Advancing to the Blood Exchange Realm!

Lu Chen ran to the vicinity of the Green Bamboo Gang's compound and, sure enough, found it in chaos.

Smoke was still rising.

Houses had been burned down, and quite a few people had died. Some people were carrying away the bodies.

Lu Chen's eyes darted around.

At a time like this, the Green Bamboo Gang must all be dealing with things here. Wang Bao sent a signal, so he might be discovered any moment now. Then his house...

Lu Chen chuckled.

As Wang Bao's subordinate, Qian Gui had spoken most about Wang Bao.

Lu Chen immediately turned and ran toward one of Wang Bao's residences.

It was also the place Wang Bao visited most often.

Lu Chen vaulted straight over the wall, pried open the door, and began ransacking the place.

"What a pity I don't have one of those Storage Bags from cultivation novels. Otherwise, I'd clean this place out!"

Lu Chen took a bag and stuffed everything valuable into it.

Whenever he saw a book, he flipped through it too, taking anything he thought had some value.

After quickly searching the entire house, Lu Chen heard what sounded like voices outside. He shouldered the enormous sack, vaulted back out, and swiftly disappeared into the darkness in the distance.

"What a pity I don't know where Li Mantun lives. Otherwise, I could fish in troubled waters there too."

Lu Chen walked down the road with a sack of things on his back, feeling some regret.

When he reached the house he rented, he put the sack inside and sat down on the bed.

"System, upgrade the Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique and break its limit!"

Luck Value -10.

In an instant, Lu Chen felt as though a tiny figure had appeared in his mind, practicing saber techniques with a saber in hand.

Lu Chen was very familiar with those techniques.

The first move was the head-splitting stance.

There were nine moves in all.

The upgraded Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique still had nine moves, but the techniques were more intricate and exquisite, like an antelope hanging by its horns. They could pinpoint an enemy's weak points and, with a single slash, separate sinew from bone, as precise as a scalpel cutting away a lesion, killing in one blow.

A few medicinal bath formulas had also appeared in his memory.

After breaking its limit, his Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique could be cultivated directly to the peak of the Blood Exchange Realm!

The next limit break, to Marrow Cleansing, would still cost 10 points.

And on his panel, his realm had also broken through to the Blood Exchange Realm without him noticing.

[Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique - Blood Exchange Realm]

Lu Chen felt a tingling itch inside his body, along with a little warmth.

Nourished and transformed by a warm current, his blood grew more refined. It flowed like mercury, surging through his blood vessels and traveling through his limbs and bones, bringing threads of nourishment to his body.

His body had been tempered once more, and Lu Chen felt that even his clothes had grown a little smaller.

His bones had hardened considerably once again.

His skin, fascia, muscles, and internal organs also grew and strengthened bit by bit as blood coursed through them.

His strength had grown even greater!

He punched sharply at the air and could even hear a crisp crack.

Lu Chen smashed his fist down on a gray brick in the courtyard. His bones were incomparably hard, and the brick shattered with a bang.

Lu Chen picked up a fragment of brick and squeezed hard.

Lu Chen crushed the fragment into powder, which drifted down in a shower.

"If this were ancient Earth, I wouldn't be far from not eating beef!"

He picked up a dagger and tried slashing his arm.

This time, it did not even leave a white mark.

His skin was tougher, like a thick sheet of rubber, highly elastic yet incomparably resilient.

"The upgrade cost quite a bit. Now I have 612 Fate Value and 2 Luck Value left."

"Judging by the previous upgrades, the Copper Skin Realm cost 100, the Iron Bone Realm 200, the Organ Tempering Realm 400, and the Blood Exchange Realm 800. The Marrow Washing Realm will most likely cost 1,600. I'm still 1,000 points short!"

Lu Chen considered whether he should go out again and see if he could make another haul.

Besides, the Luck Value the Black Pole Gang had provided him made his mouth water.

The Black Pole Gang abducted and trafficked women and children, and even mutilated people for begging. They had lost all conscience, and perhaps that was why they provided Luck Value.

This was merit bestowed on him by heaven for doing a good deed!

If he knew where the Black Pole Gang's compound was, he wanted to march right over, raid their place, and wash the gang in blood!

"Huh? I don't know, but maybe the other gangs do. Anyway, I've reached Blood Exchange now. In Shahu County, I'm practically invincible, so what am I afraid of?"

His mindset changed in an instant.

"I'll go find someone from the Green Bamboo Gang. If their Gang Leader was fine just now, he won't be for long!"

Lu Chen chuckled, gathered his equipment, and headed straight out, returning to the Green Bamboo Gang.

The smell of scorched wood hung in the air.

The people carrying bodies at the entrance were gone too. Only a few remained, sweeping up and clearing away the bloodstains and burned houses.

"Who goes there?"

Lu Chen had his face covered, and someone spotted him as soon as he approached the Green Bamboo Gang.

He had not deliberately hidden himself or tried to sneak around.

In Shahu County, he was now the very man who didn't eat beef!

He was arrogant as could be!

He strode straight through the Green Bamboo Gang's people and raced toward the center of the compound.

That was where Wang Hu's residence stood, according to Qian Gui.

Behind him, several Green Bamboo Gang members shouted for Lu Chen to stop, their faces full of anger.

But they could not catch him at all. Many also sensed something was wrong, so they simply stood there shouting without giving chase, just putting on a show.

Their home had just been attacked and many had died. They were still trembling with fear, terrified that another powerful fighter had come.

They did not want to die yet.

And so Lu Chen actually made it all the way to the heart of the Green Bamboo Gang's compound without hindrance.

At last, someone blocked his path.

"Damn it, any stray cat or dog dares run into the Green Bamboo Gang's territory and make trouble? Stop!"

A dark-faced middle-aged man, visibly displeased and wearing a gloomy expression, stepped in front of Lu Chen.

Lu Chen gave him an indifferent glance and, without slowing, charged straight into him like a cannonball.

The unstoppable momentum and tremendous force sent the middle-aged man flying.

"Pfft!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes bulging and bloodshot.

"Wh-what..."

His face filled with terror, and he nearly passed out from the pain. He lay on the ground playing dead, not daring to move.

Ignoring the middle-aged man he had sent flying, Lu Chen walked into the great hall in the center.

The hall seemed to have just endured a great battle and had nearly collapsed. Many parts had been smashed, and broken furniture, tables, and chairs littered the floor.

The floor was also strewn with rubble and broken tiles, along with pools of thick, half-congealed blood that gave off a bloody stench.

Several of the lamps hanging from the hall's pillars had gone out, leaving only three still stubbornly shining.

A middle-aged man covered in blood sat listlessly in the chair at the very front, his clothes torn to shreds in many places.

Seeing a figure enter the hall, he weakly curled his lips into a mocking smile.

"Cough, cough. In the end, you still couldn't wait any longer?"

Lu Chen: *?*

What was that supposed to mean?

He's mistaken me for someone else, hasn't he?

He walked straight up to the man and looked at the saber wounds all over his body. Some were deep enough to expose bone.

There were also some palm prints.

He had probably been besieged.

"Aren't you here to kill me?"

Wang Hu was somewhat puzzled.