Great Harvest!

Lu Chen had not expected this world to have drugs too.

And they even gave it the pretty name Carefree Powder!

How could taking this stuff merely make one carefree?

It practically sent one floating up to immortality!

Whoosh!

Lu Chen dashed over, grabbed the Beggar Chief from the ground by the collar, and swiftly rifled through his robes. "Do you want to die or live?"

"Live! Please spare me, spare me!"

The Beggar Chief replied in agony, "I have connections with the Giant Shark Gang. Think about the Giant Shark Gang..."

"Shut up! Hand over the martial art you practice, and I'll spare you!"

Lu Chen barked.

The martial art the Beggar Chief had just displayed was quite formidable.

After two consecutive clashes, Lu Chen's fists had both burned with pain.

If he had not gained inborn divine strength, he would never have come away unscathed today.

No matter what, he had to get his hands on this martial art.

"Martial art?"

The Beggar Chief hurriedly said, "Fine, I can give it to you, but how can you guarantee you won't kill me afterward? Send me out first. Once I'm out, I'll give it to you!"

"I'll send your mother!"

Lu Chen thrust two fingers straight into his eyes.

Squelch!

"Ahhh, my eyes!" The Beggar Chief let out a shrill scream, blood streaming down his face.

But that was nothing.

Lu Chen followed up by smashing both his legs, producing a series of cracking sounds that nearly made him pass out from the pain.

Then Lu Chen began to torture him madly.

He kicked apart his manhood, shattered his shoulder bones, crushed his ribs... The Beggar Chief screamed himself hoarse, his entire body convulsing, his flesh a bloody mess. At last, unable to endure any longer, he spilled everything in desperation.

"I'll talk! There's a hidden compartment beneath the statue. Everything is there! Stop, please stop torturing me! It hurts, it hurts me to death..."

"Beneath the statue? Good!"

Without hesitation, Lu Chen finished him with a punch, sending him completely on his final journey.

[You killed a Beggar Chief steeped in evil. Merit Points +20.]

"No wonder he was the Beggar Chief. His Merit Points were higher than everyone else's."

Lu Chen thought to himself.

He did not rush to look for the manual. Instead, he turned directly toward the large wine jars here.

There were at least a dozen large wine jars, all sealed tightly.

He opened them one by one and found that they were all filled with that white powdery substance.

After thinking carefully, an idea suddenly came to him. He picked up the large jars and went to the cesspit behind the temple, pouring all of the white powder into it until it merged with the filth.

The overpowering stench rushed into his face, and with flies buzzing wildly everywhere, it disgusted him so badly he nearly vomited.

If the Giant Shark Gang could still extract it after it had been ruined like this, then he would admit defeat.

[You destroyed a batch of Carefree Powder and saved many families. Merit Points +75.]

"That much?"

Lu Chen was secretly delighted.

Then he suddenly reacted and rushed toward the front hall.

Inside the front hall, the woman had already untied all the children and had been waiting there for quite some time.

The moment she saw Lu Chen reappear, she hurriedly pulled the children down to their knees.

"Thank you, benefactor, for saving my child. This humble woman, Zhang Rong, thanks you, benefactor. Thank you..."

Her face was full of gratitude as she repeatedly kowtowed.

"Thank you, big brother..."

The children followed suit, knocking their heads against the ground. They too understood what dreadful fate would have awaited them if Lu Chen had not appeared.

"Get up. Keep a close eye on your children from now on."

Lu Chen said, "This is no place to linger. Leave quickly."

"Yes, thank you, benefactor. Thank you, benefactor."

After thanking him several more times, the woman immediately left with the children.

Only one of the three children was hers.

The other two did not even know where their parents were.

But for now, she could only keep them by her side.

[You saved three families trapped in desperate straits. Merit Points +5.]

That counted too?

Lu Chen's eyes lit up with delight.

He then looked directly at the statue in the center, feeling around its surroundings. Soon, his heart stirred as he found something like a mechanism. With a light press, the statue began to creak as it rotated on its own, revealing a small hidden compartment beneath it. "Heh."

Lu Chen smiled and swept his gaze over it.

