Dragon's Roar Iron Shirt

That very day, Heavenly Profound Pavilion was sealed by Qingfeng City's City Guard.

This martial arts sect, which had stood in Qingfeng City for decades, came crashing down overnight.

Soldiers from the City Lord's Mansion stormed into the pavilion and arrested all its higher-ups and core disciples.

Colluding with demonic beasts and slaughtering the Human Race was a crime punishable by the extermination of nine clans.

The people of Qingfeng City discussed it heatedly. Once they learned of Heavenly Profound Pavilion's deeds, every one of them applauded in delight.

"They deserved it! I was wondering why people had been disappearing so often lately. So it was these beasts stirring up trouble!"

"You can know a man's face but not his heart!"

Shen Che did not linger long in Qingfeng City.

The matter had been settled, and every purpose of his journey had been fulfilled.

Several days later.

Cangyun City, Demon Suppression Division.

Shen Che entered Yan Xiu's room.

Yan Xiu was sorting through case files. Seeing him, he set down his brush.

"You're back? Did things go smoothly in Qingfeng City?"

Shen Che placed an object wrapped in black cloth onto the table.

"The missing persons case has been resolved. The chief culprit, Feng Changkong, along with the demonic beast colluding with him, has been executed."

"Oh?"

Yan Xiu's interest was piqued.

"Feng Changkong was considered an expert in Qingfeng City. You dealt with him that quickly?"

As he spoke, he untied the black cloth wrapping.

Inside lay a savage jet-black horn, still stained with undried blood and demonic aura.

The relaxed expression on Yan Xiu's face vanished.

He picked up the horn and examined it carefully, his fingers even rubbing over its rough surface.

"This is... Yan Hong?"

Uncertainty crept into his voice.

"Yan Hong, an A-rank wanted criminal of the Demon Suppression Division."

Shen Che confirmed it.

Yan Xiu abruptly rose from his chair and paced twice around the table.

"It really was him! That old monster had lived nearly three hundred years. His cultivation had reached the Primal Force Peak, only one step away from entering the Innate Realm. Yet who would have thought... he would fall by your hand."

He looked at Shen Che as though meeting him for the first time.

"How did you do it?"

"Luck."

Shen Che gave the same two words.

"Luck?"

Yan Xiu shook his head, rejecting that explanation.

"Luck cannot kill an old demon at the Primal Force Peak. That old thing was cunning by nature. If not ten, then at least eight of our comrades died at his hands. He roamed free for three hundred years beneath the Demon Suppression Division's pursuit, and it was certainly not strength alone that he relied on."

Yan Xiu sat back down and poured himself a cup of tea, yet did not drink it for a long while.

After a long silence, he spoke again.

"I have always been curious. Your rate of advancement is far too abnormal."

"Shen Che, are you a Bloodline Warrior?"

"A Bloodline Warrior?"

A trace of timely confusion appeared on Shen Che's face.

Seeing that he did not seem to be pretending, Yan Xiu took the initiative to explain.

"A Bloodline Warrior is an extremely special branch among martial artists."

"There are two kinds."

"One is inheritance. Their ancestors were Martial Dao Kings, or even greater existences. The power of their bloodline is passed down from generation to generation. Their descendants are born far beyond ordinary people, natural vessels for martial arts."

"The other is ancestral reversion."

"These people's ancestors may have been utterly ordinary, but the source of their bloodline can be traced back to the distant era of Gods and Devils. A trace of Gods and Devils blood lies hidden within them. Given a fortunate coincidence, once that bloodline awakens, they can ascend to the heavens in a single step, a fish leaping through the Dragon Gate."

There was a touch of emotion in Yan Xiu's tone.

"No matter which kind they are, they are true freaks of nature. Their cultivation advances a thousand miles in a day, their combat strength far surpasses those of the same realm, and they may even grasp special abilities beyond all reason."

Shen Che listened quietly without interrupting.

Yet he was calculating something else in his heart.

Bloodline Warriors sounded impressive enough, but in the end, they still depended on heaven for their meals.

