Demons and monsters wreak havoc: gain one new confidante every day.

For a moment, everyone couldn't help but turn to look at Shen You, their eyes filled with shock and fear. They had never seen anyone dare to defy Huang Yaoshi like this before, and now they had truly seen something new.

Shi Jie's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty as he stared intently at Shen You. His initial fear was gradually subsiding, but he was now even more curious about Shen You's background. Just who was this kid? He didn't even put Huang Yaoshi in his eyes? Could he be from one of the three most famous families in the city?

The three major families of Rongcheng—the Liu family, the Lin family, and the Song family—control all aspects of the city's industries. Each family wields immense power and boasts numerous strong individuals. In Rongcheng, a city rife with gangs, they are considered top-tier, first-class forces, far surpassing second-rate forces like Renxintang.

However, Renxin Hall is staffed entirely by pharmacists, who hold a prestigious position. Although it is a second-rate institution, it often sends scions of prominent families to study there. If the young man before him truly comes from one of the three great families, he would indeed have the right to be arrogant in Huangfeng Courtyard, and even dare to openly contradict Huang Yaoshi.

"So he really is the eldest son of one of the three great families?" Shi Jie wondered to himself. "Otherwise, why would he dare to kill that young master of the Zhu family?"

Just then, Huang Yaoshi snorted coldly:

"Disrespectful speech, punishable by thirty strokes of the cane!"

Everyone was startled again, and Shi Jie was also taken aback. Flogging was a very severe punishment, yet Huang Yaoshi used it without hesitation. Could it be that this arrogant young man actually had nothing to rely on?

Shi Jie looked at Shen You again, his gaze subtly changing. Had he been deceived? Was this guy just bluffing and utterly insignificant? Or... had he been intimidated by him?

Shi Jie suddenly clenched his fist, feeling a surge of anger rising within him.

Huang Yaoshi frowned slightly and said coldly, "What are you all standing there for? Are you all dead?!"

The crowd was still hesitant, not understanding Huang Yaoshi's meaning, when Shi Jie suddenly stood up, took a wooden stick from the weapon rack next to him, and walked towards Shen You with a ferocious expression.

"Kid, turns out you're not so great after all!"

He felt intimidated by Shen You, and was therefore extremely angry. He was by nature vengeful, and at this moment he wanted to teach this pretentious brat a lesson.

"Throw him down!" Shi Jie glared at Tian Yi'er, who was carrying Shen You on her back.

"I..." Tian Yi'er trembled, and when she turned her head, she saw Huang Yaoshi staring coldly at her.

Tian Yi'er gritted her teeth and finally carefully placed Shen You on the ground.

With all four limbs broken, Shen You could only sit, but her gaze toward Tian Yi'er was cold.

Those who are incapable are simply incapable; there's really nothing to expect from them.

"Kid, you dare to scare me just now?" Shi Jie approached Shen You with a ferocious expression. "Try scaring me again!"

He roared and was about to strike Shen You with a stick.

"Master!!"

Shen You suddenly shouted, startling Shi Jie. He then saw Shen You turn to face Huang Yaoshi, bow slightly, and say:

"Master, my limbs are broken, so I cannot perform the full ceremony. I will simply bow my head to you and wish you great fortune, prosperity every day, boundless happiness, and longevity!"

Shi Jie was completely stunned, and for some reason, he dared not strike again with the stick in his hand.

Huang Yaoshi above also fell silent, squinting at Shen You, seemingly lost in thought.

Shen You slowly straightened up and looked up at Huang Yaoshi.

"Hey, Master, I've given you plenty of face! Now it's your turn to show some sincerity!"

Shen You said coldly again, which startled Shi Jie once more.

"Tell me what you want me to do!"

"You wouldn't have brought me here by force just to torture me, would you?"

Shen You questioned Huang Yaoshi, and at this moment he also realized that this old ghost Huang was extremely ruthless and cold-blooded. If you don't bow your head to him, he will keep torturing you. It's better to give him a way out and suffer less torment. This is called "a wise man doesn't suffer a loss in front of him".

"You called me master?"

Huang Yaoshi finally sneered, "You think bowing your head to me will make you call me master? There's no such easy thing in this world!"

