"Senior Brother Su, please think of something quickly."
"Exactly! Several brothers have gone missing or died recently. What on earth is going on?"
"Where's Master? Could it be that he's just going to watch us all die?"
"If all else fails, let us go down the mountain and hide for a while?"
"..."
The group of medicine slaves surrounded Su Hao, panic-stricken.
A while ago, Bamboo Heart Courtyard's steward, Xiong San Yan, and one or two medicine slaves had suddenly died or disappeared.
They had still remained fairly calm.
But today, three medicine slaves had been silently killed right inside Bamboo Heart Courtyard, and their deaths had been so gruesome.
Wouldn't they be next?
Every one of them felt like a lamb awaiting slaughter. The spiritual power they had cultivated was far too weak to wield, and it had not brought them the slightest sense of security.
Su Hao frowned and swept his gaze over everyone. Only after a while did he wave his hand. "Don't panic. I'll report everything to Master. Rest assured."
"Su Hao, how can you expect us to be reassured?" A fat man could not help shouting his objection. "You won't even let us go down the mountain. The guards here are all useless good-for-nothings. Who can protect us?"
His words immediately won the agreement of the others.
Su Hao's expression remained blank. "Huang Jiao, send more people and tighten security. Especially at night—we must have several teams standing guard."
"Yes!" Huang Jiao answered respectfully.
"Su Hao, the deaths of Chen Da and the other two were definitely related to cultivators. In my view, some cultivators practicing evil arts are using them to train their techniques.
"What use is sending more people? Unless you can get cultivators to guard Bamboo Heart Courtyard.
"That's easy for you to say. Why don't you stay in Bamboo Heart Courtyard too..."
The fat man stirred up trouble again. As he spoke, he moved forward to grab Su Hao, naturally assuming that since they had all come up the mountain together, Su Hao's strength was about the same as his.
Bang.
Su Hao casually struck the fat man with one palm, sending him flying. He crashed seven or eight meters away.
"This fat man has been spouting nonsense and disturbing everyone's morale. He's highly suspicious. Lock him in the woodshed.
"The rest of you are to stay in your rooms and are forbidden to go out without permission.
"Otherwise, kill without mercy!"
Su Hao swept his gaze over everyone, pondered for two seconds, then waved his hand and issued the order.
Huang Jiao and the group of guards immediately stepped forward.
Several of them carried the fat man toward the woodshed.
The others remained dissatisfied, but they no longer dared to shout and make a scene.
Still, their gazes at Su Hao were tinged with resentment.
"It's only because he was lucky enough to catch Alchemist Lin's eye first! The wheel of fortune turns..."
Some of them thought this secretly. Knowing they lacked the ability to resist Su Hao for now, they silently fantasized about the day they would rise.
"Give these three a proper burial." Su Hao turned and left.
"It must have been Liu Mei."
After leaving Bamboo Heart Courtyard.
Su Hao's mood was heavy.
After witnessing the battle between Liu Mei and Lin Zhi Shan, he had gained a comprehensive understanding of Liu Mei's strength.
If they truly fought, he believed he would not lose to Liu Mei.
With careful planning against an unsuspecting opponent, and by launching a surprise attack and using underhanded tactics, his odds of victory could exceed eighty percent!
Regardless, once he made a move, they had to fight to the death. Otherwise, endless trouble would follow!
"I wonder whether Huang Shanyu of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's reputation will really be useful.
"But she must have already received the false news that Lin Zhi Shan secretly left the sect.
"As Huang Shanyu said, she intends to kill these medicine slaves to vent her anger and strengthen herself.
"Since she came but only killed ordinary medicine slaves, that at least means I probably won't catch her attention before all these medicine slaves are dead."
Su Hao glanced back at Bamboo Heart Courtyard.
He felt no affection whatsoever for the people who had come up the mountain with him. They could not even be called companions.
Especially since the Talent Power released when these medicine slaves died was also quite useful to Su Hao.
Long ago, Su Hao had considered killing them and using their Talent Power to strengthen himself.
Yet he had never been able to bring himself to do it.
"Not to mention that Heart Nurturing Pills have side effects, these people won't live much longer.
"If they can survive Liu Mei, I'll keep nourishing them until they die on their own."
Su Hao thought this secretly.
Then he headed down the mountain.
