I'll write a manual called the Sunflower Manual, and the entire martial arts world will turn in

Today is the sixth day of the ninth lunar month.

It's that time of year again when the Dragon King's gang collects their monthly incense money.

Tongshan, accompanied by five monkeys, collected incense money from every household in the red-light district, carrying broadswords at their waists.

Compared to Scarface Liu and One-Eyed Dragon, Tongshan's methods of collecting money were far more brutal. Anyone who refused to pay was brutally beaten. Those who remained stubborn were even chopped off with their fingers as a deterrent.

The entire street was filled with fear.

It was late at night, around 9 PM.

Tongshan carried a cloth bag and walked towards Huichunlou.

"Brother Tongshan is swift and efficient; he intimidated those commoners in no time. This time, he collected a full forty-three taels of silver in incense money, far exceeding what Scarface Liu and One-Eyed Dragon did. When we hand the incense money over to the Third Master, he'll definitely praise us for doing a great job," Monkey flattered from the side.

The other four men with knives also flattered him.

"Scarface Liu and One-Eyed Dragon are nothing; they're not even worthy of carrying Brother Copper Mountain's shoes."

"That's right, how can they compare to Brother Tongshan?"

Tongshan listened to the flattery, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "I've been following the Third Master since I was a kid, learning a kind of external martial arts. Although I'm only at the tendon training stage, taking down five one-eyed men is child's play. It's just that we haven't found the murderer yet, and it's hard to explain to the Third Master. Monkey, you've been following Xie An for over a month now, have you noticed anything unusual?"

The monkey frowned and shook his head. "That Xie An is quite well-behaved. Every morning he takes his youngest sister to the martial arts school, and then follows Li Shengnan to the river patrol office. He practices his skills by the river when he has nothing to do. He seems like a simpleton, and a coward. He always follows Li Shengnan around. He doesn't seem like someone who would dare to kill someone."

He had three close friends: Zhao Hu, a porter from Zhenwei Escort Agency; Liu Chun, a dockworker; and Xu Zhijie, a street vendor selling sesame cakes. The three of them had indeed lent Xie An ten taels of silver. Then Xie An went to the backyard of Yongsheng Martial Arts School to practice martial arts, and later, due to his outstanding performance, he was promoted to the front yard. The whole process was extremely inspiring and without any flaws. Could it be that Brother Tongshan has suspected the wrong person?

Tongshan had been quite suspicious of Xie An, and after hearing what the monkey said, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Could it be... that I've really suspected the wrong person?

"After we pay the incense money, let's change our approach and adjust our thinking," Tongshan decided.

Just then, a dark figure suddenly rushed out from the deserted alley.

"Who is it...?"

The monkey cried out in alarm and instinctively raised its knife, but before it could even pull it out... a line of blood appeared on its neck, and then it collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Attack! Someone's attacking!!"

The other four men were terrified and drew their swords to fight back.

shhhhhhhh!

The dark figure pounced like a tiger descending a mountain, a dagger in its hand gleaming coldly, swiftly slicing across the necks of the four men.

Before the four could even scream, they collapsed into pools of blood.

It took no more than a breath.

Tongshan was suddenly startled, drew his sword, and looked at the masked man in black in front of him, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"My lord, I am Tongshan from the Dragon King Gang, and I follow Chen the Third-in-Command, the Abacus Chen. I beg you to give the Dragon King Gang some face, and I'll pretend tonight's events never happened..."

Before he finished speaking, the man in black charged at him like a tiger.

Tongshan drew his sword to block, and his sword collided with the opponent's dagger. In an instant, the force of the impact created a cloud of dust on the ground.

Tongshan practiced a martial art that emphasized strength and was known for overwhelming others with sheer power. Yet, he was forced to stagger backward by the man in black, feeling his tiger's mouth split open as an unimaginable force surged forth.

Clang!

The man in black immediately drew his broadsword from his waist, a flash of cold light.

not good!

Tongshan cried out that something was wrong, but it was too late.

