Chapter 2

Once the Great Emperor of the Netherworld, he was the pinnacle of existence in the Tianheng Continent, able to control the lives of millions with a mere thought. It goes without saying that this mere Second Rank Alchemy Master before him was nothing; even the Eighth Rank Alchemy Masters, the highest level of Alchemy Masters to have ever appeared on the continent, he had killed five of them.

In the Tianheng Continent, the martial realm is divided into nine stages: Warrior, Martial Artist, Spirit Martial, King Martial, Emperor Martial, Ancestor Martial, Venerable Martial, Saint Martial, and Emperor Martial.

Alchemy Masters are also divided into nine ranks, from one to nine, but the Emperor-level Alchemy Master is only heard of in ancient legends.

At this moment, the street was in an uproar.

"This... This boy is truly too arrogant, daring to insult the Great Alchemy Master."

"Alas... No one can help him now. He will die, and his entire family will be buried with him."

...

"You... You have such audacity to insult Lord Ming'an."

The coachman, who was still kneeling on the ground, shuddered when he heard Shi Feng's words. Then, he felt a surge of joy. He had offended Lord Ming'an and was begging for forgiveness, but now this blind boy had suddenly drawn Ming'an's wrath, giving him a chance to atone for his sins.

Stealthily glancing at Ming'an's increasingly dark face, the coachman quickly put on a look of extreme indignation, as if his god had been desecrated. Clenching his fists, his body trembled with anger: "Lord Ming'an is of noble status, unmatched in alchemy, revered by all. How dare you, a mere scoundrel, insult him." The coachman roared, leaped up, and swung his whip at Shi Feng, who was approaching step by step.

"Ah, this! The Hai family, one of the four major forces in Cangyue City, truly lives up to its name, even a coachman is a warrior."

"Second Rank Warrior!"

Warriors are actually just apprentices in the martial arts. Only commoners consider them warriors; in the eyes of true warriors, they are nothing.

When the coachman moved, his aura was revealed, and a few people on the street shouted. As soon as the words were spoken, almost everyone had already determined Shi Feng's fate.

Although warriors are just at the beginning of martial arts, a Second Rank Warrior's full-strength attack can generate a force of two hundred pounds, far beyond what an ordinary person can withstand.

People could almost see the whip hitting Shi Feng, his head splitting like a watermelon, and his brains and blood splattering everywhere.

Only Shi Feng remained calm throughout, as if a light breeze and a gentle cloud. If a mere warrior could take his life, then years of martial cultivation would have been wasted.

His body moved slightly, gathering all the strength in his flesh and blood into his right hand, and then he pointed.

"Poof!" A sound like a window paper being torn.

People were shocked to see that the coachman's whip was about to strike Shi Feng's head, just a hair's breadth away, but for some reason, Shi Feng raised his right hand. The movement seemed slow, but it was just in time to stab the coachman's throat with his index finger before the whip hit him, piercing through it.

Was he deliberately holding back? But that was impossible; who would be foolish enough to hold back with their own life on the line?

An ordinary boy had killed a Second Rank Warrior with a single finger. How could this be possible!

Even more unbelievable was the coachman of the Hai family, whose hand, which had been about to swing the whip, now hung in the air. His eyes were wide open, as if they would pop out of their sockets, his face full of shock, fear, unwillingness, anger, and disbelief. "This... This... No!"

He tried to shout with all his might, but he couldn't. As Shi Feng's finger pulled out of his throat, a splash of blood followed, and then the coachman's consciousness faded like a tide, his eyes still wide open as he fell backward.

"Netherworld Meditation! Absorb!" Shi Feng whispered, forming a mysterious hand seal.

When the coachman died, a faint death force emerged, quickly absorbed by Shi Feng through the Netherworld Meditation.

In the Tianheng Continent, there are countless cultivation techniques, but most martial artists communicate with heaven and earth, absorbing the elemental forces of the world, or absorb or consume rare treasures to cultivate.

The legendary Great Emperor of the Netherworld is said to have created a technique called the "Netherworld Meditation," which can absorb death force, yin force, and even soul force.

The most mysterious of these is the soul, also known as the spirit. When a person dies, their spirit also perishes, but some powerful souls or those with special spirits can survive.

The death force absorbed into his body gave Shi Feng a very comfortable, warm feeling, strengthening his flesh, bones, and meridians.

Shi Feng was enveloped in a warm sensation, and then a white light flashed over his body.

"This white light... He... He has actually advanced to the Warrior stage, becoming a true martial artist!" The crowd was once again in an uproar.

"I understand," someone shouted. "This boy must have learned a cultivation technique from somewhere and has been practicing for several years. He was about to advance to the Warrior stage, and the Second Rank Warrior was too careless, thinking he was just an ordinary person, not taking him seriously, and not using his full strength, giving the boy a chance."

