Chapter 1 Approaching Dusk

Nearing dusk, the rosy clouds filled the sky.

Three Li Flatlands, outside the city.

This was the agreed-upon rendezvous point. After the prison break, Xiang Tianjie and the others hadn't dawdled. Disguised, they left the city and arrived at Three Li Flatlands early, hiding and waiting until now.

The group had changed into the garb of traveling merchants. Some sat, some stood, occasionally glancing at the sun, anxiety faintly etched on their faces.

The lookout remained far off, vigilantly watching the road they had taken, observing any movement from the state capital.

"If it gets any later, the city gates will close. Why haven't Brother Chen and his group come out yet? Could they have been caught inside?"

Guo Haishen ate some dry rations, regaining some strength. He paced back and forth anxiously, his tone restless.

Xiang Tianjie shook his head and responded in a low voice, "Brother Guo, please be patient. Brother Chen is highly skilled. Ordinary government soldiers can't hold him."

However, even as he said this, Xiang Tianjie wasn't entirely confident. After all, his knowledge of Zhou Jing's skills was second-hand; he hadn't personally witnessed them, so his assurance lacked conviction.

Guo Haishen was even more unclear about Zhou Jing's martial prowess. In his eyes, what Zhou Jing was doing was a near-death mission. Yet, he was doing it specifically for someone he had never met. He was truly a righteous hero worthy of brotherhood, and Guo Haishen felt deeply grateful.

Just then, the lookout suddenly spoke, calling out, "Everyone, a group of people is coming this way. I saw Brother Shi Qing!"

The group perked up and quickly emerged from their hiding places. They immediately saw a group of ten people walking down the road.

This group was none other than Zhou Jing and his companions. They had joined up with Lu Xinniang and Zhang San's group of five, and had Shi Qing dress up. Now, they were disguised as a wealthy family traveling on important business.

Gao Yun, with his outstanding appearance, played the role of the wealthy master. Lu Xinniang pretended to be his daughter, while Zhou Jing and Fang Zhen, with their burly physiques, masqueraded as bodyguards. Shi Qing, being young and small, was dressed as a servant boy. As for Zhang San and his group of five, with their simple, weather-beaten looks, they pretended to be farmhands and servants.

While the state capital was in chaos, the group rushed to the city gate. All the necessary items had been prepared in advance, and they passed the city gate inspection without any major incidents, quickly leaving the city.

Xiang Tianjie was about to greet them, but Li Chun beat him to it.

Li Chun quickly walked up to Zhou Jing, taking his arm and looking him up and down. Seeing that he was uninjured, he breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "Brother Chen! I'm glad you're safe! We've been waiting here for a long time, fearing you might fail and be captured. We were ready to fight back and rescue you at any moment."

Fang Zhen, standing to the side, laughed loudly, his face full of pride, and interjected, "Haha, Brother Li is overthinking it. A mere state capital is nothing to my brother; he can come and go as he pleases. Those incompetent government soldiers are nothing but chickens and dogs in front of my brother, utterly vulnerable!"

After this operation, Fang Zhen's admiration for Zhou Jing's skills had reached new heights; he had become Zhou Jing's biggest fan.

Gao Yun, seeing this, echoed, "Brother's skills are indeed hard to find in this world. Fortunately, with brother's help, we were able to get through this safely."

Zhou Jing also smiled casually and nodded to Li Chun, saying, "Brother Li Chun, rest assured. With my skills, it's difficult for this state capital to hold me."

"That's good, that's good…"

Li Chun's smile was so wide that his wrinkles deepened, his expression sincere.

At this moment, Guo Haishen rushed over, taking three steps at a time, elbowing Li Chun out of the way. He grabbed Zhou Jing's hands, overcome with emotion, and bowed deeply, saying, "Brother Chen! You rescued me and risked your life to avenge me, but I am unwell and unable to fight alongside you. I can only leave the city and escape in advance, which makes me feel truly ashamed! I will never forget this kindness and righteousness. Please accept my bow!"

