In the dead of winter, there are few travelers outside the city. In such weather, not even trade caravans are seen; outside the city, the whole world seems to be dressed in silver.

Chen Ming changed his appearance, wearing coarse linen clothing, a long sword strapped to his waist, and a bundle on his back, striding forward with determination.

Soon, the county city of Dai Commandery was in sight.

This was the fifth day since he left Qingfeng City, having arrived in the territory of Dai Commandery, hundreds of miles away.

Whether it was the original owner or him, this was the first time leaving Qingfeng Commandery, feeling quite fresh.

"The size of Dai City is not even half of Qingfeng City."

Chen Ming thought to himself as he looked at the distant city.

However, though Dai City is small, the Martial Dao flourishes here. There is the Tian Family, a noble family with three hundred years of history. There’s also a sect called Bisha Sect, rumored to have an elder in the Third Grade.

Besides that, there are quite a few in the Fourth Grade.

Compared to this, Qingfeng City is pitifully poor indeed.

Chen Ming looked up and saw it was getting late, even if he rushed over, the city gates would be closed, and he couldn’t enter.

He planned to stay in a nearby village for the night and enter the city the next morning.

Soon, he saw a village and walked over.

Just at the entrance to the village, he suddenly heard the sound of hooves, turned to look, and saw ten or so riders galloping down from the mountain, the ones in front wearing fine clothes, obviously young noblemen from the city.

In the dead of winter, hunting in the mountains, truly bored with nothing to do.

Chen Ming glanced at them and withdrew his gaze.

At that moment, he caught sight of a small figure suddenly rushing onto the road, blocking the path of the lead horse.

The woman on horseback showed no intention of stopping, instead, she raised her whip and lashed out, "Get out of the way."

If the whip landed solidly, it would definitely tear the skin.

Chen Ming saw clearly, the one blocking the horse was a little girl about seven or eight years old.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, he flicked his hand, and with a swish, the horse fell, throwing the woman off.

The woman twisted her waist in mid-air and landed steadily on the ground.

The moment caused a cheer among her companions.

"Good."

"Such excellent lightweight skill."

"..."

The woman saw her beloved horse lying dead on the road, a blood hole in its eye, blood still gushing out, feeling as if her heart was being cut, she screamed, "Hong’er—who? Who did this?"

She turned around quickly and soon locked onto the traveler with a long sword not far away, walked over angrily, "Was it you who killed my Little Hong?"

Nearby were only a few people, the little girl and her family were just ordinary villagers. So, it could only be this swordman from the martial world.

The man wore a bamboo hat, appeared plain and ordinary, looked at her coldly and said, "So what if it was?"

The woman’s eyes reddened, gritting her teeth she said, "Come face me, I want you buried with Little Hong!"

As she spoke, her whip lashed out fiercely.

Behind, those ten riders also pulled their horses to a stop, sat atop their mounts watching the spectacle with grins, seemingly not at all worried the woman would suffer.

After all, this traveler was dressed in rags, his strength certainly wouldn’t be much.

Anyone with any strength wouldn’t be living so miserably.

Just then, the woman felt her vision blur, and the swordman was already close at hand, she was startled, her whip was already seized.

"Do you enjoy whipping others?"

Chen Ming sneered, the long whip falling, with a snap, landing directly on the woman’s arm.

The woman felt a searing pain in her arm, letting out a scream.

Snap, snap, snap...

He whipped her viciously, causing the woman to roll on the ground in agony and shriek.

"How does it feel? Does it hurt?"

After about ten lashes, he left her with torn skin.

"You dare hit me... Do you know who I am..."

"Stop—"

"No—I’ll never dare again—"

From shouting to begging, it only took a few lashes.

"Stop!"

"Kid, how dare you?"

"You’re looking for death!"

At this point, the woman’s companions finally reacted, one after another with rage, drew their weapons, and charged over filled with murderous intent.

Chen Ming sneered coldly, tossed aside the whip in his hand, drew his blade, and with a swing of the long sword, sent the two people at the front flying.

