High Martial Arts: Become a God by Spending Money, Start by Spending All Your Compensation Funds

Ten kilometers away, at the end of Huai'an Road, lies another neighborhood, home to the largest temporary stronghold in the area within a 50-kilometer radius: the Black Wind Stronghold.

The hideout was located in a three-story bank building, with its exterior walls welded with barbed steel plates. Four men with knives were always guarding the entrance, looking fierce and menacing.

The owner of the stronghold, nicknamed Snake Eyes, is an old hunter who has been in Langcheng for over a decade. He has more than twenty men under his command and is the undisputed local tyrant in this occupied area.

That afternoon, Snake Eyes sat in his top-floor office, flipping through the ledgers in his hand, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

"Why has the turnover decreased by nearly 30% in the past two days?" He slammed the ledger on the table and looked up at his subordinate standing in front of him.

The subordinate, a man at the early stage of the Martial Master realm, immediately bowed upon hearing this: "Brother Snake, we've inquired. A new temporary stronghold called Yunqi Supply Station has opened in the middle section of Huai'an Road. It's run by a few young people from the capital. We heard that Bao Bufan's gang has been subdued by them and is now guarding the place."

"Bao Bufan?" Snake Eyes narrowed his eyes, an old scar at the corner of his eye twitching slightly. "I dealt with him last year when Fancheng was plagued by beasts. That guy is tough as nails, and his men are quite capable. He's not someone who easily submits to others."

He tapped his fingertips on the table, his tone becoming more serious.

"A few brats from the capital city managed to subdue Bao Bufan on their first day here. That's interesting."

"No matter how interesting it is, if it touches my Snake Eyes' cake, I can't just let it go."

He reached out and grabbed the map from the table, pointing his finger at the location between the two outposts.

"Didn't we find a nest of blood crystal ants near the abandoned chemical plant when we went north last time?"

The subordinate reported truthfully: "That's right, all the soldier ants are in the mid-to-late stage of Tier 1, there are about ten elite ants in the early stage of Tier 2, and the ant king and queen are even in the mid-stage of Tier 2."

Snake Eyes smirked, "Lead this ant colony to the Cloud Nest Supply Station."

His subordinate's expression changed slightly: "Brother Snake, if we lure them there, most of the people in the stronghold will probably die."

"So what if they're dead? They weren't one of ours anyway." Snake Eyes sneered, his eyes cold. "With the stronghold destroyed, those hunters have nowhere to go, so they have no choice but to come here."

He waved his hand: "Go ahead, do it cleanly, don't leave any loose ends."

"Yes, Brother Snake." The subordinate dared not say more and quickly bowed and withdrew.

Three days later, at dusk, at the Yunqi Supply Station.

Warm yellow light streamed through the supermarket's glass windows, casting long patches of light on the floor.

In the makeshift office on the second floor, Lin Yun sat cross-legged in a chair, and with a thought, brought up the system interface.

During this period, business at the outpost was stable, and he had plenty of cash on hand.

Aside from the reserved operating funds, he saved the rest and used it to exchange for Qi and Blood.

He tapped the screen with his fingertip, spending 110 million Dragon Kingdom coins to exchange for 110 points of Qi and Blood.

The next second, warm air surged out from all over the body, flowing slowly along the meridians and into the dantian.

The Qi and Blood value has risen to 240 points.

He has reached the second level of the Martial Master realm.

Lin Yun slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and clenched his fist.

The fracture in my right hand has healed by 70%, and I can exert force normally without any problem, but I still can't engage in prolonged strenuous activity.

He felt the increasingly robust energy and blood within his body and shook his head inwardly.

The difference in blood and qi between each level of the Martial Master realm is quite significant, and one would need to accumulate a considerable amount of money to reach the third level.

The task is arduous and the road ahead is long.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out downstairs, accompanied by the sounds of tables and chairs colliding.

Lin Yun raised an eyebrow and got up to go downstairs.

In the lobby on the first floor, two middle-aged men who were at the early stage of martial arts mastery were wrestling together, each clutching half a piece of strange beast scale in their hands, cursing each other with red faces and thick necks.

"I found these scales first, what right do you have to steal them?"

"Bullshit! I clearly cut it down first, and you're trying to steal it halfway and you still think you're right?"

A group of hunters gathered around to watch the spectacle, but no one stepped forward to intervene.

With more people in the stronghold, conflicts of interest are inevitable, and such things happen every day.

Lin Yun walked over slowly, without saying a word, and reached out to grab the back of their collars, giving them a gentle tug.

The two martial artists, who were exerting their strength, felt a tremendous force coming from them and were involuntarily separated, staggering back two steps.

Just as the two were about to get angry, they looked up and saw Lin Yun. The words that were on the tip of their tongues were swallowed back instantly, and their arrogance subsided by more than half.

