I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Chapter 66: Chapter 64: Meritorious Official, Turmoil

Jiang Zuo might have lacked real combat experience, but having watched countless TV shows and read novels, he was no fool in a fight.

What he lacked was simply the experience of putting his ideas into practice.

The moment he decided to catch the sword, he had already planned his next move.

While Xu Wuan was still in shock, Jiang Zuo tightened his grip and yanked hard.

Xu Wuan snapped back to his senses and hastily let go of his sword.

But Jiang Zuo had already used the momentum to close the distance.

If not for this single moment, he wouldn’t have risked letting Fangxiang Mountain’s dagger get so close to his neck.

He had ignored Fangxiang Mountain precisely because he was determined to kill Xu Wuan.

Faced with Jiang Zuo’s life-or-death tactics, Xu Wuan’s retreat was ultimately too slow. By pulling and leveraging the momentum, Jiang Zuo’s left fist had already smashed into Xu Wuan’s head.

CRACK!

Blood splattered everywhere. In an instant, Xu Wuan was a headless corpse.

Then, with a flick of his right hand, Jiang Zuo sent dozens of Embroidery Needles shooting toward the rapidly retreating Fangxiang Mountain.

Seeing that even his and Xu Wuan’s full-powered attacks couldn’t pierce Jiang Zuo’s skin, Fangxiang Mountain knew it was all over and tried to flee.

But unfortunately for him, he was too close to Jiang Zuo.

Jiang Zuo’s Embroidery Needles shot toward him like a torrential downpour.

No matter how fast Fangxiang Mountain was, he couldn’t outrun the Embroidery Needles that Jiang Zuo had thrown with all his might.

Countless Embroidery Needles pierced Fangxiang Mountain’s body as if embroidering a pattern.

Even though he practiced the Blood God Skill, survival was impossible with an unknown number of needles embedded in his head.

THUD!

Fangxiang Mountain didn’t get far before he collapsed to the ground, his body riddled with Embroidery Needles.

Not far away, Xia Shiyuan stared at the scene, completely stunned. His heart raced, unable to calm down.

In that short span of time, it was as if he’d been on a roller coaster, with its constant ups and downs.

When Jiang Zuo suddenly attacked and heavily wounded Fangxiang Mountain, Xia Shiyuan had been overjoyed.

Then, seeing that Jiang Zuo didn’t seem that impressive, with his slow reactions, and was on the verge of being killed by Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain, his heart had burned with anxiety.

Yet in the next moment, Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain’s full-powered attacks couldn’t even break the man’s skin. Xia Shiyuan was left dumbfounded, his mind reeling in utter shock.

Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain were at the Great Success stage of Meridian Passage. Even an Inner Breath Grandmaster couldn’t just ignore their attacks.

What’s more, they had both used sharp weapons.

’Who in the world is this fisherman-like passerby?’

’Could he be a legendary Innate Martial Artist?’

’No!’

’He must practice some incredibly powerful Body Cultivation Technique.’

Although Xia Shiyuan had never personally seen an Innate Martial Artist, he had heard many tales of their miraculous abilities.

Jiang Zuo didn’t give off that legendary sense of pressure.

While Xia Shiyuan was still in shock, Jiang Zuo had already started looting the bodies.

The corpses of two Meridian Passage masters were a must-loot; he wouldn’t normally get a chance to even touch such experts.

However, there wasn’t anything particularly special on either of them.

Aside from their respective weapons, Jiang Zuo found a Cultivation Technique manual on each of them.

A closer look revealed they were both copies of the "Blood God Skill."

The difference was that the one from Fangxiang Mountain’s body seemed to be the original, while Xu Wuan’s was a handwritten copy.

Fangxiang Mountain had been turned into a pincushion by Jiang Zuo, and the "Blood God Skill" manual hadn’t escaped unscathed.

However, it just had a few extra holes and was still readable.

The copy from Xu Wuan’s body could be used to cross-reference the original, preventing any misinterpretations.

"My friend, I am Xia Shiyuan, Commander of the Lizhou Garrison Army. Might I ask your name?"

Xia Shiyuan walked over, not daring to get too close, and clasped his hands in a questioning gesture.

"You can call me Zhao Li."

"Commander Xia, I’ll be taking the things on these two. You can take the bodies."

"Also, the crimes these two committed should warrant the extermination of their clans and confiscation of their assets, right? I don’t want much of their family fortunes, just half will do."

Jiang Zuo didn’t stand on ceremony with Xia Shiyuan, gesturing to the two corpses on the ground as he spoke.

"Zhao, please rest assured. You killed these two men and saved the hundred thousand or so citizens of Lizhou from disaster. All their wealth rightfully belongs to you."

Xia Shiyuan nodded, showing no sign of objection or displeasure.

In his view, as long as one wasn’t planning a rebellion, once wealth reached a certain level, it was just a number. There was nowhere to spend it all.

Compared to saving the hundreds of thousands of people in Lizhou, the family fortunes of Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain were nothing.

If this man hadn’t intervened, he might already be dead, and Lizhou City would have been massacred.

In comparison, what was a little confiscated wealth worth?

"Good. You can take their bodies, then."

"Also, I’m not a fan of crowds. I don’t want more people knowing about me. When you report this, if you can avoid mentioning me, please do."

Jiang Zuo tossed the two bodies to Xia Shiyuan, his tone carrying a slight warning.

