On a Dark, Windy Night, Murder Was Afoot-Thief Gang Boss Chen Shuisheng Had Struck It Rich!

"Under normal conditions, I can keep my qi and blood circulating for about twenty seconds. If I unleash a killing move and concentrate it at a single point, I'm afraid I'll only be able to sustain one move!"

"Qi and blood... I never expected that I'd temper qi and blood after only reaching minor mastery in the Foundation Skill. If word gets out, it'll probably cause a commotion. I'd better wait until I've reached great mastery in the Foundation Skill and can sustain it for longer before letting anyone know I've become a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist."

"The Blood-Tempering Realm... It really is worlds apart from ordinary people!"

Beneath the night sky.

In the backyard.

With the aid of the dim moonlight, Shi Wen examined the discarded stone mill, broken in two.

An indescribable look flickered in his eyes.

No wonder the Inner Courtyard disciples didn't treat Outer Courtyard disciples like people. With such ridiculous explosive power in the Blood-Tempering Realm, how could they possibly see ordinary people as their equals?

He had only just entered the Blood-Tempering Realm, yet he already possessed such destructive power.

What about the martial artists who had spent years immersed in the Blood-Tempering Realm?

And just how terrifying was the destructive power of martial artists above the Blood-Tempering Realm?

Calling them human-shaped beasts wouldn't be an exaggeration, would it?

"The Extreme Seal's breakthrough of my Foundation Skill must have been more than just minor mastery. It seems to have reshaped the technique into something that belongs to me?"

Shi Wen closed his eyes and focused, then began practicing his stances, moving through the Charging Step and performing a complete set of moves.

As soon as he began, he noticed something was different.

The strengths and weaknesses of each move in the Baji Fist Introductory Foundation, how to improve them, and the optimal paths for executing them all appeared in his mind.

He didn't need to think. His muscles simply moved on instinct.

And he could perform every move in its optimal form!

His stances, Charging Step, and all six killing moves had undergone subtle changes. It was as if this foundational skill had been directly improved into a martial art of his own, perfectly suited to his cultivation.

Before, for instance, he had practiced his stances according to the methods Yan Kai had taught him, which were methods passed down through the generations.

The Charging Step and the six killing moves were the same.

They had all been handed down by the ancestors.

But every martial artist was different in height, arm and leg length, and other measurements. Of course, there would be parts of the techniques that didn't feel right when they practiced.

Practicing rigidly only forced them to fit the standard.

Those with insight could adapt what they learned and make it their own. That was the realm of perfection.

Others practiced dutifully and, given enough time, could reach great mastery and barely attain perfection.

But Shi Wen felt that the Extreme Seal had transformed the fist technique into the form best suited to him!

Before, practicing had simply been practice. Now, it was as easy as breathing. Every move flowed with effortless skill, and he could feel exactly where to strike and how much force to use, as if he had spent many years immersed in the art.

Even more incredibly, it was as if this fist technique had been created specifically for his height, build, and the length of his arms and legs. It fit him perfectly!

Besides that,

he noticed that the short jacket that had once fit him now felt a little snug.

In the moonlight, Shi Wen saw that his muscles were firm and evenly built. He seemed to have grown a little taller, and his frame felt a little broader too.

His basic strength had also increased considerably.

Before, lifting something weighing a hundred catties had been difficult. Now, the broken half of the stone mill weighed around a hundred catties, yet he could lift it without much effort.

[Extreme Seal]

[Baji Fist Introductory Foundation: Minor Mastery (2/100) Trait: Penetrating Momentum]

"Hm? When did I get a trait?"

"Could the reason I can break a stone mill with an elbow be this Penetrating Momentum trait? I wonder if the other Inner Courtyard disciples who tempered their qi and blood with the foundational skill have traits like this."

Shi Wen drew a deep breath.

He directed his qi and blood to his fingertips and drove them into the broken half of the stone mill. The sandstone mill immediately split open, leaving a hole.

But it took far more effort than unleashing the Heart-Piercing Elbow.

"Now the tables have turned."

Shi Wen remembered San Qingzi's detestable face, and killing intent stirred within him.

He didn't go looking for him right away.