Zhou Jing quickly helped him up, smiling cheerfully, "Brother Guo, what are you saying? When we met, I said that those of us who practice martial arts value righteousness above all else. Brother Guo was angered by the evil deeds of the tyrant and stood up for others, but was secretly harmed by the wealthy. If I didn't draw my blade to help at this time, when would I? Don't mention this small Anlin Prefecture; even if it were the imperial prison in the capital, I would dare to闖闖闖 (barging in)!"

Guo Haishen's bow was resolute, but Zhou Jing's hands held him up, preventing him from bowing down. He couldn't help but be secretly astonished by Zhou Jing's arm strength.

He had no choice but to straighten up. Hearing Zhou Jing's words, a surge of heroic spirit rose in his chest, and he felt that Zhou Jing's figure had become incomparably tall in his eyes, as if he could reach the heavens and the earth. He excitedly exclaimed, "Brother, your actions are those of a true hero! If brother doesn't mind, I would like to swear an oath of brotherhood with you, and we will share blessings and endure hardships together in the future!"

Zhou Jing was a little surprised to hear this, but he could understand Guo Haishen's excitement. He smiled and nodded, "Why would I dislike a good man like Brother Guo? But now is not the time. The government soldiers of the state capital will probably come out to search for us. We should leave first."

"Brother is right!"

Hearing that Zhou Jing was willing to become sworn brothers, Guo Haishen was overjoyed and almost immediately wanted to find a rooster and yellow paper. However, he came back to his senses and realized that now was not the time to do this. They were too close to the state capital and had not yet escaped danger.

Xiang Tianjie also stepped forward to greet him and said some words of concern.

Without further delay, everyone gathered together and quickly set off, planning to run away overnight.

On the road, the group carefully exchanged information and asked about each other's actions.

The prison break went smoothly, a standard green forest affair process, nothing worth mentioning.

However, what Zhou Jing and his group had done in the state capital was what Guo Haishen and the Heavenly King Fort group were curious about.

"Brother Chen, you volunteered to attack the Four Great Clans. What was the result?" a Heavenly King Fort leader asked curiously.

Zhou Jing shook his head and sighed, "Alas, it's a pity. My strength was insufficient, and I didn't achieve complete success."

The people from Heavenly King Fort thought that although Zhou Jing had safely withdrawn, he ultimately couldn't do anything to the Four Great Clans and couldn't fulfill his promise to eliminate harm for the people.

However, they could understand that the Four Great Clans had many people and great power, while Zhou Jing's group was alone and weak. It was normal that they couldn't accomplish it.

Xiang Tianjie couldn't help but comfort him, "Brother, don't feel bad. Those wealthy gentry are powerful and have many guards, so they are indeed difficult to deal with. But brother dared to闯闖闖 (barging in) their residences, which is already incredibly brave, something that ordinary people can't hope to achieve. Even if you couldn't eliminate them, it's not a big deal. Moreover, brother's actions successfully caused a commotion, diverting the government's attention and helping us rescue Brother Guo, which is the greatest merit."

Many Heavenly King Fort leaders also comforted him, each saying something to reassure Zhou Jing not to take it to heart.

They left the city early and only knew that Zhou Jing had attacked the He residence, but they didn't know what happened after that.

Hearing this, Shi Qing's expression became quite strange, and he hesitated to speak.

At this moment, Zhou Jing shook his head and said, "Everyone, you have misunderstood. I only regret that I didn't have time to do it thoroughly. I left the Lu and Chen families behind and only eliminated the He and Huang families. But fortunately, I also took down a prefect who colluded with the wealthy and levied taxes indiscriminately, which can be considered a punishment for the mastermind, barely satisfactory."

Xiang Tianjie and his group immediately froze, their eyes widened.

He really eliminated the wealthy clans, and not just one but two?

And what's going on with the prefect? We didn't have this part in our plan!

Guo Haishen thought he had misheard and was startled, "…Brother Chen, you killed the prefect?!"

"I didn't kill him."

Zhou Jing shook his head.

Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, Fang Zhen couldn't help but interject, "Brother, you chopped off the prefect's arm and forced him to jump off a high building. Even if he's alive, he'll be crippled. What's the difference between that and killing him?"

"Whatever, I didn't stab him to death with a spear."

Zhou Jing shook his head in denial, paused, and added, "That dog official isn't a good person anyway, and he dared to put on airs in front of me. Did you expect me to politely see him out? Besides, I only let him jump down, at most he'd break a leg and be fine after a month or two of recuperation. But he insisted on pretending to be important and brought out his connections to suppress me. Some bullshit disciple of Prime Minister Qin, he dared to act like that when his life was in my hands, clearly he's been in a high position for too long and thinks that having an official position makes him superior, and no one would dare to do anything to him… So I gave him a lesson to let him know that an official position isn't a shield."

Xiang Tianjie and the others roughly understood the process and felt their faces twitch.

Their Heavenly King Fort had a large sphere of influence. Although they didn't care about imperial officials, they didn't dare to kill them at will. After all, they had been influenced by their environment since childhood, and the idea that "officials are noble people" was deeply ingrained in their hearts.

Even if they were outlaws, no matter how little they cared about imperial officials, they still harbored a lasting bit of awe in their hearts. This was a deeply rooted idea.

But this Brother Chen Feng seemed to have no such concept in his mind at all.

Everyone suddenly had a thought, feeling that they had guessed the truth:

'That's right, this Chen Feng has lived in the mountains for a long time and has no concept of imperial law or hierarchy, so his actions are so unscrupulous…'

The people looked at each other, not knowing how to evaluate this matter.

What kind of person is this? He's truly lawless!

The Heavenly King Fort leaders had mixed feelings, both shocked by Chen Feng's audacity and admiring his courage.

Xiang Tianjie couldn't help but pinch his temples, secretly troubled.

His original intention was just to break someone out of prison; he never thought of making such a big deal out of it.

This Chen Feng joined halfway but acted on his own accord, instantly pushing the impact of their actions to the heavens!

Although it did cover up the prison break… it was completely stealing the show, making it seem like their Heavenly King Fort was just an extra!

Moreover, the subsequent impact and danger of this matter was also quite serious!

"Brother Chen… you were a bit reckless. The crime of killing an official aside, if this prefect is really a disciple of Prime Minister Qin, then you've stirred up a hornet's nest. Let me tell you, this Prime Minister Qin's name is Qin Song, and he's one of the Seven Traitors of the court, a great villain who takes bribes, forms factions for his own interests, and has disciples and former officials all over the world. He's the head of the Qin faction and has deep roots in the court…"

Gu Tian

Xiang Tianjie smiled wryly and explained.

Zhou Jing glanced at him, almost wanting to吐槽 (tsukkomi: a Japanese comedy term for a sharp rebuke or correction) you guys are a bunch of outlaws and yet you know this so clearly, could you be preparing for an amnesty.

Lu Xinniang, hearing this, snorted and retorted, "Leader Xiang is wrong. Who cares about what Qin Party, beast party or what, just除 (getting rid) of those kind of狗官 (dog official) is already doing some good, to me, Chen Jia gege (Chen family older brother) did good in killing them!"

Seeing this, Xiang Tianjie couldn't do anything about it. Anyway, what's done is done, so he can only accept it.

However, in his heart, he had given Zhou Jing a label… This is a reckless man who doesn't know how to control his actions, but he's amazingly brave. If he can make him follow orders, then he can be of great use.

Zhou Jing didn't care and instead looked at Zhang San, asking, "What do you think? Should this狗官 (dog official) be killed?"

Zhang San was stunned, not expecting Zhou Jing to ask him, a peasant.

Seeing so many highly skilled green forest heroes looking at him, he immediately felt terrified and nervous, and said hesitantly, "Officials are honorable, how can I presume to comment? But since gege (older brother) killed him, he must have his reasons. I don't know so many things, so I'll just listen to gege (older brother)."

Zhou Jing nodded and didn't say anything else.

