1: Dirt has entered the city

Brain Storage Buff Version (Luck +1, Physique +1 per hour during storage period).

"Xiao Zhuo! Xiao Zhuo! The Young Master is calling you!" A sudden shout exploded outside the wooden window, making Xiao Zhuo's eardrums ache.

He groggily propped himself up, his lean chest exposed from under the slipped silk quilt. The yellow liquor he had drunk with Young Master Xiao Shaoyou at Hundred Flowers Pavilion last night was still wreaking havoc, and his temples throbbed.

He clearly remembered that fatty had drunk even more fiercely than him, so how did he manage to wake up earlier?

"I know! Where's the Young Master?!" Xiao Zhuo rubbed his throbbing temples and roared back, his voice hoarse.

"Brother Zhuo! Hurry! The Young Master is in the main hall!" Footsteps were already at the door crack, and the person then lowered their voice, adding urgently, "The Master is there too!"

The hairs on Xiao Zhuo's nape instantly stood on end—that dissolute Young Master was probably going to pin the blame on him again, and he was likely in for some bad luck.

With a mournful expression, he nimbly put on his indigo-colored short tunic. Before he could even tie his belt, he pushed open the door with a creak.

"Huzi! Thanks! I'll be right there!" Blocking the doorway was a burly man like an iron tower. It was Huzi, seventeen years old but already broad-shouldered and strong as a tiger. He had beaten Li Zhen, the guard instructor, when he entered the residence last year.

Xiao Zhuo bared his teeth and squeezed out a smile, slipping past the man's armpit as agile as a loach.

Huzi watched Xiao Zhuo's receding back, silently lamenting in his heart, "Brother Zhuo, may you find your own blessings!"

Halfway there, an inexplicable chill ran up Xiao Zhuo's back. He suddenly looked back, but behind him was empty, only the wind in the corridor.

He passed through two moon gates. As soon as he approached the main hall, he heard Xiao Ningzhi's deafening roar from inside:

"Unfilial son! I just told you yesterday that the city isn't safe, and not to go out carousing! Did it go in one ear and out the other?!"

Xiao Ningzhi, the richest man in Peng City, a figure whose stomp could make the entire Peng City tremble, sat in the main seat, his face full of rage.

The blue brick floor of the hall exuded a chill. A small chubby man, wrapped in a crumpled plain white undershirt, knelt there, looking like a frostbitten glutinous rice ball—it was Young Master Xiao Shaoyou.

Catching sight of Xiao Zhuo entering, the chubby man quickly winked at him.

"Master, please forgive me!" Xiao Zhuo darted forward, falling to his knees with a thud, and quickly said, "It's all my fault for listening to the guards gossiping, saying that a new exotic dancer had arrived at Hundred Flowers Pavilion..."

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the main seat. The corner of Xiao Ningzhi's green brocade robe with gold patterns was motionless, and the large jade thumb ring on his thumb reflected his fawning, bitter face.

"Enough! You two scoundrels, do you think I don't know?" Xiao Ningzhi's anger slightly subsided. He kicked Xiao Zhuo, making him stumble, "This time, you two are lucky! To have returned safe and sound last night is already a blessing from your ancestors. Do you know how many of the ten guards I sent to find you returned?"

Xiao Zhuo had just relaxed a little at the first half of the sentence, a smile forming on his face as he moved to help Xiao Shaoyou, but the latter half of the sentence pierced his ears like an ice pick.

Xiao Shaoyou also looked stunned and bewildered.

Before either of them could react, Xiao Ningzhi's facial muscles twitched, and his eyes showed deep distress: "Ten went, only seven returned! If Li Zhen hadn't desperately protected you two to return first..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the unspoken consequences made the temperature in the hall plummet.

"Father! You mean..." Xiao Shaoyou's round face instantly lost all color, his voice trembling.

"That's right!" Xiao Ningzhi's expression was as grave as iron, "City Lord Zong warned me the day before yesterday that 'unclean things' might have entered the city! And quite a few of them!"

"Unclean things? Demons?!" Xiao Zhuo's heart trembled.

In the year since his Transmigration, though he hadn't personally witnessed them under the Xiao Family's protection, the frequent disappearance cases in the city all indicated the existence of these monsters.

At this moment, the hazy memories of last night's drunkenness suddenly became clear—someone was carrying him, running wildly. In the darkness, several people seemed to be fighting a huge black shadow over nine feet tall with ox horns! Was that... a demon?!

This was a dangerous world, similar to ancient Earth, but where Martial Artists and demons ran rampant.

Demons were powerful, and even the Great Chen Imperial Dynasty's government often found itself powerless.

Xiao Zhuo knew there must be many secrets involved, but unfortunately, his original self was just an orphan adopted by the Xiao Family, who became a bookboy because he was the same age as the Young Master and quick-witted.

