Time flew by in a flash, and before long, three days had passed.
Over those three days, Steward Fu had been making rounds and calling on people. Some merchants who had once refused to part with their old curiosities finally agreed to let them go.
After some haggling by Steward Fu, he even got them for less than their original purchase price.
This showed just how hard things had become for merchants in Linyuan City lately.
Goods were piling up, and the money in their hands couldn't circulate. Both were pain points.
Still, thanks to the Wang Family caravan, many merchants felt that the hard times would soon be over. Once their goods were shipped out, better days would surely come. So they gritted their teeth and held on, refusing to sell off their old curiosities.
"I spent over a thousand taels to acquire six old curiosities. They yielded a total of twenty-four wisps of unusual energy. Not bad. That's enough to make up for the unusual energy I've used in cultivation lately, with some left over."
In the inn, a small brazier heated a kettle of tea.
Chu Ge sat cross-legged on the carpet, gazing at the ninety-eight wisps of unusual energy swirling around the Dragon Clock's core. He was quite satisfied.
With his meridians and acupoints able to withstand only so much, he could use just four wisps of unusual energy a day in cultivation.
But once he fully absorbed those four wisps, it was equivalent to sixteen days of cultivation at full effort. His progress was four times faster.
Twenty-four wisps of unusual energy, bought for over a thousand taels, seemed to amount to only six days of cultivation. It didn't look like a good deal.
But ordinary people found it harder and harder to build up their blood and qi the further they advanced in martial arts.
The human body had its limits, so medicinal meals and large quantities of meat rich in nutrients were needed to supplement the body and increase its blood and qi.
And sometimes, once they reached a certain bottleneck, even medicinal meals and meat weren't enough to help them improve.
Chu Ge, on the other hand, didn't need to eat large amounts of medicinal meals and meat. He only had to refine unusual energy to steadily increase his blood and qi, greatly improving his cultivation efficiency.
He also saved the money he would have spent on precious medicinal meals and meat. All things considered, he was still saving a great deal.
"Too bad. I haven't managed to buy a single Spirit Fish lately. With the weather freezing cold, there are fewer fishermen around. Resources are scarce."
Chu Ge sighed inwardly at how difficult cultivation was. He poured himself a cup of hot tea and walked to the window. On the spacious street not far away, laborers hired by the Wang Family were busily loading goods onto the mule carts they had prepared.
The morning air was cold, and a thin layer of frost covered the road.
A dozen mules clopped along, white breath billowing from their nostrils.
A bookkeeper stood with several merchants, going over the paperwork and formalities.
Before long, the goods had been secured to wagons and mule carts. The convoy moved unhurriedly along the street, heading toward the northeastern city gate.
"The Wang Family moves fast. Looks like they're taking the overland route. Makes sense. If someone scuttles a boat or blocks it on the water, the result could be shipwreck, death, and the loss of all their money. There'd be nowhere to run, either."
Chu Ge mused to himself, then looked toward the County Yamen in the city. Seeing no sign of movement, he couldn't help feeling puzzled.
The City Guard Captain, Tian Youji, couldn't possibly be unaware of the Wang Family's grand preparations.
A guard team made up of two Bone Training Realm experts and over a dozen martial artists at the Flesh Training and Skin Training Realms was certainly formidable.
Even the vicious horse bandits of the Thirteen Golden Spear Bandits wouldn't dare provoke them.
But there was also a Heaven and Earth Incense Cult outpost near the County Yamen.
The Thirteen Golden Spear Bandits were long dead. The merchant ship that had been robbed on the river route some time ago might well have been the work of the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult.
Now the Wang Family guard team was escorting so many merchants' goods out of the city. It was hard to believe the Iron Token Envoy at the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult outpost wouldn't be tempted.
"If I were that Iron Token Envoy, I definitely wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. Tian Youji must have realized that, too. He's holding back. Could he be plotting something?"
Chu Ge watched the street below, noisy yet strangely calm. He had a feeling something big was about to happen. Beneath that calm, the currents were already churning.
Tian Youji wasn't leaving the city, so Chu Ge wouldn't rashly go out and meddle in other people's business.
But if Tian Youji made a move against the Iron Token Envoy, Chu Ge wouldn't mind looking for a chance to kick him while he was down and finish him off for good.
"Storm clouds are gathering. Better to play it safe. It's time to inherit another talent."
Chu Ge shut the doors and windows, went into the main room, sat down, and looked at the Dragon Clock on his wrist.
The Red Scale Claw Fish's talent lay quiet within its core.
