We're practicing all martial arts, so why did you switch to easy mode?

Chapter 170 Seeking Merit, Moving Names on the Head of the Grand Duke.
The Moon Thief left without hesitation, departing with great nonchalance.

After escaping the Moon Worshiping Thieves, Su Chen randomly found an inn in a nearby town and stayed for the night.

The next day, after changing his clothes, he hurried back to the Qiao residence.

Qiao Qiliang seemed to know he would be coming back today, and was waiting in the yard early in the morning.

Upon seeing Su Chen, he looked him up and down and asked, "Are you alright?"

Judging from his tone, it seemed he had guessed what Su Chen had been doing last night.

Su Chen shook his head.

Qiao Qiliang smiled with a hint of delight, "Did you watch a good show last night?"
When I saw the news this morning, I was completely stunned. I never expected such a big thing to happen last night.

"You little rascal, going to the theater alone without me!"

He was shocked to learn of the destruction of the Hong family in the morning, and rushed to find Su Chen without even washing up.

He had a vague idea of ​​what Su Chen had been doing during his disappearance, and expected him to return today.

As a result, not long after arriving, they saw Su Chen return.

However, he did not expect that Su Chen was not going to watch a play, but personally killed Hong Demin and Hong Dexin.

"It wasn't exactly a great show, but it was quite exciting and stimulating." Su Chen smiled, found a place to sit down, and then briefly recounted what happened last night.

When Qiao Qiliang learned that Su Chen had personally killed Hong Demin, he stood there stunned for a full three minutes, still unable to process what had happened.

"I was lucky. I managed to strike when Hong Demin was seriously injured and caught him off guard. If it were next time, I might not be able to succeed in the sneak attack."

After a few more times, once my strength has improved, I might just crush them.

Su Chen silently added a sentence in his mind.

To be honest, he still feels lingering fear even now; such behavior was too risky.

But he was unwilling to give up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Fortunately, fate was on his side, and he succeeded.

After hearing this, Qiao Qiliang chuckled. Killing one was good luck, and killing two was also good luck?
He didn't believe it anyway.

"How is the Hong family doing now?"

Su Chen left relatively early, and he was unaware of what happened afterward, including whether all the members of the Hong family had been killed.

"Most of them are dead or wounded, and some have escaped down the mountain and disappeared without a trace. In short, the Hong family is completely finished. However, even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn't die easily. We'll see how long these people can live in the end," Qiao Qiliang said after a moment's thought.

"What about Shadow Assassins?" Su Chen couldn't help but be curious after not having asked for any updates for several days.

This attack on the Hong family by various forces is ostensibly about secret techniques, but in reality, it's about the distribution of profits; someone wants to take a slice of the Hong family's pie.

Among the many forces, besides those that are obvious, there are many hidden in the shadows, and Shadow Assassins is one of them.

Su Chen had paid special attention to this incident. In this attack, Shadow Assassins dispatched a martial artist at the Meridian Opening Realm, and guessed that even if Shadow Assassins' main force had not yet arrived in Dafeng City, it should be arriving soon.

Sure enough, Qiao Qiliang immediately said after hearing this, "I came to find you this time to tell you about Shadow Assassins. They have arrived in Dafeng City and their current announced base is Huayue Tower."

Su Chen nodded after hearing this, chatted with Qiao Qiliang for a few words, and then prepared to leave.

Dafeng City, Huayue Tower.

The reopening of Huayuelou filled the market gap, resulting in a surge in customer traffic.

Many martial artists lined up in the hall to inquire about or sell information, creating quite a lively scene.

Su Chen gave a price with practiced ease and was led upstairs by the waiter, where he was greeted by a masked man.

"What information would you like to buy, sir?" the masked man asked professionally.

Su Chen stared into the masked man's eyes and got straight to the point: "I want to buy the 'Myriad Wonders of the Profound Heart' technique."

"Mysterious Heart Myriad Wonders Style?" Upon hearing this, the masked man was clearly taken aback.

Su Chen noticed his unusual behavior, his expression hardened, and he asked, "What's wrong? Can't we sell it?"

“No.” The masked man shook his head, offering no explanation, but instead stood up and said, “Guest, please wait a moment.”

Having said that, she ignored Su Chen and turned to enter the room behind her.

A moment later, the masked man stepped out, his voice tinged with apology: "Excuse me, guest."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Chen felt a sudden tightness in his chest.

