Chapter Forty-Eight: Found at Last

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Three days later, in a mansion in Suzhou City.

"If we still can't find Ding Chunqiu tomorrow, let's head to Dali first."

Zhang Chengyi made his decision.

God knows where Kumajir, Ding Chunqiu, Duan Yu, and Li Qingluo and her daughter had gone. After three days of searching with no results, the hope of continuing the search felt slim, and he had no desire to wait endlessly.

The more martial arts talents developed, the better, and the more "materials" of human talent, the better, but missing a few wouldn't delay things much.

At the very least, Qiao Feng, Su Xinghe, and the Eight Freaks of Hangu Pass had already taken their first steps into the new martial arts.

The secret martial arts manuals of Mandara Villa and the Joint-Will Manor had long since been moved out. Yesterday, Wu Lingjun drove a carriage alone to deliver them to the Listening to the Gourd Stage. With an internal energy level of around four hundred, coupled with the myriad wondrous uses and poison-resistance of the Northern Demeanor True Qi, aside from those who had also cheated the system, he could basically walk sideways across this world without fear of anyone intercepting them.

[If Murong Fu dies, should I also wipe out Murong Bo?]

Zhang Chengyi pondered this question. Without Murong Fu as leverage, Murong Bo was a ticking time bomb. Placed in ancient times, having many children was surely a blessing. This fellow was already quite old and had only one son—could it be that, like this body of his, he was infertile?

Or had he injured his vital parts while practicing martial arts or fighting others?

Sitting in the pavilion, let his mind wander for a while, he looked at the sun outside and sighed.

Indeed, the days of being a martial arts hero in ancient times initially held a sense of novelty, especially when first logging into the game. Engaging in combat with others for the first time in his life, slaying a wealthy family in a fit of anger—that thrilling feeling used to make him wake up in the middle of the night fully aroused.

Later, after turning on cheats at the Shaolin Temple, it felt like playing an FPS game. While early on with wallhacks there was still some tactical play, once he directly enabled flying, phasing, and auto-aiming, it was undeniably exhilarating at first, but after the thrill passed came the sage mode.

Thus, he found something else to do for himself.

To be honest, Zhang Chengyi never believed that martial arts breakthroughs in the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils world could ever reach a level where one could leave the world entirely. Working hard towards it lacked a bit of anticipation, but he still had to find things to do, some amusement. More importantly, he needed to familiarize himself with his own abilities and the process of logging into games.

For instance, he could lock data, but he always applied enhancements manually from start to finish. Firstly, to observe the consumption cost; secondly, to increase his proficiency with the abilities.

After all, this was his first time acting as a modifier spirit, and his abilities relied entirely on his own exploration. Humans aren't born knowing how to run, jump, or swim. What he could specifically do, to what extent he could do it, and whether there was any subsequent room for development or elevation—he was exploring and adapting to all of this step by step.

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Moreover, one could only log into a single body per world, and if that body was lost, logging in again became impossible. He wouldn't care if the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils world was lost without him, but what if he lost a powerful world in the future simply because he wasn't familiar with his abilities? That would truly break his heart.

However, as a cheating player, playing for too long inevitably breeds weariness.

Without the internet, without games, without mobile phones, and with no one to understand modern jokes, if he were trapped in this world with no way out, he might eventually resign himself to his fate. But knowing he could leave at any moment, or log into bodies in other worlds, he inevitably felt the urge to leave.

[Once we capture the targets and return to the Listening to the Gourd Stage, I'll leave for a while.]

Zhang Chengyi basically decided to depart from this world after a short while and return someday in the future when he had free time.

His variable-speed gear ability could be chosen to affect either the "game" or the world where the "game" was located.

If applied to the world, the time of his body and the world would synchronize. If applied solely to the "game," slowing down his body by a certain factor would accelerate the world by the corresponding factor. Completely freezing his body's time would cause the world's flow of time to approach infinity, and vice versa—slowing down the world would accelerate his body.

That was why it was called a "gear."

He had never tested the exact consequences of accelerating or decelerating time to infinity, but his instincts told him not to mess with it recklessly.

[Before leaving, aside from internal arts, I need to learn more external martial arts. Bodies in other worlds might not necessarily possess fully formed meridians, nor can they necessarily practice internal arts. External arts are much simpler. It would be best to learn how to fight from Qiao Feng; combat experience is also very important.]

Zhang Chengyi thought far ahead, tapping his fingers on the stone table and smiling.

In the next world, he truly hoped it would be a more powerful world full of hope.

Should he try dual-threading and log into two games simultaneously...

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At dinner, when Zhang Chengyi announced his intention to leave Jiangnan and head to Dali, the expression on Murong Bo's face froze. With a somewhat dry voice, he said, "Lord Zhang, might you... might you stay three more days?"

The poison on his son Murong Fu's body had spread to his shoulder by today, and the meridians in half of his body were obstructed and unable to circulate. When channeling his internal energy that morning, he had coughed up a mouthful of dark blood, thoroughly shattering his last shred of wishful thinking.

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In truth, he had tried very hard over the past few days to track down Ding Chunqiu's whereabouts, but even with the combined forces of the Gusu Murong lineage and the Beggar Sect, they could only narrow it down to the inside and outside of Suzhou City. Three more days would likely yield nothing.

As far as he knew, Li Qingluo had numerous hidden properties and residences scattered across Suzhou City, some of which had been left behind by Li Qiushui. In such a vast city of Suzhou, conducting a thorough search one by one to flush out a hiding Ding Chunqiu was simply not something that could be accomplished in a few days.

What if that old eccentric was hiding in a cellar or a secret chamber? How could they possibly find him?

Or what if he had already quietly slipped away from Suzhou City? What should he do then?

His son Murong Fu did not have that much time left. Three to five more days would turn him into a bloated corpse rotting inside Mandara Villa; he simply could not afford to drag it out.

A sorrowful expression hung on Murong Bo's face as he looked up, only to encounter Zhang Chengyi's near-apathetic gaze. His heart tightened with a jolt, suspecting that the man before him had already prepared to abandon the father and son pair. He hurriedly sought to remedy the situation. "Should Lord Zhang be willing to save my son, the Gusu Murong family is willing to serve you as your hounds for generations to come."

He had uttered countless lies in his lifetime; at this moment, betraying his own descendants rolled off his tongue with utter ease.

"I am considering something," Zhang Chengyi said, chewing the meat in his mouth and speaking with brutal directness. "Whether to wipe you out."

"You are a man of endless lies and towering ambition. Without Murong Fu as leverage, you are truly difficult to control."

Murong Bo's nerves instantly tightened. He immediately mobilized his internal breath, preparing to flip the table and launch an attack. Even knowing he was outmatched, how could he possibly give up without a struggle?

The next second, the gazes of Su Xinghe and Qiao Feng locked onto him, ready to strike him down with their palms at the slightest sign of movement.

Especially Qiao Feng, who knew Murong Bo as the mastermind behind the Yanmen Pass massacre. He was itching for Murong Bo to recklessly attempt escape or attack, providing a justified reason to execute the enemy on the spot.

Just as the atmosphere reached a breaking point of extreme tension, the door was knocked.

"Enter."

A ragged Beggar Sect disciple stepped through the door and reported, "Elder... Hero Qiao, we've found the Star-Constellation Old Monster, Ding Chunqiu."

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