Looking around, Bi Changsheng discovered that apart from the central area where he stood, the entire underground palace had been divided into cells. Each cell held several people with graying hair who all looked rather old. There were more than twenty of them in total.
The prisoners seemed to have been frightened by Bi Changsheng's slaughter of the Yellow Heaven Cult martial artists, and had all retreated to the side farthest from him.
"It's all right now. You can all come out."
Bi Changsheng stepped forward, severed all the locks on the cells, and spoke to the people inside.
After quite some time, the people in the cells seemed to confirm that Bi Changsheng would not harm them before slowly emerging.
"Thank you, great hero, for saving us. We have no way to repay you."
A rather tall old man stepped forward, knelt, and spoke to Bi Changsheng.
"Old sir, there's no need to be so courteous. I merely did what was convenient."
Seeing this, Bi Changsheng hurriedly helped him up.
As he helped the old man up, Bi Changsheng discovered that although the man looked like an old man, his eyes held none of the vicissitudes of age.
"Old sir, what happened to all of you?"
Bi Changsheng asked, puzzled.
"Actually, I was originally about the same age as you, great hero. I became like this because of those villains from the Yellow Heaven Cult."
The old man gave a helpless, bitter smile and shook his head before explaining to Bi Changsheng.
"Oh? Could you tell me about it in detail?"
Hearing the old man say that he was about the same age as Ximen Xue, whom Bi Changsheng was currently disguised as, Bi Changsheng pressed him in surprise.
The man naturally held nothing back in response to Bi Changsheng's questions, and soon told him the whole story.
It turned out that they were all ordinary citizens of Jin'an Prefecture. They had been forcibly abducted by the Yellow Heaven Cult, and after arriving at this estate, the cult had made them cultivate a technique called Creation Condensing Yuan.
This technique was extremely difficult to cultivate. Only a very small number of people could succeed. Of the more than one hundred people in their group, only he and one other person had succeeded.
Those who succeeded were brought to this underground palace and imprisoned, while he did not know how the Yellow Heaven Cult dealt with those who failed.
After being cultivated, Creation Condensing Yuan brought no benefit whatsoever to its practitioners. It merely allowed them to consume their lifespans to condense a treasure called Life True Water.
The Yellow Heaven Cult had kept them in this underground palace like livestock, using their lifespans to condense Life True Water for the cult. Each drop consumed one year of their lifespan. If they had not needed several days of recuperation after every drop before they could continue, they would have collapsed long ago.
As for the exact effects of Life True Water, they knew nothing at all. They had merely been forced to obey the Yellow Heaven Cult's orders and condense it for them.
"Consume one's lifespan to condense Life True Water."
"Can I take a look at this technique?"
After hearing what Creation Condensing Yuan did, Bi Changsheng immediately became interested. He was especially sensitive to techniques involving the consumption of lifespans.
"My lord, please look. This is the Creation Condensing Yuan Skill."
The man whose true age did not match his appearance readily took a book from his robe and handed it to Bi Changsheng. To make it convenient for them to cultivate the Creation Condensing Yuan Skill, the Yellow Heaven Cult had given every abducted person a copy so they could cultivate at any time. They had not even reclaimed the books after the prisoners succeeded.
After taking the technique, Bi Changsheng flipped through it briefly. He discovered that compared with martial techniques, the Creation Condensing Yuan Skill was more akin to a cultivation technique. However, what was wondrous about it was that even ordinary people could cultivate it.
Of course, the odds of an ordinary person successfully cultivating it were extremely low.
After learning everything, Bi Changsheng first handed these people over to the nearby members of the Demon Extermination Society for resettlement before setting off back to Ningyun City.
On the fifth day after Bi Changsheng began his return to Ningyun City, a group of people shattered the tranquility of the Crimson Blood Pill Pavilion.
"Which of you is in charge? Come out here!"
A furious-looking man led a group into the Crimson Blood Pill Pavilion. The moment he entered, he began shouting loudly.
"Esteemed customer, if there's something you need, you can tell me."
Uncle Fu, who was watching over the shop, hurriedly spoke to the man when he heard the commotion.
"My brother bought that damn Crimson Blood Pill from your shop. He ended up going berserk while cultivating after taking it. Tell me, how are you going to deal with this?"
When the man saw Uncle Fu, he angrily confronted him.
"The pills sold by our Crimson Blood Pill Pavilion are all proper medicinal pills. This kind of problem absolutely cannot occur."
Seeing the man's expression, Uncle Fu sensed trouble. He knew the other party had likely come with bad intentions, but he nevertheless steadied himself and replied.
