Refining the True from the False: Becoming a God Starting with Devouring a True Dragon

Meat Market Street.

Thin wisps of black smoke hissed and drifted into the air along with the faint light of the tallow candle. On the bed pieced together from door panels, Liu Houzi lay on it, guarding the room full of demonic flesh, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

He would occasionally let out a silly grin.

This year was his first time doing this business. He first went to the yamen and spent ten taels to smooth things over and write his name on the "meat collection register". Then he went to the two gangs and the six major gangs to pay his respects. Finally, he went to the designated location and the military government would send someone to deliver the meat.

This is the source of the meat sold at the large stalls in the meat market.

The initial arrangements alone cost him over thirty taels of silver, not including his share from selling the meat.

When he first set up his stall, he was still regretting his impulsiveness.

But seeing that demand exceeded supply, he no longer had this worry.

He really hit the jackpot this winter!

bang bang bang...

A loud knocking sounded at the door.

Willow Monkey's face showed displeasure. "Who is it, coming to buy things so late at night..."

His voice abruptly stopped.

It must be those warriors who lack meat and are beginning to mutate.

Their skin is ugly, and many people simply cannot accept the disgusting changes to their bodies, so they don't go out during the day. They usually only come out at night to buy meat.

But most of these people who have reached this point are penniless.

The so-called "buying meat" is more like "borrowing meat."

So usually, if they hear someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night, the people on the meat market street will tacitly agree not to open the door.

As long as they pretend no one is home, the other party won't easily break down the door and commit a serious crime unless they are pushed to the limit.

Back and forth,

This became a tacit understanding between the two parties.

It's just that it's too late today, and he's too excited, so he forgot about this.

He forced himself to get up, thinking to himself, "It's okay to lose a little; consider it doing good deeds."

boom!

His fingers hadn't even touched the door yet.

The door flew right towards him.

The chill, accompanied by the cold moonlight, rushed into the room, making Liu Houzi's heart feel utterly cold.

broken,

This person is probably someone who eats raw rice.

squeak~

Liu Houzi carefully removed half of the door panel, trying to appear dignified.

Against the backdrop of two bright moons, a barb as thick as a forearm rose from his left arm, and the man with unusually thick arms stared at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Sir, how much do you need to borrow?"

"It weighs eight hundred jin (400 kg)," the man said.

Liu Houzi's pupils contracted. "Master, there's no such way of borrowing in the martial arts world. It's against the rules."

"I am the rule."

The man's voice was cold. With a wave of his hand, he lifted Liu Houzi's fat body up.

"These are the rules, don't you understand?"

Liu Houzi blushed and nodded repeatedly in the man's hand.

The long, black horn protruding from his left arm terrified him.

"I understand! I understand!"

Liu Houzi nodded repeatedly before the man put him down.

Then he turned around, sighed, and picked up a door panel to pack the meat.

Eight hundred catties of beef, all that hard work this winter has been for nothing.

When he turned around again, he froze on the spot.

The bastard who used to look so ferocious has disappeared without a trace.

Instead, a fair-skinned, exceptionally handsome young man appeared at the door.

"Where is that gentleman?"

Willow Monkey asked cautiously.

"I'm gone."

"They're gone?!"

Liu Houzi was puzzled, then suddenly sniffed hard, and his stuffy nose finally detected a hint of blood.

He peeked out slightly and saw a headless corpse on the ground... Hot blood was slowly flowing down the curb...

Gurgle.

The person is really gone...

"This world is really chaotic."

The boy sighed and wiped the blood from his hands.

The boy was Wang Qi, who had come out to buy meat late at night. He had originally planned to knock on doors one by one, but he didn't expect there to be shops that were open 24 hours a day, so he came over.

Upon closer inspection, one sees the broken door panel, the menacing figure of the man, the panicked shopkeeper, and the house stuffed with meat.

He immediately realized what was going on.

When I was wandering around the alleyways with Sun Li, she mentioned the rules and regulations in the streets and alleys of the four major markets in Heihe County.

How do the people inside behave?

According to Sun Li, in the meat market street late at night, killing a monster is not only not illegal, but you might even get a reward.

Therefore, Wang Qi acted decisively.

"Who says otherwise?" Liu Houzi forced a smile, though his face looked a little stiff.

He suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for that sorcerer.

Although he's a bit ugly and acts ruthlessly, it's all written on his face, unlike this person in front of me...

A handsome young man with a smile on his face, covered in blood, with a corpse lying at his feet.

It was a bit eerie, giving him the creeps.

"I want 500 catties of earth-elemental demon flesh."

Wang Qi spoke.

"Okay."

Liu the monkey quickly turned around and started cutting the meat again.

He was skilled with his sword, and although he did not have a martial arts level, his speed was surprisingly fast.

Before long, the meat was tied to a door panel and delivered.

"This is mud beef, from a demon bull raised by the military government. Its quality is absolutely guaranteed." Liu Houzi rubbed his hands together and lifted the door panel in front of Wang Qi.

"I'm buying 500 jin (250 kg) at once, can I get a discount?"

Wang Qi asked with a smile.

"Look what you're saying!" Liu Houzi nervously rubbed his hands. "Just give it to me as you feel like it, consider it making friends."

"Where can you find friends who are that expensive?"

Wang Qi smiled and waved his hand.

He suddenly realized what the shopkeeper in front of him was afraid of.

"Don't be afraid, I'm a good person."

"Yes! Of course I believe you." Liu Houzi didn't hesitate at all. He felt that if he shook his head even once, he would die the next second.

