Scalp Hardening

The morning light pierced through the lingering dark red of the blood moon, in front of a dilapidated rental house on the edge of Linjiang City's old town.

Fang Gang's figure appeared as if teleporting, his speed so great that to ordinary people, only afterimages remained.

The majestic power of the early Bone Tempering Realm surged within him. The Savage Elephant Power caused the air itself to distort slightly, while the newly formed Jade Bone brought a mountain-like solidity.

The cold, gray mark on his arm was almost imperceptible under the pressure of such a vigorous qi and blood furnace.

On the ground by the door lay a flat express package of cowhide paper, containing the copy of "Vajra Indestructible Divine Art (Revised Illustrated Edition)" that cost nine yuan and ninety cents.

Fang Gang bent down and picked it up. The feel of the low-quality paper and the pungent smell of ink greeted him. But at this moment, only heat burned in his eyes.

"Convert!" he willed mentally.

[Ding! Detected 'Martial Arts Technique': "Vajra Indestructible Divine Art" (Pirated/Hallucinatory/90% Incomplete).]

[Consume 1 Evolution Point to convert into 'True Vajra Indestructible Body (Introductory Chapter)'?]

"Yes!"

[Ding! 1 Evolution Point consumed! Conversion successful!]

[Acquired: True Vajra Indestructible Body (Introductory Chapter)!]

[Technique Characteristics: Initially strengthens skin and superficial fascia, enhancing basic defense, with a faint Vajra protective aura (passive resistance to physical and Yin Energy Erosion).]

A stream of profound information, entirely different from the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill, flooded his mind! It was no longer about pursuing the ultimate burst of power, but about forging the physical body into an indestructible fortress!

How to guide qi and blood to solidify the skin and fascia, how to activate the faint protective aura, how to build the foundation of the Vajra Indestructible Body from the outside in!

Almost the instant the technique information poured in, a change occurred!

Within Fang Gang's body, the qi and blood of the fully mastered Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill, which had been circulating smoothly, seemed to be stimulated and suddenly became violent!

The heavy, mountain-like Dragon-Elephant Power and the defensive, solidifying power attribute pursued by the Vajra Indestructible Body clashed violently within Fang Gang! The two domineering forces, both supremely yang and yang, but with diametrically opposed directions, collided fiercely in his meridians and flesh like two uncontrolled savage dragons! A tearing pain instantly swept through his entire body!

"Ugh!" Fang Gang grunted, veins bulging on his forehead! Under his bronze-jade colored skin, qi and blood surged madly, like boiling lava!

[Warning! Detected conflict in technique attributes! 'True Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill' (Strength/Qi and Blood) and 'True Vajra Indestructible Body' (Defense/Solidification) are repelling each other!]

[Conflict Location: Meridian convergence point in the head!]

[Strongly recommend stopping circulation or finding a method of harmonization! Otherwise, it may lead to meridian damage or... unknown mutation!]

The system's alarm was sharp and piercing!

The core of the conflict was concentrated in his head! Fang Gang felt as if his skull was being hammered simultaneously from the inside and outside by two giant hammers! The pain was splitting! He instinctively clutched his head with both hands!

Ch ch ch!

At the very center of this violent storm of conflict, Fang Gang's scalp, which had already become extremely tough due to his excessive qi and blood, began to undergo an astonishing change!

He clearly felt that under the frantic collision and compression of the two techniques, the qi and blood beneath his scalp were being forcibly compressed, refined, and solidified at a speed that surpassed all limits! It was like fine steel being forged through a hundred refinements!

The already tough stratum corneum of his skin was becoming denser and harder at a speed visible to the naked eye! A strange, subtle sound, like metal friction, came from beneath his scalp!

Itchy! Numb! Accompanied by a piercing pain that went deep into his bones!

Fang Gang couldn't help but scratch his head fiercely with his hand!

Screech!

His fingernails scraped across his scalp, emitting a harsh sound like metal grinding! A few stubborn remaining strands of hair, under the intense conflict and scratching, fell silently.

He rushed to the cracked dressing mirror in the rental room.

In the mirror, a face slightly distorted by pain was reflected, and... a bald head that was flashing with a strange, faint golden metallic luster in the morning light!

Yes, a bald head! His previously thick hair had completely fallen out during the intense technique conflict and qi and blood mutation just now!

The exposed scalp was no longer the color of skin, but a faint gold that had a warm yet hard texture!

It was as if it were covered in a thin layer of gold foil! Faintly visible, subtle golden veins, like circuit board patterns, flashed and disappeared within the flow of qi and blood!

