Chapter 034: Trump Card

Li Linzhou had arrived!

This was the legendary top master who presided over Qinghe City—rarely seen, his appearances were as elusive as a dragon. Ordinary people might live years without glimpsing him even once. Even among martial artists, few had the privilege of seeing him daily.

Thanks to the Black Tiger Gang, the corpse collection squad was able to catch sight of Li Linzhou this time, and all of them were elated and invigorated.

Su Jingxing, however, was less moved. Inheriting the memories of his predecessor, he knew only that Li Linzhou was formidable—the number one expert in Qinghe, a fourth-rank powerhouse. Beyond that, he felt little.

Especially since Li Linzhou’s aura and presence were so restrained as to be almost indistinct from an ordinary person; compared to Kong Dabao or Feng Tiejian, who could barely contain their excitement, Su Jingxing remained unmoved.

The strongest impression Li Linzhou left on him was his striking appearance—a dashing, middle-aged man, without a doubt.

And he was not a talkative man.

Su Jingxing activated his “Whispering Ear” technique, listening in on Li Linzhou’s conversations with others, only to discover that from start to finish, this handsome man spoke just three words.

A single “Mm,” and “No rush.”

At all other times, he maintained silence.

By the end, Su Jingxing couldn’t be bothered to listen anymore; he put away his secret technique and busied himself hauling corpses.

Each Black Tiger Gang branch had a hundred members, and with the inn’s waiters and chefs, the number of corpses was not small. The corpse transport wagon made three trips to the crematorium before all were delivered.

Back at the crematorium, Su Jingxing resumed the task of registering information.

Over a hundred people, all entered into the records.

With the corpses from the Knife Society at noon, he was busy until dawn before he finished everything.

He grabbed breakfast, rested briefly, and continued moving corpses.

It was only after work, back in his small courtyard, that Su Jingxing took out the cards he had collected.

He first examined the card picked up from the barbarian’s corpse.

With the benefits of increased soul power, Su Jingxing could now recall the order in which he had picked up each card. This was true for the barbarian’s corpse and for Ouyang Feihu’s as well.

No surprises—holding the card, he read the information.

A Martial Practice Card!

As before, the card from the barbarian’s body was a Martial Practice Card.

This time, the martial practice duration was twelve years!

Perfect—he could now save years of cultivation on the Giant God Blade technique.

As for the card picked up from Ouyang Feihu’s corpse—

“A True Qi Card?”

Su Jingxing gripped the card, absorbing the information, and a look of astonishment swept across his face, swiftly replaced by wild delight.

“A True Qi Card—it’s really a True Qi Card!”

As the name implied, this True Qi Card, like an Inner Strength Card, could be directly absorbed to generate True Qi out of thin air.

This particular card granted three years’ worth of cultivation.

It was as if Su Jingxing suddenly possessed three years’ worth of True Qi.

Of course, Su Jingxing had not yet opened his dantian, so he could not store True Qi and had to keep it sealed in the card for now.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t use True Qi at all.

With the Seven-Step Fist and the Eight-Step Soaring Dragon techniques, Su Jingxing could expend True Qi to perform them at will—the power would far surpass that of using inner strength, and the destructive range would be greater.

After all, True Qi could be transformed into fist imprints and released through the air.

It could even allow Su Jingxing to take flight, soaring across the skies!

This was the card’s unique trait.

The card’s abilities allowed Su Jingxing to either absorb True Qi directly or unleash it on demand.

Before opening his dantian, this feature would save him a great deal of trouble.

Therefore, the True Qi Card was the perfect trump card for Su Jingxing at this stage!

He stored it away, delighted.

Next, Su Jingxing took out the card obtained from Huang Boyi’s corpse.

A Skill Card!

Another Skill Card, but unlike hacking, disguise, or lock-picking, this was a secret technique.

It was akin to “Whispering Ear”—a secret technique that strengthened the eyes.

Ultimately, it granted night vision!

In darkness, his sight would be as clear as in broad daylight.

Comparing it to “Whispering Ear” was impossible; each had its advantages.

“In any case, whatever the skill, it’s all profit for me.”

Su Jingxing took a deep breath, put the card away, and swallowed a Spirit Nurturing Pill to calm himself.

A moment later, he checked the other cards to see what else he had gained.

Inner Strength Cards, Inner Strength Cards, Inner Strength Cards!

The majority of the rewards were, unexpectedly, Inner Strength Cards.

Compared to the Knife Society’s various life skills, the Black Tiger Gang’s members were far more focused.

Not a single life skill among them; most were Inner Strength Cards, ranging from five years’ worth of cultivation to as little as two months.

The remainder were either Power Boost Cards or Vitality Cards. The Great Strength Pills and Vitality Pills obtained from them were carefully sorted and stored by Su Jingxing.

With everything in order, Su Jingxing took a Vitality Pill to banish fatigue and restore his energy, then took out the Martial Practice Card, broke its seal, and entered the Martial Practice Space to cultivate the Giant God Blade technique.

The first volume of the Giant God Blade focused on harnessing strength to wield the blade. Since Su Jingxing met the requirements, cultivation posed no difficulty.

From entry level to mastery, he learned the entire volume, and when his consciousness returned, the white expanse of the Martial Practice Space still remained.

There was still time left from the twelve years!

Without delay, Su Jingxing switched to training the Eight-Step Soaring Dragon. Previously, he had only reached the entry level with this peerless lightness skill.

With time to spare, he trained repeatedly, fully immersing himself.

When the Martial Practice Space finally collapsed and his mind returned to his body, Su Jingxing tested himself in the courtyard and found he had reached the level of proficiency!

At this stage, if he used the True Qi Card, he could already soar into the sky.

To say he wasn’t excited would be a lie.

Flight with one’s own body was humanity’s age-old dream.

On Earth, no one could achieve it; on Star Planet, unless one reached the sixth rank, it was out of the question.

Even at sixth rank, one needed a high-level lightness skill.

Li Linzhou, for example, could fly through the sky relying on a powerful movement technique.

Without such skills, true flight required reaching the third rank.

Now Su Jingxing could already fly, and the thrill in his heart was hard to suppress.

After a while, with several deep breaths, he calmed himself.

Dantian!

The next step was to open his dantian.

Without a dantian, the True Qi Card could only serve as a hidden trump card. To take revenge against Wan Rong, he would have to wait.

Only by opening his dantian and stepping into the seventh rank could he realize his goal sooner.

But opening the dantian required an immense amount of inner strength—then, repeated breakthroughs.

Inner strength he did not lack; the inner strength gained from transporting the Black Tiger Gang’s corpses surpassed all previous gains.

What he lacked was time.

Gathering inner strength at the dantian and making repeated assaults was a slow, grinding process.

Those with special physiques managed it swiftly.

For ordinary people who weren’t diligent, it was a long slog.

Su Jingxing belonged to the latter, so he too had to endure.

Of course, not everyone succeeded in opening the dantian.

Some failed and were forever barred from the seventh rank.

Such people were not rare.

To improve one’s chances, there was a high-grade pill.

The Wall-Breaking Pill!

It boosted the success rate by eighty percent and shortened the time required.

The only issue was that a single Wall-Breaking Pill cost a million Dayu coins.

Even on the black market, it went for nine hundred thousand.

So Su Jingxing needed to find a way to make money...