"Here, your donkey-meat flatbread~"
The plump proprietress, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen carrying a plate.
Before she even arrived,
her shout had already reached Su Heng's ears.
Hot donkey meat was tucked inside the crisp, soft flatbread, its aroma utterly enticing.
Although he had slept all day, he had also expended no small amount of energy.
"Thanks."
Taking the plate, Su Heng enjoyed this morning's meal with spicy pepper soup while reading the news on his communicator.
Qing City, where Su Heng now lived, was one of Wangjing City's seven satellite cities.
Last night, a Red Moon had appeared near Qing City, causing some plants and animals to mutate. Fortunately, the Inspection Department, responsible for maintaining order, discovered it in time.
That was why there had not been too many casualties.
Wangjing City and its several affiliated satellite cities imposed extremely strict controls on firearms.
There were advantages and disadvantages to doing so.
The good part was that, in such a dangerous environment, it greatly reduced the cost of maintaining public security.
Even with firearms tightly controlled, Brother Long's group was still this brazen.
If restrictions on thermal weapons were lifted, it was simply unimaginable how rampant Qing City's underground gangs would become.
Of course...
The drawbacks were equally obvious.
Without thermal weapons, relying solely on the frail human body, if one encountered a mutant beast outside, there was basically only one choice left: crouch down on the spot and bury one's head between one's knees.
At least there would be an intact corpse left behind, one that could still be identified, right?
The news had reported on last night's Red Moon.
Yet Su Heng did not feel much about it. After cultivating templates such as Gamia and Willow Tree,
his physique had also improved slightly.
In particular, his resistance to Red Moon radiation was extremely strong even without merging with a template.
"Someone died in our neighborhood last night. Did you guys know?"
After finishing breakfast,
Su Heng had just been about to leave.
Then he suddenly heard those words beside him. He frowned and sat back down.
"Oh, you heard about that too?"
Another person put down his chopsticks and sighed. "It seems it was Old Qin from Building Four. He was a pitiful man too."
"I heard he was an outstanding graduate from Wangjing University, then worked at a research institute under Heavenly God Pharmaceutical Company. He used to be quite successful, but unfortunately, he was infected by Red Moon radiation..."
"First, the company fired him. Then his wife ran off too. He was left with a mentally impaired daughter..."
"...What about his daughter? I remember Old Qin treated her pretty well."
"Old Qin killed her with his own hands."
"..."
The other person fell silent for a long while before speaking. "What a pity. Still, dying early might be better. In this fucked-up world, there's not much point in living."
"More or less."
"..."
After mealtime, the people in the breakfast shop gradually dispersed, each going about their own business.
Returning to his room,
Su Heng turned on his computer and entered the words Heavenly God Pharmaceutical into the browser.
Strings of information appeared on the screen.
The mainstream Gene Awakening Potions on the market, along with several types of anti-radiation medicine,
were all produced by this company.
In the Red Moon Era, with technological development at a standstill, pharmaceutical companies were definitely among the most profitable industries.
There was negative news about Heavenly God Pharmaceutical Company.
There was, but none of it was particularly damaging.
Especially since there was so much information online, with true and false reports mixed together, that no one could tell what the actual truth was.
The reason he had suddenly become so concerned with Heavenly God Pharmaceutical Company
was not only the conversation he had overheard downstairs just now, but also another reason.
Back when he had been at Qingcheng KTV,
Su Heng had hidden outside the private room and eavesdropped on Brother Long's group. The company they mentioned was very likely Heavenly God Pharmaceutical.
"If they're collecting True Relics, Heavenly God Pharmaceutical certainly has a motive."
His slender, powerful fingers lightly tapped against the desk.
"But this method of collecting True Relics..."
Ring, ring, ring!
A series of urgent chimes came from the communicator beside him, interrupting Su Heng's thoughts.
He picked up the communicator.
A string of messages appeared on the lock screen. They were from Su Yue.
"Cousin, I've translated and organized that document you sent me earlier."
"Really?"
Su Heng's expression shifted slightly.
That relic had given Su Heng one hundred and fifty True Points, and its contents had made him extremely curious.
"Thanks. You really helped me out this time," Su Heng replied.
"You're welcome. Just remember to treat me to a meal next time."
Su Yue typed very quickly. Almost as soon as Su Heng sent his message, her reply arrived.
After that,
a packaged file was sent over.
Su Heng downloaded it onto his computer, then unzipped it and examined it. Images were arranged across the computer screen.
As he looked...
Su Heng's gaze gradually turned solemn.
This was indeed as he had initially thought: a secret art passed down from the Golden Age.
Although the entire book contained only a few dozen pages,
it was divided into two sections: an Internal Skill and a fist technique. The Internal Skill was called Golden Joy Cultivation, while the fist technique was called Five Elements Fist.
The Internal Skill and fist technique complemented each other.
Together, they formed the complete secret art known as the Golden Joy Five Elements Fist.
"A secret art passed down from the Golden Age, a mysterious Ancient Book, and those unusual True Points... Could it be..."
Su Heng was generally a steady person.
But now, a string of distinctive traits had appeared in this book all at once.
It was hard not to let his imagination run wild. Could he really have gotten his hands on one of those legendary martial arts manuals?
Filled with curiosity and anticipation,
Su Heng began carefully studying the secrets within the Golden Joy Five Elements Cultivation. He recorded the movements in the illustrations and tried to learn them.
Time flew like an arrow.
In the blink of an eye,
nearly a week had passed.
One evening, after finishing his training, Su Heng returned home. After washing up briefly, he sat before his computer desk and fell into deep thought.
It had taken him only a few hours to become proficient in the Balai Jab through videos.
He could even draw inferences from it.
From that, Su Heng believed that his aptitude for martial arts was not bad.
But for this Golden Joy Five Elements Cultivation, over the course of an entire week,
aside from the twelve fixed hours he spent each day on the two templates, he had devoted every remaining moment of free time to studying this mysterious secret art.
There were more than a dozen illustrations.
A little over a thousand words. He could now recite the entire book backward and forward.
But as for any gains, he had not felt even the slightest hint of them.
This plunged Su Heng into deep self-doubt.
"If there's nothing wrong with me, then there must be something wrong with this book..."
A trace of helplessness flashed through Su Heng's eyes.
"The Internal Skill described in the book is so abstruse and mysterious, yet completely impossible to put into practice. On the other hand, the fist technique in the back has some exquisite and practical aspects."
"Still, that's fine.
If my strength is ever exposed someday in the future, I can attribute it to these ancient methods."
Before you continue