman dressed in a purple fitted outfit was practicing her spear techniques with a long spear. Teng Qingshan stood nearby, watching with a gentle smile.

"Father, how was my practice?" Hong Lin paused, her cheeks flushed, and she smiled up at Teng Qingshan.

"It has a certain form, but your 'Shadow-Following' Spear, while possessing that continuous flow, lacks a bit of ferocity." Teng Qingshan extended a hand, and the long spear in Hong Lin's grasp was pulled across the void, landing directly in Teng Qingshan's hand. "Watch closely. Crushing Fist is like an arrow! This 'Shadow-Following Spear' must also be like an arrow loosed from the bowstring."

Saying this, Teng Qingshan effortlessly grasped a long spear horizontally with one hand, then twisted and thrust!

Pfft!

The air seemed to be pierced.

"Also, Lin Lin," Teng Qingshan continued with a smile, "Your Crushing Fist and the 'Shadow-Following' Spear technique are now both considered minor accomplishments. Starting today, when you practice your Crushing Fist, whether advancing or retreating, your feet are only permitted a half-step movement!"

"Half a step? That's too short. The explosive force won't be strong enough," Hong Lin shook her head.

Teng Qingshan smiled: "If you can't get used to it, use iron chains to bind your feet. Whether stepping forward or back, it must only be a half-step distance! When you truly master the 'Half-Step Crushing Fist,' you will be able to reach the Grandmaster realm of 'Xiantian.'" Since his son's martial talent wasn't outstanding, he could only focus on cultivating his daughter properly.

Hong Lin nodded.

"Master!" At that moment, a figure approached from a distance—it was Yang Dong.

"Senior Brother Yang." Hong Lin greeted him with a smile.

Yang Dong nodded with a smile, then lowered his voice to Teng Qingshan, "Master, they found something over there."

"They found something?" Teng Qingshan's expression shifted. "Let's go." Teng Qingshan led his disciple directly into the study. After the heavy door creaked shut, Yang Dong immediately and respectfully took out a piece of intelligence: "Master, this is the result Senior Brother found. Master, please look."

Teng Qingshan, his face grim, took the intelligence report from his disciple’s hand.

The report stated that the investigation focused on the weapons, armor, and the identities of the martial artists. The weapons proved difficult to trace, but the identities of three of the over one hundred martial artists had been ascertained!

"Three people," Teng Qingshan murmured to himself.

Across the land of Jiuzhou, there were countless martial artists, many of them obscure figures within their sects. For the Xingyi School's intelligence network to uncover three identities was already quite remarkable.

"Guo Jiexu? Gan Zitao?" Teng Qingshan's expression changed as he read the first two names.

The report stated that both of them belonged to the Yu Huang Sect!

"Yu Huang Sect!" Rage welled up in Teng Qingshan. "It’s one thing to use petty favors to lure away disciples of my Neijia Quan lineage; it’s another to frame people... I never expected them to press their advantage and dare to slaughter the disciples of my Xingyi School!" No founding patriarch, upon being targeted for the extermination of thousands of disciples through insidious means, could remain calm.

Honor! Face!

These were all earned through the might of one's fist!

Beside him, Yang Dong felt that his master Teng Qingshan’s eyes suddenly shone with a terrifying brilliance, like lightning, and the killing intent within them made him inwardly frightened.

"Hmm? What is this..."

After reading the detailed introductions of 'Guo Jiexu' and 'Gan Zitao,' when he flipped to the next page and saw the third person, Teng Qingshan was greatly startled: "Chu Xinglong? Qing, Qinghu Island???" Teng Qingshan, who had been filled with fury moments before, ready to settle accounts with the Yu Huang Sect over the first two names, felt as if a bucket of icy water had been thrown over him in mid-winter.

"Qinghu Island?" Teng Qingshan frowned. "How could someone from Qinghu Island be among them?"

"Master," Yang Dong cupped his hands, "Disciple has seen this before. I was also puzzled... why there would be someone from Qinghu Island among these three."

Teng Qingshan shook his head, frowning: "Back then, the Blind Sword Saint of Qinghu Island was killed by me, and the Island Master, 'Tie Pan,' was captured alive by me. Afterward, the entire Qinghu Island disintegrated and collapsed completely. Except for some loyalists who went into hiding in various places, preparing for a comeback, the vast majority scattered and began living ordinary lives."

