「Inside the carriage.」

Yang Jing looked out through the carriage curtain. The night in the Outer City was much dimmer than in the Inner City. Only a few scattered lanterns swayed at the mouths of the alleys, illuminating the curled-up figures of refugees.

’Getting stronger isn’t just for myself, but also to have more control in these chaotic times.’

"Alright," Yang Jing nodded. "I’ll go give it a try then."

Seeing him agree, Liu Maolin smiled. "That’s the spirit! With your skills, you’ll pass sooner or later. Later, I’ll find some regulations from the previous years’ martial field tests for you. You can study them first."

The carriage stopped at the entrance to Tongyi Square. Yang Jing said goodbye to Liu Maolin and got out.

Chengping Square and Tongyi Square bordered the Inner City, and their public order was usually decent. But tonight was a little different.

Just as he turned into an alley leading to his residence, he saw two groups of men gathered in an open area ahead. They were all holding clubs, staffs, and blades, facing off with vicious glares. From the looks of it, a fight could break out at any moment.

Yang Jing glanced over, his brow furrowing slightly. He shifted to the side, not wanting to get involved in this mess. Just as he was about to go around them, one of them, a burly man with a thick beard, yelled at him, "What are you looking at? You tired of living?!"

The shout was coarse and aggressive, filled with malice. Yang Jing paused, his gaze sweeping coldly over the man.

Just then, a slightly chubby leader in a short tunic standing next to the bearded man narrowed his eyes. He carefully sized up Yang Jing in the light of the alley’s lantern, and the more he looked, the more familiar Yang Jing seemed.

When he got a clear look at Yang Jing’s silhouette, he suddenly remembered something. His face instantly drained of color, and a jolt shot through his heart. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his whole body trembled.

SLAP!

Without a second thought, he backhanded the bearded man across the face, sending him reeling.

"You damn fool! Are you blind?"

The chubby leader cursed under his breath, then immediately plastered on a sycophantic smile. He scurried over to Yang Jing, bowing deeply. His tone couldn’t have been more respectful. "It’s... it’s Brother Yang! I am so sorry. My subordinate is ignorant and disturbed you. Please, don’t take it to heart!"

As he spoke, he quickly pulled a heavy pouch from his robes. He weighed it in his hand, a flash of pained reluctance crossing his face. Then, gritting his teeth, he shoved the pouch into Yang Jing’s hand. "This is just a small token of our apology to Brother Yang. Please, don’t refuse it."

Yang Jing squeezed the pouch, estimating it contained about seven or eight taels of silver.

Before Yang Jing could even react, the leader bowed again and again. "Well, we won’t disturb Brother Yang’s rest any longer. We’ll be leaving now, leaving now!"

The moment the words left his mouth, he waved his hand, and his group scurried out of the alley like stray dogs, not daring to look back.

Seeing this, the other group’s leader, a man with a scar on his face, froze for a moment. Then, as if he too had recalled some rumor, his expression changed drastically. How could he dare to stay? He hastily signaled his own men, and they slipped away without a sound.

In an instant, the alley that had been fraught with tension was now completely empty, leaving Yang Jing standing there alone. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He looked down at the pouch in his hand, then toward the direction the two groups had vanished. His brow furrowed even deeper. ’Why do these gang members seem... so afraid of me?’

’It seems the news of my breakthrough to the Anjin realm has spread, then?’

What Yang Jing didn’t quite understand was that the gang forces of Yuhe County always paid close attention to the activities of the various Martial Arts Halls, especially a Great Martial Arts Hall like Sun’s Martial Arts Hall, which had a firm foothold in the Xicheng District.

Any establishment that could afford to open a Great Martial Arts Hall was bound to have a Huajin Martial Artist backing it.

That was the peak fighting power in Yuhe County. What gang would dare to provoke them lightly?

And while a Martial Arts Hall might have many disciples, the ones the gangs truly feared were the Jin-level masters.

Although these Jin-level disciples from the Martial Arts Halls rarely got involved in gang disputes, no one dared to provoke them. After all, a Mingjin expert could shatter wood and stone, while an Anjin expert could crack metal and rock. If a real fight broke out, an ordinary gang wouldn’t stand a chance.

Sun’s Martial Arts Hall had a considerable reputation in the Xicheng District, and the surrounding gangs made it their business to be intimately familiar with the movements of its disciples.

News of Yang Jing’s breakthrough to the Anjin realm spread through the Martial Arts Hall. Within two days, it had filtered through various channels to every gang, large and small, in the Xicheng District.

To prevent their ignorant subordinates from offending this newly promoted Anjin master, the various gangs had even commissioned portraits of Yang Jing. They distributed them to their mid-to-high-level members with a stern warning: "This man is the newly promoted Anjin master from Sun’s Martial Arts Hall. He is not to be provoked under any circumstances."

What also terrified these gangs was the incident with the Yiqi Gang.

After Zhao Meng and Qian Bao died, a rumor quietly began to circulate that before their "accident," the two of them had led men to corner Yang Jing.

Although there was no solid proof that Yang Jing had killed Zhao Meng and Qian Bao, the mere possibility was enough to make the vast majority of West City gangs carefully reconsider his standing.

Someone who could silently eliminate two Gang Leaders of the Yiqi Gang, possessed such strength, and was so decisive in their actions, was definitely not a person to be trifled with.

And so, without Yang Jing even knowing it, he had already become an untouchable figure within the gang circles of the Xicheng District.

The leader of the group from a moment ago happened to have seen Yang Jing’s portrait and heard the rumors about the Yiqi Gang. Upon seeing the man in person, how could he dare to act recklessly?

Apologizing, offering money, and leaving immediately was the safest choice.

Although the other gang hadn’t gotten a clear look at Yang Jing, seeing how terrified their rivals were, a little thought was all it took for them to guess most of the truth. Naturally, they didn’t dare to linger either.

Yang Jing was still unaware of all these intricacies. He weighed the pouch in his hand as he walked home, soon arriving at the gate of his small courtyard.

He took out his key, unlocked the gate, and pushed it open. Yang Jing latched the bolt behind him, walked into the main house, sat down at the table, and emptied the pouch of silver.