"Chen Yang's mom used to be here... yeah, right at that spot, but it's taken now. She was a vegetable seller. After her son went missing, she came less frequently, constantly looking for her son."

"After Chen Yang disappeared, I heard his master gave her a large sum of money. She took the money and returned to her hometown, even gave up the rented house..."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan, who was putting oranges into a bag, paused and asked, "Master?! Chen Yang had a master?"

"Yeah, the master who taught him martial arts and fighting. He even found Chen Yang the job to fight, and used to drive him home..."

"His master is truly a good person. He helped in the search after Chen Yang disappeared, and knowing the hardship Chen Yang's mom would face alone for the rest of her life, he even proactively gave her money..."

Listening to the orange-selling aunt's incessant chatter, the light in Lu Yuan's eyes flickered.

Seeing that the bag was quite full of oranges, he stood up, holding it.

"I'll make the payment with my phone, Aunty."

He took out his phone, scanned the payment code on the stall, and transferred two hundred yuan.

Then he left, feeling the orange-selling aunt's gaze on him as if she were thinking, That young man finally left.

"Boss, how much is the fish per kilogram?"

"Please weigh me some peppers... and give me two spring onions for free, Boss."

Lu Yuan strolled through the bustling crowd with his bag of oranges, his ears filled with the sounds of hawking and haggling. People passed him on either side, and occasionally, electric scooters would slowly weave through, their riders calling out, "Make way, make way!"

The reek of fish, the metallic tang of blood, the scent of earth and grass, mixed with the sweat and body odor of the crowd... All swirled around Lu Yuan's nostrils, coalescing in his mind into two words: "the market."

This was a wet market, or perhaps more of a bazaar, in a village-in-the-city within the West Development Zone of Burnt Rock City.

Before Lu Yuan, Lin Zhiquin's previous student—the one who fought for him at Mosa—had lived near here.

That was Chen Yang. He had disappeared for two months before Lu Yuan found him on the third floor of the Crow God Sect's den, his limbs broken, his facial features carved off...

Not long ago, the Burnt Rock City police had released a list of fatalities from the missing persons cases; Chen Yang's name was on it.

Lu Yuan had asked Ge Wenjun for Chen Yang's address, intending to visit the woman who had been crying to Lin Zhiquin and ask her what else Chen Yang had done for Lin Zhiquin at Mosa, besides competing.

Unfortunately, he had come up empty. The woman, grieving the loss of her beloved son, had returned to her hometown alone.

So, with nothing else to do, he had casually chatted with several of the local women at the market who knew about Chen Yang's family. Although he hadn't gleaned much useful information, one point did surprise Lu Yuan.

After Chen Yang's death was confirmed, Lin Zhiquin actually gave his mother a large sum of money?

Wasn't Chen Yang killed by the Crow God Sect? Why would Lin Zhiquin proactively give her money? He himself is clearly short of funds. What was his reasoning, or rather...

His character.

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered as he sank into deep thought.

He suddenly realized that his understanding of Lin Zhiquin had been flawed from the very beginning. Perhaps it was Lin Zhiquin's perfunctory attitude during lessons, his smoking, his unkempt appearance, and other bad habits. Plus, when Lu Yuan had applied for the formal disciple assessment, Lin Zhiquin, whether intentionally or not, had subtly put him on the spot. This had led Lu Yuan to maintain a strong sense of caution in all their subsequent interactions. Even now, he had become accustomed to 'performing' in front of Lin Zhiquin.

But on careful reflection, Lin Zhiquin had seemingly never done anything to harm him. He had diligently taught him practical combat, guided his entry into Martial Arts, and imparted the Crane Sect's techniques. During that time, all the expenses for massages, physical therapy, and the Martial Arts Secret Medicine Lu Yuan consumed were paid by Lin Zhiquin out of his own pocket. Even if he was a core figure in the Crane Sect, surely those resources weren't entirely free? And he had never skimmed any of Lu Yuan's prize money from his fights. From start to finish, it seemed Lin Zhiquin had only ever given, all for the sake of—Lu Yuan continuing to fight at Mosa?!

"Once I take the direct disciple assessment, regardless of whether I pass, I'll be considered a formal disciple of the Crane Sect. According to sect rules, I won't be able to compete anymore. How will Lin Zhiquin... manage to extend his daughter's life then?"

With an expressionless face, Lu Yuan gradually walked out of the noisy market and started down a mottled dirt road. He walked until he reached an intersection where the dirt road met a concrete driveway, stopping beneath a utility pole.

Before coming here, Lu Yuan had specifically asked about Yang Jiandong's recent situation. He was also alive and well; Lu Yuan heard he was already preparing for his wedding with his girlfriend.

Lu Yuan stood at the crossroads waiting for the rural-urban bus. He had eaten his fill of oranges earlier while chatting with the Aunty in the market. Now, even his burps tasted of oranges.

Lu Yuan suddenly felt the urge to urinate. He glanced around and spotted a public toilet about a hundred meters away, so he decided to walk over and relieve himself.

He was only halfway there when, suddenly, Lu Yuan saw several dark shapes fly over from behind the public toilet.

He was now extremely sensitive to black birds. He took a closer look and, indeed, they were crows. But they were much larger than his Crows and looked incredibly strong.

Crow God Sect!

These three words instantly flashed through Lu Yuan's mind.