Instead, he quietly familiarized himself with his newly attained minor mastery in the backyard, eating Stone Raw Meat and Blood-Nourishing Paste to replenish his strength.

Dark clouds gathered, veiling the moonlight.

Creak~

Shi Wen gently shut the door and headed toward the alley swallowed by darkness.

The night was pitch-black, and a fine drizzle had begun to fall. Black Cloud County, which had prospered along the water, was rainy all year round. That was also how the county got its name.

Shi Wen hurried through the streets and alleys, heading farther and farther into the more desolate parts of town.

He had grown up in Peace Lane, and as a child, he had once stumbled upon San Qingzi's hidden residence there while playing with his friends.

As he drew closer, Shi Wen slowed his steps.

Ahead lay a dilapidated alley, long neglected. There had once been rumors that it was haunted, and many people had moved away.

When he arrived, Shi Wen spotted Dog Laizi, a Thief Gang thug, crouching by the roadside on lookout. He ran with San Qingzi and followed him around all day.

Shi Wen crept up and suddenly clamped a hand around Dog Laizi's neck. He circulated his qi and blood and crushed it with brute force.

Dog Laizi didn't even have time to struggle. His eyes bulged, and he died on the spot!

To be safe, Shi Wen slashed the man's throat with a rusty blade. After confirming there was no response, he tossed the body behind the courtyard wall of an abandoned house and surveyed the alley.

Perhaps San Qingzi truly had no one else he could use.

Aside from the thug on lookout, Shi Wen saw no one else.

Shi Wen crept up to the little house.

He looked through the broken window and saw that the person lying on the bed inside wasn't San Qingzi.

It was a dark-faced man, bare-chested and wrapped in bandages over numerous wounds. He slept in a daze, looking rather unwell.

"Is that Thief Gang Boss Chen Shuisheng?"

Shi Wen was startled. He hadn't expected the Thief Gang boss to be hiding here.

But after thinking it over, he found it understandable.

The Robbery Gang had taken over Peace Lane and would surely be searching everywhere for Chen Shuisheng. If Chen Shuisheng kept moving around, he would definitely be discovered.

Even if he escaped Peace Lane,

there was no telling whether some other gang would capture him and hand him over to the Robbery Gang for a reward.

Even his usual hideout, no matter how well concealed, would be turned upside down.

But who would have guessed that Chen Shuisheng would run to a trusted underling's "safe house" to hide?

The little house was utterly ordinary, a rundown wooden shack sealed up with boards. There were places like it all over Peace Lane. The Robbery Gang members probably wouldn't think anything of it if they passed by. They'd never imagine that Chen Shuisheng, former boss of the Thief Gang in Peace Lane, was hiding inside.

After giving it some thought, Shi Wen studied the spot where Chen Shuisheng lay against the wall and suddenly came up with a plan.

Shi Wen crept around to the other side of the wooden shack and steadied himself.

He suddenly stamped out with Heavenly Spring Treading, his lower body planted as solidly as iron. Force surged from his foot as he twisted his waist and hips, pouring every ounce of strength in his body, along with that wisp of qi and blood, into his hand. His fingers curled like a hook, and his hand pierced through the wooden boards like a blade. His five fingers, like an eagle's talons, tore through flesh. With an explosive burst of strength, he yanked the man toward himself and unleashed the Heart-Piercing Elbow with all his might!

Boom!!

Like a ferocious beast, he smashed straight through the entire wooden wall. The man inside hadn't even had time to react.

Shi Wen had already pierced his throat with his fingers and was pulling him toward the iron elbow driving into his chest.

Shi Wen had heard of this move at the Fist Academy, while listening to senior disciples chatting.

They said the Heart-Piercing Elbow's more explosive killing move wasn't to knock someone flying. It was to grab them and pull them in, then concentrate the force in the Heart-Piercing Elbow and unleash it at point-blank range. Even if the King of Hell came, he couldn't save them!

Pulling off this move would cost him a fortune in compensation!

He had tried it out over the past few days while practicing with Li Tiezhu.

It really was vicious!

Pfft!

Chen Shuisheng's throat had been pierced, and then his back took a heavy blow. His ribs snapped and protruded, while his organs and intestines sprayed across the ground!!

