In the south of Center City, within Fengde District, stood Changsheng Hall, the headquarters of the Tianshu Gang.
Inside the inner hall, gang elder Yu Hongming sat beneath a calligraphy scroll that read "Inspecting the Heart." A young boy knelt before him, knocking his forehead against the floor in rapid, heavy bows.
Outwardly, the elder looked to be in his fifties or sixties, but he was actually a hundred and ten years old. As one of the gang's founding elders, he had stepped back from daily affairs forty years ago to devote himself entirely to teaching disciples.
He looked down at the boy. "Xiao Wu sent you?"
"Yes," the boy answered. "The gentleman told me to come find the old master."
"If Xiao Wu sent you, then your aptitude must be decent."
Yu Hongming spoke in a mild, unhurried drawl, appearing thoroughly genial. The two men standing behind him, however, wore stern expressions, radiating an invisible pressure outward.
"What is your name?"
"Old Master, my name is Guan Chengqi," the boy replied.
"A good name," Yu Hongming said. "An uncut jade makes no vessel. Starting tomorrow, train in martial arts under your Senior Brother Tian." He glanced to his side. "Tian Er, take him under your wing."
The man on his left gave a respectful nod. "Leave it to me, Master. If Senior Brother Wei saw promise in him, he should do well."
"Take him down, then. Let him learn the rules first."
"Yes." Tian Er stepped forward and told the boy, "Follow me."
The boy kowtowed several more times to Yu Hongming before rising and following Tian Er out.
Once the two had left, the other disciple standing on the right stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Master, we just received word. Left Bayonet found Senior Brother Wei."
Yu Hongming repeated the name. "Left Bayonet?"
"A bounty hunter of some renown. Word is he came from the military."
"A military man, is he…"
Something seemed to stir in Yu Hongming's mind. When one's martial cultivation reached his realm, every chapter of one's past life remained vividly etched in memory. A single reminiscence would pull a vast flood of recollections to the surface. Yet he quickly reined in his thoughts and murmured with a sigh, "There certainly are plenty of formidable young people nowadays."
The disciple asked, "Master, after Left Bayonet, Senior Brother Wei should be just about ready, shouldn't he?"
Yu Hongming answered leisurely, "No, he is still short by a fraction." He gazed outside. "Whether he can cross this threshold depends on him alone."
***
When Chen Chuan emerged from the arena venue, it was already eight in the evening.
In truth, matches were still scheduled for the night. They primarily featured contestants who had suffered earlier defeats but survived, along with fighters who had entered the tournament independently.
If certain individuals garnered enough popularity and public acclaim, they stood a chance of gaining entry into the main tournament, and reaching the final rounds was not out of the question.
As long as a fighter managed to advance into the latter half of the tournament, the framework agreement entitled them not only to cash prizes, but also to have every necessary implant provided free of charge by the sponsoring corporations.
The better a contestant performed, the more corporate support they received. With enough luck, one could walk away with a full array of high-grade implants and a substantial fortune. Consequently, ever since the arena tournament's inception, legions of fighters had voluntarily thrown themselves into the fray year after year.
Yet Chen Chuan knew that while a full set of high-grade implants seemed enticing on the surface, from the moment of implantation onward, the user required massive quantities of anti-alienation drugs and sedatives every year. They also had to undergo periodic tuning surgeries and take part in designated trials. In the end, every cent earned often flowed straight back into corporate hands.
Furthermore, those implants might harbor covert biological field frequencies. If those fighters ever found themselves in conflict with the megacorporations, whether the implants would even function when the time came remained an open question.
After returning to the Xuan Palace Building, Chen Chuan arranged a meeting time with Tan Zhi for the following day, took the elevator up to his dorm, and washed up. Coming out, he replenished Chaoming's water and feed before contacting Wu Bei to ask how things stood.
The moment the connection went through, Wu Bei raised his voice: "Brother Chen, no sooner did you have me lift the masking today than I caught someone checking your transit routes!"
Chen Chuan's heart stirred slightly. Walking to the window, he looked out at the towering pillar of light clustered and framed by vibrant neons. "Oh? Can you confirm roughly when it happened?"
"Around eleven in the morning," Wu Bei said.
Chen Chuan calculated the timeline. That was a little over an hour after he had entered the venue. "Can you trace the origin?"
"No idea," Wu Bei replied. "Their methods are brilliant. They definitely used a resonance nest. I didn't dare pursue them. Their sweep was fast, too—they scrubbed every trace of their search clean, leaving nothing behind along the route. If you hadn't told me to keep an eye out, Brother Chen, I wouldn't have noticed a thing."
"Their technique is that advanced?" Chen Chuan asked.
"Extremely!" Wu Bei's tone grew deadly serious. "The feeling I got was on par with when I probed the field networks of the megacorporations back in the day. Places like that, I usually don't dare go beyond the perimeter. But these people feel a bit different from the corporations. I can't put it into exact words, but the style is distinct."