He looked like a tiger among sheep; with each strike, someone would surely fall.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen people had already fallen.

He sheathed the long sword, removed a wine pouch from his waist, uncorked it, took a sip, and exhaled deeply, "Refreshing!"

Since he adopted a new appearance, naturally he had to adopt a new way of living.

After leaving Qingfeng City, he began to let loose, doing whatever he pleased.

These rich young masters ran into him, so they were unlucky.

Among this group, most were Ninth Grade or Eighth Grade, with only two of Seventh Grade, which were not worth mentioning before him.

...

Night fell, and a bonfire was lit within a deserted small courtyard.

Chen Ming sat beside the fire, drinking and eating meat.

In front of him, a group of people lined up, standing honestly, not daring to breathe loudly.

Beside them lay a few people who, seizing a moment when he wasn’t paying attention, attempted to escape, but hadn’t run far before they were struck by a stone from who knows where, leaving them with fractured bones.

After filling himself with food and drink, Chen Ming said, "Why don’t you look at me? Are you dissatisfied with me? Come, pick up the sword, let’s practice again."

"Don’t dare."

Everyone present shivered, shook their hands vigorously, each nearly crying.

They deeply regretted provoking such a capricious madman.

In just over an hour, he found various reasons to beat them all several times. The last reason was, "Why are you glaring at me? Feeling unconvinced?"

Then, he dragged people out for a vicious beating.

It was a true beatdown, attacking wherever it hurt most, making them wail like banshees.

These people had never endured such torment before.

Initially, some mouthed off, boasting that someone from their family wouldn’t let him go. After being dealt with, they became well-behaved and didn’t dare utter a peep.

Chen Ming’s words were just to scare them; he’d already harvested all the Experience Points he could from each of them.

Altogether, it only amounted to over two thousand points.

Although not much, he felt quite liberated avenging grievances.

Chen Ming didn’t plan to let them go without giving them a lesson to remember.

Thus, this night, those rich young masters and their guards shivered in the courtyard.

Only at dawn did they realize that the mysterious Swordman seemed to have left.

If they didn’t run now, when would they?

...

By this time, Chen Ming had already entered the gates of Dai City, paying twenty coins in head tax to enter.

No wonder Dai City is poor; even entering the city costs a tax.

He shook his head silently; in Qingfeng City, taxes weren’t collected even if you brought goods. It’s no wonder Qingfeng City is flourishing.

He first found an inn, took a hot bath, then visited a high-end restaurant for a meal, and conveniently gathered information.

A small tip could get a lot of information from the waitstaff.

For example, who are the experts in the city, and who are not to be provoked.

Chen Ming spent a few days in the city gathering intelligence. Then, he made a list.

On the fifth day, he went door-to-door challenging everyone on the list.

Throughout Dai Commandery, there are quite a few Sixth Grade Martial Artists; in Dai City there are about twenty, half of whom are untouchable. They’re either from aristocratic families or members of sects.

The remaining half either lack strong backing or have connections far away.

These folks became his challenge targets.

Chen Ming engaged in quick battles and within a day challenged all thirteen, harvested over fifty thousand Experience Points, and with flair, left before the city gates closed. He headed to the next destination.

Jiangzhou has more than a dozen commanderies; if each commandery has fifty thousand, after completing a round, that’s seven to eight hundred thousand points, enough to advance directly to Fifth Grade.

"It’s essential to be unrestrained; that speeds up growth immensely."

The setting sun bled like fire; Chen Ming continued westward, admiring the snow-covered world around him, feeling extraordinarily content.

The feeling of challenging whoever he pleases, without worrying about appearances, is truly wonderful.

No wonder so many people enjoy hiding their true identity.

The next destination, neighboring Celestial Sea Commandery.

At his pace, he’d arrive in two or three days at most.

Calculating this way, ten days per commandery, in about half a year he could traverse all of Jiangzhou.

This efficiency far exceeds slowly building a reputation in Qingfeng City.