Sure enough, the masked man sat down and said, "The Myriad Mysteries of the Profound Heart were lost during the headquarters' relocation."

Lost?

Three hundred thousand taels of silver, just lost with a casual remark?

Su Chen frowned, his expression turning slightly cold.

The masked man nodded slightly, making no attempt to hide anything: "To be precise, it was stolen."

"Who?" Su Chen asked.

"Su Chen."

Su Chen: “???”

Su Chen was taken aback for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Su Chen?"

The masked man nodded, and seeing that Su Chen's expression was somewhat unpleasant, his gaze sharpened slightly, and he asked with a smile, "Does the guest know this person?"

"It sounds familiar, but I can't remember it."

Su Chen shook his head, his thoughts racing.

He pondered which bastard had impersonated him and stolen the cultivation technique, especially since it was the technique he had been waiting for for so long.

The masked man didn't pay any attention. He just asked casually, then took out a Shadow Killer wanted poster and handed it to Su Chen.

Su Chen took the wanted poster and looked down at it, a look of realization appearing on his face.

"So it wasn't Su Chen, but Su Chen!"

Even after reading it, Su Chen's brows remained furrowed. Despite disclaiming any involvement, the manual had still been stolen.

"Are there any other methods?"

Su Chen looked at the wanted poster and asked indifferently.

"No, he stole not only the rubbing, but also the original. Although other customers bought this manual in the prefectural city, they should know that we never disclose their information, so..."

Su Chen didn't speak, but stared at the wanted poster with a somewhat serious look in his eyes.

"The thief, Su Chen, is suspected to be at the Blood Refining Realm Level 1. His movement techniques are superb, comparable to a beginner Meridian Opening Realm martial artist. His strength is unique, extremely tricky and unpredictable, and he can fight beyond his level. At Blood Refining Realm Level 1, he can unleash the power of Blood Refining Realm Level 2, which is the power of Level 3. He is suspected to have cultivated an extremely terrifying technique..."

After a long while, Su Chen looked up, his eyes flashing, and asked, "If I may ask, what do you mean by this special, cunning, and unpredictable force?"

The masked man was taken aback by Su Chen's question. After a moment of thought, he said, "His strength is actually no different from that of an ordinary Blood Moving Realm cultivator, but his technique for releasing force is very powerful. Several of us who were escorting him were no match for him, which is why he escaped."

Then, Su Chen asked a few more questions about the details, which the masked man answered one by one.

Looking at Su Chen, who was extremely serious, he suddenly had a strange feeling that he really wanted to help Ying Sha find the murderer.

After a short while, Su Chen walked out of Huayue Tower, his steps hurried and his expression anxious.

From his conversation with the masked man, Su Chen became increasingly certain that Su Chen, who stole the Myriad Mysteries of the Profound Heart, was closely related to the Moon Worship Thieves.

Putting everything else aside, the sheer speed of Baiyue Dao, comparable to that of a martial artist who has reached the Qi Refining stage, is enough to make him capable of stealing.

Although he hadn't fought the Moon Worshiper many times, he sensed the power of the opponent's strength—an extremely advanced technique for generating force.
At first, Su Chen thought it was a characteristic of the Moon Worshiping Thief Technique, but now it seems that it must be related to the Myriad Wonders of the Profound Heart Style.

In addition, there are many other suspicious points, all of which, in Su Chen's view, point to the Moon Worshiping Thieves.

This made him even more convinced that even if the Moon Worship Thief did not steal the Myriad Wonders of the Profound Heart, it was still inextricably linked to Su Chen.

He rushed out of the city, found the direction where the two had parted ways last time, and searched for the Moon Worship Thief.

Unfortunately, such a aimless search was destined to be fruitless.

After searching for a long time, Su Chen couldn't find the other person at all.

He returned to the house he had previously rented to Baiyue Dao, only to find it empty; Baiyue Dao was not living there.

"Although I left a soul-summoning incense on him, so much time has passed that the incense has long since dissipated."

Su Chen was somewhat disappointed. He should have left the other party with a soul-guiding incense before leaving, but he never expected things to turn out this way.

Finding someone in the vast sea of ​​people whose disguise skills are no worse than his is like finding a needle in a haystack.

By evening, Su Chen had found nothing and returned to the Qiao residence, exhausted.

Qiao Qiliang found Su Chen again, bringing the latest news about the Hong family.

The Hong family's direct descendants were not completely wiped out; some escaped. One group, led by Hong Tao, found the Chu family and sought Hong Lian'er's protection.

