After breaking through to the Tendon Refining Realm, Su Xian fully unleashed his perception, hoping to find some trace of the Cat Demons.
But even as evening drew near, Su Xian still hadn't encountered a single Cat Demon.
Looking at the distant sky, Su Xian furrowed his brows.
They had traveled quite a distance around the outskirts of Green Dragon Mountain. Why hadn't they encountered any Cat Demons?
Could it be that the Cat Demons had really gone into hiding?
"Brother Ye! It's getting late! We should head down the mountain!"
Deng Lin came before Su Xian and spoke respectfully.
The numerous Skin Grinding Realm martial artists and herb gatherers around them also looked toward Su Xian, waiting for his command.
"Very well. Down the mountain!"
Su Xian nodded. After sunset, Green Dragon Mountain was simply too dangerous!
Even though he was now a Tendon Refining Realm martial artist, he still had no confidence in staying on Green Dragon Mountain at night.
Hearing Su Xian's words, everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon, everyone descended the mountain and regrouped with the other parties.
After exchanging information, Su Xian discovered that the other parties hadn't encountered any Cat Demons either!
Su Xian couldn't help but furrow his brows. It seemed the Cat Demons really had gone into hiding.
Otherwise, how could none of the other parties have encountered even one Cat Demon?
Still, Su Xian didn't mind. It was better not to encounter them!
He had now broken through to the Tendon Refining Realm!
It was the perfect time to kill the Cat Demons and obtain their Remaining Lifespans!
Su Xian planned to enter Green Dragon Mountain again tomorrow after sunrise and search for the Cat Demons.
As for where to look, he already had a rough idea!
"Everyone!" Qin Yunsheng looked at the people present and called out loudly, "Although we didn't kill any Cat Demons, our harvest today was still quite good! You can all come and collect the rest of your payment."
Everyone cheered at once! To them, this was a considerable sum of silver!
Su Xian looked at Qin Yunsheng, who was leading the group, and Qing Yan beside him, his brows slightly furrowed.
Strictly speaking, today's operation could be considered a complete failure.
After all, they had spent so much silver and hired so many people, only to gather some herbs. They hadn't even seen a single one of the target Cat Demons.
No matter how he calculated it, they seemed to have suffered a tremendous loss. Yet Su Xian felt that Qing Yan seemed rather happy. He had no idea why.
Could wasting Azure Cloud Medical Hall's money really make him feel that good?
Su Xian shook his head and went to collect his own payment.
However, as he was receiving his payment, Qing Yan spoke up beside him:
"Brother, would you be willing to sell the wolf hide in your hands? Two hundred taels of silver!"
"Sure." Su Xian nodded and tossed the wolf hide to Qing Yan.
According to Deng Lin, this wolf hide could fetch at most one hundred and eighty taels of silver. Since Qing Yan was offering two hundred, there was no harm in selling it to him.
After Su Xian received his payment and the extra two hundred taels of silver, he prepared to take the wolf meat he had left and return home.
"Brother Ye, wait!"
Deng Lin called out to Su Xian and handed him a sheet of paper covered in writing.
Su Xian looked it over. It explained how to stew the wolf meat to make it more delicious and less chewy.
The instructions were fairly detailed, and even the quantities of the required ingredients had been written down.
Seeing this, Su Xian smiled faintly. "Thank you!"
If he could help it, Su Xian really didn't want to eat that chewy wolf meat anymore!
Su Xian put the paper away and left.
However, he didn't head straight home. Instead, he went to an inn in the city and rented a room.
He planned to return home under cover of night.
After Su Xian left, Qing Yan stroked the wolf hide in his hands, his brows slightly furrowed.
He could tell that the wolf hide had come from a Peak Second-Rank wolf demon!
"What cultivation level does he have? The Muscle Forging Realm or the Tendon Refining Realm?" Qing Yan wondered inwardly, frowning slightly.
Then he shook his head and turned toward the depths of Azure Cloud Medical Hall.
Although he hadn't killed any Cat Demons today, he had already completed his mission. The rest was of no consequence!
"How is it? Is that fruit still there?" Deep within Azure Cloud Medical Hall, the Hall Master Qingyun asked.
Qing Yan nodded slightly. "The fruit is still there!"
With that, Qing Yan pulled a sheet of paper from his robes. Drawn on it was a strange plant.
It had seven leaves, and at its tip was a fruit the size of a fist.
Its color was already nearly completely red, with only a small portion still green.
"Good, good, good!" Qingyun took the drawing and examined it carefully before bursting into laughter.
"You did very well! No one else discovered your purpose, did they?"
Qingyun looked at his son with great satisfaction before asking another question.
"No. Don't worry."
Qing Yan shook his head slightly. He was completely confident that no one could have discovered his movements.
"Good. You can leave now." Qingyun waved his hand.
Qing Yan nodded, then turned and hurried away.
"Hahahaha! From the looks of it, this fruit should ripen within a month!"
Qingyun carefully studied the drawing in his hands, excitement written across his face.
"Once I eat this fruit, I will break through to the Storage Realm! I will truly cast off my mortal status!"
Qingyun was so agitated that he couldn't help muttering to himself.
Meanwhile, in the inn room, Su Xian counted the gains he had made that day.
The one hundred and fifty taels Azure Cloud Medical Hall had paid him, plus the two hundred taels from selling the wolf hide, came to a total of three hundred and fifty taels!
"Whew! Martial artists really do make money!" Su Xian couldn't help clicking his tongue as he looked at the banknotes in his hand.
When he had been a mortal, he had exhausted himself yet still couldn't save much silver.
But after becoming a martial artist, he had earned three hundred and fifty taels so effortlessly!
The difference between the two simply couldn't be measured by reason!
"Martial artists and mortals really are two vastly different classes!"
"The higher a martial artist's cultivation, the more resources they can obtain!"
Su Xian sighed with emotion. If he hadn't possessed the Demon Strategy, he would probably have already been reduced to cat droppings by now.
"I still need more Demon Lifespans!"
Su Xian looked at the forty-three years of Demon Lifespan remaining in the Demon Strategy.
He secretly made up his mind. Tomorrow, once the sun rose, he would enter the mountains to find those Cat Demons and kill them!
"However! Two Second Grade Perfection Cat Demons won't be easy to deal with! Especially since they're a mated pair—they'll probably cooperate with each other!" Su Xian frowned and began to ponder.
"Besides, even though I've reached the early Tendon Refining Realm, I probably still won't be able to catch those two Second Grade Perfection Cat Demons in the dense forest!"
"After all, that's their home ground! And I basically have no movement technique!"
At this thought, Su Xian immediately came up with an idea.
Once night had fallen completely, Su Xian quietly carried the wolf meat home and hid it away.
This wolf meat truly was the flesh of a Second-Rank member of the Demon Race. Even stored like this, it could last for many days without spoiling!
After finishing this, Su Xian took the banknotes and prepared to visit the Black Market in Blackwater County!
He planned to find a movement technique there, so he wouldn't be unable to catch the Cat Demons when the time came!
Soon, Su Xian, wearing a mask, arrived outside the Black Market.
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