Jiang Wangzu pricked up his ears and listened to the onlookers whispering. His heart gave a jolt.
Did monsters exist in this world?
There were mountain lords and mountain demons in the mountains.
In the water, there were water monkeys, water ghosts, and water kui.
There were also things like fox immortals and the Yellow Great Immortal.
At first, however, Jiang Wangzu assumed that the people of this era were ignorant and unenlightened.
That was why they spread stories about supernatural and absurd happenings.
But as he considered it,
Since this world had cultivation paths, and the three hundred and sixty trades all led to the heavens,
demons should have paths of their own as well.
When troubled times descend, demons are bound to emerge!
In this bizarre and dazzling world, that saying was by no means an empty claim!
Rongsheng Street.
The rear courtyard of Hongyun Mahjong and Card Hall.
“I’ll curse your mother!”
“A-Zu, where the hell have you been?”
“Do you know that the brothers searched for you all night?”
As soon as Jiang Wangzu returned to his lair, Chen Tai cursed at him.
“Boss, several bastards from Lan Society’s Xinglong Street chased A-Wei and me and hacked at us yesterday. I barely escaped. You have to stand up for us!”
“By the way, where’s A-Wei?”
Jiang Wangzu could not tell Chen Tai and the others that he had gone to Xianle Gate for pleasure the previous day, so he changed the subject.
“Someone severed A-Wei’s hand and foot tendons. I sent him home to recover.”
“A-Zu, you’re a talented man. I don’t want to lose you!”
“It’s good that you’re back. We’ll settle our grudge with Xinglong Street sooner or later.”
“But you and A-Wei trespassed on Xinglong Street’s territory this time. You were the ones who broke the rules first.”
“As long as you’re all right, that’s what matters.”
“By the way, your sister-in-law wants you to weed the courtyard and loosen the soil in her little garden while you’re at it.”
“I’m going to the gang this morning to pay the regular tribute. Everyone else should attend to their own business.”
“When you return, go with Da Niu and Er Hu to Longjiang Wharf. Things have been unsettled there lately, so the Gang has ordered every branch to send several men to hold the fort.”
“The three of you must not charge into everything headfirst. If you die there, don’t blame me for not warning you.”
“Because what’s happening there isn’t something you can handle.”
Chen Tai patted Jiang Wangzu’s shoulder with tremendous force, making him bare his teeth in pain.
“All right, Boss. I understand!”
Jiang Wangzu nodded vigorously at this.
“Longjiang Wharf?”
“Could it be related to the Water Kui?”
“This isn’t something we can resolve.”
“I’d better lie low for a while!”
Jiang Wangzu thought to himself.
Chen Tai soon took Zhou Wei, Rongsheng Street’s best fighter, and his younger cousin Chen Xing to the Cao Gang Headquarters to pay the Regular Tribute.
Jiang Wangzu ate a large flatbread by the roadside, drank a bowl of soy milk, and then had a serving of deep-fried stinky tofu.
The life of the wealthy was this plain and unremarkable.
The day before yesterday, sister-in-law had given him one hundred silver dollars.
Last night, Rumeng had given him one thousand silver dollars.
In an age when the monthly income of the common people at the bottom was less than five silver dollars,
The more than One Thousand Silver Dollars in his hands amounted to more money than ordinary people could save in a lifetime.
However, the Iron Crotch Technique he cultivated was an inferior Body-Tempering Technique, and its Rapid Cultivation Method required few resources, so it cost little.
But once he obtained a more powerful Cultivation Technique, its Rapid Cultivation Method might require resources to support it.
Even a Rapid Cultivation Method—even a Heretical Cultivation Method—had to obey the law of conservation of energy.
By then, his expenses would be enormous.
Chen Tai was a Strength-Training Martial Artist with formidable strength.
However, he was not considered particularly strong among Martial Artists.
Even so, he devoted most of his earnings to his Martial Dao Cultivation.
Only in recent years, after his Martial Dao Cultivation hit a bottleneck and he could no longer advance to the next Level, did he begin saving to take a wife. He had also passed the peak of his physical condition.
Thus, if Jiang Wangzu wanted to cultivate his Martial Dao to an extremely high realm, he would need vast sums of money and Vast Resources.
Every peerless Martial Artist emerged through a combination of talent, background, and fortune; none could be lacking.
Indeed, everyone who reached the Pinnacle of Martial Arts had a massive force supporting them.
Otherwise, talent alone would never be enough.
“Forget it. Judging by the looks of things, sister-in-law must have succeeded. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have called me to her home in broad daylight to loosen the soil in her little garden.”
“With Big Brother’s Black Tiger Fist Manual and my Attribute Panel, I should soon enter the Strength-Training Realm and become a true Martial Artist!”
“To sister-in-law’s house!”
Jiang Wangzu cast aside his distracting thoughts, left Hongyun Mahjong and Card Hall, and soon reached Chen Tai’s home.
Xu Zhenzhen had left the door unlocked for him. After entering, he immediately fastened the door bolt and made his way familiarly to Xu Zhenzhen’s bedroom.
“Sister-in-law, I’m here!”
Jiang Wangzu said with a smile.
“You heartless devil, you finally came!”
“I managed to get Chen Tai’s Black Tiger Fist Manual for you.”
“He went to the gang to pay the regular tribute this morning, so you have the entire morning to copy it. Once you’re done, I have to put it back for him.”
“That fellow checks the hidden compartment in his study for this manual every few days. You cannot take it with you.”
Xu Zhenzhen lay on her side on the bed, one fragrant shoulder half exposed and one smooth, fair thigh bare. Anyone who saw her would feel their blood surge.
“All right, sister-in-law. I understand.”
“But right now, we should attend to the important business first. As for the Black Tiger Fist Manual you mentioned, we can learn it while we work!”
Jiang Wangzu held his head high, puffed out his chest, and charged forward!
After an exhilarating battle came to an end, Xu Zhenzhen once again fell into a deep sleep.
And Jiang Wangzu also obtained the Black Tiger Fist Manual he had long yearned for!
The manual used fine Ox Hide paper and silver-thread binding. It felt heavy in his hands and carried the air of passing years.
Yet the manual had not a trace of dust. Anyone could see that someone read and maintained it frequently.
“Crouching Tiger Stance: suspend the crown of the head, contain the chest, raise the back, sink Qi into the Dantian, relax the shoulders, and drop the elbows!”
“Internal martial arts use Stance Training to subdue the mind’s restless impulses and control one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit, strengthening the body internally and reaching the realm of subduing dragons and tigers!”
“Besides Stance Training, there are also Black Tiger Fist, cultivation secrets, and other techniques.”
“This is a powerful Strength Training method. Cultivating it to the utmost can bring one to the realm of Tiger-Leopard Thunder Resonance and Harmonious Resonance of Muscles and Bones!”
“However, Chen Tai probably hasn’t cultivated it to that realm!”
Jiang Wangzu read ten lines at a glance and remembered everything after seeing it once. He committed the entire Black Tiger Fist Manual to memory.
With a thought, he opened the attribute panel:
【Name: Jiang Wangzu】
【Profession: martial artist】
【Cultivation Technique: Iron Crotch Technique（major accomplishment）】
【Rapid Cultivation Method: Strike the crotch one million times to achieve Iron Crotch Technique Perfection and obtain the talent Golden Twin Kidneys!】
【Cultivation Technique: Black Tiger Fist（Not Yet Initiated）】
【Rapid Cultivation Method: Train three times a day and eat ten jin of beef daily to enter the Level in five days, or train once a day and eat three jin of tiger meat daily to enter the Level in three days!】
【Talent: succubus】