Martial Cultivator Chapter 625: Broken Tiles in the Small Alley

The man was no stranger. Having lived in Peach Blossom Alley for many years, his neighbors all knew his name.

Zhou Gouqi.

A name that sounded as if it belonged to someone frail.[1]

In earlier years, he indeed gave off an impression of frailty.

But as time passed, the neighbors began to notice to their surprise that the man living in the small courtyard at the end of the alley had inexplicably become much more steadfast compared to before.

Even the ill-tempered woman from before had now grown significantly gentler.

However, Zhou Gouqi had never been a frail man, just as he had never truly been called Zhou Gouqi before.

Many years ago, his name was Zhou Xianshan.

Back then, he was the legitimate son of the Zhou Family in the Divine Capital, a favored disciple of the academy's dean, and one of the most brilliant figures of his generation of scholars.

Even Her Highness the Princess had held deep admiration for this young man.

Had it not been for that past incident, this young man before him would have had limitless prospects.

But circumstances change with the passing of time.

Time had passed indeed!

Thinking of this, Zhou Gouqi's eyes brimmed with nostalgia for the past. As he had said himself, once he had been a bookish scholar with no strength to truss a chicken. Now, though he could no longer call himself a scholar, he was certainly no longer weak.

Snapping back to the present, Zhou Gouqi reached out and lightly rolled up his sleeves. The qi coursing through his body erupted outward, sending tremors through the surrounding black tiles.

That qi had been hidden within Zhou Gouqi for countless years, just like the suppressed spirit buried in his heart for many years.

There was a saying about mythical birds lying dormant for three years. Yet Zhou Gouqi had been in seclusion for far more than three years.

And that qi was also hidden for more than three years.

Zhou Gouqi exhaled slowly, and above the small courtyard, winds and clouds surged. Waves of qi spread outward layer by layer, like a wind rising from an unknown source and heading toward an unknown destination.

But the young magistrate was standing in the midst of the storm.

Right in its center.

Zhou Gouqi's previously ordinary figure seemed to be continuously growing in that moment, looking like a mountain.

This scholar who had hidden himself in Tianqing County for many years stared expressionlessly at the young magistrate before him.

The young magistrate could no longer bear the weight of Zhou Gouqi's gaze. With a sudden movement, streams of qi burst forth around him, surging in all directions as though a cage had formed before him, and he was now attempting to shatter it.

The sound of grinding echoed incessantly.

The accumulated rainwater in the courtyard began to ripple slightly.

At last, the young magistrate flicked his sleeve.

After years of bitter cultivation, his cultivation had long reached a realm far beyond the reach of ordinary people. A surge of frenzied qi erupted.

With a deafening crash, the pillar behind the young magistrate shattered, wood splinters scattering in all directions.

Amid the flying debris, the young magistrate lunged toward Zhou Gouqi.

As he advanced, his hands had already formed several seals, several mysterious streams of qi unfurled from his sides and surged toward Zhou Gouqi.

In an instant, the small courtyard became filled with a variety of colors.

Among them, one strand of qi transformed into a massive snow-white serpent as it surged forward. Its savage maw opened wide, revealing countless razor-sharp fangs as it shot toward Zhou Gouqi.

The terrifying aura filled the courtyard in an instant.

This was a powerful existence of someone in the Nepenthe Realm. Once they made a move, every action would stir heaven and earth.

The small courtyard trembled violently. Countless black tiles were swept away by the fierce winds, falling like torrential rain.

As the countless black tiles crashed down, they struck the snow-white serpent. In just an instant, a mournful wail echoed, and the snow-white serpent instantly disintegrated, vanishing from the world.

Amid the countless falling tiles, Zhou Gouqi walked forward with unhurried steps. He reached out, grasping a shard of tile, and casually traced a radiant white line through the air.

The moment the overwhelming qi collided with that brilliant white line, it shattered abruptly, like a broken mirror.

Within this continuously shattering mirror, the young magistrate retreated step by step, his complexion becoming increasingly unnatural.

The young magistrate's expression changed slightly. Not long ago, he still believed the gap between himself and Zhou Gouqi was minimal. But at this moment, he suddenly realized that the distance between them was the same as it had been in the past.

Something to aspire to, yet out of reach.

Zhou Gouqi took a single step to stand before the young magistrate. This time, it pressured until the other party did not even dare to move.

Though Zhou Gouqi said not a single word, the young magistrate inexplicably felt that if he dared to speak or act, he would immediately lose his life here and now.

Life and death are no small matter.

Holding a shattered tile fragment in hand, Zhou Gouqi stood before the young magistrate, staring at his face. "I's like to see... just who the hell are you."

As he spoke, the tile fragment in his hand slowly descended toward the young magistrate's face, slowly slicing from his glabella downward, cutting the skin apart.

A thin line of blood appeared on the young magistrate's face.

And then, his skin split apart.

Zhou Gouqi tore away the skin from the young magistrate's face, revealing a bloody visage beneath.

It was the face of a middle-aged man, not much different from Zhou Gouqi's own. While it bore no particularly distinctive features, it was enough to prove that the person before him was far from as young as he had seemed.

"So it's... you..."

Zhou Gouqi felt rather emotional, looking at the face before him as countless stories from the past resurfaced in his mind.

The young magistrate stared at Zhou Gouqi, his face pale.

Zhou Gouqi said with vicissitudes of emotion, "After searching for so long, I've finally found a traitor."

The young magistrate remained silent, not because he did not want to speak, but because he could not.

Zhou Gouqi had not just torn off his face, he had also gripped his throat at the same time.

A Nepenthe cultivator was like a helpless chick in Zhou Gouqi's hand.

"Now, will you tell me what I want to know?"

Zhou Gouqi smiled at his 'old friend' and said, "Otherwise, I'll crush your neck and take your life."

The young magistrate suddenly laughed. "Do you really think you can leave here alive?"

Zhou Gouqi said nothing, as several auras had already begun to quietly emerge around them.

"Already gave you a chance."

Zhou Gouqi reached out and crushed the man’s throat, then casually tossed the corpse aside before smashing through a supporting pillar.

Before he could say a word, a figure suddenly appeared at the entrance. Looking at the wreckage inside, the young man who was dusty and travel-worn cursed angrily, "Zhou Gouqi, you bastard! You think you can just demolish Your Father's house like this?!"

Zhou Gouqi turned around, looking at the young man's untimely arrival. With a mix of exasperation and amusement, he said, "You little stinking brat, whyd you have to show up now?"

The young man, who had rushed here from afar, spat on the ground and cussed, "Cut the crap! You have to pay for Your Father's house!"

Zhou Gouqi leaped onto the courtyard wall, crouching as he scanned the narrow alley. He replied, "Let's see if we can make it out of here alive first before talking about this nonsense."