Seeing the other person's expression, Wang Qi shook his head helplessly.

"The market price for bull demon meat is 120 coins. It's cheaper from the large-scale breeding of bull demons by the military government, and even cheaper at the meat market where it's delivered. 70 coins..."

Wang Qi took out thirty-five taels of silver from his purse and handed it to the other party.

He saw that there were many such places on the meat market street, and knocked on each door one by one.

He asked, "Are there many martial artists like this who have undergone such a transformation?"

"A lot, a great deal."

After receiving the money, Liu Houzi finally felt that the young master in front of him must be a good person.

Only then did he open up a little and say, "Especially in the last month... it's hard to get meat in the dead of winter, plus there seems to be some kind of cult in the sewers... a lot of mutated martial artists have gone there to seek baptism."

"Every night, groups of mutated warriors would run to the meat market or the gates of those wealthy households and shout."

"It has caused widespread suffering among the people."

"The fast track class won't be affected?" Wang Qi raised an eyebrow. In his memory, Sun Li had mentioned the Fragrant Meat Cult, but she hadn't actually said anything about dealing with it.

"Manage? How?"

Liu Houzi sighed, "I heard that the county magistrate of Black Stone County... believes in this."

The three top officials in Heihe County: the magistrate, the assistant magistrate, and the county commandant...

If there really is a cult that believes in "fragrant meat," then there's really no way to control it.

"Is this fragrant meat really effective?" Wang Qi became interested.

"Then I don't know," Liu Houzi said, spreading his hands. "But what do you think of this one at your feet?"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"I just hope that during this winter hunt, Master Huang can take all these mutated warriors away..."

"..."

Wang Qi carried the door panel toward the Ge residence. Carrying hundreds of kilograms of beef was not a difficult task for someone at his Inner Strength realm.

He moved with incredible speed and a powerful, swift gait.

As he walked, his breath was long and strong, as if he possessed inexhaustible power within him.

At the meat market, a dozen or so deformed demons were still knocking on doors, but they all tacitly avoided provoking Wang Qi, clearly having already witnessed his power.

After learning that the other party was Lao Fei, Wang Qi did not try to stand up for himself.

Having fought the mutated martial artist twice so far, his biggest impression is that the opponent possesses abilities or characteristics similar to demons, yet also has human-like intelligence and thought processes.

Sometimes Wang Qi wondered if the path taken by these mutated martial artists was the most correct path of martial arts in this world.

But this thought only flashed through my mind.

Wang Qi didn't want to become a creature that was neither human nor ghost.

Upon returning to the Ge residence, Wang Qi entered through the back door without disturbing anyone else.

After entering the house,

He started boiling water in a pot and began cooking the meat.

see through!

[Stone Ox Demon: A demon race said to have sprung from a stone, with an untraceable bloodline. It possesses the magic to instantly petrify its entire body's blood and energy. Its flesh is coarse and difficult to swallow, earning it the nickname "Turkey of the Oxen."]

The aroma of meat quickly filled the room.

Wang Qi's current method for dealing with demon flesh is to add ingredients, to add a lot of ingredients.

Most demon meat is not tasty.

Because there's too much muscle, it's too firm.

Wang Qi's usual method is to use a lot of oil, salt, and spice.

He chewed the stone bull demon's flesh with gusto, and indeed, as the text he had read stated, the stone bull demon's flesh was extremely difficult to swallow.

Each bite of meat feels like it's sucking out every last drop of moisture from your mouth.

"If we encounter a demon like this, the martial artists of the Water Refining Sect probably won't be able to deal with it... their attacks are too blunt." Wang Qi thought to himself. He was now using reverse thinking to analyze the weaknesses of the demon he had eaten, which might come in handy in the future.

This was also a little trick that my master, Zhang Yuan, taught me.

In Zhang Yuan's words,

If you know how to eat, you know how to kill.

After quickly swallowing several pounds of meat, Wang Qi immediately stood up and began practicing the Dragon Elephant Secret Martial Arts by silently reciting the mantra.

Boom~

The golden dragon energy that had arisen from the transformation of the dragon's power within his chest began to swirl.

In the pupils,

The golden dragon began to turn evil, emanating an eerie aura.

Then,

The dragon energy in his chest subsided and entered his abdomen.

The black dragon opened its blood-red maw and began to circle around the stone bull demon flesh that had been swallowed.

The demon flesh also began to heat up, and Wang Qi's body seemed to instantly transform into a furnace.

Strands of black energy merged into his blood and qi, then overflowed from his pores, coiling around his body.

The black energy gradually condensed into a black mist, obscuring Wang Qi's vision.

in an instant,

A surge of fierce energy welled up in his heart, causing his eyes to turn red.

Such strong malice!

A fierce and malevolent aura lingered in my heart, refusing to subside for a long time.

Wang Qi was secretly alarmed, but he did not stop cultivating. He was still testing how great this malice really was.

He only stopped abruptly when the scenery in front of him began to blur.

"A single thought can unleash demons, a single thought can transform a dragon into an elephant... This is no mere empty boast."

Wang Qi touched his forehead.

He was already covered in sweat.

When he was practicing this Dragon Elephant Secret Martial Arts - Great Demon Force, he felt extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake would have unimaginable consequences.

"Perhaps we should find some exorcising items to suppress the evil spirits."

Wang Qi thought to himself.

Giving up is out of the question, so the only option is to try to eliminate these negative impacts.

"What can be used to ward off evil spirits?"