Hong Lian'er was a victim of the previous marriage alliance between the Hong and Chu families, marrying Chu Ba, the second son of the current patriarch of the Chu family. Hong Tao is Hong Lian'er's father. After learning about her father's plight, Hong Lian'er agreed without hesitation to protect Hong Tao and the others.

Chu Ba doted on Hong Lian'er and had no objection to this, but the other members of the Chu family disagreed.

In the end, Hong Tao sacrificed the Hong Clan's Xuan Yuan Technique and several alchemists to help the Chu Clan refine Qi and Blood Pills and Xuan Yuan Pills. Only then did he gain the Chu Clan's protection and barely manage to lead his clan to survive.

This can be considered as preserving a direct line of the Hong family.

Upon hearing this news, Su Chen felt neither happy nor disappointed; he was still pondering how to find the Moon Worshiping Thief.

Qiao Qiliang noticed Su Chen's worries and asked him why. Su Chen then explained what had happened.

"You want to find the Moon Worshipper? The Moon Worshipper is elusive and disappears without a trace. Finding him won't be easy. Here's what I'll do: I'll mobilize the Four Seas Gang and the City Lord's Mansion to help you search. But don't get your hopes up too high," Qiao Qiliang comforted him.

Su Chen nodded, and after Qiao Qiliang left, he changed his clothes again and went to Huayue Tower.

There are two main purposes for this trip: one is to issue a bounty for the Moon Worship Thief, and the other is to inquire about the location of the Dragon Guard.

It was thought that it would take some time to find out about both, but unexpectedly, when Su Chen purchased the second piece of information, Shadow Killer gave feedback on the spot.

"The Dragon Guards live in a mansion at No. 36 Fugui Street, Fugui Lane."

As the name suggests, Fugui Ward is a place where people who can live are either rich or noble, and its level of wealth and nobility ranks among the top of the thirty-six wards in Dafeng City.

Upon arriving at Fugui Lane, Su Chen did not immediately sneak into the mansion to investigate. Instead, he found a restaurant to fill his stomach first.

"I learned from Shadow Killer that the Dragon Guard had pursued the Moon Worship Thief many times, and although they failed each time, it was enough to show that they must have a special way to find the Moon Worship Thief."

The reason they were hunting down the Moon Worshiping Thief was simply because of the Pure Yuan Sutra.

As long as the Moon Worshiping Thief is not captured and the Pure Yuan Scripture is not found, these Dragon Guards will not give up.

Everyone knows what's going on with the Hong family. With the Dragon Guard's information channels, it's impossible that they don't know that the Hong family is just a victim of the interests of many forces.

They don't possess the so-called Pure Yuan Scripture at all.

Therefore, the Dragon Guard will also target the Moon Worshippers. If I follow them, I might have a chance to find them.

After thinking for a while, Su Chen had an idea. After eating and drinking his fill, he originally wanted to rent a house nearby, but eventually gave up.

As expected of the Dragon Guards, they live in large mansions, not small courtyards.

Most of the houses have owners, and the few that don't are rented out at exorbitant prices, with annual rent accounting for one-tenth of Su Chen's 300,000 yuan fortune.

Although it was still within his means, having only one person living in such a large mansion was a bit too ostentatious.

So the matter was dropped.

He randomly found a place to stay.

Over the next few days, Su Chen observed the Dragon Guards both day and night.

In the past few days, apart from going out to brothels to listen to music at night, they rarely went out and spent most of their days in the courtyard.

After observing for three days, Su Chen finally noticed something was wrong.

Every night, they would go to the brothel in groups to listen to music, without exception.

But today, Su Chen waited for an extra half hour and still didn't see the Dragon Guards leave, which was enough to show that they should be taking action tonight.

This made his mind active.

Inside the house.

Four dragon guards stood there, exuding a chilling aura, like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath.

No one spoke; all around was quiet.

After an unknown amount of time, the four of them felt a gentle breeze and then saw two ghostly figures appear before them.

Upon seeing the newcomer, all four knelt on one knee, bowed their heads, and said, "My lord."

The dragon guard, addressed as "Master," indifferently surveyed the area. When he saw that only four dragon guards remained, he snorted coldly.
"I think of my dignified Dragon Guards. Every one of them has stood out from millions of people. Every one of them is the elite force of the Great Qian Dynasty. Every one of them is a strongman forged in blood and flesh. I never thought that after sending out six Dragon Guards, only four are left. I have truly disgraced my Dragon Guards!"

