County Town Factions

Liu Hao said respectfully, "Yes, sir. I'll get right on it!"

Only the Huang Family Head remained seated in the seat of honor, cold light flickering in his eyes as he muttered under his breath, "From what Big Brother meant, someone has already set their sights on Black Mountain recently. Could some other information have leaked?"

"What a headache!"

Chen Feng knew nothing about what had happened within the Huang Family.

In the courtyard, he practiced the Iron Fist Technique.

You practiced the Iron Fist Technique once. Your Iron Fist Technique proficiency +1.

After an entire morning had passed, Chen Feng glanced at the panel. The Iron Fist Technique had reached 24% of the Beginner stage.

Is there any way to speed up the progress? Chen Feng pondered.

After all, according to the records in the Iron Fist Technique booklet, cultivating Martial Arts was also related to certain accompanying secret medicines.

If he had the matching secret medicine, his cultivation speed might become even faster.

Unfortunately, the booklet contained no such records.

Chen Feng's eyes flickered with thought. Even without the matching secret medicine, pairing it with other medicinal soups that boosted vitality and blood might still speed up his cultivation.

But if he wanted to buy such tonics, he would have to go to Black Stone City in the County Town.

It was roughly seventy li of mountain roads away from Black Mountain Village. In the past, only when the village had large batches of furs and the like would they form a group of several dozen people to travel together to Black Cloud City.

Now that even the hunting team captain was dead, he obviously would not be able to find companions anytime soon.

He could only put this idea aside for the time being.

With the panel here, I'll just grind proficiency first.

Chen Feng made up his mind. At the very least, he had to break the limit once before heading to Black Stone City.

During that time, Chen Feng went to the Grain Shop at the village entrance and bought several dozen jin of rice, along with several jin of pork.

After lunch, the Nutrient Absorption skill gained a little more proficiency.

That afternoon, he continued grinding the Iron Fist Technique's proficiency. Chen Feng had a feeling that this was the strongest method he could use to improve himself for now.

A day passed.

He had ground the Iron Fist Technique's proficiency to 45% of the Beginner stage.

As for the trouble from the Huang Family that he had feared because of Wang Hu's death, it had yet to appear.

That put his mind at ease for the moment.

In any case, he would keep a low profile and focus on improving himself.

Another night passed.

Panel Information.

Name: Chen Feng

Strength: 13

Spirit: 9

Speed: 9

Technique: Iron Fist Technique (Beginner stage 45%)

Skills: Nutrient Absorption (Proficient stage 15%), Basic Archery (Proficient stage 41%), Yin Yang Arts (Beginner stage 30%), Forest Running (Beginner stage 11%), Trap Arts (Beginner stage 11%)

Beginner Talents: Innate Divine Strength (increases Strength by one point daily), Hundred-Step Piercing Willow, As If Walking on Flat Ground, Nimble Hands, Quick Mind.

The newly gained point of Strength was the boost brought by Innate Divine Strength.

Chen Feng could feel himself growing stronger without pause.

He planned to cultivate the Iron Fist Technique to a new realm today and see whether he could awaken a new talent.

However, while he was practicing that day,

Uncle Liu's house next door was rather lively.

It turned out that their son, Liu Yuan, whom they had sent to Black Stone City, had returned.

He was also Chen Feng's childhood friend, someone he had grown up playing with. Because he had been sturdy and strong, he had been sent to a blacksmith shop in Black Stone City a year ago to learn blacksmithing.

That afternoon, while Chen Feng continued practicing the Iron Fist Technique, Liu Yuan appeared outside the courtyard at some point and asked in surprise, "Brother Chen, are you practicing Martial Arts?"

Seeing Liu Yuan, Chen Feng smiled. "I'm just working out a little."

"You've done well for yourself developing in the city."

After all, he was only slowly going through the forms of the Iron Fist Technique.

His movements were sluggish, so he was not worried about being recognized.

But when he saw Liu Yuan, Chen Feng could not help feeling astonished. Liu Yuan was now nearly two meters tall, broad and powerfully built. Just looking at him was enough to make people afraid.

The reverence in the eyes of the other villagers when they looked at Liu Yuan said it all.

Liu Yuan nodded. "So that's how it is."

"Brother Chen, if you want to practice Martial Arts, don't try to figure it out on your own. Martial Arts still require proper guidance. Some even have matching secret medicines. Otherwise, it's extremely easy to injure your body."

Hearing this, Chen Feng stopped as well and asked somewhat curiously, "Little Yuan, you've spent a long time in the city. Can you tell me about Martial Arts? If I wanted to learn, how could I get guidance?"

So far, he had only seen some superficial information in a single Iron Fist Technique booklet.

Liu Yuan had spent a year in the County Town, so he clearly knew far more than a villager like him.

Liu Yuan smiled. "Brother Chen, what I know is only superficial information too. But since you want to hear it, I'll tell you."

"In Black Stone City, there are several paths to learning Martial Arts."

"The simplest is to spend money to enter a Martial Arts Hall. There are roughly dozens of proper Martial Arts Halls in the city, and if you pay, you can learn something."

"Second, there are many gang factions in the city. Join one of them, dare to fight and kill, and you can learn Martial Arts too."

"Third, join some Lineage factions. Those great Lineages preserve Martial Arts within their ranks."

"These are all methods that ordinary people like us can easily come into contact with. There is one more, the hardest method: join the Demon Patrol Division, an Official Faction. As long as you can pass their assessment and get in, you can learn orthodox cultivation techniques, and your status and position will leap across the social classes."

Chen Feng asked in surprise, "The Demon Patrol Division?"

Liu Yuan nodded. "That's right. It could be called the strongest faction in the Great Gan Dynasty, at least on the surface. It monitors all under heaven. It's terrifyingly powerful."

There was also a trace of longing in his eyes. "If you can join the Demon Patrol Division, you can be considered to have directly leapt across the social classes. Not even the County Magistrate can lord it over the Demon Patrol Division."

"Oh, right. I heard you ran into demons recently. The Demon Patrol Division specifically deals with demons."

Chen Feng asked in surprise, "They specifically deal with demons?"

His thoughts stirred. The sight from his memories of demons devouring people had remained in his mind, impossible to shake off.

And there was also that drop of Evil God Blood, diluted by one part in hundreds of millions, which he had refined. It filled him with immense curiosity.

An idea formed in his mind. It seemed that if he wanted to learn more about such matters, he would have to find out what the Demon Patrol Division was all about in the future.

"How can someone join the Demon Patrol Division?" Chen Feng continued asking.

Liu Yuan shook his head. "I don't know that."

"I've only heard that the Demon Patrol Division recruits powerful martial artists, or geniuses."

"As for exactly how it works, I don't know."

Chen Feng did not ask further.

Clearly, Liu Yuan did not know much either.

Chen Feng then asked in confusion, "By the way, you said powerful Lineages also train martial artists themselves? Does Steward Huang's family outside our village count as a Lineage?"

He had always been somewhat worried about the strength of Huang Lao Si's household.

If Huang Lao Si was not actually that strong, Chen Feng had considered uprooting him outright.