Dasheng Chamber of Commerce, The Limit of Goodwill

The next day.

The entire Yan'an No. 7 High School, and even the whole city of Bocheng, was unusually lively.

Whether it was the Mythic Rift riot from yesterday, where the Overlord-Level Thousand-Headed Blood Leech Queen, whose appearance triggered celestial phenomena like a natural disaster, was slain by the Outer Scenery Teacher who had come to Bocheng for guidance.

Or the reappearance of the Blood God Cult and the story of the Emperor-level mythical creature behind them.

And the city-wide martial artists searching for the remaining leeches that slipped through the net, along with the bounties on Blood God Cult heretics.

All of this filled these young apprentice martial artists with fervent excitement.

Many fantasized about what it would be like to be such a powerful Outer Scenery Martial Artist, slashing out that one strike under the live gaze of the entire city.

Quite a few also discussed the bounty money from the Blood God Cult.

"A Blood God Cult member at the Apprentice Realm, one is worth fifty to one hundred and fifty thousand."

"A Blood God Cult member at the Mortal Shedding Realm, one is worth five hundred thousand to one point five million."

"For providing valid information, rewards are issued based on the number and realm of the Blood God Cult followers, with a minimum of five thousand."

"If I could get my hands on a Mortal Shedding Realm Blood God Cult member's signature Devouring Hand and head, I could chug one Blood Essence Potion and toss another from now on. For my entire senior year, I'd hire a private tutor and take Meditation Class."

"You'd better just go wash up and sleep; you'll find everything in your dreams."

"A Mortal Shedding Realm martial artist, even a hastily trained heretic, isn't something a small fry like us can handle."

"Never mind us; even a genius with a Blood Essence Level of seven or eight only has about eight hundred kilograms of strength. Can't even hit hard enough to hurt someone, and you're talking about heads."

"Forget that. Hey, have you guys noticed that Outer Scenery Martial Artist with the Dark Purple Ponytail looks a lot like our school's top student, Su Nianyi? Like sisters or something."

In the Martial Arts Class, there was rare lively chatter during the stance training.

Only Li Xijun, who could always stay 'utterly focused,' silently paused after a period of efficient cultivation.

He pulled out the Blood Essence Potion he had bought this morning for 2,500 yuan, gulped it down with a pang of heartache, and then continued his training.

He now hated this damn Blood God Cult to the core.

If not for this heretical sect trying to Borrow a Knife to Kill, fish in troubled waters, and cause chaos by devouring the flesh and blood of Mythical World creatures.

He would have gone home last night, headed to Da Sheng World, and spent some silver to buy a more potent and overbearing Greater Blood Essence Pill for today's cultivation.

Now, he could only drink a 2,500-yuan Blood Essence Potion!

That 2,500 yuan, converted to silver, could buy who knows how many Greater Blood Essence Pills and Medicinal Bath packs!

Besides, he had a vague plan for the 200,000 yuan Zhang Haifeng had given him last night.

That was to buy a standard Electromagnetic Handgun!

This New Era weapon could easily pierce through the defenses of old-era armored vehicles and tanks. Compared to old-era firearms, it had the advantages of very low firing noise, high concealment, and faster rate of fire.

For anyone below the Mortal Shedding Realm, this Electromagnetic Handgun had strong killing power—basically one shot, one kill.

Even a Mortal Shedding Realm martial artist, if only at the first 'Outer Body' stage, would be severely wounded after taking a hit.

Normally, ordinary people were definitely not allowed to buy one.

But for martial arts students, due to their inherent status as reserves who could be conscripted for battle when necessary, and their potential as future martial artists.

On the surface, they had the qualification to submit an application for review and approval.

But in most cases, without some family background, the application probably wouldn't pass.

The city was usually so peaceful; what would you be doing suddenly getting a gun?

Originally, Li Xijun had considered finding an opportunity to ask Zhang Haifeng for help buying one, or going to the black market in the east of the city.

But with the commotion from this Mythical Creature riot and the Blood God Cult follower incident.

There would definitely be many people applying for the qualification to buy an Electromagnetic Handgun, and the authorities would inevitably relax the requirements and tacitly allow it.

After all, even old-era firearms could be precisely traced through rifling and trajectories.

If someone used a New Era Electromagnetic Handgun to kill someone within the city, the Prevention Bureau would probably be able to locate and check the surveillance footage the next second.

So, If Li Xijun applied now, given his identity, he had a good chance of success.

It was just that the price tag of 150,000 yuan was really not very pretty.

Feeling his wallet crying, Li Xijun once again lamented why this world didn't have a bull market.

Then he quickly took advantage of the effects of the Blood Essence Potion to engage in hard training.

Even the afternoon martial arts technique class, due to the high difficulty of the Drooping Cloud Hand, he chose to set aside for now and continue focusing on cultivating the basic cultivation method.

[Your "Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method" realm has increased from 64% Proficiency to 65% Proficiency.]

[Your "Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method" realm has increased from 65% Proficiency to 66% Proficiency.]

In the midst of these small increments of progress in cultivation, an entire day passed.

With the vigorous searches and management by the Public Security Bureau, military, and martial artists, Li Xijun, for the first time, encountered three waves of patrols on his way home, returning safely to his house.

But this time, to be safe, he hid in the bathroom's shower stall to make the crossing.

Da Sheng World

Playing it safe, Li Xijun naturally didn't stay in the small courtyard the Life-Slaying Martial Hall had arranged for him.

