Zhou You stomped heavily a few times. When the masked man's head and neck were completely contorted, he stopped.
After quickly looting the corpse, Zhou You turned and left.
After running for a few more minutes and not seeing any more masked men, the main road appeared in his vision again. Zhou You took off his coat and threw it away.
He did not go on the main road. He continued to run along the main road in the forest hundreds of meters away.
Along the way, he did not stop when he encountered villages and towns. He headed straight for Mengyang City.
It was not until the sky was dark that he saw the city gate.
It was even earlier than the time they expected the convoy to return.
At this moment, there was already a large group of people waiting at the city gate. Most of them were from the four dojos, and there was no lack of familiar faces. This included Cheng Yiqing, Zhao Liuping, Luo Yong, and some inner courtyard disciples.
He did not see his senior brothers, uncle-masters, Master Lu, and the others.
When Cheng Yiqing saw Zhou You, he quickly stepped forward and took a closer look. He patted Zhou You's shoulder and comforted him. "Okay, it's good that you're back."
Zhou You's heart warmed. He hurriedly went forward to support him and said, "I've made Master worry."
Usually, at this time, Cheng Yiqing would already be asleep.
Today, he came to the city gate to wait for him. His goal was obvious.
However, he was usually cold and stubborn, so it was impossible to tell.
At this moment, Zhou You could feel Master Cheng's deep concern.
"It's fine. It's good that you're back. Go back and sleep early. Remember to work on time tomorrow." Cheng Yiqing turned around, yawned, and slowly walked into the city.
The two disciples of the dojo followed.
Only then did Zhao Liuping come over and say with concern, "Junior Brother Zhou, I thought you were… I'm glad you made it."
Ever since Zhou You had taken Cheng Yiqing as his master, the outer courtyard disciples had addressed him as senior brother.
However, not long after, Zhao Liuping broke through to become a martial artist and entered the inner courtyard but this title had never changed.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
Now, Zhou You was not only Master Cheng's disciple but also his and Zhao Qing's greatest source of income.
Ever since Zhou You could refine medicine independently, the medicine he refined was handed over to Zhao Liuping to sell. He made a lot of profits.
Zhao Liuping knew that his talent was average. If not for the fact that he often took pills to cultivate, he would not have made any breakthrough.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Zhao. Is there any news about Senior Brother Luo and the others?" Zhou You asked with a concerned expression.
Since he had already returned, there was no reason for the stronger Senior Brother Luo and the others not to return.
If nothing went wrong.
"Senior Brother Luo and the others are fine. After returning, they went out with Uncle-Master Tan and the others."
Zhao Liuping explained, "The Plum Mountain Bandits are elusive and difficult to find. Their nest is too dangerous. Back then, the Meng family couldn't eliminate them even after mobilizing their full strength. We had no choice."
"We already expected the convoy to be intercepted this time. Uncle-Master Tan and the other uncle-masters from the three dojos have already gone to intercept them. We have to stop the Plum Mountain Bandits."
Zhou You nodded.
If he took the main road, he might be able to meet Uncle-Master Tan and the others.
Seeing that Zhou You was free, Luo Yong also went forward and patted his shoulder. He said with concern, "It's good that you're fine. Junior Brother Zhou, we should grab a drink sometime."
He seemed to be in a bad mood.
After entering the apothecary, Zhou You and Luo Yong's relationship drifted apart.
They rarely met, so they naturally did not contact each other much.
Most of the other inner courtyard disciples were just mere acquaintances.
It was getting late. Martial artists from the four dojos came back one after another, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
Zhou You also returned to the dojo. After applying the medicine and washing up for a while, he did not go home and directly rested in the dojo.
It was almost sun up. Zhou You woke up and prepared to train early.
Footsteps sounded in the courtyard, accompanied by a conversation.
When he came out of the courtyard, he saw that Senior Brother Luo and the others had returned.
Senior Brother Luo and the other Bone Forging martial artists were all present.
