Flesh Palace

"I am Xuan Zhen, a humble Daoist. By the time you read these words, I will already be dead..."

The Profound Truth Diary was exactly what its name suggested: a diary written by someone called the "Daoist Xuan Zhen."

But this was a diary from eight hundred years ago!

The Daoist Xuan Zhen had lived during the final years of the Great Jing Dynasty, when the realm was in chaos. Rebel kings rose within its borders, intent on storming the capital, while foreign tribes invaded from without...

With the dynasty as precarious as a pile of eggs, the Daoist Xuan Zhen had descended the mountain with a sword on his back to save the world, becoming embroiled in all manner of struggles from then on.

The diary was incomplete, with only a handful of pages remaining and traces of burning toward the back.

Its principal subject was the White Lotus and Red Lotus sects.

"White Lotus deludes the people; Red Lotus destroys the world..."

According to the Profound Truth Diary, the shadows of these two great sects lay behind the overthrow of Great Jing and the founding of Great Yu.

And that lifelike fire lotus was a special token of the Red Lotus Sect.

It contained a strand of "Red Lotus Killing Intent."

Used alongside the Red Lotus Sect's exclusive martial arts, this substance could be channeled into a martial artist's body to cultivate "Red Lotus Flame Force," a fire capable of burning sinews, bones, skin, and flesh, and even the spirit and thoughts.

Rumor had it that, cultivated to its utmost, it would transform into Red Lotus Karmic Fire, possessing the supreme power to burn away karma itself!

"Red Lotus Flame Force?"

Wei Sheng's expression turned peculiar.

He had never expected the red wooden plaque he had obtained after killing the Eldest Master of the Hong Family to contain a sealed strand of Red Lotus Killing Intent.

No wonder it had felt chilling to the bone and made his entire body uncomfortable.

Then something occurred to Wei Sheng.

Red Lotus Killing Intent was exceedingly rare. The Eldest Master of the Hong Family could not simply have picked it up somewhere. Moreover, he had hidden it extremely well, clearly aware of its value.

It seemed he had already been in contact with the Red Lotus Sect.

The only question was what role the Hong Family in the Inner City played in all this.

If the Hong Family in the Inner City was also in league with Red Lotus, that would not be a good thing.

Though Red Lotus and White Lotus had different names, both had been experts at rebellion throughout successive dynasties, particularly skilled at beguiling the people, and had been branded evil cults by the authorities.

Whatever their purpose, the Hong Family's collusion with such an evil cult meant they were plotting something unlawful!

Still, even if they really were plotting something, it was not something he could interfere with as he was now.

Shaking his head, Wei Sheng tucked the diary back onto the shelf.

He would be better off seizing the opportunity before him.

"Flesh Palace Flesh Refinement Method..."

This Flesh Refinement Method had extremely lofty aims. It required fusing multiple Flesh Refinement Methods to achieve the legendary flesh refinement perfection-the Flesh Body Palace!

Once mastered, it would grant an innate ability to control one's muscles, along with incredible physical strength.

And all the flesh and blood of the body would become as magnificent and resplendent as a palace chosen by heaven.

"You're the one!"

After choosing his Flesh Refinement Method, Wei Sheng selected a body-protecting hardening art from among the many martial arts.

"Golden Bell Shield."

This martial art had once been one of the Great Chan Temple's seventy-two supreme arts.

In the early days of Great Yu's founding, the sects had refused to respect the imperial court, seizing territory to rule as kings and enslaving the common people in an attempt to establish states within the state.

Great Yu Taizu had flown into a rage and dispatched the Marquis of Martial Peace with three thousand elite cavalry to trample the martial world beneath their hooves and sweep through the sects.

The Great Chan Temple had been wiped out then. Its scriptures had either been confiscated by the court or carried into the martial world by surviving monks, scattering far and wide.

This had later drawn many powerful martial artists into the struggle for those martial arts texts. As a result, many texts had lost sections in the fighting and become incomplete.

The Golden Bell Shield Wei Sheng now held was not a complete version.

The complete Golden Bell Shield had twelve levels, also known as twelve gates, corresponding to the Twelve Martial Refinements.

