Immortal Martial Saint, starting with unlimited stat points

Xingde County, a small alley in the south of the city.

Zhou Chen followed behind the servant, his steps hurried.

After walking for a while, the two arrived at Shi Feng's residence.

Pushing open the half-closed wooden door, a damp and chilly atmosphere wafted out, mixed with a strong smell of herbs.

An old woman with a hunchback came out of the house when she heard the noise. She looked a little flustered when she saw the servant and Zhou Chen.

She lost her husband in middle age and was in poor health, so she could only take on some handicrafts to do at home.

Aside from the two sons, this is the first time so many people have come to the house.

"You must be Xiaofeng's friend, come in and sit down," the old woman greeted.

Zhou Chen looked at the woman's weathered face and the cramped, low house, feeling somewhat surprised.

The conditions here are even worse than in Cangsong Village.

Entering the side room, Shi Feng lay on his back on the hard bed, his face sallow and his lips chapped.

Hearing the noise, he reluctantly turned his head and saw that it was Zhou Chen. A glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.

He pressed his hands against the edge of the bed, trying to sit up, but the movement aggravated his injuries. He groaned, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

"Don't move!" Chen Yunpeng, who was sitting to the side, quickly pressed him down.

Zhou Chen didn't speak, his gaze sweeping over Zhou Chen.

Although Shi Feng's chest was bandaged, a deep indentation, as thick as a baby's arm, was still faintly visible, and his left arm was also hanging in front of his chest, indicating that he was seriously injured.

"How did you do that?" Zhou Chen asked.

Shi Feng grinned, trying to make an indifferent expression, but it looked worse than crying.

"Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking of taking on a few more sparring jobs to save up some money to break through my muscle-training." He coughed twice, took a sip of the tea the woman handed him, and continued, "But I didn't expect that the client for that job would be Li Wuji."

"When he saw it was me, he didn't even wait for me to put on my protective gear before he started hitting me with a stick without saying a word."

Shi Feng's voice lowered, tinged with anger and trembling, "If there hadn't been other people watching, I'm afraid I would have been beaten to death."

Chen Yunpeng's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his face turning ashen. "This kind of trash is a disgrace to scions of noble families like us!"

Zhou Chen walked to the bedside, took out ten taels of silver from his pocket, and said, "Take this silver to buy medicine. I'll get an explanation for you in a while."

"No, I've been bullied since I was a child. Being beaten badly is nothing to me. I'm still alive and well, aren't I?" Shi Feng said urgently.

The old woman beside her quietly wiped away her tears.

Ever since her husband passed away from illness, Shi Feng has taken on all the household affairs, and she always comes back with a bruised and swollen face after arguing with others.

"Li Wuji is the eldest son of the Li family patriarch. Although Brother Zhou is exceptionally talented, he is no match for the Li family behind him."

Zhou Chen's eyes flashed upon hearing this. "The outer sect competition you mentioned last time, was it yesterday's match?"

Shi Feng shook his head. "No, yesterday's sparring was just a routine lesson. According to my friend, the competition will not take place until the headmaster comes out of seclusion."

"An outer sect competition?" Chen Yunpeng asked. "You mean the competition between the three schools?"

Seeing the two looking at him with confusion, Chen Yunpeng explained, "In about ten days, it will be the day of the annual competition between the three venues."

"In the past, the three halls' competition was always fought by martial artists with strong inner strength. This time, the leaders of the Iron Stone Hall and the Frost Ice Hall insisted on selecting three martial artists with body tempering skills to participate in the competition."

"In my opinion, it's because the inner disciples of the other two schools are suppressed by their senior brother every year that they came up with this method."

After Chen Yunpeng finished explaining, he looked at Zhou Chen, his eyes darting around, and said, "With your current strength, you might actually be able to win a place."

Zhou Chen nodded slightly upon hearing this. "Can all outer sect disciples participate in this competition?"

"That's right." Chen Yunpeng nodded. "Our county magistrate and county lieutenant will participate in the annual competition. The outcome will even affect the number of tasks assigned by the government."

Martial arts training consumes a great deal of resources, but within various martial arts schools, as long as one breaks through the Inner Strength level, one can unconditionally advance to the Inner Sect.

For inner disciples, the martial arts school will not only not charge extra tuition fees, but will also guarantee their training needs.

Correspondingly, inner disciples also need to work hard for the martial arts school and complete various entrusted tasks.

Only a small portion of these tasks are private commissions; the majority are commissions from government agencies.

It can be said that the inner disciples who break through to the inner strength level are the backbone of the martial arts school, and each one is of vital importance.

"If Li Wuji wants to win over Senior Sister Yi, he certainly won't miss out on such an important event that determines the martial arts school's income next year." Zhou Chen murmured softly, which startled Chen Yunpeng and Shi Feng.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Shi Feng, the two took their leave.

The old woman clutched the silver left by Zhou Chen and Chen Yunpeng in her hand, looked at Shi Feng and said, "Xiao Feng, your two friends are both kind-hearted. Don't let them suffer in the future."

Shi Feng nodded emphatically.

-----------------

"If you want to mess with Li Wuji in the outer sect competition, be careful of his family's martial arts skills," Chen Yunpeng warned.

"Family-inherited kung fu?"

"The competition between the three martial arts schools only considers the strength of the participants, not the origin of their martial arts techniques. As long as you are registered under one school, it doesn't matter if you win using the techniques of another school."

"As one of the three great families, the Li family's family-inherited Crouching Dragon Skill and Subduing Water Fist are martial arts that are no less than the Crimson Flame Staff Technique."

Zhou Chen felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.

Although Li Wuji was blasted out of the competition area by him with a single blow during yesterday's small competition, his strength is not bad.

If it weren't for the fact that sparring at a martial arts school only allows the use of techniques learned within the school, he might not have suffered such a crushing defeat.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Chen."

Chen Yunpeng had to work hard during the day to take care of the business entrusted to him by his clan, so the two had to part ways at the crossroads.

Compared to when Zhou Chen first arrived, the streets of Xingde County were much less lively.

Even during the day, pedestrians on the street look at each other with wariness.

In those secluded alleyways, there are no longer any young couples having secret rendezvous.

"Crunch, crunch..."

The sound of chewing reached his ears, and Zhou Chen frowned, activating his Spirit Tracking ability.

Instantly, with the blessing of the supernatural power of spiritual tracking, the scent permeating the air was amplified a thousandfold.

The stench of blood, the foul smell of urine and feces, and the faint scent of human fear filled my mind.

"Is it a wanted monster?" He stopped in his tracks. The source of the aura was within the high wall beside him.

Suddenly, the faint chewing sounds in the courtyard stopped, and the soft patter of footsteps sounded, lighter than those of an ordinary person.

Tread!

Zhou Chen took a step and turned to walk away.

The footsteps in the courtyard paused, then a faint chewing sound could be heard again.

-----------------

"Are you sure you've found the hiding place of the monster on the wanted poster?" Hong Lie followed behind Zhou Chen, his words tinged with doubt.

At this moment, his fierce eyes were bloodshot, and the area around his eye sockets was pitch black.

He hadn't slept for days since discovering the monster was causing trouble and eating people.

Even recently, a highly respected retired official in the county was found dead at home.

The entire family of dozens of people turned into piles of white bones, but the yamen runners could not find a single clue.

It was as if the murderer had swallowed these people and then drifted away on the wind.