Chapter 122 – Praise the Crow Deity, City of a Thousand Gyms

Propelled by 15 strength points, the man, weighing over 200 jin, was sent flying as if hit by a speeding truck.

With a loud “bang,” he was flung straight backward.

There was an audible “crack” from his neck as he flew more than ten meters, crashing into a pigpen at the far end of the courtyard, knocking over a pile of debris.

At this moment, the tall, thin woman who had run into the house earlier came out, holding a thick rope.

The rope was stained with patches of black and red, clearly marked with old blood.

Seeing the scene at the door, the woman froze in place.

Noticing she was about to scream, Lu Yuan swiftly moved forward and slapped her.

“Bang!”

The woman was sent flying into the door frame, knocked unconscious instantly.

Since the noise had already been made, Lu Yuan decided not to hide any longer.

He looked up towards the second floor.

Slightly bending his knees.

“Boom!”

The concrete ground under his feet exploded into two shallow pits as he shot up to the second floor.

Grabbing onto the second-floor railing with one hand, he pushed off with his feet.

The bottom of the concrete railing also broke, allowing him to reach the Third Floor smoothly.

“Whoosh——”

As soon as he landed on the Third Floor, a large flock of crows suddenly flew down from the roof, screeching as they attacked him.

An invisible mental wave spread out, causing the crow flock to scatter as if electrocuted.

At the same time.

The window of the room next to Lu Yuan shattered with a “crash,” and a tentacle-like black aura shot out, aiming straight for his face.

“Whoosh——Whoosh——”

Lu Yuan breathed lightly.

His entire right arm was already enveloped in a dense black aura.

His five fingers tightly gripped the black tentacle, as if holding a writhing creature.

“Doesn’t seem very strong…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes gleamed, an inexplicable glow on his face.

In the next second, he took a deep breath.

His slender body swelled rapidly, as if being inflated.

Then…

With a loud “boom,” he smashed through the window and wall in front of him, charging directly into the room.

The room, sealed off with no light penetrating, was filled with a nauseating stench of blood.

Lu Yuan rubbed his nose and glanced around the room.

The floor was covered in flowing blood and various bizarre symbols drawn with it.

Several corpses, arranged in strange postures, knelt silently in the center of the room.

A Divine Servant of the Crow Deity, wearing a crow mask and a black cloak, glared at him fiercely.

The black aura around the Divine Servant roiled like boiling water, emanating emotions of shock and anger mixed with intense killing intent.

Lu Yuan, now larger and more imposing, locked eyes with the Divine Servant, looking down from above.

They stared at each other briefly.

In the next moment, black death energy spread from Lu Yuan’s body like smoke, gradually obscuring the light seeping through the broken wall behind him.

Lu Yuan grinned, his eyes turning pitch black, and he whispered softly.

“Praise the Crow Deity!”

“Uh…”

The eyes behind the crow mask of the Divine Servant widened in apparent shock.

Then, in the next instant.

“Whoosh——”

A powerful punch wind filled the room, causing the newspapers and curtains on the walls to flap wildly.

“Bang!”

The black cloak of the Divine Servant flew backward, and he froze in place.

His head was impaled by an incredibly thick, dark green arm.

“1, 2…”

Lu Yuan hadn’t even counted to 3.

The Divine Servant in front of him exploded with a “boom.”

The foul-smelling blood splattered all over the room’s walls.

Except for Lu Yuan, who was shielded by an invisible wall that blocked all the blood and flesh fragments.

“Weaker than the last one…”

“Crack, crack, crack——”

Lu Yuan’s body quickly shrank back to normal size, and he spoke calmly: “Or maybe I’ve gotten stronger.”

This “hunt” was clearly more effortless than the last one.

Whenever Lu Yuan activated the skills on his [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] panel, the Divine Servant of the Crow Deity would immediately fall into a brief “stunned” state.

This gap was perfect for him to deliver a fatal blow.

The entire process was incredibly smooth.

Putting himself in the Divine Servant’s shoes, if he were the one worshiping and offering sacrifices to the Crow Deity, and suddenly someone with the same death energy burst in, shouting “Praise the Crow Deity,” he would be stunned too.

