Kill Qiushui, Taking Stock of the Spoils

In less than twenty breaths, Zhao Ping'an caught up to the masked woman and the two spirit beasts.

The two spirit beasts were merely Second-Rank Spirit Beasts, their strength comparable to Human Race cultivators of the Primordial Sea Realm. Though they ran quickly, they were utterly incapable of matching the Gale Wind Slayer Wings.

Zhao Ping'an dove from the sky like a hawk swooping down on prey, driving an Arhat Subduing Fist into the lumbar spine of one fleeing spirit beast.

The spirit beast's spine was smashed into two on the spot. Paralyzed on the ground, it let out a mournful roar.

Zhao Ping'an struck its head with another Arhat Subduing Fist. Its brains splattered, and it was dead beyond doubt.

Zhao Ping'an continued pursuing the masked woman and tiger spirit beast, who had taken the opportunity to flee several dozen zhang away.

Just as he repeated the same move, the masked woman riding the tiger spirit beast suddenly activated a Geng Metal Sword Qi Talisman. Countless golden sword qis shot toward him as he dove down.

The speed at which the Geng Metal Sword Qi burst forth combined with the speed of his dive—how could anyone possibly react in time?

It had to be said, the masked woman had seized the timing of her counterattack well.

Moreover, the Geng Metal Sword Qi Talisman was a High-Grade Spirit Talisman, powerful enough to kill a Divine Treasury Realm expert.

However, since Zhao Ping'an dared to dive down and kill his enemies this way, he naturally had something to rely on.

A golden protective shield suddenly appeared around his body, its light flowing as it blocked every strand of Geng Metal Sword Qi.

It was the Primal Chaos Body Protection.

Still using the fierce and domineering Arhat Subduing Fist, he shattered the massive tiger spirit beast's lumbar spine with a single punch.

Roar—

The tiger spirit beast cried out miserably. Its huge body rolled under the force of inertia, throwing the masked woman from its back.

The cloth covering the masked woman's face flew away in midair, revealing her features. It was Qiushui, Su Yingluo's dowry head maid.

Zhao Ping'an abandoned the tiger spirit beast, whose lower body was paralyzed, and pounced toward Qiushui.

Qiushui had barely landed when his fist followed close behind.

Buzz—

Just before it struck Qiushui, a golden shield emerged around her body and blocked Zhao Ping'an's punch.

It was a protective talisman stronger than the Golden Bell Shield Talisman—the Golden Light Talisman, a High-Grade Spirit Talisman capable of defending against a Divine Treasury Realm expert's attacks.

Zhao Ping'an sneered and opened his Taiyang Meridian. Vast True Essence, as boundless as the sea, surged forth, and he immediately threw another punch.

Bang!

The golden shield shattered at once, and the blow continued into Qiushui's body, sending her flying seven or eight zhang away.

Zhao Ping'an did not pursue her further. He released the Golden Dragon Binding Cord, having it bind Qiushui and drag her over, while he turned and walked toward the tiger spirit beast, ending its life with an Arhat Subduing Fist.

At this moment, the Golden Dragon Binding Cord carried over Qiushui, whose mouth and nose were both bleeding.

"Qiushui, you wanted to kill me. Didn't expect me to kill you instead, did you?" Zhao Ping'an mocked.

Qiushui's face was filled with hatred and fear, yet she still gave a defiant snort. "Kill me if you want! I will never betray Madam!"

She knew full well that begging for mercy would be useless now.

"Hehe, you're overthinking it. I never intended to interrogate you. You're of no use to me at all!" Zhao Ping'an jeered.

Qiushui's face flushed red with anger. Zhao Ping'an's words had wounded her pride.

Zhao Ping'an paused before saying, "I'm keeping you alive for now only so you can properly savor the fear and regret before death. You must really regret personally leaving the city to assassinate me, right?"

Qiushui opened her mouth and cursed furiously in humiliation and rage, trying to provoke Zhao Ping'an into giving her a quick death.

Unexpectedly, the moment she opened her mouth, Zhao Ping'an slapped her across the face, dislocating her jaw and leaving her unable to make another sound.

"Killing you outright would be letting you off too easily!"

