World Announcement

Wang Xuan's hand had just touched Yu Jinghong's clothes when a ding rang in his head.

[World Announcement: Player faction 'Jinghong Gang' has been destroyed.]

[Guild Leader Yu Jinghong (dead), all members (dead).]

[This faction has been removed from this world.]

More than twenty corpses with blood streaming from their seven orifices still lay in the street, the stench of blood assaulting his nose.

Wang Xuan ignored the announcement and continued searching.

Yu Jinghong did not have much on him—just a palm-sized black pouch with gold-thread embroidery around its edges. It felt smooth to the touch, neither like cloth nor leather.

The moment he picked up the pouch, three successive dings rang in his head.

[World Announcement: Player faction 'Qingtian Gang' has been successfully established. Guild Leader: Yu Qingtian. Territory: Jingzhou City.]

[World Announcement: Player faction 'Power Gang' has been successfully established. Guild Leader: Shen Chenzhou. Territory: Yueyang City.]

[Notice: Three player factions have appeared in this world. The Main Quest 'Ascent to the Martial Peak' has entered its first phase: Jianghu Strife.]

Wang Xuan's hand paused. Three gangs.

Jinghong Gang had just been wiped out, and two more had immediately sprung up. Anyone capable of using a Guild Creation Token now was, ninety-nine percent of the time, from the Royal Clan. An ordinary player could save for a lifetime and still never afford one.

In other words, at least three members of the Royal Clan had descended into this Secret of the Linked Cities world.

"Good grief." Wang Xuan tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Did I stab a Royal Clan nest or something?"

The moment he finished speaking, another notification sounded by his ear.

[Regional Announcement (Jing Prefecture): Qingtian Gang has issued a 'Jianghu Kill Order'.]

[Target: Murderer.]

[Crime: Killing a Royal Clan member.]

[Reward: Eight hundred taels of gold and one Mid-Grade Martial Arts manual, Returning Wind Willow-Sweeping Sword.]

[Eligibility: All players and native martial artists of this world may accept.]

[Time Limit: Until the target dies.]

[Note: Those who provide accurate leads will be rewarded with fifty taels of gold.]

The announcement caused an uproar throughout Blue Stone Town. At the public notice board down the street, where the authorities normally posted bounties, a wanted notice had appeared out of thin air. Wang Xuan's portrait was drawn on it, so clear that it almost perfectly reproduced his appearance.

Almost at the same time, another notification popped up.

[World Announcement: Qingtian Gang has triggered the Side Quest: 'Treasure of Emperor Liang Yuan', Side Quest: 'Peerless Divine Art—Divine Illumination Art'.]

[Quest Clue: Emperor Liang Yuan's vast hoard of wealth requires Secret of the Linked Cities and Selected Tang Poetry to decipher. Clue holder Ding Dian is currently imprisoned in the Death Prison of Jingzhou Prefecture.]

[Quest Clue: The peerless Divine Art Divine Illumination Art. Enter stillness and illumination, Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, Five Energies Converge at the Origin; life and death lay within a finger's reach. Clue holder Ding Dian is currently imprisoned in the Death Prison of Jingzhou Prefecture.]

[Notice: This Side Quest is public information. All players may participate.]

Wang Xuan stood there, clutching the black pouch in his hand. There was a lot to process.

He had killed a Royal Clan member and immediately ended up on a Jianghu Kill Order. Eight hundred taels of gold plus a Mid-Grade Martial Arts manual—enough to make plenty of people see red.

The other two Royal Clan members had immediately established gangs, issuing a kill order on one hand while triggering side quests on the other.

And Ding Dian, in Jingzhou's Death Prison...

"Sure enough, the Royal Clan knows the martial arts world inside out. The advantage of knowing the plot beforehand only works for ordinary players," Wang Xuan muttered.

He lowered his head and looked at the black pouch in his hand. Focusing his thoughts on it, he brought up the System Panel:

[Item: Primary Storage Bag (Bound)]

[Origin: Xianxia World]

[Description: Contains 125 cubic meters of storage space. Stored and retrieved through intent.]

[Status: Bound to player Wang Xuan.]

