Scalp Hardening

Morning light pierced the lingering dark red glow of the Blood Moon. At the edge of Linjiang City's old district stood a run-down rental house.

Fang Gang appeared as if he had teleported, moving so fast that ordinary people would see only an afterimage.

The surging power of the initial Bone Tempering Realm flowed through his body. Savage Elephant Power slightly warped the air, while his newly formed jade bones lent him the weighty stillness of a mountain.

The chilling sensation from the gray mark on his arm was nearly imperceptible beneath the suppression of such a blazing, vigorous Qi and Blood Furnace.

On the ground by the door lay a flat kraft-paper delivery envelope. It contained the book he'd bought online for 9.9 yuan with free shipping: Vajra Indestructible Divine Art (Proofread Illustrated Edition).

Fang Gang bent down and picked it up. It still felt like cheap paper and smelled sharply of ink. But all he saw now was blazing heat.

"Convert!" he commanded inwardly.

Ding! Detected that the host has come into contact with a martial arts technique: "Vajra Indestructible Divine Art" (pirated/imaginative/90% incomplete).

Consume 1 Evolution Point to convert it into "True Vajra Indestructible Body (Beginner Chapter)"?

"Yes!"

Ding! 1 Evolution Point consumed! Conversion successful!

Obtained: True Vajra Indestructible Body (Beginner Chapter)!

Technique traits: Initially strengthens the skin and superficial fascia, enhancing basic defense. Includes weak Vajra Body Protection Qi (passively resists physical attacks and Yin Energy Erosion).

A flood of profound information completely different from the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill surged into his mind! It no longer pursued the ultimate eruption of strength, but focused on tempering the flesh into an impregnable fortress!

How to guide qi and blood to harden the skin and membranes; how to activate weak protective qi; how to forge the foundation of Vajra Indestructible from the outside in!

Almost the instant the technique information entered his mind, a sudden change occurred!

Inside Fang Gang's body, the qi and blood of the perfected Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill, which had been flowing steadily, seemed to be provoked and abruptly turned violent!

The mountain-heavy Dragon-Elephant Power violently clashed inside Fang Gang with the Vajra Indestructible Body's power, which pursued ultimate defense and solidification!

The two tyrannical powers were both supremely yang and unyielding, yet their directions were entirely different. Like two out-of-control savage dragons, they collided viciously through his meridians and flesh! Tearing agony swept through his entire body in an instant!

"Urgh!" Fang Gang let out a muffled groan as veins bulged across his forehead! Qi and blood surged madly beneath his bronze-jade skin like boiling magma!

Warning! Technique attribute conflict detected! "True Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill" (strength/qi and blood) and "True Vajra Indestructible Body" (defense/solidification) are rejecting one another!

Conflict location: convergence point of the head meridians!

Strongly advised to cease circulation or find a method of harmonization! Otherwise, this may lead to meridian damage or... unknown mutation!

The system's warning was shrill and piercing!

The core of the conflict had actually concentrated in his head! Fang Gang felt as though two massive hammers were striking his skull from both inside and out at once! The pain nearly split his head open! Instinctively, he clutched his head with both hands!

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

At the heart of that violent storm, Fang Gang's scalp, already extraordinarily tough from his excessively vigorous qi and blood, began to undergo an astonishing transformation!

He clearly felt the qi and blood beneath his scalp being forcibly compressed, condensed, and solidified at a speed beyond all limits under the mad collision and pressure of the two techniques! Like refined steel being hammered a hundred times!

The keratin layer of his already resilient skin became denser and harder at a visibly perceptible rate! A strange, faint sound like metal grinding came from beneath his scalp!

It itched! It tingled! And beneath it all was a stabbing pain that sank into his bones!

Unable to hold back, Fang Gang fiercely scratched the top of his head!

Scrape!

His fingernails raked across his scalp with a piercing screech like metal scraping metal! Several stubborn strands of hair that remained silently drifted down amid the violent conflict and scratching.

He rushed to the cracked full-length mirror in the rental house.

The mirror reflected a face slightly twisted by excruciating pain, and... a bald head that gleamed with a strange pale golden metallic luster beneath the morning light!

Yes, a bald head! His formerly thick hair had completely fallen out during the intense clash of techniques and the mutation of his qi and blood!

The exposed scalp was no longer skin-colored, but pale gold, warm-looking yet possessing a hard texture!

It was as though covered by a thin layer of gold foil! Beneath the skin, faint golden veins resembling circuit-board patterns flashed past amid the flow of qi and blood!

