Becoming a Martial Saint starts with Jian Ti Quan (a type of Chinese martial art).

Fang Shuwen did not turn around.

But he could sense that the footsteps behind him remained at a distance of about twenty paces, neither too fast nor too slow, and he couldn't shake them off at all.

Simultaneously,

His keen senses, granted by his serpentine talent, allowed him to discern the rhythm of the footsteps.

Steady, powerful, with almost identical intervals between each step.

Those who can do this are definitely not ordinary people!

A trained martial artist!

And he's a tough nut to crack.

Fang Shuwen frowned slightly, neither quickening nor slowing his pace, maintaining his previous rhythm as he walked forward.

He quickly mentally scanned the possible trackers.

People from the Wild Wolf Gang?

Not quite.

Those two scoundrels died cleanly and efficiently. Zheng Shulan's second uncle was the director of the Public Security Bureau, and with someone like Lord Zheng in charge, things were much better.

With the Zheng family's power, erasing the cause of death of a few gang members would be a piece of cake.

Therefore, it can't be someone from the Wild Wolf Gang.

Could it be that Guo Ziming was still dissatisfied and hired someone else?

Or perhaps, the so-called head of the Folklore and Antiques Investigation Section, Lin Xiu?

The images of the two people flashed through Fang Shuwen's mind, and for a moment he couldn't tell who had sent the person behind them.

"interesting."

Fang Shuwen's lips curled up, and he decided to find an opportunity to "meet" the pursuers behind him.

He turned around and instead of heading towards the Zhao residence, he turned into a narrower alley next to East Street.

The alley was deep, with towering walls on both sides and only a sliver of sky overhead.

The footsteps behind him paused for a moment, then continued to follow.

Fang Shuwen quickened his pace, weaving through the alleys, deliberately choosing the darkest, unlit lanes.

Soon, we reached the end of the alley.

This is an abandoned farmers' market.

Half of the greenhouse roof had collapsed, revealing several crooked wooden beams.

The terrain here is complex, and people who are not familiar with it can easily get stuck.

Fang Shuwen stopped and turned around.

"Aren't you tired after following me for so long?"

The dark figure at the alley entrance finally emerged from the darkness.

The moonlight was pale, with only a sliver of light leaking through the gaps in the half-collapsed roof, illuminating the person's face.

It was a face of someone in their forties, square-shaped, with thick eyebrows and a shallow scar on their chin.

He was wearing a gray cloth short jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his two thick and muscular forearms.

He exuded a fierce aura, clearly possessing martial arts skills!

"Fang Shuwen?"

The man's voice was hoarse, like a sheet of iron polished with sandpaper.

"Someone sent me to invite you back for a cup of tea."

"Oh, you're inviting me?"

Fang Shuwen smiled and said, "Your way of asking for the Dharma is rather impolite."

Without saying a word, the newcomer took a step forward.

This step caused Fang Shuwen's pupils to shrink sharply.

This is no ordinary step.

When the person landed, a shallow footprint was left on the bluestone pavement.

It's not about crushing it, it's about compacting it.

The force penetrated the stone slab, shaking away the surface dust and leaving a clear shoe sole pattern.

Ming Jin.

Moreover, he was a Ming Jin martial artist who had already cultivated his strength to the point of being able to move his feet.

Fang Shuwen felt a slight chill run down his spine.

His current strength is such that his bones crack three times and his single arm has a strength of 700 jin.

In terms of sheer strength, he's not much weaker than someone who has just entered the Ming Jin stage and has a strength of 800 jin.

But if he were to truly face Ming Jin, he was not confident.

Thinking of this,

Fang Shuwen suddenly quickened his pace and rushed into the ruins behind him.

The roof was half collapsed, the wooden beams were crooked, there were piles of rotten vegetable leaves and broken baskets, and several rusty carts.

These obstacles might help him buy some time.

"Trying to run away?"

A cold laugh came from behind, carrying the contempt of a cat toying with a mouse.

"Do you think you can escape?"

The footsteps suddenly quickened.

It wasn't running, it was plundering.

The pace of a Ming Jin martial artist is much faster than ordinary people imagine; each step seems to glide along the ground.

Fang Shuwen didn't turn around, but he could feel that aura rapidly approaching.

In a maximum of five minutes, the other party will be able to catch up with him.

"Damn it!"

Fang Shuwen cursed under his breath, then suddenly pushed off with his feet and darted forward.

The gaps between the wooden beams were extremely narrow, and he slid sideways, almost touching the ground, his spine twisting at an incredible angle as if it had no bones.

The serpentine talent was on full display at this moment.

A muffled groan came from behind.

The man clearly didn't have a body as flexible as his; he was stopped by the wooden beam, and his speed decreased sharply.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Fang Shuwen increased the distance by more than ten steps.

But this is only temporary.

No matter how complex the terrain of an abandoned farmers' market is, it will eventually come to an end.

He has to come up with a solution before that happens.

"Little brat, you're quite slippery!"

"Your skills are even better than others say!"

"You do indeed have a secret."

The man's voice came from behind, tinged with annoyance.

But despite his anger, his speed increased instead of decreasing.

Instead of trying to navigate through narrow gaps, they smashed through the obstacles in their path.

A wooden beam as thick as an arm blocked his way. Without even stopping, he threw a punch, and the beam snapped in two, sending splinters flying everywhere.

Fang Shuwen heard the sound of the wooden beam breaking behind him, and his heart sank.

This guy started acting recklessly.

At this speed, the other side will catch up very quickly.

"No, we have to find a way to save ourselves!"

Fang Shuwen's mind raced.

He reached into his pocket and touched the blue cloth bag that Zheng Shulan had given him.

Five mysterious jade pieces.

The dark green piece contained a far higher concentration of alien energy than any he had absorbed before.

I wonder if the energy inside is enough for him to deal with his current opponent!

Fang Shuwen gritted his teeth and took the blue cloth bag out of his pocket.

He slipped behind a pile of collapsed bricks and tiles, and using the cover of darkness and obstacles, quickly untied the rope.

Five strange jade pieces lay in the cloth bag, gleaming with a cold, eerie light under the moonlight.

The largest piece, a dark green, felt cool to the touch.

The other four pieces were slightly smaller and of varying quality, but each one was far superior to the inferior ones he had bought at the martial arts academy.

"Damn it!"

Fang Shuwen took a deep breath and held all five pieces of strange jade in his left hand.

He didn't know what the consequences would be of absorbing multiple pieces of strange jade at the same time.

But at this moment, he couldn't care less about anything else.

He took out five pieces of mysterious jade, held them tightly in his hand, and covered them with his qi and blood.

Suddenly,

Five distinctly different cold currents exploded simultaneously from the palm of his hand.

It wasn't the gentle, icy cold of before, but rather like someone had simultaneously plunged five ice scalpels into his veins.

A chill surged from the palm of my left hand, rushed up my arm, converged at my shoulder, and then flooded my chest, spine, and brain like a burst dam.

moment,

A bloody scene flashed before Fang Shuwen's eyes.

It seemed that five demons emerged from the mountains and stormed into a village, committing a bloody massacre.

At the same time, accompanied by hallucinations, the extreme cold almost froze his brain.

A bloodlust and a murderous desire rose uncontrollably from his heart.

In an instant, Fang Shuwen felt that he was about to lose control.

Just at this time,

[Foreign energy detected. Absorb?]