Wenzhao Is Back?

Purple-black lines continuously surfaced across Jiang Yuan's skin, like centipedes crawling over it.

All over his body, scorching heat, searing pain, coolness, comfort—every kind of sensation came flooding in without end.

Jiang Yuan's expression twisted into a grimace one moment, relaxed the next, then contorted again before turning serene.

The muscles across his body writhed incessantly. Some bulged as though pleading, while others shrank so severely that bone could be seen beneath them, making for an utterly bizarre sight.

Jiang Yuan's mind was completely blank at that moment. He clenched his teeth hard.

Second by second, time passed, yet Jiang Yuan had no idea how long it had been.

Only then did the abnormalities gradually fade. The scorching power of the strange bone returned to the strange bone in his chest, while the Star Power dissipated. His entire body seemed to have returned to normal.

Feeling somewhat weak, Jiang Yuan held his head and slowly climbed up from the floor. He glanced at the tattered scraps of clothing on the ground, then changed into a fresh set.

Then he looked at his right hand.

Two lines had been carved into the back of his right hand as though by a blade.

They seemed to be nothing more than two rather strange scars.

As Jiang Yuan looked at them, he felt that he could somehow stir those two lines.

"Army Breaker?"

Jiang Yuan murmured softly. A flash of light suddenly burst from his right hand, followed by agonizing pain. The markings appeared to be glowing.

When the light faded, Jiang Yuan's right hand had become a bloody mess.

Jiang Yuan looked at the marks that had now been branded onto his hand.

Holding his right hand with his left, he found a roll of bandages in the room and wrapped them around it.

After concealing the markings on his right hand beneath the bandages, Jiang Yuan glanced at the room, which was in complete disarray, and sighed softly before beginning to tidy it up.

The Internal Force within his body was circulating, and Jiang Yuan could sense that it seemed to have become even purer.

Yet there did not seem to be any other changes?

Could the power of his strange bone and Star Power just now have been solely for refining his Internal Force?

Jiang Yuan frowned slightly. After cleaning up the room, he opened the door and sensed the new power contained within his body.

At the Late Qi and Blood Stage, one could only serve as an Escort Hand, while Internal Force Realm experts could become escort masters or chief escorts.

Only by becoming an Internal Force expert could one truly gain a foothold in the escort agency.

Next, he needed an Internal Force Realm cultivation method.

At the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, after breaking through to the Internal Force Realm, one could receive an excellent Internal Force cultivation method from the agency.

He could also claim an escort master's identity plaque, cultivation method, and uniform.

But he had advanced a little too quickly. Would that be too eye-catching?

In the history of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, there had never been a martial artist who crossed the entire Late Qi and Blood Stage in a single month.

Jiang Yuan hesitated for a while, but ultimately decided to wait a few more days.

As for cultivation methods, Jiang Yuan's mother from his original body had left him the Gale Embrace Art.

It was an exceptional Internal Force Realm cultivation method. According to Wenzhao, this Gale Embrace Art was far stronger than the methods issued by the escort agency.

Among all the Internal Force cultivation methods in the escort agency, it could rank in the top three.

However, Jiang Yuan had another, even better option.

"Use the Martial Arts Customization Card!"

[Please select a customization direction]

[Calculating based on the host's physical condition...]

[Calculation countdown: 11:59:55]

Did customizing a martial art require time? Still, Jiang Yuan was not short on time.

"Did you hear? The Wang Family in the city was wiped out!"

"What? The Wang Family! Damn it, one of my closest friends belongs to the Wang Family. Is he still alive?"

"I don't know. Everyone who was in the Wang Family residence that day died! Even the Wang Family patriarch. But your friend... if he was outside, perhaps he escaped calamity."

"Brother Wang Jie! I'm coming to find you!"

"Sigh, with several great figures in the city suppressing everything, who would have thought that a strange evil would actually enter Haiyuan City?"

"When was the last time something like this happened?"

"Fifteen years ago?"

As Jiang Yuan listened to the escort agency disciples passing around him, his gaze flickered slightly. A strange evil?

Even the Blood Force Grandmasters who could devour ghosts had failed to stop it?

And this was an incident where an entire great clan had been slaughtered... The Wang Family itself was not weak either, holding a place among the second-rate forces.

