Mistakes Come With a Price, Returning to the Qianfeng Merchant Association

"Ding! It has been detected that the host's Experience Points meet the conditions for a cultivation increase. Consume 2,000 Experience Points to raise cultivation?"

"Ding! It has been detected that the host's Experience Points meet the conditions to improve the Mighty Bull Shakes Mountain Diagram. Consume 3,000 Experience Points to comprehend the second style of the Five Styles of Shaking Mountain?"

Two system prompts rang out in his mind one after another.

Lu Yang was somewhat surprised. After a brief moment of thought, he silently recited in his heart, Comprehend the second style of the Five Styles of Shaking Mountain!

As red light spread out, the originally obscure and unfathomable second style of the Five Styles of Shaking Mountain immediately shed its layers of fog. Every movement, every juncture, the rise, transition, turn, and closure of qi, blood, and force within it—Lu Yang now understood them all clearly in his chest.

At the same time, a blood-red Bull Horn Totem had quietly appeared on Lu Yang's left arm.

Power like a volcanic eruption was gestating within that totem.

Lu Yang only had to clench his fist lightly to sense the moving, mighty power within it.

He tried throwing a punch, and Lu Yang immediately confirmed that the arm strength of his left hand was now the same as his right, having also reached over thirty thousand jin.

Even though his cultivation still remained at the first level of the Xiantian Realm, with the power of both arms added together, Lu Yang was even confident he could contend with a martial artist at the fifth level of Xiantian.

"I didn't expect killing demonized martial artists could also provide Experience Points!"

This harvest counted as an unexpected joy for Lu Yang.

For one instant, he even had the thought of using some method to "mass-produce" demonized martial artists, then kill them to obtain Experience Points.

But that evil thought had only appeared for an instant before Lu Yang immediately rejected it.

For martial artists, righteousness and evil often lay only within a single thought.

Being able to hold fast to one's true heart and not be bewitched by greed—that was the true path of the strong.

As for the many remaining family martial artists, when they saw the three family heads fall one after another, they instantly became like homeless dogs, fleeing in every direction.

As for Han Ling'er, who had tipped them off, she was directly treated as a burden and abandoned in Han Family Village.

"Wait!"

"Don't leave me behind!"

Han Ling'er's face was full of tears, crying like pear blossoms in the rain.

However, at this moment, in order to preserve their own lives, no one cared whether a woman lived or died.

Seeing Lu Yang walk toward her step by step, each step seemed to land on the tip of her heart, pressing down until Han Ling'er could hardly breathe.

At this moment, she seemed to have already forgotten that the person before her was the one who had killed her father and brother. Her legs went weak, and with a thud, she knelt on the ground.

"Please, Captain Lu, don't kill me! Don't kill me! As long as you don't kill me, I can—I'll do anything you want!" Han Ling'er lowered her head and sprawled on the ground, trying to tug at the corner of Lu Yang's clothes, only for him to avoid her with ease.

Lu Yang's expression did not change. He walked straight past Han Ling'er and headed forward.

Han Ling'er was first stunned, then her surprise carried the look of someone who had survived a calamity. She hurriedly prostrated herself on the ground.

And right at this moment, from the corner of her eye, she glimpsed an overturned wooden box on the ground.

Nearby, a patch of bloodstains seeped and swirled.

The moment Han Ling'er's gaze touched it, it was as if she had been struck by lightning.

She quickly lowered her head to cover the venomous resentment in her eyes.

Only, as if the sight had stirred feelings, making her heartache unbearable, the tears in her eyes could not be stopped no matter what.

My heart really hurts so much!

So my feelings for Father and Brother were actually this deep?

And right at this moment, Han Ling'er seemed to sense something and lowered her head to look at her chest.

There, a real blood-red stain seeped into her vision...

If one had done wrong, one naturally had to pay the price, regardless of gender.

Lu Yang felt that this principle was very correct.

Just then, Wang Kang trotted over.

"Boss, these are the things I searched off those three people just now."

The three family heads were already dead, and for something like searching the corpses, Wang Kang very perceptively chose to do it on his behalf.

They were three waist pouches the size of a palm. Their texture felt extremely soft in the hand, and one could even faintly detect a trace of Spiritual Qi.

"Space Bags!" Lu Yang's eyes lit up.

A Space Bag contained space within it, making it very convenient for carrying items around. In Black Mountain County, it was an exceedingly rare and precious thing.

