"Boss, ten skewers of lamb kidney, twenty skewers of grilled meat, one grilled fish, a plate of peanuts, and two cans of Brave the World."
"Coming right up! How many of you are there? Chunhua, get out here and wait on the customers!"
"It's just me. Hurry it up, boss! Is that your worker? Bosses these days sure like hiring women, huh?"
"Damn old man, always squeezing me for work! Hmph. Here, take a seat. Have the orders at your factory been keeping you busy lately?"
"Not really. We shipped a load to Jinzhou two weeks ago. Things have been pretty quiet since."
The middle-aged man with the long, narrow face sat down at the sound of her voice, sighing as he answered the disheveled Chunhua. There was an unmistakable ease in his words.
After taking his order, Chunhua glanced outside the shop without drawing attention to herself, then said, "Just a moment," and hurried off to work.
The middle-aged man with the long, narrow face took out an old-fashioned watch, rubbed it, and set it on the table. It showed 8:45 p.m.
He watched the father and daughter greet customers and bustle about the shop. A hazy light flickered in his eyes, as if he were remembering something—or perhaps lost in thought.
The owner was undeniably skilled. He worked the grill with both hands, turning out nearly a hundred servings, yet not one dish came to the table burnt. The food was rich with the aroma of pepper.
The long-faced man was, of course, Wang Changle. After stopping a factory worker and asking about recent changes in town and where the factory was, he had spent fifty thousand yuan to take all the man's clothes and accessories. Then he used a Human-faced Rose to mold a face that looked nine-tenths like his target. And so, this scene came to be.
He took out a bag of [Cool Spring Water] and began drinking it sip by sip. He opened his personal information panel to check how quickly his magic was recovering.
The spring water was sweet and faintly cool. It felt refreshing the moment it touched his lips, jolting his mind alert as the magic within him slowly recovered.
He checked the time. It had taken a full five minutes from the moment he started drinking to recover to the maximum.
After finishing the [Cool Spring Water], he began wolfing down the skewers on the table.
He had to admit, Liao Tietou was a fine cook. The meat was well-marinated and grilled over authentic charcoal.
But seeing Liao Tietou warmly welcoming customers outside and Chunhua rushing around inside, he found it hard to associate the two with Quanxing.
After paying, Wang Changle ordered another tableful of barbecue. His enhanced stamina had improved both his endurance and physique, and his appetite had grown substantially too.
Late that night, at Chunhua's Barbecue Shop.
"Hey, hey, wake up. Wake up, we're closing. Oh! You—"
Chunhua impatiently nudged the customer who had eaten three tables' worth. She was exhausted after a long day and just wanted to go home and get some proper sleep.
Wang Changle's left hand hooked around her neck. With his right, he pulled out a syringe. It was empty.
"Liao Tietou, don't move unless you want something to happen to your daughter. This is an anesthetic meant for elephants!"
He raised the syringe, pinning the limp Chunhua against the wall. Tightening his grip, he made her look as though she was struggling to breathe.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Liao Tietou hurried over at the commotion, then stopped tensely. A faint silver sheen shimmered over his head as killing intent rose from him, locking onto the long-faced man before him.
"If you take another step back, I'll cut your daughter. If she really is your daughter, that is. Here are three anesthetic shots. Inject them all, and I'll let her go."
He tossed over three doses of powerful anesthetic. The syringe in his hand vanished, and he pulled a fruit knife from his spatial storage, pressing it against the artery in Chunhua's arm.
He had gotten the anesthetic syringes through his position at the Tianxia Association. Against Otherworldly People, guns were not only less effective, but easier to defend against—and much noisier.
This powerful anesthetic was easy to carry and highly effective. Even an Otherworldly Person as formidable as Feng Baobao could be affected by a sufficiently large dose.
Liao Tietou was only a minor Quanxing extra. Three doses of powerful anesthetic should be enough.
"Fine, I'll do it. I'll inject them now. The rules of the jianghu say you don't drag family into this! Don't hurt Chunhua."
Seeing the thin line of blood the knife had already drawn, Liao Tietou immediately picked up the three doses and injected them one after another.
"I'm not one of your Quanxing lot. I wouldn't kill a young girl. Keep going!"
Wang Changle jerked his chin at Liao Tietou, who was beginning to sway, and tossed him another dose.
Thud.
Click.
Wang Changle grabbed a long wooden bench and used it to pin Chunhua to the floor. Then he sat down on it as a jade-green light chain sank into Liao Tietou's body.
Life Extraction, activate.
"I didn't think a big, burly guy like Liao Tietou would resort to tricks. You'd better not move, or this knife won't know where to stop!"
Wang Changle narrowed his eyes at Liao Tietou, who lay face-down on the floor.
