Blood Vein Cord, Eternal Life Savior Mother

Inside a room at the Life-Slaying Martial Hall.

"Big Brother, I've confirmed it. That kid really lives alone.

"Besides coming to the martial hall, he stays home and never goes out.

"In the past half-month, I haven't heard of him interacting with any officials or nobles. He should truly be someone who returned alone from the Western Continent.

"Even if he has some connections, they're probably back in the Western Continent. So far away, it shouldn't have any impact.

"Once we pull this off, Boss, the money you need for Viscera Refinement and for buying demon beast flesh and Spirit Nurturing Incense should be covered."

Listening to the words of the somewhat trendy youth in front of him, dressed in a slicked-back hairstyle and a white shirt, Deng Gao didn't rush to respond.

He trusted his brother's abilities.

For years, this guy had been pretending to be a new-era youth studying abroad in the Western Continent, freeloading and scamming people on the other side of the river in The Bund, and he hadn't been found out.

This showed how well-informed he was and how smooth he was with people.

Since he dared to say this in front of him, the information was bound to be accurate.

Based on his previous personality, he would indeed have taken the gamble to become a Viscera Refinement Martial Warrior.

But...

Deng Gao's palm unconsciously toyed with a white porcelain bottle.

In his mind, the words Su Qiuzhen had spoken that day resurfaced:

"My spending these eight hundred taels of silver to help Brother Deng enter the Viscera Refinement realm does have a purpose. I just want Brother Deng to help me kill someone."

"Young Master Su has shown me such great kindness, I naturally cannot refuse. May I ask who you wish to kill?"

"The newly promoted Inner Disciple I saw on the second floor a few days ago – Li Xijun."

"Young Master, that person is, after all, an Inner Disciple of the Life-Slaying Martial Hall. What if Senior Brother Yu investigates..."

"This person joined the martial hall only a few days ago and easily spent nearly two thousand taels of silver. He's likely extremely wealthy. Killing him will definitely provide you with the resources for the Viscera Refinement realm. I won't take a single cent of the money, and I can also help Brother Deng fend off Senior Brother Yu's investigation."

As Su Qiuzhen spoke, he took a porcelain bottle from his怀.

"And all I ask is that after you kill him, you open this porcelain bottle and place it on his inner Ancestral Aperture."

As the well-dressed young nobleman in a suit handed over the porcelain bottle with a gentle smile, The palm-sized peach wood sword, which usually hung at his waist and clashed with his suit, revealed its true form. The bloodthirsty edge of the Blood Vein Cord was soul-stirring.

Under the midday sun, the weather was sweltering, but Deng Gao felt a chill run through his entire body.

Having spent so much time in Jinmen, he naturally knew of a sect there called the [Eternal Life Taoist Temple], which worshipped the Eternal Life Savior Mother.

Ordinary Jinmen citizens treated it as a regular Taoist temple or monastery for worship, But he had heard that this sect had Spirit-Refining Cultivators who practiced corpse refinement and soul devouring.

Rumor had it that any Martial Warrior or Cultivator who provoked this sect would either have their soul extracted and become nourishment for the sect's cultivators, or be turned into iron corpses and driven around.

Even those Potion cultivators from Western churches were no exception.

He had always thought that the other party was just a smooth-talking disciple of an ordinary merchant guild, using his connections and money to appease the Eternal Life Savior Mother.

He never expected that this Young Master Su was actually a Spirit-Refining Cultivator from the Eternal Life Taoist Temple.

He regretted it immensely.

For the sake of money and the other party's identity as a merchant guild young master, he had always followed him around, acting as his lackey.

He regretted even more why he hadn't thought carefully.

Why would Su Qiuzhen, who always treated him like a dog, suddenly spend eight hundred taels of silver to help him enter the Viscera Refinement realm, He had been blinded by the immense profit.

But by then, it was too late for him to regret it. The other party had already revealed his identity.

If he refused, he feared he would die on the spot and be refined into an iron corpse.

