Abundant Martial Arts Virtue

5-point limit.

With that, he could continuously use Iron Wire Fist in battle!

This was certainly good news, but Wu Xiaode still felt somewhat surprised.

"He gave a lot of Soul Power?"

"Of course, us Crow Spirits can absorb souls, so for us, murder and arson are the true paths to improvement—I've given you a large portion to boost your strength. How about that, pretty generous, right?" Ya said with a proud air.

"Thanks a lot, but are there really no individuals with more than 10 points of Soul Power in the world today?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"There are, but they are extremely rare," Ya replied.

"What happens at midnight?" Wu Xiaode asked curiously.

"I really can't say that, it's a taboo for us spirits, you'll have to explore on your own—or you could ask other professionals," Ya said cautiously.

"Alright," Wu Xiaode looked around at the messy scene and the five corpses, and said, "The business here is finished, let's go."

No sooner had he turned into a crow and flown out the window, than he flew back in, landing back at the table.

Previously, at Xia Huilan's former company, the boss had instructed his secretary to send something over, but it was unclear what had been sent.

Wu Xiaode's eyes fell on the hefty black briefcase.

He thought for a moment, then reached out to open it.

Inside the briefcase were stacks of large bills.

"Your living is settled now," Ya remarked as he gazed at the briefcase full of cash.

"It's weird, now that it's the era of electronic payments, why fill such a big briefcase with cash," Wu Xiaode was puzzled.

"It shows you've never done this kind of thing," Ya said with a sneer.

After thinking for a moment, Wu Xiaode suddenly realized: "It's all old cash. If I use it on the spot, it won't be captured by the online transaction system, and thus my whereabouts won't be detected."

"Right, you're getting the hang of it—from now on, use cash. Plus, with your boxing skills, you could certainly make a name for yourself in the underworld," Ya suggested.

"You think I like killing people?" Wu Xiaode said.

"After all, you are... wanted, you know, there's no place for you under the sun," Ya pointed out.

"What's fun about fighting and killing? It's just the strong bullying the weak. I might just join Sister Lan and live in seclusion in the mountains," Wu Xiaode said.

"Then what's your life goal?" Ya asked, intrigued.

"To survive," Wu Xiaode said with utmost resolution.

Black wings sprouted from his back, just as he was about to turn into a crow, he noticed the Book of the Dead, which had been floating motionless in midair, give a slight shake.

Wu Xiaode halted his transformation.

The Book of the Dead quietly opened, revealing lines of ice crystal small print:

"Since the Time Reset, you have received the admiration and respect of the Dead, humans, and Heroic Spirits."

"Criteria met."

"Time-limited activation request now open!"

"You have one hour to gain the admiration and respect of 1000 souls."

"Complete the request, and this book will unlock a new ability."

"Should you fail, the book's abilities will be permanently fixed at the current level and cannot be further improved."

"Begin!"

After quickly reading it, Wu Xiaode couldn't help but want to curse.

——At least give me some time to react, why suddenly issue such a difficult request?

Another line of ice crystal small print appeared on the Book of the Dead:

"Attention!"

"The One-eyed Giant is an extremely powerful being from myth and legend, and it has begun to have vague suspicions about changes in time."

"The book is forced to concentrate all its power and take a risky move, immediately upgrading."

"Only with a successful upgrade can we avoid the One-eyed Giant's scrutiny."

"This is the backlash of destiny."

"Remember, you have only one hour!"

Wu Xiaode clenched his teeth.

He had returned at six in the evening, and it was not yet midnight.

He had only been there for less than six hours.

——Had the One-eyed Giant already sensed something was amiss?

The shadow of death enveloped his heart like a heavy iron curtain pressing down, rendering him powerless to resist.

Wu Xiaode bent over, gasping for breath, struggling to relieve that suffocating sense of despair.

"Dammit..."

He took a deep breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up the black briefcase, and walked toward the window.

"What are you planning to do?" Ya asked.

"With such a large sum of money, maybe a lot of people need it," Wu Xiaode said.

With a flick of his wings behind him, he zipped up the case, carried it to the window, and with a leap, he jumped out.

Thud!

Wu Xiaode landed on the ground unharmed, quick-stepped across the road, and was about to hail a taxi when his phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

"Zhao Jun Yu?" Wu Xiaode answered the call.

Zhao Jun Yu's voice came through:

"Those people are not weak, and they have intricate connections. I advise you to wait for me before you make a move."

"You don't need to come over; I've already killed them all."

"Yes, I'm on my way — wait, what did you say?" Zhao Jun Yu's voice rose.

"I've killed the person behind this; if you're free, come clean up Binjiang Road, and we'll get in touch later."

Wu Xiaode hung up the phone after speaking.

It was pretty decent of Zhao Jun Yu to make this call; Wu Xiaode owed him quite a few favors.

This person was worth making friends with.

Thinking this, Wu Xiaode quickened his pace and moved forward.

He walked along the street and finally saw a beggar in a corner of a wall.

Wu Xiaode opened the briefcase, took out a stack of money, walked up to the beggar, squatted down, and said:

"Don't come out to beg when it's raining. Find a place to eat something and rest a bit."

He handed the money to the beggar.

The beggar had a beard that looked rough, and after staring blankly at him for a while, suddenly stood up and said:

"Would you like to help even more people?"

"Of course, I can!" said Wu Xiaode.

——If he could spend some money and earn these people's gratitude while also helping them, that would be the best choice.

"Follow me," said the beggar.

"Okay," Wu Xiaode replied.

The beggar led the way, and Wu Xiaode followed closely behind, the two of them threading through streets and alleys, gradually veering away from the bustling streets.

