The Martial Saint begins by collecting corpses.

Lu Ming smiled at him:

"Please lead the way."

Xiao Wule immediately composed himself, turned around and walked ahead, with Lu Ming following in his footsteps.

In the hall, the leader of the Iron Palm Gang laughed heartily when he saw Lu Ming enter:

"Master Lu is indeed highly skilled and daring; he actually dared to go to the meeting alone."

After leading the person away, Xiao Wule quietly left.

Lu Ming glanced at him, remaining expressionless, his hands, hidden beneath his sleeves, already rapidly moving, while he smiled faintly:

"Enough with the small talk. None of you are idle people. You invited me here today, so please speak frankly."

The gang leaders exchanged glances, and the leader of the Iron Palm Gang said:

"It's nothing much, it's just that Master Lu's methods have made us all a little scared."

"The reason we invited Master Lu here this time is to cooperate with him."

"As the saying goes, the wool comes from the sheep's back. If Master Lu wants to collect protection money, he doesn't need to use such bloody methods."

"We can collect a sum of money on behalf of Master Lu and hand it over to him in full, how about that?"

The leader of the Iron Palm Gang tried his best to speak, while the other three looked at him with either amusement or sneer.

Lu Ming said, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

The Iron Palm Gang leader's gaze sharpened, and he forced a smile, saying:

"Actually, it's like this: we, and the county government, have always been..."

Lu Ming interrupted him:

"Are you stalling for time, waiting for Sun Ji to arrive?"

Upon hearing this, the four of them all changed their expressions:

"You...you know?"

"You probably won't live to see him," Lu Ming suddenly grinned. "Of course, you'll be seeing him soon...but in the underworld!!"

As he spoke, Lu Ming suddenly made his move, unleashing a wave of energy that surged within his body, imbuing his fist with immense power as he slammed it toward the leader of the Giant Strength Gang.

The leader of the Giant Strength Gang shouted:

"How dare you!"

He rose to defend himself, but suddenly his expression changed drastically, and he slumped back down, saying:

"I, how could I...?"

Bang! Lu Ming punched him in the chest. With a muffled thud, the leader of the Giant Strength Gang stared blankly, then fell backward, chair and all, to the ground. Blood flowed from his mouth, but he was already silent from his nose and mouth. He was killed in one blow.

The other three, having advanced to the next level, looked at Lu Ming in horror. They finally realized that all their strength seemed to have vanished, and they didn't even have the strength to sit up.

"Poison? When did you poison me? You...you're so poisonous!"

"No, don't kill me! I know something!!"

In the kitchen, several gang cooks lay dead in pools of blood.

With blood on his face, Xiao Wule listened quietly to the screams coming from ahead, a hint of fear appearing in his eyes. This Lu Ming was indeed formidable.

He had already guessed that although the herb in the wine was not poisonous, Lu Ming had likely added something else when he arrived. The non-toxic herb, when mixed with that substance, immediately became highly poisonous.

[Gain martial arts experience.]

[Acquired martial art: Iron Palm Skill.]

[Obtained incomplete bone structure.]

……

[Gain martial arts experience.]

【get……】

【get……】

In the hall, with four martial arts techniques, including Iron Palm Kung Fu, Lu Ming felt his hands, legs, chest, and back all strengthened according to the different skills he had mastered.

Seeing that no one was around, he couldn't resist the urge to practice.

Iron Palm Skill, Swift Blade Slash... As he practiced the four skills repeatedly, the parts he was training quickly became active, his blood and qi increased significantly, and his strength surged.

Wow!

Just then, his internal energy surged like fire, as if instantly tempering the skin of every part of his body, making it incredibly tough.

He looked at the leather in his hand with some strangeness. Now he could clearly feel that the leather all over his body was a whole, and its elasticity, strength, and agility had all been greatly improved.

He took out an unpoisoned throwing knife and cut his hand. Sure enough, there was only a shallow white mark. He could not break through his defense with a light touch.

Skin training mastered!

After accumulating so much time and collecting so many martial arts corpses, he finally mastered the art of skin refining.

Lu Ming couldn't help but smile; the feeling of increased strength was truly wonderful.

However, the power boost brought by this martial art becomes increasingly difficult to achieve as one progresses.

