You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

"Master Ding, we can't give him any more... He's eaten up our entire two-week supply!"

A Blackwater Hall accountant approached Ding Yan, his voice trembling with barely suppressed emotion.

He glanced at the figure not far away, tearing apart monster flesh with incredible speed, his lips trembling: "And... he doesn't seem to be full yet!"

Ding Yan remained silent.

He stared at Baili Jing, who was eating heartily, and the kind smile that had been on his face gradually became stiff.

Baili Jing sat cross-legged on an overturned wooden box, his hands outstretched, grabbing two pieces of meat from the hind legs of a demon beast, skin and bone, and chewing them up and swallowing them in a few bites.

"Five more pounds, please!"

His voice was incredibly loud, unlike that of someone about to be hunted; rather, it sounded like someone shouting for extra food at the docks when work was starting.

The essence blood of the demon beast flowed down his chin, while the coarse cloth jacket he wore was already half-dry and half-wet from the high-temperature steam leaking out of his body, hissing and emitting white smoke.

At this moment, Baili Jing's skin was so red that it was almost black and shiny.

Thick white steam was constantly gushing out from his seven orifices and pores, forming a ring of scorching heat around him.

The Blackwater Hall disciples around him, seeing his eating habits, all had complicated expressions, and involuntarily took another half inch back.

These are the people who will be responsible for hunting him down today. They have all arrived one after another, some squatting and some standing, making their final preparations before the battle.

As Baili Jing chewed on a piece of meat, his gaze quickly swept over the people.

This group of Blackwater Hall elites, carefully selected by Ding Yan, was indeed small in number, only a few dozen people in total.

The few at the front had calm demeanor and were quietly checking their mechanical arm joints and adding oil to the machines. Clearly, they were steam cultivators, but their backs still looked like those of ordinary people, not experts of the fifth realm.

The remaining ordinary members of the Canal Gang each had a gleaming steel knife at their waist, and their faces were cold and stern, clearly indicating that they were all seasoned veterans who had seen blood.

Baili Jing squinted and looked around, getting a general idea of ​​what was going on.

However, those three so-called "Five Realms of Forging" leaders...

He didn't see any of them.

Baili Jing licked the blood off his lips, suppressing his doubts for the time being, and continued to focus on the monster meat in his hands.

Not far away, Hua Xiangrong watched Baili Jing's gluttonous eating, picked at the food, turned her head, and asked in a low voice:

"Little brother, how much can your brother eat with that stomach?"

Baili Jie shook his head and answered honestly:

"Pretty sister, I really didn't know. My family is poor, and my brother is just barely making ends meet. He's never seen anything so precious before. I only found out about his ability last night, just like you."

On the other side, Ding Yan's kind smile was gradually disappearing.

He now understood why Baili Jing had shown that smug yet sinister smile when he heard the words "unlimited supply" during the negotiations at the teahouse.

For him, the monster meat wasn't particularly expensive, but the quantity was huge!

An ordinary expert at the fifth level of the Forging Realm can only eat two jin a day at most, and his body can't handle any more than that; but Baili Jing has already swallowed nearly twenty jin since he sat down!

Twenty pounds!

What's even more terrifying is that despite eating so much, his stomach didn't show the slightest sign of swelling!

This kid...is his stomach really a bottomless pit?!

"belch!"

Just then, Baili Jing finally stopped, let out a long burp, patted his stomach, stood up contentedly, and stretched his muscles.

"Alright, that's enough for now."

He grinned and gestured with his chin towards Ding Yan:

"Hey, fatso, what's the next step?"

As soon as he stopped talking, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They had come to witness a life-or-death duel, but Baili Jing had turned it into a mukbang.

Ding Yan coughed lightly, his gloomy expression vanishing completely, replaced by his kind smile.

He spoke slowly:

"Bai Li has a good appetite. The rules are simple. I will give Bai Li the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

He extended a large, fleshy finger and gently shook it:

"This warehouse is large enough, filled with crates and miscellaneous items, and there are many places to hide. You can choose a place to hide yourself. After an incense stick has burned, the people of my Blackwater Hall will enter the warehouse and begin to hunt you down."

Ding Yan turned around and pointed to the heavy door behind him:

"You only need to remember one thing: you will only truly succeed if you walk out of this door. As for the other windows or waterway exits, I have already had them sealed off in advance. Moreover... you only have one hour. If you exceed the time limit, you will not be considered to have won."

He paused, a smile appearing on his lips:

"In addition, as per your request, I have also placed several pieces of demon beast meat in this warehouse, but whether you can find and eat them while on the run... depends on your own fate."

At this moment, Hua Xiangrong, who was standing to the side, also spoke up:

"Young man, don't worry, I will keep an eye on things from above the whole time. If they dare to use any dirty tricks, I will be the first to not let them get away with it."

"However... this is the limit of what I can do for you. I won't be able to help you any further later."

