Slaying a Late Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm martial artist granted three hundred Vitality Essence.
With a single slash, Han Zheng killed Gao Kaiyuan, and a sense of sudden clarity rose in his heart.
Han Zheng of this life had died without ever knowing why. Though his soul had scattered, perhaps some of that unwilling obsession still remained.
Only after killing Gao Kaiyuan did Han Zheng finally feel some of that knot in his heart loosen.
But it seemed this revenge was not yet complete. Behind Gao Kaiyuan stood the Song Family, something Han Zheng had never expected.
Black Stone County had two great martial lineages: the East City Song Family and the West City Shen Family.
The strength of these two families was simply not on the same level as the three gangs.
Their families not only had experts who had reached Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm Perfected and cultivated the Water-Fire Immortal Robe, but also possessed quite a few Xiantian martial artists.
He could secretly move against the Three Harmonies Gang and bring it down now, but if he wanted revenge on the Song Family, his current strength was still far from enough.
Pushing aside these vexing matters, Han Zheng's gains from this battle were still quite abundant.
Three hundred Vitality Essence could yield three thousand points of Satiety after sacrifice. Han Zheng had never been so wealthy before.
Killing Feng Yuan before had only given him thirty Vitality Essence. A Late Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm martial artist possessed astonishing vitality, fully ten times that of Feng Yuan.
Han Zheng searched Gao Kaiyuan's corpse, but apart from a stack of banknotes, there was nothing else.
The denominations of those banknotes were not large either. Together, they amounted to just over two hundred taels, likely Gao Kaiyuan's usual pocket expenses.
Han Zheng was slightly disappointed.
He had originally wanted to see whether he could find the manual for the Shattered Jade Hand.
Han Zheng truly coveted the Shattered Jade Hand.
He had now reached the Innate Realm and possessed three Innate cultivation arts. He could be considered to have truly stepped through the gates of martial arts, with his own understanding of the Martial Dao.
A technique like the Shattered Jade Hand was actually something that stood between a cultivation art and a martial skill.
If he cultivated the Shattered Jade Hand, then combined it with the Vajra Demon Subduing Seal and White Ape Through-Arm Fist, its power would surely surge severalfold.
Han Zheng casually threw Gao Kaiyuan's corpse into the river outside the city to feed the fish.
In truth, it would not have mattered much even if Gao Kaiyuan's corpse had not been disposed of.
Han Zheng's martial arts were now too varied. Especially the Vajra Demon Subduing Seal—the force it unleashed was utterly different from Vajra Fist, so no one could spot anything amiss.
After returning to the city, Han Zheng found all of Black Stone County in complete chaos. Many Three Harmonies Gang members were fighting each other, while the Sky Eagle Gang and Black Tiger Gang were muddying the waters to catch fish.
Although Jiang Tai had become the Three Harmonies Gang's sole gang leader, both Gao Kaiyuan and Cao Bin had their trusted subordinates, who naturally refused to accept him.
Some of the Three Harmonies Gang's higher-ups, meanwhile, felt that it did not matter who became gang leader, so long as their positions were guaranteed.
Therefore, even with Cao Bin and Gao Kaiyuan dead, the Three Harmonies Gang could not avoid an internal struggle.
These matters had nothing to do with Han Zheng. Once home, he immediately opened the Gluttonous Crucible, preparing to see how he could use the Vitality Essence gained from killing Gao Kaiyuan.
Three hundred Vitality Essence would provide three thousand points of Satiety after being sacrificed, enough for Han Zheng to cultivate in the Gluttonous Crucible for nearly ten years.
But Han Zheng could not possibly use all of it to raise his realm. His martial arts also had to be improved.
Entering the Gluttonous Crucible, Han Zheng first cultivated his inner force. While raising his realm, he could also bring the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill's proficiency to perfection.
