Not long after the news of the three Refining God Venerables’ deaths spread, the Xia Federation convened another Federation meeting.

The meeting began with a brief moment of mourning for the three fallen Refining God Venerables, followed by the announcement of a major new decree.

The decree stipulated that the existence of Secret Martial Arts and the Black Blood Species would be revealed to the general public. Furthermore, various Schools would be permitted to cooperate with local authorities to openly recruit disciples.

The announcement of this decree naturally drew dissatisfaction from some council members.

In their view, the Extraordinary Power wielded by Secret Martial Artists was best kept in the hands of a few. Otherwise, it could easily lead to social unrest and would be difficult to manage.

Beyond that, their own selfish interests were at play. If ordinary people all began to practice Secret Martial Arts and master Extraordinary Power, it would inevitably have an unpredictable impact on their own status and the future of their descendants.

After all, in a world without Extraordinary Power, money and power were everything. Possessing them allowed one to stand above the common person, to become the Upper Class.

But in the face of Extraordinary Power, such things were utterly insignificant.

The thought of ordinary people potentially transforming into beings they would have to look up to was naturally difficult for these council members to accept.

However, no matter how unwilling they were, it was useless.

Ultimately, this decision had been passed unanimously by the Speakers who were in the Refining God Realm. The other members had no right to refuse.

Since they couldn’t refuse, they shifted their thinking and began to consider how to secure their own positions as this new era dawned.

The impact of revealing the existence of Secret Martial Artists and the Black Blood Species on the upper echelons and the Secret Martial Artists themselves was secondary. The ones most affected would be the tens of billions of ordinary people.

...

The night was as black as ink, a curtain drawn over the city’s clamor.

「Han Zhou City.」

In an old residential building in the city’s older district, the sound of a key turning was followed by the door swinging open from the outside.

The lights flickered on, revealing a cramped rental room.

A few pairs of dust-covered shoes were scattered haphazardly on the floor, one here, one there.

Beside them lay balled-up socks, emitting a faint, unpleasant odor.

The wardrobe against the wall was half-open. Inside, some clothes were hung messily while others were piled at the bottom, the tails of a few shirts poking out from the door.

On the single bed, the blanket was bunched into a ball, the pillow was askew, and the sheet was covered in wrinkles.

The small table beside the bed was cluttered with miscellaneous items: beverage cans, snack bags, magazines, and a few trinkets.

The room was a complete mess.

Ma Zhuo closed the door, kicked off his shoes, and slipped on a pair of slippers.

He carried a ten-yuan boxed meal he had bought from a street stall and placed it on the only table in the room.

Then, he walked into the bathroom. SPLASH! The sound of running water filled the air.

He scrubbed his hands over and over, using a large amount of soap and vigorously rubbing each finger.

However, the black grease seemed to have seeped deep into his skin; its color only faded slightly.

These were the marks left from long-term contact with car parts and tools.

Even when he tried to scrape it off with his fingernails, he could only remove a negligible amount of grime. Most of the grease remained stubbornly on his hands.

As a car repair apprentice who worked with gasoline all year round, it was impossible for him to get his hands completely clean.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror. It was the face of a young man in his twenties, but a few smudges of grease on his face made him look dirty.

Even though it was his own face, looking in the mirror gave him a sense of unfamiliarity.

Ma Zhuo sighed helplessly. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’If I had a choice, who would want to end up like this? Life just forces your hand.’

Finding a job was hard these days, so his only option was to learn a trade first.

The car repair industry had been doing pretty well in recent years, and it didn’t have high educational requirements.

He planned to save up some money after he had learned enough, then rent a storefront and open his own shop to be his own boss.

This was his plan for the future. Whether or not he could achieve it was another matter entirely.

After all, an apprentice’s wages were very low, making it difficult to save money.

Although the shop provided food and lodging, he didn’t like living with others, so he had rented a room nearby.

Fortunately, he didn’t have a girlfriend and his parents were still young, so his small salary was just enough to get by.

He took out his phone, opened a novel app, turned on the text-to-speech mode, and started to shower.

When he heard a part in the novel where the protagonist was showing off and putting someone in their place, a thought flashed through his mind.

’It’s a shame. If Cultivation Techniques truly existed in this world, allowing people to become Extraordinary, I would definitely risk everything for it!’

This thought didn’t last long before the loud rumbling of his stomach broke his reverie, pulling his thoughts back to reality.

He shook his head.

He knew it was all just a fantasy.

’Extraordinary Power doesn’t exist.’

Normally, he could only rely on novels and movies to satisfy this desire.

Everyone has their own fantasies.

He was no different. When he was young, he would often get lost in daydreams while walking or even trying to sleep, imagining himself as a novel’s protagonist or wondering what he would do if he awakened some ability to fly and travel through the earth.

However, as he entered the workforce, got older, and saw more of the world, the pressures of life weighed down on him like a heavy boulder, making it hard to breathe.

