Night fell.
The full moon hung in the sky like a yellow lantern, illuminating the mountains and wilderness until they seemed a world of crystal-clear water.
Amid the mountains stood a perilous gorge, narrow as a thread of sky. The Heaven and Earth Incense Cult's stronghold lay halfway up the mountains deep within it, hidden and easy to defend, difficult to attack.
At that moment, inside a spacious cavern deep within the stronghold, a tall, mysterious man in a cloak held incense and worshipped an unknown bronze statue.
The statue had a red face and fangs, and was covered in red fur. It stood about twenty feet tall, painted in vivid colors and adorned with gold. It had a commanding presence, yet also seemed wicked and uncanny.
Behind him, many mysterious figures in cloaks had gathered. Beneath the dim lamplight, the faces under their hoods were as cold as iron blanks, and the atmosphere was sinister and mysterious.
After a while, when the man had finished worshipping, one of the cloaked figures reported,
"Envoy, it seems the Linyuan City Yamen has had its eye on us for some time. Any spies who show themselves in the city will be exposed.
"It looks like it won't be long before they take action against us."
The tall, cloaked man at the front clasped his hands behind his back and said coldly, "With their strength, they can still contend with us outside the stronghold. But if they come to our headquarters, they'll be walking to their deaths.
"Don't forget, Lord Cang is still resting here. He's been in seclusion, and I can't disturb him, but if anyone dares barge in—hehehe."
The man reporting the intelligence nodded, then continued, "But Fu Wei and the others have been missing for several days.
"Before they disappeared, they sent over a list of wealthy people in the city. It recorded five rich men.
"I assigned spies to watch all five. Other than one who's an apprentice at the Tiger Martial Arts School, none of them seems unusual.
"The apprentice at the Tiger Martial Arts School is just an ordinary Muscle Refining Warrior, no threat at all.
"Could there be some other expert in Linyuan City who secretly killed Fu Wei and the others after they entered the city to plunder? Should we report this to Lord Cang?"
"An expert...?"
The tall Iron Token Envoy murmured, then snorted. "There can't be any other experts. Unless Fu Wei and the others ran into Tian Youji...
"Forget it!"
The Iron Token Envoy waved his hand. "Lord Cang is still in seclusion. His identity is special, so even I can't disturb him.
"I've already reported the situation here to the prefectural-city stronghold. Our people in the city will cooperate as well. Speed is of the essence. Once our people in the city make their move within two days, we'll act."
Fourth floor of Fulailai Inn.
A delicate fragrance, like orchids and musk, drifted up from the toad-shaped incense burners in the four corners of the room, clearing the mind.
Chu Ge propped up the Shadow Lanterns he had made.
The maidens on them were all charming, their illustrations exquisitely detailed. They were alluring but neither wanton nor vulgar.
He activated the Dragon Clock and offered the lanterns for appraisal. An offered item could be retrieved at any time within ten breaths, but once that time had passed, it was gone for good.
Soon, information about the item appeared in the center of the clock.
"Shadow Puppet—Lady Lantern: Description: (A Shadow Lantern made using the Shadow Puppet Door God Manual technique. The maker has infused it with their Essence, Qi, and Spirit. When paired with a guiding strip of yellow paper and infused with a certain amount of otherworldly power, it can be used to sound an alarm and observe the surroundings within a certain range. As it is used more and more, the item will be damaged by the otherworldly power.)"
Chu Ge nodded slightly and took out the Lady Lantern.
He infused it with a wisp of otherworldly power.
Soon, the shadow maidens on the lantern seemed to come alive. Lifelike, they all looked at Chu Ge and covered their mouths as they giggled, as though shyly greeting him.
"I'll be counting on you sisters from here on out."
A satisfied smile appeared on Chu Ge's face as well.
He pulled the yellow paper that formed a connection from the lantern and tucked it close to his body.
Then he walked to the balcony and hung the two lanterns beneath the eaves, facing the County Yamen across the street. They swayed in the breeze.
The Lady Lantern was fairly simple to make, and its materials were relatively easy to gather.
The lantern itself could be an ordinary one. The shadow puppets required snow-white fish skin, and the designs had to be painted with gold and silver liquid, mixed with the blood of a girl born on a yin day.
The marvelous manual also recorded a more powerful version: the Door God Lantern. Its materials were extremely rare and complicated, and it required a special insight. Chu Ge couldn't make it yet.
With these two lanterns acting as "eyes," Chu Ge could easily monitor the County Yamen's movements while focusing on his cultivation.
He returned to the room.
Chu Ge rolled up his sleeves and checked the remaining otherworldly power inside the Dragon Clock.