Who is this person? Are they one of us? And before he could figure it out, “bang”… it was over.

Lu Yuan wasted no time. He summoned a few crows from outside to help him locate the death energy nodules and red beads.

In a short time, he had all seven death energy nodules in hand.

But there were no red beads.

“No red beads?”

Lu Yuan scanned the area with his Mental Power, preparing to search other parts of the house.

At that moment, he heard a “bang, bang, bang” from below, someone pounding on the door.

“Forget it.”

Frowning slightly, Lu Yuan immediately abandoned the idea of searching for red beads.

Activating the [Crow Language] skill, he took advantage of the chaos created by the large flock of crows flying wildly from the roof and silently slipped out from the Third Floor.

Ten minutes later.

Lu Yuan was at a street corner a few hundred meters away, ordering a serving of Teppanyaki Tofu.

While waiting for the vendor to prepare it, he noticed a string of police cars rushing to the street corner in the distance.

…

[Your skill Death Energy Entanglement has gained a boost, experience points +32]

[Your skill Death Energy Entanglement has gained a boost, experience points +45]

…

[Profession: Death Messenger (Extraordinary) lv3 (142/400)]

[Basic Professional Skills: Crow Language lv2 (23/200)]

[Eye of Doom lv1 (34/100)]

[Death Energy Entanglement lv3 (187/400)]

“Whoosh——”

The faucet turned on, and water flowed down.

Lu Yuan carefully washed his hands, which had come into contact with the death energy nodules, while glancing at the information on his professional panel in the bathroom mirror.

This round of hunting had successfully boosted his Death Energy Entanglement to lv3.

By comparison, Lu Yuan realized that the death energy he could now summon with his skill was almost at the level of an ordinary Divine Servant of the Crow Deity.

“An ordinary Divine Servant’s death energy is roughly at lv4.

A Powerful Divine Servant is much stronger, probably around lv5 or even higher…”

Lu Yuan rinsed off the soap from his hands and pulled out a tissue to dry them carefully.

The professional experience he gained on the [Martial Artist] panel was only three hundred this time.

This proved that his strength had indeed improved significantly.

Returning to the bedroom, Lu Yuan picked up his mobile phone and searched for real-time news in Jiaoyan.

[…An hour ago, the police in our city successfully cracked a large serial murder case in Baishi Town. It is understood that the investigation of this case…]

The news was published quickly. The Crow Deity sect’s hideout in Baishi Town had already been destroyed, and the Jiaoyan police were wrapping up the final details.

“I can’t continue for a while…”

Lu Yuan put down his phone, thinking.

He wasn’t worried about Yellow Bear finding out it was him; his concern was about the Crow Deity sect.

The sect would undoubtedly become more vigilant after losing two Divine Servants in just a few days.

The next hunt might not be so easy.

Doing it too often could also expose him.

If the Crow Deity sect traced any clues back to him, it would be troublesome.

“Once I join Yellow Bear, opportunities like this will be more frequent. Plus, I’ll get double the rewards…”

Lu Yuan was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t obtained a red bead or an experience pill this time.

In hindsight, it wasn’t that he hadn’t found it; the Divine Servant in Baishi Town probably didn’t have one in the first place.

Such items were immensely beneficial to him and likely quite precious within the Crow Deity sect.

The Divine Servant in Baishi Town was the weakest of the three he had killed, so it made sense.

As he was thinking, Lu Yuan’s phone suddenly rang.

He checked the caller ID, his expression shifted slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and answered the call.

“Coach…”

Two days later, at Jiaoyan High-Speed Rail Station.

“Remember to call home when you arrive. When you’re out there, don’t get into fights. Always try to avoid conflict…”

At the entrance of the station, Lu Xinghua earnestly advised Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan responded with a series of “Yes, okay, I understand,” but inwardly sighed: Dad, if only you knew I’m heading there precisely to fight.

Lin Zhiqin had called, informing him that he had booked a high-speed rail ticket to Weishan for that day.

The assessment to become a direct disciple of the Sky Water Stream Crane Style was about to begin.

Lu Yuan knew he couldn’t afford to be careless about this.