"You truly carry yourself like a master, Zhao! There are still many matters in the city that I must handle, so I’ll take my leave. Once things have settled down, I will come find you again."

Seeing that Jiang Zuo didn’t want him to stay, and with a pile of loose ends to tie up back in Lizhou City, Xia Shiyuan had no intention of lingering. He grabbed the bodies of Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain and departed.

Once he was a good distance away, Xia Shiyuan glanced back at Jiang Zuo, seeing him call out to the big black dog he had thrown into the Li River.

’The Blood Demon Skill has fallen into his hands. But at most, the Blood Demon Skill can only help someone break through to the Inner Breath realm. It holds no appeal for a person like him.’

’This man is skilled with using Embroidery Needles. He must be that gangster assassin. Given his character, even if he obtained the Blood Demon Skill, he wouldn’t use it to harm people.’

Xia Shiyuan mused to himself.

He normally couldn’t stand by and watch a Demon Skill like the Blood Demon Skill fall into someone else’s hands.

Unfortunately, even Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain working together couldn’t break through Jiang Zuo’s defense, so he could only pretend he hadn’t seen it.

Besides, with this person’s level of Cultivation, if he wanted to wreak havoc upon the world, it wouldn’t matter whether he had the Blood Demon Skill or not.

He had no choice but to trust him.

’A Grandmaster... It seems that if you don’t become a Grandmaster, you’re just at the mercy of others.’

Xia Shiyuan secretly resolved that no matter what, he had to take that step and become a Grandmaster!

...

’That was really dangerous. I didn’t expect to face two experts at the Great Success stage of Meridian Passage at the same time.’

Jiang Zuo sat by the river, replaying the battle in his mind.

He was well aware that his weakness was his agility; his speed was no match for a true Meridian Passage expert.

But against a single Meridian Passage Martial Artist, Jiang Zuo wasn’t afraid.

As long as he shuffled his feet slightly and faced his enemy, he wouldn’t give them any openings.

There were only two or three Meridian Passage experts in Lizhou City to begin with. Jiang Zuo never thought his luck would be so bad as to run into all three at once, and even be forced to fight two of them.

"I really have you to thank for this one."

Jiang Zuo gently stroked Xiaoqing.

Xiaoqing immediately rubbed against Jiang Zuo’s trouser leg, looking pleased.

It went without saying that Xiaoqing was the hero responsible for him getting through this unscathed.

Jiang Zuo had begun training Xiaoqing two or three years ago.

While training Xiaoqing’s combat abilities, Jiang Zuo suddenly grew curious about how strong its defense was, so he told it not to dodge and to take his attacks head-on.

The result was that no matter whether he used his fists or weapons, he couldn’t inflict the slightest harm on Xiaoqing.

After some thought, Jiang Zuo tried punching himself.

Even when he struck with all his might, he couldn’t cause himself any injury.

It was only then that Jiang Zuo understood. Xiaoqing’s one-hundred-percent attribute bonus had given him a powerful defensive ability nearly on par with its own.

Of course, Jiang Zuo felt his defense still couldn’t compare to Xiaoqing’s.

Xiaoqing’s defensive ability was far stronger than his.

However, during the fight with Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain, Jiang Zuo hadn’t been certain he could withstand their attacks.

After all, they were both wielding sharp weapons, not just their fists.

But caught in their pincer attack, Jiang Zuo’s Agility Attribute was far too low to dodge.

After taking Xu Wuan’s sword strike and confirming he could endure their attacks,

Jiang Zuo made a decisive choice: with the speed of a lightning strike, he would kill Xu Wuan first, then Fangxiang Mountain.

If he gave them time, they might have other methods that could break through his defense.

’I really do need to practice martial arts. I have too few techniques to use in a fight. I can only rely on my raw attributes to crush my enemies,’ Jiang Zuo thought.

It was probably time to start. And as it happened, he had just obtained a copy of the "Blood God Skill."

This Blood God Skill sounded impressive. He could first see what kind of Cultivation Technique it was.

If it wasn’t suitable, he could always ask Xia Shiyuan for help finding another one.

With a little time, he could surely find a Cultivation Technique that satisfied him.

Although his identity had been exposed this time, Jiang Zuo had no intention of leaving just yet.

In the past, his strength was too low, so he had to hide whenever possible.

Now, ordinary people were helpless against him. Only an Inner Breath Grandmaster could likely harm him.

And if an Inner Breath Grandmaster really did show up, Jiang Zuo still had Xiaoqing.

Jiang Zuo believed that even an Inner Breath Grandmaster would be helpless against Xiaoqing’s defense.

If he and Xiaoqing teamed up, they could even take on an Inner Breath Grandmaster.

...

The simultaneous deaths of two great Meridian Passage experts, Xu Wuan and Fangxiang Mountain, quickly sent massive shockwaves through Lizhou City.

But this was only the beginning.

Under Xia Shiyuan’s full-scale investigation, he quickly uncovered Fangxiang Mountain’s identity as a spy. Xu Wuan, even worse, had been planning to collude with the Daze Dynasty and launch a rebellion from within.

When this news spread, Lizhou City was immediately plunged into bloody turmoil.

After all, Fangxiang Mountain and Xu Wuan were the heads of two of the largest factions in Lizhou City.

There were few families in the city that didn’t have close ties to them.

Countless people were implicated because of these two men.

Many of the great and small families in Lizhou City were purged.

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