The next morning, a thin mist shrouded the world.

Su Yu stood before a long table, looking at the dozen or so brocade boxes sent by the Cai Family. He opened them one by one.

Instantly, an aroma blending the earthy scent of soil and the fresh fragrance of herbs filled the air.

Su Yu examined them one by one:

A fifty-year-old wild ginseng with roots like a dragon’s tendrils. A thirty-year-old Purple Blood Ancient Lingzhi, its color like jade. Purple Marrow Dates the size of chicken eggs, with skin like dried dates. A tiger bone ginseng exuding a faint, baleful aura...

’If these precious herbs were sold on the market, they’d be worth well over two thousand silver taels. I really owe Cai Yun a favor for this.’

The thought of the impossibly charming Cai Yun, who flirted with him at every opportunity, made Su Yu shake his head with a wry smile.

He had no idea how he would repay this favor, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid getting entangled with her.

’Oh, well. I’ll just take it one step at a time. The most urgent task is to convert these resources into strength as quickly as possible!’

...

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed.

In his study, Su Yu was holding a yellowed ancient book titled *A Journey Through Jiuzhou*.

This was one of many rare books Li Da had hunted down for him from the bookshops. With Martial Arts flourishing these days, such books had become quite cheap.

This book was written eight hundred years ago by a Wandering Martial Artist named Xu Xia and recorded the strange tales and wonders of the Jiuzhou Land.

In the study, Su Yu was flipping through *A Journey Through Jiuzhou*. It was one of the many ancient tomes Li Da had bought for him from the city’s bookstores. It was mainly an autobiography of a man named Xu Xia who traveled through Jiuzhou, and it recorded all sorts of magical sights and stories from this world.

"...In the two hundred and sixty-ninth year of the Great Xia Calendar, I journeyed to the foot of the Kunlun Mountains in the Northern Domain. I heard the local village elders say that deep within Kunlun there was once a lineage known as Qingniu, and on the mountain’s peak grew a thousand-year-old catalpa tree, so tall it pierced the clouds, known as the Pillar that Holds Up the Heavens."

"The ancient Kunlun King led his battle-hardened soldiers, intending to fell this tree to make a beam that could reach the heavens. Yet, every attempt to chop it down was met with lightning, thunder, and torrential storms. The King was fearless and ordered his armored soldiers to chop it daily, but with every sunrise, the tree would heal, and it never fell..."

Su Yu turned a page and continued reading:

"...Hundred Herbs Mountain in the Southern Border is rife with miasma. A hunter once stumbled upon a tiny person, only a foot tall, wearing a mushroom cap and riding a small horse the size of a cat. The hunter drew his bow to shoot, but a thick miasma suddenly arose. In the confusion, both the person and the horse vanished, never to be seen again."

"..."

As the characters entered his sight, familiar ink-wash characters appeared before Su Yu’s eyes.

[Reading Skill Level +1]

[Reading Skill Level +1]

...

[Reading Skill has reached the Perfection Realm]

[Skill]: Reading (Perfection)

In the next instant, Su Yu felt a cool sensation flash through his mind. A stream of Qi Flow, as cool as an icy spring, materialized from nowhere and instantly cleansed his entire spiritual altar.

The dryness and fatigue from long hours of reading were swept away, replaced by an unprecedented feeling of mental clarity and refreshment.

’I can’t believe Reading is the first skill I’ve gotten to Perfection!’

A hint of joy appeared in Su Yu’s eyes. By flipping through books every day, his Reading skill gained fifty to sixty Skill Level points. Over the past twenty days, he had "grinded" it directly from Minor Achievement and Major Achievement all the way to Perfection.

After reaching Perfection, not only was reading now effortless for him, but his memory, comprehension, and Spiritual Power had all grown much stronger.

’Is this what it’s like to be a top student?’ A faint smile touched Su Yu’s lips. ’I feel like I’ve learned more in these past twenty days than my predecessor did in nineteen years...’

’This Reading skill is definitely not that simple. Maybe I can try Breaking the Limit to see its Traits!’

Su Yu summoned his panel to check his latest information.

[Martial Arts]: White Ape Fist (First Layer) (Minor Achievement 9050/10000)

[Martial Arts]: Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber (First Layer) (Minor Achievement 5350/7000)

[Martial Arts]: Black Stone Body Forging Skill (First Layer) (Skilled 5300/7000)

[Martial Arts]: Seven Fiends Thunder Collapse Step (Minor Achievement 1250/3000)

[Martial Arts]: Bibo Fish Dragon Skill (First Layer) (entry-level 400/1000)

[Martial Arts]: White Ape Six Changes (Breaking Limit 2 times) (Traits: Heart Monkey Clarity, Violent Ape Blood Fury), Coin Toss (Breaking Limit 1 time) (Trait: Spiral Armor-Breaking)

[Skills]: Reading (Perfection), Casting Net (Breaking Limit 3 times) (Trait: Listening Wave Positioning)

[Breakthrough Points]: 0 (Progress 98%)

’In the past half-month, my training was delayed for a few days because of patrol missions outside the city. But since I’ve consumed no less than ten precious herbs, my Martial Arts progress hasn’t fallen behind at all. Not only is White Ape Fist about to break through, but my Breakthrough Point is also about to be full again!’

’But I’m also completely out of resources...’

Su Yu emptied the last of his supplies from a deerskin pouch: a piece of Earth Yellow Essence, a single Purple Marrow Date, and a sixty-year-old wild ginseng.

