While the various factions stirred with restless intent and undercurrents surged...
Gu Cheng, the very culprit who had personally brought all this about, had already returned to Changle County and arrived at Xiao Yun's home.
"Are these little bottles filled with the Boiling Blood Powder I wanted?"
Gu Cheng studied the five exquisite porcelain bottles on the table.
He reached out, picked one up, and pulled out the stopper.
Inside was an exceptionally fine white powder, which gave off a faint, delicate fragrance.
Just from its appearance, one might have thought he was buying drugs from the Golden Triangle...
And not only did it look the part, its value far exceeded that of gold.
The cost of refining just one small bottle of Boiling Blood Powder was enough to buy five or six Star Cloud Flowers.
"That's right. Don't let the small amount in each bottle fool you. The qi and blood supplied by one bottle of Boiling Blood Powder is every bit as potent as that of an ordinary Mortal Breaking Realm demon core!"
Xiao Qing'er sat nearby and explained softly.
It had been a few days since they last met, and the frail girl's complexion had grown even paler and more haggard. Clearly, she had poured a great deal of effort into refining the medicine.
"Boiling Blood Powder is extremely potent. For the first few months after you start taking it, you'd best not use more than a fingernail's worth per day."
Xiao Qing'er held up her small, fair pinky and cautioned him with great seriousness:
"If you take too much, it won't just put a severe strain on your body—it'll also shorten your lifespan!"
"If you feel even the slightest discomfort after taking it, remember to come find me right away!"
"Mm, I understand."
Gu Cheng nodded slightly, brought his nose close to the bottle's mouth, and gave it a gentle sniff.
The faint fragrance immediately grew several times stronger, becoming overwhelmingly pungent.
Stirred by the strange smell, the qi and blood in his body surged like a tide, growing intensely restless.
He also found himself inexplicably craving the white powder in the bottle.
Just a sniff had such an effect.
If he swallowed an entire bottle, the medicine's potency went without saying.
"You've worked hard."
Gu Cheng nodded in satisfaction and put all five bottles of Boiling Blood Powder into his storage pouch.
Looking at the frail girl's haggard face, he silently made a note of the favor he owed her.
Xiao Qing'er smiled sweetly, then seemed to suddenly remember something and added:
"Oh, right, Big Brother Gu. When Shopkeeper Song came by with the medicinal ingredients, he asked me to pass along a message."
"Oh? What did he say?"
"Shopkeeper Song said..."
The frail girl sneaked a glance at Gu Cheng, her expression rather odd.
"He said his wife misses you very much. He hopes that when you have some free time, you'll visit her in the back courtyard more often to 'chat' and cultivate your relationship..."
"..."
Gu Cheng instantly understood what Shopkeeper Song meant and couldn't help but freeze.
Good heavens!
Even I, a dyed-in-the-wool romantic, hadn't had the nerve to cuckold you.
But look at you, practically pushing your lovely wife out the door yourself!
Gu Cheng was utterly speechless.
Perhaps in the eyes of these wealthy merchants, as long as they could curry favor with a promising martial expert like him, wearing a green hat was nothing worth mentioning!
After all, how could life go smoothly without a little green on your head?
Deep into the night, all was silent.
Pure moonlight spilled through the window into Gu Cheng's bedroom, as if draping the room in a gauzy veil.
After preparing a feast for Miss Xu and letting his "pet" eat until her belly was round, Gu Cheng returned to his room, sat on the bed, and began sorting through the spoils from his trip.
Nearly ten days' worth of gains had mostly come from that Evil King Pavilion assassin.
Gu Cheng took out Feng Sanshi's storage pouch and began emptying it, one item at a time.
Its capacity was about half that of the one Xu Nianxue had given him. It was a mid-grade storage artifact, all things considered.
There were quite a few valuable things inside.
The gold alone filled an entire chest. It was almost certainly the payment from the Zheng Family.
Besides that, two items in particular caught Gu Cheng's interest.
One was a reddish-copper token, about the size of his palm, engraved with the image of a sinister ghost's head.