"Back then, you led people into Jiang Manor by force to capture me, tore Mother and me apart, called Mother an abandoned wife, worsened her internal injuries until she vomited blood and fainted. From that moment on, you were on my list of those who must die!"

Zhao Ping'an used the original Xun Wind Wings and flew back to where he had killed Kong Zhen and the other two Divine Treasury Realm experts.

The Gale Wind Slayer Wings were a Supreme Martial Skill and consumed a great deal of True Essence. Unless necessary, he still needed to use them sparingly. It was not easy for him to accumulate True Essence.

As for Qiushui, naturally, she remained bound by the Golden Dragon Binding Cord and followed behind Zhao Ping'an.

A mere Primordial Sea Realm maid like Qiushui had been bound by a High-Grade Spirit Artifact like the Golden Dragon Binding Cord for so long. That was practically a blessing for her.

Landing before the corpses of the three Divine Treasury Realm experts, Zhao Ping'an began searching their bodies.

Old Black had taught him this bad habit. His nature was truly kind and pure.

Before long, Zhao Ping'an obtained two Cosmos Sacks, two supreme mundane swords, and a string of beads that held another world within.

He was in no hurry to empty the contents of the Cosmos Sacks and the bead string.

"I've let you live this long. You should at least die knowing why." Zhao Ping'an turned to Qiushui.

The next moment, he delivered an Arhat Subduing Fist, neither too heavy nor too light, to Qiushui's heart. Qiushui was immediately wracked with excruciating pain. She wanted to scream, yet could not make a sound, while blood continuously streamed from her mouth and nose.

Zhao Ping'an withdrew the Golden Dragon Binding Cord, leaving Qiushui to roll and convulse on the ground in agony.

After forty or fifty breaths, Qiushui finally breathed her last.

After tearing off Qiushui's Cosmos Sack, Zhao Ping'an walked over to Kong Zhen's corpse.

Kong Zhen's corpse bore many injuries marked by Jiang Family Martial Arts. It had to be destroyed, or Pudu Mountain would follow the vines to the melon and find Jiang Manor, then set their sights on him again.

Furthermore, he intended to pin the deaths of Qiushui and the others on Pudu Mountain or Kong Zhen. Kong Zhen had to "disappear."

"If only I had Senior Old Black's ball of white flame. It's an absolutely perfect skill for destroying corpses and erasing traces," Zhao Ping'an muttered regretfully. "Why hadn't I thought to ask it about the white flame before?"

After letting out a soft sigh, he came up with a good idea. "Got it. I'll destroy the corpse somewhere else!"

He immediately took out a large sack and stuffed Kong Zhen's corpse into it, then activated the Gale Wind Slayer Wings and flew away from White Emperor City.

At maximum speed, the Gale Wind Slayer Wings covered three hundred zhang in one breath. Zhao Ping'an flew for a full hundred breaths before stopping when he reached the surging Abyssal Dragon River.

In midair, he threw down Kong Zhen's corpse, smashing up countless splashes.

Kong Zhen's corpse immediately drew the attention of the water spirits in the river. A giant catfish with a head the size of a small house surfaced and swallowed Kong Zhen's corpse in one bite.

After confirming that the corpse had been destroyed without a trace, Zhao Ping'an turned and flew back to the campsite.

Naturally, there was no way he could pack up anything at the campsite. He mounted his horse and viciously whipped its rump several times.

The horse was suddenly seized by immense pain and bolted wildly without regard for anything else.

Zhao Ping'an did not control its direction much, allowing it to charge through thorny bushes and tear his clothes.

He was deliberately fabricating traces of a panicked escape.

More than an hour later, Zhao Ping'an rode back to Jiang Manor.

Seeing Zhao Ping'an in such a bedraggled state, the people of Jiang Manor all came forward with concerned questions, but Zhao Ping'an answered none of them.

He returned directly to Osmanthus Moon Courtyard, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and removed all traces of his disheveled state.

He did not intend to tell Jiang Shuyue that Su Yingluo had sent people to assassinate him, lest Jiang Shuyue fly into a fury and go to the Zhennan Marquis Estate to demand justice.

Though Jiang Shuyue was already at the Divine Treasury Realm Fifth Heaven, she was nothing before the enormous Zhennan Marquis Estate.

If Su Yingluo did not send anyone to interrogate or investigate him, then he would simply pretend nothing had happened.