Jiang Yuan put the matter aside for the time being.

Yet all of Haiyuan City began to stir. The second-rate forces were all in danger, scrambling to seek the protection of first-rate forces.

Jiang Yuan even saw several heads of second-rate forces come to the escort agency to request protection.

But the three chief escorts had yet to return. Even if those people had come, nothing could be done.

Jiang Yuan shook his head.

Even someone like the Wang Family patriarch, at the Peak Hua Jin Stage, had died at the hands of a strange evil? It seemed his strength was still insufficient!

He had to continue cultivating.

The past life of the Fourth Life!

Sin Heart...

Jiang Yuan wanted to know exactly what ingredient within the Gate-Breaking Pill was related to Sin Heart, but found nothing.

The escort agency simply refused to tell him, no matter how many merit points Jiang Yuan was willing to offer.

The Gate-Breaking Pill was the foundation of every force, and the effects of its pill formula were extraordinary. Every force had a different formula, so it was only natural that the Zhenyuan Escort Agency was unwilling to provide its disciples with the formula.

There were also some Gate-Breaking Pills in the Black Market, but their effects were comparatively poor. Only some Rogue Cultivators would buy them. Yet the effects of those defective Gate-Breaking Pills were far inferior to the genuine product; even if Rogue Cultivators swallowed them, breaking through would still be difficult.

However, Jiang Yuan did not need defective Gate-Breaking Pills. He only needed the Sin Heart ingredient within them.

Jiang Yuan suddenly froze.

Where was the Black Market...

Looks like he would have to find an acquaintance to take him there...

Who did he know in the escort agency...

Beichuan Wan? Zhang Maoxi?

*

*

"Brother Li, sorry to disturb you."

"Brother Jiang, what is it?"

When Jiang Yuan found Li Quan, Li Quan was squatting on a large, square slab of bluestone, writing something.

Seeing Jiang Yuan approach, Li Quan hurriedly stood up.

"Brother Li, what are you..." Jiang Yuan pointed questioningly at the letter paper on the bluestone.

Li Quan scratched his head somewhat bashfully and said, "Writing another letter to Yao Mei."

At that moment, Jiang Yuan saw the entire contents of the letter. It was not that Jiang Yuan wanted to peek; his eyesight was simply too sharp, and he had seen every word on the page at a glance.

Jiang Yuan immediately understood what Li Quan was writing.

It was actually a love letter, and it was full of clichéd phrases—neither sweet nor tender, only cloying.

Jiang Yuan shook his head. "Brother Li, if you want to write a love letter, I have a few lines you could use for reference."

"Huh?"

"For example: If you are well, then every day is sunny."

"At dawn I watch the sky; at dusk I watch the clouds. Walking, I think of you; sitting, I think of you."

"For the rest of my life, you are the wind and snow, you are the plain days; you are poverty, you are glory; you are the tenderness in my heart, and you are all my eyes can see."

"The spring and autumn in your eyes surpass every mountain and river I have ever seen and loved."

Jiang Yuan casually recited quite a few famous love lines from his past life.

Perhaps there were people in this world who could write words even finer than those Jiang Yuan remembered, but that person was certainly not Li Quan.

Li Quan's eyes were shining now as he looked at Jiang Yuan with immense admiration.

Jiang Yuan sighed softly, remembering the days when he had been a simp in his previous life. It was precisely because of those days that he could remember these love lines so clearly.

But now, what were girls compared to the joy of cultivation?

"Wow, Brother Jiang, you're incredible! I admire you beyond measure!"

"But Brother Jiang, why do you know such... such romantic words? Could it be the rumors about you and Miss Beichuan..."

Jiang Yuan's face darkened, and he cut Li Quan off.

"Brother Li, I came to find you because I want to go to the Black Market. I need some Gate-Breaking Pills."

"Gate-Breaking Pills? Could it be that Brother Jiang failed to break through a few days ago... Alas, I don't have any extra Special Merit Points either. Brother Jiang, come with me. I know a little about the Black Market."

Jiang Yuan nodded. Just as he was about to take a step, an Internal Force escort master suddenly rushed over. Seeing Jiang Yuan, the man brightened and said, "Jiang Yuan, Lord Wen wishes to see you."

Wenzhao was back?