Becoming a saint begins with the infinite accumulation of destiny.

Inner city, Drunken Flower Pavilion.

The two sat facing each other, and Liu Feng looked somewhat excited.

But anyone could see the loneliness and disappointment in his eyes.

He just kept drinking, one glass after another, until he was completely drunk before he felt a little better.

Across from him, Chen Shisheng simply drank tea instead of wine, keeping him company.

He worried that drinking would lead to mistakes and affect his health and blood circulation.

"Shisheng, I'm not going home."

After another drink, Liu Feng completely relaxed and opened up.

Chen Shisheng remained silent.

He had seen everything that had just happened, and the Liu family's reaction.

Going back at this time is indeed not a good choice for Liu Feng.

"If you want to continue practicing martial arts, I can also sponsor you."

Chen Shisheng put down his cup, his expression serious.

With Wen Fengling, the Wen family, and his affiliated gang in the outer city, he is not short of exotic beast meat for the time being.

Liu Feng had helped him before.

returning a Favour many times more.

Chen Shisheng may not be able to provide the full force of Yongquan, but he can certainly offer some appropriate assistance.

"No need. I want to... go out and explore!"

Liu Feng was touched, but he still refused.

"After this experience, I've come to see the true nature of this world..."

"This is a cannibalistic world. Powerful families control resources and then support gangs to oppress the common people. The wilderness is teeming with poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, and wandering ghosts are everywhere. Bandits also plague the mountains and rivers..."

"The blacksmith shop was just the beginning. The lords in the inner city wanted more, so the subordinates could only exploit them relentlessly."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shisheng's expression suddenly turned strange.

He thought of a question: nowadays, could he be considered a lord of the inner city?

"you mean...?"

Chen Shisheng had a vague suspicion in his mind.

"The bandit situation outside the city is becoming increasingly severe. The bandits on the mountain roads are like ghosts that fear the heavens, and the bandits on the water are like water-drifters that are gradually encroaching on the towns surrounding Wuhe City and devouring the farmland."

Liu Feng stood up, his expression serious.

"Shisheng, do you know what I saw in the outer city during my time back?"

"What?"

"The massive loss of farmland has already prompted the three founding families to subtly consolidate their forces, gradually abandoning areas outside the castle and focusing their defenses on the inner city. This means that the three founding families are currently living off their past reserves. But what happens once those reserves run out?"

Liu Feng slowly explained his analysis. His family lived in the outer city, so he had the deepest understanding of the area.

Since returning from Pingyang Town, I have personally experienced the differences from before.

"You mean, the three founding families will abandon the outer city and defend the inner city from now on?"

Chen Shisheng felt a sense of unease after hearing Liu Feng's thoughts.

The reckless pressure on the outer city is a clear harbinger of a scorched-earth policy.

This means that the three main families are in a completely weak position when it comes to banditry in the outer city.

In order not to leave resources for potential enemies, the three starter families will try their best to consume everything that might be needed in the outer city.

"Yes. But this is just my guess, and the specific situation may be different, but not by much."

I recently met a good friend, and we hit it off quite well. I've already arranged to leave Wuhe City for the county seat in a few days.

Liu Feng sighed and poured himself a glass of wine.

"You should also make plans as soon as possible, because Wuhe City will probably never be peaceful again."

"Yes, I know."

Chen Shisheng nodded, a sense of crisis creeping into his heart.

"However, congratulations on your breakthrough to the Bone Forging Realm!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, Liu Feng spoke again, changing the subject, and raised his glass to clink with Chen Shisheng's.

"Bone forging, huh? Speaking of which, my family once knew a bone forging martial artist, and our lives became much better afterward. I never expected you to break through so quickly..."

"Hehe, so in that sense, I do have someone to rely on now."

Liu Feng said with a smile.

Chen Shisheng was his friend, and he benefited from Chen Shisheng's breakthrough in bone forging.

However, he has been packing up for the past few days and is about to leave Wuhe City, so he is just joking when he says this now.

But Liu Feng still felt a surge of relief, considering his family's previous attitude and the lackeys of the Tian Sha Gang.

In the future, everyone will know that he knew Chen Shisheng.

"Good luck."

Chen Shisheng replied with a smile.

He has never liked to publicize his abilities, and prefers to keep them hidden.

After all, the more famous a person is, the more others will study and understand them, which is detrimental to them.

Therefore, Chen Shisheng generally does not reveal himself unless absolutely necessary, but instead quietly improves his strength.

The two chatted for a while longer, discussing their views on the situation inside and outside the city.

Liu Feng had attended school and practiced martial arts. Having lived in the outer city for a long time, he had a clear understanding of many changes.

Chen Shisheng also learned a lot of information from him.

Not long after.

After their conversation, Chen Shisheng escorted Liu Feng out of the inner city and settled him in an inn outside the city.

That was the place he had arranged to meet his friend.

Before parting, Liu Feng secretly slipped him a manuscript.

"map!"

When he got home and opened the package, Chen Shisheng was shocked to find...

This manuscript is actually a partial route map of the area around Five Rivers City!

According to his description, it should be the route his iron shop used to take when transporting and receiving goods.

The manuscript is covered with dense lines, each one representing the lives of countless people who risked their lives to create it.

