Tianwu City's night had never felt as long as it did tonight.
The Black Market, the pleasure quarters, the shops and inns that usually buzzed with activity had all shut their doors tight. Not a single lamp dared shine. The entire city seemed swallowed by deathly silence. Only from the Martial Arts Hall Alliance headquarters came the occasional shriek of agony, soon devoured by the night wind.
The hall at the Alliance headquarters blazed with light.
Yan Kui sat in the grand chair that symbolized Tianwu City's highest authority, legs spread wide. His enormous body nearly burst the chair apart, and his dark red skin gleamed beneath the candlelight with a chilling sheen.
At his feet, Chen Bantian, once the all-powerful Alliance Leader, lay sprawled like a dead dog. Every bone in his body was shattered, his limbs twisted at grotesque angles. He had barely any breath left in him.
The hall's two sides were lined with kneeling masters and core disciples from the various martial arts halls.
They kept their heads bowed, not daring to look up at the Demon God seated above them. Their bodies trembled like leaves in the wind. The air reeked of blood, wafting from the corpses of the Crushing Stone Sect Master and the Tiger-Crane Sect Master. It served as a constant reminder of what happened to those who resisted.
"That's it?"
Yan Kui toyed with the Storage Bag he had taken from Chen Bantian. His voice was low and hoarse.
"I haven't even exerted myself, and you've already fallen."
"How boring."
Clack.
He casually tossed the Storage Bag onto the table and swept his gaze over the crowd below.
Yan Kui rose to his feet, looking down at the mass of kneeling figures.
"Now, bring out all your family's manuals, land deeds, and warehouse keys."
His voice held no emotion. "I want everything, including every apothecary, smithy, and granary in the city."
"Bring it all here before sunrise tomorrow. Miss even one thing, and I'll wipe out your entire household."
Yan Kui paused, his gaze settling on Chen Bantian's bloodied face.
A trace of resentment and venom still lingered in the old man's cloudy eyes.
"I don't like that look."
Yan Kui bent down and clamped a hand around Chen Bantian's throat.
"Ugh... ugh..."
Chen Bantian tried to struggle, but every bone in his body was shattered. He couldn't even move a finger. All he could do was watch as the dark red hand slowly tightened around his throat.
Crack.
The sound of his neck snapping was crisp and sweet.
Chen Bantian's head drooped limply. His breath stopped for good.
[Killed Chen Bantian (Half-step Innate), looted Life Essence.] [Origin Power: +8.0]
"Hang him at the city gate."
Yan Kui released him and stood up.
"Leave his corpse exposed for three days."
"Let everyone in the city see what happens when they oppose me."
Silence fell over the hall.
Everyone looked up at Yan Kui in terror and disbelief.
A Half-step Innate grandmaster hadn't even had the chance to fight back against this monster.
"What? Anyone got a problem?"
Yan Kui arched a brow. A flash of brutality passed through his crimson eyes.
"No, no! No problem! Your wisdom is unmatched, my lord!"
"That old crook Chen bullied people with his power, squeezed every martial arts hall dry, and piled up debts. He deserved to die long ago!"
"We pledge our lives to the Demon God!"
The crowd was scared out of their wits. They kowtowed like pounding garlic, terrified that if they were even a second too late, they would become the next Chen Bantian.
"Hmph."
Yan Kui snorted and waved a hand.
Two disciples who had once been Chen Bantian's trusted men rushed forward, eager to prove their loyalty. They dragged Chen Bantian's lifeless body away like a dead dog.
With those small fry dealt with, Yan Kui turned his attention back to the spoils.
The Martial Arts Hall Alliance had accumulated a veritable treasure trove over the years. The manuals contributed by the various sects alone formed a small mountain. Most were common fare like Iron Sand Palm and Flying Across the Grass, but a few were genuine treasures.
One example was Chen Bantian's family heirloom, Primal Chaos Qi Strength.
It was a profound martial art that truly involved the use of "inner qi." Its techniques for generating force and principles for wielding energy made Yan Kui's eyes light up.
"System, scan Primal Chaos Qi Strength."
[Analyzing... Analysis complete.] [High-level mundane martial art Primal Chaos Qi Strength detected. Contains basic techniques for manipulating energy. Fuse and derive insights for 5 points of Origin Power?]
"Fuse!"
Yan Kui didn't hesitate.
A wave of warmth surged into his mind. Knowledge of breath circulation and force conversion flooded in like a tide.
A moment later.
Yan Kui slowly opened his eyes, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
No new skill had emerged, but he had absorbed the essence of the technique into his instincts. He had gained much finer control over his strength. Before, he could only smash things head-on. Now, he could make his power erupt the instant he touched an object, creating the effect of striking through a wall to hit the target behind it.
That was the system's power.
Taking the essence, discarding the dross, and making it his own.
Aside from the manuals, the greatest prize was naturally Origin Power.
The disciples who surrendered had offered up the treasures in Chen Bantian's secret chamber to prove their loyalty. Killing Chen Bantian had earned eight points of Origin Power. Adding the 6.5 points he had accumulated from the two sect masters and their elite disciples earlier...
