Demonic Era, Gluttonous Crucible

Han Zheng's vision was plunged into darkness, as if trapped in some nightmare. He wanted to wake up but couldn't.

Suddenly, a blurry light bloomed before his eyes.

What came into view was a dilapidated, abandoned temple. A Buddha statue, missing half its face, lay beside him, stained with traces of blood. It looked somewhat eerie, as if it were staring at Han Zheng.

"Hiss! That hurts."

Han Zheng rubbed his head, only to feel a hand full of fresh blood.

Confused memories surged into his mind, forcing him to accept the fact that he had transmigrated.

In his previous life, Han Zheng was a game designer for a small company. After a week of continuous overtime, he fell on the subway and never got up again.

When he woke up, he had become the Han Zheng of this world.

After sorting through the memories in his mind, Han Zheng frowned and clicked his tongue.

"What kind of damn world is this?"

The Great Zhou had been established for three thousand years, but the entire dynasty was already riddled with holes.

Demons wreaked havoc, evil cults ran rampant, rebels rose everywhere, and sects and aristocratic families occupied their own territories, leaving the common people in misery.

In this life, Han Zheng was born in Black Stone County, Jingzhou Prefecture, Shannan Dao, Great Zhou.

His mother died early, and his father was a scribe in the county yamen, holding no real power, only responsible for writing documents to earn a meager living.

Last year, Han Zheng's father saved some money and had Han Zheng, who had just turned eighteen, apprentice at the Zhenwei Martial Arts School in Black Stone County to practice martial arts.

In this chaotic era, scholars didn't live long; only strength was the fundamental way to protect oneself.

But before Han Zheng could finish his training, his father fell ill and passed away a while ago.

Han Zheng had to sell almost all his family property to bury his father, leaving him practically penniless.

But why was he in this ruined temple?

Yesterday's memories were extremely blurry. Han Zheng could only recall leaving class at the martial arts school, and then everything went blank.

Could he have lost his memory after being hit?

Han Zheng glanced at the somewhat eerie Buddha statue.

Before his transmigration, he must have leaned against this dilapidated Buddha statue. The base rotted, and the statue collapsed, causing his past self to be crushed to death.

Barely managing to stand up, Han Zheng suddenly rubbed his eyes, looking at the scene ahead in disbelief.

Was he hallucinating from being hit?

[Gluttonous Crucible Activated]

[Host can sacrifice any materials to break through martial arts or cultivate within the Crucible]

Han Zheng looked at the giant bronze crucible that appeared before him, inscribed with lifelike Taotie dragon patterns.

A ferocious and fierce aura assailed him, incredibly real.

He rubbed his eyes again, but the Gluttonous Crucible before him remained crystal clear.

Wasn't this the last game update he had worked on after overtime in his previous life?

In his previous life, Han Zheng was in charge of operating a mini-program game. It was a simple, mindless game of killing monsters to level up.

Such games usually had a short lifespan, reaching their end in a few months or even half a year.

This was Han Zheng's first game that he independently led, and he had quite an emotional attachment to it.

So, in the final update, Han Zheng designed the Gluttonous Crucible as a considerate feature.

Players could sacrifice unused low-level materials, equipment, potions, and other miscellaneous items from their inventory to the Gluttonous Crucible to achieve breakthroughs and enhancements in their skills.

They could also sacrifice these items to directly convert them into experience points for rapid leveling.

Now that he had transmigrated, had this Gluttonous Crucible feature followed him?

However, he couldn't just walk around with such a large furnace, could he?

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, the Gluttonous Crucible instantly disappeared.

But Han Zheng could feel that it was within his mind, appearing with just a thought.

Han Zheng narrowed his eyes, contemplating: A cheat for transmigration? Is this telling me to kill monsters and level up in this world?

But the problem is, you should at least give me a beginner's gift package.

The Gluttonous Crucible feature was something Han Zheng created when the game was nearing its end.

In the early stages, there wouldn't be enough materials to sacrifice. He couldn't possibly sacrifice his own life first, could he?

As soon as this thought appeared, the Gluttonous Crucible reappeared.

[No sacrificeable materials detected. Host may sacrifice lifespan, one of the six senses, one of the five limbs, one of the three souls, one of the seven spirits, one of the seven emotions, one of the six desires, or any other possessed existence.]

The lifelike Taotie dragon patterns had crimson eyes, its mouth opening as if to swallow the heavens and earth, exuding an indescribable greed.

Below it was a description similar to a game attribute sheet.

[Name: Han Zheng]

Cultivation: Houtian Meridian Opening Realm (41 acupoints opened)

Martial Arts & Skills: Houtian Realm "Iron Elephant Skill" (Proficiency 17%)

Current Status: Concussion

"Do I really have to sacrifice my life for it? What kind of material can be used as a sacrifice?"

[The Gluttonous Crucible devours all things and accepts no refusal. It will notify the host when sacrificial materials are detected.]

Han Zheng regretted it now.

If he had known about transmigration, he would have made the settings for the Gluttonous Crucible simpler.

With a wave of his hand, the furnace in front of him disappeared.

Han Zheng walked out of the dilapidated temple. The eastern sky was turning white, indicating it was dawn.

In the distance, a sizable city built entirely of black stone bricks could be faintly seen. That was Black Stone County.

He had actually run outside the county town?

In this current era, outside the county town was extremely dangerous.

Demons and monsters ate people, and bandits robbed for wealth. Traveling alone outside the city was the most dangerous thing.

Even though it was almost dawn, it still wasn't safe. Han Zheng quickly ran towards Black Stone County.

After running for a while, Han Zheng looked back at the dilapidated temple. He suddenly realized that the temple was also very strange.

It was a small temple with only one Buddha statue, round on top and square on the bottom. The entire statue exuded a mottled dark red, resembling a gaping maw.

