Chapter 146: Chapter 112: One Move Ahead, Calculating All Living Beings

"Stop the boat."

Chen Ping’s cultivation realm was already quite decent, with his Qi and blood having reached the peak of Tier Three and having opened the Three Bright Acupoints.

Although his inner Qi was not worth mentioning, with his increasing enlightenment, his affinity with the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi also grew stronger...

Even without specialized training, just by occasionally practicing the Seven Stars Step and running the Great Sun Scorching Sun Skill, he was also approaching a great achievement in Qi cultivation, roughly at the late stage of Tier Two.

With such strength, he was naturally far from being able to openly compete with experts who had achieved Tier Five Innate Martial Intent, being constrained in every aspect.

However, if he didn’t aim so high, even amidst the vast Jianghu, he could still be considered a grandmaster.

If he chose a county town to settle in, he might even gain the title of a great hero or a gang leader.

His actual combat power surpassed that of these so-called great heroes.

At this moment, his Qi mechanism locked onto a boat in the river as his figure, like a stream of light, rushed down from the mountain...

Trailing a long illusion behind him, he reached an extreme speed.

In just over several breaths, he crossed several hundred yards.

He leaped, jumping over more than thirty feet, lightly touching the floating algae on the water’s surface with his toes, and landed on the boat like an arrow.

Zheng...

The long sword came out of its sheath, reflecting the twilight, chilling the heart.

"Lord, spare my life."

The figure wearing a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat, upon seeing Chen Ping draw his sword, didn’t think twice and knelt on the boat, kowtowing desperately.

His pounding resounded on the deck...

The bamboo hat fell to the side, revealing not an aged face with white hair, but a weathered and frost-covered middle-aged face with muddled eyes.

He looked full of sorrow, seemingly forced by circumstances, still fishing in the deep mountains and rivers at this time.

Perhaps, it was just to give the elders and youngsters at home a better meal.

Perhaps, it was to pay off harsh taxes, forcing him to work more before night fully descended.

"Could I have pursued the wrong person?"

Chen Ping glanced skyward, his peripheral vision catching sight of the Little Cyan Bird circling above, seemingly urging him to take action.

He thought to himself that this foolish bird, after all, couldn’t speak. Talking to it about appearances, demeanor, or martial aura was probably beyond its understanding.

However, if the bird, which had shown miraculous abilities before, couldn’t even distinguish between friend and foe, that would be underestimating it.

So, either the person before him was the local boatman hired for a high price by the white-haired Situ, or he was a disguised Brocade Guard expert.

His thoughts flickered like lightning, as Chen Ping’s sword moved faster than his mind, stabbing forward with lightning speed, leaving no shadow.

The sword aura flickered with a bloody glow, piercing through the middle-aged man’s forehead in an instant.

Then, his ear caught the sound of a string snapping.

A blue-tinted, slender crossbow arrow, accompanied by the middle-aged man’s violent convulsion, shot diagonally into the sky from the back of his neck.

A pungent stench reached his nostrils.

It filled his heart with disgust.

"Poison..."

Chen Ping felt a chill in his heart.

He wasn’t afraid of ordinary injuries, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of poison.

His physique had become extremely strong, his vitality so abundant that he hardly seemed human.

Yet, he was still flesh and blood.

Facing sharp weapons, becoming impervious to swords and spears without breaking a sweat was still a bit far off.

Moreover, he hadn’t mobilized all his Qi and blood at that moment, nor had he activated the Primordial Iron Body Realm Technique. Without the appearance of the black patterns, his defense was not particularly strong.

If struck by this powerful crossbow, even if it didn’t shoot completely through, it would certainly pierce the skin and muscle, leading to bleeding and injury.

"Truly, the Jianghu is treacherous, but more so are those hidden guards within the court, who employ every conceivable means."

Chen Ping felt a dark anger, thinking that as one of the court’s violent institutions, it wasn’t surprising to find one or two actors among them.

Had he not had some blind trust in the Little Cyan Bird, gaining some forewarning,

and not experienced numerous deceitful and perilous encounters, always maintaining a bit of vigilance towards anything... Simultaneously with his mind having a slight keen sense of danger, he’d likely have already fallen for the trap.

Thinking about that blue-tinted arrow, Chen Ping had no intention of testing whether his physique could withstand the opponent’s poison.

He understood that the martial force levels in this world were far higher than he had imagined.

Moreover, since the opponent dared to use poison against martial practitioners of the Jianghu, they were naturally not simple.

The poison arrow arced high into the sky before dropping into the water and disappearing.

It’s unclear if it would poison many fish and shrimp.

Only then did he hear the faint sound of Qi force bursting from the middle-aged man’s body.

His body erupted with countless strands of blood, penetrating through his pores.

"He was actually a master who had opened the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, acting so well, secretly concealing his Qi and exploding it, managing to deceive my eyes."

Just moments ago, in the forest, Chen Ping had engaged in several exchanges with the innate expert Black Soul, suffering severe injuries but ultimately retaining his life...

He had also witnessed the battle between Fairy Fubo of the Earth List rankings and Cao Lie, wielding the "Purple Flame True Gang Hammer," and had even seen the execution of what appeared to be the monster-turned Huang Pizi on the spot. Chen Ping had somewhat relaxed afterward.

Believing that he had become well-informed, his understanding of this world rapidly increasing,

Yet reality had taught him a hard lesson.

Experts had their ways of combat.

The lower ranks had their methods of killing.

The level of martial arts didn’t necessarily represent the strength of one’s attack power.

Nor did it determine the final outcome of victory or defeat.

The perils of the modern era exist just as the ancient dangers did, requiring a mindset cautious as walking on thin ice, while also bravely advancing with determination.