Something from the Xianxia World? Bound directly? What did that mean?

Wang Xuan's heart stirred. The textbooks had clearly stated that players in Low Martial Arts Worlds could only bring items from Low Martial Arts Worlds inside.

Items from high-martial and Immortal Martial Worlds were forbidden by the rules of the Heavens Tower from entering lower worlds. It was like an immortal cultivator ascending, then attempting to return to the lower realm—the laws of the world did not permit it.

Yet the Royal Clan could bypass the rules?

He sent his intent into the Storage Bag.

Good grief.

Inside were piles of gold and silver ingots like small mountains, glittering so brightly that merely looking at them lifted his spirits.

Beside them sat more than a dozen small medicine bottles, each with a label: Great Restoration Pill, Nine Heavens Jade Dew Pill, Tiger Leopard Life-Establishing Pill... Each name sounded more impressive than the last. According to their descriptions, they were all valuable medicines for increasing cultivation, recovering from internal injuries, and sustaining life.

At the very edge was a stack of books.

Wang Xuan swept them with his intent. Most were basic cultivation methods, things like Basic Breathing Technique and Basic Fist and Foot Techniques.

There were more than ten Lower-Grade Martial Arts manuals: Bronze Hammer Hand, Green Bamboo Sword Technique, Iron Pipa Hand... He had never even heard of them.

There were only four Mid-Grade Martial Arts manuals: Great Monument-Breaking Hand, Water-Skipping Technique, Throat-Locking Grappling Art, and Wild Goose Movement Technique.

That was all.

"Is this it?" Wang Xuan felt somewhat disappointed.

When he had fought Yu Jinghong, the man's inner force had been pure and penetrating, while his palm and leg techniques had been formidable. Wang Xuan had thought there would at least be an Upper-Grade martial art in the Storage Bag, or perhaps a Divine Arts-level internal cultivation method.

Instead, there were only four mid-grade manuals: two hand techniques and two movement techniques.

"Is this all the Royal Clan has?" Wang Xuan frowned, but he quickly understood.

It was not that the Royal Clan was poor. They simply had no need to give good things to cannon fodder.

Divine Arts and Ultimate Arts took years to cultivate at the very least. Cannon fodder needed to develop combat strength quickly. Lower- and mid-grade martial arts might be crude, but they were easy to learn and produced results fast.

They were expendable anyway. Why give them anything better?

Once he understood that, Wang Xuan stopped dwelling on it.

Something was better than nothing.

With a thought, he took the four Mid-Grade Martial Arts manuals from the Storage Bag. He opened the first, Great Monument-Breaking Hand, and read a few lines of the chant and force-channeling method.

A ding sounded in his head.

[Detected skill 'Great Monument-Breaking Hand' (complete).]

[Would you like to use the talent 'One-Click Max'?]

"Yes."

The heat returned, this time concentrating in his hands.

Wang Xuan felt as though both hands had been thrust into a furnace. His flesh, muscles, tendons, and bones were being hammered and reforged madly. Within a few breaths, they reached a pinnacle that others might fail to achieve even after decades of bitter training.

The System Panel popped up:

[Great Monument-Breaking Hand (Maximum)]

[Trait: Indestructible]

[Description: Both palms can split refined iron, snap blades, shatter shields, and crack stone.]

[Negative Effect (Immune): Palm deformity. Palms become hard as stone and require the special medicine 'Soft Jade Ointment' to restore them once every season. If the medicine is not obtained for two seasons, the palms petrify, gradually spreading to the arms and worsening over time until the entire body turns to stone.]

Wang Xuan's eyelids twitched as he read the description.

This negative effect... could something like this even exist in a Low Martial Arts World?

The Iron Cloth Shirt he cultivated was also a hard-body technique and required hammering as well as medicinal applications, but he had never seen any negative effects listed on the System Panel.

This was clearly rule-based power found only in high-martial, or even Xianxia Worlds.

The Royal Clan had not only brought in high-level items—they had buried traps in the martial arts too?

He opened Water-Skipping Technique.

One-Click Max.

Heat surged into his legs.

