Schemes and Calculations

"Su Hao?"

Lin Miao froze for a moment. According to the maid, Su Hao was suspected of murder?

He shot the maid a cold glance.

"Hahaha, that trash? How could he possibly have killed Xiong San Yan? Even with a sneak attack, it would've been impossible.

A single sword stroke took his head cleanly from the front. Swift and neat—the killer had some real attainments in swordsmanship.

And Xiong San Yan had practiced mortal martial arts for over forty years. Out in the martial world, he was considered a first-rate expert.

Even Qi Refining Level 2-3 cultivators would find it hard to kill him in one move head-on!

That trash Su Hao couldn't do it! Give him another ten years of cultivation, and he still couldn't!"

Lin Miao immediately dismissed his suspicions of Su Hao.

He recalled that three months ago, he had clashed with Xiong San Yan and even come to blows.

With his Qi Refining Level 4 strength, he had only barely gained the upper hand using the Vine Thorn Spell. Killing Xiong San Yan would have been difficult!

"Right... the Golden Rock Sword Master bestowed upon him is missing? Looks like some cultivator had taken a fancy to that Golden Rock Sword and killed him for the treasure!

I warned him long ago. A brute like him had no right to possess that sword, but he refused to listen. Well, look at him now—he's even paid with his life!"

The root of Lin Miao's dispute with Xiong San Yan had been the Golden Rock Sword, this artifact embryo. He had wanted to buy it for a thousand taels of silver, but Xiong San Yan had refused.

Looking at Xiong San Yan's corpse beneath the white shroud, Lin Miao showed not the slightest pity. He waved a hand. "Throw him into the mass graveyard. Find a spot and bury him!"

"The mass graveyard? Is that really alright?" The lead servant was startled. How could they dare do that? Everyone in the courtyard knew Xiong San Yan was Lin Zhi Shan's loyal servant.

"Oh, perhaps not... Take him to the herb garden instead. Say it's newly arrived fertilizer and bury him there. Don't waste him!

What a pity—a Martial Artist's corpse so full of blood and vitality. Delayed too long, and too much of that blood vitality will seep away."

Lin Miao sighed regretfully.

When he saw the servants exchanging looks, he immediately barked, "Why aren't you doing it already? Or do you want to be buried alongside him?"

"Yes, yes, we'll take Steward Xiong's body to the herb garden right away."

The servants felt the sorrow of rabbits dying and foxes grieving, yet they dared not hesitate any longer. They lifted the stretcher and carried Xiong San Yan away to be fertilizer for medicinal herbs.

Lin Miao did not care in the slightest about Xiong San Yan's death. The Golden Light Sect had plenty of people dying every day!

And today, Xiong San Yan would not be the only person to die in Bamboo Heart Courtyard!

A flash of killing intent crossed Lin Miao's eyes as he looked toward Su Hao's courtyard.

With his hands behind his back, he leisurely made his way toward Su Hao's courtyard.

"Junior Brother Su, practicing your sword?"

Lin Miao saw Su Hao just as he returned his sword to its sheath, and his gaze swept over the familiar shape and decorations of the longsword.

His eyes abruptly widened. He strode forward. "Su Hao, that's the Golden Rock Sword in your hand!"

"Senior Brother Lin recognizes it?"

Su Hao smiled faintly and hung the sword at his waist.

"How did you get this sword? Master gave it to Xiong San Yan, and Xiong San Yan died last night. Do you know that?" Lin Miao's face was full of suspicion as he reached out to draw the Golden Rock Sword.

Su Hao took a step back. "Ah, it's a long story. Last night, I discussed it with Steward Xiong. I've practiced swordsmanship since childhood, and I hadn't touched a sword in many days, so I borrowed it to play with for two days.

At first, he wouldn't agree. Later, I told him I would borrow the Golden Rock Sword in exchange for an Origin Blood Pill and return it after seven days. Only then did he agree."

"What? You used an Origin Blood Pill to make a deal with him? You've got some nerve! Have you forgotten Master's orders? He told you to take an Origin Blood Pill on time every day, yet you secretly gave one to someone else.

Never mind Master—even now, I have reason enough to kill you!"

Lin Miao flew into a rage. He was no longer in a hurry to seize the sword, his face brimming with murderous intent. He had never once suspected that Su Hao had killed Xiong San Yan.

"Senior Brother Lin, don't be hasty." Seeing that Lin Miao wanted to make a move, Su Hao hurriedly waved his hands. "Steward Xiong is dead. Though we don't know who killed him, this Golden Rock Sword is ownerless now! It's like trading one Origin Blood Pill for a treasured sword. What a bargain!"

