Zhang Yu knew that ever since Fu Ji recovered some of her evil god power, returning to the level of a Level 1 Lesser Evil God, she had become particularly sensitive to changes in network signals.

After all, the essence of the Kunxu network was divine power, and as evil gods could steal divine power, their perception of network signals was naturally exceptionally sharp.

“Is the signal not good?”

Hearing Fu Ji’s warning, Zhang Yu suspected it was likely related to gang conflicts.

Since becoming a top teacher for the Dark Learning Gang, Zhang Yu had primarily focused on teaching, but he had also learned a lot about the inner workings of gang rivalries.

In particular, Bai Zhenzhen was now fighting on the front lines, having experienced numerous life-and-death battles against masters from the Golden Class Gang. Sometimes, she would return late at night covered in injuries, and over the past two months, she had often discussed gang conflicts with Zhang Yu.

“To avoid alerting the constables and righteous gods, gang battles often take place in sparsely populated areas, with underdeveloped infrastructure, and ideally no surveillance.”

Zhang Yu looked at the suburban path they were on and thought that it likely met the conditions of being sparsely populated and without surveillance.

“Secondly, they use signal blockers to temporarily jam network signals.”

“However, these signal blockers only work in areas where the righteous gods aren’t particularly concerned, and can only last for a few minutes at most, otherwise they’ll trigger inspections from the Divine Department…”

A flurry of thoughts raced through Zhang Yu’s mind, and he quickly made a judgment: “It seems Hei Ya’s warning was correct. The Golden Class Gang must be targeting me, hoping to strike at the Dark Learning Gang by attacking me, one of their top teachers…”

Just as Zhang Yu made his assessment, four powerfully built figures had silently appeared both in front of and behind him on the path, sandwiching him.

In the low temperatures of early December, plumes of white mist exhaled with each of the four men’s breaths, drifting far under the streetlights before slowly dissipating.

As the four men simultaneously strode towards Zhang Yu, intense martial arts intentions, powered by their internal cultivation methods, surged towards him with formidable pressure.

At the same time, as their steps quickened, their muscles and bones crackled and popped with their movements, like a series of war drums thrumming under the night sky.

Zhang Yu could sense that all four attackers, approaching from both front and back, possessed bodies honed through countless trials, battle-hardened wills forged in life-or-death combat, and were unequivocally peak Qi Refining experts who had graduated years ago. This was evident from the expelled airflow with their breaths, the overwhelming martial arts intentions, and the sounds of their muscles and bones clashing.

Had this happened six months ago, or even two months ago, Zhang Yu’s only option when faced with an ambush by four peak Qi Refining experts would have been to flee.

But now, Zhang Yu’s magical power and physical strength had not only numerically reached the limits of Qi Refining, but he had also advanced over a dozen cultivation techniques to Level 10, including several top-tier Qi Refining methods.

Furthermore, his Martial Arts Sacred Embryo had just formed.

Sensing the four converging experts, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Good. Today, I’ll use the four of you to test the true caliber of my newly formed Martial Arts Sacred Embryo.”

With that, Zhang Yu stepped forward, directly confronting the two in front of him.

The four experts’ eyebrows shot up at the sight. One silver-haired man sneered, “Oh? You’re not running?”

“I don’t need to run,” Zhang Yu said calmly. “It’s you four who still have time to run.”

The silver-haired man scoffed, “Arrogant.”

Before their arrival, they knew that Ma Yunteng possessed considerable strength, but no matter how formidable, four against one, especially when all were at the peak of Qi Refining, constituted an overwhelming advantage.

The next moment, the four men, bringing with them a sound like wind and thunder, converged on Zhang Yu from all four directions.

Amidst a series of thundering impacts, Zhang Yu blocked the punches and kicks of the two front attackers with his hands. The two attackers from behind seized this opportunity, unleashing fierce gang qi from their palms and slamming them hard into Zhang Yu’s back.

With a loud bang, the silver-haired man sneered as he watched Zhang Yu take the direct hit, “Let’s see who’s running now?”

Zhang Yu ignored him, instead carefully observing the effects of the Martial Arts Sacred Embryo.

Over the next dozen seconds, Zhang Yu continued to parry their attacks while using various parts of his body to withstand their punches, palm strikes, and sword qi…

He silently felt how the opponents’ palm forces, after being partially offset by his Bronze Armor Corpse Skin and Formless Cloud Gang, were then absorbed and distributed by the flesh, bones, and organs strengthened by techniques like the Thunderbolt Marrow Cleansing Sutra, Nine Whale Tendon Transformations, and Five Qi Organ Refining Method.

As he endured these fierce assaults, Zhang Yu could feel: “My bones and internal organs are almost completely unharmed.”

“My skin and fascia show some wear from the heavy blows, but they are rapidly recovering.”

“The six cultivation techniques of the Martial Arts Sacred Embryo, linked by its enhancement, operate as a single unit, giving my durability a qualitative leap, making me at least 60% stronger than before.”

“With the simultaneous operation of the six techniques, my flesh and skin seemed to come alive: bruises were expelled, wounds were contracting and healing, and my body was reducing swelling, inflammation, and temperature on its own…”

Zhang Yu estimated, “Blunt force injuries from ordinary punches and kicks will probably heal completely within one to two minutes, thanks to my powerful durability.”

“As for wounds from sword slashes or stabs, they would likely heal in about five to six minutes.”

“Is this the massive increase in durability and external wound self-healing they talk about?”

At this moment, Zhang Yu had a general understanding of his newly formed Martial Arts Sacred Embryo.

Meanwhile, the four experts who had been attacking him for over ten seconds saw their expressions shift from initial coldness and excitement to confusion, and then to shock.