The vast majority of these routes are blocked by a red cross, indicating that the road is impassable.

The reason why it is not working is not explained above.

However, Chen Shisheng could roughly guess what it was.

Most likely, there are monsters like water monkeys, or evil spirits with red shadows, or dangerous places like street bandits.

"This return gift was totally worth it!"

Chen Shisheng was overjoyed.

Putting everything else aside, the various routes tried above alone are worth thousands of taels of silver.

After all, the area outside the city is fraught with danger, with all sorts of monsters and evil spirits causing trouble, and one could easily find oneself in dire straits.

With this route map, if he were to leave the city or intend to leave Wuhe City in the future, he would at least have a reference, instead of wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly.

Carefully putting away the route map, Chen Shisheng returned home.

He didn't even have time to eat, and made several copies, storing them in different places around the house to prevent them from being lost by accident.

In that case, the losses would be too great.

......

In the blink of an eye, a month has passed.

During this period, Chen Shisheng returned to his usual routine of going back and forth between two points.

In the compound, he would travel back and forth between home every day, practicing the Wild Bull Fist diligently to refine his Qi and blood, and gradually reshape his bones.

However, progress is very slow, and the bone-forging stage is extremely time-consuming.

Chen Shisheng finally understood why Li Huan, a martial artist who had forged bones, had chosen to engage in this pimping business.

The bone-forging process took far too long; the permeation of blood and qi into the hand bones alone took him several months.

Without a large amount of exotic beast meat to sustain him, his vital energy and blood would be completely depleted in less than six months.

Without the nourishment of exotic beast meat to replenish one's blood and qi, one will only have the bone forging level but no corresponding strength.

Strictly speaking, at this point, it can only be considered a slightly stronger form of blood transfusion.

At the same time, having witnessed many different destinies, he also began to pay attention to new destinies that were suitable for bone forging or qi and blood cultivation.

There are many signs of destiny in the inner city, including Wen Fengling and her brother Wen Fengqu. Also, there's Xu Song, and some martial artists in the courtyard.

However, the inner city was heavily guarded, so he couldn't forcefully seize some of the destinies he had his eye on.

After all, the condition for obtaining a destiny chart is that the person must be dead.

This greatly limited him.

As the situation in Wuhe City became increasingly dire, Chen Shisheng also became dissatisfied with the speed at which his strength was improving.

To quickly improve one's strength, one must find a way to acquire new destiny signs and integrate them into one's destiny chart.

Therefore, Chen Shisheng could only obtain the destiny signs in the outer city or outside the city!

The outer city is alright; most of the people there are gang leaders, but very few have the auspicious signs of destiny.

Chen Shisheng went out to search several times, but only saw some useless destiny signs. Absorbing them did not improve his strength at all.

For example, he once saw a woman washing clothes by the river, who was described as having "sharp tongue and a sharp tongue (in white): every word was venomous, and she was full of mockery. Her mouth was gushing."

A woman, arguing with several others over a laundry spot, actually managed to drive them away with a string of profanities.

The insults were so offensive that several women passing by blushed and quickly fled.

And there's the woman at the entrance of the dark alley, [Red Dust Furnace (White): Embracing all tastes, her lips have savored countless flavors. Her oral skills are superb.]

Even more remarkably, someone once stared at a destiny chart named "Azure Crown,"

[Emerald Crown (White): Belatedly realizing the truth, the iron spine bears the wound. The aggrieved halo]

On the riverbank, Chen Shisheng stopped the man.

"Hey bro, wanna have a sesame seed cake?"

"Okay, please wait a moment."

The dwarf porter quickly put down his load, wrapped it in oiled paper, and gave it to Chen Shisheng.

Chen Shisheng glanced at the man's head. Although the fate symbol was a white shadow, Chen Shisheng inexplicably felt that it was a bit green.

After examining many horoscopes, Chen Shisheng also discovered that most of these horoscopes from the outer city were of no help to qi and blood.

They're all auxiliary abilities; once absorbed, they're completely useless.

This doesn't really help him increase his strength.

Of course, another reason is that he is afraid that after absorbing the energy, he might encounter a suitable destiny, but the panel hasn't cooled down yet, which would be a huge waste.

Therefore, he could only turn his attention to areas outside the city.

After all, in this world, it's impossible to survive outside the city without some strength.

Such people are mostly associated with strength and ability in terms of their destiny.

Moreover, there are evil spirits and demons, which also possess powerful destiny-related abilities.

Chen Shisheng understood that bandits were rampant these days, and there were even monsters like the water monkey causing trouble and eating people at will. But he had a map, and as long as he was careful, the problem wouldn't be too big.

Moreover, with so many towns still existing outside the city, and him possessing the ability to split flesh, he has an extra layer of self-protection compared to ordinary people.

With the advancement of his bone-forging level, his strength was enhanced in all aspects, and Chen Shisheng gained some confidence.

Soon after, news came from Wen Fengling's side that the Wen family was planning to organize a bandit suppression operation.

It seems they intend to retaliate; this operation is on a large scale.

Most of the martial arts members of the Wen family had to participate, and even Wen Fengling couldn't refuse.

Chen Shisheng has been idle for more than a month, and it's time for him to step up.