Chapter 1 Awakening

Outside Suiyang, the rolling grasslands were slightly withered and yellow, with clusters of trees scattered across the landscape like patches of ringworm.

A gentle stream flowed, with only the bright white stars in the night sky providing the sole source of light.

The white star was Bai Xing, the moon of this world, reflecting the only light of the sun.

Zheng Qingrong was awakened by a chill from the night breeze. She slowly sat up and realized she was lying on a sloping hillside. As far as she could see, there was nothing but a winding stream stretching into the distance.

A tall, burly figure stood not far away, quietly staring at her.

"You're awake?" Li Cheng颐 said in a low, deep voice.

"Who are you?! Why am I here??" Zheng Qingrong warily scrambled to her feet, checking her clothes.

To make it easier to move, she had worn a fitted, simple black long-sleeved shirt and pants. Although it was a little too tight, it wouldn't get caught on branches or anything.

Having practiced freestyle fighting for several years and being a private enthusiast skilled in using close-quarters cold weapons, Zheng Qingrong had been prepared to use violence at any moment since she saw her sister's body.

But unfortunately, she had overestimated her strength. Faced with the three burly security guards who caught up to her, she was injured in just a few exchanges. If someone hadn't secretly helped her by providing cover, she might have been caught before she got far.

After running for a while, she was finally intercepted and beaten up.

Then came the scene Li Cheng颐 witnessed, where she was kicked and punched into a brief unconsciousness.

"Where are those three? What kind of trick are you playing now?!" Zheng Qingrong said coldly.

Li Cheng颐 didn't answer, only slowly approaching.

As he got closer, his appearance was revealed to Zheng Qingrong.

He wore a suit of purplish-black metal armor, even his head was covered with a fully enclosed special helmet. The faceplate, even the eyes, were made of a purplish-red crystal-like material. From the outside, only two rhombus-shaped pupils could be seen.

The entire surface of the armor was engraved with a large number of detailed wisteria patterns, strings and pieces, looking complex, mysterious, and gorgeous.

Just as Zheng Qingrong barely made out his strange attire.

Suddenly, a gust of evil wind rushed toward her face.

*Puff!*

Her entire body instantly arched, like a cooked shrimp, as a heavy punch landed in her abdomen.

The intense pain and suffocation made her involuntarily vomit.

*Puff.*

Then she was kicked to the ground, rolling a few times down the grassy slope, shrinking into a ball.

"You want revenge badly?" Li Cheng颐 said. "I'm afraid you won't get the chance."

From those three burly men, he had learned some of the inside story.

"The higher-ups want me to take care of you completely. Do you think I should just bury you, or throw you in the river and hold you down with a rock?" He slowly walked toward Zheng Qingrong.

"You... won't... get away with this!" Zheng Qingrong struggled to her feet, gasping for breath. She realized this guy was one of Tie Feng's people.

"That's what you get for being weak," Li Cheng颐 said indifferently. "Your sister deserved it too, knowing she was beautiful, she still had to dress up and go to a late-night bar alone.

Like a delicious piece of fish, without any way to protect herself, she delivered herself to someone's mouth..."

"Shut up!!!"

Suddenly, Zheng Qingrong roared, straightening up and charging toward Li Cheng颐, throwing a punch.

She threw a fierce punch, hitting Li Cheng颐 in the chest.

Naturally, the fist couldn't break through the Floral Scale Armor, only making a crisp "clang" sound.

On the contrary, Zheng Qingrong's own fist quickly turned red.

Li Cheng颐 stood still, but the expression under his faceplate changed slightly.

Evil thought Anger +1.

Evil thought Anger +1.

Evil thought Anger +1.

Evil thought Anger +1...

The Sword Orchid, having just completed its evolutionary requirements, was now frantically increasing its evil thought progress.

A series of prompt messages spewed out from the Evil Flower Spring.

In just a few seconds, it went from 0% to 17%!

"With you, even if I stand here and let you hit me, you can't do anything," Li Cheng颐 continued.

"You're too weak."

"Like weeds on the ground, easily crushed with a single step."

"Thinking you could protect your sister alone in that state? You can't even protect yourself. Your sister was stupid, and you're even stupider. Perhaps this is the essence of how society works."

"Eliminating trash like you, allowing the smarter and stronger to survive and continue the lineage. This is the law of survival of the fittest..."

"Shut up!!! I told you to shut up!!" Zheng Qingrong shouted again, rushing up and kicking and punching Li Cheng颐.

But it was useless.

Now, the strength of the Wisteria Floral Scale Armor after one evolution could even withstand close-range pistol bullets.

There was no way she could break through it with such casual blows.

Evil thought Anger +1.

Evil thought Anger +1.

Evil thought Anger +1.

Evil thoughts were increasing frantically, and in just a few seconds, it rushed to 36%.

Li Cheng颐 looked at the frenzied Zheng Qingrong and finally understood that quality was a better choice than quantity.

