Back home, Luo Zhou let out a long sigh.
Why was life so hard?
He'd finally killed all the Woodworm Devils, and thought it was over. Now he was supposed to go searching for a Holy Son?
When would it all end? He wasn't even grown up yet. He was still a child. Couldn't they stop putting him through so much?
This time, there was no takeout. He cooked for himself.
He got five jin of the best ribs and another jin of bok choy.
There was no need to do anything fancy with the ribs and bok choy. He chopped the ribs into individual pieces, blanched them, then set them to simmer over high heat.
Once they were cooked until tender, he added the bok choy. The rib soup turned as white as milk!
Five jin of ribs was nothing to Luo Zhou. If he really put his mind to it, he could eat seven jin.
Luo Zhou looked at the delicious bok choy and rib soup, ready to dig in.
But then someone came to visit.
It was Cheng Wanli.
"Leader, what brings you here?"
Cheng Wanli had come by at this hour, so it had to be something important.
Ever since he'd become gang leader, Luo Zhou had hardly seen him!
"Xiaozhou, I came to say goodbye."
"Huh? What? Goodbye?"
"Xiaozhou, something happened to me a while ago.
"After I became the leader of the Dragon Fang Gang, I made a point of befriending the City Lord's Mansion's second steward. We joined forces and planned to open a restaurant, hoping to break into the big business of Crocodile Dragon meat.
"Everything had been going well. There were no problems.
"We'd kept the other forces selling Crocodile Dragon meat in check.
"But then, just before she died, the City Lord's daughter, Fang Ningshuang, suddenly came back to her senses.
"For that half a day she was lucid, she struck hard and cleaned house at the City Lord's Mansion, dealing with its long-standing rot.
"She beat the City Lord's two concubines to death, and crippled the second steward, who'd been corrupt to the core.
"After that, I lost my backer, and the forces selling Crocodile Dragon meat turned on me.
"Fortunately, the City Lord still remembered our relationship and helped me out.
"But the Dragon Fang Gang has already disbanded. I have to leave Green Ridge City."
Back then, when Cheng Wanli had held on to the Crocodile Dragon meat instead of selling it, Luo Zhou had felt that something must have happened to him.
He hadn't expected it to happen like this...
Fang Ningshuang had done a lot in that half day she was lucid!
"Leader, where are you going now?"
"His Lordship has looked after me and arranged for me to work for the Fang Family in Feng Tian, the provincial capital.
"Most of the brothers from the gang are coming with me.
"Before I leave, I wanted to see you and say goodbye!"
"Lu Yue, Zhang Chuan, and Uncle Cheng Yu are all going with you?"
"Yes. We've been through life and death together!"
Luo Zhou nodded. After thinking for a moment, he took out ten Spirit Stones and handed them to Cheng Wanli.
"Leader, it's hard to travel with empty pockets. This is a little something from me."
"No, no. I only came to say goodbye..."
"Leader, we're family. There's no need to draw such clear lines. I'm giving you this because I have it to spare!"
Cheng Wanli started to say something, but in the end he let out a long sigh and accepted the ten Spirit Stones.
The two chatted for a while, then shared a meal of ribs and bok choy.
After they'd eaten their fill, Cheng Wanli clasped his hands and left. They were parting now, and perhaps they'd never meet again for the rest of their lives!
After Cheng Wanli had gone, Luo Zhou returned to tidy up the room and noticed a small pouch on the table.
It was made of gray cloth and looked quite ordinary.
But Luo Zhou frowned and picked it up to examine it closely.
A Qiankun Bag!
It was a kind of storage bag, specially made for Body Tempering cultivators.
Storage bags required a Qi Refining cultivator to channel true qi into them to open them. A Qiankun Bag didn't need that; one could store things in it with just a password. It was best suited to Body Tempering cultivators, who had no true qi.
The password was written right on the Qiankun Bag, plain as day.
Luo Zhou looked at Cheng Wanli's parting gift, his feelings a tangled mess.
He tried saying the password: "Dragon Fang."
The Qiankun Bag opened at once. He sensed a small storage space inside.
A cubic space, three feet long, three feet wide, and three feet high.
It might not seem like much, but Qiankun Bags weren't sold in Green Ridge City's spirit shops. You had to go to the markets in Feng Tian, the provincial capital, to buy one. They were worth at least ten Spirit Stones.
Luo Zhou tried it out over and over, delighted with it.
The few people he'd killed had all carried storage bags, but Luo Zhou hadn't dared touch them. They were bound to bring trouble.
Now that he had a Qiankun Bag, he was a true cultivator.
He took out all his Spirit Stones and put them in the Qiankun Bag.
Luo Zhou had thirty-one Spirit Stones left. He'd spent quite a lot recently buying talismans and giving Spirit Stones to Cheng Wanli, so this was all that remained.
He also had three thousand five hundred Broken Spirit and a hundred and thirty taels of silver.
He put in two clean changes of clothes, some provisions, a water gourd, and a few other essentials.
After thinking it over, he went to Old Wang's place and retrieved his thirteen Dragon-Slaying Thrusts, then put them in the Qiankun Bag too.
He couldn't bear to part with them. They'd all been inspected, so they should be fine in the Qiankun Bag.
Once everything was settled, he began cultivating.
First came the five Body Tempering methods of the Greater Celestial Circuit, then he practiced the Overturning Rivers and Seas Fist and Palm.
