Inside Yunjiang City.
Yan Kui walked along the broad, flagstone-paved street. Shops stood shoulder to shoulder on either side, and hawkers' cries rose and fell without pause. The city was far more prosperous than Black Water City. Martial artists were everywhere, and every so often he even spotted a few skilled fighters in the Bone Refining Realm.
He didn't linger in the city. Instead, he headed straight for a mountain outside the city called Sunset Mountain.
According to the news he'd heard at a roadside teahouse, that so-called "Senior Brother Liu of the Qingyun Sect" was active around Sunset Mountain. Apparently, he'd found a Centennial Spirit Ganoderma there.
"Centennial Spirit Ganoderma..."
Yan Kui rubbed his chin.
If it was real, it would be a great tonic. Devouring it would earn him at least a few points of Origin Power. Better yet, if he could get some common knowledge about the cultivation world or a low-level Cultivation Technique from Senior Brother Liu, that would be even better.
He hadn't been outside the city gates for long when the clamor of a fight rang out from the path ahead.
"Hand it over! Or don't blame me for what happens next!"
A brazen voice rang out.
Yan Kui looked up. By a stand of trees not far ahead, seven or eight burly men armed with sharp blades had surrounded a carriage.
Only a few Guards stood beside it, struggling to hold their ground. They were clearly on the verge of defeat.
"They're bandits from Black Wind Stockade!"
"Run!"
Passersby scattered in all directions, afraid of getting dragged into trouble.
Yan Kui hadn't planned to get involved. In this world, robbery and pillage were nothing unusual. His goal was to find Senior Brother Liu, and he didn't want to waste time on these small fry.
But just as he was about to take a detour, a clear, anxious female voice suddenly came from inside the surrounded carriage.
"This is the down payment we're offering Immortal Master Liu! How dare you steal the Immortal Master's things?!"
"Immortal Master Liu?"
Yan Kui stopped in his tracks.
He'd searched high and low, only to find what he wanted without even trying.
He turned around and strode toward them.
"Ha ha ha! What the hell is this Immortal Master Liu?!"
The bandit leader was a one-eyed man with a face full of coarse flesh. He brandished a Ghost Head Broadsword and laughed arrogantly. "I'm robbing the Immortal Master himself! If that old swindler dares to show up, I'll rob him too!"
"Pfft!"
He cut down one of the Guards with a single blow, splattering blood across the ground.
"Little beauty, come up the mountain with me like a good girl. Be my wife, and I'll make sure you eat well and live in luxury!"
One-Eyed Dragon reached out to lift the carriage curtain.
Just then.
"Hey."
A deep, resonant voice sounded behind him.
One-Eyed Dragon felt a chill down his back as an overwhelming pressure instantly enveloped him.
He whipped around.
A giant, over two meters tall, stood behind him, his muscles bulging like slabs of iron. He stared down at him coldly.
There wasn't a trace of emotion in those eyes. He looked at One-Eyed Dragon as if he were a dead pig.
"Y-you! Who are you?!"
One-Eyed Dragon swallowed and instinctively took a step back.
He was a martial artist in the Body Refinement Realm, a fearsome figure throughout the area. But before this giant, he felt like a child who hadn't finished growing.
"I'm robbing you."
Yan Kui held out one enormous hand, palm up, in front of One-Eyed Dragon.
"Hand over everything valuable on you."
The whole place fell silent.
Everyone froze.
The bandits looked at one another, wondering if they'd heard him right.
Was this man out of his mind?
One man was trying to rob a whole gang of bandits?
"You're asking for death!"
Enraged, One-Eyed Dragon swung his Ghost Head Broadsword at Yan Kui's neck. The blade howled through the air.
"Clang!"
A sharp ring rang out.
No blood sprayed through the air. No head hit the ground.
One-Eyed Dragon felt a sharp pain in his hand. His Ghost Head Broadsword had struck something as hard as pig iron, and a huge notch had broken off its blade.
His opponent's neck didn't even have a white mark on it.
"H-how is this possible?!"
One-Eyed Dragon was scared out of his wits.
"Not bad force, but did you skip breakfast?"
Yan Kui shook his head.
The next second.
He moved.