Inside the hidden compartment, aside from a book, there was also a large amount of gold, silver, and jewelry.

Lu Chen reached out and grabbed the book.

[Crimson Sand Palm].

Several large characters came into view.

"Looks like this is the martial art that Beggar Chief practiced. It's only right that it falls into my hands."

He thought to himself.

In order to increase his strength as quickly as possible, he immediately opened the secret manual.

After all, he still had to cause a huge uproar in Panshi City.

One more martial art meant one more measure of hope.

As he rapidly finished page after page.

[You have comprehended Crimson Sand Palm. Crimson Sand Palm: Beginner!]

A line of text suddenly appeared.

Lu Chen was overjoyed.

This panel was truly heaven-defying!

Just one read-through, and it could automatically record everything.

"Panel, add points to Crimson Sand Palm!"

Lu Chen silently commanded.

Whoosh!

The newly appeared Crimson Sand Palm immediately began changing at high speed. At the same time, countless pieces of information flooded into his mind, as though he had entered another dimension and was endlessly training there.

In the span of an instant, it felt as though more than ten years had passed.

Beginner, rudimentary mastery, minor accomplishment, major accomplishment, perfection.

Finally!

The panel came to a complete stop.

Name: Lu Chen

Cultivation: First Rank (60%)

Cultivation Method: None

Martial Arts: Galloping Horse Fist (Perfection), Crimson Sand Palm (Perfection)

Talent: Convince with Virtue

Merit Points: 60

...

"Crimson Sand Palm's grade really does far surpass Galloping Horse Fist. Adding points to Galloping Horse Fist only cost me thirteen Merit Points in total, but adding points to Crimson Sand Palm cost nearly several times as much. Galloping Horse Fist really does seem to be trash!"

Lu Chen looked at the panel.

After Crimson Sand Palm reached perfection, he could clearly feel that some invisible change had occurred within his body. Compared with before, there was now an additional thick current of warmth, endlessly circulating through both his fists and arms.

According to the secret manual, this was inner force. However, it was not inner force cultivated through a cultivation method, but inner force generated by martial arts. This kind of inner force lacked a complete system and had limited power, only able to remain in one's fists and feet, similar to internal martial arts.

True experts all cultivated cultivation methods.

If one only trained martial arts and not cultivation methods, then even if inner force arose within the body, it was like lacking a soul.

Only by cultivating a true cultivation method could one coordinate all that inner force, forming a great circulation through the body and wielding it as easily as one pleased. Not only could it protect the body at any time, it could also heal wounds and injure enemies.

Its wondrous uses were endless!

Yet true cultivation methods were incomparably rare.

They were all core secrets of major sects and martial arts schools.

At the very least, the Beggar Chief had never obtained one.

Even so, Lu Chen was exceptionally satisfied.

The most obvious change now was the cultivation section.

"First Rank? I reached the First Rank realm so quickly." According to the book's introduction, martial artists in this world had ranks.

From low to high, there were nine ranks in total.

The First Rank was the lowest, while the Ninth Rank was the highest.

But one should not underestimate the First Rank. Even it was enough to block countless people in their tracks.

Many martial artists trained their whole lives yet still wandered around the First Rank.

That Beggar Chief from earlier did not even count as First Rank.

With Lu Chen's current strength, coupled with the talent Convince with Virtue, he could definitely be considered someone of note within the city.

He looked again at the gold, silver, and jewelry in the hidden compartment. He stripped a piece of clothing from a corpse, folded it into a bundle, and took out all the gold, silver, and jewelry, stuffing them into it.

After tying it securely, he immediately slung the bundle over his back and swiftly left.

Shanzi's great vengeance had been avenged. Next, it was time to avenge himself.

That damn porcelain shop had to be settled.

Not long after he left.

The murders in the ruined temple were discovered.

Several passersby who happened to travel through the area smelled the thick scent of blood. They subconsciously glanced into the courtyard, and their faces instantly drained of all color as terror overwhelmed them.

"Someone's been murdered!"

"Come quickly! There are dead people!"

They shouted once, turned, and ran.

The place descended into complete chaos.