It made him gradually realize that fantasies were, in the end, just fantasies.

They could never become real.

After finishing his shower, he had just thrown on some clothes and was about to sit down to eat.

The phone, which was still playing the novel, suddenly vibrated.

Ma Zhuo picked it up and saw a message from the Paper Crane app. The sender was Wu Xing, a fellow car repair apprentice.

The other guy was around his age and also a novel enthusiast.

When they had free time, they would chat about novel plots and recommend books to each other.

They also played games together and got along pretty well.

’This guy is messaging me... is he asking to team up for a game? It’s a bit early for that!’

Ma Zhuo muttered to himself and tapped open the message. He found that it wasn’t a party invitation.

Instead, it was a link to a livestream.

Before he could figure out why Wu Xing had sent it to him, his phone rang. It was Wu Xing.

"Hey!"

Ma Zhuo had just answered the phone when Wu Xing’s excited voice erupted from the other end.

"Brother Ma, holy shit! Something... something huge is happening! There really... there really is Extraordinary Power in this world! I knew it!"

His voice was so full of excitement that he was stuttering.

Ma Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then he couldn’t help but laugh.

"Old Wu, I’ve told you before, even though you’re young, you need some self-control. Take care of your body.

Look at you, you’re already hallucinating. What kind of nonsense are you spouting to me? If it’s that bad, your bro can introduce you to an old traditional doctor to get you some restorative medicine!"

"No, I’m not... drained! Bah, I’m not talking nonsense! Click the livestream and see for yourself! If not, just search online, the whole internet is blowing up! Extraordinary Power really exists! I’m going back to watch. Trust me! With our relationship, would I lie to you?!"

With that, Wu Xing hastily hung up.

Ma Zhuo stared at the disconnected call, frowning. He wondered if the guy had lost his mind.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to click the link and see.

He didn’t believe a single word the other guy had said.

He was more inclined to believe it was some kind of prank or a scam link.

But it didn’t matter. All his money was in his bank account anyway.

’I’ve only got a few cents in ’Paper Crane’.’

However, after a few seconds of loading, the screen changed. It automatically opened the Kuaiyin app, and a livestream room actually appeared.

The livestream account was named "Wind Falcon Sect," and it was even a verified official account.

The viewer count in the top right corner had already reached the terrifying figure of 1,000,000+.

On the screen was a spacious and brightly lit training hall.

In the center stood a man in a Martial Arts Uniform with his hands clasped behind his back.

Seeing this, Ma Zhuo’s first instinct was to swipe away. After all, compared to watching a man, he much preferred watching cute girls dance.

But just as he was about to swipe, he suddenly stopped.

"Everyone has probably wondered at some point if Extraordinary Power exists in this world."

"I can now tell you with absolute certainty that Extraordinary Power does indeed exist. However, it’s not in the form of psychic abilities, but rather, Secret Martial Artists."

"To become a Secret Martial Artist, you must first temper your physical body, training your physique to a certain level to meet the requirements for refining Qi and Blood..."

In the video, a middle-aged man with a broad, square face, thick eyebrows, and large eyes stood with his hands behind his back. He was wearing a white Martial Arts Uniform with gold patterns.

A short distance in front of him stood a steel plate, placed vertically. The plate was very thick, at least two or three centimeters.

"Now, I will demonstrate the power of a Secret Martial Artist for everyone," the man said calmly.

"What’s this guy gonna do, punch a steel plate with his bare hands? Hilarious!"

"Lmao! Even official accounts are pulling these flashy stunts for clicks now?"

"That plate is so thick. If he can even make a dent, I’ll get naked and eat shit on a live broadcast while doing a handstand! And I’m a man of my word!"

In the livestream, lines of bullet comments scrolled continuously across the screen.

Every single one of them was filled with doubt.

Ma Zhuo didn’t believe it either, of course.

As a car mechanic, he knew very well that steel plates were different from iron plates.

After proper processing and heat treatment, steel possesses high strength and can withstand significant loads.

For example, high-strength structural steel plates are used in construction, bridges, and machinery manufacturing. They can withstand enormous pressure and tension, and they also have excellent Resilience, allowing them to absorb energy upon impact or vibration.

A three-centimeter-thick steel plate was simply not something that could be moved by human strength alone.

The man paid the bullet comments no mind and continued speaking.

"Next, please watch closely. I will try to slow down my movements!"

With that, he took a small step forward with his left foot, bent his knees slightly, and lowered his center of gravity.

His right foot was planted firmly on the ground as if it had taken root.

He clenched his right hand into a fist. The muscles in his arm bulged instantly, stretching the loose sleeve of his Martial Arts Uniform taut.

With a slight shrug of his shoulder, he suddenly threw a punch straight forward.

SCREECH!

The air shrieked. Wisps of Qi and Blood seemed to gather around his arm, forming a blood-red falcon that flapped its wings and let out a piercing cry.

BANG!

The next moment, his fist smashed directly into the center of the massive steel plate before him.