[Water-Skipping Technique (Maximum)]

[Trait: Walking on Level Ground]

[Description: One will not sink, get stuck, or slip on water, wet ground, or mud. Can stand upon grass blades until they bend slightly.]

[Negative Effect (Immune): The medicine 'Collateral-Activating Pill' must be taken once every season. Otherwise, after one season the legs will become stiff and difficult to move; after two seasons, both legs will stiffen to death, eventually paralyzing the entire body.]

Wang Xuan fell silent.

He thought of those players who had signed contracts earlier. Once Yu Jinghong died, every one of them had dropped dead on the spot.

Looking at the negative effects of these two martial arts now, he understood.

Everything the Royal Clan gave came with chains: martial arts, pills, resources... all of it was a means of control.

If you cultivated their martial arts, you had to use their medicine or be crippled. If you signed their contracts, your life would be in their hands.

"They're fucking ruthless," Wang Xuan cursed.

Fortunately, he had One-Click Max, which could immunize him against these side effects.

Otherwise, even if he obtained these martial arts, it would only be slow suicide.

He then maxed out Throat-Locking Grappling Art and Wild Goose Movement Technique.

[Throat-Locking Grappling Art (Maximum)]

[Trait: Bone-Piercing Locking Force]

[Description: When the fingertips touch skin, bone-piercing locking force is generated, sealing the target's meridians instantly.]

[Negative Effect (Immune): The medicine 'Jade Collateral Pellet' must be taken once every season. Otherwise, after one season the meridians will ache unbearably; after two seasons, the meridians will all rupture, until all meridians throughout the body are severed and the user becomes crippled.]

[Wild Goose Movement Technique (Maximum)]

[Trait: Endless Stamina]

[Description: Can run continuously for one shichen without disrupting one's breathing, with extremely low consumption of inner force.]

[Negative Effect (Immune): The medicine 'Muscle Relaxing Ointment' must be applied once every season. Otherwise, after one season the legs will become stiff and difficult to move; after two seasons, both legs will stiffen to death, eventually paralyzing the entire body.]

With all four Mid-Grade Martial Arts maxed out, the inner force in his body increased by another measure.

On the System Panel, his realm leaped directly from the Sixth Layer of Postnatal Realm to the Post-Heaven Eighth Layer.

Wang Xuan was still quite pleased with the increase in his strength.

The Jianghu Kill Order had already been issued. By now, the players and native martial artists across Jing Prefecture likely all knew that a "murderer" had killed a Royal Clan member and was worth eight hundred taels of gold plus a mid-grade sword technique. And since the players of Blue Stone Town had witnessed everything, information about him would soon spread throughout the world.

There was also the Side Quest triggered by Power Gang: the Treasure of Emperor Liang Yuan and the Divine Illumination Art...

Ding Dian was in Jingzhou's Death Prison.

The news had surely already spread. Who knew how many people were rushing toward Jingzhou now?

"I need to hurry."

Wang Xuan tucked the Storage Bag into his clothes and turned to leave. He did not head into town, instead leaving Blue Stone Town directly and following the official road toward Jingzhou.

As he walked, he organized his thoughts.

There were three Royal Clan members. Yu Jinghong was dead, leaving two.

Those two would definitely be harder to deal with than Yu Jinghong. Yu Jinghong had descended alone and had been killed right after establishing his gang. The remaining two were now on guard and surely had a crowd of contract-bound cannon fodder around them.

"Though there's risk, the rewards are great too. The Royal Clan has at least Mid-Grade Martial Arts!"

"I'll go to Jingzhou and take a look first," Wang Xuan decided.

Ding Dian was in the Death Prison, and both the Divine Illumination Art and the clues to the Treasure of Emperor Liang Yuan were there.

Although Qingtian Gang had triggered this quest, the rules of the Heavens Tower made it public information. Anyone could participate.

Wang Xuan had One-Click Max. As long as he obtained the Divine Illumination Art, he could instantly cultivate it to its limit.

By then, not to mention the Seventh Layer of Post-Heaven Realm—even reaching the Xiantian Realm would not be impossible.

With enough strength, what Jianghu Kill Order? What Royal Clan? They would all be trash.