However, they were all in a sorry state. Their clothes were tattered, and many wounds were bleeding.
Looking at the pale Luo Jin, Zhou You hurried forward to greet him. "Senior Brother Luo, are you alright?"
"It's a small matter. I just burned some true blood."
Luo Jin had a nonchalant expression as he looked at Zhou You with concern.
"Junior Brother Zhou, I'm relieved that you're fine. I wonder which senior brother helped you. Don't forget to prepare a generous gift and thank him."
The few people from the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo had gathered behind and had just returned.
Since it was not them who helped, it must be the disciples of the other three dojos. Otherwise, how could an ordinary person run back on his own?
The other party had saved his life. Logically speaking, he should be grateful.
Zhou You's expression froze for a moment. He hesitated for a moment and then said with some embarrassment, "Senior Brother Luo, I ran back by myself."
"Hmmm?"
Other than Luo Jin, the other disciples also looked at Zhou You in surprise.
"You…" Luo Jin realized something and asked with uncertainty.
Zhou You raised his head and said with certainty, "Senior Brother Luo, I've already broken through to become a martial artist. I previously cultivated a leg technique. After getting rid of a masked man, I ran back on my own."
Just now, Zhou You had already thought about how he could properly expose his strength.
He believed that Master Lu could understand.
Becoming a martial artist in more than ten months was not a bad speed. He could be considered a talent, but he would not draw attention.
During this period of time, Zhou You gradually realized that it was inconvenient to be just an ordinary person on the surface.
As an apothecary's disciple, he had a good status and could make all the martial artists in the inner courtyard call him brother.
However, he was not strong enough and could not get into their circles.
Status was determined by status and strength.
With a higher status, it would be more convenient and logical to do many things.
For example, collecting martial arts techniques.
It was very difficult for ordinary people to come into contact with the world of martial artists and martial arts manuals.
Previously, he had only collected basic martial arts. As an ordinary person, he could still collect them as long as he spent money.
Now, Zhou You wanted to collect internal force martial arts.
After investigating for a long time, there was no way.
Even if news of internal force martial arts occasionally spread, it would only reach Zhou You's ears after the transaction ended.
At that moment, Zhou You suddenly realized that ordinary people and martial artists were not in the same world.
Only martial artists were qualified to come into contact with internal force martial arts.
Therefore, Zhou You had the idea of revealing a portion of his strength.
Now was the time to say it.
Cultivating internal force martial arts would probably earn him more Martial Arts Points.
If he cultivated the Ferocious Tiger Fist step by step, he might really be able to complete the Visceral Tempering within ten years and achieve Master Lu's expectations.
However, he could do it faster!
Why did he have to do it step by step?!
Martial arts.
Now, he needed to find new martial arts to cultivate and obtain Martial Arts Points.
As long as one had Martial Arts Points, anything was possible.
But now, he knew that the only way to obtain Martial Arts Points was to continuously cultivate new martial arts.
Perhaps he could obtain Martial Arts Points by cultivating the Ferocious Tiger Fist, but how many Martial Arts Points could he obtain if he cultivated a martial art to the end?
Gathering all the martial arts in the world and obtaining endless Martial Arts Points to infinitely increase one's Affinity and Aptitude was his cultivation path.
...
Luo Jin's eyes lit up when he heard that Zhou You had already broken through to become a martial artist. He stepped forward and stretched out his hand to test the waters.
Zhou You tried his best to control his muscles, afraid that he would expose himself.
At this moment, Lu Chuanfeng came out of the room. His gaze landed on Zhou You as he glared at him and waved his hand.
"It's already dawn. Why aren't you resting? You're injured, so you have to rest more and try to recover as soon as possible."
"Good morning, Master. I'll go back and rest now. I won't disappoint you." Luo Jin cupped his hands and quickly turned to leave.
"Greetings, Master. Allow me to take my leave now." The other disciples also hurriedly ran away.
"Greetings, Master. Allow me to take my leave now."
Zhou You glanced at Lu Chuanfeng and quickly left.