Knowing oneself and one's opponent is always the most important lesson for a steady assassin. For knowing oneself, Zhang San was very clear about his own strengths and weaknesses.
Zhang San knew that in martial arts, he was actually not inferior to Hei Shanke.
With Iron Vest in the lower stage of the Earth Realm, and White Crane Flies in the lower stage of the Heaven Realm, although he didn't have inner force at the Heaven Realm level as a foundation, which meant his Heaven Realm qinggong could not be utilized 100%, in terms of actual martial arts cultivation, Zhang San was still slightly better than Hei Shanke and Xiu Wangchou.
But Zhang San also clearly understood that he had two huge weaknesses.
Because he was cautious...or you could say, afraid of death, the Iron Vest and White Crane Flies he practiced were very powerful, but the problem was, these two martial arts were only good for self-protection, not for killing enemies. When Zhang San went on missions and killed with his own hands, he almost always relied on poisoning, and the black iron dagger in his hand to assassinate by surprise, or if the opponent was too weak, kill them with inner force vibration.
But the problem was, now he didn't need to escape from Hei Shanke, he needed to kill him!
Facing a top expert at the peak of Earth Realm like Hei Shanke, could he really just smash him to death with Iron Vest? Or stab him to death with a dagger?
The second point, even more serious than the first, was the decisive difference between Zhang San and masters like Hei Shanke and Xiu Wangchou.
That was, Zhang San...had no combat experience!
That's right. With majestic inner force, peerless qinggong, and mastery of stealth, poisoning, assassinating and other professional skills, Zhang San actually had no combat experience.
Almost only using poisoning, sneak attacks, traps and extremely steady tactics on missions, Zhang San who had only done tasks at the Earth Realm level, actually didn't have experience truly fighting against martial artists at the same level, and rarely even fought against Earth Realm martial artists in his life.
Zhang San who thoroughly implemented the three routine tricks of the underworld, was actually a "fake master" when it came to head-on confrontation.
However, now the one he had to kill was Hei Shanke, the number two assassin on the Earth Realm ranking, with countless battles under his belt.
Relying solely on the underworld's three tricks was clearly unrealistic.
...
...
In the secret room, Zhang San had been busy at the medicine table for a long time, leaving Wang Xiaoer watching in admiration.
Wang Xiaoer originally knew that his master was not only a master of medicine, but also knew that his master used poison. But he didn't expect that his master's methods of concocting poison could be so incredibly skillful!
Wang Xiaoer looked at the transparent crystals on the table, and quickly realized that those must be the colorless and odorless poisons often written about in martial arts novels!
"Master, this poison must be some incredible colorless and odorless toxin!" Wang Xiaoer excitedly asked.
Zhang San fixed his eyes on the small medicine stove on the table, and answered while he worked, "It can be considered a poison, and it really is colorless and odorless."
Wang Xiaoer said, "I understand Master, you made this colorless and odorless poison, then you'll secretly slip it into their food and drink, and that way you can poison them to death, right!?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang San sighed first, a nine year old child's mind really does work strangely.
Zhang San frowned and scolded, "What are you thinking? I told you to read less of those fanciful martial arts novels, but you just don't listen! Those are fictional stories, this is the real jianghu, understand?"
Wang Xiaoer rubbed his little head, still not understanding as he looked at the transparent crystals on the table, so he asked, "Master, so you're saying the poison you're making now won't kill people?"
Zhang San explained, "Wang Xiaoer, you need to understand one thing. Poisons in this world that are colorless, odorless, and can't even be detected do exist, and poisons in this world that can kill masters at the Earth Realm level also certainly exist, but a poison that can kill Earth Realm masters yet is undetectable and colorless and odorless, absolutely does not exist in this world!"
Come on, hoping for the poison to be so deadly it could overcome even Earth Realm inner force, yet also be colorless and odorless and easy to slip into food and drink, and best of all, completely undetectable by any method?
Zhang San said, this is the real jianghu, not some fantasy story written by scholars, how could there be such wonderful things?
One must go through so much bitter cultivation to raise their martial arts to the Earth Realm, but then this 'magical' poison comes along and easily kills you just like that. What would be the point of cultivating martial arts then? Everyone should just become master poisoners instead.
And more importantly, as the representation of the highest level of martial arts below the Heaven Realm, masters like Xiu Wangchou and Hei Shanke, including Zhang San himself, ordinary poisons wanting to kill them would be no different than a fantasy.
Although something like the Blood Poison Powder from Poison Valley could take effect, don't forget, when Xiu Wangchou was poisoned by Blood Poison Powder, there were prerequisites in place.
At the time, the Twin Poisons had set a trap, filling the room where the girl was with the miasma of Blood Poison Powder, and the smell of the miasma was very obvious. That's why they came up with the scheme of setting fire to the building to cover up the poisonous smell, which allowed Xiu Wangchou to be caught off guard.
And even with Blood Poison Powder, it could not immediately take Xiu Wangchou's life. If the Twin Poisons hadn't hindered Xiu Wangchou and prevented him from operating his inner force to force out the poison, allowing the toxicity to seep deep into his meridians, otherwise even with such heavy injuries Xiu Wangchou may not have been so heavily injured.
After being reprimanded by his master, Wang Xiaoer was clearly somewhat dissatisfied.
Wang Xiaoer retorted, "Then Master, what are you making this for?"
Zhang San calmly said, "The assassins from Dark Building are much more vigilant than Xiu Wangchou. It's nearly impossible to poison them to death, but why would I need to poison them to death anyway? I only need an opportunity."
"What opportunity?" asked Wang Xiaoer.
"An opportunity to fight Hei Shanke one-on-one." Zhang San said frankly.
From his observations outside the county government building that morning, Zhang San understood that Hei Shanke's eight men were all at the lower stage of Earth Realm, experts with bows and arrows. Although Xiu Wangchou had crippled the eyes of three of them, for masters, hearing could make up for lack of sight, and they could still shoot accurately.
With Hei Shanke's Dark Building assassin blade techniques, one in front and eight behind, to tell the truth, Zhang San believed that even without injury yesterday, it would still be difficult for even Xiu Wangchou alone to win against Hei Shanke plus his eight archers, and if Dark Building's men were utterly shameless like Zhang San himself, ganging up nine against one from the start, Xiu Wangchou probably wouldn't have just lost, but died for sure.
"Master..." Wang Xiaoer was very hesitant, clearly not believing in Zhang San's martial arts.
Zhang San lowered his head to look at Wang Xiaoer and asked, "As long as we fight one-on-one, I do have a chance of winning."
Wang Xiaoer looked at the transparent crystals on the table, realizing that the key to his master's opportunity must be those things, but immediately thought of a serious problem and asked, "Then Master, you said those assassins from Dark Building are so formidable, how are you going to poison them?"
The vigilance of assassins at that level in the underworld was definitely extraordinary. Not to mention slipping them poison, they'd likely be on alert from just one step into the county government building.
Zhang San gave a faint smile and said, "Do you still remember, early yesterday morning, when the county magistrate went out, the two of us were drinking tea in the teahouse?"
"Of course I remember."
"That waiter said something very interesting, didn't he?" Zhang San revealed a smile to Wang Xiaoer.
Wang Xiaoer suddenly understood, but still asked, "Master, could it really just rely on a well...?"
Zhang San said, "Of course it won't work relying solely on well water, we still need a 'Heaven's help'."
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
