Chapter 1 Demon Arms in a Chaotic World, Taotie Furnace

Han Zheng faced utter darkness, as if trapped in some sort of nightmare, struggling to wake but incapable of doing so.

Suddenly, a blurred light bloomed before his eyes.

What came into view was a dilapidated, abandoned temple, with a Buddha statue, missing half its face, lying next to him, splotched with traces of blood, slightly ominous, as if it were staring at Han Zheng.

"Hiss! That hurts a lot."

Han Zheng rubbed his head, only to find his hand smeared with fresh blood.

A chaos of memories flooded his mind, forcing him to accept the fact that he had transmigrated.

In his previous life, Han Zheng was a game designer at a small company, who after working overtime for a week, took a tumble in the subway and never got up again.

When he awoke, he found himself as the Han Zheng of this world.

Sorting through the memories in his mind, Han Zheng furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue.

"What kind of dogshit world is this?"

Great Zhou had been established for three thousand years, and the entire dynasty was already riddled with holes.

Demons wrought havoc, cults ran rampant, rebels arose, and sects and families dominated regions, leaving the common people unable to eke out a living.

In this life, Han Zheng was born in Black Stone County of Jingzhou Prefecture, within the Southern Mountain of Great Zhou.

His mother had passed away early, and his father was a clerk in the County Government, without any real power, only responsible for writing documents and earning a meager salary.

Last year Han Zheng's father had saved up some money and sent an eighteen-year-old Han Zheng to train in martial arts at Zhenwei Martial Arts Academy of Black Stone County.

In such chaotic times, scholars didn't live long, only power was the fundamental means to protect oneself.

But before Han Zheng had a chance to graduate, his father had become ill and died not long ago.

To provide for his father's funeral, Han Zheng had nearly sold off all their possessions, leaving him with nothing.

But why was he in this broken temple?

The memory of yesterday was incredibly murky; Han Zheng could only trace back to leaving class at the martial arts hall, and then everything was a blank.

Could it be that he had been hit and lost his memories?

Han Zheng glanced at the slightly sinister Buddha statue.

Before his transmigration, he was supposed to have been leaning against this dilapidated Buddha statue, but its base had rotted, causing the statue to collapse and crush his previous life.

Barely managing to stand, Han Zheng suddenly rubbed his eyes and incredulously focused ahead.

Had he been hit and started hallucinating?

[Taotie Furnace Activated]

[Host can sacrifice any materials to break through martial arts skills or enter the furnace for cultivation]

Han Zheng watched as a huge bronze melting furnace appeared before him, its surface engraved with lifelike Taotie dragon patterns.

The fierce and ferocious aura confronted him, overwhelmingly authentic.

He rubbed his eyes again, but the Taotie Furnace before him remained as clear as ever.

Wasn't this the last version of the game he had been updating before passing out from overtime in his previous life?

In his previous life, Han Zheng operated a mini-program game, slaying monsters to level up, simple and mindless.

Such games usually had a short lifespan, only lasting a few months or at most half a year before reaching their end.

This was the first game Han Zheng had led independently, and he was quite attached to it.

So, in the last update, Han Zheng designed the Taotie Furnace as an act of goodwill.

One could sacrifice all sorts of junk from their inventory like low-level materials, equipment, potions, etc., to the Taotie Furnace in exchange for a breakthrough enhancement in skills.

They could also sacrifice these things to directly convert into experience points for rapid leveling.

Now that he had transmigrated, had the Taotie Furnace setting also transmigrated with him?

But surely, he couldn't always walk around carrying such a huge furnace, right?

Just as this thought emerged in his mind, the Taotie Refining Furnace before him instantaneously vanished.

Yet Han Zheng could feel it was still within his mind, ready to appear at the slightest thought.

Han Zheng narrowed his eyes in contemplation: a transmigration golden finger? Was this allowing him to slay monsters and level up in this world?

But the problem is, you should at least give a newbie gift pack.

The Taotie Furnace was a setting Han Zheng came up with towards the end of the game's life.