There was no fancy technique, just a simple punch.
"Thud!"
The punch slammed straight into One-Eyed Dragon's chest.
One-Eyed Dragon didn't even have time to scream. Like he'd been hit by a battering ram, he flew backward, smashed through two trees, and finally crumpled to the ground like a lump of mud. His chest had caved in completely. He was dead beyond any doubt.
[Killed bandit leader (Body Refinement Realm), plundered Life Essence.] [Origin Power: +0.5]
"The boss is dead!"
The remaining bandits were scared out of their wits and turned to run.
"Run?"
Yan Kui bent down and picked up a few pebbles.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Each pebble struck a bandit squarely in the back of the head.
Thud! Thud!
In the space of a few breaths, the bandit gang that had been swaggering around moments earlier was wiped out.
[Origin Power: +0.2] [Origin Power: +0.2]
Yan Kui brushed the dust off his hands as if he'd just done something trivial.
He walked over to the carriage.
The surviving Guards had already dropped to their knees, trembling with fear.
The carriage curtain lifted, revealing a pale but delicate face. A young woman in a light green dress peered out, her eyes full of fear and curiosity.
"Th-thank you, Warrior, for saving my life..."
The young woman spoke in a trembling voice.
"Don't get the wrong idea."
Yan Kui waved a hand. "I saved you because you mentioned Immortal Master Liu."
"Lead the way. I want to see him."
The young woman froze, then hurriedly nodded. "Yes! Yes! We'll take you there right away, Warrior! Immortal Master Liu is at Sunset Temple, not far ahead!"
Yan Kui didn't stand on ceremony. He sat straight down on the carriage shaft, making the carriage creak under his weight.
"Let's go."
Sunset Mountain, halfway up the slope.
A somewhat dilapidated temple stood there, isolated and forlorn.
At the temple gate, a middle-aged man in a blue Daoist robe, with a goatee, sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. An incense burner stood in front of him, and wisps of smoke drifted upward. He did look somewhat like an immortal.
This was the legendary "Immortal Master Liu," Half-Immortal Liu.
At that moment, he was secretly delighted.
"Heh heh. This time, I fooled that young lady from the Wang Family into bringing five hundred taels of silver as a down payment for my Ganoderma. Once I get the money, I'll run for it at once! I can't stay in this dump anymore. I heard things have been getting pretty wild over in Black Water City..."
As he was thinking, the rumble of carriage wheels came from down the mountain.
"They're here!"
Half-Immortal Liu immediately sat up straight and put on an air of inscrutable profundity.
The carriage stopped.
The curtain lifted, and the young woman in the green dress stepped down. She bowed respectfully to Half-Immortal Liu. "Greetings, Immortal Master Liu!"
"Mm. You may rise."
Half-Immortal Liu nodded slightly, but his eyes kept darting toward the carriage. "Miss Wang, the items I asked for..."
"They're right here."
A deep voice cut him off.
Then a figure as massive as a small mountain emerged from behind the carriage.
Half-Immortal Liu's eyelid twitched.
Good heavens! What had this man eaten to grow so big?
Yan Kui strode up to Half-Immortal Liu and looked down at him. His enormous shadow completely engulfed the man.
"You're Immortal Master Liu?"
Yan Kui asked.
Half-Immortal Liu forced himself to stay calm and stroked his beard. "Indeed, I am. May I ask who you are, Warrior..."
"I heard you know magic?"
Yan Kui ignored his pleasantries and asked directly.
"Of course!" Half-Immortal Liu declared proudly. "I'm an inner disciple of the Qingyun Sect, well-versed in the Daoist arts of the five elements. Exorcising ghosts and subduing demons is child's play!"
"Oh? Perfect."
Yan Kui grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
"I want to see if your magic can break my skin."
Before he'd finished speaking,
he suddenly reached out with one huge hand and grabbed for Half-Immortal Liu without warning.
"Impudent!"
Half-Immortal Liu was startled. He swept his horsetail whisk and shouted, "Body Binding Art!"
A cloud of white powder flew from the whisk, rushing toward Yan Kui's face.
This was his secret weapon, perfected over years of wandering the martial world—Strong Soul Confusion Powder! A single breath of it would leave even an ox dizzy for half a day.
