If There's Nothing Else, I'll Go Jump First

Great... Great accomplishment?!

Beside the bronze pillar, the Principal stared at this scene, utterly dumbfounded.

The profound, enigmatic words he had spent so long preparing in his head—intending to use them to guide Bai Yujing when his disciple inevitably made a mistake while practicing the Formless Phaseless Spear—were now completely stuck in his throat.

It felt incredibly suffocating.

He let out a sigh, his voice carrying a hint of genuine emotion:

“Your master... is truly getting old. Disciple, the future of the Wanxing Martial Academy will depend on you from now on.”

Hearing this, Zhuang Xun, who had returned to the center of the pavilion holding his spear, couldn't help but look at this elderly man who had neither wife nor children.

Considering how heavily this world valued the master-disciple relationship, he was this old man's only junior.

He hesitated for a moment, planning to make up an excuse to have the old man teach him spear arts, just to keep him company.

But just as he was about to speak, he saw the Principal suddenly raise a hand and point forward. Instantly, the weapons filling the room stood horizontally and began to move in the direction he pointed.

The Principal drew two circles in the air, lowered his hand, and sighed deeply. “Sigh, I really am old. If this were back in my youth, even this pavilion would have flown up with them. Sigh~”

Zhuang Xun's face instantly darkened.

He closed his eyes, drawing all of his consciousness back into Bai Yujing's body. Operating his maxed-out Comprehension brain at full capacity, he recalled, analyzed, and dismantled the Principal's move from just now.

At the same time, the corresponding description from the Formless Phaseless Spear manual automatically surfaced in his mind.

The third move of the Formless Phaseless Spear—Neutralize.

Zhuang Xun had a sudden realization. He circulated his Formless Phaseless martial physique with all his might, his physical body becoming highly active. Combining the spear manual's description with his own understanding, he used his spear to mimic the Principal's actions from his memory.

Wherever his spear tip pointed, three or four weapons in front of him moved along with it, as if drawn by a magnet.

It was not to the exaggerated extent of the Principal's demonstration, but without a doubt, his Formless Phaseless Spear had reached the realm of great perfection.

The Principal, who had been secretly stealing glances at Bai Yujing out of the corner of his eye, almost had his eyeballs pop out of his sockets at the sight.

“Si... Six Harmonies Force?!”

“Disciple, when did you comprehend a martial arts technique?”

Zhuang Xun calmly withdrew his spear and said softly, “A few days ago, while watching birds playing with fish in the courtyard, I suddenly had an epiphany.”

The Principal fell silent.

He recalled how he himself had only managed to stumble his way into mastering the Six Harmonies Force martial technique back when he was at the Fifth Rank, and that was only by relying on the power of the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method.

“Disciple, if there's nothing else, your master will go jump now.”

“Take care, Master,” Zhuang Xun replied, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.

After the Principal left, he practiced in the pavilion for a while longer. Finding that his Formless Phaseless Spear had already reached great perfection and there was nothing left to practice, he departed as well.

...

Meanwhile, on Yan Pingsheng's side.

No matter where Zhuang Xun went today, he could hear disciples discussing the events of last night.

Last night, the elites of the Law Enforcement Hall had mobilized in full force to wipe out the Zhong family. It was impossible to keep such a massive commotion a secret.

In fact, the Law Enforcement Hall had made no attempt to hide it. Early in the morning, they had posted an announcement outside the Administrative Hall, stating that the Zhong family were spies planted in the Wanxing Market by the bandits of Qushe Ridge on Southern Mountain, and they had been eradicated by the Law Enforcement Hall last night.

The Outer Court disciples were utterly shocked upon learning the truth, especially those who shared a courtyard with Zhong Youqi.

They never expected that a fellow disciple they lived with day in and day out would actually be a bandit spy!

Of course, many disciples also recalled the Debt-Lending Bladesman who had killed Zhong Youqi.