Ding! Unknown mutation has occurred!

The host's head skin has completed an accelerated tempering process under the high pressure of the technique conflict!

Trait: Scalp Hardening (Beginner)!

Effect: Greatly enhances the head's physical and energy defense (surpassing other parts of the current Bone Tempering Realm body), with a slight increase in resistance to mental attacks.

Status: Unknown mutation (temporarily designated: Golden Top). Effects stable, no adverse feedback.

The technique conflict has temporarily subsided due to the mutation at its energy release point (the head)!

The violent headache receded like a tide. Fang Gang panted heavily, touching his smooth, hard scalp that shone with a pale golden metallic gleam, his expression utterly strange.

I went bald? But... I seem to have gotten stronger? This hardness... He curled a finger and flicked his forehead hard.

A crisp metallic ring, like a hammer striking a bronze bell, echoed through the cramped rental house!

Fang Gang: "..."

A 9.9-yuan divine technique came with an iron head? This deal... didn't seem like a loss?

Knock! Knock! Knock!

A rough knock suddenly sounded at the door, followed by Chen Tao's signature booming voice. "Brother Fang Gang! It's me! Chen Tao! Emergency!"

Fang Gang composed himself, suppressing his strange feelings about the "Golden Top," and opened the door.

Chen Tao stood outside, drenched in sweat, his face so grim it seemed ready to drip water. The screen of the encrypted satellite phone in his hand was still lit.

He was just about to speak when his gaze was instantly drawn to Fang Gang's brand-new bald head, sparkling in the morning light with a pale golden metallic sheen!

"Holy... holy shit?!" Chen Tao's eyes nearly popped out. The rest of his words got stuck in his throat as he pointed at Fang Gang's head and stammered, "B-brother! Y-your head... I haven't seen you for one day... h-how did it get so bright?! It... it even reflects light?! This texture... d-did you sand it with a grinding wheel?!"

Fang Gang's face darkened. "Get to the point!"

Chen Tao abruptly came to his senses and forcibly tore his gaze away from that overly dazzling head. He spoke rapidly, with unprecedented urgency in his voice.

"Something huge happened! The morgue! The source of that 'Red Wedding Dress' Uncle Wang reported... moved! Half an hour ago, violent energy fluctuations erupted from the morgue's lowest level! The Yin Energy index instantly went off the charts! It broke past Fierce Ghost-level and reached the threshold of the Fierce Soul Grade, Grade A! And... it's still rising!"

He pulled up a blurry thermal image on the satellite phone, his voice trembling slightly. "Our instruments only caught it for an instant... that thing... it... it seemed to be... holding that dressing mirror... and standing up from inside the ice coffin!"

"What's worse, the energy eruption stirred up all the Yin Energy accumulated beneath the funeral home! A huge number of low-level evil entities have been catalyzed awake! Corpse puppets, resentful spirits... they're pouring out! Our people can barely hold them back! The suburban blockade is about to collapse! If those things rush into the city..."

Chen Tao looked at Fang Gang, his eyes filled with pleading and a dependence he hadn't even noticed himself. "Brother! I know it's dangerous! But... you're the only one who can hold the front line now! The bureau's experts have all been tied up by other, even more serious anomalous incidents! We'll triple the pay! No, five times! Whatever you want, as long as the bureau has it, we can discuss it afterward! Please help us!"

Fang Gang's gaze instantly sharpened like a blade! Fierce Soul Grade, Grade A?! It was far stronger than the Green Zombie and Mirror Ghost he had encountered before! But... danger also meant... massive amounts of Evolution Points!

He touched his iron-hard bald head, shimmering with pale golden light. A blazing battle intent mixed with his craving for Evolution Points erupted within him!

"Let's go!" Fang Gang said succinctly as he stepped out the door, making the ground emit a dull groan.

"Good! The car's outside!" Chen Tao was overjoyed and quickly led the way.

The two rushed out of the building. Chen Tao's modified SUV was parked downstairs, its engine roaring. Just as Fang Gang pulled open the car door and prepared to get in—

Woo... woo...

An ethereal, mournful woman's sobbing, as though it could pierce the soul itself, suddenly rang out above them without warning!

A sinister wind rose! The temperature plummeted!

Fang Gang and Chen Tao abruptly looked up!

At the edge of the roof of the abandoned unfinished building across from the rental block, a figure in a tattered, bloodstained white dress had appeared at some point!

