Shatter Void

After waiting a moment longer and finding no further activity, Zhang You changed his route and left the area.

Though curious, he wasn't foolish enough to investigate what was happening inside the large manor.

Furthermore, since Shopkeeper Li and Pang Biao had entered the manor, they might be discussing how to carve him up.

He secretly made a mental note of the Tang Family!

The Tang Family was a prominent clan in Xiaolin City, with extensive business dealings, having risen from merchants.

Their patriarch, Tang Julou, was even known as a great philanthropist, rumored to often assist refugees and provide funds to the government for building bridges and roads.

His reputation was excellent throughout the surrounding villages and towns.

Zhang You had been in this world for over half a year, and his knowledge of the Tang Family was limited to hearsay; he had never personally interacted with them.

"Huh? Why am I still in the alley?"

Zhang You stopped his wandering thoughts and finally noticed something was wrong.

He was already in Ping'an Alley, but after walking for a long time, he still hadn't emerged.

He took a deep breath and continued forward along the path. After walking for a considerable time, he found himself still within the alley.

Mist had begun to fill the surroundings.

"Ghost Wall?"

As he stood still, a tongue shot out from behind him with incredible speed, aiming to wrap around his neck.

"Hmph! Playing tricks!"

He spun around and grabbed the tongue, a surge of blood qi extending along it.

With a yank.

"Ah!"

A miserable cry rang out. The assailant didn't reveal themselves, but Zhang You was already holding a long, severed tongue.

The tongue was slimy and covered in pustules, oozing an unknown liquid.

Suddenly, the pustules began to swell, showing signs of bursting.

Zhang You quickly threw it away and retreated rapidly.

"Bang!"

The unknown liquid splashed everywhere, and the surrounding mist thickened even further!

"Hiss!"

Zhang You exclaimed in alarm, hastily raising his blood qi to push back the dense fog.

The mist had a corrosive effect.

At this moment, Zhang You's weakness became apparent: he had too few skills. He possessed immense brute strength and could handle close-quarters combat, but when it came to ranged attacks, he was clearly struggling.

This mist was difficult to deal with, and it would be bad once his blood qi was depleted.

He ran forward quickly for a while, only to find himself still in the alley.

After a moment of thought, he channeled his blood qi into his right fist and slammed it hard onto the ground.

"Whoosh!"

A powerful gust of wind radiated outwards from him.

The smoke billowed outwards, and the surroundings quickly began to clear.

Not far ahead of him, a floating black shadow appeared.

It was the Long-Tongued Ghost that had been tailing him all the way from Mass Grave Hill!

Of course, Zhang You didn't know this.

The shadow's face was obscured by black hair, but a long tongue dangled in front of it, nearly touching the ground.

Clearly, the shadow hadn't anticipated this development and was frozen in place.

Zhang You, naturally, wouldn't let this opportunity pass. He mobilized his entire body's blood qi, stomped his foot, and instantly shot towards the Long-Tongued Ghost.

Before it could react, he grabbed it by the neck.

The creature struggled with all its might, but it was helpless.

It raised its hands and attempted to strike and grasp at Zhang You.

Zhang You swung his other hand forward, directly shattering the Long-Tongued Ghost's arms.

"Ah..."

As blood qi was injected, the Long-Tongued Ghost quickly turned to ash and dissipated.

A wisp of blue-white energy was absorbed by Zhang You.

At this moment, the surrounding mist had vanished, and Zhang You found himself standing at the mouth of the alley.

After the consecutive battles, he felt somewhat drained.

Without dwelling on the origins of the Long-Tongued Ghost, Zhang You ambled back home.

After eating some dry rations and resting for a bit, he finally felt revitalized.

"There's not much time left, time to start visualizing!"

He took out the cultivation manuals and flipped open "Four Symbols Hegemon Body" once more.

After reading through it several times, he found no errors in his memory and sat down in meditation.

Soon, the White Tiger illusion he had constructed appeared in his mind, and he began reciting the incantations from the cultivation technique.

Suddenly, the scene flashed, and he felt as if he had entered an ancient battlefield.

He looked down at himself and realized he was in a spirit body state!

Before he could react.

A White Tiger appeared in the center of the field, surrounded by countless monstrous beasts.

These beasts, if they were to appear now, would be world-destroying entities. With every movement, they shattered galaxies and shifted constellations; they were terrifyingly powerful.

The White Tiger, however, was crackling with lightning all over its body. It fearlessly faced the surrounding enemies and instantly vanished from its spot.

Afterward, a rapidly moving bolt of lightning appeared on the battlefield. With each flicker, a monstrous beast fell.

But Zhang You could see the White Tiger's movements. Its massive claws were like scythes harvesting lives, and every roar it let out was accompanied by earth-shattering changes. Wherever it passed, nothing grew.

Even space itself was torn open with gaping holes!

Zhang You himself felt a world-ending energy surge towards him, incredibly real.

Even his spirit body began to dissipate.

"Hmm?"

Zhang You had no idea what was happening.

Suddenly, the White Tiger erupted with lightning, drawing upon the heavens and earth, turning the entire battlefield into a lightning prison!

Zhang You only had time to glance at it before he was directly scattered.

At this moment, he suddenly woke up, drenched in sweat, as if everything that had just happened was real.

His expression was shocked, and his emotions were in turmoil for a long time.

When he tried to circulate the cultivation technique again, he could no longer enter that battlefield.

Zhang You frowned. After multiple attempts, he finally confirmed that he could only enter that scene during the very first time.

Calming himself down, he accepted it and continued to visualize the White Tiger illusion in his mind.

While focusing on the White Tiger illusion, he thought about what he had seen on the battlefield earlier.

Before long, he became deeply immersed. Soon, arcs of electricity began to flow through his body.

Some of the scattered electrical arcs were absorbed by the book "How the Great Muscle Man Was Forged."

Until a certain moment, a wisp of electricity that had been dormant in his dantian suddenly erupted. The White Tiger illusion in his mind seemed to come alive, disappearing instantly and reappearing within his dantian.

The White Tiger opened its mouth, swallowed that wisp of electricity, and then became dormant within his dantian.

Zhang You already felt a massive change in his body. Peering inward, he saw the White Tiger in his dantian.

With a thought, he could connect with it and even summon it to fight.

When Zhang You first arrived in this world, he had been struck by lightning on the spot. Later, a trace of electricity was left in his dantian, remaining dormant.

After his vision recovered, he was able to see inside himself, so he knew his condition.

He had initially thought it would remain that way, but he never expected so many things to happen just by cultivating a technique.

Regardless, he had gained an additional means of combat.

Furthermore, his cultivation session had brought other gains.

He had comprehended a move called "Shatter Void"!

Upon mastering it, he could even shatter space; it was incredibly powerful!

He raised his hand, and with a thought, his blood qi enveloped it, giving it more power than before.

He then communicated with the White Tiger in his dantian. The blood qi on his hand disappeared, replaced by arcs of lightning!

He peered inward again, observing the four unidentified energies within his body and falling into deep thought.

One black, two red, and one green.

Combining this with his experiences over the past few days, he quickly realized that he had been marked by others!

He couldn't see them before, but now he could.

"Bang!"

As Zhang You was lost in thought, the book "How the Great Muscle Man Was Forged" on the table suddenly caught fire.

"Holy crap!"