However, to save face, the Law Enforcement Hall had concealed the source of their information. Thus, the disciples' discussions regarding the Debt-Lending Bladesman remained limited to him being a morally ambiguous vigilante.

...

On the third day after the Zhong family's annihilation, Zhuang Xun controlled Bai Yujing to head to Wanxing Hall, wanting to learn about the final outcome of the matter.

Upon arriving at Wanxing Hall on the mountain peak, Zhuang Xun first went to look for the Principal. However, the old geezer had gone off to enjoy himself somewhere again. After searching for a long time to no avail, Zhuang Xun entered the Principal's study—where he handled administrative affairs—alone.

The Principal had never forbidden Bai Yujing from interfering in the administrative affairs of the Wanxing Martial Academy.

On the contrary, he strongly supported it, granting him absolute authority.

However, Zhuang Xun did not really want to manage these affairs, as it wasted his training time. He only came by occasionally to lay some groundwork, preventing any sudden administrative decisions he might make in the future—to protect his clones—from appearing too abrupt.

But this was enough; there was no need to focus too much attention on this power.

After all, in a high-fantasy world, strength was what mattered most. All the power in the world could not compare to a fist capable of destroying it.

Sitting in the peach wood chair behind the desk, Zhuang Xun first flipped through the intelligence regarding Qushe Ridge's reaction.

Qushe Ridge's reaction was quite unexpected. Upon learning that their spies planted in another's territory had been rooted out, their very first action was to recall all their bandits from the outside.

Zhuang Xun guessed that Qushe Ridge probably suspected they had Wanxing Martial Academy spies within their own ranks, so they wanted to conduct a massive internal purge.

After reading the intelligence, Zhuang Xun browsed through today's administrative requests and came across an unexpected application.

The applicant was Yang Ling.

He suspected that the Debt-Lending Bladesman possessed the martial technique, the Heart Hibernation Technique, and thus wanted to request an elder of the academy who possessed Spiritual Sight to capture the villain.

Zhuang Xun rejected the application on the spot.

The reason given was insufficient evidence and a shortage of human resources in the academy. He told the applicant to produce stronger proof that the Debt-Lending Bladesman knew the Heart Hibernation Technique before they would reconsider.

This reason was highly logical. In the Mount Dazhou region, those who mastered martial techniques were extremely rare, and their martial arts cultivation was at the very least at the Upper Three Ranks.

How could anyone believe that an obscure thug had mastered such a technique?

Afterward, Zhuang Xun processed the rest of the administrative work to avoid leaving any loopholes. Only then did he cheerfully leave the study and return to his own courtyard to practice his martial arts.

...

Two days later, it was the day of the guard rotation for the Wanxing Martial Academy's dungeon.

Because the elder of the Disciplinary Hall who supervised the dungeon had left, along with a massive turnover of personnel, the dungeon's security was at its weakest.

Relying on his knowledge of the dungeon's patrol routes and the profound subtlety of the Heart Hibernation Technique, Zhuang Xun easily controlled the Debt-Lending Bladesman to slip inside, arriving outside the cell where Shen Zhi was held.

Hiding in the shadows, Zhuang Xun couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he looked at Shen Zhi, who was curled up in a corner, disheveled and clearly in an unstable mental state.

Judging by his appearance, his exposed skin was uninjured and there was no blood on his clothes, meaning he likely hadn't been subjected to torture.

It was probably due to the approaching execution date; he couldn't handle the daily, mounting pressure of impending death, combined with the harsh living conditions, causing him to suffer a mental breakdown.

Of course, it was also possible that he was faking it to find an opportunity to escape.

But regardless, seeing how miserable the other party was made Zhuang Xun feel at ease. He couldn't be bothered to go in and beat him up, as it would only dirty his hands and risk exposing himself.

He left the dungeon like a phantom, planning to drop by from time to time before the execution to prevent any cliché incidents, like Shen Zhi being rescued and returning to seek revenge.