Supreme Martial Venerable: Starting with the White Ape Cloak Hammer skill point allocation

"Where are his belongings?"

Pang Yunlong stared at Li Lin and asked in a deep voice.

Everyone felt the atmosphere in the air become tense. Judging from Pang Yunlong's tone, he might just raise his knife and kill Li Lin at any moment.

"Commander Pang, what is this? I don't know anything about it."

Li Lin, pale-faced, said with a bitter smile, "Xu Nian and I were both seriously injured just now. I sent out a signal as soon as I woke up."

I really don't know what he has on him.

There was also some doubt in Li Lin's eyes.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Xu Nian dead not far away. He didn't even know how Xu Nian died.

He was still wondering if it was because he had killed Xu Nian in his outburst earlier.

He was so badly injured that he didn't even have the strength to move. Fearing that Xu Nian's henchmen would come after him, he detonated the cannon.

Pang Yunlong tossed the knife to his subordinate, squatted down, and roughly searched Li Lin's body.

Li Lin's pockets were as clean as a pauper's.

"Tell me, where did you hide it?"

Pang Yunlong stared at Li Lin, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

"Commander Pang, I really don't know what you're talking about. Look at me like this, how could I possibly hide anything?"

Li Lin smiled bitterly, "Xu Nian shattered my qi and blood, and now I don't even have the strength to move. Even if my injuries heal in the future, my foundation will be ruined. I'll be lucky if my cultivation recovers to half its original level. Do you think I would dare to lie to you?"

Pang Yunlong frowned. Li Lin's situation was indeed as described. Could it be that he really didn't get that thing?

Looking around, besides Li Lin and Xu Nian, there was also a young man who was unconscious.

Although he thought it was impossible, Pang Yunlong still searched for Guo Liang as well.

"Hmph, Xu Nian is cunning and treacherous; he's probably hidden the things somewhere else in the mountains."

Pang Yunlong thought to himself.

With a grim face, he turned to Zhu Yiwei and the others and said, "Continue searching the mountain. We must wipe out Xu Nian's henchmen completely."

I'm not afraid to tell you that when Xu Nian defected from Shenbing Valley, he stole the Lanbing Ji (a collection of military supplies). Whoever can find the Lanbing Ji will be richly rewarded!

But if anyone dares to seize Lanbingji for themselves, I guarantee that Shenbing Valley will exterminate your entire clan, leaving not a single one alive!

…………

Zhou Yuan emerged from the dense forest and returned to the place where he had entered the mountains earlier.

He was initially a little uneasy. What if everyone else was in the mountains and he deserted and got caught?

He breathed a sigh of relief.

From afar, he saw a group of dejected-looking people gathered in an open space at the foot of the mountain.

He Yuguang, Luo Rongrong, and others were among those listed.

Yuan Qingfeng was also squatting to one side, looking as if he had lost his parents.

After the chaos in the forest, the young disciples from various families in Gaoshan County, who had little experience in such matters, were completely disoriented and wandered around like headless flies.

Having finally escaped, how could they dare to go back up the mountain?

After being terrified, these disciples who broke through the barrier were actually not much stronger than ordinary people.

"Junior Brother Zhou, you're out too?"

He Yuguang rushed over and excitedly grabbed Zhou Yuan's arm.

"You encountered enemies? It's good that you managed to fight your way out..."

He kept rambling on, seemingly trying to release the tension in his heart.

"I encountered a thief, and it was a great struggle to fight him off. I almost didn't make it back."

Zhou Yuan was covered in blood and had injuries on his hands; he had already come up with an excuse.

"You must have run into a lowly thief who only cleared the level once. To be so humiliated after beating such a lowly thief is a good thing. Luckily, you're no longer the blacksmith's apprentice, or you would have completely disgraced the blacksmith's shop."

Luo Rongrong glanced at Zhou Yuan, raised her head slightly, and said in a contemptuous tone.

"Um."

Zhou Yuan simply hummed in response, too lazy to bother with her.

He knew that some people, after failing, would do everything they could to belittle others, as if belittling others would make their own failure seem less shameful.

