Martial Arts: Starting with Bajiquan, I will prove my divine power through the ultimate path!

boom!

The world seemed like shattered glass.

It dissipated into countless fragments of varying sizes before Shi Wen's eyes.

The dilapidated and dimly lit house reappeared in his eyes. The faint musty smell in the air and the aroma of cooking wafting from the streets and alleys entered his nostrils. The noisy sounds outside rushed into his ears, pulling Shi Wen back to reality.

"I'm back."

"My earlier assumption was indeed correct. If you touch things with your left hand and your heart is firm enough, the Extreme Seal can be refined, and any illusion will eventually disappear without a trace."

"But... we must also be wary of those mysterious things that can alter my memories and perceptions!"

"If we are controlled remotely, it will be even more difficult. The most urgent task is to improve our mental strength."

Shi Wen stood still, holding a dark, worn-out Shanyin bell in his hand.

The scene from before.

It was like having a nightmare that didn't feel real.

But he sensed that the blood and qi in his body were surging like a rushing river, his heart was pounding, and his muscles were tense like mounds of earth with bulging veins. Clearly, the previous scene had had a significant impact on his reality.

"It's not just a nightmare."

"Are these guys even human? What kind of cultivation are they practicing? Why are they so strange?"

"The Temple of the Three Yin and Five Saints, rituals, decay, the evil sea..."

"Are they even human?"

A look of seriousness flashed across Shi Wen's face.

He threw the flattened bell on the ground, exhaled to relieve his inner turmoil, and then looked at Jiyin with a look of surprise and delight in his eyes!

It can evolve!

[Black Goat Token: Evolution Branch 1 - Extremely Incomplete Spiritual Eye Spiritual Refinement Method (Refining the spirit through meditation and certain special rules to achieve a state of spiritual elevation and transformation!), Required Time: 3.3 years! (+)]

[Rotten Flesh: Evolutionary Path Branch 2 - Rotten Flesh of the Frozen Lord of Ice and Cold, Time Required: 1 year! (+)]

[Ichthyosaur Puppet: Evolution Branch 1 - Life and Death: The Heart of the Desolate Flame Dragon, Time Required: 1 month! (+)]

[Rotten, rotten meat...]

"It really works!"

Shi Wen was overjoyed. "What on earth do these guys have? How can they shorten the evolution time of the Extreme Seal?"

"If I kill all these guys and use the Extreme Seal to recycle them, how much energy can I get, and how many things can I evolve?"

The fear in his eyes vanished without a trace, replaced by an aggressive and hysterical madness!

"Jiyin, add more."

Shi Wen's gaze fell on the '+' sign after the evolution branch of the fish-dragon puppet, and he evolved the creature without hesitation.

The evolution time for the Ichthyosaur Puppet is 1 month.

It can enhance one's own recovery ability, make one's blood as hot as molten lava, and give one a chance to grow invulnerable dragon scales. Most importantly, it can reduce illusion control!

And he is right now.

With weak mental strength, I am often inexplicably pulled into illusions.

Reducing illusion control is important to him.

Furthermore, he didn't know how much energy he had obtained from the bell this time.

Being conservative is never a bad idea!

[Ichthyosaur Puppet Evolution Branch 1: The Heart of the Withered Dragon has successfully evolved!]

Boom!

dong dong! !

The metal box that originally contained the fish-dragon puppet made a clanging sound, causing the entire box to shake.

Shi Wen opened it, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

Inside the metal box, a lump of flesh the size of an egg was pulsating and writhing!

It didn't resemble normal flesh and blood; it was more like a lump of dark red embers, as if it were fresh, lifeless flesh just taken from the body of some withered dragon, with every vein pulsating like black fire clearly visible, and a wave of heat coming towards you.

Shi Wen fastened it.

He didn't swallow it on the spot, fearing it might cause a stir and ruin his family.

On the polarity indicator, (+) is displayed.

Clearly, there's still a lot of energy left after adding points.

Shi Wen pointed to the (+) behind the decaying flesh of the Ice-Silent Cold Death Lord.

Unfortunately, the timeframe was only shortened by a few months.

It cannot evolve all at once.

Obviously.

There is indeed not enough energy.

"What a pity, we'll just have to wait a little longer."

"Perhaps I can find a similar bell from those Taoist priests tonight?"

Shi Wen lowered his head and tidied up his things.