Yan Kui glanced at his status panel.
"Still not enough."
He sighed.
The amount of Origin Power needed to advance Crimson Extreme Golden Body to the second level was astronomical. And according to the system's prompt, he couldn't rely on piling up Origin Power alone. He also needed a special "catalyst."
"Looks like I'll have to try my luck where those cultivators are."
Yan Kui walked to Chen Bantian's secret chamber and pushed open its heavy iron door.
Inside, flickering candlelight illuminated a black wooden box. It was made from some unknown kind of darkwood, and felt cold to the touch. A yellowed talisman, seemingly some kind of seal, was pasted on top.
"Interesting."
Yan Kui casually ripped off the talisman and opened the box.
There was no dazzling golden light.
Only two things lay inside:
A fist-sized lump of ore, black as ink from end to end.
And a thread-bound ancient book, battered and even moldy in places.
He picked up the ore. It was so heavy that it felt like he was holding a small mountain.
[Ding! High-energy mineral "Mysterious Yin Iron Mother" detected.] [Hint: An excellent material for forging Flying Swords. It can also be devoured by Crimson Extreme Golden Body to increase Body Density.] [Contains a small amount of Origin Power: 3.0]
"Oh? I can eat it?"
Yan Kui's eyes lit up.
That was an unexpected bonus.
He tossed the ore into the system space—the stolen Storage Bag—then picked up the battered book.
A few bold, sweeping characters were written on the cover. Though somewhat blurred, they were just legible: Cultivators' World: A Record of What I've Seen and Heard — Body Cultivator Edition.
Yan Kui casually flipped through a few pages.
At first, he read without much interest. But the more he read, the more serious his expression became.
This wasn't a cultivation manual but something like a collection of jottings or a diary. The author seemed to have been an ancient Body Cultivator named True Man Kuang Tie.
The contents turned Yan Kui's understanding of the cultivation world upside down.
"...People say that cultivating immortality is wonderful—that you can ride the wind on your sword and rid the world of demons. Little do they know that refining qi and cultivating the spirit is to forsake the root for the branch!"
"The human body is a small universe beneath the heavens. The five organs correspond to the five elements, and flesh and blood to mountains and rivers. Why seek Spiritual Qi outside oneself? One need only keep excavating the body's hidden treasures to become a saint in the flesh and shatter the void with one's strength!"
"Look at the cultivators of this age. Their spells may be wondrous, but their bodies are as weak as chicks. Once an enemy gets close, they can't unleash a thousand spells if they want to. Those who cultivate qi and establish their foundations put seventy percent of their strength in their Magic Tools and thirty percent in their talismans. Their own bodies are their greatest weakness..."
"...If one can train the body to its utmost limit, then all laws will fail to harm it. Let your Flying Swords fall like rain—I'll break them with a single punch!"
"Alas, even I have never reached that point. The path to becoming a saint in the flesh is too difficult and consumes too many resources. And there is a shackle placed upon us by heaven and earth, called the 'Gene Lock' (author's note: I learned this term from an Outer Realm Demonic Being). Mortals cannot break it..."
Yan Kui closed the book and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
"Gene Lock..."
"Outer Realm Demonic Being?"
An inscrutable light flickered in his eyes.
The book didn't teach any specific cultivation method, but it pointed him in the right direction and confirmed what he had believed all along: the path of the Extreme Dao Body was the right one!
Moreover, the weakness it described—the frail bodies of cultivators—was practically tactical guidance written just for him.
"With this book, I'll be even more confident when dealing with cultivators."
Yan Kui carefully put the ancient book away.
Then he suddenly felt the Mysterious Bone Fragment he kept close to his chest grow warm.
He took out the fragment.
The once-dull gray fragment now gave off a faint, ghostly glow, as if it were craving something. And the direction of its craving was precisely the Mysterious Yin Iron Mother he had just tossed into the Storage Bag!
"This fragment... wants to eat that lump of ore?"
Yan Kui pondered.
The fragment had fused five hard-training techniques before, helping him forge the prototype of Crimson Extreme Golden Body. Now that it was reacting again, could this be... the chance to fuse the second level?
"Interesting."
A playful smile tugged at the corners of Yan Kui's mouth.
He turned and walked out of the secret chamber, glancing at the people still kneeling in the hall.
"I want everything I asked for delivered within a day."
"As for the rest of you..." Yan Kui sneered. "From now on, this city can do whatever it likes. It has nothing to do with me."
With that, he strode out of the Martial Arts Hall Alliance headquarters and disappeared into the night.
At dawn the next day, the people of Tianwu City were horrified to discover:
The body of Chen Bantian, the Alliance Leader of the Martial Arts Hall Alliance, hung high above the city gate.
After plundering the city of its wealth, the dark red Demon God had vanished without a trace.
All he left behind was a city in ruins and countless tales of the Extreme Dao Demon God.
[Crimson Modifier] Host: Yan Kui Status: Crimson Extreme Golden Body (First Tier) Origin Power: 28.0 Strength: 10.5 Agility: 3.0 Constitution: 12.0
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