I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 112 Let yourself go
In the dead of winter, there were few pedestrians outside the city. In this kind of weather, even caravans could not be found. Once outside the city, the whole world was covered in a blanket of white.

Chen Ming had changed his appearance, wearing a coarse linen outfit, a long knife at his waist, and a bundle on his back, and was walking briskly.

Before long, the city of Dai County was in sight.

This was the fifth day since he left Qingfeng City, and he had already arrived in the territory of Dai County, which was hundreds of miles away.

Whether it was the original owner or him, it was their first time leaving Qingfeng County, and they found it quite novel.

"The size of this city is less than half that of Qingfeng City."

Chen Ming looked at the city in the distance and thought to himself.

However, although Daicheng is small, its martial arts are quite prosperous. There is a Tian family here, a family that has been established for three hundred years. There is also a sect called Bishamen, which is said to have an elder who is a third-rank expert.

In addition, there are quite a few fourth-rank officials.

Compared to that, Qingfeng City was practically shabby.

Chen Ming looked up and saw that it was already late. Even if he rushed over, the city gates would be closed, and he wouldn't be able to get in.

He planned to stay overnight in a nearby village and then go into town the next morning.

Soon, he came across a village and went over there.

Just as they arrived at the gate of the manor, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves. Turning around, they saw about ten riders galloping down the mountain. The men in front were dressed in fine clothes and furs, clearly young masters from the city.

In the dead of winter, going up the mountain to hunt is just plain stupid.

Chen Ming glanced at it and then looked away.

Just then, he caught a glimpse of a small figure suddenly rushing onto the road, blocking the path of the horse at the front.

The woman on horseback showed no intention of stopping the horse; instead, she raised her whip and lashed it, shouting, "Get away from me!"

If that whip were to strike hard, it would surely tear the skin and flesh apart.

Chen Ming saw it clearly: the one blocking the horse was a little girl of seven or eight years old.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, the horse collapsed, throwing the woman off.

The woman was in mid-air when she twisted her waist and landed steadily on the ground.

This immediately drew cheers from his companions.

"it is good."

"What superb light-footed skills!"

"..."

The woman saw her beloved horse lying dead on the road, a bloody hole in its eye from which blood was still gushing. Her heart ached as if it were being torn apart. She screamed, "Hong'er—who? Who did this?"

She turned her head and quickly spotted the martial arts man with a long sword at his waist not far away. She walked over with a murderous look on her face and demanded, "Did you kill my Little Red?"

There were only a few people nearby, and the little girl and her family were just ordinary farmers. Therefore, it could only have been done by this wandering swordsman.

The man, wearing a straw hat and of unremarkable appearance, glanced at her coldly and said, "So what if I am?"

The woman's eyes reddened, and she said through gritted teeth, "Give me your life! I'll make you pay with your life for Xiao Hong!"

As he spoke, he lashed out with the whip in his hand.

Behind them, the dozen or so riders also reined in their horses and stopped, sitting on their horses and watching the commotion with smiles on their faces, seemingly not at all worried that the woman would suffer any loss.

After all, this martial arts practitioner was dressed in tattered clothes, so his strength was probably not that great.

Anyone with a bit of ability wouldn't be in such a miserable state.

Just then, the woman felt a blur before her eyes, and the swordsman had already closed in on her. She was startled, and the whip in her hand was snatched away.

Do you really enjoy whipping others?

Chen Ming sneered and lashed out with his long whip, striking the woman's arm with a sharp crack.

The woman felt a burning pain in her arm and let out a scream.

clap clap clap...

He lashed out at the woman, who screamed and cried in agony, writhing on the ground.

"How's it going? Do you feel good?"

He lashed her more than ten times in a row, leaving her skin torn and bleeding.

"You dare hit me... Do you know who I am...?"

"stop--"

"No—I was wrong—I'll never do it again..."

From shouting to begging for mercy, it only took a few lashes.

"stop!"

"You dare, kid?"

"you wanna die!"

At this moment, the woman's companions finally reacted, and one by one, they were enraged, drew their weapons, and charged forward with murderous intent.

Chen Ming sneered, threw down his whip, drew his sword, and with a single swing, knocked the two men at the front of the formation away. He moved like a tiger among sheep; with each strike, someone fell.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen people had fallen.