Although he had just used up two wisps to make the Lady Lanterns, a full eighty-one wisps of otherworldly power still swirled around the center of the clock.
That was mainly because, after killing Fu Wei and the other Thirteen Golden Spear Bandits the other day, he had offered them to the clock.
After giving up the chance to inherit most of the martial arts and abilities he had extracted from them, he had gained more than fifty wisps of otherworldly power.
Now, the only thing he had kept was Fu Wei's perfected martial art, Thirteen Golden Spear Forms.
"Thirteen Golden Spear Forms: (Mortal martial art, perfected): (After inheritance, you can immediately grasp the profundities of the perfected Thirteen Golden Spear Forms. Using this martial art requires a certain amount of otherworldly power.)"
Chu Ge looked at the information displayed inside the Dragon Clock and considered it for a moment. In the end, he chose to give up the perfected mortal martial art and offer it to the clock.
At once, sixteen more wisps of otherworldly power appeared in the center of the clock.
"Too little. A Bone Training Realm warrior's perfected martial art only contributed sixteen wisps of otherworldly power."
Chu Ge felt that his golden-fingered Dragon Clock was a bit of a miser.
Sixteen wisps of otherworldly power would only save him two months of hard cultivation.
Still, even if he kept and inherited this perfected martial art, it would do little to improve him.
The main issue was that every time he used it, it would consume the otherworldly power he already had so little of—unless he slowly learned to master it each time he used it.
But investing that much otherworldly power and energy in a perfected Mortal Realm martial art wasn't worth it. It might be different if it were at the Perfection level.
The otherworldly power extracted by the Dragon Clock had many uses for him, so he had to use it sparingly.
Chu Ge looked at the Crimson Scale Claws talent still in the center of the clock, not yet offered.
After a moment's thought, he still chose not to inherit the talent right away.
The sooner he inherited the talent, the sooner he would have to spend otherworldly power to maintain it in his body.
"Though I'll need to get used to the Crimson Scale Claws, I don't need them yet. I can put it off for a while and save some otherworldly power."
Chu Ge returned to the room. Amid the fragrance of orchids filling the air, he sat cross-legged and began circulating his qi and blood to cultivate.
A wisp of otherworldly power spilled from the Dragon Clock on his wrist and surged into his body.
In an instant, his qi and blood boiled as if he had taken a stimulant, and the veins beneath his skin writhed like earthworms.
The otherworldly power quickly broke down into countless strands of qi and blood, merging with his own, strengthening it and tempering his body.
Once this wisp of otherworldly power had been broken down and absorbed into his qi and blood, it could match four days of his own hard cultivation, greatly accelerating his progress.
At that moment, his qi and blood surged and gathered, turning his body into a furnace of qi and blood. The force flowed through his entire body, and his spirit also rose amid the surging, steaming vitality.
Once his qi and blood grew strong and vigorous enough, the three flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit would gather above his head. That would be the moment he broke through into the Blood Change Realm and came into contact with spirituality.
Before long, the latter half of the night arrived.
After using up two wisps of otherworldly power in cultivation, Chu Ge felt a faint fatigue in his meridians and knew he was nearing his limit.
There was a limit to using otherworldly power to strengthen his qi and blood and speed up his cultivation.
Everyone was made of mortal flesh and blood. The meridians and acupoints in the body could only withstand so much. They couldn't endure the constant washing of qi and blood for too long, so no one could cultivate for twelve hours straight.
Perhaps those with exceptional talent in martial arts were simply blessed with greater endurance in their meridians, allowing them to cultivate for more hours each day.
For Chu Ge, his limit was absorbing four wisps of otherworldly power a day.
Now, he stopped absorbing otherworldly power and took out the Blood-Generating Pill his eldest sister had given him. He peeled off the wax coating, popped a pill into his mouth, and tested its effects.
By the time night gave way to dawn, Chu Ge had tested the Blood-Generating Pill's effects. It was roughly equivalent to half a wisp of otherworldly power.
After taking and refining one pill, he could save himself about two days of hard cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
While cultivating, Chu Ge had successfully made a Shadow Puppet of Fu Wei.
However, the County Yamen remained quiet, as if it had no intention of taking action against the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult.
Just as Chu Ge was beginning to grow suspicious and impatient, the Wang Family's steward came to him of his own accord. Steward Fu brought him to Fulailai Inn, where the steward offered to buy the Chu Family's properties in the city.
It was an unexpected windfall.
It meant that his trip to the Wang Family two days earlier hadn't been for nothing. Wang Youcai, the richest man in the city, was genuinely interested, and Chu Ge was about to come into a huge sum of money.
Before you continue