Chapter 1 Rumbling Thunder

Rumbling thunder rolled across the sky.

Dark clouds pressed down, almost touching the highest watchtower at the top of Xinmeng Town.

The cold wind grew stronger, causing the signs and flags of the town's shops to flutter loudly.

Li Cheng颐 left the Wang family and headed towards the bookstore in town.

Along the way, he saw some old farmers in thin clothes selling the vegetables they had brought, laying them out on the roadside on a piece of tattered cloth.

Thin shop assistants and errand runners, carrying heavy loads, hurried back and forth with baskets, supplying goods to shops everywhere.

The weather was getting colder, and children were playing a game similar to hacky sack in the alleys by the street.

On the gray-black street, Li Cheng颐 could see at a glance that those with strong physiques were all from wealthy families.

This place was different from Earth and the Moon. The backwardness of productivity made life even harder for ordinary people.

Not to mention the monsters that could appear in the wild at any time.

Before long, after turning a corner, treading on the cracked gray stone slab road, a bookstore with a withered yellow wooden sign appeared before him among several houses with black tiles and red doors.

Yang's Bookstore.

This was the only bookstore in town.

In this era where martial power was supreme and scholars were useless, even ordinary people knew who was more useful: learning literature or learning martial arts.

Several young men in gray clothes stood at the entrance of the bookstore, discussing something in low voices.

The cold wind blew past, and they occasionally shrank their bodies, holding the books in their hands even tighter.

These young men were all born into families in the town that were not qualified to learn martial arts. As the saying goes, "poor scholars, rich martial artists," it was the same here.

The expenses required for practicing martial arts were too high, and ordinary families simply couldn't afford it. On the contrary, the Shaoyin Kingdom's papermaking technology was well-developed, and the cost of paper was not expensive. Ordinary families could save up to buy some books to read.

Therefore, if these young men who couldn't afford to practice martial arts didn't want to become craftsmen or do ordinary odd jobs, they could only study literature and take the path of civil officials.

Although the treatment of civil officials was not good, they were still officials, and it was still a way out that could change their fate.

Li Cheng颐 walked closer and pushed open the wooden door of the bookstore, only to hear the scholars discussing the contents of a book called "Hou Xiyou Ji" (Journey to the West: The Next Generation).

He had read almost all the books in the bookstore in the past two months. With his strong mental power, he could almost achieve photographic memory, and naturally remembered the content.

Coming here at this time was just to ask the bookstore owner if there were any new books.

"Hou Xiyou Ji" mainly recorded the story of a martial arts expert named Yue Houxi (Moon After West) who traveled around.

Many of the contents were of questionable authenticity and had exaggerated and boastful elements.

". If it's really fake, then how do you explain the Black Moon Valley on the border of the country?" At this time, a scholar with a black mole on the corner of his mouth blushed and argued loudly.

"As Brother Han Song said before, the strongest experts in our Shaoyin Kingdom are all on the Crack-Earth and Seal-Heaven rankings. Yao Xiangyu Mu, the number one Jianghu (martial world) expert on the Crack-Earth ranking, and Song Yunhe, the national preceptor, a court expert on the Seal-Heaven ranking, have fought no less than several times.

The most intense time was only when they created a lake dozens of miles wide in the Black Pine Mountains. Even then, the two were both injured and returned to recuperate for a long time. If there really were experts who could burn mountains and boil seas, and split the sky and draw the earth, wouldn't that be even more powerful than those two supreme experts? How could there be such people in this world!?"

Another person followed up, "Not to mention that the book also wrote that the author personally saw someone who could attract celestial stars and make them fall to the earth, instantly destroying a country of a hundred cities! It's ridiculous! If someone really attracted celestial stars, and we were all standing on the earth, how could we not feel anything?"

"But according to my careful consideration, the book records many details. If it is really false, these things can be found wrong with a little scrutiny. But when I scrutinized it, I found that the details of each step were extremely similar to what was written in the book..."

The black mole scholar argued unwillingly.

"Do you know martial arts? It's ridiculous, you are not a martial artist, so how can you imagine what that world is like?"

"Brother Gao seems to have drunk too much rice wine. Those who have surplus food at home are really different from us."

"Let's go, let's go. This kind of topic is too absurd and boring, wasting our time..."

A group of scholars were too lazy to pay attention to the black mole scholar, and left in groups, leaving him alone in place, his face flushed red and his eyes full of unwillingness.

Li Cheng颐 heard the conversation of this group of people at the entrance of the bookstore, and his heart moved slightly.

He also remembered the content of "Hou Xiyou Ji". There was too much false and exaggerated content in it.

