Chen Tang bought some herbs for nourishing energy and enriching blood from a herbal medicine shop by the street and took them home for Mei Yingxue to brew.

Afterwards, he helped Meng Liangyu change some bandages, chopped wood, fed the horse, and tidied up before heading to the Cyan Dragon Bureau.

Days passed by.

The Huo Family and the Black Water Gang surprisingly quieted down, no longer causing trouble for Chen Tang.

This felt more like the calm before the storm.

Chen Tang focused on his cultivation, not daring to slack off.

In such turbulent circumstances, every little enhancement in cultivation could give him a bit more life!

As time went on, Chen Tang would only check in at the Cyan Dragon Bureau each day, then return home to cultivate.

During the day, he drank a sip of Celestial Ginseng Monkey Wine and cultivated Tiger Subduing Fist, Great Strength Vajra Hand, White Ape Swordsmanship, Gecko Wall-Climbing Technique, Wind Listening Technique, along with Burning Wood Saber.

At night, while sleeping, he silently used the Tiger Subduing Technique to regulate his breathing guided by the Divine Soul.

Initially, the breathing sounds grew louder, but as time passed, they gradually settled down until they were silent.

Over the month, Chen Tang became much more disciplined at night, no longer fooling around with Qingmu, focusing on resting and cultivating instead.

Since he moved into this room, Zhiwei no longer had those nightmares.

It turned out the fat old man's words were indeed sensible.

However, this method only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

Meng Liangyu's injuries had mostly healed.

After all, there was no injury to muscles or bones, and with Chen Tang's unceasing supply of herbal supplements, Meng Liangyu's good constitution allowed for rapid recovery. He could already hold a saber and practice in the yard.

Mei Nianzhi had woken up.

However, his condition was much worse than Meng Liangyu's.

He appeared as if aged by ten years, able to move about the yard only with support from Mei Jixian and Mei Yingxue.

This incident revealed the differences between the Mei siblings.

The Mei Family was past their prime due to this calamity, and Mei Jixian wasted away each day, no longer cultivating.

On the contrary, Mei Yingxue was the opposite.

Before, at the Plum Blossom Martial Arts Hall, she was not very diligent in her martial practice.

After the incident, she practiced tirelessly daily, even practicing later than Chen Tang!

Her youthful face gradually shed its innocence.

After just a month, Mei Yingxue had become somewhat different than before.

That morning, Chen Tang practiced the Tiger Subduing Fist in the yard, and after completing the final move, he stood in place for a while before exhaling deeply.

He could clearly feel that he had cultivated down to every bone, the strength even reaching his limbs, his hands, and feet!

His entire skeletal structure was as hard as refined iron!

Eighth Grade Upper!

Day and night cultivation, coupled with the aid of multiple superior cultivation methods, had advanced Chen Tang's cultivation much faster than expected!

Just a month and a half after reaching Ninth Grade Extreme Realm, he had already cultivated to Eighth Grade Upper.

Chen Tang calmed his breath, feeling joyful inside.

He put on his Armor-Piercing Sword and Armor before heading to the bun shop.

Lately, whenever he went out, he wore the Cyan Dragon Armor and carried the Cyan Dragon Sword at his waist to prevent any surprises.

"Lord Chen, would you still like five trays of buns?"

The shopkeeper asked with a smile.

"Yes."

Chen Tang nodded.

He visited daily and had grown familiar with the shopkeeper.

With many people at home, all being martial artists, their appetite was large.

Five trays meant fifty buns.

In the north of Qian Country, they made large meat buns, each about the size of an adult man's fist, and even Qingmu could eat five or six.

And with the little yellow dog and Thunder Leopard eating and drinking the same as them, nearly all fifty buns were gone by each morning.

Luckily, Chen Tang had saved a few hundred taels of silver before, occasionally finding some when handling corpses.

Otherwise, relying solely on his monthly wage of five taels wouldn't be enough.

Just keeping Thunder Leopard fed and hydrated each month cost more than five taels!

No wonder he couldn't sell Thunder Leopard, as normal families couldn't afford it.

The limping staff member skillfully wrapped Chen Tang's buns in oil paper, five buns per sheet, and finally tied ten oil paper packages with twine into a bundle, handing it to Chen Tang, full to the brim.

Chen Tang took it with his left hand.

The limping staff member turned around, hobbling away to fill a wine urn with soy milk, embracing it with both arms awkwardly.

Chen Tang quickly stepped forward, extending his right hand to support the urn's bottom, taking it over.

Suddenly!

Chen Tang 'heard' a trace of anomaly.

His vision detected nothing unusual, from the people queuing behind him, to those brushing past him, including the limping staff member handing the urn—everything appeared normal.

The limping staff member nodded towards him, with that youthful yet courteous smile on his face.

But he still sensed the crisis!

This was the change brought on by the Wind Listening Technique.

Almost everyone, the shouts, the movement to and fro, seemed incredibly harmonious.

Yet amidst it, there was a sudden shift in air flow!

Everything was silent, but the air's movement changed, instantly caught by Chen Tang!

Moreover, it was just within arm's reach!

Chen Tang wanted to retreat but found many people queuing behind him.

If he stepped back, he would definitely bump into them, and slight delay might make it impossible to dodge this strike.

And both his hands were holding things, unable to free them immediately to counteract.

Let alone drawing his sword to counterattack.

Chen Tang suddenly realized that this was an assassination meticulously planned for him!

Every detail had been prepared for this moment!

