They were fighting!
After more than half a month of facing off, the Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang had finally started fighting!
And then, the corpse buriers' workload soared!
It went from dozens of corpses a day to nearly a hundred.
Clearly, the Blood Eagle Gang intended to take this opportunity to wipe out the Iron Hand Gang. As a rising force trying to catch up, the Iron Hand Gang also needed to fight its way to prestige and force the Blood Eagle Gang to spit out territory.
Both sides had their own plans, and both wanted to seize the opportunity. Naturally, they gathered their men and challenged each other outside the Shack District under the dark, wind-whipped night sky, fighting until heads rolled everywhere.
When the corpses were delivered to the Corpse Burial Wasteland, Du En and the others did not see a single one that was whole. Some had their heads chopped off, while others had their hands and feet severed.
Most importantly, there was nothing left on their bodies, apart from a few tattered scraps of cloth.
"Looks like the fighting still wasn't intense enough. They even had the spare time to strip the dead of all their possessions."
Du En reached this conclusion.
In fact, things had unfolded exactly as he expected.
After fighting a battle and discovering that both sides were tough nuts who were difficult to deal with, the two gangs tacitly returned to their previous standoff. Both were thinking that as long as the other side softened first, they could use that as a step down and return to their former state.
For the people in the Shack District who were under the direct influence of the two gangs, it had naturally been a false alarm. Things had not developed into the worst possible situation.
The corpse buriers' workload shot up, then fell back down. Because of the ripple effects brought about by the two gangs' standoff, it even dropped to only thirty-some corpses a day.
Du En quickly sensed that things were taking a turn for the worse. He worked by day and trained his liver by night, racing against time.
Thus, before long, it was already past the middle of late October.
That night, Du En cultivated in his room as usual.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, seeming like a lump of yellow earth that grew tougher and harder as it was gradually accumulated and compacted.
Within his meridians, thick, earth-yellow magic power carried spiritual energy along in a light and unhurried manner. Using his body as a furnace, it rapidly refined the spiritual energy.
After completing one Greater Celestial Circuit, the gaseous magic power contracted back into his Sea of Qi in his dantian.
Once it merged into a single mass, it was a full fist in size!
He slowly opened his eyes, and a bright earth-yellow light flashed across their depths.
With a thought, the panel appeared.
[Age: 18/91] [Spiritual Root: Low-grade] [ cultivation: Early Qi Refining (21/100)] [Technique: Yellow Earth Technique (Practiced with Ease 0/50)] [Spell: Earth Bullet Technique (Initial Glimpse 8/20)] [Divine Ability: None] [Hundred Arts: Gathering and Appraisal (Initial Glimpse 0/20), Culinary Preparation (Beginner's Practice 4/10)]
Practiced with Ease meant driving a light carriage along a familiar road. Naturally, one could even operate it with one's eyes closed. It represented an especially high level of proficiency.
Du En's technique had officially broken through to this level that very night.
After personally testing it just now, the efficiency of sensing and refining spiritual energy had risen another ten percent from its previous foundation.
With the aid of spirit cuisine, he could now circulate his power eight times every night!
Compared with other people, that was a gap of at least four times!
Even if he started cultivating from scratch now, he would need less than seven years to break through to Mid-stage Qi Refining. Compared with the original thirty-plus years, the time had been drastically reduced!
Of course, the current twenty-one points of cultivation progress were still a short-term effect brought about by the technique's breakthrough, which had added five points.
As for the Earth Bullet Technique, because it was also earth-aligned, it had received a positive boost and had likewise risen by five points.
However.
"Gathering and Appraisal is stuck..."
With Du En's efforts, Gathering and Appraisal among the Hundred Arts had quickly broken through to Initial Glimpse. He could now efficiently harvest in full and swiftly identify medicinal properties and culinary effects.
After that, ordinary medicinal materials that were not ranked could no longer provide proficiency. He had to gather and appraise first-rank medicinal materials instead.
The Culinary Preparation side would probably be the same.
That said, this side was actually fine. Three Talents Stewed Owl counted as ranked spirit cuisine, so he could continue stewing it. He could stew one every day as free food, and no one would suspect anything until he reached Practiced with Ease.
"It's just that I've almost finished catching the old, weak individuals who can't get any food, go hungry, and are easy to catch. Moreover, the culinary effect those individuals can provide is now stretched thin and barely sufficient."
In the past, when Du En caught one, he could not eat it all. Now that his body was stronger and his digestion had improved, he could finish everything, swallowing the soup and even the dregs. Yet after his technique broke through tonight, he still felt unable to keep up.
