Becoming a god starts with one certificate becoming eternal.

The next day.

Ye Chong clutched a bag of silver coins, his palm icy cold.

This was supposed to be for his martial arts practice, but now he has to give it away.

He gritted his teeth, mentally calculating every single debt, determined to get his money back from Ye Xiao with interest once this was over.

This time, he went to great lengths to find two inner disciples, Qiu Ming and Chang Yue.

Although they are not ranked among the inner disciples and are only newly promoted inner disciples, for someone like him who is an outer disciple, they have already reached the limit.

Qiu Ming and Chang Yue stood outside the martial arts school, their clothes clean. The wooden plaques at their waists swayed slightly, causing passersby to instinctively avoid their gaze. Their reputation as members of the inner sect was enough to make people hide.

Qiu Ming took the money pouch, weighed it in his hand, and raised an eyebrow: "Isn't something missing?"

Ye Chong suppressed his anger and said with a forced smile, "Senior brothers, I know we agreed on twenty taels, but I've been trying to scrape together this for a long time and only have eighteen taels in total... Those two are just Black Sleeves from the Green Owl Gang. With your strength, you could easily take care of them. Please give me a discount."

Chang Yue scoffed, too lazy to listen any longer: "Fine, for the sake of us being fellow martial arts students, I'll help you out. Are you sure those two people you mentioned are both Black Sleeves from the Green Owl Gang? What are their names?"

"They're all definitely from the Black Sleeves faction," Ye Chong immediately said. "Yan Quan and Shen Sheng."

Qiu Ming sneered: "Black Sleeves is nothing but a bunch of scoundrels. They dare to lay their hands on the students of the martial arts school. Let them know that the Sky Eagle Martial Arts School is not one they can mess with."

"Senior Brother Qiu is so generous!" Ye Chong praised.

Chang Yue was even more direct: "Alright, lead the way."

Ye Chong nodded quickly and finished speaking: "They're not in the alley where I live. After my family gave them the money that day, they subtly inquired and found out that they usually live in Sanjing Alley and Liumukou."

Immediately afterwards, he led Qiu Ming and the other man through several alleys and streets, finally arriving at Sanjing Alley.

This isn't a straight alley, but rather a confluence of three wells, where several narrow paths intersect. It's bustling with people during the day, but becomes much quieter at night.

Qiu Ming glanced around, his brow furrowing slightly. "Where is everyone?"

The door of the small shop selling oil and salt was half-closed, and people came and went by drawing water from the well; there was nothing unusual about it.

But it is precisely this emptiness that makes one feel uneasy.

"careful."

Chang Yue said in a low voice, "Everything here is very well organized. The person in charge of this place must be quite capable."

"What's there to be afraid of? It's just Black Sleeves." Qiu Ming didn't care at all.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a broken copper coin rolled out from the side alley.

It wasn't lost.

It was from being flicked lightly.

The copper coin spun twice on the wet bricks and came to rest right in front of the three people.

"bite."

The sound wasn't loud, but it seemed to be a reminder of whose territory this was.

Qiu Ming's face darkened, and before he could speak, a calm voice came from the shadows to his side:

"Looking for us?"

Ye Chong and the other two turned their heads at the same time.

Only then did they realize that, at some point, a figure had appeared under the eaves of the small wine shop at the back of the alley.

He stood casually, as if he were just taking a break, but his position was right in the way of retreating.

Moreover, there was an even quieter figure behind the well.

Ye Chong's heart tightened, and his voice went dry: "It's...it's them..."

Yan Quan and Shen Sheng then stepped forward.

Step out of the shadows.

Qiu Ming looked down at the two men and demanded, "So it was you who came to bully the outer disciples of my Sky Eagle Martial Arts School?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yan Quan made his move.

There was no drawing of a sword, nor a shout.

In the blink of an eye, they were close enough that their shoulders and backs would suddenly strike, and the force of their stance would be like a hard rock crashing into them, with an astonishing power.

"Bang!"

Qiu Ming instinctively raised his arm to block, but his arm bone went numb instantly. He was forced back two steps by the impact, and his heel slipped on the wet bricks, almost causing him to lose his balance.

