"BANG BANG BANG!"
Crisp thuds echoed through the small courtyard. Stripped to the waist, Xu Guang slammed punch after punch into the sandbag before him, his face set in grim determination. His fists flew faster and struck harder, pushing himself until he reached a breaking point.
He stopped abruptly and stood still, turning his focus inward to introspect the flow of his vitality. Wisps of blood and qi seeped slowly into the bones of his hands. Through his Introspection, he could clearly observe every change within his body. From his blood vessels and meridians to his very bones, everything was distinctly visible.
Under the infusion of his vitality, his once-pale bones were gradually coated in a faint, bloody hue. There was no need to check his Attributes with the Searcher; he knew he had finally broken through to the Bone Forging Realm.
The hardest part of Bone Forging was finding the initial spark to trigger the breakthrough. Now that he had seized it, all he had to do was follow the process step by step until every bone in his body was forged into a blood bone.
"That really isn’t easy," he thought with a sigh.
Ending his Introspection, he turned to head inside, only to spot Mrs. Xu sitting on the front steps, her face etched with worry.
"Brother Guang, does practicing martial arts... really have to be this grueling?"
"Mom, it’s something every martial artist has to go through. It’s not just me; Wang Ming is the same. When Wen gets a little older, he’ll have to do it too."
"Sigh, I don’t need you to be incredibly powerful. I just want you to be safe and steady," Mrs. Xu rambled. "All I ask is that you marry a nice girl, have a few children, and let our family live in peace and safety."
Xu Guang didn’t find her nagging annoying. In fact, he felt that his very reason for practicing martial arts was to achieve the simple, peaceful life his mother spoke of.
"It’s fine. Mom, if you can’t stand the noise in the future, I’ll go practice at my master’s courtyard."
"Do whatever you want. Just hurry up, marry a wife, and give me a grandson soon."
Hearing her push for marriage again made Xu Guang’s scalp tingle with dread. Still, he didn’t dare brush her off, terrified that Mrs. Xu might take matters into her own hands and arrange a marriage with a woman he had never even met.
"Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll work on it. I’ll go out right now and find someone to introduce me to some prospects."
Xu Guang stepped out of the house. Avoiding the scattered pedestrians on the street, he instinctively pulled his clothes tighter around himself. Feiyun City had descended further into chaos. Many corpses were left unattended on the streets, carelessly tossed into alleyways to rot and stink. Fortunately, it was the dead of winter, so the stench wasn’t too overwhelming.
With a look of sheer disgust, Xu Guang hoisted a corpse out of his own alley. It was a beggar—whether he had frozen to death or met some other grisly end, Xu Guang didn’t know or care. He just wanted to dispose of it.
By the time he met with Xu Sanduo, half an hour had passed. They were in the Xu family’s slaughterhouse courtyard, and Zhao Yong was there as well.
"Junior Brother, you’re here."
Xu Guang nodded in greeting. Noticing the gloomy look on Xu Sanduo’s face, he asked, "Senior Brother Xu, why the long face?"
Having grown quite familiar with each other over the past few months, Xu Sanduo immediately vented, "Things have gotten rough outside the city lately. Our supply of livestock for slaughter has dried up. I can’t gather all the blood and meat you need anymore."
Hearing this, Xu Guang couldn’t help but frown. The Xu family’s slaughterhouse was currently his primary source for purchasing Essence Blood. Without their livestock, he had nowhere left to collect it.
"Senior Brother Xu, what’s your plan?"
Xu Sanduo glanced at Xu Guang and let out a heavy sigh. "My father wants to suspend operations for a while. However, my second uncle believes that the greater the risk, the greater the reward. He wants to form a Hunting Team and head into the mountains.
"Even if we have to hand over fifty percent of our haul, the remaining meat will still fetch a hefty price in Feiyun City these days."
Xu Guang fell silent. He desperately needed Essence Blood. Now that he had begun Bone Forging, his consumption of it was several times higher than before. Even if the Xu family’s butcher shop hadn’t run into trouble, ordinary livestock blood would have barely sustained him. If he wanted to improve rapidly, it simply wouldn’t be enough. Sooner or later, he would have to venture into the mountains to hunt Alien Species himself.
Before doing that, however, tagging along with the Xu family to gather some experience would make things much smoother when he eventually struck out on his own. Despite having the Searcher, Xu Guang decided to play it safe.
"Alright. Senior Brother Xu, if your family decides to form a Hunting Team, I’d like to join."
Joy washed over Xu Sanduo’s face. In his previous hunting ventures, he had always wanted to bring trusted comrades and had invited Xu Guang every time, only to be turned down. He hadn’t expected him to actually agree this time.
"Why the sudden interest in heading into the mountains?"
Xu Guang offered a simple, earnest smile. "You were right before, Senior Brother. Breaking through to Bone Forging requires the right opportunity. I figured I should follow you and broaden my horizons."
Bursting into laughter, Xu Sanduo clapped him on the shoulder. "Good brother! I agree. As long as my family puts the Hunting Team together, we’ll definitely bring you and Fourth Senior Brother along."
As Xu Guang watched Xu Sanduo walk away, the Blood Eye—hidden beneath a white cloth—opened a mere slit. Immediately, a stream of information surged into his mind.