Where would one find so many materials to sacrifice in the early stages? Surely it's not right to start off by throwing one's life into it.

No sooner had this thought appeared than the Taotie Furnace manifested again.

[No sacrificable materials detected currently. The host can use lifespan, one of the Six Senses, one of the Five Limbs, one of the Three Souls, one of the Seven Spirits, one of the Seven Emotions, one of the Six Desires, and various other entities in possession for sacrifice]

The lifelike Taotie dragon pattern's red eyes glowed, its mouth wide open as though ready to devour the sky and eat the earth, exuding an indescribable greed.

Beneath it was a description similar to a game's attribute chart.

[Name: Han Zheng

Cultivation: Postnatal Opening Meridian Realm (forty-one meridian acupoints unblocked)

Martial Arts Skill: Postnatal Realm 'Iron Elephant Skill' (Skill Level 17%)

Current Status: Concussion]

"So I really need to throw my own life into this? Then what on earth can be used as material for sacrifice?"

[Taotie Furnace devours all; it refuses no one. When a sacrificable material is detected, it will notify the host.]

Han Zheng now somewhat regretted it.

If he'd known transmigration was going to happen, he should have made the setting of the Taotie Furnace even simpler.

He waved his hand, and the furnace in front of him disappeared.

Han Zheng walked out of the ruined temple. The eastern sky was lightening; it must be dawn.

From a distance, one could vaguely make out a city of no small scale, constructed entirely of black stone bricks—there lay Black Stone County.

I've actually run all the way to the outskirts of the county town?

These days, the outskirts of a county town are extremely dangerous.

Demons devour people, bandits rob wealth, and it is most perilous for a person to leave the town alone.

Although it was almost dawn, it still wasn't safe, and Han Zheng hurriedly ran toward Black Stone County with large strides.

Having run a certain distance, Han Zheng looked back at the dilapidated temple and suddenly found it very strange.

A small temple that worshipped only a single Buddha statue, round at the top and square at the bottom, with a patchy dark red appearance as if it were a gaping maw of blood.

Watching a mountain run won't make the horse dead.

It took Han Zheng almost an hour of running before he reached the city gate, which the soldiers had just opened.

According to the memories in his mind, Han Zheng weaved through the dilapidated alleys until he finally found his home.

A small blue-bricked house with a yard.

Although it was still clean and tidy, recently they had almost sold everything valuable in the house to hold a funeral for his father.

So now one could say that Han Zheng's home was almost completely bare, with only a bed.

After fetching a bucket of water and washing the wound behind his head, Han Zheng glanced at his reflection in the well water.

In this lifetime, I am rather handsome; while not extraordinarily beautiful, at the very least I have strong brows and starry eyes, with a handsome and spirited face.

Glancing at the time, the early class at the Martial Arts Hall was about to start.

Zhenwei Martial Arts Academy offered two types of classes, early class and full class.

The early class was only half a day, while the full class, which occurred once every ten days, was for the entire day.

Memory told him that Han Zheng had been diligent, joining the Martial Arts Hall for half a year and never missing a single day of classes.

After all, the opportunity to join Zhenwei Martial Arts Academy was something his father had almost spent all their savings to obtain.

Three hundred silver plus a robust and healthy constitution, only then could one be eligible to enter the Martial Arts Hall.

Even if you were an invalid and offered a thousand silver, the Martial Arts Hall would not admit you.

Although Han Zheng was diligent, his constitution could only be considered average.

After joining the Martial Arts Academy, Li Jingzhong taught the disciples the basic Inner Strength skill "Iron Elephant Skill," which Han Zheng had practiced for half a year, managing to open only forty-one acupoints.

The more advanced disciples had already opened more than fifty acupoints.

As he was about to leave the house, Han Zheng's stomach growled.

However, after searching through the house, Han Zheng found only half a cold bun, which he washed down with cold water before hastily setting out.

Black Stone County was divided into four districts: east, west, south, and north.