Otherwise, in the end, it would only make Jiang Shuyue sad and worried.

At midnight, when the night was deep and all was silent.

Inside his bedroom, Zhao Ping'an got up and lit a beast-oil lamp, then took out today's spoils to take stock of them.

First were the Cosmos Sacks of the two masked Divine Treasury Realm men in black. There were quite a lot of items, piled as high as a person, though there were not many things of true value.

The truly valuable items included five bottles of High-Grade Spirit Pills, including the Ten Thousand Year Ginseng Pill; seven or eight bottles of Mid-Grade Spirit Pills; five or six Essence Stones; and over eight thousand taels in total between gold ingots, silver ingots, and Silver Notes...

Essence Stones were minerals containing vast amounts of essence. They could be used for cultivation, pill refinement, artifact forging, formations, and more. They were also the circulating currency of the cultivation world. Based on the purity of the essence they contained, they were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade.

A single Inferior Spirit Stone could sell for around three thousand taels of silver, but Inferior Spirit Stones generally could not be used directly for cultivation, because the essence they contained held too many impurities, some of which were even poisonous.

Those five or six Essence Stones were all Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"Poor bastards!" Zhao Ping'an could not help complaining.

He put away the valuable items, then packed the worthless "trash" into a Cosmos Sack as well, intending to find an opportunity to dispose of it another day.

Zhao Ping'an then emptied Qiushui's Cosmos Sack and took stock of its contents. To his delight, a great deal of gold, Essence Stones, Spirit Pills, and Spirit Talismans poured out.

The combined value of the gold, silver, and Silver Notes astonishingly exceeded forty thousand taels of silver.

There were four Essence Stones. One was a Superior Spirit Stone, while the other three were Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

This delighted Zhao Ping'an greatly.

One Superior Spirit Stone could be exchanged for ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones, or one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Superior Spirit Stones could be used directly for cultivation. Mid-grade Spirit Stones could barely be used directly for cultivation too, though it was not recommended.

The Superior Spirit Stone looked like a crystal. One could see the dense essence within, concentrated to the point of becoming liquid, while a gleaming treasure light radiated from its surface.

Zhao Ping'an held the Superior Spirit Stone in his hand and played with it, reluctant to put it down. "This Superior Spirit Stone is perfect for cultivation. It can make up for the huge amount of True Essence I used up today."

"Was it easy for me to fill my Essence Sea?"

As for Spirit Pills, there were more than ten bottles, but they were basically Essence Pills and were not worth much.

Last were the Spirit Talismans. There were twenty or thirty in total, seven of which were High-Grade Spirit Talismans, while the rest were Mid-Grade Spirit Talismans.

A single High-Grade Spirit Talisman was worth several thousand taels of silver. There were considerable differences between different High-Grade Spirit Talismans, and Zhao Ping'an did not know much about them for now.

If all these Spirit Talismans were sold, they should fetch fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver.

"A maid actually had this much money. She must have embezzled horribly!" Zhao Ping'an could not help rejoicing inwardly. All the better for me.

After taking stock of Qiushui's spoils, Zhao Ping'an moved on to Kong Zhen's belongings.

As expected of a master from Pudu Mountain, Kong Zhen was filthy rich. His belongings were worth more than Qiushui's and the other two Divine Treasury Realm experts' combined.

Zhao Ping'an could not help feeling delighted. At last, I have some Cultivation Resources.

Having finished taking stock of the spoils, Zhao Ping'an sat cross-legged on the bed. He took out the Superior Spirit Stone and held it in his hand, then began absorbing its essence to cultivate.

The exceptionally dense essence was drawn into his body like thick mist, rapidly refined into pure True Essence, and finally flowed into his Essence Sea in tiny streams.

This cultivation speed was many times faster than cultivating in an environment such as the Zhennan Marquis Estate, where the Heavenly Essence was extremely dense.

An hour later, Zhao Ping'an had no choice but to stop cultivating. The essence contained in the Superior Spirit Stone had been completely drained by him, leaving it a useless stone that could shatter at any moment.

Zhao Ping'an stretched lazily and said with lingering satisfaction, "That felt amazing. In just one hour, not only did I replenish the True Essence I used up during the day, I even had a little left over."