The further you run, the further the mountain seems.

Han Zheng ran for nearly an hour before reaching the city gate. At this time, the guards had just opened the city gates.

Following the memories in his mind, Han Zheng navigated through the dilapidated alleys and finally found his home.

It was a small blue brick house with a small courtyard.

Although it was still clean and tidy, most of the family's valuables had been sold off recently to pay for his father's funeral.

Therefore, Han Zheng's home was now almost bare, with only a bed.

He fetched a bucket of water and cleaned the wound on the back of his head. Han Zheng glanced at his reflection in the well water.

He was quite handsome in this life. While not exceptionally beautiful, he at least had sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and a handsome appearance.

Glancing at the time, the martial arts school's morning class was about to begin.

The Zhenwei Martial Arts School had two types of classes: morning classes and main classes.

Morning classes lasted only half a day, while main classes, held once every ten days, lasted the entire day.

In his memories, Han Zheng was very diligent. He had joined the martial arts school for half a year and had never missed a single class.

After all, the opportunity to join the Zhenwei Martial Arts School was obtained by his father selling almost all his savings.

Three hundred taels of silver, plus strong and healthy bone structure, were required to be eligible to enter the martial arts school.

If you were sickly, even a thousand taels wouldn't get you accepted.

However, although Han Zheng was diligent, his bone structure could only be considered average.

After joining the martial arts school, Li Jingzhong taught the disciples the introductory internal art, "Iron Elephant Skill." Han Zheng had cultivated for half a year and had only managed to open forty-one acupoints through the Iron Elephant Skill.

The more advanced disciples had already opened over fifty acupoints.

Just as he was about to leave, Han Zheng's stomach rumbled.

However, after searching his home, Han Zheng only found half a cold steamed bun. He washed it down with cold water and hastily left.

Black Stone County was divided into four districts: east, west, north, and south.

Han Zheng's home was in the north city, which was mainly inhabited by poor commoners. The houses were densely packed, resembling a slum.

The Zhenwei Martial Arts School was located in the most prosperous east city. Three large courtyards had been combined to serve as the martial arts school's training grounds.

When Han Zheng arrived at the martial arts school, most of the disciples were already gathered, waiting for the class to begin.

The Zhenwei Martial Arts School had about a hundred people, a minority of whom were from wealthy families, while the majority were children from well-off families.

After all, the tuition for the martial arts school was three hundred taels, which was unaffordable for most ordinary families.

A moment later, a middle-aged man in his fifties, wearing a black martial arts uniform with a square and imposing face, walked out of the martial arts school.

This person was the head of the Zhenwei Martial Arts School, Li Jingzhong, nicknamed "Through-Arm White Ape," a master of the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm.

His "White Ape Through-Arm Fist" could shatter stone slabs and withstand blades and spears. He was a well-known figure in Black Stone County.

Scanning the crowd, Li Jingzhong said sternly, "This batch of disciples has been in the martial arts school for anywhere from half a year to seven or eight months. You should all have a grasp of the 'Iron Elephant Skill,' and it's time for your first major assessment.

In the path of martial arts, one either advances or retreats. After the assessment, any disciples who do not meet the standards will be expelled from the martial arts school.

It's not that I'm heartless, but the path of martial arts is this cruel. Without talent and perseverance, staying in the martial arts school would just be a waste of time."

As his voice fell, the disciples of the martial arts school erupted in an uproar, most of them in a state of panic.

Being expelled from the martial arts school not only meant their money was wasted but also proved they were mediocre and useless, completely unsuited for martial arts.

"Silence!"

Li Jingzhong descended the steps and walked to the stone pillar used for training on the practice field.

"What is martial arts? Martial arts are honed through time and perseverance!

In the Houtian Meridian Opening Realm, one condenses internal energy within the body's acupoints.

The human body has three hundred and sixty-five acupoints, secretly corresponding to the number of Great Zhou celestial bodies. Each acupoint opened greatly increases one's strength.

Simultaneously, there are twelve meridians that guide the flow of power within the body. Opening each meridian significantly enhances control over one's strength.

Only by gathering the power of the acupoints to break through the twelve meridians, allowing the meridians and acupoints to merge into a unified whole, does one qualify to enter the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm.

Xiantian Mortal Transformation, as the name suggests, means returning from Houtian to Xiantian, like a silkworm emerging from its cocoon and a butterfly transforming, shedding its mortal flesh.

This step is even more arduous. It requires the internal energy from the acupoints and meridians to continuously scour every inch of bone and every strand of flesh within the body. The process is incredibly painful.

In the early stage, one develops skin like copper and bones like iron; in the middle stage, muscles like gold and veins like jade; and in the late stage, blood like mercury and marrow like silver.

Upon reaching great completion and perfection, the physical body becomes as pure and flawless as white jade, known as the Water-Fire Immortal Robe, possessing the power to withstand mortal water and fire.

But do you know that ninety-nine percent of martial artists will never reach the perfection of Mortal Transformation, never achieve the Great Completion of the Water-Fire Immortal Robe in their lifetime?

Houtian and Xiantian are merely the first steps into martial arts, and they are already as difficult as ascending to heaven!"

As his voice fell, Li Jingzhong flicked his arm and slammed it into the stone pillar beside him.

Like a white ape swinging its arms, a gust of wind whistled and exploded.

With a deafening boom, the stone pillar was not broken but shattered into pieces, like dust!

"This punch is the fruit of thirty years of martial arts!"

Li Jingzhong glanced at the stunned disciples and said in a deep voice, "Today, I will teach you your first martial art, the Vajra Fist.

In three days, the grand examination will begin. Those who have opened fifty acupoints, one meridian, and have achieved basic proficiency in the Vajra Fist will be deemed qualified!"

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