Chapter 1

Provincial Capital, Nan Zhou outskirts.

Fresh red blood slowly converged and spread along the river, like blooming manjusaka flowers.

Xue Weimin supported himself with his broken sword in one hand, kneeling by the river. Blood gushed from his chest, ceaselessly, impossible to stop.

"You... won."

He stared at the gray-black-white skeleton across the river. "Last time I won... this time, it's your turn..."

"Shixiong, after all these years you're still using that same old weapon module. How long has it been since your sword formation model was updated? How long has it been since you replaced your Feiyi energy source?"

The white skeleton held his Feiyi Qiongqi in one hand, his whole body burning with a faint gray flame.

"Times are changing, technology is developing. Bai Xing and all the other countries are developing, but Yi Country alone is stuck in the mud, using the Silent Fortress to reject new things, reject evolution. Even the newest special alloy formula is still the same one from over a decade ago."

The white skeleton gently picked up his severed right hand from the ground and attached it to his wrist.

After a burst of tiny sparks, the right hand actually fused back together with the broken wrist, the internal pipes and circuits reconnecting and repairing themselves.

In just a few seconds, most of its performance had been restored.

"Shixiong, we are Zhixie Masters, the stronger our Feiyi, the stronger we are. The stronger the alloy, the stronger the force field, the safer we are."

He looked at Xue Weimin, who was gradually losing his breath. The Feiyi in his hand automatically melted, turning back into a silver briefcase. Turning around, he walked away without a trace of sentimentality, quickly disappearing into the chaotic night forest.

Not long after, a white aircraft flew in, bearing the mark of the Security Agency on its side.

The aircraft landed.

Ding Zaocheng and Zheng Wanru quickly got out, and the first thing they saw was Xue Weimin kneeling on the ground. "Teacher!!"

Their faces paled, and they rushed forward.

*

*

*

At dawn, the sky was just beginning to turn a fish-belly white.

Li Cheng Yi slowly walked out of the dense forest, his golden armor splattered with messy bloodstains. The game was over.

The evil thoughts had also been successfully completed.

The second evolution of the Wisteria Flower was finally completely fulfilled.

And he hadn't killed all the people either; sustainable development wasn't just something to talk about, but something he actually intended to do. So Li Cheng Yi just did what he thought was the most appropriate, and then let them go.

Well, it was the kind of let-go that made them think they had found an opportunity to escape on their own. Standing in the forest, he looked far away at the few people staggering towards the SUV on the mountain road.

They supported each other, leaving a bloody footprint with each step, a feeling of rebirth after a trial by fire radiating from their bodies. There were only four of them left from the original group.

In the time to come, they would live in awe and fear of him. Whenever he needed it, he could appear and reap a wave of fearful evil thoughts.

Four evil thought gift packages in total, enough to last him a long time.

"It's a pity... evil thoughts can only be preserved after a complete harvest. Four people can only be used four times..."

But then, on second thought, Li Cheng Yi felt at ease again.

"Fortunately, there will always be bad people in this world that can't be killed. Evil Flower... so that's where the meaning of the name comes from..." He suddenly understood.

At this moment, after the Evil Flower Wisteria Flower mark had been fulfilled, it reacted again after a period of silence. Wisteria Flower Scale Armor: Third Evolution Degree 0%, Evil Thoughts 0%.

Looking at the flower scale armor that had jumped to the third evolution, the corners of Li Cheng Yi's mouth under his helmet couldn't help but curl up. He had finally completed the most important step.

He turned around and strode into the dense forest.

Not long after, the Gladiolus armor on his body quickly dissipated, Gladiolus petals swirling and flying, rapidly transforming into purple Wisteria Flower petals.

The petals re-condensed into a new flower scale armor. Li Cheng Yi touched the scales on his arm.

"It's no different from before, so the key must be the daily state."

He thought for a moment, then dispelled most of the scale armor on his body, leaving only the facial area covered. The flower scale armor dissipated, revealing his flesh and blood body wearing only a single shirt and long pants.

*Boom.*

Li Cheng Yi casually punched the tree trunk to his side.

Even without the amplification of the flower scale armor, the heavy force was already far beyond that of an ordinary person. The enormous impact of nearly a ton instantly dented the bark and tree trunk.

Li Cheng Yi lifted his fist and looked at it. There wasn't a single scratch on his fist. When he had just thrown the punch, he could clearly feel as if the flower scale armor was protecting him.

His fist had not suffered any damage from the reactive friction.

"It's done!"

A happy smile appeared on his face. Since being caught in the dead corner, he hadn't felt this pure emotion in a long, long time.

Even ordinary daily clothes could cover it; this obvious supernatural power greatly increased his sense of security.

"Next, find a channel to dispose of the gold bars, and then spend money to buy flowers!"

Having determined his next goal, Li Cheng Yi turned and sprinted, quickly heading deeper into the forest. He had earned enough money, and with the Feiyi and gold bars, it was time to go back.

Not long after, an old, miscellaneous brand car passing by was stopped by Li Cheng Yi. He paid a few hundred yuan for a ride and quickly returned to the outskirts of Suiyang.

Then he changed his clothes, cleaned up the traces on his body, hailed a taxi, and sent a message to his boss and Song Ran on the way to the company. "I successfully came out of the Silent Shop!" -- Cheng Yi.

He had always used the fake name he was initially used to in the company, and later he was too lazy to change it, so he simply used it as his online name.

"...Awesome!" -- Sima Gui.

