Bagua Copper Coin

Whoosh!

An arrow tore through the air.

Liu San's pupils constricted sharply; his survival instinct made him slam on the brakes subconsciously.

A piercing screech of tires against the pavement erupted.

The Mazda decelerated abruptly, and the monsters clearly had not expected Liu San to stop so suddenly.

The few in the lead could not stop in time, slamming hard into the rear of the car due to their momentum.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sounds of impact rang out in succession.

Several monsters were sent flying into the air, their grayish-green bodies tumbling through the sky.

Jiang Ran watched this scene with an expressionless face.

His movements did not falter in the slightest.

He quickly drew an arrow from the quiver at his waist, nocked it, drew the bow, and released.

The whistling of arrows through the air merged into a continuous stream.

The monsters suspended in mid-air became perfect targets.

Jiang Ran barely needed to aim, locking onto them purely through combat instinct, and the arrows precisely pierced their torsos or skulls.

Three monsters crashed heavily to the ground.

Though not yet dead, they struggled and could not immediately rise.

Meanwhile, the Mazda, having braked sharply, lost control; its front veered to the side and slammed violently into a plane tree by the roadside.

Thud!

The front of the car caved in, the hood twisted and deformed, and the airbag deployed instantly.

Liu San, in the driver's seat, jerked forward and hit the airbag, knocking himself unconscious on the spot.

Jiang Ran glanced at the wrecked vehicle, his eyes calm.

He had originally intended to ignore whether Liu San lived or died, but since the man had lured the monsters right to him, there was no avoiding it.

That arrow was meant to force the car to stop, but he hadn't expected it to trigger a chain reaction.

The monsters hit the car, flew up, and became living targets.

An unexpected coincidence, but the result was good.

At this moment, five monsters remained on the street.

They seemed startled by the fate of their companions, yet their reaction was still quite swift.

The closest monster, about twenty meters away, was the first to pounce.

Jiang Ran did not dodge or retreat; he spread his feet and lowered his center of gravity.

It was the opening stance of the Dragon-Tiger Fist.

That faint sensation of warmth in his lower abdomen gathered once more.

He did not rush to strike, waiting instead until the monster was within five meters before suddenly kicking off the ground and charging forward.

His speed was nearly fifty percent faster than before.

The physical enhancement brought by the Martial Monk class had pushed his explosive power to a new level.

At the very moment they were about to collide.

Jiang Ran twisted his waist and hips, his right fist exploding outward from his ribs.

Roar!

The wind of his punch faintly carried the sound of a tiger's roar!

This punch landed solidly on the monster's chest.

Crack!

A clear sound of bone fracturing rang out.

The monster's forward momentum was brought to a dead stop; its entire chest caved in, and its body flew backward, colliding with another monster behind it.

The two monsters rolled into a heap.

Jiang Ran did not pause, pivoting on his left foot and whipping his right leg out.

This whip kick incorporated the power-generating techniques of Taekwondo, but with the added torque of the Dragon-Tiger Fist's waist and hip rotation, its power was more than doubled.

Bang!

The third monster was struck in the side, the sound of its ribs breaking crisp and audible, and its body flew sideways to slam into a roadside lamppost.

In a mere two seconds, three monsters had lost their ability to fight.

The remaining two seemed to realize the terror of the human before them, roaring as they lunged simultaneously, forming a pincer attack from left and right.

Jiang Ran's eyes narrowed.

His combat intuition had become increasingly sharp following the enhancement of his physique, allowing him to clearly predict the attack trajectories and timing gaps of the two monsters.

The one on the left arrived first, its sharp claws reaching straight for his heart.

Jiang Ran did not retreat but advanced instead, his left hand extending into a claw, utilizing a joint-locking technique from jujitsu, though its speed and precision were no longer what they once were.

He precisely gripped the monster's wrist joint and twisted with the momentum.

Crack!

The wrist bone shattered.

Simultaneously, his right elbow struck like a spear, driving upward into the monster's jaw.

The power generation method of the Dragon-Tiger Fist allowed the force of this elbow strike to penetrate the skull.

The monster's head snapped back, its cervical spine broke, and it collapsed limply to the ground.

By then, the attack from the monster on the right had reached the back of his head.

Jiang Ran did not even turn around.