Upon hearing this, Baili Jing chuckled and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards her: "Don't worry, Sister Hua, this time, I'll rely on myself!"

After saying that, he turned his head and waved to Baili Jie, who was standing quietly not far away: "Xiao Jie, come here for a moment."

Baili Jie understood and quickly walked over.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the two brothers huddled together and whispered to each other for a long time.

No one knew what they were talking about. All that could be seen was Baili Jing nodding from time to time, while Baili Jie gestured with his hands as if describing the layout of the warehouse.

A moment later, Baili Jing straightened up and patted his younger brother on the shoulder:

"Okay, don't worry, your brother will definitely get out. You and Sister Hua can stay on high ground and keep a good watch!"

Having said that, he didn't hesitate any longer. He turned around and walked into the dock warehouse without looking back, quickly disappearing into the shadows of the cargo containers.

On this side, Hua Xiangrong led Baili Jie up a wooden platform inside a warehouse.

From here, you can see almost the entire warehouse in its entirety.

Even so, the warehouse is filled with a large number of crates, scrap metal and wooden frames, and the terrain is complicated, with many blind spots. It is by no means easy to accurately locate a person in such an environment.

Baili Jie quickly scanned the area, his brow furrowed slightly, and he muttered to himself:

"Strange... why haven't any of those three leading experts at the fifth level of the Forging Realm shown up yet?"

Just as Hua Xiangrong was about to speak, she suddenly turned her head and whispered, "They're here."

Baili Jie followed her gaze and saw a metallic clanging sound coming from a side window.

A tall, slender figure silently rolled in.

This person was agile and landed with almost no extra sound.

He slowly straightened up, a row of large steam pistons along his spine moving rhythmically, emitting faint wisps of hot oil. His shoulders and arms were also reinforced and modified with high-strength steel components.

But what is most striking is his eyes. Above his eyes is a rough white cloth covered with densely packed talismanic characters.

However, despite having his eyes covered by thick cloth, this person walked without stumbling at all, as if his vision were completely unobstructed.

With a few nimble leaps, he arrived at the group of Blackwater Hall disciples below. He nodded slightly, and the surrounding Blackwater Hall disciples greeted him with clasped hands and saluted, calling him "Boss Ning".

On the high platform, Hua Xiangrong's expression froze slightly:

"It's Ning Ji..."

Baili Jie leaned closer and whispered, "Is he very good?"

Hua Xiangrong shook her head, then nodded: "His cultivation level isn't particularly difficult to deal with, but... did you see the talisman on the white cloth covering his eyes?"

Baili Jie followed her gaze and nodded: "I see it. What's that?"

"That was a talisman drawn by Ding Yan himself."

Hua Xiangrong's tone was quite solemn: "No matter what this talisman is for, it is not simple. It will definitely enhance Ning Ji's abilities to some extent, allowing him to unleash strength far beyond the ordinary."

Bai Lijie frowned immediately: "Isn't this cheating and using underhanded methods?"

Hua Xiangrong gave a wry smile: "In the rules of the martial world, there has never been a prohibition on the use of talismans and weapons. As long as you have the ability to use them, that is your own method. However... not everyone can withstand these talismans."

Baili Jie was taken aback: "Sister, what does this mean?"

Hua Xiangrong gave a cold laugh:

"Do you know what realm lies beyond the Forging Furnace Realm and the Qi Heart Realm?"

Bailijie shook his head honestly.

"The third stage of steam cultivation is the Inscription Realm. Only by reaching that level can one inscribe talismans into the body's internal mechanisms, achieving perfect integration. Even for martial artists like us at the Steam Mind Realm, casually using such talismans will inevitably result in a backlash. Last night, I used a talisman to fight Miao Xingxing, and I didn't feel good afterward. As for that Ning Ji..."

Hua Xiangrong shook her head, a hint of pity in her voice:

"He's just a fifth-level Forging Realm cultivator, yet he forcibly used his eyes to bear the talisman. After this battle, his eyes will most likely be ruined, and even his meridians will be burned. Ding Yan didn't hesitate to use his own capable experts as consumables in order to win. He really went all out."

Baili Jie remained silent.

He didn't press Ning Ji further, but instead turned his gaze back to the depths of the warehouse, his small face expressionless.

What he cared about was not just this expert whose eyes were wrapped in white cloth.

What he was really concerned about was where the other two fifth-level forging experts, who had not yet shown themselves, were hiding... and what kind of troublesome figures they were.

As he pondered, the stick of incense below finally burned out.

laugh……

The last wisp of smoke rose and dissipated into the air.

Standing at the front of the crowd, Ning Ji slowly turned his head, facing the depths of the warehouse.

He slowly raised his right hand, without saying a word, and simply and decisively swung it downwards:

"Walk."

The next second, the Blackwater Gang elites behind him surged into the depths of the warehouse like a black tide bursting open!