Chen Chuan already had his suspicions. Judging from the timing and motive, this was very likely the team backing Wei Wusheng. Ordinary individuals could never command such sophisticated technical support.
"Brother Wu," he said, "please keep monitoring them for me, but continue avoiding anything that might alert them."
"Understood!" Wu Bei gave a firm promise. He sensed that this adversary was unlike any before—exceptionally dangerous, leaving no room for the slightest mistake.
After ending the call, Chen Chuan checked the platform for updates. Yet ever since Left Bayonet's initial post, nothing further had surfaced.
Moreover, had Wei Wusheng eliminated Left Bayonet, his recent pattern suggested he would have posted a photograph as well. Yet there was still no activity.
Standing by the window, Chen Chuan watched the dazzling, chaotic lights reflected in his eyes. After a long moment, he turned, retrieved the Xuejun Saber, and sat on the sofa. Drawing the blade, he took out a cloth and wiped it down with meticulous care.
Lately, every time he meditated and took his medicine, he kept the Xuejun Saber by his side. As his own strength grew, the connection between him and this mutated weapon became increasingly seamless.
A breeze drifted in through the window, stirring the curtains. Moonlight spilled into the room, casting a faint, chilly sheen across the blade.
***
The long night quickly slipped by. Come morning, the platform remained devoid of updates.
Neither Wei Wusheng nor Left Bayonet had posted a single word, leaving many to wonder whether the two had taken each other down.
The Disposal Bureau had rushed to Shenwei District yesterday, right where Left Bayonet had broadcast his location. Upon arrival, however, they found the man long gone. Tracing his movements indicated that he had likely left Center City.
If that was the case, did it prove Wei Wusheng was outside the city as well?
Once beyond city limits, much of their surveillance technology became useless. Inevitably, the Disposal Bureau's focus shifted toward the outskirts and the fringes of Center City.
Meanwhile, inside a private residence in Wuding District—right in Center City—sat Wei Wusheng, the very man believed to be outside.
Beside him lay the severed head of Left Bayonet. The puncture wound in the center of Wei Wusheng's brow had fully healed after a night of recuperation, leaving his condition better than it had ever been.
Yesterday, he had lured Left Bayonet out of the city and fought him with nothing held back.
The man lived up to his reputation. While perhaps not the outright strongest, he was undeniably the most perilous opponent Wei Wusheng had faced so far. His bayonet technique was ferociously sharp, and the blade itself had been crafted from special mutated tissue, cutting through even external conditioning and hardened bone.
Yet Wei Wusheng could afford to make multiple mistakes; his opponent could not. Even though Left Bayonet possessed superb mobility and immediately attempted to disengage the moment he realized he could not make the kill, Wei Wusheng's endurance proved far superior despite his slower speed. Aided by external support, Wei Wusheng had ultimately overtaken and slaughtered him just before he could reenter Center City.
Previously, he would post a photo to the platform the moment his victim fell. Everyone assumed he would do the same this time, but he would not—because everything he had done before was merely groundwork laid for today's objective.
He produced a tube of nutritional paste and ate it slowly, followed by the stamina-replenishing and mind-invigorating medicines he carried with him.
Once finished, he draped a brand-new martial arts uniform prepared by his team over his shoulders and stood up. He loosened his joints, checked the hammer tied securely at his waist, and stepped into the front courtyard.
Rain had fallen again during the night, but today promised clear skies. Sunlight poured down brilliantly, shimmering amidst a lingering haze of vapor.
A somewhat muffled voice suddenly sounded through his boundary credential: "Time is almost up. We will mask your field signal and arrange an escape route."
Wei Wusheng raised his head and spoke toward the sky: "Thanks." Then he strode out.
Because he could not transmit audio directly back, the group waiting in the hidden facility could not hear his voice, but his lip movements and expression made his words unmistakable.
One of them remarked, "Wei Wusheng actually said thanks. That's a rare sight. It seems he takes this upcoming opponent very seriously."
The leader watched for a moment before abruptly ordering, "Pull up that student's dossier again."
"Yes, sir!"
***
Inside his dorm room in the Xuan Palace Building, Chen Chuan opened his eyes from meditation. He glanced out at the brilliant morning light, where dawn's glow wove together brightness and shadow, brimming with vigor and hope.
Seeing him awake, Chaoming spread its wings and let out a clear, melodious cry toward the sun.
Chen Chuan rose slowly. After washing up, he consumed his nutritional paste and medicines, then began dressing step by step.
Over his shirt, he donned the protective suit, followed by his Disposal Bureau uniform. He took his peaked cap, gave it a dusting pat, and placed it firmly on his head.
Next, he slipped on the protective gloves that matched the uniform and walked over to the weapon rack. Taking hold of the Xuejun Saber, he felt the blade vibrate faintly, as though resonating with his state of mind.
"No rush," he murmured.
The blade settled back into stillness.
Chen Chuan picked it up, walked to the door, waved to Chaoming, who was watching him attentively, and pushed the door open to step outside.
Chapter 338