From breaking the limits of the White Ape Fist to becoming a martial arts saint.

"Clang—!"

The iron harpoon pierced the monster's throat, producing a dull metallic clang.

Although it didn't penetrate completely, the enormous impact instantly tore through that tough outer layer, and a spray of foul-smelling black blood suddenly splattered up.

"squeak!!"

A piercing scream tore through the night sky, like countless needles pricking everyone's eardrums.

The strange creature, gripped by pain and driven mad, abruptly retracted its claws and swung its hand back, slamming it hard against the harpoon pole.

"Bang!"

Su Yu felt a violent tremor in his hand, and the fine iron harpoon in his hand, which was powerful enough to pierce through the ship's plank, was bent at a ninety-degree angle by this blow!

Using the force of the recoil, the eerie figure retreated rapidly, disappearing into the darkness and fleeing in panic.

In that instant, by the faint moonlight, Su Yu finally saw its true form.

It was a black monster with a beak-like pointed mouth, its body covered in nauseating, wet, black fur, and it walked upright.

The most terrifying thing is its face.

What was originally a pale woman's face, now, injured, twisted and writhed wildly like melted wax, transforming in the blink of an eye into a hideous man's face!

The swirling black mist gushed out from the seven orifices, quickly sealing the wound in the throat.

"This isn't a wild beast...it's a bizarre and malevolent monster!"

Su Yu was greatly alarmed.

This self-healing ability and bizarre transformation are far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

He held the broken harpoon, his feet not moving an inch.

To pursue such an unknown and terrifying being in the pitch-black night is simply courting death.

Seeing that the strange phenomenon had subsided, the group dared not linger, fearing it might return, and quickly helped Village Chief Wang up and left.

"Wait...cough cough...search the neighborhood, my youngest son might still be alive!"

No one wanted to delay, but Wang Yuezhi's face was covered in blood, and he looked like he wanted to kill someone. In the end, his gaze fell on Su Yu, and his only remaining eye was full of bloodshot veins and pleading.

Although the surrounding villagers were frightened, they all looked at Su Yu. The power he had displayed with that fork earlier made him their only source of support at that moment.

Su Yu thought for a moment and felt that there was still danger. However, the strange escape seemed genuine, otherwise they would have already returned to fight.

He finally nodded.

"Separate and search quickly. If you can't find it within fifteen minutes, return to the village immediately!"

The crowd dispersed, holding torches.

A moment later, someone shouted, "Found it!"

In a pile of withered grass, several villagers who had been dragged away lay sprawled out.

Two of them had their chests ripped out and were already dead. At the very bottom of the pile of corpses, a small figure lay motionless.

"Alive! Still breathing!" Someone immediately checked.

Wang Yuezhi immediately rushed over and picked up the child, shouting, "Quick...go back!"

……

The next morning, the sun shone brightly, dispelling the gloom, and news of what had happened in the village the night before had spread.

It was said that a strange monster had entered the village and killed many people, but was driven away by the village chief and his men, and everyone in the village breathed a sigh of relief.

In recent days, people have been mysteriously dragged away at night, causing widespread panic.

Although the world is in chaos and people are constantly dying, people seem to have become accustomed to it.

But those who starved to death, those who were oppressed by gangs... these ultimately leave traces. Unlike this bizarre monster, the unknown is the most terrifying.

Su Yu stood in his yard, wiping the broken harpoon, thinking about getting two more harpoons as backup.

"Life is getting harder and harder in this world."

If I hadn't developed the ability to break through the barrier a second time, I probably would have met with dire consequences yesterday.

However, that's not enough!

You must at least become a martial artist to have more power to protect yourself!

"Time to get back to the martial arts gym and train hard!"

Su Yu left Ya'er some copper coins, gave her a few more instructions, and was about to leave.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Su Yu, it's me, Wang Yuezhi. I've come specifically to thank you for what happened last night!"

Su Yu went to open the door, where village chief Wang Yuezhi stood with his still sleepy youngest son.

Wang Yuezhi was seriously injured last night, and his whole body is now covered in bandages, especially half of his face and half of his head.

However, Su Yu admired his performance last night; he was a fearless man.

"Uncle Wang, please come in and have a seat."

The two went inside and sat down, and the maid poured each of them a glass of water.

Wang Yuezhi glanced at the girl, recognized her as the Liu family's little maid, and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes.

He knew about the Liu family's situation; the little girl was probably only alive because of Su Yu's kindness.