After all, it had cost him twenty million.

…

“Attention passengers on train G1345I9, attention passengers on train G1345I9…”

The announcement in the waiting hall prompted passengers to proceed to the ticket check.

Lu Yuan picked up his backpack and slowly moved towards the ticket gate with the crowd.

Ticket check, boarding.

Five minutes later, Lu Yuan found his seat without any issues.

Lin Zhiqin had been kind enough to book him a business class seat.

The entire carriage had only a dozen seats, making it extremely quiet.

As the train started to move, a beautiful attendant offered him refreshments and thoughtfully asked if he needed a blanket or an eye mask.

The journey from Jiaoyan to Weishan was over three hours, so by the time he arrived, it would already be afternoon.

Lu Yuan took out his mobile phone and began browsing casually.

In his class group, it seemed they were organizing a trip to a neighboring city. Quite a few messages were asking if he would join.

Lu Yuan snapped a photo of the train in motion and posted it in the group, indirectly declining the invitation.

He checked his private messages and noticed that Cheng Peng hadn’t bothered him in a while.

A quick glance at Cheng Peng’s social media revealed that he had reconciled with his girlfriend.

Lu Yuan tentatively sent a “Wanna play games?” message, only to receive an instant reply: “Get lost! Don’t think I didn’t see your message in the group… I have someone to play with now, hehe!”

Immediately after, a video with an internet cafe background came through.

Opening it, Lu Yuan saw Cheng Peng’s grinning face, with a girl typing away at a keyboard beside him.

As the girl continued typing, she suddenly turned and smacked Cheng Peng on the forehead.

“You idiot, they’re already attacking our base!”

The video cut off.

“666, Peng-Ge!”

Lu Yuan genuinely sent a few “666” messages to Cheng Peng, feeling quite happy for him.

What could be better in this world than being carried by your girlfriend in a game?

Scrolling further, he noticed that Lu Jing seemed to be doing well lately, posting on social media almost daily.

Her appearance in the photos looked increasingly healthier, which made Lu Yuan feel much more at ease.

White Glowing Grass hadn’t replied to his messages since mentioning they would meet in the Xia State next month.

As long as Lu Jing was fine, Lu Yuan felt it didn’t matter whether they met or not.

Just then, a message popped up in front of Lu Yuan.

It was from a friend—Quiet Bamboo Treasure.

Lu Yuan opened it, expecting another drawing or something similar.

To his surprise, it was just two simple words—”Good luck! (Fight on!)”

Did she know he was heading to Weishan for the assessment?!

Lu Yuan was taken aback, then smiled.

He replied with a “Hmm.”

Thinking it over, he quickly retracted it and instead sent—”Hmm hmm.”

“Town of Martial Arts, City of a Thousand Gyms, Weishan welcomes you.”

Three hours later, Lu Yuan stood at the entrance of the high-speed rail station, gazing at the large screen on the building opposite.

Nearby, a tour group passed by, with a guide holding a small red flag and loudly introducing to the tourists, “Weishan is an ancient city with a long history and rich cultural heritage. The martial arts culture here is incredibly deep-rooted… At its peak, Weishan had over three thousand martial arts gyms. Even now, there are still hundreds of gyms, with over a hundred styles of martial arts schools taking in students and teaching.”

“Over a hundred styles of martial arts schools… Is it really that exaggerated?”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered slightly, reserving his judgment.

However, he could indeed sense the strong martial arts atmosphere in Weishan.

On the large screen across the building, more than a dozen ads were playing, ranging from summer enrollments for martial arts gyms to anniversary promotions for kendo gyms and archery gyms.

There were also advertisements for health supplements like “Dragon Turtle Body Strengthening Pills” and “Power Tonic Pills.”

One particularly eye-catching ad was from a company called Chuangwu Pharmaceuticals, promoting a new “Muscle Enhancement Liquid.” The slogan boasted that one bottle could make you “Superman,” equivalent to “a hundred cans of protein powder.”

“Old City Circle… new world…”

Suddenly, Lu Yuan recalled something Gao Qing had once said to him.

He began to understand what she meant.

All of this… was something he had never seen in Jiaoyan.