Without hesitation, he immediately activated his [Crow Language] skill.

His Spiritual Power radiated outwards, transforming into the likeness of plucked harp strings, as invisible ripples of mental energy spread out. Aided by his Level 2 [Crow Language] skill, the crows obediently flew down and landed before Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan had initially wanted to reach out and grab them, but the thought that these creatures might have fed on human flesh made him quickly retract his hand.

He commanded the few crows to open their mouths.

Sure enough, inside their beaks, he saw a circle of fine, sharp, monstrous teeth.

"These are definitely the mutated, monstrous crows bred by the Crow God Sect."

Lu Yuan's gaze hardened slightly as he continued to exchange information with the crows.

A moment later, the mutated crows flapped their wings, about to fly off, but Lu Yuan stomped on them one by one, crushing them to death.

"To think that even after we destroyed a Crow God Sect den led by a Strong Divine Servant in this western part of the city, there's still another one hidden!"

Lu Yuan crushed the last crow's head underfoot, then disgustedly wiped the sole of his shoe on a nearby mound of earth, his brow furrowed slightly.

He pondered how to deal with the situation. After a moment, he made a decision. "I'll leak some information to Ge Wenjun and let Yellow Bear's people handle it themselves."

「.....」

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK—

The door to the lounge was gently pushed open, and a staff member in a Mosa Fight Club uniform poked his head in. Seeing the powerfully built man sitting quietly under the white light, wearing a Three-eyed Ram Mask, the staff member spoke cautiously, "Mr. Feast Eater, your match is about to begin."

"Hmm."

A somewhat deep voice sounded from beneath the mask.

The man in the Three-eyed Ram Mask slowly rose from his chair. His tall, imposing figure blocked half the light from the incandescent bulb as he walked step by step towards the door. To the staff member, it was as if a shadow was rapidly spreading out from the small lounge.

GULP—

Swallowing hard, the staff member quickly pulled the lounge door open as wide as possible, took a few steps back, and respectfully allowed the man to walk past. Only when the man had walked some distance away did he let out a long sigh of relief.

Wiping the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, he muttered with a complex expression, "The number of experts in the club is really increasing. I miss the old days when you could just slack off and still get paid... Sigh..."

「...」

Lu Yuan walked into the competition arena at an unhurried pace.

This was his first time coming to Mosa for a match alone, without Lin Zhiquin. The main purpose was to test the results of his recent body tempering cultivation—experimenting on himself at home with sticks and knives was far less telling than a real, fist-to-flesh fight in the arena.

Stepping into the arena, Lu Yuan was slightly surprised to find quite a few spectators present today. About two-thirds of the seats were filled, the vast majority by masked contestants.

"This competition is getting more and more lively..."

Lu Yuan didn't mind. In fact, his heart felt a bit more settled. The more people there were, the more legitimate this Mosa-organized competition seemed, and the less likely it was that any dangerous incidents would occur.

"Feast Eater has arrived!"

Walking the short distance from the entrance to the fighting platform, Lu Yuan heard people in the audience whispering.

"I didn't expect Power King's first opponent to be Feast Eater. This match might actually be worth watching."

"Worth watching? For Power King, he's just small fry."

"Yeah, Power King made it into the top hundred in the last Southern Hundred Cities Martial Arts League. He was later defeated by that genius from the Steel Fist Sect and disappeared for over a year. I didn't expect him to resurface here! What a surprise."

"His injuries have probably mostly healed, so he's looking for some minor competitions to slowly get back into form. The prize money for this event isn't bad either."

"Yeah..."

So, they're not here for me...

Beneath the Three-eyed Ram Mask, the corner of Lu Yuan's mouth twitched slightly.

He realized he'd been a bit presumptuous. He had thought his own rising fame had attracted many opponents to come and watch. It turned out that people were indeed here to watch, but they were mainly interested in observing his opponent's performance.

"Power King."

Lu Yuan secretly mulled over this name he had just heard, a sense of eagerness and curiosity stirring within him.

From the crowd's discussions, this person called Power King seemed very strong, an already renowned expert in the fighting world.

"Good. I'll use this opportunity to gauge my own standing in the fighting world. If I encounter similar experts in the future, I'll be able to handle them with more confidence," Lu Yuan thought, slowly ascending the steps to the towering fighting platform.

Before he even saw his opponent in person, the massive screens hanging on all four sides of the arena were displaying the image of a figure wearing a Lion Face Saber-toothed Mask. Only when he had fully stepped onto the platform did his opponent's appearance truly register in his eyes.

He was an extremely powerfully built man. His chest muscles bulged, nearly bursting the sleeveless elastic vest he wore. His arms were as thick as an adult's thighs. His waist and abdomen were solid, and the even more exaggerated muscles of his thighs hinted at astonishing explosive leg power.

Lu Yuan felt his own physique was quite strong. But compared to this opponent... he looked almost malnourished...

The powerfully built man in the Lion Face Saber-toothed Mask stood there silently, arms crossed. The gaze from beneath the mask was cold. It swept casually over Lu Yuan before quickly looking away.

Then, he turned to the referee and urged impatiently, "Since he's here, announce the start of the match quickly."

"Yes, yes."

The referee, nodding obsequiously, wiped the sweat from his forehead and loudly announced the beginning of the match. Then he scurried away without a backward glance.

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