Martial Fourth Rank, Meridian Opening Realm!

Bai Yu silently marked down another grudge against Zuo Er and the Black Wolf Gang.

Gangs would decline, dynasties and nations would perish; only Eternal Life was the true meaning.

When you weakened, that would be the day of revenge.

Bai Yu turned and left, returning to the funeral home.

At that moment, Zhu Tong said mysteriously:

"Little Bai, do you know why the Black Wolf Gang doubled its protection fees this time?"

Bai Yu asked curiously:

"Could it be that Brother Tong has some news?"

Zhu Tong glanced around and lowered his voice.

"Just a rumor. I'm only telling you, so don't tell anyone else."

"A while back, the Black Wolf Gang seemed to have had two underground gambling dens seized by the Divine Strength Sect."

"The Black Wolf Gang's boss is scraping together funds everywhere, gearing up to have a grand fight with the Divine Strength Sect."

Bai Yu finally understood. It was a conflict between gangs.

It looked like these days would not be peaceful.

But for the funeral home, it was actually a good thing.

Over the following days, members of the two great gangs were sent to the funeral home for burial every few days.

Bai Yu's business boomed.

Seeing how quickly Bai Yu had gotten started with the Zhu You arts, Uncle Jiu simply handed most of the affairs over to him.

Anything that had originally required Uncle Jiu to chant scriptures and guide the dead onward was handed over to Bai Yu, who played the Soul-Calming Tune to dissolve the Killing Intent.

Bai Yu was more than happy with this, since it could increase his funeral participation.

That day, the Black Wolf Gang sent over another unlucky fellow.

He was a martial artist whose head had been split cleanly in two.

After Bai Yu played the Soul-Calming Tune, Old Zhang arranged the deceased's appearance.

Then Bai Yu led everyone up the mountain for the burial.

When the funeral dirge ended, the burial was complete.

Funeral successful. Reward obtained: Vitality +36, Life Experience +60!

Funeral participation: 79%. You may choose one additional reward.

Available rewards: Soul-Reaping Sword, swordsmanship experience, Iron Sand Palm, one year of martial cultivation.

Bai Yu's heart stirred. This funeral's selectable rewards included something new.

One year of martial cultivation!

There had never been a reward that directly increased cultivation before.

Bai Yu descended the mountain without showing any reaction.

Only after returning to his small courtyard did Bai Yu claim the rewards.

First, a warm current surged through him, and the vitality in his body increased considerably.

Then he chose one year of martial cultivation.

At once, he shuddered. The joints throughout his body crackled, and his muscles brimmed with strength.

His blood and vitality surged through his entire body, while a plume of essence shot from the crown of his head, condensed without dispersing like wolf-smoke.

A cool sensation ran through Bai Yu's arm as a chilly stream of energy traveled along his meridians.

That stream of energy was precisely the internal force transformed from the power of vitality!

Essence like wolf-smoke, vitality rushing through the meridians!

Martial Fourth Rank, Meridian Opening Realm!

The Meridian Opening Realm meant transforming abundant vitality into internal force and opening the twelve meridians throughout the body.

That instant, Bai Yu had opened one Hand Lesser Yin Lung Meridian.

From then on, his breathing function greatly increased, allowing him to provide his body with ample breath.

Delighted, Bai Yu circulated the Mystic Tortoise Breath Concealment Art and drew in the aura within his body.

As the Breath Concealment Art circulated, even his skin seemed to grow a little rougher.

The following days were incomparably fulfilling for Bai Yu.

The conflict between the Black Wolf Gang and the Divine Strength Sect grew increasingly fierce. Every day, the funeral home received quite a few gang members, including many martial artists.

Within the funeral home's territory, both the Black Wolf Gang and the Divine Strength Sect tacitly maintained peace.

After all, when it came to life and death, who did not wish to rest in peace beneath the earth?

Bai Yu, meanwhile, focused on conducting funerals and drawing rewards, his strength rising like the tide.

He had made up his mind not to be greedy when it came to cultivation arts and martial techniques.

He would mainly choose fundamental attributes such as martial cultivation, blade technique experience, internal force, and strength.