He sheathed his longsword, untied a wine pouch from his waist, uncorked it, took a sip, and let out a long sigh of relief. "That was satisfying!"

Since we've changed our appearance, we naturally need to change our way of living.

After leaving Qingfeng City, he began to live freely, doing whatever he pleased.

These young masters are unlucky to have run into him.

Most of the people in this group were of the eighth or ninth rank, with only two of them being of the seventh rank. They were no match for him.

……

As darkness fell, a bonfire was lit in an abandoned courtyard.

Chen Ming sat by the fire, drinking wine and eating meat.

In front of him, a group of people stood in a line, obediently, not daring to breathe.

There were several people lying nearby who had tried to escape while he wasn't paying attention, but they hadn't run far before they were hit by a pebble that flew from somewhere and their bones were fractured.

After Chen Ming finished eating and drinking, he said, "Why aren't you looking at me? Are you dissatisfied with me? Come on, pick up the knife, let's practice again."

"Don't dare."

Everyone present shuddered, shook their hands vigorously, and almost cried.

They were filled with regret at that moment, wondering how they could have provoked such a capricious madman.

In just over an hour, he found various excuses to discipline them one by one. Last time, his excuse was, "Why are you glaring at me? You're not happy about it?"

Then, he dragged the person out and gave him a severe beating.

That was a real beating, they beat them however hard it hurt, making them scream and howl like ghosts.

Where have these people ever suffered such torment?

At first, some people were defiant, shouting that their family members would never let them get away with it. But after being taught a lesson, they all became obedient and didn't dare to utter a single word.

Chen Ming's words were just to scare them; he had already harvested all the experience points he could from each of them.

It only adds up to a little over two thousand points.

Although it wasn't much, it allowed me to settle scores quickly and satisfy my grievances, which made me feel very refreshed.

Chen Ming had no intention of letting them go. How could they learn their lesson if they weren't taught a lesson?
So that night, the group of young masters and their guards spent the entire night freezing in the courtyard.

It wasn't until dawn, after they had been frozen all night, that they realized the mysterious swordsman seemed to have already left.

If you don't run now, when will you wait?
……

At this time, Chen Ming had already entered the city gate of Daicheng. When he entered the city, he was charged a head tax of twenty coins.

No wonder Daicheng is poor; they have to pay taxes to enter the city.

He shook his head inwardly. In Qingfeng City, even if you were carrying goods, you wouldn't be taxed when entering or leaving the city. So, there was a reason why Qingfeng City was so prosperous.

He first found an inn, took a hot shower, then went to a slightly upscale restaurant for a meal, and inquired about information along the way.

By giving a small tip, you can get a lot of information from the waiter.

For example, who are the experts in the city, and who are not to be trifled with?

Chen Ming spent several days inquiring throughout the city and gathering intelligence. Then he compiled a list.

On the fifth day, he went to each of the people on the list to challenge them.

Throughout Dai County, there are quite a few sixth-rank martial artists. Even in Dai City, there are about twenty, half of whom are not to be trifled with. They are either scions of powerful families or members of sects.

The remaining half either lack a solid foundation or have a background, but their backers are quite distant.

These people are his targets.

Chen Ming acted swiftly, defeating all thirteen individuals in just one day and reaping over 50,000 experience points. He then departed gracefully before the city gates closed, heading towards his next destination.

Jiangzhou has more than a dozen counties under its jurisdiction. If each county has 50,000 points, after going around the whole area, that's 700,000 to 800,000 points, enough to directly enter the fifth rank.

"You have to be fearless to improve your strength quickly."

As the setting sun cast a blood-red glow, Chen Ming headed west, gazing at the snow-covered world around him, feeling an unprecedented sense of ease.

It's great to be able to challenge whoever I want without worrying about my image.

No wonder so many people like to use pseudonyms.

Next destination: Tianhai County next door.

At his pace, he should be able to get there in two or three days at most.

If you calculate it this way, it would take about half a year to travel through the entire Jiangzhou, with each prefecture taking ten days.

This efficiency is far greater than slowly managing things in Qingfeng City.

(End of this chapter)