Counterambush!

Qin Shuang had browsed three weapon stalls but hadn't found a blade he particularly liked, so he bought an ordinary long saber, slung it over his back, and left the Black Market.

"Fifty li from the Black Market, there are plenty of tigers in Xuan Yin Mountain!"

"First, I'll find somewhere to hide and take the Tiger Blood Pills, raising Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill from proficient to mastery! Then, at daybreak tomorrow, I'll go kill tigers before returning to Qingzhou City!"

Standing thirty zhang from the Black Market entrance, Qin Shuang silently worked out his plans.

While buying the weapon, he'd asked the stall owner about it. Xuan Yin Mountain was full of tigers, and the tiger blood and bones used by the apothecaries in the three nearby cities to refine Tiger Blood Pills came from tigers hunted there.

His Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill required him to kill ten ferocious tigers, while Fierce Tiger Fist required him to kill a White-Browed Tiger with Fiery Eyes.

By then,

it was already past nine at night.

People were still arriving at the Black Market from time to time. With the long saber on his back, Qin Shuang raced along the maple woods toward Xuan Yin Mountain.

By then,

three li from the Black Market entrance, three masked men in black were hiding in a grove. A gray-haired rat crouched on their leader's shoulder. The three men stared fixedly at the Black Market exit.

They were Yun Shenhai, who had sold Qin Shuang pills at the Black Market, and the brothers Chen Jinchun and Chen Jinqiu.

Suddenly, a figure with a black hood over his head emerged from the Black Market, carrying a bundle and racing toward Xuan Yin Mountain.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

The instant the shadow appeared, the Spirit Sniffing Rat on Yun Shenhai's shoulder suddenly began squeaking.

"The fat sheep's out! After him!"

Yun Shenhai's eyes flashed. He called to Chen Jinchun and Chen Jinqiu, and the three of them hurried after Qin Shuang.

An hour later, forty li from the Black Market, at the foot of Xuan Yin Mountain, Qin Shuang found a tree in a grove. He sprang onto a fork in its branches and sat cross-legged.

[Medicine Refining Art, First Grade (Proficient)]

[Simplification: Grind pills ten thousand times; prepare one Tiger Blood Pill. Proficient can advance to Mastery]

He took out the fifty Tiger Blood Pills he'd just bought and looked at the panel.

"The pills are fine."

Using his proficiency in Medicine Refining Art, Qin Shuang checked the Tiger Blood Pills. Only when he was sure they were fine did he relax and toss one into his mouth.

[Consumed Tiger Blood Pill +1]

A mighty surge of medicinal power swept through his body. Qin Shuang quickly circulated Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill, converting the power into Qi and Blood.

Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill converted the Tiger Blood Pill's power quickly. In just a minute and a half, the pill's medicinal power had been fully absorbed, transformed into Qi and Blood, and used to nourish his bones.

Qin Shuang felt that his bones had grown a little sturdier.

[Consumed Tiger Blood Pill +1]

[Consumed Tiger Blood Pill +1]

[...]

Qin Shuang didn't waste time. He kept taking Tiger Blood Pills. That was just how he was: once a pill was in his hands, he had to turn it into strength as soon as possible to feel at ease.

"Hm?"

Just as Qin Shuang took his eighteenth Tiger Blood Pill, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from more than twenty zhang away.

Qin Shuang narrowed his eyes, immediately stowed his things, and gripped his long saber tightly. He listened carefully. There were three people coming.

Outside the grove, Yun Shenhai gently stroked the Spirit Sniffing Rat's head, a sinister grin on his face. He said to the brothers Chen Jinchun and Chen Jinqiu, "He's right in there! After buying Tiger Blood Pills, he kept browsing the Black Market. He's definitely loaded!"

"That bastard made us run all this way. We'll give him a good working-over in a minute!"

Chen Jinchun looked at the grove. The long sword in his hand rang out with a sharp chime. Qi and Blood from his Bone Forging Realm cultivation surfaced across his body, forming a Qi and Blood Gauze Robe so tangible it was on the verge of turning into Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke!

"Come on out! We only want your money!"

