Outside Qingyang City, in a dark little grove.
Two bloodied youths limped towards Qingyang City.
Every few steps, they would look back, as if something terrifying was chasing them.
"Hurry and find Lord Lu. Qingyang City isn't far now."
"Yeah!"
As they spoke, a gust of cold wind suddenly swept through from behind them.
The bone-chilling cold made both of them shudder, and they continued to run forward in a panic.
However, just then, a dark stream of light shot ahead, accompanied by ghostly wails.
When they regained their composure, they saw a mysterious figure in a blood-red robe blocking their path.
The mysterious person exuded an eerie aura, causing the two youths' pupils to shrink.
"What? Are you that afraid of me?"
Unexpectedly, the mysterious person's voice wasn't as demonic as their appearance suggested, but rather held a trace of youthful innocence and clarity.
But the two youths were directly terrified and collapsed to the ground.
The next moment, a cold sword with an evil gleam appeared in the blood-robed mysterious person's hand, and in their disbelieving eyes, it flashed past them at an extremely fast speed.
Pfft, pfft—
Two soft sounds, and two youths fell to the ground simultaneously, their eyes wide open in disbelief until the moment they died.
"I'm sorry. I know this isn't fair to you, but there's no other way. This world is just that cruel."
The mysterious man in the blood-red robe slowly removed the hood covering his face, revealing a face so distorted that it was impossible to look at directly.
If Song Zhirang's face was considered unpleasant enough to be picked apart, then this mysterious man's face would make the Orcs from Lord of the Rings feel confident enough to walk the runway.
It wasn't just ugly; it was beyond description.
This twisted, "S"-shaped face, covered in centipede-like scars, might only be accepted by abstract artists, and even then, only within the realm of art.
More precisely, it was nausea.
He crouched on the ground, his distorted, abstract face showing no discernible expression.
After a long while, he took out a small porcelain bottle. The instant he opened it, the essence, energy, and spirit of the two youths remaining in his body were instantly absorbed, and their bodies quickly dissipated into dust.
Immediately afterward, the blood-robed man poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth.
Now, it was time to witness a miracle.
The originally twisted and hideous face, along with the waves of gentle light that appeared on his face, gradually became even more distorted.
But soon, his face began to gradually correct itself. The scars on his face disappeared at a visible rate, and the two extremely asymmetrical sides also quickly returned to their original positions.
When the gentle light dissipated, it revealed a face as smooth as jade, a handsome face to the extreme, forming a stark contrast with the previous ghastly appearance.
If Shen Zhao were here and saw this face, he would definitely shout excitedly, "Everyone, stand up! Now, I proudly introduce this heavyweight guest. As a transmigrator with a cheat, I've been killed by him nine times in a row. Tell me, how awesome is that!"
That's right, this person is Lin Feng.
Speaking of Lin Feng, everything that belongs to the protagonist's early life can be found in him.
Including but not limited to: his father was assassinated, his mother was forced to sail far away, and he wandered alone, hiding every day.
In short, he has all the ultimate experiences that a protagonist's childhood should have. After all, how can you be a protagonist without an unhappy childhood?
Unlike Shen Zhao, whose childhood was ordinary and unremarkable, both before and after transmigration, it was completely devoid of any waves. In comparison, he was just too weak.
As long as he survives those early hardships, the following days will be: opportunities and cheats arriving on time, the protagonist's story of showing off and slapping faces, the harem vying for his attention, and hidden aristocratic families flattering and regretting.
A standard protagonist template, as standard as it could be.
And indeed, that's how his life was.
Lin Feng held a crystal mirror, carefully examining his handsome face, one that was enough to captivate countless young women. He couldn't help but smile.
If I hadn't obtained that secret technique, I probably wouldn't have dared to dream of having such a handsome face in this lifetime.
He was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.
Because of this face, he had endured so many cold stares and mockery, and even his Pure Yang Wasteland Body was almost taken from him.
But now, that unbearable past of his childhood was about to disappear.
What awaited him was the pride of reaching the pinnacle of martial arts.
Lin Feng swore that he would sleep with the most beautiful women, learn the strongest cultivation techniques, and create the strongest forces. He would stand at the top and trample everything under his feet. Anyone who dared to obstruct him would be torn to pieces.
"You truly have no regrets? You don't find this cruel?"
At that moment, a faint, ethereal glow emanated from the Soul-Nurturing Ring on Lin Feng's left index finger, and a gentle female voice echoed from within.
Lin Feng hurriedly said, "Master, I have no other choice. You know what humiliation and injustice I've endured all these years. But I swear, once I achieve my goals, I will do my utmost for the righteous path and help you reconstruct your physical body."
"..."
No sound came from within the Soul-Nurturing Ring, only a faint, helpless sigh.
"Although your appearance has changed, to maintain it permanently, you must quickly elevate your cultivation to the Supreme Realm. Otherwise, every two years, you'll need to reabsorb the essence, energy, and spirit of ninety-nine people to sustain it."
Lin Feng frowned upon hearing this. "Master, won't it take a long time to reach the Supreme Realm?"