If one took it to the Qianfeng Merchant Association to sell, even the smallest Space Bag could sell for more than fifty thousand taels!

Looking across Black Mountain County, ordinary martial artists simply could not afford one.

Only family heads like Wang Kui possessed such extravagant financial power.

Even without looking at the things inside the Space Bags, Lu Yang knew he had profited.

Releasing a thread of Xiantian True Qi and injecting it into the Space Bag, Lu Yang's mind immediately conjured up the scene inside the Space Bag.

The space inside this Space Bag was not large, roughly only three chi square.

Inside were Silver Notes and gold and silver, roughly estimated at about eighty thousand taels.

Besides that, there were also several stalks of Spiritual Medicine, a stack of low-level talismans, and some unlabeled bottles and jars.

Next, Lu Yang inspected the other two Space Bags. The space inside was much the same, and the things stored within were broadly similar too.

"Two hundred and eighty thousand taels. Not bad!"

Although he had not found the cultivation methods and Movement Techniques he wanted most in the Storage Bags, Lu Yang was fairly satisfied with today's gains.

As the treasures that anchored a clan, cultivation methods were usually carefully preserved within noble families, kept in the clan's most central and safest place.

Even the family head would not carry them on his person—unless his own strength surpassed that of the entire family, making the items safest on him.

Niu Hanshan came up at this moment and asked, "Brother Lu, you're wanted by Black Mountain County now. What do you plan to do next?"

Lu Yang thought for a moment, then said, "That old dog Lu Jue has put out a warrant for me. If I can't clear my name, then as long as I remain in Great Jun, wherever I go, people will treat me as a fugitive and hunt me down. So even if Black Mountain County is a dragon's pool and a tiger's den, I must go back there!"

What Lu Yang did not say was that after stepping into the Xiantian realm, without the follow-up cultivation method, his cultivation would likely run into obstacles too.

Now that he had obtained so much money and property, he naturally had to go to the Qianfeng Merchant Association and purchase the subsequent cultivation method.

Niu Hanshan frowned. "Although your strength is impressive now, I'm afraid you still have no way to contend with Lu Jue."

"Behind him, there's not only the County Yamen, but also the four great families. Their eyes and ears are spread all over the city."

"I'm afraid the moment you go back, they'll discover your traces."

Lu Yang smiled. "I think they're thinking the same thing."

As they spoke, Wang Kang had already stripped the clothes off one Wang Family martial artist. After giving them a simple cleaning, he handed them to Lu Yang.

Seeing this, Niu Hanshan was first taken aback, then immediately revealed a look of understanding and smiled. "Not bad. Returning to Black Mountain County disguised as a fleeing Wang Family martial artist is indeed better than disguising yourself as a stranger."

Lu Yang smiled, swiftly changed into the clothes, and said, "There's no time to lose. I'll set off now. Han Qi is already dead, so I'll leave Han Family Village to you."

"Mm."

After giving a few simple instructions, Lu Yang and Wang Kang, who had likewise changed into a Wang Family martial artist's attire, hurriedly left together, heading in the direction of Black Mountain County's city.

Early the next morning, the defeated and fleeing Wang Family martial artists returned to Black Mountain County one after another.

Lu Yang and Wang Kang made slight changes to their appearance and mingled among the scattered martial artists, easily passing the inspection at the city gate and returning to Black Mountain County's city.

Qianfeng Merchant Association.

Perhaps it was fate; the person who received Lu Yang was still Xu Ya.

"What would the guest like?" Xu Ya wore the same smile as always, one that made people feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze.

Lu Yang cut straight to the point and asked, "Do you have any kind of pill that can increase combat strength in a short time?"

Xu Ya's expression did not change in the slightest. She quickly said, "Two kinds of pills. One is the Explosive Yuan Pill. After swallowing it, it can detonate the true qi in the body and burst out with around ten times one's original strength, lasting for over a hundred breaths. The price is that all martial learning will be completely ruined!"

Lu Yang frowned and asked, "What about the other one?"

Xu Ya said, "The second is the Elemental Fusion Pill. After swallowing it, it can generate twenty strands of Xiantian True Qi within the body. It lasts for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, and it can be used in stacks."

"What are the side effects?" Lu Yang said.

Xu Ya smiled. "The Elemental Fusion Pill is specially made by alchemists under our Qianfeng Merchant Association. Its side effects are much smaller than the Explosive Yuan Pill's. Using too many will result in damaged meridians."