In the blink of an eye, he could only watch helplessly as the opponent's blade pierced his chest. And the angle was extremely precise, going straight through his heart.

"Hehe~"

Tongshan's body slowly went limp and he collapsed into a pool of blood.

"So, that's how Scarface Liu and One-Eyed Dragon...died. It was all your doing..."

puff.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, and with a final kick of his legs, Scarface Liu was dead.

The man in black took the money pouch from Tong Shan's arms and stuffed it into his own pocket. He then sank the six bodies into the nearby canal, cleaned up the traces along the way, and left as if nothing had happened.

"There's nothing I can do. Your Dragon King Gang is short of money, and I'm short of money to train my muscles too..."

"Besides, you've already begun to doubt me, how can I let you live?"

……

Back at the Ink Fragrance Bookstore, Xie An took out all the money and counted it.

He received forty-three taels of silver tonight, which, combined with Xie An's own savings, amounted to a total of sixty taels of silver.

The river and lake management office pays three taels of silver a month, plus extra rewards for the occasional inexplicable meritorious service Zhou Wu performs for Xie An. After deducting the daily food supplements for martial arts training, there's some extra money left over.

But they weren't exactly wealthy.

This is because to break through the second barrier and strengthen the tendons, one needs to purchase the more expensive Tiger Tendon Soup, which costs eight taels of silver per serving.

If it were like breaking through the Skin Refining Barrier before, requiring a dozen or so doses of Tiger Tendon Essence Soup... that would cost one or two hundred taels.

poverty!

We're too poor!

The expenses of practicing martial arts are simply a bottomless pit.

"No wonder Wei Dian, Ma Tie, Wu Wei and the others are willing to be dogs for others, they are just too short of money."

"Fortunately, I've already distributed the Qi cultivation method for the second level of the Sunflower Manual. Liu Wei and Zhang Long haven't mastered the first level yet, so they can't practice the second level for now. The only one I can count on is Chen Lutang. I hope the second level of the Sunflower Manual will bring me a greater transformation in my physical constitution."

After putting away the money, Xie An went to the courtyard to practice Bajiquan.

With just a few more points of progress remaining, we'll be able to complete the task and start training our tendons.

They practiced until midnight, and Xie An was already drenched in sweat.

Finally, the panel flickered, and Xie An felt that the Dragon Subduing Technique was approaching completion. He immediately brought up the panel.

[Bajiquan (Supporting Hammer: 100/100), (Dragon Subduing: 100/100)]

call!

Xie An breathed a long sigh of relief.

"The Dragon Subduing Form is finally complete! In a few days, I'll go find Senior Brother Zhanping to practice my tendons and strengthen my muscles."

Speaking of Zhanping, he's a pretty good person. Last month, he broke through to the Bloodflow Realm during his seclusion, and every time he saw me, he would tell me not to rush to repay the money. Currently, Zhanping is highly regarded among the formal disciples of the martial arts school, with many saying he has the potential to reach the Bloodflow Transformation Realm. He's very likely to step into the Ming Jin realm and become the headmaster's personal disciple.

Li Shengnan also broke through to the Five Organs Realm.

Everyone is striving and forging ahead on the path of martial arts.

This made Xie An feel a sense of urgency.

Just then, the panel flickered again.

Xie An opened it and took a look.

[Chen Lutang's Sunflower Manual, Level 2: 1/100]

"Master Chen has begun his second level of seclusion cultivation. Good, good..."

……

Huichun Hall.

When it was dawn, Chen, the abacus master, discovered that one offering of incense money was missing.

Tongshan didn't come back.

With Chen's cunning, he naturally knew that something had happened at Tongshan.

bump.

Chen the Abacus slammed his hand on the mahogany table, a cold glint in his eyes: "Fine, fine, fine! This scoundrel dared to kill three groups of my Dragon King Gang members in succession!! If I don't find you, I, Chen the Abacus, will be unworthy of being the third leader of the Dragon King Gang! I'll personally collect the incense money from the brothels!"