Qi and Blood erupted from Yun Shenhai. A column of Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke rose a zhang above his head, casting a suffocating pressure beneath the faint moonlight!

"Roar!"

At that moment, a tiger's roar rang out! Yun Shenhai saw a red blur pounce at him!

"You're asking for death!"

Yun Shenhai's eyes shone with a cold gleam. He channeled his Qi and Blood into his sword and thrust at the red blur, the blade whistling like wind and thunder!

At the same time,

his two junior fellow disciples, Chen Jinchun and Chen Jinqiu, thrust their swords, sealing off every escape route.

"Whoosh!"

To Yun Shenhai's surprise, the red blur suddenly twisted like a fish in the water. In the next instant, it appeared behind him to the left and pounced again!

And then,

the red blur's aura suddenly surged. Qi and Blood rose more than a zhang from its body, taking the shape of a tiger's phantom. A terrifying pressure followed its roar!

"Oh no...!"

Yun Shenhai's heart lurched. He tried to use his footwork to dodge, but it was already too late. He felt a heavy blow to his chest. The crack of breaking bones rang out as he flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground four zhang away!

With a single Fierce Tiger Pouncing, Qin Shuang badly wounded the strongest bandit. He unleashed Swimming Dragon Steps and charged at the other two!

Although Chen Jinchun and Chen Jinqiu had reached the Bone Forging Realm, they had only formed Qi and Blood Gauze Robes. How could they stand against Qin Shuang, whose Qi and Blood had become Wolf Smoke and who had even condensed a phantom tiger?

In just two exchanges, the long swords in their hands shattered, and they spat blood as they fell four zhang away!

"I'll tell you what I did to the last person who crossed me. I cut wounds all over his body, then rubbed honey into them. Guess what happened?"

Qin Shuang dragged the three barely breathing bandits together, squatted before them, and spoke calmly.

He hadn't expected

that the bandit Yun Shenhai was the very stall owner who had sold him the pills!

Yun Shenhai and the other two sold pills, but whenever they spotted a fat sheep they liked, they would mark his scent, then ambush him outside and rob him.

"Spare... spare us..."

"G-great hero... I... I'm willing to hand over everything I own and serve at your side. Just spare our worthless lives!"

Yun Shenhai knelt before Qin Shuang, terror in his eyes. He was overwhelmed with regret. Things had always gone smoothly for him; he'd only ever picked on the softest persimmons.

He'd never imagined that the "soft persimmon" he'd picked this time had been hiding his strength!

He'd kicked an iron plate!

Chen Jinchun and Chen Jinqiu knelt beside Yun Shenhai, their eyes full of terror.

"Let's hear it, then. Can the things you're offering buy your worthless lives?"

Qin Shuang spoke calmly as he searched through the three men's bundles.

In their bundles, Qin Shuang found ten Dragon Blood Pills, a hundred and eighty Tiger Blood Pills, ten banknotes, and more than five hundred taels of silver.

There was also half of something that looked like animal hide. One side was carved with a map of mountains and rivers; the other showed an expanse of ocean!

"G-great hero, we've got another three... three thousand taels of silver..."

Yun Shenhai stammered.

"Only three thousand taels?"

Qin Shuang frowned, dissatisfied. "Don't you make good money selling pills?"

After all,

he'd bought fifty Tiger Blood Pills. Yun Shenhai had to have made at least half the price, right?

He set up a stall at the Black Market every day. How could he have so little?

"G-great hero, my older brother is an alchemist... We only sell the pills for him and earn a little for our trouble. We had to resort to robbery, and we still need the silver we make to cultivate, so this is all we've got..."

Yun Shenhai looked at Qin Shuang and begged in terror, slapping himself repeatedly. "Great hero, we were wrong. We shouldn't have attacked you. If you spare me, I'll give you the three thousand taels, and we'll work for you from now on... I'll even sell my two properties and give you the money..."

At that moment,

Yun Shenhai only wanted to live. If he could just get away alive, anything could be discussed.

After all,

his older brother was an alchemist who had already advanced to the Marrow Jade Realm. When the time came, he could get his brother to kill this man and take revenge!