Although the Xiao Family was immensely wealthy, they couldn't reach the core of such secrets.

"Father, what did City Lord Zong say?" Xiao Shaoyou asked, suppressing his fear.

Xiao Ningzhi's eyes showed even deeper worry. He avoided answering, only saying in a deep voice, "This matter is no small thing! I have already arranged to sell the Peng City properties cheaply. Tomorrow, we will set off for Heavenly Wolf City."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shaoyou's face lost its last trace of color.

Xiao Zhuo's heart sank even further: Peng City was the Xiao Family's Foundation, with most of their properties located there.

For Xiao Ningzhi to make such a drastic decision, cutting off his own arm and fleeing in haste, showed how dangerous the invading demons were this time. Even City Lord Zong Qing might not be confident in dealing with them!

This was telling the prominent families in the city to escape early!

"Enough!" Xiao Ningzhi waved his hand wearily, his face more serious than ever before, "Xiao Zhuo, help the Young Master back to his room. Without my command, if either of you dares to step out of the Xiao Residence again, you will be dealt with by family rules!"

Xiao Zhuo solemnly agreed, helping up Xiao Shaoyou, whose legs were weak from kneeling for so long.

Looking at the unyielding fear on the chubby boy's face, Xiao Zhuo felt the same.

The tragic death of Madam Xiao was witnessed only by Xiao Shaoyou—during a visit to her parents, she encountered demons and hid him in a secret compartment under the carriage seat, thus saving his life.

When he was found, he had been curled up in that secret compartment for three days amidst severed limbs and blood-stained earth... That bone-deep fear had long become a nightmare.

After settling Xiao Shaoyou in his room, Xiao Zhuo exited and returned to his adjacent ear room, which was always on standby, and lay down.

With a thought, a translucent panel silently appeared in the depths of his consciousness:

Name: Xiao Zhuo;

Race: Human Race;

Realm: Not yet entered Realm;

Cultivation Technique: Tiger Subduing Fist (58/100); Eight Directions Demon Slaying Saber (17/100);

Attribute Points: 0

This was the Golden Finger that came with his Transmigration, similar to a game panel, which could visually display his Cultivation progress.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary worker. Xiao Zhuo had studied this thing for a year, but aside from being able to "see" it, he hadn't found a way to add points or upgrade.

He guessed that the crucial "Attribute Points" might require some special opportunity to obtain.

The ominous news he heard today was like a sword hanging over his head, making him anxious and restless.

Getting out of bed, he went to the courtyard and began to practice his fist Moves against the cool evening breeze.

The wind howled as the Moves of the Tiger Subduing Fist became powerful in his hands.

However, after twenty repetitions, the values on the panel remained unchanged.

Xiao Zhuo sighed helplessly.

The guard instructor Li Zhen once mentioned that his Senior Brother had cultivated the Tiger Subduing Fist to Major Achievement in a year.

He himself had diligently Cultivated for over a year and was still hovering at rudimentary understanding, showing his poor talent.

The sun was setting in the west, and a maid brought his meal.

Xiao Zhuo quickly finished his food and, despite his arms aching as if filled with lead, continued to practice his fists.

Sweat soaked his short tunic, trickling down his spine.

It wasn't until the Xu Shi (7-9 PM) (7-9 PM) that the number on the panel barely budged: Tiger Subduing Fist • Rudimentary (59/100).

His body's exhaustion had reached its limit. Four hours of strenuous Cultivation daily was the limit of what this body could endure.

To become a true Martial Artist and enter the Body Tempering Realm, one needed to Cultivate the Tiger Subduing Fist to Major Achievement at least, only then could one activate Qi and blood to temper muscles, bones, and skin.

The road ahead was still very long.

Suddenly—

"Boom!!!"

A dull thud tore through the night's tranquility, the crisp sound of bricks and stones shattering clearly audible!

Immediately following, a woman's shrill, distorted scream pierced the night sky: "Help! People are dead!!!"

The entire Xiao Residence was instantly awakened. Countless footsteps, exclamations, and sounds of objects colliding surged from all directions towards the source of the sound!

PS:

Human Race Cultivation Realm: First Realm Body Tempering, Second Realm Meridian Unblocking, Third Realm Marrow Cleansing, Fourth Realm True Essence, Fifth Realm Aperture Condensation, Sixth Realm Return to Truth, Seventh Realm Sea of Consciousness, Eighth Realm Myriad Manifestations, Ninth Realm Shattered Realm (Cultivation Class).

Demon Realm Cultivation Realm: First Realm Mortal-Grade, Second Realm Ferocious-Grade, Third Realm Malevolent-Grade, Fourth Realm Baleful Rank, Fifth Realm Nightmare Grade, Sixth Realm Calamity-Grade, Seventh Realm King-Grade, Eighth Realm Dominator, Ninth Realm Ancestor-level.