Chapter 51: The Big Shot Was Beside Me All Along (Vote Please)

"What? All the elite members of the Salt Gang's Qinghe Branch have mysteriously vanished? Including Elder Wang, a Body Tempering Seventh Layer expert sent directly from the Salt Gang's main headquarters?"

"Elder Wang is a seventh-layer martial artist, and he even brought along several experts of the fifth and sixth layers! Who on earth could make them disappear without a single sound?"

"Could it be a bizarre entity? Probably not. The maids and servants at the Salt Gang branch are all completely unharmed. It must be a personal vendetta!"

"Could it be that master archer who shot down the Salt Gang's honored guest, Bai?"

The Qinghe County Magistrate, the three major aristocratic families, and the Fishermen's Gang's Qinghe Branch were the first to receive the detailed news, filling them with shock and dread.

Qinghe County was merely a small county, and individuals like Wang Kang-an, who came from the Salt Gang, were absolute titans in their eyes.

After all, the County Magistrate, the heads of the three major families, and the leader of the Fishermen's Gang branch were only at the fifth layer of Body Tempering themselves.

Had they known that the leader dispatched by the Salt Gang headquarters this time was not the seventh-layer Elder Wang Kang-an who stood in the open, but the ninth-layer law enforcement Elder Bai Gui-nong...

They probably would have been frightened to death!

A martial artist at the ninth layer of Body Tempering was no small matter; even in a major prefecture city like Yunmeng, such a figure counted as a top-tier expert.

Experts at the Divine Might Realm were prominent, high-status figures who were exceedingly rare.

Take the colossal Salt Gang, for instance—they possessed only a single Divine Might Realm expert, who was none other than the gang leader himself.

Given that those in the Divine Might Realm rarely intervened in mundane affairs, the ninth layer of Body Tempering represented the absolute peak of combat power, capable of handling ninety-nine percent of all situations.

Inside the Salt Gang's Qinghe Branch.

County Magistrate Chen Fan, County Commandant Zhang Long, County Vice-Magistrate Chen Dao, along with the head of the Fishermen's Gang branch and the patriarchs of the three major families, rushed to the scene one after another.

The officials had to investigate due to their official duties.

The others came out of concern for their own safety, desperate to learn the specifics of the situation.

Gazing at the gathered survivors, Zhang Long demanded, "Did any of you hear any unusual noises last night, or witness anything out of the ordinary?"

"No!"

"When I woke up, I just felt it was much quieter than usual. Then I realized all those big shots were gone. At first, I thought they had all gone out!"

"Same here!"

Everyone shook their heads one by one, offering not a single useful clue.

After Zhou Chen ambushed and killed Bai Gui-nong, none of the remaining individuals were his match. With the assistance of Ji Feng-xia and Liu Ru-yi, he had easily eliminated every enemy.

Even with maids and servants standing close by, a simple mental illusion cast by Ji Feng-xia was enough to put them into a deep sleep, keeping everything completely under control.

Seeing that the survivors were not lying, Chen Fan, Zhang Long, and the others grew even more solemn. It proved that the perpetrator possessed extraordinary strength.

In this world, a disappearance usually meant more misfortune than good.

There were simply too many ways to dispose of a corpse.

Incineration, storage within a spatial ring, devouring by eerie entities...

Yet, since the maids and servants were all left alive, the possibility of supernatural entities being responsible was infinitesimal. Furthermore, the fact that the killer spared these servants showed a certain sense of distinguishing between gratitude and resentment.

This was the only somewhat comforting piece of news they managed to glean.

The murderer likely wouldn't target them without reason.

Moreover, they strongly suspected that the culprit was none other than the master archer who had killed Bai Ru-yun, or one of his accomplices.

Chen Fan only paid a symbolic visit to inspect the site; he had zero interest in hunting down the killer, nor did he dare to investigate.

Furthermore, the imperial court had always adopted a hands-off approach toward such gang and sect conflicts, leaving them to resolve matters among themselves.

And these factions preferred handling things on their own anyway.

The Salt Gang headquarters would simply have to deal with this matter themselves.

Zhang Long likewise did not linger, leaving behind a few men to secure the site before departing.

The people from the Fishermen's Gang branch and the three major families felt even more strongly about this.

They wished they could stay as far away as possible.

Upon returning, they immediately instructed their clan disciples to keep a low profile for the time being.

They even directly grounded those young scions who loved stirring up trouble outside, preventing them from running into someone they shouldn't and bringing disaster upon their families.

...

Past noon.

Zhou Chen rose from bed and went to the county office to resign.