The early stage of the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm was Bronze Skin Iron Bones. Han Zheng had broken into the Innate Realm so quickly largely thanks to the Spirit Nurturing Pill Yuan Longshan had given him.
But advancing from Bronze Skin Iron Bones at the early stage to Golden Muscles Jade Meridians at the middle stage was not so easy.
Golden Muscles Jade Meridians required using inner force to temper the meridians and channels throughout one's body. What it primarily improved was control over one's strength.
Meridians and channels were tiny and formless, making them even harder to temper. One had to proceed with the utmost care; it was work like water dripping through stone.
Han Zheng cultivated in the Gluttonous Crucible for more than five hundred days. The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill had already reached perfection, yet the tempering of Golden Muscles Jade Meridians had only just begun, with not the slightest visible progress.
Han Zheng was not discouraged. He had long grown accustomed to his damned talent.
To advance from Peak Acquired Stage to Bronze Skin Iron Bones, Han Zheng had relied on one Spirit Nurturing Pill and more than three hundred days of bitter cultivation.
How could the transition from Bronze Skin Iron Bones to Golden Muscles Jade Meridians be merely ten times harder?
Even if he used all this Satiety, he might not necessarily break through.
So after cultivating the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill to perfection, Han Zheng stopped cultivating it and instead began cultivating the White Ape Through-Arm Fist to perfection.
In terms of power, the White Ape Through-Arm Fist might not necessarily be stronger than the Vajra Demon Subduing Seal.
But the White Ape Through-Arm Fist had great potential, and it could also merge with the Nine Heavens Ape Demon Plucking Stars Chart.
Han Zheng also wanted to see exactly what earth-shattering martial art the White Ape Through-Arm Fist would become after merging with the Nine Heavens Ape Demon Plucking Stars Chart.
After his battle with Gao Kaiyuan, the White Ape Through-Arm Fist's proficiency had already risen to 20%.
Han Zheng then continued cultivating within the crucible, and Martial Intent emerged alongside it.
A divine white ape, like a small giant, wandered through the mountain forests. The white ape raised its arms, and with every movement, its spiritual bearing was displayed in full.
It took more than six hundred days before the White Ape Through-Arm Fist finally reached true perfection.
The difficulty of cultivating an Innate martial art was far beyond that of an Acquired martial art like Vajra Fist.
Han Zheng checked the White Ape Through-Arm Fist's attributes.
Current cultivation arts available for breakthrough: "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill" requires three thousand points of Satiety to break through. "White Ape Through-Arm Fist" requires two thousand points of Satiety to break through. Merging the Nine Heavens Ape Demon Plucking Stars Chart during the breakthrough requires an additional five thousand points of Satiety.
Han Zheng clenched his back teeth and suddenly felt his teeth ache.
Cultivation arts at the Houtian Realm were cheap to break through. Back then, breaking through Vajra Fist had only cost one hundred points of Satiety.
Yet upon reaching the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm, the cost had risen by more than tenfold, while merging the Nine Heavens Ape Demon Plucking Stars Chart was even more exorbitant.
After cultivating the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill and White Ape Through-Arm Fist to perfection, he had less than two thousand points of Satiety left, so he had no way to break through at all.
After considering it, Han Zheng simply cultivated the Vajra Demon Subduing Seal and Blood Fiend Saber Art to perfection as well.
That way, so long as he had enough Satiety, he could raise any one cultivation art to the next realm at any time.
After raising the proficiency of several cultivation arts to perfection, Han Zheng had only seven hundred points of Satiety left.
Han Zheng did not use this Satiety. He saved it, intending to accumulate enough at once next time before breaking through a cultivation art.
Han Zheng glanced at his attributes and nodded in satisfaction.