He expressed his gratitude again and then had his youngest son, Wang Qu, kowtow to Su Yu in thanks.

"Su Yu, you've already reached the level of passing multiple challenges, haven't you?"

"We've already been stopped twice now," Su Yu said without hiding anything.

"Indeed, if it weren't for you last night, we would all be dead. You saved us, and you saved Qingxi Village."

"Village chief, you're too kind. It was just a coincidence last night."

"However, with your strength, why haven't I heard your grandfather, Su Manjiang, mention it? I only heard that your third brother, Su Can, was quite talented and went to the city to learn martial arts. I didn't expect you to have such talent as well."

Su Yu shook his head, not wanting to say anything more.

Wang Yuezhi was a sensible man. He immediately stopped talking and asked no more questions. Then he stood up, took out two boxes from his pocket, and handed them over heavily. "Su Yu, you saved my youngest son. This is a great favor to the Wang family! I certainly won't just say it. This is my way of repaying you. Please accept it!"

Su Yu took the box, opened it, and found four small silver ingots inside, each weighing five taels, for a total of twenty taels.

The other box contained a ginseng with roots over ten inches long and intact.

This reward is more than double what was promised last night!

Su Yu glanced at Wang Yuezhi with surprise, then put the items away.

"Thank you very much, Uncle Wang. These things will be of great help to my martial arts training, so I won't be polite."

Seeing Su Yu accept the gift, Wang Yuezhi breathed a sigh of relief. He then pulled over his youngest son, Wang Qu, and said, "Su Yu, I have another request. My youngest son survived last night entirely thanks to your blessing. I would like him to become your godfather so he can repay your kindness in the future."

Su Yu looked at the bewildered little child beside him. The child had a rather delicate appearance. Despite experiencing such a great ordeal yesterday, he didn't seem afraid today. He was quite a good child.

However, he is under a lot of pressure now. Cao Bin's threat is like a thorn in his side. He himself is walking a tightrope on the edge of a cliff. How can he have the energy to protect others?

Moreover, there are too many crises in this chaotic world, and human life is too fragile. Apart from his cousin Su Hong, Su Yu does not want to take any more risks for anyone else.

However, Wang Yuezhi was a capable man. He gave himself a thank-you gift first and did not force him to adopt his son as his godson.

"Uncle Wang, I'm barely able to protect myself right now. You probably know about my elder brother Su Hong's situation. Let's talk about this later."

Upon hearing Su Yu's reply, Wang Yuezhi didn't ask any further questions and immediately nodded, saying, "Ah, I understand about your elder brother's situation. Life's tough in these chaotic times. But if you need anything, just let me know, and I'll do my best to help!"

After seeing Wang Yuezhi off, Su Yu packed his things and left without further delay.

The maid watched Su Yu's departing figure for a long time before slowly closing the door and going back inside.

The Su family's old residence.

Su Manjiang took a deep drag on his pipe, exhaling a large puff of smoke to suppress the jumble of thoughts in his mind.

"Grandpa Su, your grandson Su Yu was truly amazing last night! My husband said that if Su Yu hadn't driven that monster away with a single fork, they might all be dead! My goodness, your Su family is incredibly lucky, producing two men who can master martial arts!"

Standing to the side, Third Aunt Chen felt annoyed as she watched Old Lady Liu chattering on and on.

"Alright, alright, Aunt Liu, the old man needs to rest, you should go back now."

"Alright, alright, take these wild vegetables. We don't have anything else of value at home, so don't be offended." Chen took the bag of wild vegetables, saw the person off, and closed the door, her face looking rather grim.

She turned around, leaned close to Su Manjiang, and said sourly, "Dad, listen to this. Xiaoyu, he's got skills but doesn't tell the family, he's always showing off outside. His kung fu must have cost a fortune to learn. If that money had been saved for Can'er, she might already be a martial artist by now..."

Su Manjiang remained silent, but smoked a little faster.

Seeing that the old man remained silent, Madam Chen's eyes darted around, and she emphasized, "If Can'er breaks through to the Martial Realm, our family will immediately be able to hold our heads high, and no one will dare to bully us anymore!"

"By the way, Father. Last time I visited Can'er, he said he needed better medicinal soup to break through the bottleneck in martial arts, which would increase his chances of success..."

Su Manjiang's hand trembled, and cigarette ash fell onto his shoe. His cloudy eyes glanced at Madam Chen, and he murmured, "How much does Can'er need?"

"Twenty taels!"