Who could it be?

The one closest to him was only the limping staff member.

But from this limping staff member, Chen Tang couldn't sense the slightest killing intent.

Even at this moment, there was no unusual emotional fluctuation in the eyes of the lame attendant, only a shy smile hanging on his face.

Chen Tang instantly entered the Divine Illumination State.

Under the blessing of the Divine Illumination State, Chen Tang immediately detected the source of the killing intent!

It was just beneath the wine jar, his view conveniently blocked by it.

At the moment the lame attendant handed over the wine jar filled with soy milk, a dull dagger was already in his hand, stabbing towards Chen Tang's armpit!

The speed was too fast.

Moreover, the angle was extremely tricky.

Chen Tang's right hand was supporting the wine jar, just revealing a gap beneath his armpit.

Using the wine jar to block the view, the lame attendant's arm was hidden under Chen Tang's arm, covered by shadows.

The two arms were almost overlapping.

Even at the moment when the lame attendant stabbed Chen Tang, he couldn't see the trajectory of the strike!

And this stab thrust in through the armpit could directly pierce through the heart!

The Cyan Dragon Armor couldn't block it.

The Cyan Dragon Armor didn't cover the entire body; there was a gap at the armpit, connected by silk threads between the front and rear armor plates!

A fatal stab.

A perfect assassination!

Without Entering the Divine State, Chen Tang would have certainly died.

Without the Wind Listening Technique, he would be dead too, not even sensing the danger.

Even having either one alone, he would be hard-pressed to escape death.

But when Entering the Divine State was combined with the Wind Listening Technique, the situation was entirely different!

In the blink of an eye, Chen Tang became extremely focused, his reaction speed skyrocketing, both hands loosening and releasing the wine jar of soy milk.

At the same time, he rounded his chest and pulled back, making it seem as if his entire chest was collapsing inward!

If not for having cultivated Bone Transformation to Great Success, Chen Tang would not have been able to do this.

Swish!

The strike grazed past Chen Tang's chest, slicing off the entire piece of the Cyan Dragon Armor!

What a sharp dagger!

If Chen Tang had been a bit slower, his chest would have been cut open by the dagger!

Failing to hit with the stab, a hint of surprise finally flashed deep in the lame attendant's eyes, and the shy smile on his face vanished without a trace.

He had prepared for this strike for a whole month, patiently waiting.

Only after familiarizing himself with Chen Tang's habits, actions, routines, and even his posture of taking the buns and soy milk daily did he choose to strike today.

It should have been a sure-hit strike.

Yet Chen Tang evaded it.

How could that be?

Let alone someone only at the Eighth Grade; even a Seventh or Sixth Grade would find it difficult to dodge this strike.

Normally, if a strike missed, he should retreat.

The Hermit's Notes had once recorded that the most rational course of action was to instantly retreat once a strike failed.

Though the assassination failed, one could mostly stay alive.

However, with each additional move in continuing the assassination, every extra moment of lingering increased one's danger exponentially!

However, he was unwilling.

This strike had no reason to fail.

The lame attendant's dagger sliced open the Cyan Dragon Armor, suddenly changing tactics, suspending the dagger before Chen Tang's chest and pushing forward fiercely!

"Hmph!"

At that moment, the lame attendant let out a muffled groan, feeling a sharp pain from his elbow.

His dagger couldn't stab any further!

While Chen Tang retracted his chest and back, he also launched a counterattack, drawing his sword with his left hand and flipping his right hand downwards, grabbing toward the lame attendant's elbow with Dragon-Subduing Hand!

When the lame attendant sliced open the Cyan Dragon Armor and changed moves, he was already a move slower than Chen Tang.

Chen Tang grabbed his elbow joint instantly, exerting force with his five fingers!

"Clang!"

A flash of cold light, the Cyan Dragon Sword was already unsheathed!

Crack!

The sound of bones cracking resounded!

The lame attendant even exerted effort to the point of breaking his elbow joint to escape from Chen Tang's grasp, simultaneously swinging his right hand to scatter a powdery substance towards Chen Tang, carrying a faint fragrance!

This powder was poisonous!

Not only that, but it could also obscure vision.

Chen Tang could sense an unusual wind sound at his wrist.

Not daring to be careless, he quickly released his grip, retreating violently to avoid the spread of the powder.

It was only then that the wine jar filled with soy milk dropped to the ground, shattering to pieces.

The two exchanged two moves continuously, yet it was less than a single breath.

The surrounding crowd still stood frozen, not reacting.

Chen Tang watched as that lame attendant hung his arm, limping into the crowd.

He leaped, shouting loudly, "The powder is poisonous, everyone move away!"

Only then did the crowd scatter in panic.

Chen Tang focused on that lame attendant, chasing him several steps.

Originally, he could have locked onto him, but in the blink of an eye, the time of one breath had passed, and he hurriedly withdrew from the Divine Illumination State.

Upon leaving the Divine Illumination State, all senses returned to normal.

The lame attendant flickered a few times among the crowd, then bizarrely disappeared.

Chen Tang leapt onto a rooftop, observing the chaotic crowd from above.

After searching for a while, Chen Tang furrowed his brows tightly.

The lame attendant had vanished.

Lame, with a broken arm, yet he managed to escape right under his nose; who on earth was this person?

Though the opponent was alone, the scene he just witnessed was undoubtedly the most perilous moment Chen Tang had encountered since his transmigration!

Without Entering the Divine State, he wouldn't have even had the chance to counterattack.

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