Lin Miao's expression shifted slightly. Right—the artifact embryo was ownerless now!

A trace of delight flashed through his eyes, but he promptly resumed his angry expression and berated him, "What, someone like you thinks you're qualified to own this sword? Once Master leaves seclusion, never mind the truth behind Xiong San Yan's death, he'll have every reason to take this sword back. And you'll be punished for disobeying Master's orders—or perhaps even meet a violent death!"

"I know my strength is meager and that I'm not qualified to own the Golden Rock Sword. I can't keep it, but surely you would want it, Senior Brother."

Su Hao drew the Golden Rock Sword. The blade was like a cold star, its edge piercingly sharp!

Bending forward, he supported the hilt in one hand and the blade in the other, offering the treasured sword to Lin Miao with utmost respect.

The faint glow from the blade illuminated the greed Lin Miao could not suppress on his face.

"Right, Su Hao. At least you know what's good for you! I'll find a way to make up for your loss of one Origin Blood Pill. You took one on the first day, I didn't come by for the next two days, and you gave away another Origin Blood Pill.

So you only have one Origin Blood Pill left now?"

As Lin Miao spoke, he extended his hand to grasp the sword hilt.

Su Hao had already consumed all his remaining Origin Blood Pills yesterday, so he avoided answering. "Right!"

Su Hao drew back his hand, as though he had suddenly remembered something important. "Senior Brother Lin, regarding the Origin Blood Pills, I have something extremely important to tell you!"

"..." Lin Miao's expression darkened. No matter how great the matter, it could not compare to the Golden Rock Sword. He snapped furiously, "Give me the sword!"

"The Origin Blood Pill's side effects are extremely severe. Every pill you take costs you a year of your lifespan. Did you know that?!"

Su Hao said with exaggerated alarm.

"What?!" Lin Miao froze. "What nonsense! Where did you hear such absurd lies? I've followed Master for over a year, gathered materials with him, and watched him refine pills with my own eyes. He has even taken Origin Blood Pills himself. How could there possibly be a risk of losing one's lifespan?"

As he spoke, his tone grew somewhat uncertain.

These past few days, after taking the Origin Blood Pills, he had in fact vaguely sensed that something within his body was slipping away. Yet when he carefully examined himself, he could find nothing wrong.

"That day, I took my jade token to the Library Pavilion and chatted with the old man guarding it for a while. He let it slip when he was drunk.

That old man's name is Zhao Bai Jiang!"

Su Hao lowered himself even further and dropped his voice, afraid that a third person might overhear these secrets. "He said that every Origin Blood Pill costs a year of lifespan. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators who take them normally suffer the very same side effects."

"There seems to be another method to bypass the side effects. As for exactly how, I don't know... Logically speaking, Origin Blood Pills should also be of immense use to Master. Their medicinal effects are astonishing. Even with the lifespan-shortening side effect, they should fetch a high price if sold outside, shouldn't they?

Now that I think about it, why would Master be so generous as to bestow such pills upon people of such poor aptitude as me and Ge Lao Si?"

The moment Lin Miao heard Zhao Bai Jiang's name, he instinctively believed him somewhat. That old man was talkative and loose-lipped, yet he had never revealed much about his own identity.

And Lin Miao had always known that Master Lin Zhi Shan used Medicine Slaves as materials to secretly practice some kind of secret art.

The Heart Nurturing Pill and the Origin Blood Pill had both been prepared for this purpose—to use a special method to extract every last trace of medicinal power and flesh-and-blood essence.

Of course, those Medicine Slaves deserved death; it did not matter!

He was entirely different from Medicine Slaves. He was Master's true disciple!

But Lin Miao had never imagined that these pills would shorten one's lifespan. Including the ones he had taken before and those he had consumed these past few days, he had already taken around ten. Had he lost ten years of his life? A Qi Refinement cultivator normally only lived a hundred years!

One pill was equivalent to a month of bitter cultivation. It naturally deserved to be called a miraculous pill!

But one pill cost a year of lifespan. Trading a year of life for one month of cultivation was simply a blood-soaked loss!

Lin Miao was both shocked and enraged, his mind reeling.

"Actually... Master has been treating you and me as materials... Even you, Senior Brother Lin, will be killed by Master one day in the future!"

As Su Hao's words fell, his right hand clenched the sword hilt while two fingers of his left hand gripped the blade. He gathered strength slightly, winding up this strike like a spring, then swept the sharp blade across.

The sword slashed horizontally at Lin Miao's neck, its momentum blazing like fire, unstoppable in its sharpness!

"Su Hao! You..."