Finding high-quality fertilizer was the true key to evolution.

"What's the use of screaming now? I'm standing right here, can you kill me? No, you can't do anything but howl."

"After you die, the Tie Feng Group will also target your relatives and friends, all because of you and your sister."

"So what? What can you do? Scream like an idiot, then rush up and hit and bite randomly?"

Li Cheng颐 looked at Zheng Qingrong, who was starting to bite him, and continued to mock her coldly.

"I'll kill you! Kill you!!!" Zheng Qingrong frantically hammered the side of Li Cheng颐's neck with her elbow, biting his shoulder armor fiercely.

But to no avail.

The Floral Scale Armor was far too strong for her limited strength to break through.

She vented, weeping bitterly.

Evil thought Anger +2.

Evil thought Anger +2.

Evil thought Anger +2.

The speed of evil thought accumulation also began to increase.

Before long, finally, the evil thought required for the Sword Orchid's first evolution reached 87%, then finally stalled.

Zheng Qingrong was also out of strength, hanging on Li Cheng颐's neck, still gritting her teeth, trying to choke him to death.

But at this moment, Li Cheng颐 was completely overjoyed.

One person!

Just one person!

Almost completely filled the evil thought required for his first evolution.

How much time and energy did this save him?

He knew how much time and effort it took to absorb the evil thought for the wisteria flower's evolution, taking nearly two months to complete.

But now?

In just a few minutes, he had absorbed 87% of the progress!!

Looking at Zheng Qingrong, who was more injured than him from the beating, Li Cheng颐 reached out and grabbed her clothes, pulling her back.

Immediately, she was dragged down and slumped on the grass.

"Now do you understand? Understand your own weakness, then quickly pack up and run far away," Li Cheng颐 said coldly. "What else can trash like you do besides foolishly rush up and die?"

"What... what do you mean!?" Zheng Qingrong was stunned when she heard this, sensing something was wrong. Her body, which had been out of strength, froze.

"The literal meaning."

*Pa.*

A small bag was thrown at Zheng Qingrong, rolling onto the grass.

It contained some medical supplies, hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, and disinfectant medicine, and a stack of large-denomination bills.

"Go west, there's a suburban hotel three hundred meters away, a room has already been booked, just go in and rest."

A voice entered her ears.

Zheng Qingrong quickly picked up the things, and when she looked up again, the person in front of her was gone.

*

*

*

Tie Feng Group - Sunshine Building.

This iconic building in Suiyang's Lotus District is the Sunshine Building, belonging to the Tie Feng Group.

The entire building has forty floors, with the large red characters "Sunshine Tie Feng" written horizontally across the top.

At night, these four characters shimmer with a bright golden halo.

The front of the building is entirely silver glass windows, looking somewhat old from a distance, but still barely maintaining basic splendor and cleanliness.

At the bottom of the building, several security guards in patrol cars were circling the building again and again, ensuring the surrounding safety.

*Boom!!!*

Suddenly, the black iron gate was violently smashed open from the middle, exploding.

The iron gate seemed to have been cut and shredded into countless pieces by some sharp weapon, scattered all over the ground.

Before the two security guards in patrol cars could react, they saw a black-purple figure rushing out, taking a few steps, and crashing heavily into the glass doors of the inner building lobby.

*Crash!*

With a loud noise, the glass doors instantly shattered, scattering into shards all over the ground.

A strange man wearing full purplish-black armor, holding two gold-bladed swords of different lengths in his hands, stepped into the lobby, trampling on the shattered glass, and looked at the beautiful receptionist who was stunned.

"Where is Zheng Jiayu?" A sharp, strange, vocoder-distorted voice came from the monster's mouth.

"I... I don't know..." The receptionist was petrified, instinctively raising her hands, afraid to move.

Li Cheng颐 looked at the elevator and then at the stairwell.

"I hate climbing stairs."

He now fully realized how much a strong logistics team could help.

If he had known the precise location of Zheng Jiayu in advance, he wouldn't have faced such a troublesome situation.

He could have even taken the elevator directly to find him, without worrying about the elevator being forcibly stopped.

A strong hacker was that powerful.

Fortunately, he had prepared beforehand.

Zheng Jiayu was a classmate of Zheng Qingrong's sister, and they had each other's phone numbers. Zheng Qingrong also had it.

Before coming, he had obtained the phone number and asked Hong Jin Company to help with the location.

That's how he was able to confirm that Zheng Jiayu was here.

'The 30th to 40th floors of the Sunshine Building are the floors that the Zheng family father and son usually use for their rest and entertainment activities. When I located them here before, it was on the 34th floor. So...'

He bent over slightly.

*Bang!!*

Without any hesitation, he directly smashed open the safety stairwell door and rushed upstairs from the stairwell.

After the amplification from Solid Flower Language and the full body enhancement from the Floral Scale Armor.

