Chapter 220: Songyang Chaos

Chapter 220: Chaos in Songyang

Zhang Yu knew that ever since Fuji had recovered some of her evil god powers and returned to the level of a low-tier evil god at rank 1, she had become especially sensitive to changes in network signals.

After all, the essence of the network across Kunxu was a divine power network, and as beings capable of stealing divine power, evil gods were naturally more perceptive of network signals.

"Is the signal not good?"

Upon hearing Fuji’s warning, Zhang Yu guessed that this was likely related to gang conflicts.

Since becoming a gold-tier teacher at the Dark Study Gang, although Zhang Yu’s daily routine mainly involved teaching classes, he had also come across many inside stories of gang battles.

Especially since Bai Zhenzhen was now fighting on the front lines, experiencing life-and-death struggles with experts from the Gold Course Gang time and again. Sometimes she would return in the dead of night covered in injuries, and over the past two months, she had often talked with Zhang Yu about some of the gang conflicts.

"Gang battles, to avoid alerting the constables and the orthodox gods, often choose locations that are sparsely populated, underdeveloped in infrastructure, and preferably without surveillance."

Zhang Yu glanced at the suburban path he was on, thinking that it met the conditions of being sparsely populated and without surveillance.

"Secondly, they use signal jammers to temporarily block network signals."

"But such signal jammers can only operate in places where the orthodox gods don’t pay much attention, and at most for a few minutes, otherwise they would trigger an inspection by the Divine Department..."

These thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning, and Zhang Yu had already made a judgment: "It seems Black Crow’s warning was right. The Gold Course Gang has targeted me, wanting to strike at the Dark Study Gang by attacking me, a gold-tier teacher..."

Just as Zhang Yu reached this conclusion, four immensely strong figures had already appeared unnoticed at the front and rear of the path, trapping him in a pincer.

In the low temperatures of early December, white mist billowed out with each breath of the four men, stretching far under the streetlights before slowly dissipating.

As the four of them simultaneously paced toward Zhang Yu, waves of intense martial intent surged forth with the operation of their inner techniques, pressing heavily upon him.

At the same time, as their steps quickened, the bones and tendons within their bodies crackled and popped like war drums being beaten, echoing through the night sky.

Whether it was the gushing airflow from their breaths, the martial intent that struck his face, or the noise from their bones and tendons, Zhang Yu could sense that the four men closing in from both sides all had bodies tempered by a thousand hammers, battle wills forged through life-and-death struggles—they were undoubtedly peak Qi Refining experts who had graduated years ago.

If it had been half a year ago, or even two months ago, encountering such a pincer attack by four peak Qi Refining experts, Zhang Yu’s only choice would have been to run.

But now, Zhang Yu not only had his mana and physical strength numerically at the limit of Qi Refining, but he had also pushed over a dozen techniques to level 10, including several top-tier Qi Refining techniques.

Moreover, he had just formed his initial Martial Dao Saint Embryo.

Sensing the four experts closing in, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Good. Today, I’ll use you four to test the quality of my newly formed Martial Dao Saint Embryo."

With that, he took a step forward, meeting the two in front.

Seeing this, the four experts raised their eyebrows. One silver-haired man sneered, "Oh? You’re not running?"

"I don’t need to run," Zhang Yu said calmly. "But you four—if you run now, it’s still not too late."

The silver-haired man snorted, "Arrogant."

Before coming, they knew that Ma Yunteng was no ordinary fighter, but no matter how extraordinary, with all of them at the peak of Qi Refining, four against one was an absolute advantage.

The next moment, with sounds like wind and thunder, the four of them attacked Zhang Yu from all four directions.

Amid a series of explosions, Zhang Yu blocked the fists and kicks of the two in front with his hands, while the two behind took the opportunity to unleash fierce true qi from their palms, slamming heavily into Zhang Yu’s back.

With a loud bang, the silver-haired man sneered as he watched Zhang Yu take the hit head-on, "Now let’s see who needs to run?"

Zhang Yu ignored him, instead focusing on experiencing the effects of the Martial Dao Saint Embryo.

Over the next ten-plus seconds, Zhang Yu continued to parry their attacks while letting his body’s various parts take the brunt of their punches, palm strikes, and sword qi...

He silently felt how the palm force, after being neutralized by his Copper Corpse Skin and Formless Cloud True Qi, was then absorbed and borne by his flesh, bones, and organs, which had been tempered by techniques like Thunderbolt Marrow Cleansing, Whale Tendon Nine Transformations, and Five Qi Organ Refining.

As he endured these fierce assaults, Zhang Yu could sense: "Bones and internal organs are almost unscathed."

"Skin and fascia are slightly worn under heavy blows, but they’re recovering quickly."

"With the six techniques of the Martial Dao Saint Embryo supporting each other, they operate as one, making my resilience qualitatively leap—at least 60% stronger than before."

"This flesh and skin, with all six techniques running in unison, seem to come alive: bruises are expelled, wounds close and heal, swelling subsides, inflammation cools, and temperature drops..."

Zhang Yu estimated: "For blunt trauma like ordinary punches and kicks, given my strong resilience, it would take about one to two minutes to fully heal."

"For wounds from blades or swords, about five to six minutes to close."

"Is this what they call a surge in resilience and external injury self-healing?"

