Why do I have so many masters?

Fufeng County City, Fufeng Academy.

Wang Anfeng's demeanor was calm, having traveled all the way until he stepped into Fufeng Academy, only then did he feel somewhat at ease, and the accelerated circulation of his inner strength slowed down.

Three months ago, the lawless Wuxin from the Mo Family had attacked him outside the Wind Character Tower, but after all, Wuxin was a martial artist of the Middle Third Rank, and given his Mo Family status, if it were someone from an evil sect like Danfeng Valley, daring to assassinate the guardian of the Academy's scriptures and following him all the way to the Constellation Ranking List's tenth-ranked Fufeng Academy, it would not just be extremism, but sheer madness.

Back in his wooden hut, the young man poured rice from the sack into the container while contemplating in his mind.

He had essentially determined the location of the inn where the martial artist from Danfeng Valley was hiding.

Nevertheless, he still harbored many doubts. Following him secretly earlier, although there hadn't been a real and fierce fight, the inherent dangers were no less than a life-and-death battle, making him realize that these disciples of the evil sect who were sent into the county were not of the caliber he had seen in mountain bandits and robbers—it was not an exaggeration to say their minds were meticulous.

More so, whether it was Master Libai's teachings or Sir Ying's occasional words, in Jianghu, the disciples of such evil sects would never stay in one place for too long.

An ancient saying goes: "Hide skill in clumsiness, use obscurity to reveal, imply purity in pollution, and turn subservience into dominance; truly navigating the world is like a pot, hiding oneself like three burrows."

Martial artists from these evil sects, who have tumbled and rolled through Jianghu, must understand such life-preserving principles better than he did.

At this point, he still did not know the purpose of this evil sect martial artist appearing in Fufeng County City, having only seen him by chance today. However, the aura of murder around him and the behavior of silently following him, ready to chop off someone's head at any disagreement, undoubtedly told him one thing.

This martial artist from Danfeng Valley was not in Fufeng County City for a leisurely visit.

Since that was the case, he could not turn a blind eye.

The ordeal of Aping kept replaying in front of the young man's eyes. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

If it were him in this situation, he most likely would have changed to another inn that same day, changed all his clothes, donned a new mask, and coated himself with herbs to mask his scent, hiding out without appearing for several days, blending into the vast Fufeng County City.

By then, to find someone whose appearance, identity, and location had all drastically changed would be like finding a needle in a haystack, the difficulty of which one could well imagine.

With these thoughts, Wang Anfeng felt a slight agitation in his heart. At this moment, the grain in the sack was exhausted, and the young man casually placed it on a nearby table. Just as he was about to turn around, after taking a few steps, he suddenly recalled something.

He turned around, picked up the rice sack, grasping each corner with his hands, and skillfully shook it towards the container with a clever force, shaking out a few grains of rice again.

Brushing his hand over the rice sack, everything was fittingly in its place, evidently devoid of any remaining grains. Wang Anfeng then nodded, sealed the rice container tightly, ensuring no mouse could get in, folded the sack several times, and placed it on a side table.

He had performed these actions with extreme skill, hardly taking a few breaths' time to deal with it. He then stepped out of the door, locked the wooden door, and headed towards the inner parts of the Academy. The breeze blew, alleviating the clutter in his mind and clarifying his thoughts.

He had already decided not to involve himself in this matter.

Just as his master had said to him before, his strength was not enough, far from sufficient to delve into the various secretive matters of Jianghu. Even Jiu Zizai, who was quite congenial in nature to him, had refrained from informing him about the affairs of White Tiger Hall because of his insufficient strength.

However, this did not mean he would act as if he had seen nothing.

In this Jianghu, he, Wang Anfeng, was not the only one; under the vast heavens of Great Qin, there were still many chivalrous warriors, many righteous, formidable martial artists. He only needed to inform these warriors of what he knew; he believed that they, too, would not let the members of the evil sect wantonly misbehave in the county city and ignore it.

That would suffice.

This is also why he had taken the risk to track that martial artist just before.

With a somewhat eased mind, the youth sprinted along the main road, feeling a sense of urgency, and employed the Shaolin Vigorous Step Technique, a qinggong skill he used daily and had mastered to the fullest. However, he had reached a point where it was difficult to make any progress, and he had also discovered some weaknesses that this technique now revealed.

Before entering the Ninth Grade, it was considered quite fast, but now facing martial artists of the same level, it seemed rather ordinary. On another note, this technique didn't help much in concealing his traces.

For instance, when he had stealthily followed that martial artist from Danfeng Valley, if he could tread silently or like the highly skilled qinggong mentioned in the records, which could proceed without even stirring a slight breeze, then perhaps even that cautious Danfeng Valley martial artist wouldn't have noticed him.

A slight ripple crossed his mind and vanished in an instant.

A moment later, the youth's figure had appeared in Fufeng Academy, a place often frequented by the teachers from the Mo Family. He had left at noon and had delayed along the way, and after dining with Yu Wen and Ding Song, it was now the afternoon. In this academy, there were teachers discussing scriptures and doctrines.

Wang Anfeng exhaled a breath of turbid air, lightening his footsteps as he walked past various Sutra Lofts, searching for that familiar figure.

He had thought carefully, even though he was on the Constellation Ranking List, he was after all just a teenager of a little over ten years old, merely a Lower Third Rank martial artist.

In Jianghu, Ninth Rank martial artists were innumerable, and the name on the Constellation Ranking List merely meant that he achieved at fourteen what others did at twenty-four or thirty-four. But aside from those empty titles, it wasn't much.

The young man saw this very clearly in his heart.

Walking fast is not as good as walking steadily, and it may not even be as stable.

Being impressive at a young age doesn't necessarily predict future greatness, and the story of a depleted talent isn't only prevalent among literati and scholars.

Stripping away the nominal fame from the Constellation Ranking List, he was after all just a Ninth Rank martial artist, insignificant and undervalued, barely seeing any high-ranked martial artists. Although Masters Ying and his teachers were extremely formidable, they were far away in Shaolin Mountain, beyond reach.

And here in Fufeng Academy, having been there for only just over half a year, he had met some scholars but hadn't become acquainted with many teacher elders. Master Ni, for instance, had been one but had already defected from the Academy, branded a heretic. The others included Master Fu Mo from the Qingfeng Edge group and Elder Ren, who often stayed under the Wind Character Tower.

He was not a dull person.

From others' attitudes toward Elder Ren and the rarely clear relationship between Elder Ren and the Great Elder of Qingfeng Edge, he had long guessed that the elder in the green robe must be a Grandmaster of the Upper Third Rank. He must have once galloped through Jianghu. Why Elder Ren was now alone in the Wind Character Tower, as if imprisoning himself, Wang Anfeng did not understand.

But he could imagine that it must be a vigorous Jianghu story.

Such a figure, who was also not very familiar, Wang Anfeng knew that it was unlikely to move the old man to leave the Wind Character Tower for the matter of Danfeng Valley.

After all, he did not even attend the long-awaited birthday banquet of Grandmaster Murong.

The only one left to rely on was Master Fu Mo. Although he disliked fighting, he had been in Fufeng Academy for a long time and was a Middle Third Rank martial arts master, and must know many masters from various schools and factions. Among those masters, certainly some were willing to deal with this menace to earn a heroic reputation.

When the time came, he would reveal the whereabouts of that Danfeng Valley martial artist to them. Afterwards, even though reluctant, he could only withdraw from this affair and no longer touch matters that he should not be involved in.

He hoped to trace down the vine to rid them of these evil sect disciples completely.

PS: Second update...