Inheriting a talent depended on compatibility. After inheritance, unusual energy had to be expended to maintain and use it. Each time it was used, a portion of the Spirit Fish's bloodline power would be lost.
Chu Ge didn't hesitate any longer. He quickly inherited the talent.
The next instant,
a frigid current streamed out of the Dragon Clock on his wrist. Like liquid, it split into thousands of threads and swiftly coursed through both his hands.
Chu Ge felt the power spread like lightning through the meridians of his arms. It was agonizing, as if poisonous ants were biting all over his body. His skin felt ready to split open, and his hairs stood on end.
Looking down, he saw the muscles beneath the skin of his arms swell into bulging lumps, each like a black silkworm bean. As the unusual energy inside the Dragon Clock flowed into him, his skin rapidly hardened into thick, horny scales, merging with his body hair to form patches of pale-red armor.
Clang—
The nails on all ten fingers stretched out, one after another, ringing like sharpened blades.
It all seemed to happen slowly, but in truth, it took no more than a breath.
Chu Ge raised his forearms, now visibly thicker and covered in pale-red scales. Astonishment flickered across his face as he felt the tremendous, explosive power within them.
The talent he had just inherited seemed to be a fairly good fit—a high degree of compatibility. It wasn't as useless as the Flying Fish's shark fin talent had been.
He stood and walked over to the wall. With a casual grab, without using much force, he punched through the stone wall beside him and crushed a hole in it. Stone powder crumbled from his hand like grit.
The process had used up only an almost imperceptible trace of the unusual energy infused in his arms.
With his current strength, he could already grind stone into dust and snap metal like a twig.
But he could never have done it as effortlessly as he could now, with his arms transformed.
His arms seemed to have become demonic. They resembled the demonic transformation state spoken of in legends of Demonic Martial Arts. Though the transformation only strengthened his forearms and required unusual energy to maintain, it was still an excellent trump card.
Next, Chu Ge tested the scales' defensive power with the weapon he carried.
The results pleased him greatly.
The scales were nearly impervious to ordinary weapons. Even when he struck them with all his strength, it was difficult to leave a mark.
After all, even when he used the Hardened Tiger Skill to withstand the blades of a Blood Exchange Realm warrior of equal rank, his flesh would still be torn open.
"The unusual energy cost is pretty high. Activating the talent and transforming takes one wisp of unusual energy, and I've already used another wisp just messing around with it.
"I wonder how much unusual energy it takes to maintain the talent when I'm not using it."
Chu Ge calculated the cost carefully and clicked his tongue in secret.
This inherited talent was a real drain on unusual energy.
But any power came at a price.
All things considered, the talent was still quite cost-effective.
In a real fight, the outcome was usually decided in just a few fleeting breaths. He wouldn't use up all that much unusual energy.
"I'll have to collect more old curiosities when I get the chance and refine more unusual energy. I'm running low on reserves."
Chu Ge glanced at the Dragon Clock, where only ninety-five wisps of unusual energy remained, and gave a slight shake of his head.
He withdrew from the talent state, and his hands quickly returned to normal. Only the cool energy flowing through his forearms remained, a sign that the talent was still there.
Soon, noon passed.
Steward Fu arrived at the inn carrying a pile of embroidery supplies, including needles, thread, and fabric.
Between cultivation sessions, Chu Ge planned to study embroidery a little more. In the future, he would make himself a set of embroidered gear to improve his own protection.
But the supplies had only just arrived. Steward Fu hadn't even sat down to rest or take a sip of water when shouts and the clang of a gong suddenly came from the street outside, stirring up a commotion.
"Something's wrong! Something's wrong! The Wang Family caravan was ambushed at Ten-Mile Slope outside the city! They're already fighting!"
"The people who came back to report it are all badly wounded and unconscious. I'm afraid it's already too late!"
Chu Ge's expression changed. He hurried to the balcony and looked down.
The street was already in considerable disarray. It looked as though some wounded members of the caravan had fled back.
Just moments ago, the Wang Family guard team had confidently escorted the merchants' goods out of the city. Now they'd already run into trouble.
"Master, this is... this is far too chaotic."
Seeing the disorder, Steward Fu's face twitched with nerves. "Maybe it was right for you to sell off your holdings. Linyuan City is already falling into chaos. These bandits are truly brazen."
Chu Ge's brows drew together as he looked down from above toward the nearby County Yamen. "The Heaven and Earth Incense Cult outpost really did make a move. What's Tian Youji waiting for?"
He folded his arms across his chest, feeling the Red Scale Claws' unusual energy coursing through them. His fingers twitched.
Before you continue