On the other side, Guo Haishen didn't consider so much. He was so excited that his face was flushed, and he was so moved that he could hardly speak.

The prefect was also the one who set up the trap to harm him. Although he wasn't the mastermind, he put in the most effort and was the backer of the Four Great Clans.

But Guo Haishen only dared to think about revenge against the Four Great Clans, and he didn't dare to think about the prefect subconsciously.

He didn't expect this Chen Feng brother to dare to brave universal condemnation and vent this anger for him!

If it wasn't because everyone was on the run, he really wanted to grab Zhou Jing and become sworn brothers on the spot.

Everyone asked again about the specific process of打殺 (fighting and killing) the He and Huang families.

When it came to this topic, Fang Zhen became interested and described Zhou Jing's skills as unparalleled in the world, leaving everyone dumbfounded, feeling like they were listening to a fairy tale.

But Gao Yun also testified, and the others had no choice but to believe most of it, secretly shocked in their hearts.

Chen Feng's martial strength was so amazing that he broke through two families with hundreds of guards. He was more than a match for a hundred men!

There was actually such a master in the world?

Xiang Tianjie was extremely surprised and couldn't help but exchange a surprised look with the other Heavenly King Fort leaders.

"This Life-Reaping Yama's martial arts are unparalleled in the world. He can fight hundreds of people twice. Ordinary martial artists are no match for him, even the head of our family doesn't have such skills, right?"

"That's right, I haven't heard of anyone in the world with such martial arts. I don't know if the masters of those legendary martial arts sects have such skills."

The people discussed in low voices, their hearts filled with suspicion.

On the other side, Guo Haishen became even more excited and quickly grabbed Zhou Jing's arm, saying, "I've always liked to compete with the world's masters. You and I are brothers, so we must be close in the future!"

His green forest reputation basically came from finding people to compete with everywhere. He himself was a martial arts fanatic, and now that he heard that Zhou Jing's martial arts were so high that they were unbelievable, he immediately felt a sense of belonging and his fondness for Zhou Jing skyrocketed again, almost overflowing.

"Okay, okay, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Zhou Jing didn't refuse and responded happily.

The people surrounded Zhou Jing and talked for a while. Seeing that it was getting dark, they reduced the conversation and concentrated on traveling.

Only then did Zhou Jing become idle and open the panel to take a look.

After causing such a commotion in the state capital, fighting in succession, [Twelve Spear Styles] had leveled up and reached lv3 Outstanding. The other skills had also improved, but hadn't yet leveled up.

In addition, after killing so many enemies this time, the auxiliary function [Character Level System] had accumulated enough experience to directly upgrade from level 1 to level 3.

This auxiliary function gives an additional 0~2 attribute points each time it levels up, and the current cap is level 10. These two upgrades were lucky, both giving 2 attribute points.

The current physical fitness of Star Realm Apostle Four has a unique advantage in this low-martial world, and martial arts will also improve quickly in the future. But his own resistance is only 22 points now, not as fast as his fitness. Therefore, cold weapons are still a threat. If he encounters bows and crossbows, it will be even more dangerous.

After thinking for a while, he felt that it was more beneficial to add points to resistance now, increasing his resistance to 26 points. If he can upgrade to Tier 2 resistance, then with the level of weapons and transcendent intensity in this world, he will have safety even if he participates in large-scale wars.

This auxiliary function doesn't provide many extra attribute points, and he decided to use it to make up for relatively difficult-to-improve but important shortcomings.

In addition, he had many other gains from this action:

[Triggered achievement [Outstanding Martial Arts] (accumulate 10 martial arts expert kills)]

[Received 500 Star Realm Points! [Aptitude Improvement - Martial Arts (Minor)] x1]

[Triggered achievement [Righteous Help]]

[Received 500 Star Realm Points! [Aptitude Improvement - Charisma (Minor)] x1]

——

[Activated milestone achievement [Number One in the World]!]

