During the Republic of China era, I achieved unparalleled success by returning to the past.

Inside the cramped room, a half-burnt candle burned in the corner of a wooden cabinet. A gentle breeze slipped through the window cracks, causing the candlelight to flicker and cast a tall, slender shadow on the mottled wall, indistinct and swaying with the flame.

The character "酽" appears: [Qianyuan Eighth Awakening - Initial Awakening: Awakening Level 23%]

Song Beiyou sat on a small stool, using the bed as a table, and carefully unscrewed the front cover of the metal cylinder. Inside was a layer of soft mesh made of a special material, and the innermost layer was a glass cylinder.

He slowly squeezed out the glass column; it was warm to the touch, and in the candlelight, the orange liquid flowed slowly, as if it were alive.

There was something else underneath the metal cylinder. When I took it out, I found a small syringe and a square piece of paper covered with writing.

Item Number: Red Shark - First Round - Extremely Rare

Danger Level: Confidential/Extremely High

Storage status: Active liquid, store at room temperature.

Injection method: For deep intramuscular injection only.

caveat

This product is a concentrated extract of red shark serum, possessing strong biological activity and neurotoxicity. Use is strictly prohibited without verified compatibility. It is contraindicated in individuals with a compatibility rate <15%; forced injection will lead to irreversible physical collapse or mutation.

Most of the text is in Chinese, with some Japanese characters mixed in.

The room was quiet, with only the candlelight flickering.

Song Beiyou tapped the piece of paper with his finger and placed it aside. He said that the inherited mask could absorb side effects, so there was no need to worry about the consequences.

He immediately tore open the iodine packet he had brought and wiped it on his left arm for disinfection. He drew the serum into the syringe, took a deep breath—and the needle decisively pierced the disinfected skin of his left arm.

There wasn't even time to push the plunger; the serum inside the syringe suddenly boiled violently, like countless tiny snakes burrowing into the muscle! The syringe emptied instantly.

In an instant, the blood vessels in my left arm burst open like a blue spider web, and a searing pain shot like lightning to my left shoulder and chest. Then, it felt as if every muscle in my body was being sliced ​​off piece by piece by a fire knife, only to be reassembled and healed again.

Song Beiyou had not expected the effect to be so intense and rapid. Caught off guard, he was in so much pain that his eyes bulged out. He could only clench his teeth tightly, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Just as the pain reached its peak, the Book of Impermanence flew out, and on the water mirror page, the ancient inherited mask appeared. On the palace gate, eight eyes, simply outlined, suddenly opened. Like a living monster face, it chilled the heart to look at.

Song Beiyou shuddered, and his body immediately emanated a fiery aura that flowed into the eight eyes of the inherited mask like a river flowing into the sea.

The excruciating pain, like being cut by a scalpel, gradually subsided. His entire body was like red-hot forged iron, yet a torrent of intense heat still surged and raged within him.

Song Beiyou put on the "White Ape Eight Arms," ​​spread his arms and arched his back, his body like a great ape. He mobilized the qi and blood in his body, moved his steps and threw punches, and streams of heat rose from his body, as if a round bead was rolling under his muscles.

A vast, fiery energy flowed slowly through his body with each movement. His joints, muscles, and bones felt as if enveloped in a warm flame, and even his nerves experienced a tingling sensation. This was the power of the Crimson Shark transforming his body!

The part that can be absorbed by the body is the internal fireball; while the mutated part that causes side effects is absorbed by the mask. It's truly ingenious.

The night was deep and the wind was cold; the sky and earth seemed to droop. Song Beiyou let out a suppressed shout, feeling a strange sense of relief.

At the same time, a flowing line of fire gradually condensed on the suspended mask in the void, and the information immediately changed:

Inheritance: The Eight Awakenings of Qianyuan - Initial Awakening

• Autumn Cicadas Awaken First: (Omitted)

• Qian Gang Zhi Yang: (omitted)

Initial progress: 63% (+)

• Swift as Fire: Speed ​​increased by 20%. Every two hours, a burst of blazing Yang energy condenses, injuring enemies like a scorching fire. • Current Fire Energy: 1

Compensation: Omitted

Song Beiyou's eyes narrowed. The mask had gained a new characteristic—was this the "side effect" that couldn't be absorbed by the body? He reached out and cupped the mask in his hand, placing it on his face.