Before leaving, he'd added a bit more money and directly bought a small Western-style house across the river, in an area clearly belonging to the prosperous, wealthy district of pleasure and luxury, separated from the Contemplation Society by just one street.

Calling back the Mockingbird Drone hiding in a nearby tree and donning the Nano Protective Suit, Li Xijun didn't act immediately. Instead, he fast-forwarded through the drone's recordings from the past few days, confirming there were no anomalies.

Then he sent it soaring into the sky to patrol the vicinity.

The footage from the drone showed nothing out of the ordinary, but after watching closely for a while, Li Xijun noticed that today in Jinmen, there were an unusually large number of ragged refugees and beggars.

He wasn't sure if a disaster had struck somewhere or what was going on.

After watching for a bit, seeing scenes of people selling their children—something he'd only witnessed in history from his past life—and refugees dying like weeds by the roadside, Li Xijun's emotions churned as he silently closed the footage, turned, and headed straight to the Life-Slaying Martial Hall.

As the permanent instructor at the hall, Yu Xiangyang, upon seeing Li Xijun arrive, began his usual guidance.

However, during the process, he occasionally let a hint of worry slip through.

It wasn't until today's "Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist" had improved by another 2%, and Li Xijun was about to ask Yu Xiangyang about purchasing Greater Blood Essence Pills and Medicinal Baths, that the man, who had clearly been holding it in for a while, finally spoke up, a bit awkwardly and sheepishly:

"Junior Brother Li, I can see you have a good constitution, and the technique you practice for generating blood and qi is impressive."

"Why not buy a few more Greater Blood Essence Pills?"

"You can get a full month's supply together with the Medicinal Bath packs, save yourself the trouble."

Li Xijun had originally planned to do just that.

The sudden incident in Bocheng had forced him to sleep in Zhang Haifeng's private office, too afraid to cross over.

It cost him an extra 5,000 yuan the next day for training, buying two bottles of Blood Essence Potion.

This time, he did intend to buy a full month's supply all at once.

But now that Yu Xiangyang had brought it up, instead of answering right away, Li Xijun countered directly:

"That's true, but I noticed Senior Brother Yu seems distracted today, clearly troubled, and now you're urging me to buy a month's worth of Greater Blood Essence Pills."

"Has Senior Brother Yu run into some difficulty?"

Li Xijun's gaze was calm, but his mental energy was already highly focused, ready to scrutinize the other's expression and eyes.

"Sigh, to be honest, the common folk near Jinmen have been hit by a disaster. But those bastards in the merchant guild have colluded to jack up grain prices."

Once the floodgates opened, Yu Xiangyang couldn't hold back anymore:

"Our martial hall wants to buy some grain to set up a porridge station for relief, but with the foreigner trouble before, the master—already old and frail—got into a fight with the Church of the God of War and suffered internal injuries. Just the rare medicines alone cost a fortune."

"Now the hall's scraped together funds are pitifully low. And as an Inner Disciple instructor, I get a cut from your pill and Medicinal Bath purchases, so I thought I'd ask you to buy this month's supply early."

As he spoke, his face flushed red, giving off the vibe of a first-time salesman.

"I'm not really trying to trick you into spending more, Junior Brother. Your talent is genuinely good."

"With one pill a day, the Medicinal Bath, and my guidance, there's an 80% chance you'll reach Greater Skin and Flesh Refinement in a month."

"It's just... just buying the pills in advance."

By now, his neck was bright red.

That said, a Medicinal Bath pack cost two taels, and a Greater Blood Essence Pill cost ten taels each.

Even subtracting what the hall provided, buying this much at once was still a significant sum.

He felt he was pushing his luck, taking advantage of Li Xijun's wealth and deliberately trying to sell to him.

With Li Xijun's current mental strength, he could easily tell if the other was putting on an act.

Seeing that Yu Xiangyang's words were all genuine, and his anger toward the merchant guild seemed real, he pondered for a moment, then turned and walked into the small courtyard room.

Yu Xiangyang, seeing Li Xijun not answer but instead head back inside, thought he'd refused and felt a bit dejected.

But once in the room, after scanning to confirm nothing had been disturbed, Li Xijun pulled some silver bars from his Nano Protective Suit, wrapped them in two spare money pouches, and came back out.

"This small one is for my medicine. This big one, five hundred taels, is for the porridge relief for the people."

"But I have one condition: don't tell anyone I donated that five hundred taels."

If he were a Martial Saint, he'd sweep the Western Continent, crush the Seven Gods Church, and bring peace to the world.

If he were an Outlier Realm cultivator, he'd be willing to kill those merchants and bring grain from the Federation to aid the refugees.

But right now, he was just a small fry with 6.0 blood qi, and five hundred taels was the absolute limit he was willing to expose.

Especially since he was about to buy an Electromagnetic Handgun, Plus, the scene captured by the drone was only for his own peace of mind.

A Blood-Exchange Martial Sage or Marrow Refinement Grandmaster would be considered top-tier anywhere.

They wouldn't make a move over the mere one or two thousand taels of silver he'd revealed.

As for someone like Yu Xiangyang, a Viscera Refinement Martial Warrior, or anyone else who might notice something and develop greed or ill intent—

If they went up against him, armed with a Nano Protective Suit and an Electromagnetic Handgun, they'd make for a decent source of experience.

This was the limit of Li Xijun's goodwill and combat capability.