[Ding! Unknown mutation occurred!]

[Host's scalp skin was hyper-tempered under the high pressure of technique conflict!]

[Attribute: Scalp Hardening (Beginner)!]

[Effect: Significantly increases physical and energy defense of the head (surpassing other parts of the current Bone Tempering Realm body), slight increase in resistance to mental impact.]

[Status: Unknown Mutation (Tentatively named: Golden Top), effects are stable, no adverse feedback.]

[Technique conflict temporarily subsided due to energy dissipation point (head) mutation!]

The intense headache receded like a tide. Fang Gang panted heavily, touching his smooth, hard scalp that shone with a faint golden metallic luster, his expression extremely strange.

He went bald? But... he seemed to have gotten stronger? This hardness... He flicked his finger against his forehead.

A clear, metallic ringing sound, like striking a bronze bell, echoed in the small rental room!

Fang Gang: "..."

A nine-yuan-and-ninety-cent divine art, with a free iron head? This deal... doesn't seem like a loss?

Knock, knock, knock!

A rough knocking sound suddenly echoed, accompanied by Chen Tao's signature booming voice: "Brother Fang Gang! It's me! Chen Tao! Emergency!"

Fang Gang collected his thoughts, suppressed the strange feeling about the "Golden Top," and opened the door.

Chen Tao, standing outside, was drenched in sweat, his face so grim it looked like it could wring out water. The satellite phone he held had its screen still lit.

Just as he was about to speak, his gaze was instantly drawn to Fang Gang's brand new, shiny bald head, which gleamed with a faint golden metallic luster in the morning light!

"Holy… Holy crap?!" Chen Tao's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. The rest of his words got stuck in his throat. Pointing at Fang Gang's head, he stammered, "B-Brother! Your… your head… we haven't seen each other for a day… how… how did it get so shiny?! It's even reflective?! What's with the texture… did you… did you grind it with a whetstone?!"

Fang Gang's face darkened. "If you have something to say, say it!"

Chen Tao snapped back to attention, forcibly tearing his gaze away from the overly dazzling head. He spoke rapidly, with an unprecedented urgency:

"Something big has happened! The morgue! The source of that 'Red Wedding Dress' that Uncle Wang reported… it's moved! About half an hour ago, intense energy fluctuations came from the bottom floor of the morgue! The Yin energy index instantly skyrocketed! It broke through the Fierce Ghost-level and reached the threshold of the Fierce Soul Grade (Class A)! And… it's still climbing!"

He pulled up a blurry thermal imaging map on the satellite phone, his voice trembling slightly: "Our sensors only captured a glimpse… that thing… it… it seems to have… hugged that dressing mirror… and stood up from inside the ice coffin!"

Even worse, the energy surge has agitated all the accumulated Yin energy in the basement of the funeral home! A large number of low-level evil spirits have been catalyzed and awakened! Corpse Puppets, vengeful spirits… they're pouring out! Our people can barely hold them off! The blockade line in the suburbs is on the verge of collapse! Once these things charge into the city…

Chen Tao looked at Fang Gang, his eyes filled with pleading and a hint of reliance he hadn't even noticed himself: "Brother! I know this is dangerous! But… right now, only you can hold the front line! The experts in the bureau are all tied up with other more critical emergent abnormal events! The reward is tripled! No! Five times! Whatever you want, as long as the bureau has it, we can discuss it afterward! Please, help us!"

Fang Gang's eyes instantly became sharp as knives! Fierce Soul Grade (Class A)?! That's more than a few tiers stronger than the Green Zombies and Mirror Ghosts he'd encountered before! But… danger also meant… a massive amount of evolution points!

He touched his hard-as-iron, faintly golden bald head. A burning fighting spirit mixed with the desire for evolution points ignited fiercely within him!

"Let's go!" Fang Gang said concisely, stepping out of the room. The ground let out a muffled groan.

"Great! The car is outside!" Chen Tao was overjoyed and quickly led the way.

The two rushed out of the stairwell, and Chen Tao's modified off-road vehicle was parked downstairs, its engine roaring. Just as Fang Gang was pulling open the car door to get in—

Woooo… woooo…

A ethereal, mournful female cry, as if capable of piercing the soul, sounded overhead without warning!

A cold wind suddenly gusted! The temperature plummeted!

Fang Gang and Chen Tao looked up sharply!

On the edge of the roof of the derelict unfinished building opposite their apartment building, a figure in a tattered, blood-stained white dress had appeared at some point!