His current physical ability has far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Before, he could rely on the Floral Scale Armor enhancement to fight a fully modified human. Now, this little collision and travel were nothing.

Following the stairs, almost four steps per floor.

In just two minutes, the channel door on the 34th floor was violently smashed open.

Li Cheng颐 strode in.

*Bang bang bang bang!!*

A dense rain of bullets came head-on.

The bullets all hit his outer layer of armor, making crisp sounds. The huge impact forced Li Cheng颐 to stop in place for a moment.

He grabbed the wall on one side and tore off a large piece of concrete, smashing it forward.

*Bang!*

The row of security personnel in front, who were firing guns, were knocked over.

"You are like weeds!"

"So fragile!!"

Li Cheng颐 stepped forward, charging.

*Boom!!*

He crashed into the crowd, and with a horizontal slash of the dual swords in his hands.

*Puff puff* sounds rang out continuously, and four black-clothed security guards were instantly cut in half at the waist.

It must be said that these security personnel were extremely skilled. Despite their panic, they still dispersed their formation and continued to shoot at him from various angles.

Bullets hit Li Cheng颐's armor non-stop. Some of the bullets had been replaced with sharper armor-piercing rounds.

But it was still useless.

If he didn't have Solid Flower Language before, these armor-piercing rounds might have been useful at close range.

But now, all the bullets were broken upon impact, and scattered around, many hitting the surrounding walls, and a few hitting the gunmen themselves.

Breaking through the gunmen's obstruction, Li Cheng颐 immediately saw the teenage boy who was secretly running towards the elevator on the long sofa in the back.

He strode forward to chase after him.

Suddenly, a figure shouted loudly and pounced from the rear, grabbing his neck.

"Quick! I've got him!!" Half of the figure's upper body was silver-black metal. He was obviously a half-modified human.

"Foolish," Li Cheng颐 said, thrusting a sword in his backhand. The blade pierced through the figure's chest, penetrating his back, and then slicing horizontally.

*Chih.*

The half-modified human's face froze, and he fell to the ground, his upper body flashing with sparks.

Before he could make a sound, a golden blade flashed across his neck, precisely severing his head.

Li Cheng颐 rushed forward, speeding towards Zheng Jiayu, who was about to escape.

*Buzz!!!*

Suddenly, a circle of invisible explosive ripples burst open in the air of the lobby on this floor.

Wherever the ripples passed, all electrical appliances instantly smoked and stopped working.

But these ripples had no effect on Li Cheng颐, and he continued to rush towards the elevator.

But he was still one step too late.

Being delayed by the half-modified human, he was still one beat too slow, and the elevator doors closed.

"Kill him! Dad, kill him for me!!" Zheng Jiayu's roar mixed with cries echoed faintly from the elevator shaft.

"Kill me?" A fierce glint flashed in Li Cheng颐's eyes.

Raising his hand, he thrust two swords at the elevator doors.

*Swish swish*, with a hard kick, the elevator doors were kicked open, revealing the pitch-black elevator shaft inside.

The elevator's steel cables were still sliding up and down.

Li Cheng颐 joined his hands together, turning the dual swords into one longer golden sword, and slashing at the steel cable.

*Bang!*

The steel cable snapped instantly, the huge tension released, pulling the steel cable and causing it to ricochet rapidly on the elevator shaft's inner wall, hitting it with a "clang clang" sound, splattering sparks.

The elevator, which had just gone up, immediately began to plummet after losing its suspension cable.

"Ah ah ah!!"

Zheng Jiayu's terrified scream came from the elevator.

Evil thought Fear +1.

Evil thought Fear +1.

Evil thought Fear +1.

Three points of evil thought were all that Zheng Jiayu had.

Combining it with the murderous evil thought from the previous gunmen, and the few points of evil thought from the half-modified human.

Finally.

Li Cheng颐 clearly sensed that the evolution of the Sword Orchid Floral Scale Armor was completely fulfilled at this moment.

97%.

98%.

99%.

100%!

In this final moment, he stood at the elevator entrance, extending the sword straight forward, into the elevator shaft.

"Weeds should look like weeds."

*Chih.*

The golden blade pierced into the opposite elevator shaft wall, lying horizontally in the center.

"Die humbly."

*Bang!!*

The elevator crashed down, hitting the blade's edge, splitting in two like tofu, smoothly divided into two pieces, and falling into the elevator shaft below.

Zheng Jiayu's screaming stopped abruptly, leaving only a large amount of blood slowly sliding down the blade, dripping down.

Withdrawing the sword, Li Cheng颐 turned and left, not even looking at the gunmen around who no longer dared to fire.

As long as these domestic local group companies didn't have heavy weapons, they wouldn't be anything to him.

And it just so happened that the laws of Yi State wouldn't allow these local groups to possess heavy weapons.

This would inevitably lead to one result.

Weak.