If it weren't for the need to keep a low profile, Zhou Yuan would have asked her, "How many 'petty thieves' did you kill?"

"It's already quite an achievement to kill a petty thief."

He Yuguang patted Zhou Yuan on the shoulder to comfort him, "We're not even as good as you."

"How can it be worse?"

Luo Rongrong's voice was somewhat shrill, "He was just lucky to run into a petty thief who had just broken through a level. If I had encountered him, I could have taken him down without even getting hurt."

"Of course, how could a disgraced disciple like me compare to Miss Luo?"

Zhou Yuan's response was perfunctory.

He followed He Yuguang to the big tree where the crowd had gathered. Listening to their hushed conversations, he felt his eyelids grow heavy and soon fell asleep against the tree trunk.

"Junior Brother Zhou is really exhausted."

Listening to the snoring, He Yuguang sighed.

"I think he's been scared out of his wits."

Luo Rongrong said sarcastically.

He Yuguang didn't argue with her. He thought that Junior Brother Zhou was a good person. Although his background and talent were lacking, he was steady and reliable.

"Where's Senior Brother Cheng? Why hasn't he come back yet?"

He Yuguang changed the subject.

As they were talking, they saw Cheng Jiuhe carrying someone down the mountain.

The person on his back was none other than Li Lin.

The blacksmiths immediately surrounded him, but Yuan Qingfeng remained motionless, his face alternating between pale and purple.

Immediately afterwards, the leaders of each faction emerged from the dense forest.

Only the city guards and the constables led by Zhu Yiwei were left to finish up.

"Brother Li, so what if your cultivation is ruined? You're not going to make a living by fighting anyway."

"Brother Li, you have earned the greatest merit this time by beheading Xu Nian. Commander Pang will certainly not treat you unfairly."

"Brother Li, will the loss of your martial arts cultivation affect your weapon-forging skills?"

The leaders of various factions surrounded Li Lin, seemingly offering comfort, but their words were laced with hostility.

Gaoshan County is such a small place, and all the forces are in competition with each other. If you take a little more, I will take a little less.

If Li Lin is crippled, he will definitely have to give up most of his profits. Who will take over those profits then?

Naturally, it refers to their respective families.

Because of his merit in killing Xu Nian, people might not take advantage of Li Lin's misfortune for the time being.

But as time went on, Li Lin lost his martial arts skills...

Yuan Qingfeng was stunned when he heard the crowd's discussion.

Master Li's martial arts skills are ruined?

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but at the same time, a thoughtful expression appeared.

…………

When Zhou Yuan woke up, he was already on the carriage returning to the city.

He opened his eyes and saw Li Lin lying half-reclined opposite him.

"Master Li—"

He was startled and quickly sat up.

He had fought Xu Nian before, and his mental and physical strength had reached their limit. After struggling to get down the mountain, he could no longer hold on.

After falling into a deep sleep, he had no idea what had happened.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened in the middle, otherwise he wouldn't even know how he died.

Zhou Yuan secretly warned himself that he must not push himself to this extent next time.

"I am no longer your master. You can just call me Master Li."

Li Lin shook his head weakly and said, "You're just exhausted, you're fine. I had someone change you into clean clothes. Your purse is right next to you, and the half tael of silver inside is still there."

A bitter smile flashed deep in Li Lin's eyes; he didn't know what he was doubting.

Could it be that Zhou Yuan is the mysterious person who killed Xu Nian?

How is that possible?

"Thank you, Master Li."

Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "I will wash the clothes and return them to the blacksmith shop later."

He felt a chill of fear in his heart, but thankfully he had buried the harvest from the mountains before leaving.

Otherwise, we would have been exposed by now.

"We'll be entering the city soon. Once we're in the city, you can get off the bus and go your own way."

After saying this, Li Lin closed his eyes, seemingly exhausted.

Zhou Yuan glanced at the sky outside the window. Unbeknownst to him, a day and a night had already passed.

Daylight broke again.

With a slight thought, he brought up the system panel.