The King of Black Fog

Liu De left, and Li Changzhou remained alone in the courtyard.

With a step forward and a sway of his body, his Qi-Blood coiled like a great serpent.

One step, two steps, three steps, four steps, five steps, six steps, seven steps.

The Qi-Blood serpent hissed, bursting with activity, as if about to burst forth from his body.

The "Snake Step," which would take an ordinary person twenty-eight years of arduous practice, was completed by him in a moment.

But that wasn't all!

Following his sensation, Li Changzhou took another step, the eighth step!

His blood energy boiled over, streams of Blood Mist steamed up, and behind him, they sketched the phantom of a blood-colored giant python.

Seven steps for a serpent, eight for a python.

With Basic Attributes of a rule-breaking level, Li Changzhou exceeded all his predecessors at the Northern Zhou martial arts academy.

At this moment, his temples throbbed, thunder seemed to rumble in his ears, and his body felt like a bowstring pulled to its limit, ready to snap with even the slightest addition of force.

But was Li Changzhou someone who feared a broken string? He possessed a madness to willingly roast himself over the fire.

He lifted his foot, about to take the ninth step...

"Pfft!"

He staggered, his aura scattered, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

If there could be a python, naturally there could be a dragon, but even with Constitution of a rule-breaking level, he couldn't take this ninth step?

Li Changzhou wiped his mouth, rolled the blood into a Blood Pearl and swallowed it, unable to refrain from contemplation.

Was his Qi-Blood (Attribute) insufficient, or was the "Snake Step" lacking?

As for Qi-Blood, having Attributes that even the Value game termed "rule-breaking," there was no reason he couldn't reach the utmost limit.

The python and the dragon here merely symbolized a meaning, representing a realm, indicating a transformation on the level of life, a manifestation of powerful genetics.

"Compendium of Materia Medica · Wings" says: "The dragon is the chief among scaled creatures. The King's Talisman says it resembles nine things: its head like a camel, horns like a deer, eyes like a rabbit, ears like a cow, neck like a snake, belly like a clam, scales like a carp, claws like an eagle, paws like a tiger."

In the Value game, this means that an instance is invincible under heaven, having learned the powerful Skills of various mighty creatures, and this is the dragon.

Li Changzhou felt for a moment and realized that the "Snake Step" taken to the eighth step was far less effective in stimulating potential than the "Thunder Map."

Based on his feeling, even with the accompanying Visualization "Spirit Snake Map," it was probably still inferior to the "Thunder Map."

And the "Thunder Map" was only one of the five books of Master Huang's sect, and the Five Books were just the introductory Visualizations!

No wonder that old goat-bearded man always wore that Daoist robe, thinking of using his position to bully others.

A surge of endless longing for the past swelled in Li Changzhou's heart.

"Snake Step" may not be as good as "Thunder Map" for tempering one's 'Ability,' but as a Skill in movement, it could well be considered for main cultivation—Li Changzhou had no martial arts steps to speak of, relying solely on reflexes and Strength.

He trained in the courtyard until 9 AM, when a servant came to report that Lin Ziwen had something to discuss with him.

Li Changzhou went to the living room of the front house of the Commander Mansion—the living room where they played mahjong last night was in the back house, mostly inhabited by female servants, whereas the front house was attended by male pages.

Upon seeing him, Lin Ziwen immediately stood up, concernedly asking if he had been injured.

"A few worthless thieves, not worth mentioning," Li Changzhou said with a wave of his hand.

The two exchanged a few words, and Lin Ziwen tentatively said, "Nephew, about your marriage with Ah Yin, how about the 8th of August? That day is the tenth day of the seventh lunar month, an auspicious day in the almanac."

"Sure," Li Changzhou said, smiling.

He was very satisfied. If all went well, he would already be gone by August.

Since the marriage arrangement was not canceled, Lin Ziwen finally exhaled a sigh of relief and settled comfortably into his chair.

"Nephew Changzhou, actually, I have another favor to ask of you," Lin Ziwen began hesitantly.

"Please speak," Li Changzhou was in a good mood at this time.

"Lin's Industrial Bank recently invested in a shipment of ocean goods, but unfortunately, the port where the goods were unloaded encountered an ice block, and ships haven't been able to pass through for a month, resulting in a loss of one million Yuan. But somehow, rumors got out that I lost ten million Yuan.

"Hearing that I lost ten million Yuan, some depositors worried about the bank collapsing and lined up long queues to withdraw money, causing a bank run. This has been going on for three days, and two-thirds of the bank's money is gone. I'm worried that if this continues, the bank will indeed face problems. Therefore, I ask for nephew Changzhou's help to save Lin's Industrial Bank," he said, standing up and bowing deeply.

The situation was rather simple; Commander Li had given Li Changzhou a large sum of Money, and only a fraction of it was needed to be deposited in Lin's Industrial Bank.

A bank where even Second Master Li deposited his Money—why would anyone fear its collapse? Naturally, the panic withdrawals would cease.

But Li Changzhou didn't care whether his wife was Lin Yin or not, and naturally he was indifferent to whether Lin's Industrial Bank collapsed or not; wasting time on this was less productive than dealing with those martial arts gyms.

Suddenly, a thought struck him; currently, he was weak and alone, understanding nothing. Using a bit of trivial Money to win over Lin Ziwen, who could be considered a tycoon in the financial world, might come in handy.

"Uncle, please rise," Li Changzhou stood up and helped Lin Ziwen to his feet, "Your daughter is my fiancée, whom else would I help if not her? Rest assured, this afternoon, I'll send someone to deposit Money in your bank!"

He thought on his feet, apparently agreeing without a second thought.

"Thank you, nephew!" Lin Ziwen said gratefully, his heart finally settling down completely.

For him, what was a matter of life and death was just a word away for Li Changzhou.

After some casual conversation, Lin Ziwen, noticing that Li Changzhou wasn't too interested in continuing the talk, said with a smile, "Lin Yin has been resting at home these days, Changzhou should visit her more often. I will take my leave now."

After Lin Ziwen left, Li Changzhou called Liu De in and handed him a cheque, instructing him to take one million Yuan to Lin's Industrial Bank.

"Remember, use my carriage and go when there are the most people," he instructed.