Fifty-Year Stone Bell Milk

"Finally... I'm back."

Qin Jue looked up at the towering city walls, several dozen zhang high, his chest rising and falling slightly.

The journey to Silver Moon Bay had been a brush with death at every turn!

The bloody battle against Meng Kuang, the Ning Family Attendant, the earth-shaking clash between two Nascent Core Realm powerhouses, and that terrifying might capable of destroying heaven and earth still echoed in his mind. It had been an absolute crushing of one level of life over another—the shock and helplessness of an ant gazing up at a divine dragon!

"Nascent Core Realm..." Qin Jue narrowed his eyes, a flash of burning battle intent in his gaze.

He didn't linger. Leading the equally exhausted Black Scale Horse by the reins, he entered Skywind Martial City with the flow of people.

South of the city, the Beast Taming Workshop.

Behind the counter, the burly manager was dozing, drool nearly dripping onto the ledger. Only when he heard footsteps did he lazily lift his eyelids and sweep his murky eyes over Qin Jue.

"Well, if it isn't..." The manager thought the young man looked familiar. He rubbed his eyes, then finally remembered. "It's you, kid. You actually made it back alive?"

His voice was full of surprise. These past days, the strange phenomenon at Silver Moon Bay had drawn countless martial artists there, including plenty of academy disciples. Yet fewer than one in ten had made it back alive! As for someone like Qin Jue, whose cultivation was so low that he was clearly just a poor kid hoping to get lucky, the manager had thought it would take a miracle for him to even leave behind a complete corpse.

Had the kid lost his nerve halfway, cowered like a turtle, and slunk back without even reaching the edge of Silver Moon Bay? Yes, that had to be it.

That was what the manager figured, and his face returned to its usual laziness and disdain. He said offhandedly, "Returning the horse? Tie it to that post over there and hand over your deposit slip."

Qin Jue paid no mind to what the manager was thinking. His expression was as calm as a still well as he simply held out the deposit slip and reins. "My deposit."

The manager pursed his lips, took the reins, and gave the Black Scale Horse a cursory inspection. Seeing that it was merely tired and had no injuries, he impatiently counted ten Gold Coins from the cashbox and tossed them onto the greasy counter.

"Count them if you like. Ten gold, not a coin short."

Qin Jue didn't count them. He only weighed them in his hand, tucked them into his robe, and turned to leave.

The Four Seas Pavilion was the most bustling commercial building in Skywind Martial City. Nine stories tall and built entirely from blue jade and colored glass, it was a magnificent structure and a renowned den of extravagance in the city.

With a fortune of fifteen hundred Gold Notes tucked away, Qin Jue strolled into the Four Seas Pavilion. The money had come from killing Shen Yutang, Meng Kuang, and the others.

Dressed in plain blue robes, he looked completely out of place beside the well-dressed martial artists around him, all of whom carried an air of distinction. The moment he walked in, he drew quite a few disdainful glances.

A graceful maid approached him, a carefully professional smile on her face. "Welcome to the Four Seas Pavilion, young master. How may we help you?"

"I need spiritual medicine to temper my Jade Bone," Qin Jue said without preamble.

"Temper your Jade Bone?" The maid paused, then her smile grew even sweeter. "You've come to the right place, young master. Our Bone Tempering Spiritual Medicine is second to none in all of Skywind Martial City. Would you like ordinary Bone Tempering Powder, or Hundred Refinements Milk, which is more effective?"

In her eyes, the young man before her was dressed plainly. Bone Tempering Powder was probably the most he could afford. She asked only out of routine.

But Qin Jue's next words made her smile freeze completely.

"Three portions of Stone Bell Milk, aged fifty years."

"W-what...? Fifty-year Stone Bell Milk?!"

The maid's mind went blank. Stone Bell Milk was a priceless treasure, impossible to find even for money, enough to make Hundred Refinements Realm powerhouses green with envy!

And he wanted three portions? Their combined value would be well over a thousand gold!

Is this poor kid here to cause trouble? An absurd thought rose in her mind.

The martial artists around them were drawn by the commotion. When they heard what Qin Jue had asked for, they first stared in surprise, then burst into laughter.

"Did I hear that right? This kid just asked for fifty-year Stone Bell Milk?"

"He's crazy! Does he know how many Gold Coins that takes? He couldn't afford it even if he sold himself!"

"Where'd this penniless bumpkin come from, spouting nonsense here without even looking at what kind of place this is?"

Scoffs and murmurs rose one after another, and mocking, derisive looks fell on Qin Jue from every direction.

Faced with the crowd's jeers, Qin Jue acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. His expression didn't change in the slightest. He simply looked at the stunned maid and asked calmly, "What, the Four Seas Pavilion doesn't have any?"

"Ah... We do! We do! Please wait a moment, young master!"

Under Qin Jue's gaze, the maid shivered and snapped out of it. She didn't dare neglect him any longer. The young man might have been dressed plainly, but the poise he showed as if Mount Tai could collapse before him without changing his expression was beyond what an ordinary person could possess. Uneasy, she hurried off to the back hall to summon the manager.

