Chapter 22: A lunatic, he is absolutely a lunatic! (Please vote!)

As these words fell.

The once noisy mountain stronghold seemed to go quiet.

Bronze Hand’s mouth hung slightly open.

His gaze was somewhat dazed.

Is this guy crazy... does he know what he's saying...

Become friends?

What is this nonsense!

He was about to be beaten to death by him!

And yet, before dying, he asks if he’s willing to be his friend?

He must be a lunatic!

This is completely unrelated to anything!

"I'm asking you a question."

Meng Zhangqing waved his hand in front of him.

Bronze Hand instinctively wanted to refuse.

But Meng Zhangqing’s next words made him stop abruptly.

"If you aren't willing, I can only seal your acupoints, force your life to continue for a while, and then throw you into a pile of demonic beasts."

"That feeling of being slowly gnawed away must be quite nice, right?"

Gulp.

Bronze Hand’s face turned even paler.

Is this guy really a righteous sect disciple?

He’s even more demonic than the demonic path.

"A lunatic, he is absolutely a lunatic!"

Bronze Hand cursed inwardly.

How can there be someone who forces others to be their friend!

In his heart, Meng Zhangqing was already the type of person whose brain wasn't normal.

"I... am willing..."

Calming down, Bronze Hand answered helplessly.

Willing is willing, I suppose.

Anyway, he wouldn't lose anything by generously satisfying this lunatic’s peculiar hobby.

It would save him from suffering before death.

"Ding!"

"Friend added successfully!"

"Current favorability: One Star!"

"Obtained attribute: Talent 【Thick-Skinned】"

"Merge immediately?"

The system’s voice rang out in his mind.

A joyful smile immediately appeared on Meng Zhangqing’s face.

His luck was good.

The talent was in hand; he had been truly afraid of randomizing into some other attribute.

Like this kind of one-time friendship.

Once randomized incorrectly, it would be impossible to get it again.

After all, it was impossible for him to increase favorability with Bronze Hand.

"Thank you, my friend."

"As a reward, I will let you die a little more easily."

Meng Zhangqing patted Bronze Hand’s shoulder with satisfaction.

Then, forming his two fingers into a sword, he tapped the center of his brow, and a surge of powerful qi and blood rushed in.

Causing his gaze to instantly scatter, and his head to hang heavily.

His aura was completely gone.

The bandit leader who had plagued the region had fallen.

"System, merge talent."

Meng Zhangqing said in his heart.

"Ding!"

"Merging started!"

The moment the words fell, Meng Zhangqing felt a cool sensation emerge beneath his skin, like flowing water, gradually spreading to every part of his body.

After about a moment.

This feeling completely faded.

"Is this the talent 【Thick-Skinned】?"

Meng Zhangqing rolled up his sleeves.

There were no particularly obvious changes in the thickness of his arms or his skin color.

It was just that when he poked his skin with his fingertips, he could clearly feel resistance, as if countless nets were layered together, incomparably tough.

"Let's try the 'Bronze Armor Art' again!"

Meng Zhangqing began to circulate the technique.

His skin color immediately resembled an ancient bronze statue, radiating an indestructible aura.

"Bronze Armor Art" was only a Human-grade high-tier body-tempering martial skill.

But now, under the amplification of the talent, it had clearly seen a substantial improvement.

It could definitely rival a Profound-grade low-tier body-tempering martial skill.

"The shortcoming in defense can be considered somewhat compensated for."

Meng Zhangqing thought.

And with this talent, in the future, no matter what body-tempering martial skill he practiced, he would have more significant results, far exceeding others.

However, for Meng Zhangqing.

What he wanted most was still the Stone-man bloodline of the two Stone brothers.

That was the truly awesome stuff.

Withdrawing his focus, Meng Zhangqing took off Bronze Hand’s gauntlets to use as proof.

Considering that he had gained benefits from him and was nominally a friend.

He then dug a hole.

And buried him.

Thinking that late autumn was approaching and the weather was getting cold, Meng Zhangqing even specially added a few more layers of soil and stomped it down hard.

"Being able to make a thoughtful friend like me, you can consider it worth it."

After finishing all this, Meng Zhangqing turned and left with satisfaction.

Killing Bronze Hand meant the mission was complete.

As for the other bandits, none had survived; that previous sword strike had been driven with full power, something even Bronze Hand hadn't dared to take head-on.

Let alone them.

They had all died on the spot.

"Going home!"

Mounting his spirit horse, Meng Zhangqing galloped off into the distance.

――

Five days later.

Yunshui City.

An ancient city built on the banks of a great river.

The population was around one hundred thousand.

Because of the convenient transportation, the daily flow of people was huge, which made the city’s commerce quite prosperous.

And the Meng Clan Chamber of Commerce was one of the large chambers of commerce in Yunshui City.

Occupying several marketplaces.

Quite famous.

Of course, the most famous was the head of the Meng Clan Chamber of Commerce.

A woman in a black dress who always wore a bamboo hat, relying on a set of profound sword moves, she was almost invincible within the Qi Opening Realm.

It was precisely because of this.

That the Meng Clan Chamber of Commerce had been able to maintain its status over the years and not be swallowed by other chambers of commerce.

"Yunshui City, finally here."

Looking at the massive ancient city looming in the distance, Meng Zhangqing breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, some inexplicable emotions surfaced in his heart.

Because this would be the first time he would truly face his blood relatives in this world.

Meng Clan Chamber of Commerce.

The residence consisted of continuous pavilions, connected to each other, with high courtyard walls outside, quite imposing.

At the main gate, there were two guards at the seventh stage of the Pulse Forging Realm.

"It’s as I remember, nothing has changed."

Looking at the residence, Meng Zhangqing nodded slightly.

"Are you... the Young Clan Leader?"

A voice filled with uncertainty rang out.

Meng Zhangqing looked toward the source of the sound.

He saw one of the guards looking at him, his face filled with shock and doubt.

And the other guard reacted as well.