Chapter 239: Hunger Pouch, A First Trial of Skill

"The craft of skinning and sinew-pulling is one that must be practiced often from now on."

In a dark, secret chamber, the floor was covered in flesh, blood, and scraps of skin, with blood splattered across the walls—a shocking sight.

It looked for all the world like the secret base of a psychopathic serial killer.

Using the severed arm of Jin Heshan as material, Zhou You skinned it, tanned the hide, and fashioned it into a palm-sized leather pouch.

The method was not difficult, but as it was his first time doing it, the work was somewhat crude.

He even failed once during the process, eventually ending up with 4 leather pouches.

The material came from pure, natural Martial Master Skin; in a word, it was excellent, and the resulting pouches were extraordinary.

The texture was chillingly delicate, even carrying a hint of warmth.

With these leather pouches, he could begin to test the object-attachment function of his Tianfu Decipher Confusion.

"Trial Project (Three-Star Level): Successfully complete one instance of Tianfu Decipher Confusion solidification."

The panel also provided a prompt at the right moment...

Zhou You held up a pouch and untied the drawstring; hmm, the string was made from air-dried human sinew.

He opened his mouth and roared at the pouch, "Tianfu Decipher Confusion!"

This time, it was not to devour anything, but to solidify the talent onto the leather pouch, an enchantment process.

All was calm and quiet; the leather pouch lay still. It had failed!

The reason this time was not the container, because in previous failures, the containers would have been unable to withstand the scouring of the hunger and shattered.

The leather pouch remained intact, proving that the concept of using Martial Master Skin was feasible.

Zhou You took a sip of tea and cleaned up the secret chamber.

Hmm, a change of environment and a change of mood; the success rate should be higher now.

"Failure!"

"Failure!"

For three whole days, he repeatedly attempted and optimized his technique amidst constant failure.

Zhou You even thought that if he didn't succeed soon, he would have to shelve this project for the time being.

The human skin wouldn't spoil for a while, and wasting time would affect his plan to accumulate Experience Points from Whiteboard Martial Masters.

In three days, he had lost at least a thousand Experience Points.

Just as he was about to give up...

"Success."

By that time, Zhou You had become numb from failure; holding no hope in his heart, he exhaled a strand of his talent as usual.

The hunger pounced onto the leather pouch, merging into it silently, and a faint, shimmering glow appeared on its surface.

This is... success?

Just as he was doubting, a familiar swirling vortex of suction emanated from the pouch, and objects in the vicinity vibrated with a hum, beginning to shift position and fly toward the leather pouch.

The Tianfu Decipher Confusion was solidified onto the pouch and could be activated a second time.

Zhou You was quick-eyed and nimble; he yanked the drawstring to tie the pouch tight, snuffing out the signs of an impending riot.

"Successfully performed one instance of talent object-attachment, Experience Points +2000."

The panel gave a prompt, confirming this success.

This pouch, let's call it a Hunger Pouch, looked like nothing special when tied tight—just an ordinary sundries bag.

Once the sinew string was untied and the opening spread wide, the hunger would activate and swallow all physical objects in the vicinity.

Another problem arose: what was the final state of the things swallowed? Were they completely annihilated, or could they be released and restored to their original state?

After the Tianfu Decipher Confusion dissipated, what would the pouch acting as the carrier become? Zhou You vaguely felt that the Hunger Pouch possessed great potential, waiting for him to fully explore it.

After walking out of the secret chamber, he did some mental math and realized seven or eight days had passed.

The small town had long since returned to its usual order, with life and business as normal, as if Jin Heshan had never appeared.

Zhou You knew what the image of 'Lu Zhigang' was like, so he waited until nightfall to go out for a walk and clear his thoughts. The town was quieter than Gongliang City, without much nightlife, and the surrounding lights were sparse.

Two night watchmen, one old and one young, walked toward him carrying lanterns and saw Zhou You.

The younger one was just about to speak when he was suddenly pulled back by his companion, "Do you want to die? Shut your mouth."

The two stood frozen in place, watching Zhou You walk slowly down the street and disappear before they finally let out a sigh of relief.

The elderly watchman complained to the young man, "Do you know who that is?"

"That is Lu Da Ye, who killed Jin Da Ye; he is the local despot whose word is law in this town now. If you had dared to make a sound just now, neither of us would have lived."

The young watchman looked at Zhou You's back, his gaze not filled with fear, but rather with worship and envy.

After Zhou You left the two watchmen behind, he breathed in the cold air, his mind becoming clearer than ever before.

He had already drafted a preliminary plan for the next two or three years.

Suddenly...

"Trial Project (Three-Star Level): You are encountering a horrific scene of a phantom devouring humans; kill the phantom and save the people."

Seven or eight red dots were flashing on the panel less than five hundred meters away.

Zhou You instinctively looked up and saw the location of the target: it was a tall perimeter wall.

Faint music of strings and bamboo drifted from within the high walls; it was clearly a wealthy household.

He took a step forward, the night wind wrapping around his soles, his Lightness Skill activated, and the space briefly compressed.

The distance of five hundred meters, under the effect of his level 6 Lightness Skill, was compressed to within 10 steps.

Zhou You finished his 10 steps and had already vaulted onto the wall, looking down at the scene in the courtyard from high above.

The defenses of this high-walled mansion were quite solid.

Sharp iron spikes were erected on the wall to prevent thieves from climbing, and several fierce guard dogs were tethered at the base of the wall below.

However, none of this could protect the lives of this family.

Calculating the time, it was exactly when the masters of this house were holding their night banquet, with the old, the strong, the young, the women, the children, and the infants all gathered together.

But today was different; they were no longer the masters sitting at the table to dine, but instead had become the dishes waiting to be enjoyed on the table.

Eight red dots, varying in size, represented a nest of eight full-grown Phantoms.

Leading them were three Transformed Phantoms, with the remaining five being Void Phantoms, all draped in human skin and feasting heartily in the blood-soaked courtyard.

Zhou You felt his hair stand on end; the scene of collective dining before his eyes was too horrifying.

"Swish!"

A sharp sword arrived, piercing through the air and straight through the chest of the leading Transformed Phantom, knocking it twenty meters away and pinning it to a pillar.

The other Phantoms were stunned, their movements of chewing flesh frozen; were there still enemies at this time? Zhou You seemed to understand why everyone was scrambling to crowd into the city.

The small town seemed to have no city walls and no City Gate Guard; it was a paradise for beasts and monsters to run rampant.

No wonder some of the commoners of Su Cheng would rather become refugees sleeping on the streets than stay outside the city to make a living.

"Catch him and eat him!"

"Hehe, a Qi-Blood martial artist; even if he's a bit poisonous, if you pinch off the head and tail, he's still a big chunk of meat."

The Phantoms felt no fear of Zhou You at all; with jumping power as astonishing as fleas, they zoomed toward their target.

Seeing that the opportunity had arrived, Zhou You took out a pouch and pulled off the drawstring, "Collect!"

The next moment, a gale swirled and gathered at the mouth of the Hunger Pouch, compressing into a black hole the size of a fist.

Several Phantoms charged fiercely, their speed as fast as lightning, and they happened to run straight into the muzzle, diving headfirst into the black hole.

Thump, thump, thump—a few muffled sounds, sounding like chestnuts being tossed into an empty bottle.

Seeing the last Phantom disappear into the pouch, Zhou You hurriedly grabbed the drawstring, wrapped it around a few times, and tied a dead knot for good measure.

Then he weighed the Hunger Pouch; it was slightly heavier, but it did not feel like the combined weight of eight Phantoms.

(End of chapter)