Finally Filled

This Corpse Fiend was very weak—so weak that even Xu Bai found it boring.

He figured it had come to test him.

For an aberration to appear out of nowhere, happen to show up at his doorstep, specifically seek him out instead of anyone else—there was no way that made sense.

Aberrations could not be controlled, but with another method, one could first imprison an aberration, then release it at his doorstep, greatly increasing the chance of creating the conditions for it to attack him specifically.

If Xu Bai were doing it, he would have used this method. If he could think of it, others could not possibly fail to.

"Looks like I've been targeted." Xu Bai looked at the rotten headless corpse before him and thought to himself.

He had not done much these past few days. Apart from the battle at Fierce Tiger Stronghold long ago and recently killing a few jianghu people, he had merely spent his days lingering at Welcoming Inn.

As for recent matters, he had only exchanged a few words with Iron Calculation Immortal.

"No matter who it is, I'll shear the wool first and talk later." Xu Bai rested his hand on the hilt of the Ghost-Head Saber and looked down the dark street ahead.

There were only a few possibilities: either the Extreme Life Sect, Yun Xiang, or Iron Calculation Immortal.

"Ah, I truly wanted to be someone who quietly grew stronger, but reality won't allow it."

He had originally planned to stop after shearing the wool, ignoring everyone else's fighting and killing, but now it seemed that would not do.

They had already placed a Corpse Fiend at his doorstep. This was not over.

It was like someone coming to your door, hurling abuse, and even saying they would come at you with a blade.

Could he endure that? No, he could not.

But for now, the progress bar was still the most important thing. Once this matter was over, Xu Bai would deal with everything that followed.

By then, the night had grown deep, and there were few people on the streets.

The Corpse Fiend's clothes were tattered. At a glance, there was nothing valuable on it.

Still, he found something. At the Corpse Fiend's hands and legs, he saw dense seams, as though they had been stitched back on.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

After thinking it over, Xu Bai carried the Corpse Fiend and its head to a street far from his home. Only after throwing them away did he return home.

Because of this incident, Xu Bai did not sleep that night.

The long night passed slowly. Aside from the initial probing, nothing happened all night.

The next day.

After waiting all night without anything happening, Xu Bai felt slightly disappointed.

As usual, he washed up. When he was done, he strapped the Ghost-Head Saber to his waist and headed for Welcoming Inn.

He still had wool to shear, and he still had progress to accumulate.

He could not abandon the progress bar just because something had happened. He had already accumulated more than ninety percent of it—how could he possibly waste that?

Welcoming Inn was the same as always. Xu Bai found a seat by the window as usual.

After ordering his food and waiting for it to arrive, he drank and ate while admiring the Maple Leaf Tattoo on the back of Yun Xiang's hand.

Yun Xiang's expression was perfectly normal. She lowered her head over the accounts, as though the bustle around her had nothing to do with her.

Xu Bai actually liked this unique everyday warmth of the common folk.

Conversations rose and fell all around him, while hawkers' cries outside surged and faded. Together, they formed a distinctive picture of mortal city life.

When he used to read novels and watch television, he had always loved the atmosphere of teahouses and inns. Now that he was experiencing it himself, he only felt that the atmosphere ran even deeper.

The voices of conversation gradually grew louder.

At that moment, Xu Bai heard something unusual from the diners nearby.

"Hey, did you hear? This morning, the yamen found a man's corpse. Oh, his head had been chopped off! It was so rotten that one look would leave you unable to eat for days."

"I heard about it too. Seems like a beggar died a few days ago. They say he caught some kind of illness before he died. What a miserable death."

"What illness? The rumor I heard was that someone chopped off the beggar's hands and feet, then stitched them back on with thread, over and over again. The places where they were sewn were packed thick with needle marks."

The voices came one after another, and Xu Bai set down his wine cup.

A headless corpse?

Seams?

And it had been repeatedly stitched together.

Xu Bai stroked his chin. It should have been last night's Corpse Fiend. He had been the one to cut off its head.

The repeated stitching did resemble the Extreme Life Sect's methods.

They repeatedly tortured living people, and after they died, their resentment would soar to the heavens, increasing the chance that they would turn into aberrations.

Coupled with the fact that the aberration was a Corpse Fiend, Xu Bai felt there was already a ninety percent chance it was the Extreme Life Sect.

Within the inn, the diners' discussions grew louder and louder. Many people were talking about what had happened that morning.

It was after meals and inside an inn, so strange and bizarre matters naturally became everyone's topic of conversation.

Time passed, and noon arrived.

Yun Xiang had long since left. Xu Bai went out for a stroll as usual, then returned to the inn after wandering around for a while.

For the next few days, he repeated this same routine.

Worth mentioning was that no more aberrations came looking for him. He felt that after probing him, the other side was holding back some great move.

Of course, nothing happening was good for him as well.

As he watched the progress bar steadily rise, Xu Bai grew increasingly excited.

That day, he ate at the inn as usual.

Only a sliver remained on the progress bar. As noon arrived and the sun climbed high into the sky, the progress bar finally filled.

Blue words appeared before his eyes.

You observed the Maple Leaf Tattoo and comprehended Maple Leaves Like Rain.

Streams of information flooded in. These were words only he could see.

The diners around him continued drinking and eating as usual. Only Xu Bai was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation.

Before he could properly digest the information in his mind, Xu Bai impatiently summoned the blue panel.

A pale blue panel appeared, its newest information floating before his eyes.

Name: Xu Bai.

Realm: Ninth Rank Martial Artist.

Bone Severing Blade Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Severing Slaughter Heart Sutra (Tier 1.5): Max Level.

Kidney Hammering Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Maple Leaves Like Rain (Tier 2): Max Level.

Comprehension (Max Level).

He set down his wine cup, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Just as he had expected, after so much effort, it really was a Tier 2 skill.

But regrettably, this skill was not a heart sutra.

If it had been a Tier 2 heart sutra, and had directly reached max level, he would already have entered the Eighth Rank.

It was neither a heart sutra nor a blade technique, nor was it some particularly special cultivation art.

The skill called Maple Leaves Like Rain was a hidden weapon technique.

In Xu Bai's understanding, compared to the Bone Severing Blade Technique, this skill was even fiercer.

It harmed people without leaving a trace; when used, it was like maple leaves falling from the heavens.

What did maple leaves falling from the heavens mean?

To use a simple example, imagine standing in a forest filled with withered yellow leaves. A light breeze blew, and leaves fell from the trees one after another, while you frantically dodged amid the falling leaves.

Of course, that was only a description. It did not mean the hidden weapons had to be maple leaves; it was meant to describe the sheer quantity of the hidden weapons in Maple Leaves Like Rain.

Quantity was the defining feature of Maple Leaves Like Rain.

Once unleashed, they would blanket the area in dense swarms.

Xu Bai thought for a moment, then stood and called over the waiter. "Bill."

The waiter came over and calculated Xu Bai's charge.

After paying, Xu Bai left the inn.

But he did not go home. He wound through twisting roads and finally arrived before a shop.