Chu Xisheng's first thought was to seek help from the martial arts instructors stationed within the Library.
However, what considerably cooled Chu Xisheng's heart was that the attitudes of the two martial arts instructors he found along the corridor were extremely indifferent.
"They want to harm you? Do you have any concrete evidence?"
"I think you're hysterical. They are all your senior and junior brothers, how could they harbor evil intentions towards you?"
From the eyes of these two, Chu Xisheng saw disdain and pity.
The young men behind them became even more brazen upon seeing this, advancing towards Chu Xisheng with murderous glints in their eyes and derisive smiles on their faces.
There were nine of them in total, varying in height and build, but without exception, they were all robust and strong.
Chu Xisheng inwardly sighed, knowing he could only rely on himself.
He casually picked up a stick used for making painting scrolls from the bookshelf next to him. It was made of Black Iron Wood, not very handy, and quite heavy.
Chu Xisheng's mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to deal with these people.
Confronting them head-on was definitely not an option.
Their strength as newly promoted Inner Sect Disciples was not too dissimilar, with their martial arts at the Beginner stage, and their Nourishing Essence Skill not exceeding the First Level.
A few with exceptional talent could reach the realm of 'Ninth Grade Lower,' but they were a minority.
One-on-one, Chu Xisheng was confident he wouldn't lose, but there were nine opponents.
Even if Chu Xisheng's sword was fast, he couldn't knock them all down in an instant.
Moreover, he had only a heavy stick in his hand.
Thus, he had to find a narrow corridor to stand his ground. That way, even if there were many opponents, only one could confront him at a time.
Only by maintaining a one-on-one situation could he stand a chance.
If it really came down to it, he could spend a Martial Arts Point to purchase a 'Divine Power Pill' from the Martial Arts Treasure Vault.
It could temporarily double his strength, increase his speed by sixty percent, and his reflexes by sixty percent, making him invincible.
With his mind made up, Chu Xisheng broke into a desperate sprint, escaping the encirclement before the young men could surround him completely and then mustered all his strength to dash up the stairs.
The young men were caught off guard and were half a beat slow to react.
"Chase him!"
All nine of them followed suit, fervently chasing up the stairs like wild tigers.
After they left, many Inner Sect Disciples in the vicinity were also alarmed and gathered around.
They looked towards the stairway entrance with doubt and buzzed with speculation.
"What happened?"
"I recognize those guys at the back, they're from the Haiqing Gang at East City Pier."
"The one being chased is Chu Xisheng. Just yesterday, he almost severed the hand of the second young master of the Long Family. It seems these members of the Haiqing Gang must have been paid off by the Long Family to give Chu Xisheng trouble today."
"Chu Xisheng? I've heard this fellow's sword skill is very fast, even Master Lei personally praised his talent as no less than the True Inheritor's leader, Li Fenglai. But this time he's in for it, those guys are all strong hands raised by the Haiqing Gang, almost reaching the Ninth Grade Lower, hard to fend off multiple attackers with just two fists."
"It's a pity. He's likely to be ruined. I heard someone offended people three years ago, got both his hands broken in the Library here but claimed he fell down the stairs. Since no one would testify for him, the matter had to be dropped."
"Aren't the instructors inside the Library supposed to do something? This is really too dark."
"Shut up, continue talking if you don't want to get along in the Martial Arts Academy."
Chu Xisheng made it to the third floor and immediately ran left.
He saw a small corridor in the east corner on the left side, with the entrance only about four feet wide, permitting only two people to pass through at most—it was the perfect place for him to stage his fight.
During the run, Chu Xisheng grew suspicious.
He hadn't seen a single martial arts instructor along the way.
All directions were eerily empty and silent.
Could it be that there was no one on this floor? No martial arts instructors on duty?
The very moment Chu Xisheng turned the corner into the left corridor, the nine fierce young men also reached the top of the stairs.
They looked around, searching for any trace of Chu Xisheng.
"Where did this guy go?"
This was a tall and burly youth holding a wooden stick, his eyes coldly sweeping the surroundings, "Bastard! He sure runs fast."
Another youth, with eyes like brass bells and a face full of stubble, also surveyed the area, "Let's search all around, he should be on this floor, I didn't hear him going upstairs. The other two stairways are blocked by our people, he can't get down.
"Don't rush to make a move after finding him, this guy's sword skill is fierce, we can't beat him in a fight alone—"
The stubble-faced youth's voice abruptly stopped as they saw a figure walking out of the room next door.
It was a dignified man, wearing a red high crown, with skin white as jade and lips as red as blood.
At the center of his brow was a mark that resembled a sword.
After the man walked out of the room, he looked at them emotionlessly, his gaze as if he was looking at obstacles in his way, tinged with irritation.
The burly youth, frustrated at not finding anyone, glared at him: "What are you looking at? Step aside, the Haiqing Gang is handling matters here!"
The man was momentarily startled at these words, then 'heh,' burst into laughter.
The burly youth grew even more annoyed at this reaction and was about to rebuke him when he saw the dignified man extend a hand, pale as white jade, and make a distant grabbing motion towards him.
"Crack!"
With the crisp sound of bones breaking, the burly youth's hands and lower legs suddenly bent backward, and his entire body fell to the ground.
He was momentarily stunned, then let out a heart-wrenching scream.
The dignified man flicked his sleeve again, and a burly youth who lunged at him as if being hit by an invisible giant hand, smashed against the wall like a broken sack. He too fell down with broken limbs, unconscious.
The stubble-faced youth saw this scene, his expression inevitably turning rigid.
This seemed like the release of True Yuan? But wasn't this ability only possessed by martial cultivators of Sixth Grade and above? How could it appear on an Inner Sect Disciple?
"You are—"
He stared fixedly at the dignified man in front of him, and at the bluish mark between the man's brows, a name suddenly came to his mind.
Then a chill ran from his feet to the top of his head, his entire body shivering.
This man was Blood Wind Sword Li Daogui!
A fugitive wanted by the court, why would he be in the Library of Zhengyang Martial Arts Hall?
Just as the stubble-faced youth had this thought, his limbs were suddenly wrenched backward by a tremendous force, emitting a crisp cracking sound.
The unparalleled agony instantly shattered his thoughts, causing him to let out an extremely pitiful howl.
The successive screams not only left the many Inner Sect Disciples on the first floor both astonished and puzzled, but also left Chu Xisheng hiding in the narrow corridor utterly baffled.
Chu Xisheng, filled with doubt, wondered if these guys were setting a trap, trying to lure him out from his hiding place?
He then thought, considering they were many and powerful, they had no need for such tactics, so he followed the sounds.
As Chu Xisheng reached the corner, he cautiously peeked out, and then stood there dumbfounded.
He saw nine youths lying scattered around the stairway entrance, their arms and legs abnormally bent and all without a sound.
What was going on?
Had these guys died? Who had done this?
Chu Xisheng looked around, but saw no one.
After hesitating for a while, he still stepped forward to check.
As he approached, Chu Xisheng realized that although the youths were unconscious, they were still breathing faintly.
However, their injuries were severe, both arms and legs were broken, and it was the most difficult type of comminuted fractures to deal with.
Just as Chu Xisheng was about to use the stick in his hand to turn over one of the burly youths to take a closer look, he heard a flurry of footsteps coming from the stairway entrance.
Chu Xisheng turned his head and saw several Martial Arts Instructors leading a group of people running up the stairs from below.
Before these people had even left the stairway entrance, their expressions turned to shock.
After looking at the nine unconscious youths on the floor, they all turned their stunned and frightened gazes towards Chu Xisheng.