So Thrilling!

In a dark alley!

A chilling, sinister laugh echoed through the narrow alley as the two men slowly closed in from front and back, sealing off Chen An's path ahead. Their killing intent was biting.

Watching the two men draw nearer, Chen An's eyes flickered beneath his hood, a glint of cold light flashing and vanishing.

These two were clearly ruthless men. Even if he truly handed over his belongings, he feared he would still not escape their poisoned hands.

Besides, judging from the aura they gave off, they were at most Qi Condensation Realm martial artists.

Although his movement technique still lagged somewhat behind due to relying on the system to improve his cultivation arts, his late Houtian Realm strength should have been enough to crush them.

Seeing that he did not move, the black-clad man with the short blade immediately charged. His poisoned dagger stabbed straight for Chen An's chest and abdomen, the move vicious and deadly.

The iron-clawed martial artist followed close behind, sweeping his iron claws sideways to seal off every avenue of escape to the left and right, intending to suppress him in an instant.

But just as the icy blades and claws were about to strike him, Chen An's body abruptly swayed. With light, elusive footwork, he drew upon the foundations of the movement technique he had just deduced to perfection, turning slightly aside and slipping past the two fierce killing moves as smoothly as flowing clouds and running water.

The instant he evaded, he did not retreat. His fists, wrapped in fierce force, blasted forward as his aura erupted with a boom.

"Houtian..."

One of the black-clad martial artists' pupils suddenly contracted, his voice filled with incredulous terror.

"No, spare us..."

In that brief instant, the two men clearly sensed the terrifying pressure sweeping out from Chen An's body. It was unmistakably at the Houtian Realm level.

What had seemed like a harmless prey had concealed the strength of a Houtian expert, utterly overturning their judgment.

The two desperate highway robbers were instantly scared out of their wits. Their earlier ferocity and arrogance vanished without a trace, leaving only utter fear and despair.

Mountain-Crushing Force!!!

That terrifying punch seemed to explode the air as it slammed into the two men one after the other beneath their horrified gazes.

Bang! Bang!!~~

Two muffled, explosive impacts rang out in succession. The tyrannical fist force instantly tore apart their thin Houtian protective qi, unstoppable in its momentum.

Their bodies jolted violently, as though struck by a massive mountain. They stiffened abruptly, then flew backward through the air like a pair of battered sacks.

While still in midair, sweetness rose in their throats, and they sprayed out mouthfuls of blood that fell like a rain of crimson.

They crashed heavily onto the cold ground, their bones and sinews shattered and their auras instantly withering. After twitching a few times, they were taking in more air than they breathed out, completely losing all ability to resist and lingering on their last breaths.

"Phew!!~~"

Chen An slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. He glanced at the two men gasping on the ground, then walked over with an indifferent expression and kicked each of them in the head.

Two soft thuds sounded. Their bodies stiffened sharply, their pupils suddenly dilated, and their breaths completely ceased.

Only after finishing this did Chen An bend down and begin searching the two corpses.

A moment later, after putting away everything he had found, he glanced once more at the dark alley behind him before turning and leaving.

Half an incense stick later, three figures suddenly appeared in the alley.

"Who would have thought that the famed Black Fiend Brothers would fall tonight!"

"So strong! He killed the late Qi Condensation Realm Black Fiend Brothers with a single punch! He must be at least a Houtian Realm expert!"

"Since when had such a figure appeared in Wurong County's black market?!"

The three figures carefully examined the corpses, then sensed the lingering might of the tyrannical fist force around them. Their eyes filled with shock. They knew the Black Fiend Brothers' methods well. The pair had committed evil together for years, their combat experience seasoned; ordinary opponents of the same realm could do nothing to them. Yet now, they had been killed in a single blow. The gap was simply enormous.

They warily swept their gazes over the dark corners around them, their minds taut and their hearts full of apprehension, afraid that the mysterious expert who had slain the Black Fiend Brothers had not gone far and was still lurking nearby.

They did not dare linger, much less track down the other party. After hurriedly surveying the scene a few more times, they swiftly composed themselves, lowered their bodies, and silently withdrew into the depths of the night.

"Phew!!~~"

The moment he finally stepped into his own courtyard, Chen An's tightly wound mind completely relaxed.

"Finally home!"

"Today had really been thrilling!"

He shut the wooden door behind him, slid the bolt into place, and sealed out the pitch-black, icy night and the clamor of the streets outside.

Only then did Chen An cast off his full vigilance. He lazily dropped into a wooden chair, poured himself a cup of cold water, and tipped it back in one gulp.

The icy water slid down his throat, dispelling the chill of the night journey and the lingering savagery of battle. Only then did he let out a long breath of stale air, finally relaxing completely.

Entering the black market to trade pills, choosing cultivation arts from damaged manuals, encountering an ambush on the way back, then killing his attackers—one wave after another, every step had kept him tense, and he had not dared relax for a moment.

Especially when he had killed those two martial artists who wanted to rob a robber. Though he had won cleanly and decisively, only he knew how nervous he had been then, and how fortunate.

Although he had fused with the memories, this had still been his first time killing someone.

If the system had not raised his cultivation to the late Houtian Realm, putting him an entire major realm above those two—

He might very well have capsized in the gutter tonight.

As for killing those two men, however, Chen An did not feel the slightest guilt.

Not to mention that this world was one where the strong devoured the weak and martial strength reigned supreme—even in his previous life, was it not much the same?!

After taking several deep breaths to calm himself, Chen An lit an oil lamp, carried some water into the bathroom, and began washing up.

In the bathroom, a masculine, nearly perfect male body was revealed in the air.

Icy well water poured down from his head, slowly washing over his skin and muscles. The cold seeped into his flesh, carrying away the lingering sweat stains and bloody scent on his body.

After drying himself and leaving the bathroom, Chen An sat down beside the table and began taking stock of tonight's gains.

Five cultivation arts!

Besides the Black Tortoise Breath-Concealing Art, Azure Mystery True Fusion Art, Black Iron Golden Body Art, and Introduction to Alchemy that he had bought earlier from the old man selling incomplete cultivation arts in the black market—

The final cultivation art had been found on one of the two martial artists who had tried to rob him, specifically the man wielding the short blade. It was a movement-type, mid-grade Profound-rank martial skill called Flying Star Shadow-Chasing Step.

Unlike the three incomplete cultivation arts he had bought, this Flying Star Shadow-Chasing Step was actually a complete martial skill manual.

A complete mid-grade Profound-rank movement martial skill was worth at least ten thousand Yuan Crystals on the market.

"I really hadn't expected that someone robbing people on the road would actually carry a cultivation manual with them!"

Looking at the Flying Star Shadow-Chasing Step in his hand, an odd expression could not help flashing across Chen An's face.

When he watched movies and read novels in his previous life, he had always found such plots unreasonable. Those bandits and roadside villains would head out to do dirty work while carrying martial arts manuals and cultivation techniques on them—it seemed far too deliberate, stiff, and fake.

He had never expected to encounter such a thing himself.

Still, Chen An did not dwell on it. He flipped through the mid-grade Profound-rank martial skill, and a smile rose on his face.

A man could not grow rich without windfall wealth, just as a horse could not grow fat without night grass!

Though tonight had been perilous at every step and he had repeatedly been in danger, obtaining this complete movement martial skill made every risk worthwhile.

As long as he sold this mid-grade Profound-rank martial skill, he could exchange it for at least ten thousand Yuan Crystals.

And with ten thousand Yuan Crystals, relying on the system's functions, he would have enough to raise his cultivation once more to a realm that his former self would never have dared imagine!