As the sun rose higher in the sky, the hustling and bustling on the street began to increase in Shenyi City, the second-tier city from the Shen clan.

Due to the uniqueness of this world's cultivation, there were different tiers in city management. The golden core experts no longer aged, leading to an increasing number of clan members as time passed. And it was also true that the great physicians could extend ordinary mortals' ages to be as long as golden cores and even revive the dead.

Hierarchy among humans was inevitable, but it was even more pronounced within the clan. Those born into the lineage of the golden core were naturally respected by the rest of the clan members.

Shenyi City, as the name suggested, was occupied by the Yi lineage from the Shen Clan. While the surname was naturally Shen, those born in the lineage had to wear their lineage name, such as Yi and San.

Being a first-tier city, it was the homebase for the whole Shen Clan. The third-tier city would be those ruled by non-lineage Shen clan members.

On the sides of the many streets in Shenyi City, a man in his mid-twenties was walking among the pedestrians. He wore clean but not expensive clothes without any patterns, and his face was ordinary, lacking distinct characteristics, but with clean features and bright eyes, promising a bright future.

This man's name was Li Pinghe, the second son of the Li family that ran a medium-sized restaurant in Shenyi City. His name had a good meaning, a blessing from his parents for a peaceful and harmonious future.

Currently, he was on his daily errands, taking a break from his very limited personal time. As a male, he naturally dreamed of walking the path of martial arts since he was a child. However, even after his parents spent so much money to make him eligible to take the test from the martial school opened by the Shen Clan, he failed at the first step.

The reason was simple: his bone quality was not up to the standard.

As he dreamed of becoming one, naturally, he had already learned about it beforehand.

It was one of the many requirements for someone to enter the martial school of the Shen clan.

Bone quality refers to how strong the bone density and proportion are. The next step would be to test the blood, and then the meridians inside the body.

As for martial art affinity or being a natural-born martial artist with high comprehension? Li Pinghe didn't know about it because it was not part of the test. Even more so, he never heard any stories or rumors of someone entering the martial school with their aptitude alone.

But if it were Niu Chang, he would only laugh for a moment and then sneer in disgust. He would also add his comment with great appreciation.

“The way of the Shen clan to recruit talents is indeed worthy of applause. They chose the basic requirement so any ordinary person is able to learn martial arts. But those people would only be able to reach a very low height due to their poor martial affinity. In the end, they would just be good free labor and loyal dogs to the clan.”

But that was not only limited to one of the major clans like the Shen clan. As long as they were major clans among the six, it was natural selection for them to be able to stand through the years after countless tests and calamities.

It wasn’t that there were no good people in this world, but the circumstances forced everyone to become more resourceful. If they didn't follow the trend, their enemies would only grow stronger while those good people would be left behind in terms of manpower.

Since he failed the examination, Li Pinghe is no longer a fanatic towards martial arts itself. He instead became a fanboy of it.

Maybe this was human nature, that they were interested in things they were unable to achieve.

There was a word that originated from the Southern region, it was “wuchi.” In Niu Chang’s opinion, it was like being an "otaku" but for martial arts.

As time developed, the major factions and organizations needed to close the gate and prevent as many talented people from learning martial arts.

But as they tried various methods, the appearance of wuchi made them realize one thing. They didn’t need anything to prevent anyone from learning martial arts; instead, they needed to popularize it and turn it into entertainment.

It sounds contradictory, but in reality, it works very well, due to many young people becoming wuchi. Most of them would rather enjoy the news and anything related to martial arts instead of training hard for themselves.

It was as if they were already a part of the martial world, even without any formal training or physical strain.

Right now, Li Pinghe was heading towards his favorite store that exclusively focused on selling various merchandise for wuchis.

They had stories and biographies of various martial heroes. The novels were about martial worlds, and there were even figurines available!

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The application of qi was unlimited, so it was natural for someone who practiced earth-based techniques to be a wuchi and mold clay into their idol.

Thankfully, Niu Chang found out that there was no idol group that sang and danced in this world.

Instead of idol groups for wuchis to enjoy, it was more like a high-ranking courtesan that only rich people could indulge in when they entered the Hundred Flower Pavilion.

The Hundred Flower Pavilion was one of the four major business houses that handled entertainment, especially for male or female customers to explore the profound mysteries of yin yang dao.

As Li Pinghe arrived in front of his favorite store, one could see various items displayed for people to see.

There were three medium-sized bookshelves with neatly organized rows of books and novels. On the other side were even more bookshelves, totaling five of them. Unlike the one on the left with only three bookshelves, the one on the right had more because it held more popular items for wuchis.