"You don't understand anything!!" At this time, the black mole youth said angrily, "I have consulted ancient books and found that the content in the book is true. The Zijing (Purple Gold) Dragon Pearl worn on the head of the current Holy Emperor is the legacy left by the person who attracted the celestial stars in the past. It comes from the body of a colorful scaled dragon-shaped monster!"

"Since the Dragon Pearl is real and really exists, the matter of attracting celestial stars must also be real!"

".!?" Li Cheng颐's heart trembled.

Colorful scaled dragon-shaped monster!?

Isn't that the Iridescent Dragon!?

In the memory he obtained from Hua Yu (Flower Language), there was the image of the Iridescent Dragon. Its appearance was exactly as the black mole youth said, covered with colorful scales, dragon-shaped in appearance, but compared to other dragon species, it looked less like a dragon.

He pondered in his heart.

'If the records in "Hou Xiyou Ji" are true. The person who attracted the celestial stars and destroyed a hundred cities, hiss.!'

He knew how far apart the cities were here. The destruction of a hundred cities was at least equivalent to several million square kilometers of Earth and Moon.

Destroying such a large area with one move.

Even the technological weapons of Earth and Moon don't have such exaggerated power.

From killing that crazy old woman in the red-eye stage before, he vaguely felt that the martial power value of this place seemed a bit too high.

Now, if the records in "Hou Xiyou Ji" are true, then even the Dragon Pearl of the Iridescent Dragon has been dug out and used as a decoration.

The water here is really too deep.

Calming the distracting thoughts in his heart, Li Cheng颐 became more determined to hide his identity and integrate into this place by following the path of true Qi.

First integrate, then secretly investigate and find the heart of the Iridescent Dragon.

If the Dragon Pearl is real, then traces and clues must also be found on the flesh and blood of other dragons.

Immediately, he quickly asked the bookstore owner a few questions, confirmed that there were no new books, and wanted to turn around and leave.

"Wang Yichen."

Suddenly, a female voice stopped him.

Looking back, it was Guo Yurong whom he had met before.

She was wearing a green waist-tied dress, deerskin boots with a white belt, and a pearl silver-made Bu Yao (hairpin) on her head. Compared with most other women in the town, she was more delicate and noble.

Although silver pearl Bu Yao were not valuable things on Earth and Moon, they were very valuable here.

"Have you finished reading the three books I lent you last time?" Guo Yurong asked with a smile.

"Yes, I have finished reading them. I will go back and get them for you later." Li Cheng颐 smiled and nodded.

"That's good. I have bought a few new ancient books. Some time ago, a wealthy family in the county was found to be spreading poisonous blood, and the whole family was raided and exterminated. Many treasured ancient books were emptied out. I collected two of them. If you want to read them, I can lend them to you." Guo Yurong had a good impression of people who liked to read.

"Thank you for your kindness, but no need." Li Cheng颐 declined, "Next month, I will leave the town and go to the county."

"Next month?" The smile on Guo Yurong's face paused, "What's going on? Are you moving?"

"Not really, I plan to take the Shen Wu Si (Divine Martial Guard) exam." Li Cheng颐 replied.

Shen Wu Si.

Guo Yurong was stunned. Her father, Guo Hu, the deputy town guard, came from the Shen Wu Si, so she was naturally very familiar with it.

Occasionally, colleagues of her father from the Shen Wu Si would pass by here and come to her house for a drink.

It was precisely because she was familiar with it that she was surprised, because she knew that to pass the Shen Wu Si exam, the first thing required was a letter of recommendation from the town guard.

It could be said that as long as one could enter that place and persist without dying, the worst they could be after coming out was a deputy town guard.

Therefore, the Shen Wu Si was also one of the best paths for all non-bloodline martial artists.

"Your martial arts." Guo Yurong clearly remembered that Wang Yichen's martial arts seemed very ordinary.

"Ah, my martial arts progress is not bad, just qualified enough." Li Cheng颐 said with a smile.

"Is that so?" Guo Yurong was also relieved, guessing that perhaps the other party had been hiding his strength before, practicing hard for many years, and finally waited for the opportunity.

Although the Wang family's Songlu (Pine Deer) Saber Technique was ordinary, if he was lucky, he could stay in the Shen Wu Si for a longer period of time, and he could stabilize the family's position after coming out.

"Then congratulations to you." Guo Yurong said.

"Thank you."

The two exchanged a few more polite words and then separated.

Standing in the store, watching Li Cheng颐's leaving figure, Guo Yurong sighed slightly.

"What's wrong, Miss? Do you regret it?" The maid Xiaoqin behind her asked in a low voice, jokingly.