However,
Yan Kui simply held his breath. His hand never slowed, passing straight through the powder.
He grabbed Half-Immortal Liu by the collar.
"Smack!"
Before Half-Immortal Liu could react, Yan Kui had lifted him up like a chick, his feet kicking wildly in the air.
"This is the Body Binding Art?"
Yan Kui sniffed the air and furrowed his brow.
"Knockout powder?"
Disappointment and anger flashed in his eyes.
"It was fake?"
"N-no, it wasn't fake..." Half-Immortal Liu's face went white with fear. "Warrior, spare my life! This is an immortal... an immortal's knockout powder..."
"You're still lying to me?"
Yan Kui tightened his grip slightly.
"Crack, crack..."
Half-Immortal Liu's collar constricted, making it hard to breathe. His eyes bulged as if they might pop out.
"Tell me the truth, or I'll crush you to death!"
"I'll tell you! I'll tell you! I'm a fraud! I'm a liar!"
Half-Immortal Liu finally broke down, wailing, "I'm not a disciple of the Qingyun Sect! I only learned a little of the Qi Cultivation Art! I don't know any magic!"
"Tch."
Yan Kui casually tossed him to the ground.
"What a waste of time."
He'd suspected as much, but confirming with his own eyes that the man was a fraud still left him irritated.
Still, since the man knew a little of the "rudimentary Qi Cultivation Art," he ought to know something about the cultivation world.
"Hand over everything you have."
Yan Kui nudged Half-Immortal Liu, who lay sprawled on the ground. "And let me see that Qi Cultivation Art of yours."
Half-Immortal Liu didn't dare resist. He hurriedly pulled a battered little booklet from his robes and offered it with both hands.
Evergreen Technique.
Yan Kui flipped it open.
This time, the system reacted.
[Detected Cultivation Technique Evergreen Technique (Mortal Grade). Record it?]
"Record it!"
Although this was merely the most basic body-nourishing technique for the Qi Cultivation stage, and not much stronger than the Body Nourishing Technique, it was a genuine cultivation method!
[Notice: The host has No Spiritual Root and cannot cultivate this technique. However, you may expend Origin Power to analyze how Spiritual Qi flows within it, helping improve martial arts techniques.]
"I can't cultivate it, but I can analyze it?"
Yan Kui's eyes lit up.
Wasn't this exactly what he wanted?
Even if he couldn't cultivate immortality directly, as long as he could figure out how Spiritual Qi worked, he could find a way to steer his martial arts in that direction—or defend against spells more effectively!
"This swindler isn't completely useless after all."
Looking at Half-Immortal Liu, who was still trembling, Yan Kui felt a little better.
"Enough, stop shaking. Tell me, where around here can I get a genuine... body-hardening technique?"
He didn't ask about cultivation techniques, because he knew he had no Spiritual Root and couldn't practice them.
"A body-hardening technique?"
Half-Immortal Liu froze, then his eyes darted about. He answered cautiously, "Warrior, if you're looking for a body-hardening technique, Tianwu City would be a fine place to go. It's full of martial arts schools, and there's an underground Black Market where all kinds of manuals often turn up."
"But..."
He hesitated. "A hundred miles north of Sunset Mountain lies Black Wind Stockade. They say it has an ancestral Savage Boar Ramming Technique. Once mastered, it makes your skin thick and your flesh tough—even ordinary blades and swords can't cut through it..."
"Savage Boar Ramming Technique?"
Yan Kui's mouth twitched.
What a... rustic name.
But if it could stop blades and swords, then it was a body-hardening technique. And as long as it was one of those, it could be fused!
"Black Wind Stockade..."
Yan Kui thought of the bandits from earlier.
"Good. It's on the way. I'll go take a look."
He picked up the Bone Shattering Hammer and turned to leave.
After a few steps, he stopped and glanced back at Half-Immortal Liu.
"Don't let me catch you swindling people again. Next time, I won't just grab you by the collar."
With that, he strode out of the temple.
Half-Immortal Liu collapsed onto the ground, watching that terrifying figure and feeling a surge of lingering fear.
"W-where did this baleful star come from...?"
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