Handling Corpses

After confirming everyone was safe, the Heavenly Gate left with Chi Baicheng. Although they were there to rescue people, it was a brothel, and staying too long would have a bad influence.

Seeing the irrelevant people leave, Wang Jingyuan began looting the bodies. Linghu Chong wanted to stop him, but Wang Jingyuan's "No way? No way? No way? You're not seriously going to be brothers with a flower thief, are you?" chirping voice drove him away.

He could only watch as his brother Tian, even in death, could not find peace. What Wang Jingyuan didn't expect was that he actually found Tian Boguang's martial arts manuals.

He had always thought that carrying one's own secret manuals on their person was an idiotic act that almost no one would do. But Tian Boguang had done just that.

Under normal circumstances, Wang Jingyuan would have happily accepted them. But after this period, he understood that this was a hardcore game world. If an NPC seemed stupid, it wasn't because the AI was bad, but because the NPC was designed to be stupid.

And Tian Boguang, a flower thief with no faction background who had roamed the Jianghu for so many years without incident, could not possibly be an idiot. There had to be a trap.

Wang Jingyuan carefully used his long sword to sweep the manuals onto the ground, then picked them up one by one to examine them. Having learned several martial arts through the system previously, he now had some understanding of martial arts manuals.

After reading only a few pages, Wang Jingyuan discovered that the two saber manuals and two lightness skill manuals found on Tian Boguang had very similar styles, likely originating from the same sect.

Whether it was the saber techniques or the lightness skills, their characteristic was speed. And this speed was achieved by channeling Internal Energy to stimulate the body's essence. How did this approach increasingly resemble the Bixie Swordplay?

After finishing all four manuals, Wang Jingyuan realized they weren't just similar; they were practically a watered-down version of the Bixie Swordplay. However, the Internal Energy cultivation part of the Bixie Swordplay had a noble foundation, clearly indicating an extraordinary lineage.

These four manuals, on the other hand, looked like they were discovered through trial and error. Their power was naturally far inferior to the Bixie Swordplay, but because their effects were significantly reduced, they didn't require self-castration.

The price, however, was extremely strong desires.

Wang Jingyuan nodded. No wonder.

No wonder Tian Boguang, the flower thief, acted like a sex addict, and no wonder he carried the manuals with him. Whoever obtained the manuals either had them actively taught to them or killed him for them.

Tian Boguang's martial arts were truly not weak. How many people who obtained his manuals could resist practicing them? But once they started, it was the classic "dragon slayer becomes the dragon" trope. Tsk tsk tsk, truly a well-thought-out plan.

But what did this have to do with Wang Jingyuan? He had already learned the Bixie Swordplay; this thing was barely worth mentioning. Moreover, ever since he discovered these manuals, he had already begun considering establishing a Mount Hua Wellness Class.

By dissecting the Internal Energy cultivation parts and making slight modifications, it would become an entirely new Fuyang Gong. Using the wellness class as a platform to win over those old fogies in the imperial court would be perfect.

After all, from the Grand Secretaries in the cabinet to common laborers, who wasn't concerned about their own virility? Since medicine always had side effects, developing aphrodisiacs for the lower market would be a way to make money.

And this Fuyang Gong would be the stepping stone to entering the upper echelons. Thinking of this, Wang Jingyuan was overjoyed. Once his plan was in motion, completing the task of revitalizing Mount Hua and defeating the Final Boss would be a piece of cake. It felt like calmly tackling the main game after clearing all the DLCs.

Just as Wang Jingyuan was chuckling foolishly, Linghu Chong began to collect Tian Boguang's body. Wang Jingyuan immediately called out to him, "Hold the corpse!"

Linghu Chong looked at Wang Jingyuan and asked in disbelief, "Junior Brother Wang, you don't mean to desecrate the corpse, do you?!"

Wang Jingyuan frowned, "Am I that kind of bored person? I'm usually too lazy to do things that yield no profit. I just thought of a possibility, so I need to handle his body first."

Linghu Chong frowned, "How do you want to handle it?"

Wang Jingyuan pointed upwards, "The weather is getting hotter. If we leave it here, his body will soon start to smell. We need to find a way to preserve it first."

Linghu Chong was even more confused, "Why not just find a simple coffin and bury him?"

"Heh, let's wait until the Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony for this kind of thing," Wang Jingyuan didn't want to explain further to this clueless fool and simply brushed him off.

Wang Jingyuan reached out, intending to put Tian Boguang into his item inventory, but found he couldn't. Wang Jingyuan had tried before; living things couldn't be stored, but meat bought from the market could.

Wang Jingyuan looked at the empty health bar above Tian Boguang's corpse and saw no possibility of him faking death. Did he need to dismember him to store him? Forget it, with this big idiot present, this couldn't be done.

So Wang Jingyuan slung Tian Boguang's corpse over his shoulder and prepared to leave, instructing Linghu Chong, "I'll go find someone who can handle the body. You guys take Junior Sister Yilin back to the Hengshan Sect first."

Although Linghu Chong was still uneasy, he couldn't find any reason to stop Wang Jingyuan and could only watch him leave.

Carrying the corpse on his back, Wang Jingyuan had originally intended to find a military household in the city to help with the disposal. After all, preserving heads should be a basic skill for military households.

But he didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty's military was already beginning to rot. They were called military households, but it was just an identity. Let alone preserving heads, they didn't even retain basic military skills, no different from farmers.

However, Wang Jingyuan spotted a butcher shop on the way.

[Dai Zong Ru He Proficiency +1]

[Dai Zong Ru He Proficiency +1]

[Dai Zong Ru He Proficiency +1]

On the way back to the guild hall, Wang Jingyuan's left hand never stopped. Dai Zong Ru He lived up to its name; the focus was on calculation, not sword techniques. It was the same for gaining experience.

Whenever a Jianghu person walked towards him, he would count on his fingers. After calculating, he would gain proficiency even without attacking.

Along this journey, he gained quite a bit of proficiency, and the speed of his left hand's finger-counting became faster and faster. Soon, his fingers moved in rapid succession, creating afterimages.

However, after gaining about twenty points of proficiency, this rapid progress stopped. He could no longer gain proficiency by calculating passing Jianghu figures.

He wasn't surprised by this, as it was the same when he practiced the Mount Hua Sword Technique. In the early stages of learning, just practicing it once would grant proficiency. Defeating a strong enemy in sparring would yield considerable proficiency.

But once the Mount Hua Sword Technique reached a certain level, proficiency could only be gained by sparring with and defeating stronger opponents, or by killing people.

As expected, killing monsters was the Player's destiny.

However, Wang Jingyuan was quite satisfied with having a steady path to improvement. Arriving at the guild hall, he saw Yue Lingshan pacing anxiously. Seeing the returning group, her face immediately lit up with a smile, and she ran over, "Junior Brother Wang, are you alright?"

Wang Jingyuan subconsciously counted on his fingers, and after getting the result, a look of disdain appeared on his face, "Junior Disciple Sister."

"What?"

"You're really trash."