The silver-haired man shouted, “This person is skilled in multiple body-protecting divine arts! Ordinary punches and kicks are useless. We need to use specialized magical power to harm him!”

Instantly, apart from the silver-haired man who was already using sword qi, the other three experts also changed their tactics. Their attacks now either erupted with intense heat, spread bone-chilling cold, or crackled with electricity.

Clearly, they were all employing martial arts that burst forth with specialized magical power.

Faced with such an onslaught, Zhang Yu, who now had a good grasp of the Martial Arts Sacred Embryo’s capabilities, no longer tried to absorb the attacks directly. Instead, with a roar, streams of Formless Cloud Gang erupted from his body, encircling him completely.

The silver-haired man launched a sword qi strike from his fingertip, but felt as if his attack was caught in a deep-sea current. It veered off course, thrusting directly towards one of his comrades.

Simultaneously, another comrade’s scorching fist, guided by the Formless Cloud Gang, hurtled towards the silver-haired man’s waist.

The silver-haired man strained to twist his waist and vibrate his sword, barely dodging the punch while also deflecting his own sword strike.

He launched another forceful sword strike at Zhang Yu. The sword qi collided with Zhang Yu’s palm, but he felt an icy magical power emanating from Zhang Yu’s palm – wasn’t that his comrade’s Ice Palm energy?

As the intense battle continued, the silver-haired man and his three comrades grew increasingly alarmed.

At this point, they felt no advantage whatsoever from outnumbering him. Instead, their own moves were constantly deflected towards their comrades, and even the specialized magical power they unleashed was always absorbed by Zhang Yu, circulated through his meridians, and then returned to them with a palm strike.

Despite being four against one, it felt as if each of them was fighting Zhang Yu individually.

Sometimes, they even had the illusion that Zhang Yu was the one constantly being covered and aided by comrades, as if he were the one with superior numbers.

The silver-haired man’s heart pounded. “This person’s skill in diverting magical power and using an opponent’s strength against them has reached its peak!”

“Combined with his hardened muscles and bones and the enhancements from several body-protecting techniques, the more people involved in the melee, the more advantageous it becomes for him!”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu felt increasingly exhilarated as the fight continued. He thought to himself, “With the Martial Arts Sacred Embryo’s enhancement, my durability and external wound healing are accelerated. When I use their strength against them, I can withstand higher limits, borrow and direct stronger forces, making the fight even easier…”

But just then, Zhang Yu noticed the four men’s intention to retreat.

“Oh? Only now do you want to run?”

The silver-haired man indeed intended to retreat. After all, the network blockage was temporary, and this area was near a Dark Learning Gang stronghold, meaning reinforcements would arrive soon.

“The four of us alone can’t take him down, and dragging this out will only cause trouble.”

With that thought, the silver-haired man decisively shouted, “Retreat!”

But in the very next instant, Zhang Yu’s Formless Cloud Gang suddenly expanded, and as it circulated with the Great Sun Qi Sea, it turned completely black, swallowing the four figures like an abyss.

The silver-haired man and his three companions felt as if they had been plunged into the bottomless ocean. The violent gang qi, mimicking the movements of the Dragon-Back Mountain-Flipping Hand and Dragon-Elephant Mountain-Collapsing Palm, relentlessly disrupted their balance.

At that moment, they realized something: although their opponent was also at the peak Qi Refining stage, just like them, there were indeed disparities even within the peak.

A moment later, when Hei Ya arrived with a group of gang members, they found only the four men lying on the ground, already knocked unconscious.

Zhang Yu stood to the side, meeting Hei Ya’s and the others’ awestruck gazes. He casually remarked, “I’ll leave these four to you. I should get a bonus for this, right?”

Hei Ya quickly replied, “Teacher Ma, you’ll definitely get a bonus for defeating the Golden Class Gang experts. I know you prefer cash, so I’ll go prepare it right away. You can pick it up next time you’re here.”

On his way back to the apartment, Zhang Yu reflected on the day’s battle. He thought to himself, “The Martial Arts Sacred Embryo has indeed provided a significant boost to my abilities.”

“And while we’re all at the peak Qi Refining stage, these guys are vastly inferior compared to A-Zhen now, and to that fellow from before (Ye Lingxiao)…”

“If I had possessed my current strength during the last Foundation Establishment examination, I could have contended for victory against that fellow (Ye Lingxiao), couldn’t I?”

Recalling Ye Lingxiao’s performance in the previous Foundation Establishment examination, a surge of fighting spirit arose in Zhang Yu. “For this last month, I must continue to earn money and cultivate, to further enhance my Martial Arts Sacred Embryo…”

With the failure of this assassination attempt on Zhang Yu, the conflict between the Dark Learning Gang and the Golden Class Gang intensified.

Over the next ten-plus days, both sides engaged in multiple fierce clashes. They not only hurled “copyright bombs” at each other but even printed and freely distributed pirated versions of the other’s martial arts manuals, forging a deadly enmity.

Amidst these intense skirmishes, even the security teams of the Deep Sea Group and Xian Yun Group began to suffer casualties.

During these continuous gang wars, Le Mulan (Bai Zhenzhen) broke through encirclements multiple times, defeated opposing leaders in melees involving hundreds of people, and managed to retreat unharmed each time. She earned a formidable reputation in Songyang City’s dark tutoring world and, for a time, commanded unparalleled prestige within the Dark Learning Gang.

Notably, due to her repeated deployment of “copyright bombs” and the lightning that flickered with her attacks, she became known as the “Copyright Lightning of the Dark Learning Gang.” It was said that wherever she went, families would lose their fortunes, and she could even stop the crying of poor children at night.

And so, amidst the chaotic gang conflicts, time gradually progressed to mid-December.