Chapter 24: Hidden Quest, Self-Development

Seeing the changes in his base attributes, Zhang Fang finally understood why so many people in this world were drawn to the Reincarnation Tower, despite its shockingly high mortality rate.

According to the statistical standards of the Reincarnation Tower, the average value for the four basic attributes of a normal adult is 10 points. Zhang Fang’s current average across those four attributes was already more than five times that of an ordinary adult!

And this was the result of less than two days of training within the tower.

For a common person, let alone increasing their total physical attributes fivefold in a single day, even just improving a specific capability by five times would be enough to drive any man to madness.

With this surge in strength, Zhang Fang’s confidence grew. After closing his attribute panel, he once again fixed his gaze on the father and son of the Shan family. Having become the target of public criticism, the six men’s expressions were now incredibly unsightly, and the looks they directed at Zhang Fang were filled with extreme resentment.

Seeing this, the smile hidden beneath Zhang Fang’s mask grew gradually more wicked.

Did these lovely martial arts peers truly think that things would end here?

Suddenly stepping forward, Zhang Fang’s gaze locked onto the elder’s face, which was twisted with rage: "Senior Shan Zheng, I suspect that when Qiao Feng came to the manor to seek medical help, you deliberately twisted the reasons for my setting the fire. Your goal was to provoke Qiao Feng and use him as a blade to kill me, hoping that I would perish at his hands!"

Hearing this, Shan Zheng’s complexion turned ghastly. His expression shifted repeatedly, a display of extreme agitation.

Observing these rich facial expressions, Zhang Fang could not help but sigh inwardly. It was a pity he did not possess observation skills like "reading a person," otherwise, he would surely have been able to glean much more information from the man's shifting countenance.

However, not being able to read his face did not stop Zhang Fang from continuing to provoke him. Since he had already offended these people to the point of no return, he didn't mind making them hate him even more.

As long as he could reap the benefits, it was worth it!

"In fact, your plan to use someone else's blade to kill me had two purposes."

"First, you intended to use the heroes present to deal with Qiao Feng yesterday, but I ruined that with a fire. You held a grudge against me for it, but with all these heroes present, you couldn't do anything to me openly. So, you wanted to use Qiao Feng's hands to vent your anger by killing me."

"Furthermore, if I were to die at Qiao Feng's hands in front of these heroes, a battle would inevitably break out between both sides, leaving no room for mediation. And then, your original goal could proceed smoothly."

"Because, when it comes to killing Qiao Feng, you cannot wait a single day!"

Hearing Zhang Fang’s incisive and well-reasoned analysis, Shan Zheng was so angry that his whole body trembled and his beard shook. In a fit of rage, he pointed a finger at Zhang Fang: "You... you, you! You have no respect for your elders, spouting blood with your mouth!"

"No respect for elders?" Zhang Fang gave a cold laugh. "Only those worthy of respect are my elders. A sinister, malicious villain like you is not worthy!"

"Spouting blood?" Zhang Fang took another step forward, his voice becoming lower and more aggressive: "Since you say I am spouting blood, then refute me!"

"With your status as the 'Iron-Faced Judge' in the martial arts world, surely no one can stop you from speaking."

"Since you think I am wrong, you must have found flaws in my words. Find them, expose them in front of everyone, refute my words one by one, and prove your innocence before these heroes."

"Go on, speak!"

Zhang Fang spoke with righteous indignation, but he had buried a deep trap within his words.

His critique of Shan Zheng was based on thirty percent evidence and seventy percent inference. Such rhetoric had no obvious flaws, but it was not necessarily impossible to refute.

However, when he challenged the man at the end, he specifically said, "Find the flaws."

This led Shan Zheng straight into a ditch.

Shan Zheng was not the type to be eloquent, and he was currently in a rage; how could he rationally analyze such a small trap? He subconsciously followed the prompt to search for flaws, but where could he find any?

Facing Zhang Fang’s relentless questioning, he could only turn his old face beet-red, stuttering "you-you-me-me" for a long time without producing a coherent rebuttal.

As a result, even those who were initially skeptical, such as Doctor Xue, Xuan Nan, and Xuan Ji, were now completely convinced by Zhang Fang’s seemingly logical deduction.

Seeing that his opponent was clearly speechless but had not yet resorted to desperate measures, Zhang Fang knew he needed to push a little harder.

He continued to step forward until he was three meters away from Shan Zheng, saying: "Malicious, relying on your age to bully others, willing to drag all the heroes of the world into danger for your own selfish gains. How can a person like you ever change? Huh!?"

"You junior, you go too far!"