Name: Han Zheng Cultivation: Early Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm (Bronze Skin Iron Bones) Martial cultivation arts: Houtian Realm "Iron Elephant Skill" perfected, Houtian Realm "Vajra Fist" perfected, Houtian Realm "Blood Fiend Saber Art" perfected. Innate Realm "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill" perfected, Innate Realm "Vajra Demon Subduing Seal" perfected, Innate Realm "White Ape Through-Arm Fist" perfected. Current state: Pain insensitivity, abundant vitality
Han Zheng let out a long breath. An indescribable sharpness radiated from him, only gradually settling back into calm after a long while.
This was the longest he had ever cultivated in the Gluttonous Crucible—two thousand three hundred days, nearly six years.
It had taken six years just to cultivate these arts to perfection, and that was still taking a shortcut. Martial Intent existed within the Gluttonous Crucible and could also increase cultivation speed.
For other martial artists, these cultivation arts would be enough to occupy half their lives.
Early the next morning, Han Zheng headed to Shenghe Hall.
First, he wanted to ask Li Feng about the events in the county city yesterday. Second, he wanted to ask about the Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit.
He had arrived too early. Shenghe Hall had only just opened, and Li Feng was sitting there leisurely drinking tea.
When Li Feng saw Han Zheng arrive, he hurriedly beamed and had someone bring over a chair for Han Zheng.
"Authentic Huainan tribute tea. Brother Han, give it a try."
The idea Han Zheng had given him last time had truly been brilliant.
Shenghe Hall had washed its hands clean of every connection. The gangs had fought over the Spiritual Medicine themselves, so what did it have to do with Shenghe Hall?
It was only that the consequences had been somewhat severe.
The Three Harmonies Gang had directly fallen into internal chaos and bloody conflict over the matter, fighting until they nearly knocked each other's brains out.
But what did that have to do with Shenghe Hall or Li Feng?
Han Zheng took a sip of tea, then shook his head with a wry smile. "I'm a rough man. I can't taste the difference between this and ordinary tea.
By the way, Apothecary Li, I was cultivating at home all day yesterday. The county city seemed to be in quite an uproar. What happened to the Three Harmonies Gang afterward?"
Li Feng waved his little white jade folding fan. "Don't even mention it. The Three Harmonies Gang fought for an entire day yesterday.
Cao Bin died. Gao Kaiyuan fled the city, then was later found dead in a ditch by the river outside the city. His corpse had soaked until it was bloated. No one knew whether Jiang Tai's men killed him, or whether it was the Sky Eagle Gang or Black Tiger Gang.
In short, it was a complete mess. Jiang Tai could not control the situation, and with the Black Tiger Gang and Sky Eagle Gang taking advantage of the fire to loot, the Three Harmonies Gang suffered grievous losses.
In the end, it was Black Stone County's chief constable, Zhang Tianyang, who stepped in and subdued the scene. He arrested quite a few people and took them back to the yamen. Only then did the three gangs settle down.
You know, our chief constable of Black Stone County is quite strong. He actually blocked an attack from all three gang leaders at once and forced them to back down."
Han Zheng nodded thoughtfully.
By stirring up the Three Harmonies Gang's internal conflict, he had thoroughly muddied the waters.
Only now did Zhang Tianyang have sufficient reason to openly arrest people. He should be able to interrogate whether anyone in the Three Harmonies Gang had colluded with the Incense Cult.
But Han Zheng guessed there probably was not, because there was no need.
Cao Bin only wanted to help his son rise to power, not join the Incense Cult in pursuit of a future.
Gao Kaiyuan worked for the Song Family. If the Incense Cult had promised to help him seize the gang leader's position, he would not have been the Song Family's dog.
As for Jiang Tai, he was even more of a transparent figure. If the Incense Cult stood behind him, he would not have been so easily provoked by Han Zheng.
Zhang Tianyang might return empty-handed this time.
But those matters no longer had anything to do with Han Zheng.
He had already fulfilled his promise to Zhang Tianyang to muddy the waters of Black Stone County. As for whether Zhang Tianyang could catch fish in those muddy waters, that would depend on Zhang Tianyang's own ability.