It was not hard to guess that this was the identity token of an Evil King Pavilion assassin.
Earlier, over dinner, Gu Cheng had asked Miss Xu in detail about the organization, which was quite renowned throughout Yunzhou, and gained a general understanding of it.
According to Xu Nianxue...
The assassins of the Evil King Pavilion were a bunch of exceptionally gifted yet thoroughly sinister oddballs.
Someone like Feng Sanshi, a Spirit Refinement Cultivator with a mid-tier Mortal Breaking Realm cultivation who could control a high-tier Mortal Breaking Realm demon servant, was only considered average within the organization.
Fortunately, the Evil King Pavilion was a group that would not lift a finger without profit.
Unless the employer was willing to pay more, the assassins would not avenge one another even if they were killed by their targets.
In their eyes, the death of a useless piece of trash who had been outmatched was a good way to improve the gene pool.
"Hmph. Too bad the Zheng Family won't have the chance to pay more for long..."
Gu Cheng snorted coldly, already placing them on his kill list.
He decided to wait a few days for the commotion to die down, then find a suitable moment to act.
The second item was a long black saber.
The blade was about three fingers wide and three feet three inches long.
It was pitch-black like ink jade, its shape elegant and refined, as if it were a high-end custom-made work of art.
The material of this ink-black saber was unusual as well.
It was not only exceptionally hard but also remarkably resilient, and its weight was downright astonishing.
The saber alone weighed around fifty pounds—more than ten times the weight of an ordinary weapon!
But for Gu Cheng, whose Blood Demon Physique had reached great mastery...
A weapon that heavy felt no heavier than a wooden practice sword in a child's hands. In fact, it had a satisfying heft.
"What a fine saber..."
Gu Cheng studied the Ink Blade in his hands, unable to put it down.
On the hilt, he noticed two delicate characters engraved into it—
Ink Feather.
Clearly, that was the name of the precious blade.
"Feng Sanshi was a Spirit Refinement Cultivator who controlled demon servants. He didn't look like the type to use a saber."
"Could this Ink Feather Saber have been spoils he seized from a target he assassinated?"
"But either way, it belongs to me now!"
Gu Cheng's lips curved upward as he mused to himself.
This was an unexpected boon.
His natal blood weapon was incredibly powerful, and paired with the Blood Shadow Blade Technique, it was even more formidable.
But that was still a trump card. He had yet to find a handy weapon for everyday use.
Now that he had this Ink Feather, that problem was finally solved.
Aside from these items...
The most numerous things in Feng Sanshi's storage pouch were books on music theory, along with several instruments that looked extremely valuable.
Clearly, this Evil King Pavilion assassin was passionate about music.
"Damn, this guy was an artsy type too?"
Gu Cheng flipped through the sheet music in his hands, feeling rather conflicted.
Come to think of it, the villains in this world all seemed to have pretty rich hobbies.
Blood Lady, the concubine of an elder of the Blood Blade Sect, liked to experiment with cooking in her spare time and had collected a stack of recipe books.
Feng Sanshi worked as an assassin for the Evil King Pavilion, but he liked making music in his spare time and had collected a stack of sheet music.
Meanwhile, Miss Xu, a Demon Hunter, did nothing but eat in her spare time and had collected a stack of erotic novels...
Damn, why did I suddenly feel like this world's righteous path was beyond saving?
Gu Cheng shook his head, casting all those scattered thoughts to the back of his mind.
Then he opened the system panel and looked at Feng Sanshi's Soul Remnant.
"Since this fellow is an artsy type who likes making music...
"If I talk about music with him, can I easily win over this remnant's favor?"
Gu Cheng rubbed his chin, pondering.
Based on his experience communicating with the first two Soul Remnants, he had already figured out how to win them over.
As long as he catered to their interests and gave them exactly what they wanted...
With time, he could wring every last bit of value out of these remnants!
"Then I'll be able to obtain an even more profound Spirit Refinement method, right?"
Gu Cheng lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
He poured fifty years of his lifespan into Feng Sanshi's Soul Remnant in one go...
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