"Before I perished, it took me over thirty years to barely reach the Supreme Realm. It's naturally not something you can achieve easily."
"Are there any other options?"
"A Youth-Preserving Pill can extend the time your appearance is maintained to five years, but they are expensive. Each one costs over a hundred thousand spirit stones and they're hard to find."
"Understood, Master."
Lin Feng looked up at Qingyun Mountain in the distance, and instinctively touched his cheek. "Qingyun Sect isn't far from here. I'll join Qingyun Sect. With my aptitude and talent, I'll definitely be valued by the elders within the sect."
Taking a deep breath, he gently said to the remnant soul within the Soul-Nurturing Ring, "Master, rest assured. When I have the ability, I will take care of you for the rest of my life."
"..."
There was silence within the Soul-Nurturing Ring.
"Master? Why aren't you speaking? Is your soul power depleted?"
"Lin Feng."
"Your disciple is here."
"Promise me, after I regain my form, the bond between us, master and disciple, will end."
"Why?"
"Don't ask, I want you to promise me."
"This, Master has been incredibly kind to me. When I was most helpless and in trouble, you didn't care about my appearance or past. You were the first person in this world to treat me well.
How could I not be filial to you in the future? Master, rest assured and cultivate. Your disciple is certainly not someone with a heart of a wolf or lungs of a dog; I will wholeheartedly repay Master's kindness."
"..."
The Soul-Nurturing Ring fell silent once more.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Lin Feng distinctly felt a hint of panic and helplessness emanating from Master within the ring.
"I'm tired, don't disturb me unless it's important."
"Understood, Master. Rest well."
Lin Feng stretched his arms, facing the rising sun, and quickened his pace towards Qingyun Sect.
A month later, Shen Zhao's group disembarked from the flying ship, and after walking for more than ten days, they finally returned to Qingyang City.
Almost exactly as in his previous life, not long after Song Zhirang disembarked, he was once again captured by bandits lurking on the borders of the Purple Abyss Empire. They took him to a dragon field for short-term enlightenment training, and in the process, his money would be meticulously scrutinized and thoroughly fleeced.
This made Shen Zhao fully realize that changing certain details couldn't stop the wheels of history. Song Zhirang's life was likely still going to be turbulent and without any significant achievements.
However, this wasn't really Shen Zhao's concern.
Returning to Qingyang City after several months, Shen Zhao couldn't help but stretch, feeling the familiar atmosphere around him, and strode towards his boxing gym.
They left as three, but now they were twice that number.
On the way back, after listening to Yun Weiwei's explanation, Shen Zhao roughly understood what kind of mess the Yun family had gotten into.
In short, it was simply that Yun Weiwei's father had been too ostentatious, leading to a family massacre.
For Shen Zhao, who had spent years immersed in web novels before his transmigration, a family being wiped out was practically commonplace. In fact, it wouldn't even feel like a proper fantasy cultivation novel without a massacre plot.
It was too tragic, so much so that Shen Zhao's heart remained unmoved, and he even felt like laughing.
As for how to deal with this problem, Shen Zhao had already come up with a specific solution on the way back. When it came to being a schemer, he wasn't afraid of anyone.
The most pressing matter now was to help Yun Weiwei restore her cultivation and reshape her Core.
Inside the fighting club, the exciting combat matches continued without a hitch.
Compared to a few months ago, the fighting club had now become an indispensable leisure activity for everyone in Qingyang City.
Feeling the visual impact of the two people in the iron cage throwing punches, the emotions of the surrounding crowd were running high. Everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs, as if they had all been injected with adrenaline.
"Big Brother, this is your dojo?"
"Amitabha, benefactor, this is too brutal."
Liang Hao and Fa Hai were stunned, staring at the scene. They couldn't believe that there was such a down-to-earth activity in the world. It was truly an eye-opener.
Back in the main area, Ding Buer glanced at He Yishou, who was counting money until his hands cramped, and immediately went over to greet him warmly.
Su Yunying pulled Yun Weiwei back to her room. Today was a special case, and Shen Zhao had given her a day off.
Feng Xiunian saw Shen Zhao and greeted him warmly: "Brother Shen, you're finally back. The arena has made a lot of money these days, and I've already recorded it. Do you want to check it?"
Shen Zhao nodded: "While I was gone, were there any problems?"
"What problems could there be? Lord Lu and the Qingyun Sect are looking after us. The Xia family caused some trouble a few times, but Lord Lu and Elder Mo sent them away."
"Good. I need to deal with some things now that I'm back, and I'll be going on a long trip in a few days. I'll need to trouble you and He Yishou with things here."
"Leave it to us."
"Right, take this prescription and go look for these medicines in the city or at the Guangyuan Merchant Association. I need them urgently."
"Okay, no problem."
Feng Xiunian put away the prescription and then said, "By the way, Brother Shen, the Qingyun Sect sent an invitation two months ago. The sect's annual disciple recruitment ceremony is on the fifteenth of this month, and they want us to attend. I was worried you wouldn't make it."
"Since they're so enthusiastically inviting us, we naturally have to reciprocate. Prepare a generous gift, and we'll set off in two days."
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