Once all twelve gates of the Golden Bell Shield reached great accomplishment, even the finest practitioners of the Twelve Refinements could rarely break through its defenses.

But the Golden Bell Shield in his hands contained only the first six levels, allowing cultivation only as far as the Six Refinements.

Even so.

After reaching the sixth level, its defenses alone would allow him to reign supreme in the Flesh Refinement Realm.

"You chose these two?"

Black Tiger frowned deeply at the two martial arts Wei Sheng had selected.

"The Flesh Palace Flesh Refinement Method is one thing. Though the Golden Bell Shield claims invincible defense at the same level, cultivating it is extremely slow and consumes tremendous resources...

"More importantly... the later methods are incomplete. You can only cultivate it to the Six Refinements. It's a sheer waste of time!"

"Tiger Lord, this Golden Bell Shield really does suit me..."

Wei Sheng knew Black Tiger meant well, but how could he know that slow cultivation was no concern to Wei Sheng at all?

As for the missing later methods...

That was indeed a serious flaw.

At worst, he could cultivate other hardening arts when the time came, using the Golden Bell Shield as the core and fusing the strengths of other hardening arts to create a newer, stronger one.

"As your hall master, I'll give you one month. If you can't reach the first level in a month, switch to another manual. You absolutely mustn't waste time on this!"

Wei Sheng knew Black Tiger meant well and immediately nodded. "Yes!"

On the way back, as Wei Sheng passed through the city gates again, a large crowd was gathered beneath the city wall.

Wei Sheng glanced over. It was a wanted notice for a fugitive named "Sang Qi," with quite a hefty bounty-five hundred taels of silver!

After parting with Black Tiger, Wei Sheng went home.

In the days that followed, Wei Sheng's life settled back into a regular routine.

He practiced the Golden Bell Shield in the mornings and the Wild Bull Flesh-Refining Method in the evenings, occasionally visiting the Changyou Teahouse.

Ever since he had severely wounded Feng Li Dao, the name Descending Mountain Tiger had resounded throughout Black River Ward.

Jingkong Street had returned to his hands of its own accord.

At last, the territory under his control had returned to the scale of the Changyou Gang at its peak.

The people of Azure Dragon Hall and Wind and Cloud Hall no longer appeared on those three streets, as though they had vanished without a trace.

Wei Sheng knew they had not disappeared; they simply had their hands too full looking after themselves.

Though he had killed Lan Fei, Snake Eye, and the others, they had only been small fry pushed forward by the two great halls. Behind them stood powerful men like Gu Diao and Chu Dongjiao.

They had both the strength and the standing to seek revenge, but Chu Dongjiao was busy fishing, while Gu Diao was busy seizing Chu Dongjiao's Fish Market business...

In short, everything was taking a turn for the better.

There was just one thing-

Cultivating the Golden Bell Shield was far too slow!

"Ever since I obtained this martial art, I've spent most of my time practicing it... but more than ten days have passed, and the Wild Bull Flesh-Refining Method is almost at entry level, while the Golden Bell Shield keeps plodding along, slow as ever, come thunder or lightning."

Fortunately.

The three jars of Golden Body Paste Wei Sheng had ordered through Black Tiger arrived.

This substance was an essential resource for cultivating the Golden Bell Shield, and three jars had cost him nearly a thousand taels of silver.

Though the price made his heart bleed, its medicinal effects were outstanding.

With the Golden Body Paste's assistance, his progress with the Golden Bell Shield clearly accelerated considerably.

"Judging by this, as long as I have enough Golden Body Paste, reaching entry level within a month should be no problem..."

That day, Wei Sheng finished his morning training and was just about to practice the Wild Bull Flesh-Refining Method.

He felt that once he finished this session, he would fully reach entry level in the Wild Bull Flesh-Refining Method.

Just then.

A loud banging came from the front door.

When Wei Sheng opened it, he saw Ding Ying standing outside, his face deathly pale. The two gang members who had come with him were also bloodlessly pale, as though they had suffered some fright.

Upon seeing Wei Sheng, Ding Ying suppressed the fear in his heart and said in a low voice:

"Boss, something's happened!"