The knife point was still at Chunhua's throat. He hadn't expected that he'd only brought five doses of powerful anesthetic, and that Liao Tietou still hadn't gone down after taking four.
He was only a third-rate Quanxing nobody, yet he could take quite a beating.
This Innate One Qi really was something else. It seemed this world was more complicated than he'd thought.
"It's been a long time since I met a young man so decisive. Who are you?"
Liao Tietou, exposed, slowly got back to his feet. His eyes held a trace of menace.
"Of course, of course. I'm Ode, a cadre of the Tianxia Association. Pleased to have 'found' you."
He smiled and nodded, but pressed the knife point down another fraction. Blood welled up.
"When did the Tianxia Association start producing such despicable people? Threatening someone with their family—aren't you ashamed?"
Liao Tietou saw the beads of blood rising on his daughter's neck and roared furiously.
"Quanxing is an organization without rules. So other people don't need to follow any rules when dealing with Quanxing."
He saw that he'd already used up 24 points of magic. Raising the knife, he took out another [Cool Spring Water] and began drinking it sip by sip.
After taking four shots and having 14.4% of his Life Origin siphoned away—equivalent to suppressing 14.4% of all his attributes—Liao Tietou could no longer hold on and passed out.
Ten minutes later.
[You killed the plot character Liao Tietou. You made a minor change to the plot world and gained 1% World Origin] [You killed the Quanxing rogue "minor celebrity" Liao Tietou. You gained 500 reputation with the Tianxia Association. You have been promoted from trainee cadre to junior cadre. Current standing: Respected 500/2000] [You obtained Treasure Chest (White)] [You obtained Life Essence (Qi) *1] [Your Talent: Characteristic Extraction activated. You obtained Characteristic Card: Tough] [Your relationship with Quanxing has changed to mortal enemies 100/10000] [You have been added to Quanxing's wanted list. Current rank: 392]
"This is my third day here. I've finally gotten something worthwhile."
Wang Changle panted heavily. He had siphoned life for fourteen minutes and finished both cans of [Cool Spring Water].
He nudged Liao Tietou, now a dried corpse, with his foot. So this was what someone looked like after their entire Life Origin had been drained.
After lowering the shop's shutters, he tossed Chunhua and the corpse into the storage room. Only then did Wang Changle peel off the Human-faced Rose and send a photo to Feng Shayan.
He had to admit, the Human-faced Rose Wang Wei gave him was practically made for killing, looting, ambushing, and framing people!
He changed into his own clothes from his spatial storage and checked into a hotel room with a balcony. He placed the [Moonlight Rose] to one side and examined what he'd gained.
[You opened Treasure Chest (White)] [You obtained Iron Head Skill (Manual) *1] [Iron Head Skill (Manual) *1] Origin: The Outcast Quality: White 8 Type: Skill book—manual Requirements: Physique 6; must have unlocked Innate One Qi. Passive effect: Increases head defense by 5 (head defense increases by 5 with each level). When actively used, consumes 50 points of Innate One Qi and converts all head defense into attack power, dealing corresponding physical damage to the enemy. Lasts 10 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour. Description: Watch this—headbutt! Price: 1,000 Paradise Coins
This skill book was a manual, more suited to someone who specialized in strength or physique.
[Characteristic Card: Tough] Type: Consumable Effect: Grants the target equipment or item the characteristic "Tough." Attributes will be regenerated. Description: A product of a talent. Cannot be traded.
This was an unexpected bonus. He planned to use it to craft a piece of equipment for Feng Shayan, though he'd have to think carefully about what kind of payment to ask for.
As for what attributes the equipment would have after gaining the characteristic, that was beyond his ability to predict. When it came to refining equipment, who could know the result in advance?
Last came a ball of iridescent energy. The moment he took it out, ripples of light spread through the room, like an amber gemstone alive with flowing life.
[Life Essence (Qi) 100%] Origin: The Outcast Type: Recovery item Quality: Green 30+ (Premium) Effect: When absorbed, restores 60% of your health over a short period and grants the skill Innate One Qi. Life Apostle: When absorbed, immediately restores 100 points of Life Force and increases the Life Force cap by 5. (No effect from secondary modification.) Description: Contains all the Life Origin of "Liao Tietou." Price: 5,000 Paradise Coins (can be modified a second time)
At last, he understood the true function of "Life Extraction." It could draw out another person's innate abilities!
For him, it could also replenish his Life Force and increase its cap.
With this ball of Life Essence, he had not only gained another burst of power in this world; with his excellent defense, it was practically another life!
Most importantly, he'd gained a new passive skill: Innate One Qi.
He still didn't know what special abilities Innate One Qi had, but judging by the description of [Iron Head Skill (Manual)], it was at least an entirely new energy system.
A new energy system meant an entirely new path of development.
Before you continue