Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 9: Thunder Deacon
Chu Ning stroked the raised words "Tenth Grade" on the card, and the earth-shaking exclamations from the martial arts arena still echoed in his ears.

However, before he stepped out of the courtyard, a figure began to move in the shadows.

"Even Instructor Zhou's sword dared to break. This kid won't survive more than three days."

"I heard someone offered a reward of ten taels of silver for one arm."

Whispers wrapped in the cold wind passed by Chu Ning's ears, but he did not stop. Thunder patterns surged under his tattered clothes.

He knew the rules of this martial arts school very well: praising the powerful and bullying the weak, and the strong preying on the weak.

Today he broke Instructor Zhou’s knife, but tomorrow he might break his own head.

The medicine pool at twilight hour should have been filled with the bitter aroma of bone-strengthening powder, but now it glowed a strange indigo. As soon as Chu Ning's fingertips touched the water, tiny beads of blood began to form on his skin.

"New recipe?" He glanced at the servant guarding the pond.

The servant's neck flushed red, and his eyes avoided him. "Specially supplied by the First Hospital. The tempering effect is even better."

"Is the Wang family's money hot to the touch?"

The servant's neck shrank, and the medicine spoon in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.

Before he could escape, Chu Ning grabbed his throat and pressed him against the edge of the pool. Lightning patterns crawled up his pale face from his tiger's mouth. "How dare you do something in the martial arts hall?"

Before he could finish his words, Chu Ning had already grabbed his throat and pushed him into the poison pool.

Chu Ning leaned over and whispered, "Tell me! Who ordered you to do this?"

The indigo liquid boiled like a living thing, and the servant screamed and struggled, his exposed skin quickly festering and oozing pus.

"Yes, it was Instructor Zhou who forced me to..." The servant's throat creaked. "He said if I couldn't do it, he would report me for stealing from the armory..."

Chu Ning let go of his hand, and the howling stopped abruptly.

Before he could finish his words, the wooden door of the pharmacy burst open.

Instructor Zhou stood with his hands behind his back, his sinister gaze sweeping across the boiling pool of poison. He shouted sternly, "Chu Ning has privately altered the prescription and harmed his fellow disciples! Come, take him to the execution hall!"

Four disciples holding sticks surrounded Chu Ning, but were pushed back several steps the moment they touched the lightning patterns on Chu Ning's body.

A trace of panic flashed in Instructor Zhou's eyes. He had a poisoned silver needle hidden in his sleeve and was about to launch a surprise attack when he heard a loud shout from outside the corridor: "When will it be your turn, Zhou Kun, to give orders in the Punishment Hall?"

Lei Wanjun strode in, his ninth-grade pressure cracking the blue bricks. The old man's hair and beard stood up, and his eyes swept over Instructor Zhou like lightning: "The medicine pool in the Jiayuan is a key area of ​​the martial arts school. When did you allow yourself to overstep your authority and interfere?"

Instructor Zhou forced himself to remain calm and pulled out a yellowed booklet. "Master, be warned! This boy has been in the martial arts academy for less than two weeks, yet he's repeatedly engaged in private fights and injured others. Today, he even poisoned the medicine pool. There's evidence everywhere!"

Chu Ning scoffed, shook off the servant, and fished out a half-pack of Red Scorpion Powder from his pocket. "Instructor Zhou, could you explain? How could such a strictly controlled poison in the armory end up in the hands of a servant?"

Lei Wanjun took the poison powder, rubbed the Wang family's private pattern at the seal with his fingertips, and his face suddenly darkened.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Instructor Zhou suddenly jumped up and shot the silver needle in his sleeve directly into Chu Ning's throat!
"clang!"

The rusty knife unsheathed, emitting a burst of purple lightning, and the silver needle was crushed into dust by the thunder. Chu Ning pressed the blade to Instructor Zhou's throat and said coldly, "Why don't you tell me, what percentage of the commission will the Wang family allow you?"

"Enough!" Lei Wanjun smashed the table with his palm, his eyes flashing with coldness. "Chu Ning will be detained in the dungeon for the time being. I will make my final decision after I have investigated the whole matter!"

Chu Ning frowned slightly. The old owner clearly saw the clue, but did not get angry on the spot.

Sure enough, that night, the sound of horse hooves suddenly rang out outside the martial arts hall. Wang Chongshan, the third elder of the Wang family, arrived in person. Wrapped in a black cloak, he exuded the aura of a qualified martial artist and slammed a visiting card on Lei Wanjun's desk. "Master Lei, your hall's thugs have murdered our Wang family's children. The Wang family doesn't mind clearing out the Benlei Martial Arts Hall!"

He threw out a stack of banknotes, "Don't let it end up like what happened to the Thunder Blade Sect thirty years ago. What a pity."

Lei Wanjun crushed the teacup and finally waved his hand.

When Chu Ning was pushed into the dungeon with shackles on his body, he ran into the scarred man with a grin showing his gold-plated teeth: "I will sell your sister to the dirtiest brothel"

After hearing this, Chu Ning was certain that he must be from the Wang family.

The bluestone of the torture chamber's dungeon was stained with old blood. A scarred man, carrying a bloodstained iron chain, stepped into the cage with a grim smile.

"The Master has issued an order!" The deacon of the Punishment Hall unfolded the scroll. "Chu Ning is suspected of harming his fellow disciples and must pass a deathmatch trial to prove his innocence. If he wins, his past will be forgiven; if he loses..."

