Seeking a Mysterious Powerful Backer

Yun Shou's physical strength, energy, and spirit were astonishingly strong, so he tossed and turned in bed until midnight, unable to fall asleep, staying awake all night.

Normal martial artists would not encounter such a situation. Though they too were full of energy, their daily martial training during the day had already drained most of it, so naturally they would collapse into bed at night.

But Yun Shou had kept up his usual fishing pace today, leaving more than half his energy untouched.

It was not until dawn, when a sliver of light rose at the horizon, that he finally felt a little sleepy.

But it was no longer suitable to sleep now.

"After the simulation, I'll sleep when I set sail."

He picked up his shabby little quilt and headed toward the departure point.

Yet halfway there, seeing the dim sky, he turned around and walked back.

Looks like it's going to rain. It's dangerous, so it wouldn't be convenient to sleep while out on the boat.

"I'll sleep at home today. It's not as if the Qing He Gang keeps a dead watch over every fisherman, forcing them to set sail every day."

Those independent fishermen only needed to sell their catches through that unscrupulous merchant. As for Yun Shou, who was practically bound by a deed of sale, he merely had to settle accounts once each month and pay a certain redemption fee.

There were still five days until his next "repayment."

"It seems I won't need to fish every day from now on. Could it be that I still won't be able to crush this tiny Qing He Gang in five days?"

"I've gotten carried away." Yun Shou let out a soft sigh. "The Qing He Gang, which once pressed down on my head like a mountain, has now become 'tiny.' I've completely lost my awe of them."

Then his tone shifted. "But I deserve this!"

"After more than forty years of storms and hardships, I don't even know how many years I've worked for the Qing He Gang. I've long exceeded the time stated in the contract. Now they owe me!"

"Though I really haven't stayed that many years, wasn't the me in the simulations still me? Every last one of them was my true self, sharing my blood, my soul, and my nature!"

(Hands on hips)

"Third simulation, begin!"

Ding! Foundation -1%. Current Foundation: 128%

Da Qing 269. A sharp blade in hand easily gave rise to murderous intent. As a Second-rate Martial Artist, your every gesture unconsciously carried confidence, and your courage swelled along with it.

One evening, Shao Erdan, who had a bad reputation in Qing He Village, appeared to be chatting nonsense with you. In truth, his companion Shao Yimao had slipped behind you to secretly steal your catch, then claimed he had caught it himself.

You hammered them with two punches, smashing their faces into bloom, and took back your catch. But their screams drew several Qing He Gang members over.

These ordinary members were merely Third-rate Martial Artists. You preferred caution and did not wish for conflict, but one of them sneered and swept a kick at you, saying he wanted to test your mettle.

You realized trouble had come knocking. After catching his kick with both hands, you glanced at the bruised and swollen Shao Erdan and saw a vicious smile on his face. You roughly guessed that this member had some sort of connection to Shao Erdan.

You sent that member sprawling with several consecutive moves. Though you were still far from your peak in the previous simulation, you were at least a Second-rate Martial Artist now. With your Internal Force erupting, few beneath the Second-rate level could stand against you.

Another person was about to make a move as well. Not wanting to stir up trouble one after another, you explained that Shao Erdan had started it all, then quietly slipped a handful of copper coins to the second member.

"So that's how it is." He expressed his understanding. "Looks like my Wang Brothers were the ones being unreasonable. Still, you're quite strong."

You decided to spin a tale, saying that on one voyage, you had encountered a white-haired old man walking across the lake. After saying you had caught his eye, the old man sent a strange warm current into your body, and your strength had gradually increased... blah blah blah.

Qing He Gang's leader, Xu Ruohai, summoned you. After feeling your bones for a while, he found that your aptitude was merely average, yet you strangely possessed Internal Force and a matching level of physical strength. He ruled out the possibility that you had secretly trained in martial arts on your own.

Nor could it have been some rare medicinal herb, because there were still traces of the Iron Body Technique on your body. This was something medicinal herbs could not achieve. (In truth, it was purely the Iron Body Technique. They believed some immensely powerful martial artist had not only transmitted Internal Force, but had also grafted the effects of the technique onto you.)

Gang Leader Xu Ruohai pondered for a long time, found nothing amiss, and decided to let you join the Qing He Gang.

With a grand wave of his hand, he tore up your deed of sale on the spot!

Yun Shou: "Ah, now you're making me feel bad about stomping on your face in a few days."

Then he waved again, having an underling bring over a new contract: you were to join the Qing He Gang as an ordinary member for now. Term: permanent!

What? The reason for signing this contract?

Why not take a look at the gang leader's First-rate Martial Artist-sized fists?

Yun Shou: "After stepping on him, I'll have to grind down a few more times."

You joined the Qing He Gang and learned the extent of the forces under its influence: thirteen lakeside villages, including Qing He Village.

Several of them even shared the same name, Qing He Village. Within the Qing He Gang, however, they were distinguished as Qing He Village No. 1, Qing He Village No. 2, and so on.

You no longer needed to fish. Your daily work consisted of guarding, collecting rent, and the like. For instance, most of the houses in the surrounding villages belonged to the Qing He Gang, and the fishermen had to pay rent to continue living in them.

"Damn capitalists!" Yun Shou spat.

Da Qing 270. Life as an official Qing He Gang member was far better than life as a fisherman. You lived your days in comfort and pleasure, and could not help lamenting your own corruption.

But you knew it was not your fault. It was all Gang Leader Xu Ruohai's fault. He had forced you into the gang. You had not wanted to join in the first place.

You found time to visit Qingcheng. Although you had not chosen to inherit the memories from the previous simulation, the brief introduction alone was enough for you to find the person you were looking for.

A martial arts academy needed a Martial Master to oversee it before it was qualified to open. But beneath martial arts academies were martial arts schools, referred to simply as martial halls.

Because martial arts could not be lightly passed on—worthless martial arts were not worthy of being spread far and wide—only martial arts academies were qualified to freely take in disciples. Martial halls were subject to restrictions. At most, they could have a handful of true disciples; everyone else could only teach children how to strengthen their bodies.

But that was really just window dressing... In remote places, where no other martial arts academy factions existed, even an ordinary Third-rate Martial Artist could take in a hundred or eighty disciples, larger in scale than some martial arts academies.

On a secluded street in Qingcheng, you saw a storefront. Four imposing characters were written upon it: Hun Yuan Sheng Mie.