"No problem?"
"You call this no problem? Can't you see that my brother is still unconscious?"
The man seemed to grow even angrier at Uncle Fu's words. He pointed at the people behind him. It turned out that several of them were carrying a tightly shut-eyed man on a stretcher.
"I say your Crimson Blood Pill Pavilion is nothing but a black shop. Today, I'll rid the people of this scourge and smash your black shop to pieces."
The man seemed to grow more and more enraged as he spoke. Then his qi and blood suddenly erupted, directly sending Uncle Fu, who stood before him, flying backward onto the ground.
After his qi and blood erupted, it became clear that the man's cultivation was at the Late Qi and Blood Realm.
The disturbance at the Crimson Blood Pill Pavilion also drew the attention of passersby on Gold-Sprinkled Street. Quite a few stopped to watch, and some even whispered to the people beside them from time to time.
When the onlookers saw the conflict in the Crimson Blood Pill Pavilion and the man's Late Qi and Blood Realm cultivation, they all wore expressions of anticipation. Although a Late Qi and Blood Realm cultivator could barely be considered a figure in Ningyun City, rumors said that the Crimson Blood Pill had a late True Qi Realm martial artist backing it.
Therefore, no one thought highly of this man.
"Father, are you all right?"
The commotion in the Pill Pavilion was so great that Liu Zhengqing, who was in the rear courtyard, naturally noticed it and hurried out to investigate. As soon as he emerged, he saw Uncle Fu lying on the ground. Liu Zhengqing quickly helped him up and asked with concern.
*Cough, cough. I'm fine."
After being helped up, Uncle Fu coughed several times before replying.
"You dared to cause trouble in our Pill Pavilion and even hurt my father."
Seeing that Uncle Fu was not seriously injured, Liu Zhengqing angrily confronted the man. He had not yet realized the man's strength when he came out. As he spoke, he clenched both fists and charged at the man, intending to seek justice for Uncle Fu.
"Don't!"
Knowing the man's strength, Uncle Fu hurriedly called out to stop Liu Zhengqing, but it was already too late.
"Remarkable talent. To possess Late Bone Forging Realm cultivation at such a young age."
Looking at Liu Zhengqing rushing toward him, a trace of jealousy flashed through the man's eyes. He then erupted with qi and blood and struck toward Liu Zhengqing with one palm.
"Not good!"
Liu Zhengqing realized something was wrong the instant the man's qi and blood erupted. He quickly raised both arms to shield his chest, but the man still sent him flying with one palm. He crashed to the ground and could not rise, thin streams of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Clearly, his injuries were severe.
After sending Liu Zhengqing flying, the man still did not stop. Thinking of Liu Zhengqing's talent, the jealousy in his eyes deepened. He directly struck out another palm through the air, intending to put Liu Zhengqing to death.
Woof! Woof!
Just then, a dog's bark rang out. Little Black, who had also heard the commotion and rushed over to investigate, saw Liu Zhengqing in grave danger and hurriedly spat out a fireball, scattering the man's qi-and-blood palm.
"There's actually a Qi Refining First Layer Demonic Beast too."
After seeing Little Black, the man sensed its strength from its aura. However, Qi Refining First Layer was merely equivalent to a martial artist in the Early Qi and Blood Realm, so he felt no fear whatsoever.
After scattering the man's enormous qi-and-blood hand, Little Black took the initiative and attacked, becoming entangled in battle with him.
However, there was a considerable gap between their strengths. Although Little Black fought with all its might and occasionally spat fireballs at the man, it only left him somewhat disheveled without causing any serious harm. Little Black, meanwhile, took several of the man's palm strikes and was badly injured.
Even so, Little Black, already trembling on its feet, still stood firmly in front of Uncle Fu and Liu Zhengqing to protect them, confronting the man without yielding and losing nothing in terms of momentum.
It had promised Bi Changsheng that it would protect this Household while he was away!
"Hmph, a mantis trying to stop a cart!"
Seeing that Little Black was so heavily injured yet still so stubborn and difficult to deal with, the man sneered.
The man and Little Black continued their fierce entanglement. But as time passed, it became increasingly obvious that Little Black was running out of strength.
Still lying on the ground, Liu Zhengqing struggled to raise his head and watched Little Black get sent flying again and again, only to crawl back up and charge at the man without fear of death. He began to hate his own uselessness and felt a thirst for power unlike anything he had ever known.
At that moment, the Crimson Blood Pill Pavilion had fallen into crisis.
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