How could they compare to his own system?

Seeing his silence, Yan Xiu took it as tacit admission and did not press further.

Everyone had their own secrets. The Demon Suppression Division looked only at results, never the process.

"You handled the Qingfeng City case very well."

Yan Xiu took a mystic iron token from a drawer. It was a Demon Suppressing Token used internally by the Demon Suppression Division to record merits.

"You killed two Commander-level Demonic Beasts. By the rules, one thousand Contribution Points for each, two thousand in total."

"As for Yan Hong..."

Yan Xiu tapped his fingers on the tabletop.

"That creature was an A-rank wanted criminal listed on the Demon Suppression Board, with a bounty as high as six thousand Contribution Points."

"Together, that makes eight thousand Contribution Points."

He injected a stream of true qi into the token. The other token at Shen Che's waist immediately trembled slightly.

A warm current flowed into him.

Eight thousand points!

Shen Che's heart uncontrollably skipped faster.

This time, he had made a killing.

With this enormous sum, not only could he open the remaining seven true meridians, he could even clear out part of the Treasure Pavilion.

"Your strength has already exceeded the bounds of an ordinary True Meridian Realm cultivator."

Yan Xiu's voice pulled him back from his wild joy.

"Work hard. The Demon Suppression Division will never mistreat any meritorious servant."

Shen Che composed himself, clasped his fists toward Yan Xiu in salute, then turned and left.

He did not waste a single word.

With the merits in hand, his next step was to convert them into tangible combat strength.

Treasure Pavilion.

The steward in charge of guarding it was a white-haired old man.

When Shen Che handed over his Demon Suppressing Token and stated the amount of pills he wanted to exchange for, the old steward even raised his eyelids.

"Eighty bottles of Meridian Opening Pills? Young man, are you sure you did not say that wrong?"

One bottle of Meridian Opening Pills cost one hundred Contribution Points.

Eighty bottles meant eight thousand points.

That was nearly the entire fortune a veteran Demon Queller Envoy could accumulate over several years.

"I'm sure."

Shen Che answered crisply.

The old steward said nothing more. He took the token, deducted eight thousand Contribution Points, then removed a huge wooden chest from the medicine shelf behind him.

"They're all inside. Count them yourself."

Shen Che opened the chest, and a rich medicinal fragrance rushed at his face.

He did not count them carefully. He simply carried the chest back to the private residence assigned to him by the Demon Suppression Division.

After closing the door, he set the wooden chest on the table, but did not rush to consume the pills.

He still had 1,500 Time Value.

His consciousness sank into his mind, and the attribute panel appeared.

Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield had already reached perfection. To improve it further, he would need to seek a higher-tier cultivation technique.

His choice fell upon another core body-tempering technique.

Iron Shirt.

This technique shared the same origin as Golden Bell Shield. It focused on tempering the flesh, tendons, and bones, and was incomparably fierce.

"System, modify the cultivation time for Iron Shirt."

[Iron Shirt has met the breakthrough requirements. Advancing to the twelfth level requires 3,000 Time Value. Proceed with advancement?]

Advance.

The command was issued.

A surge of heat more violent than any before erupted from the depths of his dantian.

The golden true qi within him was like molten iron thrown into a steel furnace, hammered and tempered again and again.

Its original gold gradually took on a layer of crimson.

The black martial outfit on his body billowed without wind, suddenly swelling as a dark-red metallic sheen surfaced over it, like close-fitting armor.

Roar—

A dragon's roar that split clouds and shattered stone did not come from his mouth, but burst forth roaring from every pore of his body.

Unlike a tiger's roar, with its majestic dominance, this sound carried a sharp, soaring edge capable of tearing through everything.

[Technique transformation successful. Core ability unlocked: Dragon's Roar Armor Pierce.]

[Your fist force carries a dragon's roar, capable of intimidating the enemy's mind; true qi transforms into armor, invincible against all.]

It had succeeded.

Dragon's Roar Iron Shirt!