Shan Zheng roared and slammed his palm on the table, but he had not completely lost his mind.

In his fury, he gave a look to Shan Boshan on the other side. The latter understood immediately and lunged forward, swinging his blade toward Zhang Fang’s waist: "How dare you insult my father! You deserve to die!"

As long as it wasn't Shan Zheng himself who struck, there was still room for mediation!

As Shan Boshan moved, his four brothers—Shan Zhongshan, Shan Shushan, Shan Jishan, and Shan Xiaoshan—followed suit, surrounding Zhang Fang and attacking him from different angles with five blades.

At the same time, the long-awaited notification from the Reincarnation Tower finally sounded in Zhang Fang’s mind:

[The five sons of Shan Zheng have launched a coordinated attack on you. Hidden quest "Five Tigers of the Shan Family" triggered.]

[Five Tigers of the Shan Family: Face the Five Tigers of the Shan Family head-on and emerge victorious. Quest Reward: Weapon Treasure Chest (Bronze) x1!]

[Accept quest?]

[Yes/No]

It worked!

As expected, hidden quests in the Reincarnation Tower could be developed by oneself!

Gaining a bit more insight into the rules of the tower, Zhang Fang felt satisfied. He swung his left arm, and the steel shield in his hand blocked Shan Boshan's horizontal slash with ease.

"Clang!"

With the dull sound of metal clashing, Shan Boshan was shaken backward. Looking down at his blade, he realized that the sword that had accompanied him for years had developed a notch from this single strike, losing most of its effectiveness.

In contrast, Zhang Fang stood proudly in place, as immovable as a mountain!

Comparing the two, it was immediately clear that Zhang Fang was much more composed, as if his martial arts were far superior to Shan Boshan's.

In reality, after several upgrades, Zhang Fang was indeed stronger than Shan Boshan, but not to the extent of completely crushing him in base attributes.

The visually striking result was largely due to Zhang Fang’s advantage in equipment.

Shields inherently possess a massive innate advantage against bladed weapons. In the original story, the You brothers used shields to defend against Qiao Feng; even when Qiao Feng struck them, he couldn't knock them away, and his own stolen steel blade ended up notched.

Considering that the gap between Qiao Feng and the You brothers was truly one of absolute crushing power, it was only natural that Shan Boshan, who was already weaker than Zhang Fang, would fare even worse in a similar situation.

After repelling Shan Boshan, Zhang Fang spun his shield to parry an attack from Shan Xiaoshan on his right. He then threw the shield out; guided by the chain, it circled him, forcing back Shan Zhongshan, Shan Shushan, and Shan Jishan before returning to his hand.

The entire movement was fluid and natural, like running water.

Just as Shan Boshan prepared to strike again, he felt a numbness in his right shoulder. His blade fell, and several acupoints on his arm were sealed.

"You base—" In the middle of the ambush, Shan Boshan reflexively started to curse, but when he turned to see who had struck, he wisely swallowed the vulgarities.

The person who had acted was none other than Bai Shijing, the Law Enforcement Elder of the Beggar Sect!

Whether in martial arts or status, this man was not beneath his father, Shan Zheng. Although the Beggar Sect's law enforcement didn't govern the Shan family of Mount Tai, Shan Boshan dared not hurl abuse at an elder of such standing.

Almost as soon as Bai Shijing subdued Shan Boshan, the four great elders of the Beggar Sect—Song, Xi, Chen, and Wu—also acted, simultaneously pinning down the other four sons of Shan Zheng.

Following this, Xu Chongxiao, the most senior elder of the Beggar Sect present, let out a cold snort: "Is this Hero's Assembly a place for the likes of you to run wild?"

As these words fell, not only did the faces of the Shan father and son turn incredibly pale, but the other martial arts masters in the hall couldn't help but feel a chill.

In truth, any one of the Beggar Sect elders could have easily stopped the Five Tigers of the Shan Family from attacking Zhang Fang.

But the Beggar Sect had dispatched five elders, including the Law Enforcement Elder Bai Shijing, to act at once. Furthermore, an esteemed figure like Elder Xu had spoken up immediately to support Zhang Fang.

The meaning behind this was no longer just about maintaining order at the assembly.

The Beggar Sect was making a statement—an attitude of standing with You Tanzhi and supporting him to the end!

As the veritable top sect in the world, the Beggar Sect’s stance was something no one in the martial arts world dared to ignore.

Even Shan Zheng, knowing he was in the wrong and already the target of public scrutiny, dared not say another word.

As everything seemed to be settling down, one person was not pleased.

That person was Zhang Fang.