Only when he encountered a cultivation art with exceptionally high compatibility would he choose it for fusion.

That day, he conducted the funeral of a Fourth Rank martial artist from the Divine Strength Sect.

Funeral target: Zhang Meng!

Identity: Incense-Bearer Senior Brother of the Divine Strength Sect.

Age: 39.

Cultivation: Martial Fourth Rank.

Funeral participation: 69%.

Standard rewards: Internal Force +3, Life Experience +388.

Available rewards: Vitality +55, Vajra Art, Arhat Blade, blade technique experience, Golden Eagle Claw...

Bai Yu looked them over and chose blade technique experience first.

Then he examined the various cultivation arts one by one and found that the Vajra Art was truly excellent, with compatibility with the Iron Shirt Skill reaching 92%.

Bai Yu drew the Vajra Art and fused it with the Iron Shirt Skill.

It became a new cultivation art: the Vajra Iron Shirt Skill, Yellow Rank, High Grade.

And so, his strength advanced by leaps and bounds.

In just one month, he had already opened seven meridians.

Once he opened five more, he would reach the perfection of Fourth Rank and step into the Fifth Rank Bone Tempering Realm.

Bai Yu looked over his attribute panel.

Name: Bai Yu.

Aptitude: 8

Vitality: 370

Strength: 110

Internal Force: 18

Cultivation: Fourth Rank Vein Opening Realm.

Cultivation Arts: Four Elephants Five Elements Fist (Mastery, 3571/10000)

Martial Techniques: Soul Severing Blade (Mastery), Dark Turtle Breath Concealment Art (Practiced to Proficiency), Swallow Lingxu Step (Practiced to Proficiency), Vajra Iron Shirt Skill (Mastery)

Divine Ability: Eternal Life.

Other Skills: Playing the suona (Mastery), Essence-Nourishing Powder (Practiced to Proficiency), Zhu You Yin Fu Jing (Practiced to Proficiency), Meng's Herbal Compendium (Beginner) and more.

With the strength of the Fourth Rank Vein Opening Realm, he could be considered capable of establishing himself in Jiang City.

Yet Bai Yu remained as steady as an old dog.

Wasn't it nice to lie down and conduct funerals? Fighting and killing were so unpleasant.

Another half month passed like this.

The conflict between the Black Wolf Gang and the Divine Strength Sect had already affected life in Jiang City.

In the end, under the mediation of the Liu, Zhao, Xiao, and An Families, the two gangs ceased fighting.

The Black Wolf Gang ceded several streets and placed them under the Divine Strength Sect's management.

This made the funeral home's business much quieter.

But during these days, Uncle Jiu frequently went out, sometimes disappearing for an entire week.

It was said that he had gone out to deal with Baleful Corpses.

For some reason, Baleful Corpses were appearing more and more often throughout Jiang City.

Bai Yu was rather curious. What exactly were these Baleful Corpses?

That night, Uncle Jiu was still absent.

Bai Yu kept watch in the front hall, sleeping on a small bed.

Old Mo had moved over a little stool and stayed beside him.

Several books were piled before Old Mo, and he was patiently flipping through them.

Strangely enough, Old Mo truly had a special fondness for books.

Bai Yu had asked Old Mo why he liked reading so much.

Old Mo barked a few times, then used his paw to write two large lines of words.

"If I don't study today, I'll become trash tomorrow."

Bai Yu was both annoyed and amused. It seemed Old Mo had never suffered through the torment of nine years of compulsory education.

If he were on Blue Star, Bai Yu would definitely enroll Old Mo in a class and make him take the college entrance examination.

Half asleep, Bai Yu suddenly felt terribly cold.

Bai Yu sat up and said:

"Old Mo, it's your turn to sleep."

He glanced over and saw that Old Mo had just finished reading the Spring and Autumn Annals and Meng's Herbal Compendium, and was preparing to read White Fox Erotic Tales.

Bai Yu jolted awake and snatched the book away.

"Children can't read these."

Old Mo gave a dissatisfied whine.

Suddenly, an eerie wind rose in the front hall from nowhere.

Old Mo barked loudly toward the inner courtyard.

"Woof, woof~"

From within the inner courtyard came an inhuman roar.