His expression was unpredictable, and no one knew what he was thinking. When Shi Jie saw Huang Yaoshi speak, he hesitated to strike with his staff.

"If you didn't want to be my master, why did you take me back?" Shen You said angrily. "Didn't you only bring me here because you saw my talent?"

"Stop being so wishy-washy, I've already called you master, isn't that enough?"

"Teach me well, and in a few days I'll become a third or fourth-grade martial artist. Won't that be better than these worthless nobodys around here?!"

Shen You glanced around with disdain; the several men in blue robes dared not speak out in anger.

"Oh!"

Huang Yaoshi suddenly chuckled, but his eyes were still filled with coldness.

"Alright, since you believe yourself to be exceptionally talented, I'll give you a chance!"

He suddenly waved his hand, tossing down a thin booklet that landed with a thud in front of Shen You.

"If you can master it in one night, I'll acknowledge your talent! If you're truly capable, I might even take you as my disciple."

"But if that's not possible..."

Huang Yaoshi's voice rang out, chilling to the bone:

"Then I see no reason for you to live!"

After saying this, he turned around and walked into the tall building, leaving the apprentices standing in front of it, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Shen You looked at the booklet in front of him and could vaguely make out three large, flamboyant characters—

Golden Snake Skill!

Did that old man reveal his martial arts technique?

Shen You slowly picked up the booklet, finally convinced that Old Ghost Huang had indeed recognized his talent. After all, he had unleashed a "blade aura" at the first rank and reversed the attack of a second-rank opponent; such talent was something Old Ghost Huang could not ignore.

"But he was still hesitant. He was debating whether to suppress his murderous intent because of my talent. After all, just as I wanted to kill him, he wanted to kill me too! If I was useless to him, he would definitely kill me first!"

"So he gave me a martial arts manual to test my true talent. If I can't master this 'Golden Snake Skill' overnight, my fate will probably be worse than death!"

"Even if I master the technique, I can't let my guard down. Old Huang definitely doesn't truly want to train me; he has ulterior motives for making me practice. I must be extremely cautious to avoid falling into his trap!"

Shen You took a deep breath and tried to calm her thoughts as much as possible.

"In short, the most urgent task is to master the Golden Snake Skill. As for what comes next, we'll deal with that as things unfold!"

"Brother Shen... are you alright...?"

At this moment, Tian Yi'er walked over again, trembling with fear, and asked anxiously.

Shen You glanced at him and nodded indifferently: "It's alright."

Shen You casually flipped open the booklet, but immediately frowned. The words inside were just as flamboyant and unrestrained as those on the cover. She could at least guess the meaning of the three large characters on the cover, but the densely packed small characters inside the booklet were something she could never decipher.

"It's all classical Chinese!" Shen You gritted her teeth inwardly. "I never thought I'd be illiterate after transmigrating!"

Shen You was already quite cold towards Tian Yi'er at this point. Seeing that he hadn't left yet, she looked up at him and asked, "Can you read?"

"No, I can't read..." Tian Yi'er shook her head.

"Hmph." Shen You didn't say anything more. She turned her head and saw the thug-like man in green standing there in the distance, holding a wooden stick.

"Hey, come here!" Shen You beckoned to the man in blue. "What's your name, Yao Jie? Can you read?"

"My name is Shi Jie!" Shi Jie glared at Shen You, gritting his teeth. "Of course I can read!"

He was completely confused about Shen You's identity. Shen You confronted Huang Yaoshi to his face, yet he called Huang Yaoshi "Master." He was so rude to Huang Yaoshi, yet Huang Yaoshi still left him a martial arts manual to practice.

The complicated relationship between Shen You and Huang Yaoshi made him hesitant to act rashly towards Shen You. Could this Shen You really be a genius favored by Huang Yaoshi?

"It's good that you can read!" Shen You said. "Then come here and read this cultivation manual to me! I want to see what's going on! It's just a lousy cultivation manual, is it really that hard to practice?"

"You..." Shi Jie clenched his fists, unable to speak for a moment.

"What? Do you want to interfere with my practice? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Master?" Shen You's face turned cold.

Remembering Huang Yaoshi's tyrannical power, Shi Jie finally dared not resist. Gritting his teeth, he walked over and said, "Fine, I'll read it to you!"