From breaking the limits of archery to achieving martial arts godhood

"Any news?"

"not yet."

"Keep searching, let's try our luck at Baixiaolou."

"Yes, Third Elder."

In a two-courtyard house, more than a dozen disciples of the Medicine Gang have been staying here for the past few days.

This is a business owned by the medicine gang. Usually, only one or two people stay here, but now it's bustling with activity.

A disciple of the Medicine Clan had just come out of the Third Elder's room when he ran into Song Que.

That's right, Song Que is here too.

He wanted to capture Chen Xun himself.

"How is it?"

"There's still no news about Senior Brother Song Que."

"All right."

Song Que left somewhat disappointed.

The Medicine Clan disciple arrived in the courtyard, where a group of Medicine Clan disciples were sparring with each other.

Upon seeing him, they all greeted him, "Senior Brother Song Ming."

Song Ming nodded to them, then left the house and walked down the street.

With a clear goal in mind, he soon arrived in front of a three-story attic.

The plaque above the pavilion reads "Bai Xiao Lou" (百晓楼).

Bai Xiaolou is a place that sells information and also helps find people. It has branches in many cities in Huangzhao Kingdom and is backed by a mysterious force.

Upon entering Baixiaolou, Song Ming was led to a small room by a maid.

The room had a partition; Song Ming was on one side, and the staff of Baixiaolou were on the other.

"Guest, please state your request."

"Help me find someone named Chen Xun."

"What are his characteristics? How strong is he?"

Song Ming then took out Chen Xun's portrait and said, "His strength is at the Iron Bone Realm."

After taking it, the staff member quoted a price: "One hundred taels as deposit."

"Found it, but you still need to pay five hundred taels."

"If we can't find it, we'll refund fifty taels."

Do you agree or disagree?

Song Ming nodded and said, "I agree."

"Alright, go back and wait for news."

When will we hear anything?

"It can take anywhere from seven days to a month."

"All right."

Song Ming paid the deposit and then left Baixiaolou.

The staff at Baixiaolou simply tossed the portrait aside; dozens of similar portraits were piled up there.

For jobs like finding people, Bai Xiaolou's approach is to leave it to fate.

They would distribute the portrait of the person they were looking for to their downlines. If a downline happened to have seen the person, they would immediately notify the client.

If no one reports the missing information within a month, the client will be told directly that they cannot find the person and will lose 50 taels of silver for nothing.

This is an ancient society, without satellite networks. In a vast sea of ​​people, finding someone is not an easy task.

Of course, with the power of Baixiaolou, finding someone would be relatively easy.

But this would require mobilizing an unknown number of people and consuming an enormous amount of resources.

A mere hundred taels of silver isn't even a fraction of what it is.

No sooner had Song Ming left Baixiaolou than someone else arrived there.

In the same small room, the staff at Baixiaolou asked in a formulaic manner, "Guest, please state your requirements."

"I want to find a martial art that can completely transform me."

The newcomer said in a low voice.

The staff couldn't help but look at the other person, but only saw a layer of black cloth.

The two were separated by a black cloth, so others could not see him, and he could not see others.

This fully guarantees the privacy of our guests.

"Okay, I understand. I'll check it for you."

Then came the sound of pages turning.

The staff member's voice came out shortly after the visitors arrived.

"Such martial arts do exist, both low-level and high-level."

"Which type of music would you like to hear?"

Do you sell them here?

"I'm sorry, sir, we only provide information and intelligence; we do not offer other transaction services."

"Understood."

The visitor sounded somewhat disappointed.

"Then tell me about the relevant martial arts techniques that can be found in Changfeng County and within a hundred miles around."

"Okay, please wait a moment, guest."

Soon, the staff member's voice rang out again: "Guest, according to your requirements, two pieces of information match."

"you say."

"Excuse me, sir, you need to pay first before you can obtain the information."

"How much?"

"One intelligence report is worth 200 taels, and the other is worth 500 taels."

"So expensive?"

The newcomer's voice rose involuntarily, his tone filled with surprise.

"We guarantee the intelligence is absolutely true, and it was obtained at great cost by our Hundred Knowledge Pavilion, so the higher price is understandable."

The staff member's tone remained unhurried and calm.

The person remained silent for a long while before finally gritting their teeth and saying, "I'll buy it."

He then took out seven hundred-tael silver notes and handed them to the staff.

Only then did the staff hand over two pieces of paper.

The visitor took it and quickly began to read it.

On a piece of paper is recorded a martial art called "Hundred Transformations and Thousand Appearances Technique," a mid-grade Yellow Rank technique, currently in the hands of the leader of the Seven Swords Gang in the northern district of the outer city.

The leader of the Seven Swords Gang once worked as a ghostwriter when he was young. He killed a womanizer who was skilled in disguise and obtained this technique from him.

This intelligence is worth five hundred taels of silver.