Later, the other party had tampered with his Divine Soul, making him afraid to harbor any ill intentions.

"Alas, in the Jianghu, one's fate is not one's own..."

Under the gaze of the young man with the slicked-back hair and white shirt, Deng Gao suddenly sighed and put the porcelain bottle into his embrace.

Immediately, his face, covered in scars, flushed red. The scars seemed to come alive like centipedes, becoming incredibly ferocious.

"Little Zhao, after we finish this job, I'll buy you a ship ticket to the Western Continent so you can become a real Western university student."

"I also want to use this opportunity to achieve great success in Viscera Refinement and reach the perfection of Inner Breath, no matter the cost!"

The fierce murderous intent in his eyes scared the youth beside him, making his legs go weak. His white shirt was soaked with sweat, and he couldn't speak, only nodding repeatedly.

However, neither of them realized that a bird was perched on a tree branch outside the window.

And the eyes of this 'bird' had taken everything in, silently converting the other party's lip movements into AI voice text, which appeared before Li Xijun.

At the same moment, After confirming his progress in the Skin and Flesh Realm with Yu Xiangyang, Li Xijun casually said during their chat:

"I always run into those two Senior Brothers Deng at the second floor of the cafeteria. Senior Brother Yu doesn't like them, so how about we book some medicinal dishes at the Ju Xian Tower another day?"

Through the donation incident, Li Xijun saw that Yu Xiangyang neither harbored greed nor broke his silence. Their relationship grew stronger, and they often ate together.

"That sounds good. I've been annoyed by that guy surnamed Deng lately."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Don't even mention it. I never expected that young master Su would actually be willing to fork out eight hundred taels of silver to help him with Viscera Refinement. Two days ago, that guy surnamed Deng really became a Martial Warrior who entered the Viscera Refinement realm. In the future, who knows what kind of evil deeds he'll commit."

In the future, he probably won't have a future.

Li Xijun thought this to himself, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued to ask:

"Is Su Qiuzhen really that generous to his subordinates?"

"Tell me about it. Before, many disciples in the martial hall used to privately mock that guy surnamed Deng as Su Qiuzhen's dog. After this incident, everyone who sees him tries to curry favor with him even more than he does."

Yu Xiangyang grumbled with some disapproval:

"The atmosphere in the Life-Slaying Martial Hall is getting worse and worse. They fawn over Su Qiuzhen every day, and for the past few days, they've been drinking at the Wangjiang Restaurant until late at night. Even so, I don't know how they manage to train the next day."

"Wangjiang Restaurant."

Li Xijun's mind recalled the location of that restaurant. From the top floor, one could clearly see a stone bridge leading to the area surrounded by Western-style houses, the Bund.

And that bridge was exactly the path Li Xijun took every day to get home.

'Heh. What a coincidence!'

Li Xijun touched the electromagnetic handgun in his pocket and suddenly stood up to bid farewell to Yu Xiangyang.

"Senior Brother, I plan to visit the Contemplation Society. That's all for today."

"Contemplation Society?" Yu Xiangyang asked, not immediately understanding.

"That's right. I've achieved great success in Aperture Opening today, and my Divine Soul's senses have manifested. I'm going to the Contemplation Society to buy some books on the second realm of Spirit Refinement."

With that, he turned and quickly left under Yu Xiangyang's stunned gaze.

Li Xijun, who had already added Su Qiuzhen and Deng Gao to his list of targets to kill, didn't mind revealing his talent and strength in Spirit Refinement to Yu Xiangyang.

More accurately, he wanted to use him to showcase it to that Blood-Exchange Martial Sage.

Li Xijun always preferred to prepare for the worst.

Although he was confident he could eliminate those two without being exposed and escape smoothly with the help of his cheat, for the sake of stability, he decided to first reveal his value. If anything were to happen, he could then seek help from that Martial Sage Zhang.

Asking for help isn't shameful.

Just as he would repay Zhang Haifeng in the future, if the other party chose to help, he would offer generous compensation in return.