Now his hands, fists, and even his legs, chest, and back have all been enhanced by various martial arts techniques. If he were to acquire martial arts techniques to train the same parts of his body in the future, it would not bring him much improvement.

No wonder Chen Yihui said that practicing such a low-level martial art could at most only achieve the goal of strengthening the body.

He now feels that even building muscle will be difficult.

True martial arts techniques, such as the Canglang Gong, which involves training and controlling qi and blood, are the real methods of martial arts.

And your physical constitution... hasn't it transformed yet? It seems that transforming one's physical constitution is more difficult than improving one's cultivation level.

After examining the corpse, Lu Ming obtained a one-hundred-tael silver note and more than thirty taels of loose silver. However, he frowned slightly, and a murderous aura suddenly appeared in his eyes.

He needs more corpses.

"Manager of the brokerage firm..." Lu Ming gritted his teeth and uttered these four words.

He had just learned from the leader of the Quick Knife Society that the reason Sun Ji contacted them so quickly was because the brokerage manager was instigating it.

"You betrayed me before, and now you're plotting against me again. You're dead!" A hint of malice flashed in Lu Ming's eyes.

At this moment, he saw Xiao Wule walk out of the kitchen. Although his face and body had been cleaned, they still faintly smelled of blood.

Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat: "You killed some people in the back?"

Xiao Wule nodded.

Lu Ming's eyes flashed as he walked to the back kitchen, where he collected several more streaks of gray light. Feeling a slight improvement in his physical constitution, he returned satisfied and said:

"This place is in your hands now. Also, please release those craftsmen who have been captured."

Then, he turned and walked out of the Iron Palm Gang's headquarters.

"I advise you not to go to the brokerage." Suddenly, a voice came from beside the door.

Lu Ming turned his head and was immediately stunned. The person who spoke was a tall, burly man with a face as black as charcoal and an aura of authority.

It turned out to be the same black-faced demon we encountered in the small mountain temple before.

A sense of vigilance arose in Lu Ming's heart.

Although this black-faced demon isn't very good at dealing with ghosts, he's very skilled in martial arts.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

The charcoal demon solemnly said, "The brokerage firm is not simple; even I dare not force my way in."

Lu Ming's gaze sharpened.

Is the brokerage firm that powerful? Although he didn't intend to force his way in, this news still came as a surprise.

Kurotan Oni continued:

"My name is Shen Mo, and I come from the Zhenye Division. I've come to invite you to join the Zhenye Division."

"You can easily deal with that ghost at the small mountain temple!"

"Such abilities would be a complete waste if they weren't used by the Night Watch."

"Oh?" Lu Ming's heart stirred. He had inquired about the Night Town Division later and found that it was indeed a mysterious department of the Great Sheng Dynasty that dealt with ghosts and monsters. It was a good place to go.

Lu Ming pondered for a moment and said, "I'll think about it."

Shen Mo nodded:

"It's best to do it as soon as possible. It's not easy to get into the Night Watch Division, but there just happens to be an opportunity recently."

After saying that, he turned and left.

"The position of the Night Guard is quite high, and this matter is definitely worth considering," Lu Ming thought to himself as he watched the departing figure.

but.

"The brokerage manager..." Lu Ming thought of this person again, snorted coldly, and said, "Just you wait!"

Now we returned to the county government office via the old route.

He had intended to go back and rest, but as soon as he entered, he saw a servant waiting there who told him that Steward Li invited him to the main hall.

Li Xiu is looking for him again? This time, he's actually going to the main hall?

Lu Ming was somewhat puzzled, but being in the county magistrate's mansion, he had to cultivate a good relationship with Li Xiu, so he followed the servant to the magnificent main hall.

He walked through the door and saw the scene inside; his gaze immediately sharpened.

Li Xiu stood to the side, not even sitting down, while a burly man in his forties or fifties sat in the main seat in the center.

The burly man's gaze swept over, his fierce aura pressing down like a tangible pressure. Even though he had just broken through to the Great Perfection of Skin Refinement, he felt a tightness in his chest and his blood circulation was somewhat sluggish.

Lu Ming's heart sank. Although he had never met this person before, he could already guess that this person must be Chu Sanfeng, the Duke of Heishui County!

"Lu Ming, how dare you!"

From the main seat, Chu Sanfeng shouted in a deep voice, his voice rolling like thunder.