[Current progress: 1%]

[Completion conditions: Meet all the martial arts masters in the world with martial arts, and win the name of the world's number one master with solid battle records]

[Reward: 10000 Star Realm Points, 150 Information State Particles, [Aptitude Improvement - Comprehensive (Medium)] x1, [Aptitude Improvement - Martial Arts (Major)] x1, [Auxiliary Function Upgrade] x3. Additional effect: When Star Realm Apostles use martial arts skills, they can exert stronger power in actual combat]

——

[Activated milestone achievement [Slaughter Ten Thousand for Hegemony]!]

[Current progress: 2.5%]

[Completion conditions: The way of killing is the way of humanity, the heart of killing is the heart of people. Killing one is a crime, slaughtering ten thousand is a hero]

[Reward: 24000 Star Realm Points, 280 Information State Particles, [Aptitude Improvement - Comprehensive (Major)] x1, [Auxiliary Function Upgrade] x3, [Auxiliary Function - Way of Man] (The way of man, to take from those who have not enough to give to those who have more. By killing enemies, seize the other party's life energy and transform it into Star Realm Points or the Apostle's free allocation points). Additional effect: The higher the number of kills by a Star Realm Apostle, the easier it is to shock others, but if the heart is not firm, it may also breed inner demons, evil spirits, and other negative states]

——

[You have obtained a career achievement——[Uproar in Anlin Prefecture]!]

[Rating: National]

[Current fame bonus: +2]

"There are really a lot of things… These two milestones are probably a bit…"

Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes.

[Number One in the World] is okay, but [Slaughter Ten Thousand for Hegemony] is a bit ruthless. Does this really mean killing tens of thousands by hand?

Honestly, if he really went all out to刷 (shua: slang for grinding, farming) it, it wouldn't be difficult to complete, but after thinking about it, Zhou Jing gave up.

Although after being baptized by the alien beast world, he had removed unnecessary additional views on the act of killing itself, he still felt that it would be better to let this milestone be natural. If he deliberately刷 (shua: slang for grinding, farming) it, completely releasing the beast in his heart, it might be even more difficult to control himself in the future. Maybe this is the "inner demons" and "evil spirits" and other negative states emphasized in the introduction.

Aside from the completion conditions, the rewards of these two milestones are indeed generous, of which [Auxiliary Function Upgrade] is something he has coveted for a long time.

He has traveled so many times, and has only activated a few milestones, but none of them have been completed.

The closest to completion is [True·Alien Beast Hunter] in the alien beast world, but unfortunately the Star Realm is disconnected now, so there is no chance to complete it for the time being.

In addition, he has obtained another career achievement this time. He didn't expect that this was only the first personal crossing of Star Realm Apostle Four, and he had already obtained two achievements.

"Take it slow… Anyway, since I've made such a big deal this time, I can't be low-key even if I want to."

Zhou Jing calmed down, closed the panel, and continued forward with everyone under the cover of night.

……

Not long after everyone fled, the bloated bureaucratic system of Anlin Prefecture finally reacted, with the officials in shock and anger. They quickly rescued the prefect, ordered the city gates to be sealed, and sent government soldiers to search for thieves in the city and sent a large number of soldiers to search outwards.

In an instant, the entire city was in chaos.

The story of the Life-Reaping Yama making a scene in the city, destroying the He and Huang families, and causing the prefect to be seriously injured and disabled spread like wildfire throughout the city.

The common people who didn't know about the changes in the south of the city before, all knew about it now and were all startled.

The tragic state of the He and Huang families and the prefect made many people feel happy in their hearts. After being exploited and bullied for many years, someone was finally able to give them a chance to vent their anger.

Moreover, Chen Feng's act of distributing wealth to the people made many people secretly regret that they were not there at the time and missed a windfall.

In addition, many traveling merchants who were temporarily staying in Anlin Prefecture also knew about this and were amazed by it, spreading it by word of mouth.

These merchants who traveled all over the country have always been the source of rumors. Things that happen in a certain place are often spread to various places through their mouths.

In one day, the state capital was shaken!

The name of the Life-Reaping Yama gradually imprinted itself in the hearts of many people.