"Feed the corpse to the dogs," the scarred man replied, his chain swung out with a sharp whistling sound. He was none other than Wang Kui, a member of the Wang family's side branch, ordered to infiltrate the martial arts gym. His eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Chu Ning grinned and said, "I accept the death battle trial."

In the center of the torture hall dungeon.

Wang Kui stood shirtless, his muscles knotted all over his body, and his skin was faintly blue.

He sneered, and with a jolt of his footsteps, the earth trembled slightly. His Iron Armor Skill was instantly activated, and his entire body seemed to be covered in a layer of green steel armor.

A pungent smell of sulfur filled the air, and the fist wind carried a poisonous hidden force.

"Come on, Chu Ning! Let's see if your broken sword can break through my armor!" Wang Kui collided his fists, sparks flew, and violent energy wrapped in poisonous breath came crashing down.

Chu Ning did not dodge or evade, arcs of lightning moved on his body, and the dark pattern of "Rough Stone Hard Skill" faintly appeared on his chest.

"boom!"

A strong punch caused a strong wind to blow and the blue bricks to break into pieces.

Chu Ning took a wrong step, used the force to absorb most of the impact, and suddenly swung the rusty knife in his hand diagonally.

"Ding!"

Amid the sharp sound of metal clashing, Wang Kui's boxing gloves broke, his finger bones cracked, and blood dripped through his fingers.

"how is this possible?"

Wang Kui was horrified. His Iron Armor Skill was so strong that ordinary weapons could not penetrate his defense at all, but Chu Ning's knife could actually crack his boxing gloves?
Chu Ning smiled slightly, the momentum of his sword changed, and lightning flashed suddenly.

"Cloud Splitting Style!"

The remaining sword moves turned into a flash of purple lightning, instantly piercing through Wang Kui's chest.

The moment the rusty knife scratched the throat, lightning patterns ran along the wound into the meridians, and the violent lightning force took advantage of the situation to invade the internal organs.

"puff--"

Wang Kui suddenly spat out a mouthful of charred blood, the energy in his body collapsed instantly, the dark green armor dissipated, he staggered back, covering his chest in horror.

"You...you actually..."

Before he could finish his words, his eyes rolled back and he fell straight down.

There was a dead silence in the dungeon of the torture hall.

Lei Wanjun sat upright on a gilded chair, the iron ball in his palm making a "cracking" sound.

Chu Ning walked forward slowly and threw the life and death agreement on the table.

The Wang family's private seal at the end of the petition was soaked with blood. He looked up at Lei Wanjun and said, "I have won the death battle trial."

"According to the rules, we should let bygones be bygones."

Lei Wanjun didn't even raise his eyelids, his iron will became more and more intense, and the energy of a ninth-grade warrior surged silently in the hall, suppressing several disciples to the point of turning pale.

The air was so heavy that it seemed to crush people.

After a moment, he finally spoke slowly: "Very good."

The voice was low and meaningful.

Chu Ning took a step forward and pulled out the blood-stained account book from his bosom: "But the rules of the martial arts school will not tolerate such a cancer!"

The moment the account book was opened, the ink-stained entries hurt the eyes.

"Zhou Kun is secretly collaborating with the Wang family, withholding medicine money to buy poison. He's harming me today, and tomorrow he'll be able to mix poison into the owner's teacup!"

"Thirty years ago, the Lei Dao Sect was murdered, and seventy-eight people died suddenly from poisoning." Lei Wanjun crushed the Wang family's visiting card, and the paper scraps mixed with iron powder fell to the ground. "The red scorpion powder I have today is from the same source as the powder that poisoned my son back then."

Instructor Zhou was slumped in the corner of the hall. Suddenly, he jumped up and rushed towards the side door, stabbing Chu Ning in the back with the poisoned dagger in his sleeve.

"How dare you!" Lei Wanjun shouted angrily, and the iron gall flew out of his hand and turned into a stream of light.

"boom!"

The dagger fell to the ground with a clang.

Instructor Zhou jumped up and tried to escape, but Lei Wanjun smashed his knee with a palm strike from mid-air.

Before he could even scream, Chu Ning's rusty knife was already across his neck. Lightning patterns followed the blade up the traitor's veiny neck. "Can the money the Wang family promised you buy the Benlei Martial Arts School a thirty-year-long sign?"

Lei Wanjun slowly rose, the gilded armrests of his chair cracking. The old man picked up the account book, his withered fingers tracing the inscribed lines of the Chinese character "王." Suddenly, he burst into laughter, so loud it shook the dust from the beams. "What a Wang family, a family steeped in poetry and rites! Thirty years ago, they plotted against my Lei Dao Sect, and thirty years later, they're trying to dismantle the very foundations of my martial arts school!"

The old man stood up, and the ninth-grade pressure made the beams fall to the ground.

He waved his sleeves, and Instructor Zhou slammed into the corridor pillar like a broken sack. "From now on, Chu Ning will be promoted to Thunder Deacon, in charge of the punishment of the Jiayuan!"

"Master!" The deacon of the Punishment Hall stumbled in, holding a blood-stained list. "According to the account books, seventeen people from Courtyard C and nine from Courtyard B have accepted money from the Wang family. Here's the list..."

Lei Wanjun didn't even bother to look at it. He pumped in and out the energy in his palm, turning the list into dust. "Deacon Chu, what do you think?"

Chu Ning wiped the blood off his knife, his eyes like quenched iron. "Tonight at midnight, Jinglei Hall will open the prison. Anyone whose name is on the list will have a finger cut off as a warning to others. If they do it again, their heads will be hung at the gate of the martial arts hall."

(End of this chapter)