Soon, a middle-aged manager in brocade robes, his presence steady, came out. He first looked Qin Jue up and down, then politely cupped his hands. "Young brother, our Four Seas Pavilion happens to have the fifty-year Stone Bell Milk you asked for. It's just that... each portion costs five hundred Gold Notes. For three portions, the total comes to fifteen hundred. What do you think...?"

The manager didn't finish, but his meaning was obvious.

Qin Jue couldn't be bothered to waste words with him. He pulled a stack of Gold Notes from his robe and slapped it onto the counter.

"Count them yourself."

"Hiss—"

The instant the stack of Gold Notes came into view, the entire hall fell silent!

The martial artists who had mocked him earlier now looked like roosters grabbed by the throat. Their mouths hung open, their eyes bulged, and their expressions could not have been more colorful.

Over a thousand Gold Notes!

That fortune would take ninety-nine percent of those present more than half a year of hard work to earn!

And this unremarkable-looking young man had taken it out as casually as if it were nothing!

"Good heavens! Th-that's over a thousand Gold Notes!"

"Who is this young man? Could he be a direct descendant of some great family, out gaining experience?"

"To toss out a thousand gold without even blinking... I've never seen such bearing in my life!"

Shock, greed, envy, awe... countless complicated gazes instantly gathered on Qin Jue. Yet Qin Jue, the focus of everyone's attention, remained calm, paying no heed to what was happening around him.

Wealth was something external to the body. Only when turned into strength did it truly belong to you. The pure essence contained within this fifty-year Stone Bell Milk was precisely what he needed to temper his Jade Bone and lay a solid foundation for cultivating the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record. A treasure like this would give his foundation an edge over his peers. How could it stir even the slightest ripple in his heart?

"Wrap it up," Qin Jue said calmly.

"Yes! Yes! I'll take care of it right away!" The middle-aged manager snapped out of it, his face instantly breaking into a fawning smile as he respectfully packed the Stone Bell Milk for Qin Jue. His attitude was worlds apart from before.

In the end, Qin Jue spent fifteen hundred Gold Notes and took the Stone Bell Milk with him.

Half an hour later, at Qingcang Academy's Deacon Hall.

The elderly disciple responsible for registering missions was bent over, sorting through a mountain of mission scrolls. Only when he heard footsteps did he raise his head, a flicker of surprise in his cloudy eyes.

"You... you actually made it back alive?"

He remembered this reckless Hundred Refinements Third Layer disciple. He had even kindly tried to dissuade him back then, yet the boy had really made it out alive from the meat grinder that was Silver Moon Bay.

Qin Jue smiled faintly without answering. He simply said calmly, "I'm turning in my mission."

"Tsk, you've got a lucky life." The elderly disciple smacked his lips. "What did you find out? Go on. If the information is valuable, you'll get a reward."

"The treasure at Silver Moon Bay is called the Moon Marrow Vermilion Fruit. Several factions have been drawn into the fight for it," Qin Jue said casually. "When I left, Lin Xiuyuan, a Deacon from our academy, and Du Yuan, a Deacon from Zhanfeng Academy—two Nascent Core Realm powerhouses—were fighting fiercely over the treasure."

"What?!"

The elderly disciple shot to his feet, his face full of shock!

"Nascent Core Realm... The Nascent Core Realm powerhouses were fighting?!"

The news was too shocking! Nascent Core Realm powerhouses were elders and Deacons at the academies. And they had actually fought fiercely over the treasure at Silver Moon Bay?

His shout drew the attention of the other disciples in the Deacon Hall, who were handing in or accepting missions. The moment they heard the words "Nascent Core Realm," every one of them showed fear and reverence.

Seeing the astonishment on everyone's faces, Qin Jue felt nothing. He left out every battle he had taken part in, and didn't mention the spoils worth a fortune, either. He understood better than anyone that a man was not guilty of a crime, but his precious jade made him a target.

"You... you escaped from the battlefield of Nascent Core Realm powerhouses?" The elderly disciple stared at Qin Jue as if he were a monster. It took him a long while to recover, and then he sighed, "Looks like your ancestors' graves are smoking!"

He picked up his brush and quickly recorded the information on the mission token. As he wrote, he said, "All right, that counts as completing the mission. Based on the value of the intelligence... I'll give you a 'B-plus.'"

Soon, he tossed over an identity token.

"Fifty Battle Merit. Take it. Next time you accept a mission, keep your eyes open. Don't always pick ones where you're more likely than not to die."

Fifty Battle Merit!

Several disciples nearby who were accepting missions heard the number and turned to stare enviously. That was worth two or three months of risking their lives for an ordinary disciple.

Qin Jue calmly handed over his identity token and watched the Battle Merit tally on it tick upward, nodding inwardly.

Fifty Battle Merit, added to the hundred or so he already had, would move him up the rankings again. Next month, he could visit the Myriad Scrolls Pavilion and exchange for a few more Mortal Tier Upper Grade martial arts techniques.

"Thank you, senior brother."