"The rules of the stronghold forbid private fights."

Lin Yun spoke calmly, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.

"If you make another move, you're not staying here."

"Yes, yes, Brother Yun, we were wrong."

"It was an impulsive act; I won't do it again next time."

The two quickly apologized with smiles, picked up the scales from the ground, and slunk away to the counter.

The surrounding hunters also turned their attention away and went about their own business.

No one doubted Lin Yun's importance; everyone knew during this time that he was the true person in charge of the stronghold.

Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you; when he gets really angry, even Bao Bufan wouldn't dare to breathe too hard.

Lin Yun didn't say anything more, but gestured with his chin toward Bao Bufan.

Bao Bufan immediately understood and followed him out of the stronghold.

Lin Yun had set a rule for patrolling the stronghold every evening at dusk.

It was precisely because of this caution that the Yunqi Supply Station had not encountered any large-scale night attacks by alien beasts during its week of operation, making it much safer than other surrounding outposts.

The two walked slowly along the street, checking the perimeter barbed wire and warning bells.

When he had walked about a kilometer northeast of the stronghold, Lin Yun suddenly stopped and twitched his nose.

A faint, sweet, fishy smell lingered in the air, so faint that it was almost imperceptible amidst the stench of decaying ruins.

"Can you smell anything?"

Lin Yun asked.

Bao Bufan sniffed, frowned, and shook his head: "It smells a bit strange. It's probably the corpse of some kind of strange beast that's rotting."

Lin Yun shook his head: "Something's not right."

He followed the scent for several dozen meters and found the corpse of a Tier 1 Gale Beast behind a collapsed shop.

The body had been looted; all the valuable materials had been removed, leaving only a mangled shell.

That sweet, fishy smell came from the corpse.

"The textbook says that the natural rotting smell of a Gale Beast is sour and foul, not like this." Lin Yun squatted down and used his fingertips to pry open the wounds on the beast's corpse.

Bao Bufan scratched his head: "Words can't describe things accurately. You have to smell something yourself to know."

Lin Yun didn't reply. He gathered his qi and blood to protect himself, rubbed it on the inside of the wound, and picked up a little bit of flesh-colored powder.

The powder has a faint sweet and fishy taste, and it's almost invisible when it gets on your fingertips.

"The source of the smell is this." Lin Yun frowned slightly. "Have you ever seen something like this before?"

Bao Bufan leaned over for a look, then shook his head: "Never seen it before, it doesn't look like something from a strange beast."

The two searched the area carefully again but found nothing else unusual, so they had to head back.

Just as I arrived at the entrance of the stronghold, I happened to bump into a hunter carrying a bag and hurrying out.

"Wait a minute," Bao Bufan called out to him, "It's almost dark, are you going out now?"

The hunter remained calm: "I left something important ahead of me, and I have to go find it."

Without waiting for Bao Bufan to ask any more questions, she lowered her head and walked away quickly.

Bao Bufan muttered, "What is something so precious that it's running around outside even though it's dark?"

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly twitched his nose.

"Ugh, that sweet, fishy smell is still here!"

Lin Yun's eyes darkened slightly.

"It floated out from that person."

Although using special powder to lure and kill alien beasts is a common method used by many hunters, he still felt something was off.

"go back."

Lin Yun turned around and strode into the stronghold.

He immediately summoned Zhou Chong, Qian Hao, Sun Feng, and others, his expression solemn.

"Strengthen security tonight; everyone will take turns on night watch."

Lin Yun said in a deep voice.

"Now that our base is established, it's inevitable that some people will be envious and try to sabotage us. Everyone, stay alert and don't cause any trouble."

Zhou Chong and the others also stopped smiling and nodded in agreement.

Qian Hao immediately arranged for Bao Bufan's men to check the doors and windows, Sun Feng went to count the healing medicines, and Zhou Chong went to inform the hunters who were staying overnight not to sleep too soundly at night.

That night, Lin Yun did not return to his room to rest.

He sat alone on the edge of the rooftop of the supermarket, holding night-vision binoculars in his hand, gazing at the dark streets around him.

In the middle of the night, Zhou Chong climbed up with two bottles of water and sat down next to him.

"You were on patrol most of the night yesterday, and you're staying up again today. Can your body handle it?"

Zhou Chong handed him the water.

"Go down and get some sleep. I'll keep an eye on things."

"No, thank you." Lin Yun took the water, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. "I have a bad feeling that tonight might not be peaceful."

Zhou Chong was about to say something more when he suddenly saw Lin Yun sit up straight and raise his binoculars.

In the darkness of the northeast, countless dark shadows surged under the moonlight at great speed, rushing toward the stronghold.

"They're here." Lin Yun put down his binoculars, his voice turning serious. "Everyone on alert! The beast horde is attacking!"