Born Saints: Starting from Liaozhai

After glancing in the direction of Lanruo Temple, Su Chen shook his head, changed direction, and drifted off in another direction.

However, without the mass grave, he only found two ghosts near Guobei County that night, barely increasing his cultivation by thirteen years.

……

Time passed slowly, and ten days went by in the blink of an eye.

That noon.

The bright sunlight shone into the east wing, making it glow with a golden light.

[Grasshopper Perfected, Comprehension +6]

[Mastery of Paper Cutting Technique, Comprehension +6]

[Paper-cutting skill perfected, Comprehension +10]

Su Chen let out a long sigh, stopped what he was doing, and looked at the panel.

【Name: Su Chen (15 years old)】

Lifespan: 103 days

[Innate Talent & Comprehension: 193 (A Dragon Among Men)]

【功法:草上飞（圆满100%）、伏虎拳（大成1%）、清虚养元决（大成1%）、五禽戏（大成1%）、吐纳术（小成1%）】

[Taoist Techniques: Paper Cutting (Perfect 100%), Flower Blooms in an Instant - Imperfect (29%) (Beginner 99%)]

[Realm: Taoist (78%), 788 years of Taoist cultivation]

After ten days, he had perfected his skills in light-footed flying and paper-cutting.

Su Chen's magical power surged and adhered to his feet, allowing him to unleash a perfect-level Grass-on-Flying technique.

He gently stepped into the air and hovered there briefly.

With his lightness skill reaching perfection and his Taoist cultivation becoming increasingly profound, he was able to walk on air and traverse the void.

Although it wasn't quite real flight, it was still terrifying enough.

If he wanted, he could easily fly from Guobei County to another county by using the aerial teleportation technique.

In addition, the number of paper figures that can be controlled by the perfect level of paper cutting technique has increased from ten to one hundred!

The power of the paper dolls has also increased considerably!

With a wave of his hand, a hundred burly, yellow-skinned men appeared. You can only imagine how terrifying that scene must have been.

To ordinary people, he is now no different from an immortal!

Looking at the nearly thousand-year-old comprehension and nearly 200 points of enlightenment, Su Chen was filled with anticipation.

Just as he was about to continue his study and strive to perfect the Tiger Subduing Fist.

He noticed something unusual while eating lunch.

Inside the main hall.

Besides the servants, the elderly father Zhang Shanhai, mother Xu, and younger brother Zhang Xing were also present.

The elderly father, Zhang Shanhai, and mother, Xu, still had worried expressions on their faces.

However, he looked far more worried than usual, which seemed somewhat abnormal.

Su Chen was a little confused.

The elderly father, Zhang Shanhai, sighed, "What are we going to do..."

"What's wrong?" Su Chen asked, puzzled.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shanhai glanced at his eldest son with a complicated expression, unsure whether to speak.

"Father, what happened?" Zhang Xing, standing beside him, also looked puzzled.

Upon hearing Zhang Xing's words, Zhang Shanhai sighed and truthfully replied, "It's the Black Tiger Gang..."

As he slowly explained, Su Chen and the other person understood what had happened.

Although the Zhang family practically monopolized the grain business in Guobei County and made a lot of money, they still had to pay tribute to the government and the Black Tiger Gang in Guobei County from time to time to ensure their safety.

But recently, the Black Tiger Gang has become insatiable. Despite already having paid a considerable amount of their share, they still want to pay another one.

The original gift money was already quite a lot; having to hand it over again made Zhang Shanhai want to vomit blood.

He was afraid. It wouldn't be a big deal if it happened once or twice, but what if the Black Tiger Gang became insatiable and kept coming to plunder...

"This is simply outrageous!" Zhang Shanhai said, his body trembling and his eyes reddening.

"Is that so?" Zhang Xing was shocked, his face showing worry and fear. He asked anxiously, "Father, what should we do?"

"Should we report this to the authorities?"

Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up, and he felt even more that it was a good idea.

Zhang Shanhai shook his head and sighed, "Xing'er, if only it could really be like that."

"These thugs have the government backing them up in the shadows. The government turns a blind eye, so even if something happens, they'll just arrest a few scapegoats. We can't fight them..."

As he spoke, he glanced at his eldest son beside him with a complicated expression.

Those people looked down on them as merchants, yet they were quicker to take advantage of them than anyone else.

He placed high hopes on his eldest son, and was even proud of him, because his eldest son was a famous child prodigy in their Guobei County, proficient in poetry, mathematics and divination, and had a promising future!

If things continue like this, the Zhang family might very well have their ancestral graves emitting auspicious smoke, shedding their previous lowly status and rising completely to become an official family!

But to his surprise, his eldest son seemed to have gone mad, abandoning his literary talents and ambitions for fame and fortune, and becoming obsessed with the useless pursuit of immortality and Taoism.

All his previous delusions and fantasies have come to nothing!

Even the people of Guobei County gossiped about the Zhang family behind their backs, secretly mocking them and treating Xuan'er's situation as a joke.

Zhang Shanhai sighed, lamenting the misfortune of his family.

At the same time, his face was full of worry, and he didn't know how to solve the problem.

It's good that they've given away most of their wealth; the real fear is that the Black Tiger Gang is still insatiable and won't let them go.

That will be the time when families are destroyed and people die.

Hearing his father Zhang Shanhai's words, Zhang Xing was dumbfounded, panic welled up in his heart, and he didn't know what to do.

He glanced instinctively at his elder brother, who had once shone as brightly as the sun in the sky.

Then he saw that his older brother's expression remained very calm.

Just like when he was a child, no matter what difficulties he encountered, his expression remained calm, as if nothing could stump him.

As he thought about it, a flash of resentment and jealousy crossed Zhang Xing's eyes.

Then, he laughed self-deprecatingly, feeling that he was really crazy. His older brother had already gone mad, and he was still thinking that he would be like he was when they were kids, able to overcome anything.

Besides, even if his elder brother wasn't insane, there was nothing he could do about the Black Tiger Gang.

Zhang Xing thought with a complicated expression.

After glancing at the expressions on their faces, Su Chen shook his head slightly.

……

In a spacious courtyard

"Zhao Liuzi, how did it go? Did you tell that old man from the Zhang family about it?"

A burly middle-aged man with a scar on his face asked the tall, thin middle-aged man in front of him with a half-smile.

"Brother Xu, I've already told that old man about it. I think he'll know what's good for him," Zhao Liuzi said with a grin.

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhen's face flashed with satisfaction and greed.

The Zhang family, grain merchants in Nanliu Lane, are incredibly wealthy. This time, he's determined to skin them alive!

Thinking about it, he narrowed his eyes.

To be honest, he had long coveted the Zhang family in Nanliu Lane and had been holding back for a long time.

He hadn't made a move until now because he was wary of the Zhang family's eldest son, who was known as a child prodigy.

Now that he heard that this child prodigy had become obsessed with cultivation, he naturally no longer had any reservations.