My Martial Dao Has No Bottlenecks

Qiao Mansion.

In the end, Qiao Zhi didn't make it. The midwives couldn't stop the bleeding, and the old doctor's acupuncture and medicinal concoctions did nothing to stanch the massive hemorrhage.

Her breathing grew weaker and weaker. At the very end, she only had time to glance at the infant, whom a midwife had carefully placed by her pillow. Her eyelashes fluttered, and then she was still.

Yang Wei knelt by the bed, holding his newborn grandson. His entire body was rigid, and tears streamed silently down his face.

This man, whose word had once been law at the Martial Arts Hall, was now hunched over. A rasping sound escaped his throat, but he couldn't bring himself to cry out loud.

"Master."

Liang Cheng placed a hand on Yang Wei's trembling shoulder, his voice steady. "This place is dangerous. We can't linger. Let's take Senior Sister back to the Martial Arts Academy."

Yang Wei nodded numbly, as if his very soul had been half torn from his body.

He carefully handed the infant to Zhou Hu, then bent down, wrapping his daughter's cold body tightly in his blood-stained outer robe before lifting her into his arms.

Liang Cheng offered the midwives and the old doctor their payment in silver coins, but they didn't dare accept. They had seen for themselves how dangerous the situation was.

"Keep what happened tonight to yourselves. Do not speak of it, lest you wish to bring death upon yourselves."

They nodded hastily, took the silver coins, and fled in a panic.

Liang Cheng's gaze swept over the trashed courtyard. Wu Zhenshan was slumped on the ground, his energy flagging. Liang Cheng grabbed him.

"Let's go."

Liang Cheng took the lead. With Zhou Hu carrying the infant and Yang Wei holding the body of Qiao Zhi, the group slipped away from the Qiao Mansion under the cover of night, moving swiftly toward the Martial Arts Academy.

「Back on the mountain, in Elder Huang's Alchemy Room.」

Wu Zhenshan was thrown in a corner, panting heavily. That one finger strike from Elder Huang had not only destroyed the True Essence foundation he had just established, but it had also sealed the flow of True Qi in his Dantian. At this moment, he was weaker than even a healthy mortal.

Liang Cheng crouched in front of him, his gaze as cold as an ice-quenched blade.

"Speak. What is the Fire Worship Sect plotting?"

Wu Zhenshan spat out a mouthful of bloody froth and laughed bitterly. "The victor is king, the loser is a bandit. Liang Cheng, don't think for a second you'll get anything out of me."

Before the words had even faded, Liang Cheng formed a sword with his fingers. A condensed wisp of Profound Yin Sword Qi emerged from his fingertips and tapped lightly on the damaged meridians around his Dantian.

"AHHH—!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream tore from his lips!

The Cold Yin Sword Qi bored into his already damaged Meridians like a venomous snake, and Wu Zhenshan was instantly overwhelmed by the pain.

His body convulsed, his eyes bulged, and cold sweat instantly drenched his robes.

But Wu Zhenshan still refused to speak.

"Kid, you're too green."

Unable to watch any longer, Elder Huang stepped in. He pressed several of Wu Zhenshan's pressure points. Wu Zhenshan's body abruptly stiffened, then began to tremble violently, his eyes filling with terror.

But he couldn't even utter a single word. After a long moment, Elder Huang pressed a few more points, and only then did Wu Zhenshan's trembling subside, leaving him drenched in sweat.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! Spare me!"

Liang Cheng shot Elder Huang an admiring glance. The old man just snorted coldly and turned away, no longer paying them any mind.

"What do you want to know?"

Liang Cheng thought for a moment. "How did you break through to the True Essence Realm?"

"The Blood Marrow Pill!"

Wu Zhenshan's voice was hoarse. "The Fire Worship Sect refines it at the Dongshan Mine using a blood sacrifice. It has a sixty percent chance of forcibly condensing True Essence to help one break through to the next realm!"

"The Fire Worship Sect lured away the Academy Head, massacred the people at Border Sea, and attacked East Mountain. What is their ultimate goal?"

"They want to coordinate an attack from both inside and out to conquer Lin Wu City! Border Sea was just a decoy. Shen Jun and Bai Hong are tied down at Black Stone Island, and the only one left in the city is that cripple, Yue Shan. They've timed it perfectly. In three days at most, the main force of the Fire Worship Sect will be at the city gates. When that time comes, I was to strike from within, and Lin Wu City would fall!"

"And Situ Lang would agree to this?"

A twisted sneer flashed across Wu Zhenshan's face. "He wants the position of City Lord. The Fire Worship Sect wants the entirety of Lin Wu City to use as a Blood Altar. It's a simple case of each party getting what they want!"

"Regarding the destruction of the Dongshan Mine... your robe was torn. What happened?"

"I was secretly meeting with a Guardian from the Fire Worship Sect when a few of my men from the Martial Preparation Hall found us. I had no choice but to kill them. One of them tore my robe as he died. He wouldn't let go, so I had to break his hand."

'No wonder...'

"What about Chen Ping? Wasn't he your man? Why was he killed during the mine raid?"

Liang Cheng had always been puzzled by this.

Wu Zhenshan shook his head. "That man was too stubborn and by-the-book; he wouldn't listen to reason. So I sent him over, intending for you to kill him. Afterward, I could use his death as an excuse to come after you."

"But I didn't expect you to destroy the Fire Worship Sect's altar early, which allowed Chen Ping to escape that fate. I had to wait until the raid on the Dongshan Mine and use the Sect to kill him then."

Liang Cheng hadn't expected Chen Ping to be innocent. 'No wonder I didn't face more trouble back then,' he thought. 'But if that's the case, how was information about the Dongshan Mine constantly being leaked?'

Liang Cheng was still puzzling over this when Wu Zhenshan suddenly laughed. "If I'd known then what I know now, I would have killed you myself."

Liang Cheng turned his head. "What do you mean?"

"Remember Wu Tianxiong? He was my illegitimate son, but we were on good terms. He asked me to kill you back then, but you were just an ant. Why would I need to lift a finger?"

"Later, when Chen Bainian's goods were hijacked and you killed my subordinate from the Martial Preparation Hall, I could have made a move then, too. It's just that I didn't pay you any mind. Who could have known you'd grow so strong so fast…"

"You're a monster!"

But Liang Cheng had no time for his ramblings. "If Chen Ping wasn't your informant, then how did you know what was happening at the mine?"

A strange smile suddenly twisted Wu Zhenshan's lips. "Why don't you guess?"

Before the words were out, he bit down hard!

With a faint CRACK, black blood instantly trickled from the corners of his mouth.

Huh?

Liang Cheng realized something was wrong and shot to his feet, but it was too late. Wu Zhenshan was dead, a mocking sneer frozen on his bleeding lips.