Her back was to the rising sun, her long black hair obscuring her face, and her body was suspended at the edge of the roof in a manner that defied gravity! That piercing cry was coming from her!

As she cried, a dense, blood-red mist spread out from her center, carrying intense resentment and coldness, instantly enveloping the street below! Within the mist, it was as if countless faces contorted in pain were struggling and screaming!

[Warning! High concentration of Yin energy aggregation detected! 'Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost (Class B)'! Threat Level: B!]

[Traits: Blood Mist Domain (Mental Erosion/Slow), Resentment Impact!]

"Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost?! How did it get here?!" Chen Tao's face turned ashen. This was clearly something catalyzed from the direction of the funeral home, and it had already spread to the city's edge so quickly? He fumbled to take out a talisman.

"Seeking death!"

A ferocious glint shot from Fang Gang's eyes! His newly acquired Iron Head… no, Golden Top, was itching for a test of hardness! Why would he let such a gift of evolution points slip away?

He didn't wait for Chen Tao to act, stomping his foot down!

The solid concrete ground was indented by his step! Gravel flew! His terrifying Agility of 20.9 unleashed at full power! His body turned into a faint golden afterimage, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek, ignoring the encroaching eerie blood mist, like a human cannonball, charging straight towards the Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost on the roof!

"Roar!" The Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost sensed the threat, and its piercing cry instantly turned into a shriek!

The blood mist enveloping the street churned violently, condensing into countless ferocious, blood-red ghost claws, carrying bone-chilling coldness and mental impact, grabbing at Fang Gang from all directions!

At the same time, she abruptly turned, her black hair flying, revealing a terrifying, rotting, pus-filled ghost face with only one scarlet eye, fixing on Fang Gang with venom!

"Scram!" Fang Gang, mid-air, facing the sky-high blood claws and the terrifying mental impact, didn't dodge or evade! He unleashed mountain-like power, the Savage Elephant Power concentrated in his right fist! He let out a low growl and threw a punch!

No technique! Only absolute power and speed!

BOOM—!!!

Where the punch wind passed, the air was forcefully blasted apart!

Forming a visible white shockwave! The resentment impact and viscous blood mist, which could cause ordinary cultivators to suffer mental collapse, melted and dispersed instantly like snow under the sun in the face of such ferocious, blazing, supremely strong and yang Savage Elephant Power!

Bang bang bang bang!

Countless blood-red ghost claws that were reaching out shattered like fragile glass the moment the punch wind touched them! Turning into a sky full of bloody rain!

Fang Gang's fist continued its momentum!

Carrying the will to crush everything, in the instant the Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost's single scarlet eye contracted, revealing extreme fear, it heavily smashed onto her rotting, pus-filled ghost face!

SPLATTER!!!

Like a hammer smashing a rotten melon!

The Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost's head, along with half its shoulder, instantly exploded under Fang Gang's extremely ferocious punch! Turning into a sky full of foul-smelling blood and fragmented resentment!

The tattered white dress body was violently smashed away like a rag by the remaining punch strength, crashing into a load-bearing pillar of the unfinished building, sliding down limply, and the black energy quickly dissipated.

[Ding! Killed 'Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost (Class B)'! Obtained Evolution Points +200!]

[Ding! Absorbed Yin energy, converted into Evolution Points +10! Current Evolution Points: 210!]

The system's prompt sound was like the most beautiful music!

Fang Gang landed steadily on the rooftop's edge, shaking the filthy blood from his fists. His light-golden bald head shone brilliantly in the rising sun, reflecting a cold, hard gleam.

Without even glancing at the dissipating remnants of the Fierce Ghost, his gaze, sharp as lightning, fixed on the direction of the suburban funeral home. There, dark clouds were gathering, like a colossal vortex.

"Drive!" he yelled down to Chen Tao, who was frozen in stunned silence below. His voice carried an undeniable killing intent.

Chen Tao jolted, looking up at the fierce figure bathed in morning light on the rooftop, his bald head gleaming, having just obliterated the Blood-Clad Fierce Ghost with a single punch. He swallowed hard, fumbling to start the car and flooring the accelerator.

The off-road vehicle shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, speeding towards the funeral home shrouded in ominous clouds.

Inside the car, Fang Gang closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, feeling the surging power within him and the newly acquired 210 evolution points.

He had just entered the Vajra Indestructible Body realm and urgently needed to strengthen it.

And deep within the funeral home, the source-level entity wearing the Red Wedding Dress, holding a dressing mirror and standing up—that was the true target!

He touched his own head, hard as iron and faintly golden, a cold smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

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

"My iron head... is going to smash it today!"