In Zhou San's room, after rummaging through cabinets and boxes, Shen Hex finally found a small chest.
Using a stone to smash it open, he saw inside were two sets of clean clothing, several strings of copper coins, a few pieces of broken silver, and a wooden plaque.
Clothes, money, travel permit!
Clearly, this was prepared by Zhou San for himself.
After all, in these turbulent times, one cannot predict whether misfortune will strike first or later. As a somewhat intelligent Beggar Lord, leaving some contingency for himself for unforeseen needs is reasonable.
Unfortunately, he never got to use them, and instead, they benefited Shen Hex.
Shen Hex picked out a set of clothes but did not immediately change into them; instead, he turned and went to the courtyard, stripped off the muddied beggar's attire beside a water tank, and boldly started to wash himself.
Today's incident, he had plotted for a whole year, having a complete plan of his own.
Dealing with Zhou San and others was just the first step of this plan; the more important matter afterward was to shed his beggar's identity and avoid being hunted by the Beggar Gang.
Being aware of his own capabilities, he knew that he could handle a few uninitiated Beggar Lords, but if he encountered true martial arts-trained Beggar Gang disciples, he'd be doomed.
Thus, after killing Zhou San and others, how to escape became an urgent issue.
Shen Hex had devised this for a year, made many preparations, and was already highly confident.
He submerged himself in the water tank, vigorously scrubbing the mud from his body, especially the exposed areas like his face, until the water was entirely turbid, and his skin was red from scrubbing before stopping.
After cleansing his body, he hurried back to the room, changed into the clothes Zhou San had prepared, and tied up his previously messy hair, revealing a clean face. He might not be handsome, but he no longer looked like the disheveled, dirty-faced, hunched beggar he used to.
A complete makeover, just like that!
After doing these, he picked up the silver coins and travel permit from the chest and went back to the large room with the bodies, gathering the straw mattresses used by the beggars and Zhou San and others' bodies, and set them aflame, burning the decrepit house along with them.
Killing and arson, destroying evidence!
As smoke rose and the fire dragon emerged, Shen Hex dared not linger and quickly moved toward the door.
But unexpectedly...
"Gah!!"
"Third Brother!"
The door pushed open, a beggar hurried in, shouting loudly, seeming quite exuberant.
"It's you?"
"Who are you?"
Shen Hex saw him, and he saw Shen Hex too, but their reactions were entirely different, the former sneering, the latter shocked.
The newcomer was none other than Zhou San's loyal lackey, the beggar who previously exposed Heiwa's secret stash, resulting in Heiwa being beaten to death alive—Mao Liu.
He eagerly walked in, seeing the entirely unfamiliar Shen Hex and the smoky, flaming decrepit house behind him, stood dazed.
And in this moment of distraction, Shen Hex suddenly lunged forward, pressing his head against the door panel, and started a fierce collision.
"Bang bang bang!"
Several consecutive loud thuds, Mao Liu was full of shock, not yet understanding what had happened, was slammed unconscious by Shen Hex's head-bashing.
Shen Hex did not stop there, picked up a brick and heavily struck his head, then carried his body and tossed it into the blazing house, quickly left thereafter.
Why did he come back?
Shen Hex didn't know, nor was he interested to know. Whether it was one or two people to kill, it wasn't worth his concern.
...
Carrying a bundle, leaving the decrepit house, Shen Hex pressed forward without delay, heading straight for the city gate.
Even though he now possessed Zhou San's travel permit and silver coins and could easily find an inn in the city to stay, nobody knew how Zhou San obtained this travel permit, whether it has any connections or could attract anyone.
For safety measures, Shen Hex opted to leave the city.
The sky did not darken, the city gate was still open, and Shen Hex encountered no surprises and easily left the city.
Reaching the outskirts, he didn't bother looking for a guesthouse or lodging with locals, directly climbed a big tree, and reclined restfully on a sturdy tree branch.
"Phew!"
At this point, Shen Hex truly relaxed, leaning against the tree trunk, taking a deep breath, feeling an unprecedented freedom, and a sense of fish returning to the sea, birds soaring to the sky filled his heart.
The vast sea for fish to leap, the high sky for birds to fly.
He was truly free!
Now, he could unrestrainedly strategize for this world.
Shen Hex's gaze was deep, as he regained his composure, reopened the professional panel.
Gouwa (Shen Hex)
Profession: Beggar.
Professional Rank: Tier One Level Ten.
Professional Talent: Begging for mercy.
Professional Skills: Stone Throwing, Flying Sand.
Professional Items: Stone Throwing, Flying Sand.
Universal Skills: Yuan-Devouring Skill, Xingyi Fist.
...
"Professional level is full!"
"Would you like to attempt advancement?"