Liu Mei posed a threat to him, and he was unsure whether she still had other tricks hidden up her sleeve.
Su Hao had to arm himself as much as possible and maximize his combat strength.
Continuing to cultivate in seclusion by consuming pills and raising his level was not the best choice.
During the Qi Refining stage, external aids such as magical artifacts and talismans were the most effective means of increasing combat strength.
For now, he needed to exchange some pills he had no use for into spirit stones, then use the spirit stones to buy things that could improve his strength!
Su Hao descended the mountain and traveled using lightness kung fu.
He arrived at a valley called Hidden Dragon Valley, west of the outer sect's main peak.
Hidden Dragon Valley was where the disciples lived and gathered. It also contained many tunnels that served as shortcuts to places such as the Flame Iron Ore Vein and the Ten Thousand Corpse Pit.
The central underground palace where the mountain caves converged was a trading market spontaneously formed by the low-level disciples.
Opening a shop on the main peak required paying rent in spirit stones, and such shops were often bound and supervised by the sect's rules in the open.
Setting up a stall here required no rent or restrictions. Everyone relied on their own ability.
Because people of all kinds mingled here, it was also an excellent place to sell stolen goods.
Moreover, since there were no rules restraining anyone, a stallholder without enough strength might also be robbed by another black-hearted merchant.
Su Hao wore a black robe and a ghost-face mask.
This sort of outfit for concealing one's identity was not unusual here.
The reasons were largely the same: either they feared attracting unwanted attention, or they wanted to get rid of something with a dubious origin.
Those who could openly reveal their faces and identities here all had formidable strength or powerful backgrounds.
Along the way, some people shot Su Hao disdainful glances, their eyes full of mockery.
Qi Refining Level 4? He could conceal his face and figure, but not the aura of his spiritual power. He was simply deceiving himself.
One after another, they immediately judged Su Hao in their hearts: a naive little rookie!
Su Hao paid no attention to their gazes as he browsed the many stalls of various sizes.
The outer area was filled with temporary stalls set up by cultivators using either small wooden tables or blankets. They displayed a few bottles and jars, magical artifacts, materials, and the like.
The central area was much more splendid. Row after row of standardized bamboo buildings stood there, hung with signs of all sizes, and they seemed to be protected by formations.
Although it looked like a chaotic black market, in reality, another set of even more brutal and simple rules maintained order here, so the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.
Su Hao swept his gaze around. Besides selling things, the stalls often also purchased pills, magical artifacts, and materials.
"Fellow Daoist, are you buying or selling? Our prices are absolutely fair."
At a nearby small shop, a stunning female cultivator in revealing clothes greeted him with a bright smile.
"Heavenly Treasure Residence?" Su Hao noticed the shop's sign. "What's your relationship with Heavenly Treasure Pavilion?"
The female cultivator smiled. "Fellow Daoist, whatever the relationship, we won't let you suffer a loss. Besides, our reputation here is even more reliable."
Su Hao immediately understood. So the two shops were related? He ignored this Heavenly Treasure Residence entirely.
It was precisely because he was wary of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and worried about revealing too much that he had come to this black market.
Naturally, he had to keep his distance from Heavenly Treasure Residence.
The female cultivator curled her lips as she watched Su Hao disappear into the crowd. She always encountered these self-righteous customers, who all assumed that Heavenly Treasure Residence was unsafe.
"I want to sell some pills." Su Hao arrived at another shop, Eight Treasures Hall, which looked more imposing than Heavenly Treasure Residence.
"What kind of pills would you like to sell?" A maid greeted him with a bright smile.
"Pure Qi Pills." Su Hao answered as he took out a bottle of Pure Qi Pills.
At a counter not far away, the middle-aged shopkeeper glanced over. This sort of small business was naturally not worth his personal attention.
The maid picked up the pill bottle and poured out a pill. She had a keen eye and identified the pill's quality at a glance. "Hm... Mid-grade Pure Qi Pills?"
"Mid-grade Pure Qi Pills?" The middle-aged shopkeeper took another look. He confirmed from afar that the maid's judgment was correct, then nodded to indicate that there was no problem.
"The purchase price for mid-grade pills is three spirit stones per bottle."
The maid named the price.
"Three spirit stones?" Su Hao frowned slightly.