"The times have changed!"
"No matter if you're a Viscera Refinement Martial Warrior, fierce as a tiger, one shot will still put you down."
Li Xijun blew on the smokeless barrel of the Electromagnetic Handgun and tucked it into his clothes.
At the same time,
Little Zhao, the slick-haired young man in a white shirt who had heard the commotion Deng Gao caused earlier, abandoned his watch and hurried over.
"Big Brother! Big Brother?!"
When Little Zhao reached the alley entrance, he was initially puzzled. But when he saw Deng Gao's corpse lying on the bluestone pavement, his pupils contracted, and he immediately turned and fled.
"Hmph, trying to run?"
The mechanical electronic voice distorted by the Nano Protective Suit echoed through the darkness.
The young man in the white shirt seemed to hear a vicious ghost whispering from the depths of hell. He forcibly squeezed out the last of his body's potential, his speed surging as he charged toward the street outside the alley.
But then, he suddenly felt the space above his head darken, as though an enormous shadow had enveloped him.
The instant he instinctively looked up,
he saw the figure in black armor swooping down through the air like a great bird.
His raised arms resembled drooping wings, light and drifting without the slightest imposing force of a martial arts move.
Compared to the ferocious Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist, it was nothing. Even an ordinary fighter's punch looked far more powerful than this.
Yet in the next moment, those palm strikes, like hanging clouds, brushed past him. By the time Li Xijun landed safely,
the young man in the white shirt was clutching the throat cut open by a blade. He collapsed to the ground and, after making a few hoarse gurgling sounds, slowly fell silent.
Your "True Martial Thirty-Six Forms" proficiency has increased from 25% mastery to 29% mastery.
"Hmm, that strike really did let me grasp a few traces of its essence."
Li Xijun looked at the message in his vision. He nodded in satisfaction, while also gaining some insight.
"Sure enough, martial arts are meant for killing!"
"My usual hard training, sparring, and even practicing against human-shaped dummies still fell short of this one act of killing."
Li Xijun turned back to look at the two corpses on the ground. He felt none of the nausea novel protagonists supposedly experienced after killing someone.
Instead, it felt as if he had broken free of some shackle. An indescribable exhilaration filled his heart, and even the night sky above the alley seemed several degrees broader and more distant.
The next moment,
Li Xijun strode toward the corpses. As he performed the essential post-killing ritual of searching the bodies, he carried the two corpses to a secluded spot along Jinmen's network of waterways.
"Friends who kill often all know that killing is easy, but dealing with the bodies is hard."
"Fortunately, I got a small box of high-efficiency fuel from the Main World. It works fast, and it can even burn bones to ash."
With that, Li Xijun set the two corpses on fire.
Sure enough, only a short while later, all that remained on the ground was a ring of scorch marks. Even the bones, burned into fine ash, were scattered by the Clear Wind along the riverbank.
"Good. Next, it's time to kill the mastermind."
Li Xijun tossed the Porcelain Bottle in his hand, becoming even more certain of Su Qiuzhen's intentions.
According to the records of the Eternal Life Taoist Temple he had read in books, this Porcelain Bottle was half a Mystic Item. It could temporarily contain the souls of cultivators in the Aperture Opening Realm and Spirit Solidification Realm after death.
Spirit-Refining Cultivators who practiced the Eternal Life Salvation Mother Vacuum Contemplation could use this Contemplation Method to erase the will within a cultivator's soul, then devour it as nourishment to strengthen their own soul.
That was far faster than silently grinding away at the Contemplation Method every day.
"Ah, I thought they only wanted money. I didn't expect them to want both money and my life, and in the end, they wouldn't even spare my soul."
"Jinmen's local cultivators really have no manners!"
Li Xijun let out a faint sigh and gripped the Electromagnetic Handgun in his clothes.
That night
Wangjiang Restaurant
The riverside restaurant was quite prosperous. It stood five stories tall, with upturned eaves and elaborate bracket sets. Its vermilion-painted corridor pillars were exquisitely carved, while large red lanterns hung from the eaves, their blazing candlelight illuminating the bustling restaurant.
As usual, Su Qiuzhen had invited a group of fellow disciples from the martial arts school, many of them in the Tendons and Bones Realm, to gather here.
After several rounds of drinks, these young and middle-aged men of the Skin and Flesh Realm and Tendons and Bones Realm inevitably began discussing recent events at court.
"Have you heard? Mister Li Boyan resigned from his Cabinet position, but before he left, Your Majesty summoned him and had him take the Ninth Princess away."
"Whoa, then does that mean the nine heirs fighting for the throne at court will become eight?"
"What nine heirs fighting for the throne? That's just nonsense cobbled together by folk storytellers. The Second Prince and First Prince share the same mother, as do the Fourth Prince and Third Prince. The Sixth Prince and Fifth Prince, the Eighth Prince and Seventh Prince, are all the same. The Ninth Princess was born a cripple. There were only four factions at court to begin with."
"So that's how it is. No wonder Your Majesty had Mister Boyan take the Ninth Princess away. She's actually a cripple? She doesn't possess the physique and spells of the imperial Heavenly Dragon People?"
"Who knows? We're only Tendons and Bones Realm martial artists, and we don't even have the status of Martial Graduates. We should think about how to make a living after leaving the martial arts school first."
As the conversation reached this point, many martial arts school disciples in the private room looked toward the Young Master seated at the head table.
A small portion of them had been flattering him these past days because they truly hoped to strike it rich and receive funding from him for Viscera Refining. Most, however, simply felt that Young Master Su was generous with his money and had come seeking a future through him.
With so many eyes upon him, Su Qiuzhen maintained his gentle smile. After taking a sip of wine, he spoke unhurriedly.
"Trade by sea between the Eastern and Western Continents is flourishing right now. As it happens, my Su Family has a route at sea. The risks are a little high, but so are the profits. Wealth and honor are found through danger. Are any of you senior brothers interested?"
Those words made many people's eyes light up.
Everyone now knew that commerce between the two continents brought terrifyingly high profits.
Sea trade was indeed dangerous, but without taking risks, where would they get the money for Viscera Refining?
For a time, many people hurried forward to toast him, and Su Qiuzhen once again became the center of attention.
The lively banquet continued until deep into the night.
After bidding farewell to his fellow disciples from the martial arts school with clasped hands, Su Qiuzhen passed through several alleyways and entered a long, dark street.
Su Qiuzhen slowly exhaled. The flushed drunkenness on his face instantly vanished without a trace.
With so many witnesses, Li Xijun's disappearance shouldn't be traced back to me.
I wonder how Deng Gao's task is going.
That's the soul of an Aperture Opening Realm cultivator, and an independent cultivator with no real backing at that. Such an opportunity is something I may never encounter again.
If Deng Gao dares to botch this or develops any ulterior motives and delays my affairs at the Taoist temple, then I'll simply offer him as a gift. A Viscera Refinement Realm martial artist can barely pass for an iron corpse.
If I'm lucky, perhaps I'll be rewarded with the Eternal Life Salvation Mother Vacuum Contemplation. Then Embryonic Breathing will be within reach, and I'll become a true great figure!
As he thought this, he unconsciously reached out and touched the Twenty-Four Rank White Lotus Salvation Chart he kept close to his body.
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