Upon arriving at the yamen, Chen Fan, Zhang Long, and Chen Dao were all present. Although they had no desire to meddle in the annihilation of the Salt Gang's Qinghe Branch, the fallout from the incident was immense.

After exchanging pleasantries with the three men, Zhou Chen went straight to the point: "Lord Magistrate, I have come today to tender my resignation. I kindly ask for your approval!"

"Resign?"

Chen Fan, Chen Dao, and Zhang Long were all stunned, unable to fathom why Zhou Chen would suddenly choose to quit when things were going so well.

"Did something happen? Why the sudden resignation?" Zhang Long asked.

"Well, it's like this: yesterday, I took on a new master. I am to follow him to his sect for cultivation, so I can no longer remain here in office."

"A master?"

The group looked at Zhou Chen with a mix of curiosity.

Zhang Long inquired, "Which sect does your master belong to?"

In his view, Zhou Chen possessed decent talent, but it was merely decent. Anyone who deigned to take Zhou Chen on as a disciple probably didn't belong to a major sect.

If it was just some minor, insignificant sect, he would be better off staying put.

"My master is Li Chang-feng of the Divine Arrow Peak, Qingyun Sect."

Zhou Chen saw no need for concealment.

Once he arrived at the Qingyun Sect and ascended to the status of a true disciple, this news would rapidly spread across both Qingyun and Yunmeng Prefectures, and even gain considerable renown throughout the Great Qian Dynasty.

"Who?"

Chen Fan, Chen Dao, and Zhang Long all shuddered, their eyes widening in disbelief, wondering if they had misheard.

"You... you are saying your master is Peak Master Li of the Qingyun Sect's Divine Arrow Peak?"

Chen Fan stared fixedly at Zhou Chen, finding it utterly unbelievable.

Previously, he had hoped to send his daughter into the Qingyun Sect, but even that was merely the hope of getting her accepted as an outer disciple.

Gaining entry to the outer disciple ranks alone would be considered soaring to the skies.

Yet Zhou Chen had been taken in as a direct disciple by Li Chang-feng—that was the treatment reserved for true disciples.

Moreover, if Zhou Chen could become Li Chang-feng's disciple, it meant he was capable of cultivating the Yi Archery Technique, marking him as a person of extraordinary natural endowment.

Wait.

The Yi Archery Technique?

The Salt Gang...

Chen Fan, Chen Dao, and Zhang Long experienced a violent jolt as a series of major events that had recently transpired flashed through their minds.

Beginning with the assassination of Shi Bao-yu.

First, Shi Lei, the leader of the Salt Gang's Qinghe Branch, and Bai Ru-yun, an honored guest of the gang, were suspected of being slain by the Yi Archery Technique.

Immediately following that.

An elder from the Salt Gang's main headquarters came to investigate the killer, only to vanish mysteriously.

Now, the truth seemed to have surfaced.

Zhou Chen had mastered the Yi Archery Technique, killed Shi Bao-yu who had offended him, and thereby triggered a chain of subsequent events.

His mastery of the Yi Archery Technique had successfully caught the attention of Li Chang-feng from the Qingyun Sect's Divine Arrow Peak, leading Li Chang-feng to take him on as a disciple.

The pieces fit together seamlessly.

Everything locked into place like tight masonry.

The gazes they directed toward Zhou Chen instantly turned awestruck and respectful.

Setting aside Zhou Chen's new status, his personal combat strength alone had reached at least the sixth layer of Body Tempering—higher than all of theirs.

Yet Zhou Chen was only eighteen years old. Such talent was terrifyingly formidable.

No wonder he was able to master the Yi Archery Technique and enter the lineage of Li Chang-feng.

"Congratulations, Young Master Zhou! To think that our Qinghe County harbored a true dragon like Young Master Zhou all this time without realizing it. We truly were blind!"

Chen Fan was the first to snap back to his senses, offering profuse congratulations while deliberately avoiding any mention of the Salt Gang affair.

"Congratulations, Young Master Zhou! No wonder your archery is so godlike; it turns out you mastered the Yi Archery Technique, reputed to be the most difficult archery skill in the Great Qian. Your natural talent is truly boundless!" County Vice-Magistrate Chen Dao immediately chimed in with flattery.

"Congratulations, Brother Chen! A hidden dragon breaking out of the abyss, soaring straight into the heavens!"

Zhang Long's emotions were complex, a mixture of shock and elation.

The subordinate he had always looked after turned out to be an absolute titan.

The kind who could crush him with a single slap!

Fortunately, their relationship had always been good; they were even comrades of a sort!

Could this be considered latching onto a towering, powerful thigh?!