"Are we almost there?" Wu Xiaode asked.

Ten minutes had passed already.

He only had a total of sixty minutes!

"We're here, just ahead!" the beggar shouted.

"How many people do you have?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"A few dozen."

Wu Xiaode fell silent.

It was a small number, but even the smallest mosquito is still flesh!

A few more minutes passed.

Finally, the beggar stopped.

The two stood under an abandoned bridge, surrounded by wilderness, with a remote construction site in the distance.

Under the bridge, around twenty or so beggars were either standing or sitting.

The beggar ran up excitedly and said to a burly beggar, "Big brother, a fat sheep!"

All the beggars looked towards Wu Xiaode.

"Oh? Is it really a fat sheep?" the beggar boss asked suspiciously as he sized up Wu Xiaode.

"Yes, he just took out a big wad of cash from that black suitcase, and there's probably still more inside!" the beggar said ingratiatingly.

"Heh heh, little brother, take out your suitcase," the beggar boss demanded.

The surrounding beggars began to close in.

Wu Xiaode was completely numb, and he was inwardly ashamed, realizing he had taken too few societal beatings.

"You're wasting my time," he said calmly, regaining his composure.

——It was indeed his own fault for being impatient.

Even if he now gave all the money to these people, they wouldn't feel a shred of admiration or respect for him.

Because they saw him as a naive and ignorant student.

Those who slaughter a fat sheep don't admire the sheep.

So then,

What would make a bunch of beggars admire him?

No.

They're more like a crime syndicate, not real beggars.

...What a waste of time.

"Little brother, open the suitcase and no funny business," a beggar spoke up.

His knife glinted coldly as he waved it around, casually pointing it towards Wu Xiaode's chest.

Wu Xiaode couldn't stand it anymore.

He stepped forward and, without using Soul Power but merely relying on several times the physical strength of an average person and the combat experience from the Ancestor Spirit, he struck out with full force.

Slap!

The knife was knocked away.

Wu Xiaode slapped the man to the ground, slowly stating, "I hate it when people point a knife at my chest."

As he moved his wrist around, he walked towards the crowd.

Another minute had been lost.

Wu Xiaode's anger intensified.

Damn it, what would it take to immediately earn the admiration and approval of a thousand people?

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked down.

The ground.

Was moving.

The earth pulsated with a slight rhythm.

An earthquake?

No, not that.

"Strange..."

Wu Xiaode murmured softly.

From a distance, two police officers approached side by side, one of them speaking into an earpiece in a low voice, "The road has been cordoned off, holographic image is activated, no one is allowed to enter."

As soon as the police appeared, the beggars immediately dared not move.

Wu Xiaode had a hunch.

But that vibration just now, what was it?

The two police officers stopped about twenty meters away from Wu Xiaode and stood still.

"Wanted criminal Wu Xiaode, just surrender," one of them said.

"What if I say no?" Wu Xiaode challenged.

He watched them carefully, ready for the possibility that they might draw their guns.

One of the police officers chuckled and said, "Come on, you're not really a wanted criminal, and we're not real cops, but someone does want to catch up with you."

Not police officers!

Wu Xiaode was surprised, feeling an unprecedented alarm rise within him.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Heavy sounds echoed from the darkness.

A nearly four-meter tall figure made entirely of steel emerged from the shadows, standing across from Wu Xiaode.

This was a real Mobile Battle Armor.

It radiated a profound yet dull metallic luster, bristling with various weapon mounts, moving no different from a normal human.

If it were shrunk to human size, you might even think that it was a human in disguise!

However, it was nothing like the fragile human body.

Whether it was blades or guns, or even natural disasters, nothing could destroy it.

And the weapons it carried allowed it to become a walking humanoid weapon of war, capable of reaping everything on earth like the Death God!

Wu Xiaode looked at this behemoth, indeed a bit shocked.

After all, these sci-fi steel giants were something he had only seen in movies before.

In reality, there had never been such a thing.

Xia Huilan and her colleagues' technical knowledge did contain information about this big guy.

——From the prerequisite knowledge of "92025 Type High-level Humanoid Combat Mecha Curved Bearing Design Style·Modified".

It was a conventional Combat Mecha.

Wu Xiaode was familiar with it, but this was his first encounter with a real Mobile Battle Armor!

"Zhao Ziang, from the Chinese department, right?"

A mocking voice came from inside the Mobile Battle Armor.

"Li Zheng? Are you the one piloting the Mecha?" Wu Xiaode asked in disbelief.

"Relax a bit, humans have been inventing cars for several centuries now; did you really think human technological progress would be so slow?" Li Zheng asked.

Wu Xiaode thought about it and it made sense, then considering his own situation—

I've even seen the One-eyed Giant.

Humans could invent cars, then take another few centuries to develop Mobile Battle Armor.

But even in a thousand years, humans couldn't naturally produce a One-eyed Giant!

So what's so shocking about a Mecha?

Besides, the things that my Sister Lan researched are far more powerful than this!

The reasoning's clear,

The logic's sound,

That's just how it is,

What's there not to accept?

"You think just because you're in a Mecha, I won't recognize you?" Wu Xiaode said defiantly, his head held high.

This caught Li Zheng off guard.

This kid just behaved like a bumpkin who'd never seen anything before, but the next second he acted like he'd seen it all.

Not like those beggars—

They were already stupefied.

Only one of them tried to sneak away, only to have his head blown off with a single shot by a "policeman."

"You folks, there are always some good organs in you, don't die too quickly."

"Right, you're not worth anything if you're dead,"

the two "police officers" said with a heavy undertone.