After he finished the five Body Tempering methods of the Greater Celestial Circuit, Omniscience suddenly spoke:
"Luo Zhou, I've found a problem with your Body Tempering method."
Luo Zhou was startled. "What problem?"
"It has the form, but not the substance.
"You've never reached a bottleneck, let alone broken through one, like you did today when practicing Overturning Rivers and Seas.
"I'll need to observe for a while longer before I can sense the bottlenecks in your Body Tempering methods.
"But I have a suggestion!"
"What is it?"
"I've sensed that White Sun is the White Ape, Azure Profound is the Green Python, Violet Sky is the Vermilion Bird, Brown Scales is the Earth Dragon, and Black Nether is the Black Tortoise.
"You can buy a Green Snake and use it to imitate the Green Python; buy a sparrow to imitate the Vermilion Bird; buy a lizard to imitate the Earth Dragon; and buy a tortoise to imitate the Black Tortoise.
"As for the White Ape, see if you can buy a monkey.
"The closer your imitations are, the faster you'll cultivate and the stronger you'll become."
Luo Zhou nodded. "I understand!"
He was the sort to take advice. If something made sense, he did it right away.
"What was going on when I broke through the Overturning Rivers and Seas bottleneck today?"
"To break through that bottleneck, you first have to understand the art. You need to hold every strength and weakness of the Overturning Rivers and Seas Fist and Palm in your heart.
"Then you have to master the method, practicing until you're completely proficient and have reached the level of mastery.
"Finally, you have to make it your own. Once you've mastered it completely, you must erase all traces of artifice, so the movements flow and shift in a way that suits you better.
"Only then can you sense the bottleneck!
"Once you sense it, you can break through it.
"After breaking through, you gain three benefits: force, intent, and heart.
"I can confirm that you've already gained the battle force of the Overturning Rivers and Seas Fist and Palm!"
"What is battle force?"
"When you break through a bottleneck, you can control its force!
"After breaking through, you can faintly shape the force of heaven and earth.
"With every palm and fist, it's as if the tide of the world is behind you, impossible to oppose. That's why it's called controlling force.
"In terms of the games from your previous life, you've gained a buff. You can wield anywhere from thirty percent more power to an unlimited amount!
"Battle force isn't limited to fists and palms. Casting spells gives you spell force, and wielding a sword gives you sword force."
Luo Zhou nodded and performed the Overturning Rivers and Seas Fist and Palm again. Sure enough, he could faintly sense an irresistible force behind every fist and palm.
"Omniscience, what were those other things you mentioned—heart and intent?"
"I haven't mastered heart or intent yet. I need you to accumulate knowledge so I can sense them.
"I can already acquire some knowledge through external channels: Heaven-Knowing, Earth-Knowing, Life-Knowing, Death-Knowing, Divine-Knowing, Spirit-Knowing, Heart-Knowing, Sensation-Knowing, Cognition-Knowing, and Awareness-Knowing."
"Understood! We'll work hard together!"
Early the next morning, Luo Zhou got up and headed straight for the bird and flower market.
Once he arrived, he started shopping.
First he bought five sparrows, then four lizards.
Then he got five little tortoises, and finally six Green Snakes.
Luo Zhou couldn't raise all these pets himself. He'd have to feed them and clean up after them, so he hired a young shophand from the bird and flower market.
For six hundred copper coins a month, the boy would come to Luo Zhou's home three times a day to feed the pets, clean up after them, and look after the little creatures.
Luo Zhou paid separately for their food. All he had to do was observe them and grasp the mysteries of the five Body Tempering arts.
Unexpectedly, while he was buying the pets, a commotion broke out in the shop next door.
A husband and wife were arguing endlessly.
Though "arguing" wasn't quite the right word. The husband was beating his wife.
Luo Zhou didn't know what it was about. The man was hitting his wife, making her yelp.
But he wasn't hitting her hard at all. It looked less like a fight and more like playful sparring between lovers.
Luo Zhou glanced around. The other shopkeepers seemed used to this sort of thing.
But then he heard a cry in his heart:
"Ugh, they're at it again? A bunch of ants, making a racket day in and day out. So annoying!"
There were a lot of people at the bird and flower market. He had no idea whose mental voice it was!
Luo Zhou sprang to his feet. Free merit!
He strode over and shouted, "Stop!"
"In broad daylight, beneath the clear sky, how can you beat someone like this?"
His hands hadn't stopped moving as he spoke. He grabbed the man and held him down.
The man tried to fight back, but it was useless. Luo Zhou pinned him fast, then kicked him square in the butt.
Luo Zhou was about to say something else, but the woman who'd been beaten picked up a broom and swung it at him.
"Where did you come from, you little punk? How dare you hit my old man!"
Luo Zhou snatched the broom from her and shoved her aside.
Both husband and wife stumbled, and his punishment of evil was complete!
Luo Zhou hesitated, then asked, "He's hitting you again?"
"I'm helping you!"
"I wanted him to! Let go of my old man."
"If you hurt my old man, you'll have me to answer to."
Luo Zhou released the man and backed away repeatedly.
The shopkeepers watching nearby burst out laughing.
"Kids will be kids. He doesn't understand. They're just flirting."
"Beating is affection, scolding is love. This is hilarious!"
Luo Zhou put on a puzzled expression and turned to leave.
Once his back was turned, he smiled. Whatever their deal was, he'd gained a merit point!
Too bad there were so many people around. He couldn't find the one who'd sent out that mental call, or he could've made use of them.
Before you continue