Whew!
Wu Liangchen was drenched in sweat, but an indescribable feeling of comfort washed over him.
[Primordial Stance Proficiency +3]
Seeing this notification, Wu Liangchen felt a hint of joy. He then took out a Qi Blood Pill and put it in his mouth.
It tasted incredibly bitter!
The bitterness made Wu Liangchen grimace, but in the next instant, it transformed into a warm current that suffused his body.
In a flash, the gnawing hunger vanished. Then, Wu Liangchen felt as if the skin all over his body had toughened considerably.
He opened his attribute panel, and sure enough.
[Martial Arts Initial Realm: Skin-Refining and Muscle-Forging (7%)]
In just one day, his Skin-Refining and Muscle-Forging progress had jumped from five percent to seven percent.
This rate of progress could only be described as astonishing.
But Wu Liangchen still felt it was a bit too slow.
Today, he had learned a crucial piece of information from Aunt Fan.
That this world indeed had not only the Martial Way, but also Immortals.
When he heard this news, Wu Liangchen felt his scalp tingle, and his entire body filled with motivation.
Even though he was just starting out and hadn't even reached the Initial Realm.
But Wu Liangchen was confident he could achieve, in a relatively short time, the extravagant hope that other Martial Artists might never fulfill in their entire lives.
After all, besides deducing Cultivation Techniques, the greatest function of the Ten Thousand Laws Tripod was helping him break through any and all cultivation bottlenecks.
'With this ultimate weapon, what are Terrestrial Immortals? What are Immortals? They'll all be mine!'
With this thought in mind, Wu Liangchen's life fell into a regular rhythm over the next few days. In the morning, he would go to the vegetable market. If there was a delivery for the Long Wind Martial Arts Hall, he would make the trip; if not, he'd find a teahouse to nap in for a while.
At noon, he would go to the Yang family's home in North City for a meal, find a place to sleep in the afternoon, and in the evening, he would take Yang Lian'Er to the theater for her performance. After the show ended, he would go home to train.
Under this disciplined routine, Wu Liangchen's Cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds each day.
Although he still looked like a teenager, his figure was no longer thin and frail. Instead, he appeared quite upright and sturdy.
His skin and muscles grew increasingly firm, feeling like stone to the touch and containing immense power.
These changes did not escape Aunt Fan's notice, leaving her utterly shocked, to the point of questioning reality itself.
'Even for a martial arts prodigy, isn't this rate of progress a little too fast!'
Wu Liangchen was completely oblivious to this, lost in the daily enjoyment of becoming stronger.
Even though he hadn't learned a single offensive move, Wu Liangchen had secretly tested his strength. A single punch from him could shatter a green brick, its power was astounding.
In addition, Wu Liangchen's running speed was incredible; when sprinting at full power, even a horse couldn't keep up.
At this point, a sliver of security finally took root in his heart.
One day, same as usual, after taking Yang Lian'Er home after her show, Wu Liangchen started walking back to his own place.
It was already very late. Once he left the bustling area of North City, the streets had no lamps and were pitch black.
Wu Liangchen walked slowly along the side of the street.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and the night wind had grown much cooler.
But the current Wu Liangchen was not afraid of this chill at all. In fact, for comfort, he had only loosely fastened a few buttons on his shirt.
The streets were very quiet. There were noticeably fewer rickshaw pullers working the night shift.
Wu Liangchen knew this was because the incident of picking up a "ghost" at midnight had been causing a greater and greater stir.
Before, it was only one or two drivers who fell for it, but now it had become a regular occurrence, with a few unlucky souls getting hit every night.
As this continued, the streets naturally became much quieter.
Brother Yuan Er, and even his sister, had urged Wu Liangchen to go home earlier, but he didn't care at all.
When the rumor first started, Wu Liangchen might have been a little apprehensive.
After all, no one really knew if ghosts and monsters actually existed in this world.
But now, as the incidents became more frequent and caused a bigger stir, Wu Liangchen had actually grown calm.
Because he was certain that this was definitely not the work of any ghost or monster.
After all, every incident was more or less the same: someone would hire a rickshaw to a remote place, then scare the driver until he fainted.
When the driver woke up, he would find that his rickshaw and his valuables were gone.
'What kind of ghost would do something like that?'
He was about to turn the corner onto his street and be home, but just then, a sobbing woman on the side of the road flagged him down.
"SOB... SOB... Driver, take... take me to the base of the South City walls. I need to go back to my parents' home!"
The woman was carrying a small bundle, her hair was a mess, and her face was streaked with tears. At a glance, she looked like a young wife who had just run away from home after a fight.
Wu Liangchen didn't say a word. He stopped and looked at the woman on the side of the street.
The woman reached out and pulled out a handful of copper coins. "I... I'll pay you the fare first."
Wu Liangchen reached out and took them. Without wasting words, he said coldly, "Get in!"
The woman let out a long sigh of relief and quickly got into the rickshaw. Then, she said with a sob, "My home is in the shantytown at the base of the South City walls."
"Alright, hold on tight!"
Wu Liangchen pulled up the rickshaw's handles and began to run.
The night wind WHOOSHED past. Wu Liangchen weaved through streets and alleys, reaching the destination in just seven or eight minutes.
"Miss, you can get out now. We're here!" As he spoke, Wu Liangchen put down the rickshaw handles and turned to look.
But he saw the woman just sitting there in the rickshaw with her hair down, not saying a word.
Wu Liangchen seemed a bit puzzled. He took a few steps forward and said softly, "Miss..."
Before he could finish, the woman suddenly lifted her head. Her disheveled hair parted to the sides, revealing a smooth cheek.
The good news was that the skin was very smooth and delicate. The bad news was that it was *too* smooth—so smooth that it was completely featureless.
A full moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the empty streets of the shantytown. A faceless woman sat in the rickshaw, her head like a goose egg, facing you. The scene was utterly bizarre.
Rickshaw pullers who worked the night shift were usually brave, but this was beyond a simple matter of courage.
Anyone who witnessed this scene would feel their heart skip a beat; it wouldn't be surprising if they fainted.
But Wu Liangchen was completely unmoved. His expression barely changed as he simply stared at the faceless woman.
Perhaps Wu Liangchen's reaction was too calm, because even the faceless woman seemed taken aback. But soon, she let out a blood-curdling wail.
"SOB SOB SOB... I died such a miserable death..."
But before she could finish, Wu Liangchen abruptly raised his hand and slapped the woman across the face.
"I'll give you a miserable death!"
Although Wu Liangchen hadn't practiced any specific techniques, his immense strength was enough to generate a gust of wind with his palm.
SLAP!
A crisp slap echoed out. The woman, who had been sobbing moments before, was sent flying from the rickshaw to the ground. Her wailing stopped abruptly, replaced by a cry of pain.
"AH!"
Wu Liangchen then shot forward and started kicking her.
"Playing ghost to scare people, huh? Well today, this young master will turn you into a real ghost!"
The woman, being beaten until she cried out in pain, couldn't help but shout, "What are you all still hiding for? Hurry up and save me!"
At the same time, several figures ran over from a distance. The leader shouted, "We weren't hiding! This kid just runs too damn fast, we couldn't keep up!"
Faced with the approaching men, Wu Liangchen wasn't flustered in the slightest. He hauled the woman up from the ground, pulled a dagger from his waist, and pressed it against her throat.
"Stop, or I'll kill her first!"