A surge of heat coursed through my spine, a double boost that coursed through my entire body. With a powerful leap, I moved like lightning, instantly appearing at the window. In a flash, my mind channeled the fiery energy of the sun, and I unleashed a devastating punch.

The force of the punch created a gust of wind that pressed the curtain tightly against the wooden strips. The next instant, boom! The curtain blasted open a hole the size of a washbasin, the edges of the hole were charred and burnt, and even the simple window strips were emitting black smoke.

The cold wind outside rushed into the hole, bringing back the charred ash that had just been blown out.

Song Beiyou reached out and grabbed, leaving a black mark on his palm. If this had hit someone, wouldn't it have cooked the flesh directly?

He hissed out a breath of burnt, cold air.

The power of that punch just now, besides the fire force, also included the speed boost from the new trait, as well as the terrifying transformation of the body by the serum.

This transformation is ongoing and hasn't stopped. The boxing ring three days later will be the perfect opportunity to test the power gained from the serum injection!

Woof woof woof! A dog in the distance, startled, began barking wildly. Lights were also lit in several houses, and a gruff voice burst into a tirade:

"Who the hell set off firecrackers in the middle of the night? Are they looking for death?!"

"Don't we have to go to work tomorrow? That's outrageous!"

Song Beiyou quickly ran to the cabinet, blew out the candle, climbed onto the bed, and covered himself with the quilt.

The next day, as dawn broke, a cold wind blew in through the broken window, carrying the smell of coal smoke and the aroma of food from the surrounding area.

Song Beiyou was already up practicing his boxing, white steam rising from his body, and large beads of sweat rolling down his face. The serum's transformation of his body was still ongoing.

Judging from the lightness of my body and the leap in reaction speed at this moment, the core effect of this serum is probably to greatly enhance my agility and explosive power.

Even if he removes the inherited mask and loses the physical and speed boosts, his current physical condition is still far beyond that of ordinary people.

Only then did he realize the immense power of the inherited mask's proportional bonus; as his basic physical attributes improved, the bonus would become even more terrifying. Moreover, with further awakening, the bonus should increase even further.

I scooped up two ladles of cold water to wash my face, and the bucket was empty. Yaoshui Village has no electricity or running water, and so do the other villages. The able-bodied people in the slums can fetch water from the river themselves, but the elderly, women, and children have to pay for water.

Once I've finished boxing and made some money, I need to find a new place to stay.

Bang bang bang! "Ah You, are you up yet?"

Song Beiyou opened the door, and Shen Daguan, carrying several hot scallion pancakes wrapped in oil paper, chuckled and said, "Master You, what are the plans for today? I'm at your service."

Song Beiyou took the scallion pancake, took a big bite, and said while eating, "Your task today is to buy two motorcycles and get all the paperwork done. From now on, we'll ride these things whenever we go out."

He took out a black cloth bag and counted out one hundred silver dollars. "This should be enough," he added, seeing Shen Daguan's expression. "Keep your money for gambling. Give it to me when you win big."

Shen Daguan gave a thumbs up: "Brother You is so righteous! I never thought I, your humble servant, would one day be able to ride a motorcycle and have such a dashing time!"

Song Beiyou casually asked, "You knew Su Xiaowan's Columbia Ballroom caught fire, right?"

"I know. I was there when Master You bought the newspaper. He even said he had to find Su Xiaowan. What happened? Did he find her?" Shen Daguan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Suddenly, Song Beiyou felt a cold wind blow into the back of his head, and a new memory appeared in his mind—this was a change in the timeline, the effect of cause and effect in the dark.

A chill slowly crept up his back. In this memory, starting from when he bought a newspaper after his underground boxing match, his original memory began to diverge.