He had to find a way to catch those big owls. But those big owls were truly hard to catch. They stayed far away, had full bellies, and were highly vigilant. He could not lure them over simply and easily by pretending to be dead.
"Another thing is that the deterrent effect of the stench from cooking owls has clearly weakened. The Blood Eagle Gang seems to still be confronting the Iron Hand Gang, but in reality, they've already gone back to their own homes. The standoff exists in name only."
This was not unexpected.
Once the Blood Eagle Gang freed up its hands, they would probably arrange for someone to replace the dead Luo Heng and collect protection fees in this district.
As the survivors who had slipped through the net last time, the corpse buriers would probably become the chicken for the newcomer to kill as a warning to the monkeys, thereby establishing his authority.
Du En's frantic Liver Training during this period was precisely to deal with this.
And on this point, he had nothing to worry about. His efforts had paid off, and he had already achieved his planned short-term goal before the Blood Eagle Gang came knocking.
After finishing his happy and worried thoughts, Du En did not slack off. He closed his eyes again, immersed himself in cultivation once more, and continued accumulating bit by bit.
Thus, another two fairly peaceful days passed.
At dawn on this day.
Bang!
A foot suddenly slammed into the gate of the small courtyard. The explosive sound woke all six people.
They hurried out of their rooms, only to see Lu Xiang standing there. He was short and mean-faced, with a blood eagle embroidered on his clothes. At that moment, Killing Intent covered him from head to toe, and he glared over with a ferocious expression.
The sharp knife in his hand seemed eager to leap into action!
He stared fixedly at Du En, the leader of the corpse buriers. If anyone on this side showed the slightest fear or let a weakness slip, he would rush over and slash first, delivering a solid intimidation.
Du En, however, was as unmoved as an ancient well. He calmly accepted this attempt to seize the initiative, walking forward steadily without fear or hesitation before asking, "What do you want?"
Seeing him like this, Lu Xiang could not help muttering inwardly.
Old Luo being scared was not because he was too timid. Looking at this kid, even I feel a little uneasy. It's as though he really has something to rely on. Tsk!
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Lu Xiang felt that he had actually been overwhelmed in terms of momentum. He could not help growing angry, and his expression became increasingly vicious. Waving his knife, he snarled, "Your grandpa's name is Lu Xiang. From today onward, I'll be collecting the protection fees in this area. And you bunch of living-corpse-like scum actually dared not to pay before? Did you really think you could get away?"
At these words, Ning Caize and the others could not help feeling frightened and worried.
What was bound to come had come after all!
Moreover, Lu Xiang had arrived with such ferocity, Killing Intent covering his body. His eyes fixed on people like a tiger eyeing a lamb, truly horrifying. He had probably killed someone not long ago!
Du En's brows did not even twitch. "So?"
"So, including the six months you owe from before, fifteen Low-grade Spirit Stones per person, ninety in total. Hand them over!"
Ninety Low-grade Spirit Stones?!
You're robbing us!
Ning Caize and the others were dumbfounded, while Lu Xiang waved his knife and split his mouth into a broad grin.
That's right!
I'm robbing you!
Zhang Lin had directly scraped away twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones from him before—savings he had accumulated over several years. Wasn't he supposed to scrape and rob enough back now?!
"You'd better hand them over obediently. Otherwise, don't blame me when the white blade goes in and the red blade comes out!"
His threat was blatant. As he swaggered about and greed spread through him, he no longer showed any wariness toward Du En's side. He glared at Du En at close range, clearly intending to slash him the moment he dared to talk back.
Du En remained calm and unmoved, refusing to play along. "Even if you kill us, you won't find ninety."
Because they simply did not have that much!
Lu Xiang actually knew this perfectly well. But his lion's demand was no joke. He immediately set the blade against Du En's neck and shouted angrily, "I don't care whether you have it or not. If you can't produce it, then die!"
"Even dead, we still can't produce it."
What was this? Was this kid truly impervious to persuasion?
If he put on a flattering face and said a couple of submissive words, wouldn't Lu Xiang be able to smoothly move on to the next step—putting it on the books as a debt first, then having them hurry to ask the manager for money and make up as much as they could?
He knew they had not gone to ask the manager for money this month!
At this moment, facing Du En, a cold, hard stone who was not afraid of blades, Lu Xiang was also somewhat at a loss. He began to grow frantic and furious inwardly.
Do you really think I don't dare hurt someone?!
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