143: Chapter 143 Ascension, Aftermath

A metallic stream of light, almost physical, flowed slowly over the surface of his body.

This was the effect of activating [Copper Skin].

This talent, seized from the Wild Boar Demon, was not as commonly used as Skynet, but it was still a talent that increased physical fitness.

Chen Ran clutched his head, feeling as if a finger were stirring around inside his mind.

A large amount of fragmented memories flooded into his brain.

Cultivating the [Copper Skin] talent was dull and tedious; even with the boost of cultivation power, it required meticulous effort to make progress bit by bit.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Chen Ran had practiced the talent nearly thousands of times in his memories, going from being unskilled at the start to knowing it like the back of his hand at the end.

It even gave birth to a feeling of it merging into his Bloodline.

Crick-crack, crick-crack.

A sound similar to metal grinding echoed throughout the entire courtyard.

The muscles on Chen Ran's body bulged, and his skin changed along with them.

A thin layer of black stratum corneum appeared over his entire skin.

At the same time, a terrifying heat radiated from his body.

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

Chen Ran slowly opened his eyes; his heart was beating strongly and powerfully, and under his vigorous Qi and blood, billows of heat rose from behind him.

A large amount of white smoke drifted upward. At this moment, his skin was flushed red, making him look like a steamed prawn.

Phew—

Chen Ran exhaled a long breath of white mist, reached out to pinch his skin, and whispered:

"It really made me wait for a long time..."

Chen Ran looked up at the panel in front of him.

[Your cultivation is successful. Having gained insight, your talent Copper Skin (Initial Stage) has evolved into → Copper Skin (Max Stage).]

A Max Stage talent!

This was his second Max Stage talent besides [Skynet].

Chen Ran pinched his arm; the skin now felt as hard as metal to the touch.

Only after using seventy percent of his strength did he manage to leave a shallow white mark on the skin's surface.

Within a few breaths, the white mark disappeared.

Chen Ran nodded slightly and opened his hand, shooting out several invisible threads from between his fingers.

Whoosh.

A pitch-black heavy blade sliced through the night and flew into his hand.

Chen Ran then drew the blade toward his fingertip.

The moment the blade's edge touched his skin, it first sank in a few millimeters, then stopped with a screeching sound.

"Hmm?"

Chen Ran was slightly taken aback, then increased his force.

Only then did the blade pierce downward tremulously, but the speed was very slow.

Chen Ran felt as if he were cutting a piece of thick kraft paper; it wasn't until the blade sank half a finger deep that bright red beads of blood emerged from his fingertip.

"This defensive power is not inferior even to a powerhouse in the Return to Truth Realm."

Chen Ran focused his mind, and the blood beads on his fingertip coagulated.

He was very satisfied with this improvement.

The Max Stage [Copper Skin] was different from usual; not only was his physical fitness improved, but its use was no longer an active trigger.

Instead, it had transformed into something like a passive talent.

As long as he encountered danger, that layer of stratum corneum on his skin's surface would emerge and harden.

"I should also consider finding a suitable place to Breakthrough my Realm."

Chen Ran felt the profound cultivation power within his body.

At this moment, he was already at the Peak of the Aperture Condensation Realm, only one step away from the Return to Truth Realm.

But given the current level of strictness in the capital, he probably wouldn't have a reasonable excuse to leave the city.

"It seems I still have to wait for the storm to calm down a bit before planning further..."

Chen Ran put on a black windbreaker and gazed into the swirling wind and snow.

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The degree of martial law in the capital had subsided quite a bit.

Under such a state of mass purging, the City Defense Army had actually managed to find several assassins.

However, that night's attack was not the work of a single assassin, but a premeditated raid.

Just catching a few people was nowhere near enough to satisfy the higher-ups.

Wangshan Teahouse, second-floor hall.

Chen Ran ordered some morning tea and some food, then sat by the window on the second floor.

Holding a teacup in one hand, he turned his head to look at the pedestrians walking below.

On the street, some pedestrians were pushing wooden carts to deliver goods, while others were clearing snow in front of their shops.

The heavy snow that had fallen for several days had finally stopped. Now that the sun was shining brightly, the capital had finally returned to its normal life.

The martial law of the past few days actually hadn't caused as much impact as that one winter storm.

In just these few days, Chen Ran had seen dozens of corpses being taken to the Mass Grave.

And those were just the ones openly recorded on the books.

After this winter storm, the number of refugees and beggars who died in secret would only be higher.

Chen Ran took a sip of tea; the warm tea entered his stomach, bringing a bit of warmth to his belly.

In the teahouse hall, there were also several middle-aged men dressed in cotton-padded clothes drinking tea.

They were eating morning tea while conversing with each other.

"Manager Li, I heard your shipment was seized?"

"Don't mention it. Those City Defense Army soldiers insisted that prisoners might be hidden in my shipment and said they had to take it for inspection. There's still no sign of it."

"Then your shipment is likely done for this time. I heard that the City Defense Army is being ruthless this time, intercepting quite a lot of goods."

"Exactly. I can only consider myself unlucky."

The few speakers could only sigh helplessly as they chatted about this.

Their voices were extremely low, audible only to those nearby.

After all, discussing the City Defense Army in public was not a wise thing to do.

If it were spread around, the lighter consequence would be having to apologize.

The heavier consequence would be being singled out for harassment by the City Defense Army, and there would be no need to keep the shop open in the future.

Although Chen Ran's gaze was directed out the window, those fragmented sounds surfaced clearly in his ears.

With his current hearing, he could even hear the sound of a mosquito a few meters away.

Chen Ran finished his tea, called the waiter to settle the bill, and sat in his seat for a while longer.

With his current cultivation power, he could completely manage to use [Skynet] for a long time, but Chen Ran chose not to turn it on.

The talent [Skynet] was indeed suitable for reconnaissance and gathering intelligence, but the price for that was that too much information could easily confuse him.

Think about it: if a person could hear all the sounds within a hundred-mile radius.

Then they most likely wouldn't take off, but would instead break down due to information overload.

Even with his current mental strength, his head would feel swollen when facing too much redundant and miscellaneous information.

So Chen Ran had also set a rule for himself: when not actively using it,

He would only open it for one hour at a fixed time every day to listen to the surrounding news.

For the rest of the time, he would choose other reconnaissance methods.

This teahouse was his usual place for recreation and gathering intelligence.

He had always preferred quiet environments, so compared to a tavern, the teahouse's advantages were even more obvious.

In the current harsh environment, most of those who could afford to drink a pot of warm tea on a cold winter day were middle-class individuals.

The content of their chats or their sources of information were much deeper than those of the Jianghu travelers in taverns.

Chen Ran slowly stood up and prepared to walk down the teahouse stairs.

As he passed the table of tea drinkers, the people who were just chatting turned their heads to greet him.

"Good morning, Prison Officer Chen."

"Prison Officer Chen, let's have tea together when you're free next time. I have a batch of Longjing tea I just bought."

"Certainly, certainly."

Chen Ran smiled and nodded, returning the greetings.

After staying at the teahouse for a long time, the regular tea drinkers all knew there was a member of the Demon Suppression Division in this teahouse.

They were usually quite attentive to him, and wherever he went, there were mostly flattering voices.

After walking out of the teahouse, Chen Ran tightened his robe and cast a faint glance at a spot dozens of meters behind him.

At this moment, in his perception, there was a figure secretly watching him from there.