What a Disgrace! (New book seeking monthly votes and reads~)

The moment he crossed the thirty-strand limit, Lin Shu had already broken through to the Mid-Stage Qi Condensation.

And as his internal method reached completion, this limit was abruptly raised to one hundred strands!

This drastic increase was like widening a pond several times over, but without enough water to fill it.

It caused the weakness throughout his body to surge.

Fortunately, Virtue Coins not only improved his internal method but also simultaneously summoned the spiritual energy drifting in the world.

Dense white mist roared in, filling his parched spiritual pool.

A wisp of white energy rapidly condensed, and the change gradually stopped only when it reached the full one hundred strands.

"Hoo!"

Lin Shu experienced the immense changes in his body, yet felt none of the trepidation he had when deducing Evil Methods.

Warmth washed over him, soothing his mind.

He exhaled a breath of air, and a hint of sleepiness emerged.

It wasn't due to fatigue, but rather Lin Shu, since arriving in Blackwater City, had rarely relaxed his taut heartstrings and felt a sense of ease.

"So good..."

He closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair, intending to savor the feeling.

But as the last White Jade Coin disappeared, this comfort was abruptly snatched away, and he felt as if he had fallen from the clouds back to the ground.

"No, man, I could accept it if you improved slowly, but this is too realistic!"

Lin Shu opened his eyes speechlessly, unable to help but grumble inwardly.

He sighed and began to calculate his expenses.

Similarly, for an internal method to reach the sixth rank completion, Evil Coins used about twenty, while Virtue Coins required nearly fifty, including the help of Yu Sheng's vital blood.

It was indeed much slower; the efficiency of Evil Coins was more than three times higher.

If the ratio remained the same, for his internal method to touch the upper three ranks, it would require at least three hundred White Jade Coins.

"Where am I supposed to find so many people who are about to die?"

Lin Shu shook his head. If he only saved ordinary people, three hundred lives would definitely be a major event in Blackwater City.

But if he saved cultivators, it might only take a few people to reach that number.

Wait...

Lin Shu suddenly realized something was wrong and slowly furrowed his brow.

He raised his palm and looked at the pile of Evil Coins suspended in mid-air.

When did he start crudely measuring a person's life by the price?

After a long silence, Lin Shu felt somewhat speechless.

If external things controlled his thoughts, was he cultivating, or was he working for this pile of coins?

Saving people because he wanted to save them, killing people because he thought they deserved it.

He was someone who had already died once; if he couldn't act according to his own sense of good and evil, he would have truly lived two lives in vain.

Lin Shu gathered his thoughts and refocused his attention on cultivation.

Although Virtue Coins were slower, they also had an additional benefit.

They could save him money.

This alone saved him nearly a hundred Qi Replenishing Pills.

It could only be said that each had its own advantages.

"For internal methods in the lower three ranks, from ninth to seventh rank, if all are cultivated to completion, the Qi absorption amounts are ten strands to thirty strands respectively."

"Now it seems, if a sixth-rank internal method at completion can surge to one hundred strands, then the supreme fourth-rank internal method of the middle three ranks could achieve three hundred strands of Qi absorption?"

As Mid-Stage Qi Condensation Cultivators, the upper and lower limits varied quite a bit.

Lin Shu pondered for a moment.

With the means he currently possessed, even among those in the same realm, he wouldn't dare claim to be invincible.

Not to mention those cultivators in the White Tiger Hall who had hopes of Foundation Establishment.

His strength was still insufficient.

Thinking this, he disregarded the risk of the White Wolf phantom awakening and pressed all ninety-one Evil Coins down.

Since he didn't know when it would wake up anyway, feeding it a few more mouthfuls was inconsequential; at least the immortal method he obtained was his own.

Nearly a hundred Evil Coins were needed to completely perfect the immortal method Bone Burial Soul Entombment, breaking through the barrier of the upper three ranks!

Black light intensified!

The Young Wolf, having been fed again, grew even stronger. Its fur was dark and lustrous, a stark contrast to its original snow-white appearance.

Black mist coiled around his hair, causing the body to transform.

The Lone Wolf Howling at the Moon Painting slowly unfurled, revealing a similarly mist-shrouded, frigid mountaintop. The wolf's flesh had already been corroded into a skeleton, and the bone claws spread across the mountainside appeared even more terrifying.

But this time, protected by the Spirit Sparrow Qi-Eating Method, Lin Shu managed to steady his mind.

He felt only a slight hint of irritation.

He sensed the immortal technique in his mind gradually completing, and the prompts that appeared became whole.

The lost proficiency reappeared.

Dozens of Evil Coins acted in concert, finally breaking through the most difficult barrier of the Qi Refining stage!

[Qi Refining Rank 3. Bone Burial Soul Entombment: Perfect]

As this immortal technique reached the upper three ranks, even with the terrifying efficiency of Evil Coins, further progress began to strain.

Feeling that further improvement was hopeless, Lin Shu looked at the remaining ten-odd Evil Coins in his hand and tossed them into another Wolf Tooth.

He had already experienced the utility of pupil techniques.

Often, to defeat an opponent, you first had to clearly understand what methods they were using.

Without the Red Moon Dharma Eye, Liu Zhen's ability to split himself into three would have been enough for Lin Shu to struggle.