This guy popped up out of nowhere and sent an exclamation mark. "How are you? Are you injured?" -- Boss.

"I'm fine. I was lucky this time. I was well prepared. As soon as I got in, I immediately bought something and hid, just like last time. There happened to be two new people who came in and helped me share the firepower, allowing me to successfully drag out the time!" -- Cheng Yi.

At the end, he added a fortunate emoticon.

"Where's the stuff? What did you bring out this time?" -- Song Ran.

"It's in my hands. I'll be at the company soon. This time was really dangerous. Those two sang a duet and tried to trick me..."

Li Cheng Yi began to carefully describe how he was almost tricked by the two, how he thrillingly fought them with wits and courage, and finally successfully bought the goods and left the dead corner.

"By the way, a friend of mine got a large amount of gold bars. Boss, can you help me sell them?" -- Cheng Yi. Sindela, who was far away in another city, felt her eyelids twitching wildly.

What do you mean, "got a large amount of gold bars"? Is it that easy to get gold bars? Isn't this guy even bothering to hide it? "You can put them in the company later, and I'll get rid of them for you, but since they don't have a legal source, you may have to lose 30%. Is that acceptable?" -- Boss.

"No problem! My friend said he'll give you 20% as a handling fee!" -- Cheng Yi. Li Cheng Yi was quite generous; since the money came easily, he didn't feel any heartache. He could always go harvest some more later.

"Keep it for yourself, I don't lack money." Sindela paused. "However, something just happened in the province. The director of the Provincial Security Agency heroically sacrificed himself in a battle with terrorists, and the president of the association also died in an unusual accidental explosion. The higher-ups are very angry and may send a major crime investigation team to deal with it."

"Terrorists are really powerful and too rampant. It's hard to imagine that such a big commotion could happen in this kind of society ruled by law." -- Cheng Yi.

"I'm just telling you to try to keep a low profile and don't be impulsive. Also, you should go learn from the Long Xu Sect." -- Boss.

"Understood! I still have some things to deal with here, I'll go as soon as I'm done!" -- Cheng Yi.

Li Cheng Yi knew very well how bad his close combat skills were. If it hadn't been for the surprise attack, catching that Utopia expert off guard, he might not have been able to win.

From beginning to end, he had been played by his opponent.

So close combat skills must be improved. Even if he wasn't the strongest, the gap couldn't be so big.

"Also, I found a clue left by Li En. Are you interested?" -- Boss. "What clue?" -- Cheng Yi.

"He seems... to have really found a way to completely get rid of dead corners..." -- Boss. The smile on Li Cheng Yi's face instantly froze, his expression becoming solemn.

"I understand," he quickly replied.

He didn't reply with when he would go to help, because he knew that he wasn't ready yet. The Setaceous Scirpus in the Silent Shop, which contained inferior Shadow Dragon bloodline, was something he had to get.

Also, he had to go to the Long Xu Sect first. Only after all of this was completed would he begin the real investigation – the method to completely get rid of dead corners.

Sharpening the axe doesn't delay the work of chopping wood. Since Li En had been missing for so long and the clues were still there, it wouldn't hurt to wait a little longer.

"Boss, remember to help my friend exchange the gold bars." -- Cheng Yi.

"Cheng Yi, are you short of money? How about I lend you some?" -- Sima Gui.

"No need, thanks Gui-ge, I have enough pocket money, it's just that I won't have enough later, Feiyi are too expensive. Every time you use it, you have to maintain it, and it costs too much." -- Cheng Yi.

Li Cheng Yi had taken about a million yuan in cash from those few fertilizers. It was enough to buy some sunflowers, but it wouldn't be enough later.

After exchanging a few more polite words with Sima Gui, he closed the Feiyu app and opened the shopping website. After comparing prices on several websites and apps, he quickly placed an order with the most fair one, buying a bunch of sunflowers as flowers.

Next was to complete the first evolution of the sunflower, and then open a new Flower God position, absorbing the Setaceous Scirpus as the new main flower.

Inferior Shadow Dragon bloodline...

It might be inferior at first, but it might not still be inferior after evolving... He was looking forward to it.

Not long after, the car arrived at the New Century Building.

It was already after 7:00 in the morning.

The crowd in front of the building was still surging, and the people entering and exiting for shopping and consumption were not affected by the major case that had just occurred at all. The crowd talked and laughed, in pairs, couples, people walking their children, old people, office workers, street vendors, flying skateboard teams, and so on.

There were too many people who came out for a stroll and exercise in the morning.

Li Cheng Yi entered the mall and quickly bought a new set of clothes, cut up the previous clothes into several pieces and threw them away.

Then he went to the company, put the gold bars in Qian Bimei's hands, and stored the jar and Feiyi in the company before finally turning around and going home.

He had been in a state of high mental tension these days. It was time to go back and rest properly.

Days passed by.

The major crime investigation team from the province came and launched a full investigation into the previous terrorist attack. Suiyang also seemed to be far away from the vortex, still calm and peaceful.

Li Cheng Yi stayed at home for five days, either sleeping in late or going out to look for unknown flowers and plants everywhere. His parents' salaries had increased a bit, and there were more smiles on their faces every day.

His sister, Li Cheng Jiu, had also found a job, leaving early and returning late every day, never to be seen. And finally, the new variety of sunflowers that Li Cheng Yi had ordered online was delivered to the botanical garden.

He had also prepared himself. It was time to absorb the flower energy, complete the evil thoughts, and open a new Flower God position.