Body Tempering

"In our city's east side, another murder happened last night. A family of four was killed, and I heard they were all sucked dry like mummies. This is the third one, right?"

"A headless body was found in the south of the city again last night! They say the victim was out with someone else that night and was killed without a sound!"

"Another headless case, it's making everyone anxious! Add the two from the day before yesterday, plus the two in the west of the city, that's five people dead already!"

"Who isn't worried! They had their heads cut off in their sleep. Who knows who's next!"

"I heard people from the Demon Suppression Division are already involved!"

"Widow Wang isn't out selling tofu today. I really miss her!"

"Day one of missing old tofu!"

Great Xia Dynasty, Ji'an Prefecture, Xiaolin City, Auspicious Cloud Teahouse.

It used to be called Auspicious Cloud Restaurant, but later they scaled down and switched to selling tea.

With people coming and going every day, it's a good place to gather information.

Unlike the noisy main hall, a young man sat quietly in front of the teahouse counter. He looked about seventeen or eighteen years old.

He had white hair and two dark circles under his eyes that were particularly striking.

At that moment, he was resting his chin in his hand with a worried expression, thinking about something unknown.

He was the teahouse's waiter, Zhang You, a person from another world who had accidentally arrived in this world over half a year ago.

In his previous world, an accident caused him to lose his sight.

But after arriving in this world, his vision inexplicably recovered!

He would never forget the scene he saw when he first arrived in this world!

Although it was brief, the impression was profound!

An environment filled with deathly aura, coupled with a chaotic and disordered sky full of unclear vortices, and those white mists that reached straight into the sky!

That scene looked just like a painting by an impressionist painter named Vandy from his previous world!

In short, this world was not normal!

And after hearing and seeing things here for a while, he had a general understanding of this world.

This was also a world where demons, monsters, and ghosts ran rampant!

When he first arrived in this world, he was struck by lightning, but he seemed to have a strong will to live and wasn't killed!

Later, he was rescued by a kind person and brought to Xiaolin City.

At that time, Auspicious Cloud Restaurant had not yet been converted into a teahouse.

Starving, he ate his first meal without paying in his life, and the result was, of course, miserable!

After that, the restaurant's Shopkeeper Li let him stay at the shop, where he worked odd jobs to pay off his debt, and they also provided him with food and lodging!

So, he stayed at the shop and worked as a waiter until now.

Normally, he might have been interested in listening to the gossip of the people around him, but today he had lost that interest.

Or rather, he was now only concerned with how to save his own life, and had no time for other trivial matters!

Because last night he discovered something big that concerned his own life!

That was that Shopkeeper Li and his group were planning to eat him!

Yes! Literally, to devour him alive, saying he had a special physique and was needed for some kind of sacrificial array!

Of course, he wasn't having any of that, so he got up early this morning, avoided the crowds, and slipped out of the city gates.

He ran madly along the small path, passing by a mass grave in the process.

In short, he just ran as hard as he could, head down, running and running. He wanted to escape this deadly place!

He didn't know how far he ran, but he was exhausted. He felt like he must have run for at least a few miles.

Just when he thought he had escaped their clutches, he looked up.

Good heavens, he was back near the mass grave again!

He was very sure he hadn't gone in the wrong direction!

He refused to believe it and chose another direction, not even sticking to the road this time.

But before long, he found himself back near the mass grave again!

After verifying this multiple times, he finally came to a conclusion.

He seemed unable to escape!

It was like the legendary "ghost hitting the wall," going in circles with no way out!

In the end, he could only return to Xiaolin City with a heavy heart.

Shopkeeper Li was not at the teahouse that day; he had gone out on business.

Zhang You, helpless, had to open the teahouse as usual, but he was distracted all day!

He was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, truly panicked!

"Boy, brew a pot of tea and bring me a plate of peanuts!"

Suddenly, a booming voice interrupted Zhang You's thoughts!

A middle-aged man walked in from outside, choosing a table in a secluded corner.

This man was Pang Biao, who sported a full beard. Zhang You had seen him many times before.

Furthermore, he was one of the people who had plotted with Shopkeeper Li last night to deal with him!

They had originally intended to use sleeping gas to subdue Zhang You, but for some reason, Zhang You wasn't affected. Instead, he proceeded as usual and had already learned of their despicable plans in secret…

Pang Biao was no simple person; he was an official of the Demon Suppression Division, a Demon Suppression Guard!