"I don't regret it. Although Wang Yichen has changed, the Wang family's foundation is too weak. The Songlu Saber Technique is not up to grade, which means that his future upper limit is not high." Guo Yurong shook her head.

"I just regret that I will have one less friend to read books with in the future."

She retracted her gaze, and her heart was indeed as she said, without any regret.

Her father had already told her about a family, which was also a large family in the county.

There were many martial artists in that large family, and they practiced graded martial arts. Among them, there were also bloodline users who served as the head of the family.

Bloodline martial artists were the true foundation that could stand firm in this world.

*

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*

Time flew by quickly as the Wang family seriously prepared and inquired.

In the blink of an eye, it was already September, and the temperature on the black soil was getting colder and colder.

The news that Wang Yichen had received a recommendation from the Shen Wu Si slowly spread throughout the city.

His former friends who had mixed with him, whether he knew them or not, all ran to get close to him, but Li Cheng颐 drove them all out.

Before, when his predecessor had a narrow escape from death and returned home, none of these people came to visit, each fearing that he had poisonous blood that would infect them.

Now that they heard that he had a future, they ran to try to build relationships and get close to him.

Not to mention that he was not Wang Yichen, even if he was, it was impossible to pay attention to such people.

In the Wang family's mansion.

Li Cheng颐 slowly performed the three styles of Qi refining, feeling a large amount of mysterious substance rapidly pouring into his body, gathering his spirit, and condensing into true Qi.

In the white light of true Qi surrounding his body, forty pine patterns faintly appeared at this time.

This meant that he now had forty years of Songwen (Pine Pattern) Qi cultivation.

With the Hua Yu ability superimposed on the already exaggerated cultivation speed, his cultivation speed was so fast that one month of his cultivation was equivalent to twenty years of someone else's cultivation. This was a full two hundred and forty times the difference.

Wang Yifeng, the captain, only had nineteen Songwen, which was not only due to his innate physical limitations, but also because his body could only accommodate nineteen years of cultivation. Any more, and he couldn't hold it.

But Li Cheng颐 was different. His body capacity seemed to be far greater than Wang Yifeng's.

Even forty years of true Qi only occupied a very small part of the space in his body.

Whether it was the Shadow Dragon bloodline, the Dragon Realm evolution, or the powerful physique modified by genetic drugs.

All of these brought him a huge true Qi capacity.

Standing in the room, Li Cheng颐 slowly repeated the three major styles of Qi refining.

He didn't stop until the meridians inside his body were faintly sore.

Feeling the gradually thick Songwen Qi, Li Cheng颐 thought to himself that since he was about to leave this place, and with his development in the future, it was unlikely that he would ever come back, so. The little guy Liu Mingyang in Jingwei Village should also be taken care of.

That Liu Mingyang was able to escape in the wild for so long without anything happening. He was definitely not a simple character.

He definitely had a secret on him, but Li Cheng颐 was too lazy to ask, and the other party didn't say anything.

After all, no matter how big the secret was, it couldn't be bigger than the one on him.

'It's a pity that there is too little research material with just Songwen Qi alone. I need more material for comparison and reference.'

The power of Songwen Qi was not as satisfactory as he wanted. It didn't matter. The power could be improved. Even soft water could cut steel when shot out under high pressure.

Li Cheng颐, who came from a modern technological society, was not superstitious about preconceived notions. He just needed enough research material to improve the power of Songwen Qi.

First, he would use other people as research subjects to try, and after successfully succeeding, he would truly implement it on himself. This was the right approach.

Temporarily unable to improve the true Qi, he could only make a fuss about the density and concentration of the true Qi.

Using his strong physical fitness, he forcibly squeezed the Songwen Qi to increase its density.

It was very difficult to simply control and compress true Qi with the mind, but he was different. He had the experience of the Seven Intent Saint Spirit Art.

He directly adjusted the part of the Songwen Qi that merged with the spirit. The purer and firmer the spirit, the stronger the true Qi extracted.

Then, he used the Wisdom Sword to compress the true Qi in his meridians, blocking it back and forth to squeeze it hard. Under this simple and unadorned violent compression, the Songwen Qi was easily compressed into pure white true Qi with a density much higher than before.

Instead of light white, its density was at least three times higher than before.

This method could only be used by people with a terrifyingly tough physical body like Li Cheng颐.

If anyone else dared to squeeze true Qi like this, the first thing to explode would be their own meridians.

After compressing the true Qi for a while, suddenly the door was knocked on.

Knock knock knock.

"Little brother, are you resting?" The voice of his second sister, Wang Yiheng, came from outside the door.