[Xu Sanduo (Human), Combat Power: Bone Forging Realm, Weak Ordinary Level]
Xu Guang’s heart skipped a beat before sheer elation set in. This was exactly what he had theorized before—combining the Blood Eye with the Searcher to appraise others’ Combat Power levels! He never expected the Blood Eye to unlock this ability on its own the moment his Cultivation reached Bone Forging. With this tool at his disposal, his personal safety was once again guaranteed.
After finalizing a time with Xu Sanduo, Xu Guang headed home.
Nearing the late afternoon, Mrs. Xu was nowhere to be seen. Xu Guang’s expression shifted slightly. Ever since they moved into the city, the chaotic times meant Mrs. Xu rarely left the house. Whenever she needed groceries or errands run, she always sent him. Why wasn’t she home?
Anxious, Xu Guang hurried back out to search. He asked several neighbors in succession, but all of them claimed they hadn’t seen his mother.
"Did she go to Wang Ming’s house?" he wondered.
Xu Guang rushed over to Wang Ming’s house, but the news he received only fueled his unease.
"Brother Guang, did Mom go out?"
Looking at Xu Chun, who had chased after him with a worried expression, Xu Guang shook his head and kept his voice steady. "No, I’m just out for a walk."
However, by the time he returned home, Mrs. Xu was already back.
"Mom, where did you go? Didn’t I tell you that it’s dangerous outside and you shouldn’t be wandering around alone?" Xu Guang demanded.
Mrs. Xu shot him a glare. "What, does your own mother need to report to you every time she steps out? It’s bad enough you’re gone all day, but if you’d just give me a grandson, do you think I’d need to go out at all?"
Xu Guang rubbed his temples. What on earth was his mother fussing about this time?
"Mom, just tell me where you went. Otherwise, I’m going to lock myself in the house and guard you from now on. We can just wait around for Xu Chun and Wang Ming to feed us."
Mrs. Xu glared at him, huffing with indignation. While his refusal to marry infuriated her, relying on her son-in-law for survival was equally unacceptable.
"Today in the courtyard, I overheard some people outside gossiping. They said a miracle doctor has come to the city and can brew a magical talisman water. One sip, and you’re immune to all diseases! You push yourself so hard with your martial arts every day, and you still haven’t married and had children. I just wanted to get a bowl of it for you. You ungrateful brat, how dare you try to control me!"
Xu Guang’s headache throbbed even harder. His mother had completely fallen prey to superstitious quackery. He spent the next while trying to reason with her, but seeing the stubborn look on her face, he knew his words were falling on deaf ears.
"Mom, rest assured, I already have a prospect in mind. But if anything happens to you, I swear I’ll never get married for the rest of my life."
Mrs. Xu’s face instantly lit up with anxious excitement. "Really? Are you telling the truth? If that’s the case, Mom will listen to whatever you say."
Seeing that his mother’s obsession with getting a daughter-in-law had practically driven her mad, Xu Guang finally made up his mind. He really needed to find a wife.
Although Feiyun City was currently a mess, it had been much the same in previous years, and they had always survived. While he considered women to be nothing but trouble, thinking back to all the care his mother had given him since childhood made him sigh softly. He decided to use the Searcher. If he could find a suitable candidate, he would figure out a way to court her first.
Over the past eight years, he had watched helplessly as his mother’s back stooped and the wrinkles on her face carved themselves deeper. As much as he hated to admit it, his mother had truly grown old.
That night, Xu Guang opened the Searcher once more.
[Current Search Results:]
[1. The three major families of Feiyun City’s Inner City—the Han, Liu, and Chen families—have established a black market. Bone Forger Martial Artist Lu Xun is in charge of grain sales, with a total stockpile of 30,000 catties. Current location is as follows...]
[2. The Blue Sky Gang of Feiyun City intends to scalp grain in the black market. Guarded by Bone Forger Martial Artist Chen Sandao, with a total stockpile of 500 catties. Current location is as follows...]
[3. A Boxer named Cheng Shan in Feiyun City is hoarding 300 piculs of grain. Current hidden location is as follows...]
[Note: The Searcher’s current maximum result display limit is three.]
Its processing speed was improving. This search had only taken five days.
Looking over the three options, the first had too profound a background to mess with, and the third target, Cheng Shan, was simply too strong. Neither was viable. Only the second option left Xu Guang feeling deeply satisfied. The targets were a criminal syndicate, so he didn’t have to worry about moral repercussions or vengeance. Perfect.
Then, remembering his promise to his mother, he accessed the Searcher again.
[Search Keyword: A woman suitable to be Xu Guang’s wife. Correlated Keywords: Upright character, hopelessly romantic. Range: A thirty-mile radius around Feiyun City.]
[Searching... 0%]
When it came to a wife, Xu Guang had actually brainstormed a long list of correlated keywords—things like ’curvaceous,’ ’youthful face with big breasts,’ or ’country-toppling beauty.’ Unfortunately, the Searcher was rigid in its mechanics and only allowed a maximum of two correlated keywords at his current level.
He had no choice but to rely on the primary keyword "suitable for Xu Guang," silently praying that whoever the Searcher dug up would match his personal tastes.
Now that the whole wife ordeal was accounted for, it was time to get down to real business.
Time to... rob the robbers!
And secure some grain!