As for the Demon Suppression Division, it was rumored to have existed since the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty, specializing in handling strange incidents.

Zhang You forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart and brought out the tea and snacks.

He had intended to leave immediately after setting the items down, to avoid being discovered.

However, as soon as he approached Pang Biao, an indescribable sensation spread through his body, like an electric current flowing through him.

Then, his eyes widened as he watched a wisp of blue-white energy fly out from Pang Biao and instantly disappear into his body.

It seemed as though no one else could see this wisp of energy; only he could!

Soon, a tingling sensation spread through his body.

He felt his body lighten, as if some shackles had been unlocked.

The feeling was akin to taking a potent elixir, instantly invigorating him and making him feel as if he had endless strength!

Moreover, his mind was clearer than ever before, and his senses seemed sharper than before!

"Hey! What are you spacing out for? Bring the tea!"

Suddenly, Pang Biao's words interrupted Zhang You's thoughts.

"I'm sorry…"

After apologizing several times, Zhang You quickly placed the tea and peanuts down and turned to leave!

But just as he sat back down at the counter, his nose suddenly felt warm, and a trickle of heat flowed out!

He raised his hand to touch it and realized he had a nosebleed!

When there were no customers in the evening, he directly closed shop and locked up!

The day passed with Zhang You lost in his own thoughts.

However, he still had no clue about the blue-white energy, nor did he know if it was harmful!

In any case, the day had been filled with anxiety, fearing he might just drop dead at any moment!

Just past midnight, Zhang You felt an urgent need to use the restroom and reluctantly went.

"Creak!"

Just as he finished and prepared to return to his room to rest, the back door creaked open. A biting cold wind instantly surged into the small courtyard through the gap in the door.

Zhang You was startled and couldn't help but shiver.

He turned his head and saw Shopkeeper Ling, who hadn't been seen all day, returning dusty from his travels.

As the shopkeeper approached, Zhang You's body once again felt that strange electric shock sensation.

To Zhang You's astonishment, three wisps of blue-white energy, thicker than what he'd seen during the day, flew out from Shopkeeper Ling and were instantly absorbed into his body.

Zhang You forced himself to calm down, nodded at the shopkeeper, and returned to his room.

Shopkeeper Ling stared at Zhang You's retreating back, nodding thoughtfully. He narrowed his eyes and revealed a faint smile!

After lying down in his room, Zhang You found that the tingling sensation after absorbing the blue-white energy hadn't disappeared; instead, it intensified, even causing his entire body to ache!

"What's going on?"

The intense pain began to spread throughout his body, not just in his muscles, but even his bones felt a stinging sensation!

But this was only the beginning. Soon, he felt as if he were being cut into a thousand pieces.

Cold sweat streamed down his face. He endured the pain, trying his best not to cry out. Eventually, his consciousness began to blur.

But in the end, he held on!

During this time, black blood seeped from his skin, along with other foul-smelling, pitch-black substances.

He had a feeling that if he could just endure this ordeal, he might be able to undergo a complete transformation!

The agonizing experience, worse than death, lasted for over half an hour before finally ending.

In the end, he wasn't sure how he survived it, but he emerged from it safe and sound!

Dragging his exhausted body, he got up and took a bath.

Recalling his previous two experiences of absorbing the blue-white energy, Zhang You realized that it bore some resemblance to the descriptions of body tempering in martial arts books!

So, he felt as if he had awakened a body-tempering ability!

With nothing better to do, he decided to call the changes his body underwent after absorbing the blue-white energy "Minor Body Tempering."

Once Minor Body Tempering accumulated to a certain degree, a Great Body Tempering would then occur.

The experience just now was clearly a Great Body Tempering!

At this moment, he could clearly feel a power within his body, but it required correct guidance to be drawn out.

This gave him a sliver of hope to survive!

The winter night was exceptionally cold and desolate!

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a black shadow flashed past the window!

"Can't they just leave me in peace!"

Zhang Lin, who had just lain down, snapped back to attention and looked towards the window, still shaken.

Nothing happened as a result!

About half a quarter of an hour later, a shadow slowly lengthened outside the door, and the temperature in the entire room began to drop sharply.

"Who!"

He swallowed, trying to bolster his courage, and reached for the short knife under his pillow.

At the same time, he cursed inwardly, "Damn it!"

If you can't find the book by its title, you can try searching for the author instead! Perhaps the title was just changed!