Han Zheng's home was in the North City, where many poor citizens dwelled closely packed together, akin to a slum.

Zhenwei Martial Arts Academy was located in the bustling East District, where three large courtyards were joined to serve as the training ground.

When Han Zheng arrived at the Martial Arts Hall, the other disciples were almost all present, waiting for the class to begin.

Zhenwei Martial Arts Academy had about a hundred people, a few from rich families, but most were children from well-off households.

After all, "the poor study letters while the rich practice arms," and the tuition for the Martial Arts Hall was three hundred silver, which ordinary families simply could not afford.

Moments later, a man in his fifties, dressed in black warrior attire, with a square and imposing appearance, emerged from the inside of the Martial Arts Hall.

This man was Li Jingzhong, the Martial Arts Hall Master of Zhenwei Martial Arts Academy, nicknamed "Long-Armed White Ape," a high-level master within the Innate Transcendence Realm.

One-handedly, his White Ape Extended Arm Fist could shatter slabs of stone, easily withstanding sword and spear, making him an influential figure within Black Stone County.

Li Jingzhong scanned the room and spoke gravely, "You disciples joined the Martial Arts Hall for as few as six months and as many as seven or eight months, and you should all have mastered the basics of 'Iron Elephant Skill.' It's time for the first major examination.

The path of Martial Arts is such that if you do not advance, you regress. After the examination, all those who do not meet the standards must be dismissed from the Martial Arts Hall.

It is not that I lack compassion, but the path of Martial Arts is simply that cruel; without talent and willpower, staying in the Martial Arts Hall is just wasting time."

As his words fell, the disciples of the Martial Arts Hall stirred, most of them in a state of panic.

Being dismissed from the Martial Arts Hall not only meant that their money was wasted, but it also proved that they were mediocrities, unsuitable for practicing martial arts.

"Silence!"

Li Jingzhong walked down the steps to the practice poles used in the training courtyard.

"What is Martial Arts? Martial Arts is something forged by time and willpower!

Postnatal opening of the channels, condensing Inner Strength within the body's acupoints.

The human body has three hundred sixty-five acupoints, mirroring the number of Celestial Stars in the heavens, and with each acupoint opened, one's strength greatly increases.

There are also twelve main meridians that control the direction of the body's strength, and with each one opened, control over that strength greatly improves.

Condensing the power of the acupoints to break through the twelve meridians, integrating acupoints and meridians into one, qualifies one to step into the Innate Transcendence Realm.

Innate Transcendence, as the name implies, is the transformation from Postnatal back to Innate, shedding the cocoon to become a butterfly, casting aside the mortal body.

This step is even more difficult, requiring constant scouring of every inch of bone and every fiber of flesh within the body with the Inner Strength of the acupoint meridians, a process excruciatingly painful.

Golden Muscle and Jade Veins in the Middle Stage, Mercury Blood Silver Marrow in the Late Stage.

Upon achieving Great Success and Perfection, the flesh becomes like pure white jade, flawless and known as Water and Fire Immortal Clothes, possessing the awesome power to be unharmed by mundane water and fire.

But do you know that ninety-nine percent of Martial Artists will never reach the Perfection of transcending the mortal realm, the Great Success of Water and Fire Immortal Clothes in their lifetimes?

Postnatal and Innate—simply the first step in the door to Martial Arts can be this difficult, as challenging as ascending to heaven!"

With those words, Li Jingzhong swung his arm and fiercely smashed it against a nearby stone pillar.

Like the White Ape Arm Shaking, the forceful wind blasted with a roar.

Accompanied by a booming sound, the stone pillar did not just break apart, but shattered into pieces, as if it were powdered!

"This punch is the fruit of thirty years of dedication to Martial Arts!"

Li Jingzhong looked at the many disciples who were now utterly astounded and said solemnly, "Today, I will teach you the first Martial Arts Skill 'Vajra Fist.'

Three days from now, the examination begins. Those who have opened fifty acupoints, one meridian, and have mastered the basics of 'Vajra Fist' will be considered qualified!"