"Cloud-Scorching Hand!"
In the simulator, Shen Qingshan had gifted Chen Yi one of four martial arts, a Mid-Grade martial technique.
To perform this art one must mobilize spiritual energy, shaping a vast phantom hand of void in midair using one's own spiritual energy.
Whatever Chen Yi's hand did, that phantom hand would do the same, a one-to-one replication.
When the internal technique was the fire-aligned Fierce Heart Formula, the two techniques could link, and the Cloud-Scorching Hand would be covered in roaring flames!
The two-zhang-long hand slapped across the void, seizing Shi San in one palm.
Chen Yi activated his external technique to surge his vitality, boosting his strength, made a grabbing motion with his right hand and raised it high.
The flaming phantom hand mirrored Chen Yi's movement, pinched Shi San and lifted him into the air.
"Ah!! I'm on fire! I'm on fire! Brother Chen Yi! Spare me! I'll be your laborer! Your slave!!"
Chen Yi snorted coldly, his eyes without a hint of hesitation.
"I am not in the habit of oppressing others! The day you found my brother and me, if you had let us go, we would not be in this disaster today!"
Shi San, burned and writhing in agony, was filled with regret to his guts.
He could never comprehend how, in only one day, this Chen Yi—who had only been a laborer at the dock—could casually decide over his life and death and even destroy his Black Stone Gang.
Shi San had no way of knowing the power of the "Simulator" entry, nor that Chen Yi had a trait system.
By the time Chen Yi finished speaking, Shi San had been burned almost to cinders.
Da Chun sniffed the air.
"Smells so good, Brother Yi."
Chen Yi was speechless.
"You can't eat that... Come on, let's go home. I'll take you to a feast at Yuelai Inn in the county town!"
Chen Yi casually tossed the charred Shi San aside and led Da Chun toward the Qing River.
When they reached the river, Chen Yi's gaze swept the surface and he saw thin strands of monster aura, dark and dense.
"It's that river demon. It's not safe to take boats. Let's walk along the riverbank."
A single Qing River cut through Qingzhou, which is how Qingzhou got its name.
The two were currently in Qinghe County, and their hometown, Baiyun County, both under Baling Prefecture in Qingzhou.
The two counties were adjacent, one upstream, the other downstream.
There was no navigation in this world, making it easy to get lost.
Follow the river's direction and you won't have that problem.
"Da Chun, I still don't know your real name."
"My name's Da Chun!"
"Who has the surname 'Da'..."
"People in the village used to call me 'Big Idiot! Big Idiot!' and over time it became Da Chun."
"Uh... come to think of it, I should apologize. When we were kids, I used to bully you with the other children."
"Did you? I don't remember at all!"
"A person shouldn't be without a family name. You're from our village, so you should be 'Chen' too. How about 'Chen Da Chun'?"
"But Da Chun means 'Big Idiot,' right? Can I be called Xiao Chun? Sounds cuter!"
"Fine, Chen Xiao Chun!"
Chen Yi and Da Chun, one tall and lanky, the other round like a ball, walked along the grassy riverbank toward their hometown.
After three months of oppression and abuse, the two had finally escaped the Black Stone Gang and gotten complete revenge.
When they passed through Qinghe County Town, they entered the town to eat and rest for a while.
Patrons at the inn were discussing the destruction of the Black Stone Gang.
"Have you heard? That Black Stone Gang holed up at the Ten-Mile Pavilion dock outside the town was wiped out in one go! Their main headquarters has nothing left, all emptied out!"
"Which gang? Who's brave enough to touch our county magistrate's brother-in-law?"
"It wasn't a gang, nor any family from our county. I heard it was just one person!"
"One person?! Wow, could it be one of those wandering martial masters from the storyteller's tales?"
"That Black Stone Gang really had bad luck to offend someone like that. I heard the county magistrate was furious but only dared to be angry for a bit!"
Rumors spread like that.
Some Black Stone Gang members survived; after scattering they loudly praised Chen Yi so they wouldn't seem useless for failing to save their own gang.
The dock laborers who escaped also told everyone how the hero named "Chen Yi" saved them, and they exaggerated, saying Chen Yi had leopard speed, bear strength, monkey agility and so on.
Word of mouth amplified everything.
Now people in Qinghe County believed that the one who eliminated the Black Stone Gang was a martial master who had flown in from the sky.
He had seen the laborers oppressed and felt pity.
A single slap and the Black Stone Gang turned to ashes.
When Chen Yi heard that Shi San had some connection to the county magistrate, he had been a little worried.
He did not expect the magistrate to also believe the rumors and avoid offending a martial master over his brother-in-law who ran a gang.
Although no one had heard of this Chen Yi.
But this world was vast; what if it really had been some big wandering hero?
After confirming the facts, Chen Yi relaxed.
He had worried his real name might be exposed and cause trouble.
Given how exaggerated the rumor was in Qinghe County, no one would link him to that "big shot."
Names that sound the same are not unusual.
After two days' rest, Chen Yi bought a carriage in the county town, drove the horse himself, put Da Chun in the carriage, and continued their journey.
Baiyun County got its name from the ring of Baiyun Ridge around the county border.
The mountains were rugged and rolling; densely packed peaks created layered ridges that, whenever mountain rains came, were covered in a veil of mist like an immortal realm.
Despite the beauty, this world had no concept of tourism.
So Baiyun County remained an ordinary poor place.
Half a month after leaving the Black Stone Gang's dock, Chen Yi and Da Chun had been walking and resting along the way, eating and drinking, and were now nearly to Baiyun County Town.
Thanks to the "Monster Aura" entry, Chen Yi occasionally detected traces of monster aura during the trip.
However, the presence of monster aura somewhere did not mean a monster was there at that very moment.
A monster passing nearby would leave its aura behind; even after ten days or half a month, the aura would linger where it had passed and be detected by Chen Yi's "Monster Aura" trait.
Monsters were everywhere in the Five Regions, rumored to feed on humans to increase their cultivation—mortal enemies of humanity.
That was why the Great Qian set up Demon Slaying Division offices across the land to handle monster problems.
Combined with what he learned from the second simulation, he realized this was because Baiyun County's Demon Slaying Division and county yamen were essentially the monsters' protective umbrella in this area.
The good news was, with a protective umbrella, monster attacks were organized and had to be "reported." They couldn't randomly ambush passersby.
If they did, it would be inconvenient for the county magistrate to pin the blame on someone.
So after entering Baiyun County, Chen Yi actually felt safer.
But there were mountain bandits.
"This mountain I planted! This tree I opened..."
Seeing Xu Linglong—whose figure resembled the character for "protrude"—appear before him with her bandit lackeys, Chen Yi stopped the carriage with an exasperated expression.
"Why is it you again..."
Xu Linglong scratched her head with a great hammer and said confusedly,
"Why do you say 'again'?"

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