"Boss Jin, have you already gotten the next chapter of Divine Emperor Ascension?" Li Pinghe walked towards a slightly fat man who was busy counting his money.

Hearing the familiar voice, Boss Jin didn’t bother to put down his money and just pointed with his chin.

Li Pinghe was excited, as it basically told him to go find it himself.

He walked towards the bookshelves on the right and began to run his fingers along the dozens of neatly arranged books.

Then his finger stopped at the last book that had a different cover on its side. He picked it up and briefly opened it to see if it was the correct one.

Since there was no plastic in this world, it was natural for the book to be in an unsealed state.

Li Pinghe brought the book to the counter and handed over his money. But suddenly, Boss Jin opened his mouth. "Not enough, you need to add more."

Li Pinghe was bewildered, as this was the price of books on the right side. "Why is that?" he inquired.

"Do you want me to spoil you?" Boss Jin, with his lack of etiquette as a shopkeeper, said without batting an eye.

But as an old customer, Li Pinghe became more curious about the reason why the book price had increased.

Then suddenly something snapped in his mind, and he finally realized the reason. His eyes widened in shock.

Boss Jin, who had already grown tired of those wuchis, only sneered. ‘If it were not for you guys' over-enthusiasm, I wouldn't have opened this store. Each of you is uniquely problematic to each other. Oh, how corrupt are the young people these days.’

"How much?" Li Pinghe asked impatiently.

Boss Jin raised his hand and gave a number through his fingers. Li Pinghe grabbed the exact amount of coin from inside his pouch and handed it over.

As he exited the store and saw a handful of people coming and going to the store, he felt really excited to the point he wanted to shout out.

But he held his excitement and walked faster to his home.

Since his mind was occupied, he didn't realize that many people suddenly stopped in their tracks.

It was only a few seconds later that he bumped into someone who was just standing on the street. Li Pinghe, whose eyes were glued to the book in his hand, couldn't help but look ahead.

Only then did he realize that many people were just standing in their positions, with their faces looking in one direction.

Li Pinghe followed their gaze, and there he found something that broke his normal view of this world.

A boy, a small child, not even a teenager, walked among the pedestrians on the street, but no one approached him within a one-meter radius.

He wore clothes that seemed to be made of gold and rainbow, but they were very light as invisible winds kept them fluttering. On his back was a halo of divine light that captivated everyone who looked at him.

But what was more was that his temperament was very different from any human, as if he were an immortal descended into the mortal realm.

Li Pinghe, a wuchi, held a comic book in his hands and had naturally seen various images of immortals and heroes. However, only now did he realize how poorly drawn those characters in his comic books were.

The boy seemed to have walked out from the comic book itself. However, this peculiar sight didn't last long as the boy made everyone stop, causing a traffic jam.

A few low-ranked city guards managed to slide through the stunned pedestrians and finally arrived in front of Niu Chang.

The guards were momentarily stunned before they finally opened their mouths to speak. As city guards, they had naturally graduated from the martial school opened by the Shen clan. They were taught not to judge someone solely based on their appearance, considering the dangerous nature of this world.

The guard on the left frowned when faced with this situation. Naturally, city guards needed to show strictness, but he didn't want to offend this mysterious boy.

“Ahem,” the more experienced guard on the right cleared his throat slightly. “Your excellency, may I inquire about your purpose for coming to Shenyi City? If you have already made a promise, allow me to guide you to your destination.”

The guard treated Niu Chang with utmost hospitality, carefully selecting each word in that limited time.

Niu Chang only gave him a smile, and then spoke with a voice that was almost ethereal, only perceptible to the mind and not the ears. “I’m here on behalf of heaven to eradicate the Shen clan.”

His facial expression remained unchanged, and his tone sounded somewhat kind and benevolent.

The guard on the right couldn't comprehend the words at first, and his mind lagged for a moment before he started sweating intensely. He didn't know why, but it was his well-trained instinct that told him the boy in front of him was speaking the truth, even though the boy himself seemed to take it as an empty statement.

The whole street fell silent.

‘Hey, why isn't the development going as I expected? Shouldn't those low-ranked guards show extreme arrogance towards me so that I can finally deliver the famous face-slap? Then, a higher-ranking guard would arrive, and I would also slap their face and put them in their place? But why does this city guard seem more rational and intelligent?’

Pondering for a moment, Niu Chang finally found his answer. ‘Ah, so it was my fault. Hehehe, my appearance was so shocking that they became wary of me. I should have just revealed my original face instead; I bet they would have immediately reprimanded me and dragged me to their camp.’

Regretting his approach, Niu Chang could only enjoy observing how this logical development played out.