Kaoshan Town

The warm current hadn't vanished. Instead, it burrowed deeper, continuing to transform his flesh. Gradually, his muscles grew denser and tighter, and a few black impurities seeped out through his skin.

After a little time to adjust, he could feel the earth-shaking change the warm current had wrought in his body. His explosive power and stamina were both worlds apart from before. The strength in his arms alone now had to be well over a thousand jin.

The improvement continued.

The surging warm current burrowed deeper, and a wave of pain suddenly spread through his entire body. Just as Su Ye was puzzling over it, a cool sensation swept over him. The pain ebbed and returned in waves, and he realized that his whole body was gradually growing stronger and more imposing.

Body Tempering Initial Giải, minor success, early stage: 2 Assistance Points spent

Body Tempering Layer One

Body Tempering Layer Two

After spending a total of 12 Assistance Points, he had advanced to Body Tempering Layer Three. Su Ye had some guesses about how it worked, but the system told him that advancing from minor success, complete, to major success, early stage, required 10 Assistance Points.

According to the annotation, breaking through from the early stage to the middle stage came with a bottleneck, and the cost of a breakthrough increased as well. He still had too few Assistance Points. If he could cultivate all three of his Martial Arts to perfection, he would at least feel a lot safer.

On the way back, Su Ye went over his memories once more and realized that this world was far from simple. That Corpse Wolf had been nothing at all.

Demonic Beasts of overwhelming strength were everywhere, and all manner of bizarre, inexplicable horrors lurked about. Martial Artists could indeed fly through the skies and burrow into the earth, but one careless mistake could still leave them with nothing but a corpse.

He needed to kill more Demonic Beasts and improve his strength as quickly as possible. Only then would he have a place to stand in this world. Whatever Demonic Beasts or ghosts he ran into in the future, the right path was to cut them down with one stroke.

Having made up his mind, he spent two Assistance Points to raise Flowing Dragon Steps to the entry level, making up for his lack of footwork. Then Su Ye lay back on the rickety wooden bed and gradually fell asleep.

At dawn the next morning, when the rooster crowed, Su Ye got up and hurriedly pulled on the clothes that marked him as a Constable. After washing up, he left home. He passed a food stall, bought two buns, and ate as he headed for the government office.

Quite a few runners were already there, including several of the men who had guarded the city gate the day before.

Several runners who had known his predecessor came up to Su Ye, their voices tinged with envy. "Brother Su, congratulations! We've all heard. Yesterday, you didn't just slay a Wolf Demon."

"You even caught the County Lieutenant's eye. We're all happy for you."

The man who spoke was Xu Er. His family was well-off, and he had been on fairly familiar terms with Su Ye's predecessor.

At their words, Su Ye looked at the faces turned toward him. He didn't see any of the other newly promoted Constables among them, so he replied calmly, "Brother Wang did the most. I just got lucky."

Before anyone could exchange more pleasantries, footsteps sounded in the distance. Zhou Tao came in through the door with his hands behind his back. His voice reached them before he did. "We won't be taking attendance today. Everyone, go do what you're supposed to."

When he reached Su Ye, he spoke evenly. "Su Ye, head to Kaoshan Town right away. It's good for young people to build up a record of merit."

"This subordinate understands. I'll leave at once." With that, Su Ye turned to go. The assignment suited him just fine. Demonic Beasts were unlikely to appear in the city, while outside the city was dangerous but hardly certain death.

Outside the city, Su Ye rode the old horse for about an hour and a half. Weeds grew thick along both sides of the main road, and beyond the fields up ahead, a small town came into view.

Before long, he was riding along Kaoshan Town's flagstone streets. Few people were about, and the low wooden houses on either side looked rather dilapidated. As he rode deeper into town, he saw heads peeking out from the surrounding homes, and could faintly hear cries in the distance.

"Lord Huang, please, no more! I beg you, let us go!"

On the open ground outside the town government office, a middle-aged man knelt with a woman of striking beauty protected in his arms, pleading.

Her clothes bore obvious signs of having been torn, and glimpses of her snow-white skin could be seen. The runners gathered around them were staring with burning eyes.

"Shameless commoner, you dare slander this official like this! Now your true colors are exposed. You think a few words will get you off the hook?"

The speaker was a gaunt, middle-aged man in blue official robes. Seated outside the government office, he continued in a threatening voice.

"Hand over every last plot of land your family owns. Do that, and perhaps I'll spare you both."

The middle-aged man seated outside the town government office was Huang Qianqing, a runner in Kaoshan Town. He relied on his uncle, a Hall Master in the Black Tiger Gang, and had always thrown his weight around in town. The other runners all treated him as their leader.

"Alas, Wu Lao Er has had rotten luck. His daughter was just about old enough to marry, and now this has happened." An elderly woman looked toward the government office and sighed.

"Who can say otherwise? If that beast surnamed Huang hadn't—"

"Shh! Want to get yourself killed? Don't drag me into it."

The quiet whispers of the townspeople inside their homes let Su Ye piece together what had happened.

Wu Lao Er was the only carpenter in town. Three days earlier, the roof of the government office had needed repairs, and naturally the work fell to him. At the time, Huang Qianqing had promised to pay him one tael of silver afterward.

Wu Lao Er was partly to blame for being so talkative. Everyone knew Huang Qianqing had a foul reputation, but once the repairs were done, he still tried asking about his wages.

Who would have guessed Huang Qianqing would turn on him on the spot? Not only did he refuse to pay, he demanded ten taels of silver from Wu Lao Er. When Wu Lao Er couldn't pay, Huang Qianqing had his sixteen-year-old daughter snatched away.

Afterward, Wu Lao Er and his wife discussed the matter and scraped together all their family's savings. With no other choice, they went to the town government office to demand their daughter back.

When Huang Qianqing saw Wu Lao Er daring to cry out for justice at the government office, he flew into a rage and ordered his runners to attack, breaking Wu Lao Er's left leg.

Seeing this, his wife, Wu Li Shi, hurried forward to shield her husband. Through tear-filled eyes, she begged Huang Qianqing to stop.

Unexpectedly, her pitiful, captivating appearance made the runners burst into laughter. They even tore her clothes to shreds.

"I'm asking you: are you handing it over or not? If not, that's fine too." Huang Qianqing leered at the woman in the man's arms, making his meaning plain.

Some farmers stood along the street. Their clothes were ragged, but fury had long since kindled in their hearts. Quite a few young men clenched their fists, yet after weighing things over, they slowly let their hands fall and turned away.

Seeing this, Su Ye lightly flicked the reins, and the sound of hooves drew curious looks from the farmers.

"Another runner's come."

"No, no. Look at his clothes—he's clearly a Constable," someone corrected him.

"So what if he's a Constable? How's he any different from Huang Qianqing? Wu Lao Er's done for today, if you ask me."

Su Ye ignored the farmers muttering in hiding and kept riding forward. Just then, a young man of sixteen or seventeen suddenly stepped into his path and stammered anxiously, "Y-you're... Lord Su?"

Looking at the youth, Su Ye pulled on the reins to stop his horse. Though surprised that anyone here recognized him, he kept his face impassive. "You know me?"

"I'm Meng Daniu." The youth suddenly fell to his knees, his voice wretched. "Yesterday, I sneaked into the county seat and saw you in action at the city gate."

"Lord Su, did the county government send you to clear my name?"

Su Ye didn't give him a definite answer. He gestured for him to explain what had happened. Meng Daniu choked back tears. "Seven days ago, Huang Qianqing came to collect the land tax. But then..."