Moreover, the pupil technique itself carried some offensive power.

It was worth investing in.

Similar to the Ghost Moon Bone-Splitting Hand at the time, with about ten Evil Coins, the pupil technique successfully advanced one rank.

[Qi Refining Rank 5. Red Moon Dharma Eye: Perfect]

After digesting all the Virtue Coins and Evil Coins.

Lin Shu leaned back in his chair. His cultivation and strength had undergone a qualitative leap compared to before he entered the gambling den.

If nothing else, if he encountered Liu Zhen again, he was confident he could prevent him from even drawing his saber.

He certainly wouldn't be as weakened after the fight.

But Lin Shu didn't get up immediately. Instead, he rubbed his temples with a hint of fatigue.

He continued to maintain his sickly appearance.

As if telling others.

Alas, I've exhausted my strength again.

It was morning.

Four Directions Street, having lost its nighttime tranquility, became noisy again.

For the common folk, the period when the vicious constable and the fierce wolf were resting was their best time.

Everything on the street was a replica of yesterday.

Vendors still hawked their wares, servants and maids, after a long period of work, took a short rest and sat by the roadside gossiping. The shopkeepers still appeared to be chatting and laughing.

However, the content of their idle chatter had changed.

It almost entirely revolved around yesterday's fierce wolf.

"Everything will probably go on as usual."

The shopkeepers shook their heads. Constable Liu's actions on the street yesterday, and his dealing with the Zhao family, were like a warning to them.

To make them recognize who owned this street.

And the fierce wolf's response was too calm, even cowardly, leaving the matter with a clear answer.

"I heard my master tell us to stay out of the streets more recently," a servant by the courtyard gate smacked his lips and lowered his voice. "That wolf couldn't get its food, and it's starving. It's probably going to eat people now!"

If they couldn't get meat, they could only gnaw on bones.

Small families without backing were like pig bones that had been gnawed four or five times and still weren't finished, likely to be chewed into dregs.

"..."

Chang Yi, carrying his Precious Saber, supported a haggard and distraught pregnant woman as he carefully walked down the long street. "Sister-in-law, slow down."

He heard the discussions on the street but truly couldn't offer any defense for Lin Shu.

After all, in the eyes of these people, the Blackwater Gang already represented brutality and greed.

Who would believe that this Master Lin had only joined the Blackwater Gang less than half a month ago, had never consumed the blood and flesh of the common people, and had already become a fierce wolf?

"Thank you."

The pregnant woman's voice was like a mosquito's hum, her face pale and bloodless, clearly still immersed in the grief of watching her husband beaten to death yesterday.

She didn't beg Xiao Chang for anything more. She knew how hard this young constable had tried to get her out of prison.

Revenge was not something for ordinary people.

"I..." Chang Yi's mouth was dry, his eyes filled with self-reproach and shame. "I will clear the Zhao family's name!"

He understood Zhao family's sister-in-law's grievance. Now that Brother Zhao was dead, any words of comfort he offered seemed meaningless.

"I was the one who ate things I didn't have the fortune to enjoy. You're still young, don't be impulsive. The pure will remain pure; our family doesn't need those empty reputations..."

The pregnant woman clutched Chang Yi's arm and whispered.

She didn't care about innocence, only her husband's life. There was no need to put this good constable in danger again for something so illusory.

As for her own desire for revenge, the young child couldn't fulfill it, and few in Blackwater City could.

Perhaps only Azure Heaven could grant it?

Thinking this, the pregnant woman looked up with numb eyes, and then her pupils rapidly dilated.

Bang!

Accompanied by an extremely pungent stench, a heavy figure plummeted straight down from the second floor.

It smashed down not far in front of the two, kicking up clouds of dust.

Bloodstains that hadn't completely dried splattered the ground.

The corpse, which was only half intact, with its internal organs visible through the stark white bones, looked even more gruesome!

The entire long street, from near to far, fell silent, one section after another, until complete quiet descended.

All eyes instinctively turned over.

The dead man's face had been torn apart, making it impossible to discern his features.

But the constable's uniform he wore, and the Purple Flood Dragon on the tattered hem, were all too familiar.

Whether it was the shopkeeper or the street urchins, their faces were quickly overtaken by terror, their limbs trembling like sieves.

This dead man was... Liu Zhen!!

"Ah—"

A deafening scream pierced the street, and an account book fell from the sky, hitting Chang Yi.

He stopped his instinctive move to draw his saber and flipped through a couple of pages in confusion.

Upon seeing the contents.

Chang Yi's expression changed drastically. He suddenly looked up at the second floor, but unfortunately, he didn't catch sight of anyone. He then quickly scanned his surroundings.

When everyone else was engulfed in panic, one figure remaining quiet stood out starkly.

At a humble street corner stall in the distance.

The handsome young man had been sitting at the low table for a long time.

A bowl of steaming soy milk sat before him, and he slowly tore apart the crispy fried dough stick in his hand.

Aside from a slight oil stain on his fingertips, his hands were fair and clean, like those of a frail scholar who had never touched manual labor.

Chang Yi stared intently at those hands.

Then he lowered his head, looking at the gruesome, terrifying, mangled corpse at his feet. His eyelids twitched rapidly as if in a spasm!