"But this time, this person named 'Chu Xinglong,' how did he get involved?" Teng Qingshan pondered.

"Master."

Yang Dong spoke gravely, "In my view, there are two possibilities."

"One: The remnants of Qinghu Island might be organizing behind the scenes of this incident, seeking revenge. Thus, they gathered some people, but the inclusion of Guo Jiexu and Gan Zitao from the Yu Huang Sect suggests the Yu Huang Sect is also implicated."

"Two: This entire matter is an act of revenge by the Yu Huang Sect! After Qinghu Island was destroyed, many disciples who once belonged to Qinghu Island left Yangzhou. Some became soldiers in the Yu Huang Sect, while others joined different sects. This Chu Xinglong might have joined the Yu Huang Sect after the demise of Qinghu Island. These over one hundred people were all organized by the Yu Huang Sect!"

Yang Dong presented these two possibilities.

Teng Qingshan nodded, his jaw tightly clenched, frowning, filled with doubt and uncertainty.

"Master, what should we do?" Yang Dong asked.

"This matter has felt strange from the very beginning," Teng Qingshan frowned. "A mysterious Xiantian expert sending word in advance, followed by this incident! However—despite the strangeness, the Yu Huang Sect cannot escape responsibility for this matter."

Because of his lingering doubts, Teng Qingshan decided not to immediately storm the Yu Huang Sect headquarters.

"Continue the investigation!"

"Those armor sets, the weapons, and how those hundred-plus people suddenly appeared—their movements, investigate thoroughly," Teng Qingshan commanded. Although he was furious with the Yu Huang Sect, Teng Qingshan did not want to charge in without fully understanding the situation first.

……

Time flew by, and it was already March.

By March, Yangzhou was bursting with the sights and scents of spring blossoms, and at the foot of Dayan Mountain, even more tourists came to admire this sacred ground of Neijia Quan.

Naturally, a bustling town had formed at the base of Dayan Mountain.

"Brother, it has been a full eight years since the three of us traveled through hardship from Yuzhou to reach Dayan Mountain and join the Xingyi School. This time, Junior Brother, as you go back to visit relatives, please also check on my elderly mother and father for me. Here is some silver; please take it along." Inside a tavern, three young men sat together drinking and conversing.

One of them, a handsome youth in green robes, nodded, sighing, "Eight years! I wonder how my foster father has been doing these past eight years. Alas, I am truly unfilial. Eight years away from him. I only arrange for people to send back some silver."

"Brother, you are the most capable among us three, the one with the brightest future. You are now a corporal in the Blood Wolf Army. Your foster father would be overjoyed to know this."

"Junior Brother Gong Yu," another shorter, stouter man chuckled, "A man's ambition lies in traversing the world. Your foster father originally wanted you to come with us. Sadly—we can't just go back to visit family whenever we wish." In any sect, disciples who had just entered faced restrictions on visiting home.

The farther away one's home, the stricter the limitation.

After all, some places were tens of thousands of miles away; the round trip alone could take up half a year. That was unacceptable! If they were allowed to visit home once a year, it meant spending more than half the year traveling.

"Alright, my two Senior Brothers, enough talk. It’s almost time; the guild’s merchant caravan is gathering." The youth named 'Gong Yu' stood up.

The two young men who had come to see him off also rose.

"No need to see me off further. I, Gong Yu, will take my leave now." Gong Yu cupped his hands in a salute.

"Travel safely." The two young men watched the man named 'Gong Yu' depart.

In the town, the merchant convoy of the Qingshan Guild was assembling.

Gong Yu was traveling with this caravan to Yuzhou, his hometown, to visit his relatives.

"Everyone is here, set off!" commanded the leader of the caravan.

Instantly, the caravan, consisting of nearly a thousand people, set off from Dayan Mountain, heading toward Yuzhou.

On the desolate official road.

The youth named 'Gong Yu' rode his horse, moving slowly with the caravan. He looked back toward the direction of Dayan Mountain. From this distance, Dayan Mountain was already a faint blur. Gong Yu murmured silently in his heart: "Xingyi School! Master, all my fellow disciples... I am sorry. Don't blame me; blame that Teng Qingshan!!!"

"Eight years!"

"Eight years... these eight years I was a disciple of the Xingyi School, a corporal in the Blood Wolf Army. And from this day forward, I will be no more!" A chilling light flashed across Gong Yu's eyes.