He sank his waist and kicked his right leg backward, landing a direct blow to the monster's abdomen.

The monster's forward momentum was abruptly halted; its stomach caved in, and it spewed dark red fluid from its mouth.

Jiang Ran used the recoil to turn, both fists striking out in unison!

They slammed into both sides of the monster's head at the same time.

Bang!

The head exploded like a watermelon.

The battle was over.

From the moment Jiang Ran put down his bow and arrow to the moment all five monsters lay on the ground, less than fifteen seconds had passed.

The physical enhancement brought by the Martial Monk class had caused a qualitative change in the comprehensive combat skills he was already proficient in.

More importantly...

The power generation method of the Dragon-Tiger Fist could mobilize the energy within his body and integrate perfectly into other combat techniques, creating an effect where one plus one was greater than two.

Jiang Ran slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling the circulation of warmth within his body.

During the fight just now, he had deliberately used the Dragon-Tiger Fist's power generation twice, consuming a portion of that energy, but the remainder was still enough to sustain him for some time.

Next, Jiang Ran walked over to the three monsters that had been struck by his arrows first and delivered a final blow.

He ensured they were thoroughly dead.

Then, Jiang Ran walked toward the spot where the white orb dropped by Liu San had landed.

The object had rolled to the side of a roadside drainage ditch, still emitting a soft white light.

Jiang Ran bent down and picked it up.

The moment his fingers touched the orb, a notification sounded in his mind:

[Congratulations on obtaining the Bagua Copper Coin!]

[Bagua Copper Coin: Can perform one divination per day]

The light faded, revealing an ancient copper coin in his palm.

The coin was circular with a square hole in the center, engraved with a Bagua pattern on the front and cloud motifs on the back, feeling warm and smooth to the touch.

"One divination per day..." Jiang Ran frowned, "Is that it?"

It sounded very mysterious, but there was absolutely no explanation as to how to use it or what its effects were.

Could it be a fake?

But now was not the time for research.

Jiang Ran tucked the copper coin into his pocket and walked toward the wrecked Mazda.

Inside the car, Liu San was still unconscious, his forehead gashed open with blood covering half his face, but his breathing remained steady.

Jiang Ran pulled open the deformed car door and dragged Liu San out.

He grabbed Liu San by the collar and headed toward a nearby convenience store.

The door lock was already broken; Jiang Ran kicked it open, tossed Liu San inside, and threw a simple first-aid kit from his backpack down beside him.

Whether he lived or died would depend on his own luck.

After finishing this, Jiang Ran returned to the street and began to dissect the monster corpses.

He first processed the five intact bodies, cutting open their skulls.

However, inside the craniums of these monsters, he did not find dark red beads like the one from before.

Instead, he found white crystals the size of a fingernail.

"Don't they all have one..."

Jiang Ran was lost in thought.

It seemed the Seed of Return to Void was either extremely rare or only appeared under some specific mechanism.

Jiang Ran collected them all.

There were eight in total, which he stowed away in a small cloth bag.

Next, he sliced off the most distinctive parts of a few monsters and packed them into his previous bag.

Having finished all this, Jiang Ran did not linger; he shouldered his backpack, grabbed the bag, and quickly left the street.

Not long after Jiang Ran departed.

Inside the convenience store.

Liu San was awakened by pain.

He groaned and opened his eyes, his vision remaining blurry for quite a while before gradually clearing.

The first thing he felt was a sensation as if his entire body had fallen apart, especially in his right ankle, which throbbed with piercing, agonizing pain.

"Hiss... damn it..."

Liu San struggled to sit up and found himself lying beside a shelf in a convenience store, with snack wrappers scattered across the floor.

"I'm not dead... that guy didn't kill me?"

Liu San recalled the final scene before he lost consciousness.

The man in the black hoodie had raised his bow to aim at him, and then...

He shook his head, steadied himself against the shelf to stand up with difficulty, and limped toward the door.

Through the shattered glass door, Liu San looked outside.

Then, he froze.

On the street, at least eight monster corpses lay strewn about in a chaotic mess.

Dark red blood had stained nearly half the street, and severed limbs were scattered everywhere.

Several monsters were pinned to the ground, pierced by arrows.

And one had its head completely blown apart...

Beside these corpses, the Mazda had crashed into a tree, its front end twisted and deformed.