He packed all the things he needed to take with him when he left, then turned and left the small room.

In the living room, which wasn't very big.

Aunt Chen, Old Zhang, and the others who had ridiculed him brought him cured meat that they usually couldn't bear to eat, or hurriedly bought some gifts to apologize with forced smiles on their faces.

It's not just them.

News of the head of Taiping Lane spread.

Owners of restaurants, eateries, workshops, and other establishments throughout Taiping Lane, as well as wealthy locals, flocked to visit him with gifts.

"It's Ah Wen... it's Boss Shi who's out."

"Boss Shi, we were blind before, please don't take it to heart."

"We lack vision, we're stupid..."

Aunt Chen and Old Zhang are neighbors who are usually greedy for small advantages and are unreasonable and fierce.

He came over looking pitiful and tried to explain.

Looking at that expression, it looked like she was about to cry!

"Dad, Mom, I have to go out for a bit."

Shi Wen ignored them.

He greeted the elderly couple who were entertaining guests.

He walked towards the door.

A large group of visitors quickly made way for him, looking at the aloof young man with fawning expressions.

After Shi Wen left.

The guests who came to visit praised the boy, and all sorts of gifts were piled up on the ground.

Old Shi and his mother looked uneasy and confused. They had lived their whole lives humbly and cautiously and had never experienced anything like this before.

"Honey, I'm going back to my room for a bit. Could you please entertain the guests?"

Old Shi's mind wasn't on the table.

He turned and went back into the dilapidated room.

Today's unexpected events have made Lao Shi's emotions extremely complex and difficult to describe.

After a long silence, Old Shi's face hardened with determination. "Being a martial artist is not easy. Dominating the streets and alleys is an even more dangerous life, like licking blood off a knife's edge. Who knows how long such outward prestige can last? Perhaps only in this way can we help Awen."

He exhaled a deep breath.

In his hand appeared a stone coin several centimeters thick, carved with a bizarre statue of a three-headed, six-armed deity...

"The dragon's head!"

"I've seen the dragon's head!"

In the ghost alley, torches illuminated the quiet and peaceful deserted lane as brightly as day.

A group of strong, muscular men stood on both sides of the road, and the one leading them was none other than Zhang Sheng, who had previously gone into seclusion to break through to the Blood Condensation stage.

The crowd stared in awe and shock at the tall, cold-faced young man.

They didn't expect the leader to be so young.

"Um."

Shi Wen glanced at everyone present.

Sitting in the armchair, he said calmly, "I called you here for a few things, so there's no need to be nervous."

"The first thing I need to do is find out everything about the Fusheng Society Taoists in the city—their addresses and numbers. I need all the information tonight!"

"Fushenghui?"

Zhang Sheng seemed unfamiliar with this group. He nodded and said, "Boss, I'll go investigate right away!"

Shi Wen tapped his fingers on the chair. "The second thing is to invite all the second- and third-rate gangs and boatmen in Heiyun County to Jiangcheng Tower as guests. The time is set for the evening of two days from now. Make sure they all come."

"no problem."

Zhang Sheng nodded quickly, but then whispered, "What if the leader doesn't come?"

"Those who don't come will die. Take those words with you."

Shi Wen's expression was calm, as if he were joking, but it sent chills down the spines of everyone present!

"The third thing is to help me find out where the Black Crow Army is hiding in Black Cloud County."

Shi Wen spoke indifferently, causing Zhang Sheng's eyelids to tremble.

He wanted to say something, but seeing Shi Wen's extremely cold gaze, he had no choice but to suppress his words and said, "No problem."

"Oh, right... there's one more small matter. There's a clerk in the county office named Liu Wen. Can someone go and bring back his head for me? There will be a reward."

Before Shi Wen could even speak, Zhou Biao, his heart pounding with excitement, immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Leader, I'll go!"

"Okay, that's settled then. Go find some iron rods; I'll need them for my training later. The rest of you go do your work."

soon.

The crowd dispersed quickly, leaving only a few strong men on guard at the intersection.

Shi Wen stood up.

Walk towards a dark corner where no one is around.

He opened the tin box.

He put the egg-sized piece of flesh from the heart of the withered dragon into his mouth.

Boom!

Deep in the sky, rumbling thunder echoed, and dense, dark clouds gathered over Heiyun County, which had been scorching hot for days...