Still afraid that this Thief Gang tiger might not be dead, Shi Wen slashed his throat with a piece of iron and picked up a stone to smash his head.

Only after the headless body stopped twitching did Shi Wen finally relax. He quickly pulled jerky and Blood-Nourishing Paste from his clothes to restore his qi and blood, then crouched behind cover and watched his surroundings with a ruthless gaze.

The Thief Gang boss probably never imagined, even as he died, that he would be killed by someone who had no grudge against him!

It was his first time killing someone. Apart from his body trembling uncontrollably and his hands shaking, he suffered no other ill effects.

Shi Wen suppressed his ragged breathing, brushed the wood chips off his clothes, and entered the shack. There, he saw a bundle scattered across the floor.

He went over and opened it. His breathing quickened.

Three gold leaves. He didn't know how much they could buy.

But there were five banknotes worth ten taels each, and the remaining silver pieces amounted to roughly twenty taels. Altogether, it came to nearly eighty taels of silver!

Silver had considerable purchasing power!

One tael of silver could be exchanged for three strings of coins. Eighty taels could buy 240 strings. What did that amount to?

An ordinary person at the bottom of society, assuming the clerks and gangs didn't skim their wages and they neither ate nor drank, would need to save for more than ten or twenty years to amass this much!

And he could get his hands on it in a matter of moments.

And that wasn't even counting the three gold leaves!

Besides the money, the bundle contained some Golden Wound Medicine, bruise ointment, dried beast meat, a thin sheet of parchment, and some odds and ends.

"As the saying goes, murder and arson put gold belts around your waist. It really is true!"

"A mere Thief Gang boss had this much money on him when he fled. I can't even imagine how wealthy those mighty gangs that have stood firm for ages must be!"

"I was worried about not having enough money to buy dried beast meat and Blood-Nourishing medicine to keep my body going. I'll have to thank San Qingzi later."

Shi Wen hastily searched the scene.

He then pulled a plank off a nearby building and used it to cover the breach, making sure the shack didn't look much different from a distance.

After that,

he hid in a corner,

waiting for San Qingzi to appear.

The night was pitch-black, and the drizzle grew heavier, washing away the smell of blood and scouring every trace.

Shi Wen was like a beast in the darkness, lying in wait without moving.

It wasn't until the middle of the night that a furtive figure emerged from a distant alley.

As he walked, he kept glancing behind him, as if afraid someone was following.

"Damn it, where did Dog Laizi run off to now? He's always pissing and shitting, and when it matters, he can't even keep a proper lookout. When Boss Chen finds out, he'll have you crippled!"

"What a pity. The Robbery Gang only has one martial artist, and Boss Chen's a martial artist too. If the Robbery Gang's boss hadn't ambushed him, how could Peace Lane have changed hands?"

"Boss Chen said that once his injuries heal, he'll take Peace Lane back. Then he'll make me deputy gang boss. I'll be a great man with ten thousand people beneath me and only one above!"

"First, I'd better report to Boss Chen."

San Qingzi shook his head, hatred flickering in his eyes.

Damn it, he felt like everything had gone wrong ever since he ran into that kid from the Shi Family.

If he weren't keeping his head down lately, he'd really want to kill that kid!

Suddenly, a gust of wind struck. Before San Qingzi could react, he was dragged into the darkness like a dog seized by the neck.

San Qingzi struggled with all his might, but the hand clamped around his neck was like an iron vise. He couldn't move at all.

At that moment, San Qingzi's face was full of terror. He knew he had run into a martial artist!

The moon slipped through the clouds, revealing a faint glimmer of light. Out of the corner of his eye, San Qingzi saw that familiar face. His scalp went numb, and disbelief welled up inside him.

That kid from the Shi Family?

Shi Wen was a martial artist?

How was that possible? That kid from the Shi Family had only started learning martial arts recently!!!!

In an instant, San Qingzi regretted it so much his guts nearly turned green. If he could do it all over again, he'd never dare provoke this youth!

Crack!!

Thunder rumbled through the dark clouds.

In the rainy night, the youth raced away through the narrow alleyways...