His expression changed instantly.

Almost at the same moment, Shen Sheng also arrived beside Chang Yue, gently placing his hand on his shoulder.

The force wasn't heavy, but it felt like a nail piercing his shoulder. Chang Yue felt a tightness in his chest, his breath caught in his throat, and his momentum to rise was abruptly pushed back down.

Qiu Ming and Chang Yue exchanged a glance.

This doesn't count as a fight.

That's enough.

Both were at the same level, but Shen Sheng and Yan Quan's strength was heavier and their attacks were more ruthless.

Qiu Ming's heart tightened, but he still wanted to save face, so he forced out, "No matter what, Ye Chong is one of our Skyhawks..."

"rule."

Yan Quan interrupted him directly.

He looked up at Qiu Ming and Chang Yue, and added, as if laying the road out in front of them: "If you want to get involved, then fight. Let your fists do the talking, or shut up."

Qiu Ming swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Chang Yue's eye twitched.

If they were Black Sleeves below the Bone Forging level, they could still use their inner sect status to suppress them, but these two in front of them were not ordinary Black Sleeves.

Ye Chong couldn't figure out the underlying meaning, but was emboldened by the presence of his inner sect senior brothers. He hurriedly shouted, "How dare you be so arrogant in front of my two inner sect senior brothers? You truly don't know what's good for you!"

Shen Sheng turned his head and glanced at Ye Chong.

That look in his eyes was like looking at a clueless dog, chillingly cold.

Yan Quan ignored Ye Chong and turned his gaze back to Qiu Ming and Chang Yue: "Are you going to avenge him?"

Qiu Ming took a deep breath, finally tearing off his mask, and turned to Ye Chong, coldly saying, "You idiot... you actually thought you could use that little bit of silver to make us deal with two Bone Forging experts."

"Bone Forging?!" Ye Chong was completely dumbfounded: "Aren't they Black Sleeves?"

"What an idiot." Qiu Ming snorted coldly, too lazy to explain, and turned to leave.

He would never risk making enemies with the Bone Forging Black Sleeves for such a small amount of money, and he didn't care what Ye Chong thought.

Ye Chong panicked and took two steps after him: "Senior brother! If you don't want to help me, you should at least give me back the money! That's the money I used to buy medicine!"

Qiu Ming tossed the money pouch in his hand, smiled, but the smile was as thin as a knife: "You practically begged me to give you this money. We've already done you a favor by coming all this way. Do you think our time is free?"

Chang Yue also spoke up, his tone even more direct: "You almost got us into trouble, consider this travel expense as compensation."

The two left as soon as they finished speaking, quick and decisive, as if afraid that if they lingered there any longer, they would get into trouble.

Qiu Ming finished with a remark that sounded like a slap in Ye Chong's face: "For the sake of your money, let me remind you, next time you take money to hire someone, make sure you know who you're messing with first. Don't be this stupid."

The sound of footsteps faded into the mist.

The alleyway fell silent again.

Ye Chong stood there, his palm empty, and a piece of his heart felt empty as well.

Yan Quan and Shen Sheng neither chased after them nor made a move.

They were just standing there.

But that silent pressure was enough to make Ye Chong's throat go dry.

Ye Chong finally couldn't hold on any longer, stumbled backward, turned and fled, running wildly in the direction Qiu Ming and Chang Yue had left, as if he wanted to leave them ten blocks behind.

He originally thought that by spending money to buy the influence of the inner sect, he could easily deal with Shen Sheng and Yan Quan.

The problem wasn't solved, and the money was swallowed up.

As he fled, the fire in his chest burned ever brighter.

Ye Xiao's face kept appearing in his mind, and he gritted his teeth until they ached, his eyes filled with fierceness.

This is not right.

Why should someone who is poorer, lower in status, and deserves to be trampled on have the power to get the Bone-Casting Black Sleeves to do his bidding?

His disbelief is a skill.

It can only mean that someone is backing him up, or that he has something or some benefit that can't be brought to light.

Once this thought arises, it's like a thorn stuck in your flesh, impossible to remove.