Another piece of paper contained a martial art called "Face Changing Technique," a low-grade Yellow Rank technique, currently located in Bihu Town, seventy miles northwest of Changfeng City.

There is a powerful force in Bihu Town called the Fishermen's Gang.

The fishing gang made a living by fishing in the nearby Bishui Lake.

In this emerald lake, there exist spirit fish, and the value of a single spirit fish is no less than that of a mythical beast.

It was thanks to the spirit fish that the fishing community was able to grow strong.

It is said that the leader of the Fishing Gang has broken through to the Yin-Yang Realm.

The martial art "Changing Face Technique" is in the hands of the Third Elder of the Fishing Gang.

The Third Elder's strength is at the second stage of the Blood Exchange Realm.

This intelligence is worth two hundred taels of silver.

After reading the two pieces of information, the person remained silent for a moment, then got up and left.

"Please wait a moment, sir."

"What's the matter?"

He paused involuntarily.

"It's like this, I don't know if you're familiar with the rules of our Baixiaolou, but I'll repeat them anyway."

"You are not allowed to tell any information you obtain from our Baixiaolou to a second person, otherwise you will be hunted down by our Baixiaolou."

At this point, the voice of the Baixiaolou staff member turned cold.

"I see."

After he finished speaking, he continued walking and then left Baixiaolou.

Afterward, he went to a secluded alley and changed his disguise again.

When he removed his disguise, it became clear that the person was Chen Xun.

As for why Chen Xun came to Baixiaolou to find martial arts techniques that could change one's appearance, it all started with an assassination attempt last night.

Last night, Chen Xun was cultivating.

Suddenly, a very faint footstep was heard in the courtyard outside.

If Chen Xun hadn't possessed extraordinary senses, he might not have been able to hear those footsteps.

"Has someone broken in?"

Chen Xun immediately stopped practicing his stance and listened attentively.

"Is he a thief?"

Chen Xun thought to himself.

Then, Chen Xun smelled a faint floral fragrance.

The taste was very mild and gentle; if Chen Xun hadn't been more alert at that moment, he probably wouldn't have noticed it.

But now, he immediately held his breath.

His characteristic of "continuous life" allows him to hold his breath for more than half an hour.

"poisonous."

Chen Xun watched as a moth, attracted by the lamplight on the table, wobbled and fell onto the table, and his pupils contracted slightly.

Then, he rolled his eyes and lay down on the ground without saying a word.

Hearing the noise, the people outside waited a while before prying open the door and carefully entering.

Upon seeing the figure lying on the ground, the man chuckled, "Three thousand taels in hand."

"You little rascal, you think I can't tell just because you've put on a little disguise?"

"I, Fire-Eyed Monkey, am not just a name without substance. I can see through this clumsy disguise at a glance."

As he spoke, the man took out a long rope from his pocket, preparing to tie Chen Xun up.

Just as he approached Chen Xun, a hand shot out like lightning and grabbed his neck.

"You...you weren't drugged?"

The Fire-Eyed Monkey was shocked and tried to struggle, but Chen Xun punched it in the stomach, dissipating all its strength and causing it to collapse to the ground.

"I'll ask, you answer."

Chen Xun grabbed the Fire-Eyed Monkey and began interrogating him for information.

After all that commotion, the Fire-Eyed Monkey was dead. Chen Xun learned from him that he was wanted by the Medicine Gang and how the man had found his hiding place.

It turned out that the brokers had betrayed him.

This fiery-eyed monkey was quick-witted. After searching for Chen Xun for a period of time without success, he thought of starting with the brokerage business.

If Chen Xun were still in Changfeng City, he wouldn't be staying at an inn all the time; he would more likely rent a house to live in.

So, the Fire-Eyed Monkey went to several brokerage firms, bribed the brokers, and obtained information on many people who had recently rented or bought houses. He then filtered out several people who were similar to his target.

After some clandestine observation, they finally determined Chen Xun's exact address.

Then he came running over excitedly that evening.

It has to be said that if it were anyone else, they might have already fallen for the Fire-Eyed Monkey's trick.

Damn it.

Chen Xun said in a low voice with a gloomy expression.

"We can't stay here anymore, we have to move."

So Chen Xun left overnight and, following the clues given by the Fire-Eyed Monkey, found the broker who had betrayed him.

Fire-Eyed Monkey only spent one or two taels of silver to get him to betray Chen Xun's information.

When Chen found him, he was sleeping at home.

Chen Xun came to his bedside, gently patted his head with his palm, and then left.

When the man's wife woke up in the morning, she found her husband lying dead in bed, bleeding from all seven orifices.

It was because of last night's experience that Chen Xun made this trip to Baixiaolou.

"The leader of the Seven Swords Gang is said to be unfathomably powerful, so let's skip that."

"The Third Elder of the Fishermen's Gang, is he only at the second level of the Blood Exchange Realm?"

"You can give it a try."

So Chen Xun left Changfeng City and set off for Bihu Town.