Deep within Wu Ji Porcelain Shop.
Inside a room.
Lu Chen's eyes flickered. He quickly obtained two martial arts manuals from Zhao Yuesheng.
[You have comprehended Black Tiger Fist. Black Tiger Fist has reached Beginner level!] [You have comprehended Gale Blade Technique. Gale Blade Technique has reached Beginner level!]
"Excellent. This panel really is powerful. Even if I merely heard someone recite it once, it actually recorded everything automatically. That is simply too monstrous. Merit Points, add points to these two techniques."
Lu Chen thought to himself.
Whoosh!
The panel before him instantly blurred, countless streams of information surging forth. It was as though he had lived through another ten or twenty years, his mind filled with scenes of practicing fist techniques and blade techniques.
In the blink of an eye, all those scenes vanished.
At that instant, Lu Chen felt the inner force within his body grow thicker and stronger. Even his palms and arms brimmed with power; his skin had thickened, and his muscles had become tough and resilient.
It was as though he had practiced fists and blades for more than a decade.
Name: Lu Chen Cultivation: Second Rank (4%) Mental Cultivation Method: None Martial Arts: Galloping Horse Fist (Perfected), Crimson Sand Palm (Perfected), Black Tiger Fist (Perfected), Gale Blade Technique (Perfected) Talent: Convince with Virtue Merit Points: 40
"Second Rank already? Isn't that far too fast?" Lu Chen was overjoyed.
This morning, he had still been someone too weak to truss a chicken, bullied by his brother and sister-in-law, fleeced by a black-hearted merchant, able only to close his eyes and await death.
Yet by afternoon, he had already become a Second-Rank martial artist.
That change in status was simply exhilarating beyond words.
The only pity was that he still had not obtained an internal cultivation method.
"Young Master Zhao, didn't you like Wu Tianli's daughter very much? As the saying goes, a gentleman helps others fulfill their wishes. I'll send you to reunite with her now, so the two of you can become an immortal couple."
Lu Chen smiled and punched Zhao Yuesheng between the brows.
"No..."
Bang!
Blood mist splattered. Zhao Yuesheng's eyes flew wide open, and he died with his eyes still open.
[You fulfilled a pair of ill-fated lovers, allowing them to reunite in the underworld. Merit Points +5]
Another line of text appeared.
Lu Chen moved swiftly, immediately searching Zhao Yuesheng's body. He found several banknotes, then turned and left, quickly vaulting over the wall and escaping.
Not long after he left.
A great number of constables and Giant Shark Gang members surged toward the porcelain shop like a tide, surrounding it.
"Quick, quick, quick! Surround this place!"
"Don't let him get away!"
"Don't let even a fly escape!"
Crash!
Wu Ji Porcelain Shop was forcefully stormed. It was surrounded tightly, layer upon layer, inside and out.
"Where is that madman?" Guo Feng grabbed a trembling apprentice, his expression grim as he barked the question.
"Madman?"
The apprentice's face was deathly pale. He seemed frightened senseless and did not know how to respond.
"The one who committed murder earlier!"
Chen Baisha shouted furiously.
"You mean Lu Chen? Lu Chen has gone mad. Lu Chen killed the shopkeeper..."
The apprentice said in terror, his words tumbling over one another, "This morning, Lu Chen was beaten half to death by the shopkeeper and could only crawl away. But when he came back in the afternoon, he had already become a martial artist. He has been possessed by a demon, he's a demon!"
Slap!
Before he had even finished speaking, Guo Feng slapped him across the face. The apprentice spewed blood and screamed as several teeth flew out. "Nonsense. You deserve a beating!"
Guo Feng roared.
Yet despite his words, shock rose in his heart, along with a flash of greed.
It was not just him.
Even Chen Baisha, the Giant Shark Gang's leader standing nearby, had his pupils contract as waves churned in his mind.
Not a martial artist in the morning, but one by afternoon?
There was a secret here!
And it was an earth-shattering secret at that!
How could becoming a martial artist be so easy?
Without three or four years, seven or eight years of bitter training, becoming a martial artist? Dream on!