She faced away from the rising sun, her long black hair concealing her face. Her body floated at the rooftop's edge in defiance of gravity. That miserable crying came from her!

As she wept, dense blood-red mist spread outward from her, carrying intense resentment and coldness as it instantly enveloped the street below! Within the mist, countless anguished faces seemed to struggle and howl!

Warning! High-density Yin Energy aggregation reaction detected! "Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost (Grade B)"! Threat level: B!

Traits: Blood Mist Domain (mental erosion/slowing), resentment impact!

"Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost?! How could it be here?!" Chen Tao's face turned deathly pale. This was clearly something catalyzed in the direction of the funeral home, yet it had spread to the edge of the city so quickly? He fumbled to pull out talismans.

"Courting death!"

A vicious glint burst from Fang Gang's eyes! His newly acquired iron head... no, Golden Top, had been worrying over where to test its hardness! How could he let these Evolution Points delivered to his door escape?

He did not wait for Chen Tao to act. He stomped down!

The solid concrete ground sank into a shallow crater beneath his foot! Rubble flew! His terrifying 20.9 agility erupted at full force! His body became a pale golden afterimage, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek. Ignoring the eerie blood mist descending over him, he shot toward the Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost atop the building like a human cannonball!

"Roar!" Sensing the threat, the Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost's mournful cries instantly became a shriek!

The blood mist blanketing the street violently boiled, condensing into countless savage bloody ghost claws. Carrying bone-chilling Yin cold and mental impact, they clawed at Fang Gang from every direction!

At the same time, she spun around. Her black hair flew apart, revealing a horrifying ghostly face covered in rot and pus, with only one scarlet eye. It locked onto Fang Gang with poisonous hatred!

"Get lost!" Fang Gang hung in midair, facing the skyful of reaching blood claws and the horrifying mental assault without dodging! Mountain-like strength erupted from him as Savage Elephant Power gathered in his right fist! He let out a low roar and threw a punch!

There was no technique! Only absolute strength and speed!

Boom—!!!

Where his fist wind reached, the air was violently blasted apart!

A visible white shockwave formed! The resentment impact and viscous blood mist, enough to make ordinary practitioners collapse mentally, melted and scattered instantly before such wild, blazing, supremely yang and unyielding Savage Elephant Power, like snow under sunlight!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Countless bloody ghost claws shattered like fragile glass the instant the fist wind touched them! They turned into a rain of blood!

Fang Gang's fist did not slow!

Carrying the will to crush everything, it smashed viciously into the Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost's rotting, pus-covered face just as the scarlet eye abruptly contracted with utter terror!

Splat!!!

Like a heavy hammer smashing a rotten melon!

The Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost's head, along with half of her shoulder, instantly exploded beneath Fang Gang's utterly violent punch! It became a spray of foul blood and shattered resentment!

Her tattered white-dressed body was sent flying like a rag doll by the remaining force of the punch. It slammed into a load-bearing pillar of the unfinished building, slid limply down it, and rapidly dispersed into black smoke.

Ding! Killed "Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost (Grade B)"! Evolution Points +200!

Ding! Absorbed Yin Energy and converted it into Evolution Points +10! Current Evolution Points: 210!

The system's notification sounded like the most beautiful melody!

Fang Gang landed steadily on the rooftop's edge and shook the filthy blood from his fist. His pale golden bald head shone brilliantly beneath the rising sun, reflecting a cold, hard gleam.

He did not even glance at the Fierce Ghost's fading remains. His lightning-like gaze fixed on the suburban funeral home. Dark clouds were gathering there like an enormous vortex.

"Drive!" he shouted at Chen Tao, who was staring dumbly from below. His voice carried unquestionable killing intent.

Chen Tao jolted awake. Looking at the ferocious figure on the rooftop, bathed in morning light, bald head gleaming, having blown apart a Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost with one punch, he swallowed hard and fumbled to start the car, flooring the accelerator.

The SUV shot toward the funeral home beneath the dark clouds like an arrow leaving the bow.

Inside the car, Fang Gang closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, feeling the surging power within him and the 210 newly obtained Evolution Points.

The Vajra Indestructible Body had only just entered the beginner stage and urgently needed strengthening.

And deep within the funeral home, the Fierce Soul Grade source that wore a Red Wedding Dress and had stood up while holding a dressing mirror... that was the true target!

He touched his iron-hard bald head, shimmering with pale golden light, and pulled his lips into a cold curve.

"Red Wedding Dress... is your mirror ready?"

"My iron head... will smash it apart today!"