Liu San's mouth hung slightly open, his breathing stalling for several seconds.

"This... did he do all this by himself?"

He remembered the scene last night at the police station, where that man had snapped a monster's neck.

That was only one, after all.

But now... eight.

The hand Liu San used to grip the doorframe trembled slightly.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen ruthless people; in the grave-robbing business, there were plenty of cold-blooded individuals.

But to slaughter eight monsters alone in such a short time...

This wasn't just ruthless; it was terrifying.

"What the hell kind of thing have I provoked..."

Liu San muttered to himself, cold sweat breaking out on his back.

Inside the bank.

Jiang Ran piled the collected monster materials in a corner.

Then, he took out the eight white crystals.

The moment he first touched them, a voice had echoed in his mind, identifying these things as Spirit Crystals...

They were used to assist in cultivation.

But the voice hadn't explained how to cultivate.

It felt a bit like a half-finished game NPC, making one want to complain.

But on second thought, at least he had resources now.

The question now was...

How to practice?

Jiang Ran sat cross-legged, held a Spirit Crystal in his palm, and tried to guide it with his intent, just as he had absorbed the Seed of Return to Void.

However, nothing happened.

The Spirit Crystal lay quietly in his palm, showing no change whatsoever.

"Is the method wrong?"

Jiang Ran pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered the Bagua Copper Coin in his pocket.

Since it allows for one divination every day...

Then divining where my opportunity for cultivation lies should be perfectly reasonable, right?

He acted as soon as he thought of it.

Jiang Ran took out the Bagua Copper Coin, held it in his palm, and closed his eyes to focus.

Then, he tossed the coin upward.

The coin did not fall to the ground.

Instead, it hovered in mid-air and began to rotate slowly.

The speed increased rapidly.

Immediately after, a clear sense of direction appeared in Jiang Ran's mind.

Northeast, about five kilometers away.

The coin stopped rotating and fell back into his palm.

Jiang Ran opened his eyes, a flash of surprise crossing his gaze.

"So magical?"

He glanced at the time on his phone.

2:17 PM.

There were 9 hours and 43 minutes left until the return.

There was plenty of time.

Jiang Ran did not hesitate; he immediately stood up to organize his gear.

He slung the compound bow over his back, checked the quiver, secured the Tang Dao, and tucked the Spirit Crystal and Bagua Copper Coin into his inner pocket.

Finally, he packed the remaining water and food into his backpack.

He locked the bank door and headed toward the northeast.

Five kilometers away, Kaihua Street.

Hongji Building, rooftop.

Zou Yue leaned against the water tank, sweat soaking the bangs on her forehead, her hand gripping the gun trembling slightly.

Beside her, Xia Xuan was equally tense, his eyes fixed firmly on the stairwell leading to the roof.

"How many bullets do you have left?" Xia Xuan asked in a low voice.

"Three," Zou Yue replied with a bitter smile. "And you?"

"Two."

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing despair in the other's eyes.

They were police officers from the Feng City Criminal Investigation Detachment, and while on duty last night, they had seized a batch of smuggled artifacts.

After touching one of the bronze pieces, that voice had appeared in their minds simultaneously.

Before they could even report it, they were pulled into this bizarre world at midnight.

After entering, relying on their identities as police officers, they quickly gathered over a dozen survivors.

But the good times didn't last.

This morning, they were targeted by a group of monsters, fighting and retreating all the way to this building.

The survivors were either dead or scattered.

Now, only the two of them remained, backed onto the rooftop.

Hissing sounds approached from the stairwell.

"They're here." Xia Xuan raised his gun.

The moment the first monster poked its head out, the gunshot rang out; the bullet struck its shoulder, but the monster merely staggered without falling.

A second and a third surged out one after another.

Zou emptied her magazine, with only one shot hitting a monster in the abdomen.

"I'm out of ammo!"

Xia Xuan fired his last two shots, tossed the gun aside, and drew his police baton.

Five monsters surrounded them in a fan shape, hissing as they closed in.

Xia Xuan held his staff horizontally before him, preparing for one final stand...

"Wait." Zou Yue suddenly grabbed Xia Xuan, "Captain Xia, there's someone!!"

Xia Xuan's eyes snapped upward.

At the doorway leading to the rooftop, behind the monsters.

A figure slowly stepped out.