Yet Lu Chen had crossed that threshold in a single afternoon!
What kind of heaven-shaking secret was this? "Search!"
Guo Feng suddenly bellowed and took the lead in charging forward.
Chen Baisha likewise led a large number of Giant Shark Gang members toward the rear courtyard, intending to seize Lu Chen first.
Yet when they reached the rear courtyard, apart from the mess and corpses scattered across the ground, there was not a trace of Lu Chen anywhere.
Very quickly, their hearts jolted as they discovered Zhao Yuesheng's miserable corpse in one of the rooms.
"Heh, Zhao Hu curses others every day, wishing for their sons to die. Well, now his own son has been killed first."
Chen Baisha chuckled as he watched the corpse.
"Yuesheng... Is my son Yuesheng here? Yuesheng..."
At that moment, Zhao Hu's frantic voice came from outside as he hurried over.
When Chen Baisha saw Zhao Hu rushing in, the smile on his face grew wider. "Zhao Hu, I told you before that your Zhao family might well die out. Now it seems I was right. Take a look."
He pointed directly at Zhao Yuesheng's corpse, whose eyes remained wide open in death.
Zhao Hu's eyes bulged, and his canthus split with rage as he let out a thunderous roar. "Yuesheng!"
His aura erupted as he lunged forward, startling many people into quickly backing away.
The entire Panshi City was thrown into an uproar.
Everyone was in an uproar.
In less than half a day, news of Beggar's Den and Wu Ji Porcelain Shop had spread throughout the city.
"What a joy! Wu the Skinflint was actually killed? Which great hero helped vent my anger?"
"Heh heh, I said long ago that with the way Wu the Skinflint did business, he would be killed sooner or later. Who was it? Which warrior was so incredible that he dared to take out Wu the Skinflint?"
"I heard it was done by a young apprentice. That apprentice is named Lu Chen. He worked as a helper in Wu the Skinflint's shop for three years. Not only did Wu the Skinflint not pay him a single coin, but because he broke a piece of porcelain, he beat him half to death, leaving him to crawl home..."
"What? That kid? I saw him this morning, half-dead and covered in blood. This afternoon, he could actually kill Wu the Skinflint? Wu the Skinflint kept several thugs!"
"According to the authorities, Lu Chen was possessed by a demon. They say the demon possessing him loves eating people most. The authorities are now hunting him throughout the city, demanding that if we see him, we report him immediately..."
Many people began discussing the matter.
Without a doubt.
Lu Chen's name spread throughout all of Panshi City for the first time.
Countless peddlers and laborers discussed it with relish.
But unexpectedly, not many people were afraid of Lu Chen.
Instead, because Lu Chen had killed Wu the Skinflint and wiped out Beggar's Den, many people clapped and cheered.
Both Wu the Skinflint and those beggars had caused countless people to suffer grievous losses.
Especially those beggars.
On the surface, they begged for alms, but in truth, they were little different from underworld gangs.
No one knew how many innocent families they had harmed.
Although some people had reported them to the authorities, the cases always came to nothing. Instead, the remaining beggars would retaliate viciously, making everyone even more unwilling to provoke them.
Now, things were different.
The city's two festering tumors had both been uprooted by Lu Chen alone.
Though many other festering tumors still remained in the city, having two disappear at once still brought great joy to the people...
Outside the city.
Zhao Shan, who had been waiting anxiously for Lu Chen, felt his heart tighten when he saw the city gates close. Waves of unease arose within him for no reason.
"Nothing could have happened, right? Immortals and gods, protect him. Please, don't let anything happen to Brother Lu. If anything happens to Brother Lu, I won't go on living either. I'm willing to trade this worthless life of mine for Brother Lu's safety. Amitabha, Buddha bless him, Buddha bless him..."
He prayed silently.
Yet the more he prayed, the more uneasy he became.
If he could, he truly wanted to climb over the wall and go inside to take a look.
But his legs were crippled and his eyes were blind. Let alone climbing a wall, even moving around was exceptionally difficult.
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