Looking at the prompt that emerged on the panel, Shen Hex's eyes flashed with a hint of delight.
He had actually reached full level?
Shen Hex checked the experience records and found that it wasn't just the contributions of Zhou San's gang of Beggar Lords, but also the credit from that last big fire.
As mentioned before, the principle behind gaining professional experience is the impact the professional has on the world, not just simply leveling up by killing monsters, slaughter, and plundering.
So, that last big fire brought him quite a bit of experience, coupled with the gains from killing Zhou San and others, it directly boosted his Beggar Professional Level to full level.
What, killing people, setting fires, destroying corpses, aren't within the scope of "Beggar" profession experience acquisition?
Indeed, it's not, but there's a premise, which is that the people killed are not beggars.
Shen Hex estimated that his actions of killing Zhou San and setting the house on fire probably were counted under the category of "beggars seizing territory," so he could also gain some beggar's professional experience.
No matter how, the level was already full, and this was the truth.
So, next...
"Advance!"
Shen Hex's eyes narrowed, and he began searching his memory for information on professional advancement.
After reaching professional full level, one can attempt to advance.
Why is it said to be an attempt?
Because this advancement may not necessarily succeed!
Generally, there are four possible outcomes for advancement.
The first is failure; needless to say, it directly deducts all professional experience, knocking back to Level 1 to start over, the worst outcome, and a nightmare for all professionals.
The second is success, obtaining a higher tier profession, this also needs no elaboration, it is the pursuit of all professionals.
The third is a bit special, hovering between success and failure, not completing the rank promotion but obtaining a new profession, known as same-tier job change.
The fourth is even more special, which occurs only when multiple professions are simultaneously at full level, resulting in a fusion of two or more professions to generate a comprehensive, more powerful high-tier or same-tier profession.
Shen Hex now has only one profession, so the fourth can be ruled out, leaving only the first three outcomes awaiting.
Success?
Or failure?
Shen Hex couldn't say.
But as things stand, there's no other choice, regardless he must give it a try.
"Advance!"
"Whether to retain talents?"
"Do not retain!"
"Whether to retain professional skills?"
"..."
"Do not retain!"
Facing the prompts given by the professional panel, Shen Hex pondered for a while, and ultimately chose the most prudent way to advance, abandoning everything, and going all-out for advancement.
Professional advancement can offer the option to retain talents and professional skills; if the advancement succeeds, these talents and skills not only can be retained but may even advance together or get strengthened.
But everything gained inevitably has a loss, the cost of retaining talents and skills is the reduction in advancement success rate.
The talent of begging for mercy from the beggar profession has rather ordinary effects, it's not worth Shen Hex taking such a risk.
Therefore...
"Bang!"
With a gentle sound, a flood of memories surged in his mind, encompassing the past year and his deeds.
Enduring humiliation, begging for food.
The ruthless human heart, the perilous world.
Meticulously strategizing, preemptive action.
Blood splattering five steps, ruthless hand without mercy.
One incident after another, piece by piece, like a movie replay, all surfaced in his mind.
In this manner, not knowing for how long.
"Advancement begins!"
"Profession generated!"
"Based on your experiences and deeds, you may replace the original beggar profession with one of the following Tier One Professions!"
"Profession One: Beggar's Gang Disciple (begging, fighting, contentious killing, you are already a qualified beggar, possessing the qualifications to progress further, venture into the Jianghu; can acquire experience through begging, martial combat, gang warfare, and Jianghu slaughter, enhancements to Beggar Gang Martial Arts effects, each level up slightly increases physique)"
"Professional Talent: Martial Beggar (You have proven yourself with force; large enhancement to Beggar Gang Martial Arts effects, substantial increase in experience acquired through martial combat, can consume professional experience to transform into professional items—Dog-Beating Stick!)
"Profession Two: Martial Artist (A gentleman in rage, blood splattering five steps, enduring humiliation under oppression, secretly cultivating martial arts to break the impasse; this martial arts heart is validated by blood, can acquire experience by practicing martial arts and sparring, enhancements to various martial arts effects, each level up slightly improves Martial Arts Talent)"
"Professional Talent: Static Posture (You have long trained using Static Posture, even during sleep, which has given you unique insights into Static Posture cultivation, greatly enhancing its effects)"
"Profession Three: Hero (Facing oppression, you rise to resist, offering blood for blood, a tooth for a tooth to villains; though violent, yet a hero, can acquire experience through curbing violence, acts of valor; substantial enhancement to physique for each level up)"
"Professional Talent: Breaking the Prohibition (Heroes break the prohibition with martial force; your actions are destined not to be tolerated by the Court's laws, but this cannot shake your heroic heart; when breaking the law through curbing violence, can acquire a large amount of professional experience; the greater the legal charge, the more experience obtained)"
...