"Please punish me, sir!"

"Hmph, if punishment could spare you from the death penalty, you would have died countless times already."

The dragon guard in silver snorted coldly, his tone softening slightly, "Get up. If you want to atone for your sins, then capture the Moon Worshiper."

"Yes!" The four stood up.

"Erjiu, have you found any news about the Moon Worship Thief?" the silver-clad Dragon Guard asked one of them.

The man said, "Reporting to my lord, we have found some clues. Give me two more days and we will be able to find the Moon Worship Thief."

The silver-clad dragon guard didn't speak, but sat down and poured himself a glass of water.

After a long silence, he asked again, "I've heard that news of the Pure Yuan Scripture has already spread?"

"This……"

The four exchanged glances, looking at each other in bewilderment, not daring to say a word.

Snapped!
The silver-clad dragon guard abruptly put down his teacup, his cold gaze falling on the four men, who immediately knelt down in fright.

"Since we haven't found any trace of the Moon Worship Thief within two days, I think you should stay here and go straight to the Heavenly Prison."

After speaking, the silver-clad dragon guards got up and left.

"This guy, what an arrogant official!"

Su Chen, who was watching from a distance from the attic near the mansion, clicked his tongue when he saw this scene.

Although they were a kilometer apart, they could still clearly see what was happening in the courtyard.

After observing for a while, they guessed why the men hadn't gone to the brothel: their boss had come.

"Unfortunately, there was still no action."

Su Chen sighed softly. He observed the four people kneeling in the courtyard until midnight, and it seemed they wouldn't be taking any action tonight.

So he took some time to go to the blacksmith's shop, found Tie Rang, and got the steel knife that had been reforged.

The steel knife forged from black iron gave him a clear sense of power the moment he held it, which was just right for him.

After taking the Xuan Tie Steel Knife, Su Chen went to Hua Yue Lou.

There is still no news of the Moon Worship Thief from Huayue Tower, so it seems that they can only continue to place their hopes on the Dragon Guard.

I observed for another day.

Just when Su Chen thought that the Dragon Guards still wouldn't take any action tonight, he sensed something was wrong.

After finishing their dinner, the six of them stayed in the courtyard, seemingly waiting for time to pass.

As evening approached and darkness began to fall, the six finally made their move.

Fully equipped and with solemn expressions, they quietly left the mansion under the guidance of the silver-clad dragon guards.

Seeing this, Su Chen immediately realized that tonight was the time for their operation, so he followed behind them at a distance.

Whether it was due to the Pure Yuan Scripture, the sufficient distance between them, Su Chen's improved tracking skills, or a combination of all three, the six Silver-Clad Dragon Guards failed to detect Su Chen's pursuit.

He followed the Dragon Guards all the way out of Dafeng City. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he saw the six people stop outside Qingxi Town.

"Could the Moon-Worshipping Thief still be in Qingxi Town?"

With the Hong clan destroyed, their territory was divided up. Qingxi Town, located at the foot of the mountain where the Hong clan's stronghold was located, has naturally become a melting pot of all sorts of people recently.

Upon closer reflection, it's quite possible that Baiyue Dao might actually be staying in Qingxi Town.

While they were pondering, the Silver-Clad Dragon Guards split into three groups and left in different directions.

Without hesitation, Su Chen quickly set his sights on the target and chose to follow the Silver-Clad Dragon Guards.

The three entered Qingxi Town one after the other.

Qingxi Town is unusually lively at night, turning into a joyous town where people indulge in a life of pleasure and debauchery.

Most of the restaurants and inns closed down, and within a few days, dozens of brothels and gambling dens sprang up, becoming a beautiful sight in Qingxi Town.

The two silver-clad dragon guards arrived at a rather luxurious brothel and walked in with smiles on their faces.

Su Chen followed the two men in with a lot of doubts, and felt depressed when he saw them entering the room with two beautiful women on each side.

It turns out the two weren't there to find the Moon Worship Thief, but rather to experience the local customs and culture.

With a light spit, Su Chen didn't leave. Instead, he found a secluded corner, summoned two beautiful women, and had them compete in drinking while he ate his food.

"what?"

As he was eating, Su Chen suddenly saw a familiar figure walk into the brothel. He was slightly taken aback, but then a smile spread across his face.

The newcomer was none other than the Moon-Worshipping Thief!
(End of this chapter)