Black Bear Company

Tianshui City Station.

An ordinary-looking young man with no distinguishing features appeared there. It was Xia Ping, though he looked completely different from before.

That was because he had bought a Skin Mask from a store. It was actually a high-tech facial covering that could transform the wearer's face into all sorts of different ones.

They were very popular among children and counted as toys. A single one cost twenty Federal Coins. He had bought a Skin Mask because Black Moon City was simply too dangerous. It was a gathering place for underworld figures, a lawless and complicated place, so it was best not to show up there with his real face.

In fact, many people traveling to Black Moon City changed their appearance to avoid all kinds of danger. It was also a way to protect themselves.

"I have to buy that Golden Potion." Xia Ping clenched his fist. Remembering Zhou Tai'an's arrogant expression from earlier, he couldn't help feeling a surge of anger.

If he had the strength to surpass Zhou Tai'an, would the man still dare act so arrogantly? Relying on his Martial Apprentice Sixth Heaven cultivation and his family's influence, Zhou Tai'an had bullied him without restraint, not taking him seriously at all.

He would remember this score. Once he returned from Black Moon City, he would pay Zhou Tai'an back twice over!

With that thought, Xia Ping immediately boarded the maglev train.

Tianshui City and Black Moon City were over a thousand kilometers apart, but the maglev train traveled at more than a thousand kilometers per hour. They arrived in just over an hour, and the journey was so smooth he didn't feel a single jolt.

Of course, the price was steep. A ticket cost four or five thousand Federal Coins. But for Xia Ping, that was still affordable.

A little over an hour later, Xia Ping arrived at the Black Moon City station. The moment he stepped off the train, he could feel how different the atmosphere was from Tianshui City.

His first impression was that it was a mess!

Plastic trash, scraps of paper, colorful drink cans, and all sorts of other rubbish littered the ground, swept about by gusts of wind and clattering noisily. The white walls were covered in graffiti and strange, unsettling images. It was as if no cleaning staff worked anywhere near the station.

There were a lot of people, too, and all sorts of them!

Men of every kind filled the area. Most had fierce expressions and tattoos of skulls, tigers, leopards, and other fearsome creatures across their shoulders. Their muscles bulged beneath tank tops, and the hair on their heads came in every color, sticking up in a chaotic mess like a chicken coop. Some, of course, were bald.

There were also plenty of prostitutes around the station, dressed provocatively to show off their best features and wearing heavy makeup. They ranged from teenage girls to middle-aged women in their forties and fifties.

Whenever a man came out, they eagerly approached him and asked if he needed a place to stay.

Seeing trouble, Xia Ping hurried away before the older women could surround him. Otherwise, he had no idea where they might talk him into going.

"Right, according to the map, Black Bear Company should be somewhere near the station." Xia Ping opened his phone, and a map of the area appeared.

Black Bear Company was where Xia Ping had decided to buy the Golden Potion. On the surface, it was a legally registered Federation company, but in truth, it was nothing more than a shell company.

In secret, they engaged in smuggling. Black Bear Company was also one of the larger underworld organizations in Black Moon City, with more than ten thousand official members and countless underlings. The Golden Potion was one of the goods it sold.

The company seemed to have a good reputation and was fairly large, so it was unlikely to sell counterfeits. After comparing his options several times, Xia Ping had chosen to buy from Black Bear Company.

He followed the map for two or three kilometers. The high-rises around him looked shabby, and some didn't even have windows. Up close, they looked like unfinished buildings. The ground floors seemed to house countless poor people, all as thin as skeletons. Dangerous figures were everywhere.

The area's layout also seemed extremely complicated. Building after building stood close together, with narrow alleys everywhere.

Even though it was daytime, the tightly packed buildings blocked out the sunlight, leaving the alley in deep shadow.

"Is Black Bear Company really in this place?" Xia Ping followed the map, only to find himself going deeper and deeper into an alley with few other routes nearby.

There were fewer and fewer people around. Before long, hardly anyone came this way.

This was bad. He really had taken the wrong route!

Xia Ping checked the map, his expression turning strange. He had somehow arrived at the back entrance of Black Bear Company, not the front. No wonder there were so few people.

The map showed it as a single point, the Black Bear Building, but he actually had to go around the block to reach the front entrance. After all, the front was where Black Bear Company sold its goods. He obviously couldn't get in through the back.

"Forget it. I'll have to go back around."

Xia Ping was about to leave when the light above his head suddenly dimmed. A whistling sound swept toward him. Something seemed to be falling from the Black Bear Building, which stood forty or fifty stories tall, and came crashing straight toward his head.

Damn it, who was throwing things from up high?!

He was furious, thinking how inconsiderate the person who had tossed it must be. But he quickly calmed himself, circulated the true qi within his body, and punched at the unknown object.

Tiger Fist: Fierce Tiger Exits the Gate!

Ever since fighting Xiong Batian, Xia Ping had continued training hard, cultivating the Pure Yang Indestructible Art and absorbing Sun Essence to improve his cultivation. His understanding of the Five Forms Fist had grown deeper, and he could now perform it with such mastery that every movement flowed naturally.

This punch was even more terrifying than the one he had used against Xiong Batian. As he threw it, several fierce tigers seemed to roar, its imposing force tearing through the air.

Even someone at Martial Apprentice Fifth Heaven would have died on the spot if struck by this punch!

Boom!

The punch struck the unknown object hard, sending it flying more than ten meters. Its tremendous force erupted like a tiger's bite, tearing everything apart.

"Ah!"

But the unknown object suddenly let out a scream. Several sharp cracks followed as a few ribs broke. The sounds rang clearly through the silent, dim alley.

What?!

Hearing that, Xia Ping was startled. The unknown object had made a sound. Could it actually be a person rather than an object?

He looked more closely and saw that the thing he had struck had rolled across the ground several times and spat out a mouthful of blood. Then it fixed him with a vicious, furious glare, radiating murderous intent.