’I can’t eat these three precious herbs. I have to save them to recover from the weakness after activating Violent Ape Blood Fury. Looks like I’ll have to wait a few more days. Eating ten pounds of Earth Dragon Pork every day can accumulate over 1% of Breakthrough progress, so I should be able to accumulate another full point in about two days!’

...

「Black Stone City, Black Stone Avenue.」

"Move aside! Public Security Bureau business!"

A squad of Public Security Bureau officers in black armor, with broadswords at their waists, roughly pushed through the crowd and slapped several new wanted posters onto the notice wall.

After the officers left, the crowd immediately swarmed forward.

"Hiss... More bounty orders!"

"Tian Qi, a bandit from Liangzhou, early Flesh Refining Realm. Leads eighteen vicious bandits based in the Black Forest Mountain Range north of the city. Robs and murders merchant caravans, his methods are cruel... Bounty: Five hundred taels of gold, one fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruit!"

"Han Qinhu, a Water Bandit from Liangzhou, Third Acupoint Perfection. Intercepted and killed the crew of a grain transport ship on the Black Water River... Bounty: Two thousand taels of silver!"

"..."

The onlookers turned pale as they looked at the menacing names and exorbitant bounties.

"The world has really fallen into chaos... Even powerful experts at the Flesh Refining Realm have become bandits!"

"I heard Liangzhou has completely collapsed, and everyone is fleeing to Black Stone City. The Public Security Bureau just dealt with the aberrations, and now things are a total mess again..."

"..."

「North of the city, Songhe Martial Arts Hall.」

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, the atmosphere here was far more tense.

In front of the vermilion-red main gate, an older and a younger figure blocked the entrance to the martial arts hall.

The middle-aged man in the lead carried a longsword wrapped in cotton cloth on his back, his expression indifferent. Just by standing there silently, he exuded a suffocating sense of pressure.

This was none other than Ding Yi, the master of the Flying Fish Martial Arts Hall from Liangzhou Prefecture!

The master of the Songhe Martial Arts Hall, Huang Jin, stood opposite him with a solemn expression. "Who might you be, sir? The Songhe Martial Arts Hall has no past grievances or recent grudges with you..."

"Ding Yi, Master of the Flying Fish Martial Arts Hall, from Liangzhou."

The middle-aged man spoke calmly. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried halfway down the street. "I have come today because my Flying Fish Martial Arts Hall intends to establish itself in Black Stone City. Therefore, I am here to issue a challenge!"

"A challenge?"

A dark look flashed in Huang Jin’s eyes. He had long heard that all sorts of "Overseas Dragons" had come to Black Stone City, but he never expected his Songhe Martial Arts Hall to actually encounter one.

However, issuing a challenge was a formal and open custom, one that the Songhe Martial Arts Hall could not refuse.

"Yansong, you go!"

Liu Yansong drew the Cyan Pine Sword from his waist and stepped forward with a composed expression. "Miss, I am Liu Yansong, twenty-seven years of age, at the First Acupoint. I ask for your guidance!"

Beside Ding Yi, the young woman in lake-green martial attire stepped forward impatiently, her face full of arrogance. "Ding Mianyue, nineteen, Third Acupoint! You might as well send out your older generation!"

"What!"

As soon as she said this, the expressions of all the Songhe Martial Arts Hall disciples changed drastically.

’Nineteen years old and at the Third Acupoint... what kind of genius is she?’

Seeing their reactions, Ding Mianyue grew even more arrogant. ’Ignorant country bumpkins. My senior brother and I can take down every martial arts hall in Black Stone City within ten days!’

Liu Yansong also drew in a sharp breath.

Challenges for a martial arts hall’s reputation were, by default, fought between peers of the same age or realm. He was already much older than his opponent. If he backed down now, his hall’s reputation would be utterly ruined.

Therefore, even knowing he would lose, he had to fight!

"I ask for your guidance, Miss!" Liu Yansong spread his arms like a crane’s wings, his Qi and Blood erupting as he charged forward.

A mocking smile curled on the young woman Ding Mianyue’s lips. Her figure didn’t move an inch as she threw a punch.

BANG!

Liu Yansong was sent flying like a broken sack.

"Trash!"

...

「The city gates, South Gate Long Street.」

Suddenly, a rhythmic tremor ran through the ground.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

The dull thunder of hooves echoed from the direction of the city gate—the sound of Heavy Armor cavalry treading on the green flagstones.

The once-crowded street fell instantly silent. The common folk instinctively retreated to the sides, their eyes filled with fear and awe.

A troop of cavalrymen clad in battered black armor slowly rode in.

Every one of them had armor stained with dark red blood, and their bodies radiated a thick, murderous aura. Their warhorses snorted heavily, eyes revealing both exhaustion and ferocity.

The man in the lead was built like an iron tower, and he rode a Black-scaled Horse whose body was covered in scales.

His face was covered by a ferocious bronze ghost mask, now half-shattered, revealing an eye that was bloodshot and as cold as a winter pond.

As his gaze swept over the crowd, it instilled a chilling terror, as if being stared down by a savage beast, making it difficult to even breathe.

This man was none other than Huyan Ba, the Standard Eighth Grade Dangkou Captain of the Black Stone Cavalry!

With the return of the Black Stone Army’s remnants, news of Northern Liang Province’s fall and the Black Stone Army’s defeat spread like wildfire.

Black Stone City, already rife with undercurrents, was like a volcano that had just been ignited, and it instantly erupted!