When these words were spoken, the onlookers nodded in agreement, and a few showed mocking expressions. This was clearly the case, no need to say it.

Shi Feng heard these words and smiled faintly, slowly raising his head to look at the Second Rank Alchemy Master Ming'an, who was still standing on the carriage.

Ming'an's face was icy cold, almost frozen. As a noble Alchemy Master, he was being stared at by this insignificant person, who looked at him with a mocking expression.

"Ridiculous!" Ming'an pointed at Shi Feng's head and roared, "Kneel to the side and gouge out your eyes, and I will spare your life!"

Hearing Ming'an's words, Shi Feng found it amusing. Kneel? There was no one in the world who had the right to make him kneel.

"I'll kneel your sister!" Shi Feng laughed and cursed, raising his right hand and pointing at Ming'an's right knee, the same deadly move that had killed the coachman.

"You little brat, you dare!" Ming'an was now furious, wanting to skin Shi Feng alive and tear him to pieces.

But he didn't dare to be careless with the finger coming at him. Although he had devoted his life to alchemy, his martial arts were not weak, and he was a Fifth Rank Warrior. He could sense that this finger was a remarkable martial technique.

"Hmph, no matter how profound the martial technique, what can it do? A mere newly advanced First Rank Warrior, I'll show you what brute force can do!" Ming'an roared, forming a fist with his right hand and smashing down at Shi Feng's finger.

A Fifth Rank Warrior's furious punch, with a force of five hundred pounds, would likely cripple Shi Feng's finger if it hit.

"Huh? What's happening?" Just as the fist was about to hit the finger, Ming'an saw the finger suddenly disappear, and not just the finger, but Shi Feng's entire right arm vanished.

"Bang!" Ming'an's powerful punch hit the ground, causing the entire carriage to shake.

"Crack!" Then, a low sound of bone breaking echoed.

Silence! The entire scene was eerily quiet.

Shi Feng's right arm, which had suddenly disappeared, reappeared, and the index finger that had been pointed out was now piercing Ming'an's knee. The sound of bone breaking was from Ming'an's kneecap being shattered.

Shi Feng remained calm. The Netherworld Finger, if it could be broken by a Fifth Rank Warrior's punch, would not be worthy of being a technique he had created.

"Ahh!" Ming'an screamed in pain, a gush of blood following as Shi Feng's finger pulled out.

"Kneel!" Shi Feng whispered, and Ming'an felt a cold wave of sound enter his ears. Indeed, the sound wave was cold, carrying a chill that seemed to freeze his entire body.

"Thud!" Deprived of strength and in pain, Ming'an knelt before Shi Feng.

"Ahh... This... This is impossible..."

"The Great Alchemy Master is kneeling to him!"

The crowd on the street was almost in a state of shock. Too many incredible things had happened, breaking their common sense and颠覆了他们的认知。

"Die! Die! Damn it! I'll tear you apart! Ah!" Ming'an's face was twisted in rage, roaring loudly. At this moment, he felt worse than death.

"Shut up!" Shi Feng coldly snorted, and his deadly Netherworld Finger pointed again, this time directly at the chest of the noble Second Rank Alchemy Master Ming'an.

"Ahh!" Some in the crowd screamed, this boy... actually dared to kill the Great Alchemy Master.

Killing a Hai family coachman might still leave room for negotiation.

But killing an Alchemy Master, and a Second Rank Alchemy Master at that...

If they had known, becoming a Second Rank Alchemy Master was incredibly difficult, not only requiring extraordinary talent but also resources that a common force could not afford.

At least in their Cangyue City, none of the four most powerful families could afford to cultivate one, even if they combined their efforts, it might not be possible.

This meant that behind every Second Rank Alchemy Master, there was a vast force.

Cangyue City was about to change!

It might even drag the entire city into chaos!

The Netherworld Finger pierced Ming'an's chest, and Ming'an's mouth and eyes were wide open, clearly not believing what was happening to him.

A mere First Rank Warrior, who seemed like an ant to him, could easily be crushed at any time.

But now, a lowly ant had... ended his life.

His consciousness quickly faded like a tide, and Ming'an's proud head drooped.

A genius Second Rank Alchemy Master had fallen!

And at this moment, a white light flashed over Shi Feng's body again, and he advanced another rank!

"In less than an hour, he killed two people, and his martial arts cultivation advanced two ranks!"

"This... I've never heard of killing people to advance in cultivation."

"If that were true, the world would be in chaos, with blood flowing like rivers."

These people from a remote small city could not understand the profundity of the Netherworld Meditation of the Great Emperor of the Netherworld. At the moment of Ming'an's death, Shi Feng activated the Netherworld Meditation, absorbing the death force into his body.

Ming'an was a Fifth Rank Warrior, and his death force was several times stronger than the coachman's, advancing Shi Feng's cultivation another rank.