Chapter 60: Ambushed Again

Ye Xiaoting was a clever woman. Even if it meant enduring only a single night of mosquito bites, she would not willingly submit. She chose to yield, perhaps out of the old belief that as long as the green hills remain, there will always be wood to burn—intending to seize an opportunity for revenge against Zhang Pu in the future.

Next, Zhang Pu instructed them to tally their belongings, including the small change in their mobile wallets, of which he demanded a portion. Zheng Xiaoming and his cousin Ke Zhiyuan stared, wide-eyed, at the way Zhang Pu conducted himself. Zheng Xiaoming felt as if he was discovering a new side of Zhang Pu that day, unaware that Zhang Pu was raising money for his own cultivation.

Ke Zhiyuan, meanwhile, had wanted to voice his opinion about Zhang Pu’s doings, but the words stuck in his throat: today, Zhang Pu was his savior. Even though he felt something was amiss about Zhang Pu’s actions, he simply could not bring himself to object.

This farcical scene soon came to an end. Satisfied with the money he had collected, Zhang Pu left with Zheng Xiaoming and Ke Zhiyuan, the three of them departing from that dilapidated courtyard. As for the origins of the place, it was unclear which family among Ye Xiaoting’s group owned it as an ancestral property.

When they reached the street outside to look for their ride home, Zheng Xiaoming voiced his concern: he’d noticed a few in Ye Xiaoting’s group glaring at him with vicious eyes.

Zhang Pu only laughed. “Don’t worry, no one will dare lay a hand on you—unless they want to pay double the fine! Ha!”

As Zhang Pu and his companions left the courtyard, Ye Xiaoting remained behind with her followers. This setback was perhaps the greatest humiliation she had ever suffered. While Zhang Pu was present, she forced herself to remain defiant, but now—if not for the presence of so many subordinates—she might have wept aloud from the injustice.

But Ye Xiaoting did not cry. Instead, with a vengeful resolve, she took out her phone and began messaging someone.

Noting Zheng Xiaoming’s timidity, Zhang Pu decided to personally see Zheng Xiaoming and his cousin Ke Zhiyuan safely back to their street. Zhang Pu imagined Zheng Xiaoming was worried: perhaps Ye Xiaoting would send people after them at once.

Zheng Xiaoming knew well that Ye Xiaoting had considerable influence beyond the campus. Yet, all the way until Zhang Pu watched Zheng Xiaoming and his cousin reach home, no one came after them.

Only then did Zhang Pu return to his own place near South Lake Park. It was already late.

In his mind, Zhang Pu was quietly elated: in the coming days, he would surely step firmly into the Foundation Establishment stage. Everything seemed to be going more smoothly than he’d anticipated since his rebirth, and lately, he’d been earning money so easily it brought laughter to his lips.

The business with punishing Ye Xiaoting and her crew was already tossed far from his thoughts; all that remained was the thrill of having made a tidy profit.

What Zhang Pu could not have foreseen was that, on this very night, just as he was about to reach his rented home, he would face another ambush.

A barely perceptible sound reached his ears, so faint he only became aware of it as it was nearly upon him.

Then, the attack came.

He barely had time to muster his energy. In desperation, he cast a minor spell from the cultivation world—a spell of illusion.

Illusion was a technique from a star domain where dark spiritual power was practiced in the cultivation world. The spell was peculiar, for it was not always classified as a minor technique; even cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, and those who had reached the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and even higher, would use it. Masters above the Integration stage still employed it.

This was because the spell of Illusion could advance with its user. At its highest form, it would be known by another name—Shadow Oblivion—a wondrous art, capable of rendering its user virtually invisible, cloaked by the faintest shadow, and hiding even their breath from the senses of others.

Zhang Pu knew this from his memories of the cultivation world. However, with his current abilities, he could not yet wield the art of Shadow Oblivion.

Still, on Earth, casting the spell of Illusion was enough to help him narrowly evade the expert’s attack.

Once out of danger, Zhang Pu immediately unleashed his Shadowless Hand, the fighting skill he had practiced most thoroughly since his rebirth. It suited his present level well, though in time, as he advanced, he would turn to even greater combat arts from the cultivation world.

A moment ago, his Illusion spell had left his assailant bewildered, as if lost in a maze of “what was that?”

To the attacker, what had just happened was utterly bizarre.

In this instant, Zhang Pu saw clearly that his opponent was masked.

Strange! He found himself cursing inwardly—why did masked assailants keep attacking him here? It had happened several times already. Even earlier, when Gao Lixia had brought people to cause him trouble, it was in this very district.

Clearly, this place was ill-omened; he would have to consider moving. Better to rent a new place with better luck.

He had chosen this location for its proximity to the most spiritually rich area of South Lake Park, but soon, with the aid of elixirs, there would be no need to rely on the faint aura of the park.

Moreover, Zhang Pu knew that once he entered the Foundation Establishment stage, he would not need to live by the park, nor seek out “auspicious land” to absorb spiritual energy. In the cultivation world, on the Bright Star Realm, there was a secret art known as Summoning, and once he reached Foundation Establishment, he could, from anywhere within Qingwu City, summon the park’s spiritual energy over a distance, drawing from the eight directions and six harmonies of heaven and earth.

In that case, there was no need to dwell in an “ill-fated” neighborhood and suffer constant ambushes.

Once he moved, Zhang Pu planned to buy a small house with a down payment and installments. After stepping into the Foundation Establishment stage, he could arrange cultivation arrays within his home—making it impenetrable to ordinary intruders. With his current earning power, acquiring a small house shouldn’t be difficult.

He reasoned that as he made more enemies, there was no telling who might plot his demise in secret. Open attacks could be dodged, but hidden arrows were hard to guard against. If he had a fortress-like home, he need not fear assassins even in his sleep.

All these considerations flitted through Zhang Pu’s mind in a flash. In reality, he was already trading blows with the masked killer, using his Shadowless Hand.