At this moment, Zhang Yu had a rough understanding of his initial Martial Dao Saint Embryo.

The four experts who had been attacking him for over ten seconds shifted from coldness and excitement to confusion and shock. The silver-haired man shouted, "This man is proficient in multiple protective divine techniques. Ordinary punches and kicks are useless. We need to use special mana to injure him!"

In an instant, aside from the silver-haired man who had been using sword qi, the other three also changed their tactics. Their attacks now radiated either scorching heat, biting cold, or crackling lightning.

Clearly, they were all using techniques that unleashed special mana.

Faced with this onslaught, Zhang Yu, having gained a general understanding of his Martial Dao Saint Embryo, no longer chose to endure. With a bang, streams of Formless Cloud True Qi burst from his entire body, swirling around him.

Swoosh!

The silver-haired man thrust a sword qi at him, but it felt as if the sword had been caught in a deep-sea current, veering off to stab his companion.

At the same time, another companion’s scorching fist, guided by the Formless Cloud True Qi, aimed at the silver-haired man’s waist.

The silver-haired man twisted his waist and shook his sword with effort, dodging the punch while also avoiding his own sword strike.

He thrust another sword at Zhang Yu, but when the sword qi met Zhang Yu’s palm, he felt the mana emanating from the palm was icy cold—clearly his companion’s freezing palm technique.

As the fight continued, the silver-haired man and his three companions grew more and more alarmed.

They no longer felt any advantage in numbers; instead, their own moves were always deflected toward each other, and the special mana they unleashed was absorbed by Zhang Yu, channeled through his meridians, and then slapped back at them.

Though it was four against one, it felt like they were only fighting Zhang Yu one-on-one.

Sometimes, they even had the illusion that Zhang Yu was the one being supported and aided by companions, that he was the one with the numerical advantage.

The silver-haired man’s heart trembled violently: "This man’s skill in redirecting mana and using borrowed force is at its peak!"

"Combined with his iron-like bones and several protective techniques, the more chaotic the melee, the more advantageous it is for him!"

On Zhang Yu’s side, he was fighting with increasing ease. He thought, "With the Martial Dao Saint Embryo boosting my resilience and self-healing, I can withstand higher limits when redirecting force, borrow and channel more power, and fight more effortlessly..."

But then, Zhang Yu sensed the retreat intentions of the four in front of him.

"Oh? Only now do you want to run?"

The silver-haired man indeed had thoughts of retreat. After all, the network jamming was time-limited, and this area was near a Dark Study Gang stronghold; reinforcements would arrive soon.

"With just the four of us, we can’t take this man down. Any longer, and it’ll be trouble."

With that thought, the silver-haired man decisively shouted, "Retreat!"

But in the next instant, Zhang Yu’s Formless Cloud True Qi suddenly surged, and as his Great Sun Sea technique transformed, it turned pitch black, like an abyss that swallowed the four figures whole.

The silver-haired man and his companions felt as if they had fallen into an unfathomable seabed. The violent true qi simulated the movements of Back-Dragon Overturning Mountain and Dragon-Elephant Crushing Palm, destroying their balance.

At that moment, they realized something: though he was likely at the same peak Qi Refining stage as them, there were gaps even among peaks.

Moments later, when Black Crow led a group of gang members to the scene, they only saw the four men lying on the ground, already knocked unconscious.

Zhang Yu stood nearby, meeting Black Crow and the others’ awed gazes, and said casually, "These four are yours. I should get a bonus, right?"

Black Crow quickly replied, "Teacher Ma, you defeated Gold Course Gang experts—of course there’s a bonus. I know you want cash. I’ll prepare it soon; you can pick it up next time you come."

On his way back to the apartment, Zhang Yu recalled the day’s battle and thought, "The Martial Dao Saint Embryo has indeed greatly improved me."

"And among those at the same peak Qi Refining, these guys are far inferior to the current Ah Zhen and that guy (Ye Lingxiao) from before..."

"If I had possessed my current strength in the last round of the Foundation Establishment exam, I might have been able to compete with that guy (Ye Lingxiao) for victory, right?"

Zhang Yu recalled Ye Lingxiao's performance in the previous Foundation Establishment Exam, and a fighting spirit arose within him: "In this last month, I still need to keep earning money and cultivating, to raise the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo a bit higher..."

And with the failure of this assassination attempt against Zhang Yu, the conflict between the Dark Study Gang and the Golden Course Gang grew ever more intense.

Over the following ten-plus days, the two sides engaged in multiple violent clashes, not only hurling copyright bombs at each other but even printing and distributing each other's pirated martial arts for free, forging a mortal enmity.

Amidst this fierce fighting, even the security teams of Deep Sea Group and Celestial Melody Group began to suffer casualties.

In this series of gang wars, Yue Mulan (Bai Zhenzhen) broke through encirclements multiple times, defeating enemy leaders in chaotic battles of hundreds and then retreating unscathed, earning a great reputation in Songyang City's dark tutoring world and achieving unparalleled prestige within the Dark Study Gang for a time.

Especially due to her repeated deployment of copyright bombs and the flashes of electricity that accompanied her strikes, she became known as the Copyright Lightning of the Dark Study Gang, said to bring ruin wherever she went, enough to stop the poor from crying at night.

And so, amidst this chaotic gang strife, time gradually moved into mid-December.

(End of this chapter)