Entry-Level Blade Technique

Seeing Liu Tiesuo breathe his last with his eyes still wide open in disbelief, Zhang Xiuying felt not a shred of fear, only a sense of relief.

"Thank you," Zhang Xiuying said, kowtowing.

"How much silver is needed to redeem your daughter?"

"Seven taels," Zhang Xiuying replied.

A human life is worth less than an Earth Origin Pill, Zhao An thought to himself.

In truth, human life was even cheaper than he had imagined.

Back then, Liu Tiesuo had sold his daughter for a mere two taels of silver, and when wealthy families bought slaves, they often didn't even spend a single string of copper coins.

"I can lend you seven taels of silver to redeem your daughter, but there is one condition," Zhao An said, gently placing seven pieces of broken silver on the table.

"I agree, I agree to anything, as long as I can redeem my daughter," Zhang Xiuying exclaimed, eagerly accepting before Zhao An had even finished speaking.

The next moment, Zhao An saw a white light like smoke rise from Zhang Xiuying's body, drifting into his palm to condense into a pale white Virtue Fruit.

Zhao An looked at the Virtue Fruit resting in his hand, lost in thought.

It seemed that there was more than one way to obtain a Virtue Fruit; fulfilling this woman's greatest wish was also sufficient.

He didn't even need to state the specific conditions of the exchange; the Virtue Fruit would come to him on its own.

Putting away the Virtue Fruit, his goal achieved, Zhao An turned and walked away.

"You—you haven't said what the condition is! How am I to repay you?" Zhang Xiuying remained kneeling on the ground, and seeing Zhao An about to leave, she couldn't help but ask.

"I have already received what I wanted."

That night, at Bright Moon Clinic.

Dozens of pieces of broken silver and a large pile of copper coins were scattered across the table.

"Sixty-four taels of silver recovered. According to our agreement, thirty-two taels each," Zhao An said. After counting them once in front of the female physician, he took his share.

Meng Wanyi and Meng Shao exchanged glances, seemingly surprised that Zhao An had kept his word so faithfully.

In fact, Zhao An even took five taels from his thirty-two to pay for the medicine from that morning.

"Thank you." Meng Wanyi felt a strange sense of having gained something for nothing, and she thanked him subconsciously.

"Does your clinic have any Earth Origin Pill for sale?" Zhao An suddenly asked.

"We do, twenty taels of silver each," Meng Wanyi replied.

"You want one?"

So expensive? They only cost ten taels on the market. Zhao An felt that this girl must be obsessed with money, driven mad by greed.

"The ones on the market are all inferior pills. Truly high-quality pills are long since snatched up by those powerful families; how could they ever reach commoners?

"As for the Earth Origin Pill I refine, the worst are top-grade! If you want a flawless, supreme-grade Earth Origin Pill, that's possible too! Pay more, and you shall have it!" Meng Wanyi said, looking at him as if he were a layman.

"No money." Zhao An's earnings for the day were only enough to buy one Earth Origin Pill, but he felt that spending so much silver on just one was truly not cost-effective.

It would be better to buy the inferior pills on the market; after all, he wasn't using them for his own martial arts practice, but to satisfy the energy requirements when extracting the martial arts achievements of his Soul Slave.

"Or are there any other highly nourishing items, the kind that are good value for money?"

"If it is a highly nourishing item, there is no such thing as cheap," Meng Wanyi shook her head.

"Then are there any medicinal herbs with stronger potency?" Zhao An retreated a step to ask.

He truly knew nothing about the medicinal herbs and pills of this world.

"There are, but those herbs cannot be eaten casually. Even if they aren't poisonous, you will run into trouble if you consume them," Meng Wanyi kindly warned.

"No matter, please recommend one or two," Zhao An said, unconcerned.

A moment later, as he stepped out of the clinic, Zhao An was carrying a large parcel.

Red Blood Root, one of the main ingredients for refining various pills that nourish qi and blood.

Meng Wanyi had given him several choices, and considering his own needs, Zhao An ultimately chose to purchase this herb.

Red Blood Root grows on high mountains in sunny areas; it has red stems and roots, with root fibers that seem to be wrapped in large patches of red blood vessels.

Its medicinal properties are mildly nourishing, specifically used for physical qi and blood deficiency.

On the market, a catty of ten-year-old Red Blood Root costs ten taels of silver.

However, the Red Blood Root in Zhao An's hands was only one year old, costing only a hundred copper coins per catty.

In terms of medicinal potency, there wasn't actually that much difference between a one-year-old and a ten-year-old Red Blood Root, but things are valued for their scarcity. Ten-year-old Red Blood Root is rare, while one-year-old Red Blood Root, while not exactly everywhere, can be dug up in handfuls on sunny slopes, hence the low price.

For Zhao An, purchasing this low-age Red Blood Root was highly cost-effective.

"Remember, Red Blood Root is potent. Without other herbs to assist, if you must take it alone, use as little as possible when boiling it..." Meng Wanyi stood at the clinic entrance, not forgetting to urge him repeatedly.

"Sister, why bother caring so much about him? Don't forget, this Zhao An is a wicked man," Meng Shao whispered.

"If he is a wicked man, why is he so trustworthy..." Meng Wanyi watched Zhao An walk away, then glanced back at the pile of silver on the table.

Meng Shao was also somewhat puzzled by this.

Indeed, after these two encounters, Zhao An's behavior was truly abnormal.

He was far too well-behaved, the lecherous glint in his eyes had vanished, and even his speech was devoid of the usual crude profanity.

One had to admit, this villain looked much more peaceful and pleasant now, as if even his features had changed.

"Could it be that he knocked his head too hard this time, and coming back from the dead changed his personality?" Meng Shao wondered aloud.

"Who knows? If there can be one less villain in this world, that wouldn't be a bad thing." Meng Wanyi smiled faintly and closed the gate.

In the small courtyard, Li Gou'er and Zhao Chunzi had spent the whole day following Zhao An around to collect debts, so after returning, they took a quick cold shower and went to rest.

Of course, Zhao An did not treat them unfairly.

Excluding the two taels of silver spent on the Red Blood Root, he still had twenty-five taels of broken silver on hand.

He gave five taels to the two boys, which made them beam with joy; they were so happy they could have hugged Zhao An and kissed him.

Even if they were a bit extravagant, those five taels were enough for them to spend happily for a long time.

Zhao An did not rest; upon returning, he went straight to the kitchen to boil the Red Blood Root.

Before long, a medicinal scent with a hint of heat began to permeate the air, reaching even the small courtyard.

By the time the medicine was finished, the night was already deep.

Zhao An stayed in the kitchen, his focus fixed on the Soul Pool deep within his mind.

By now, the number of his Soul Slaves had increased to five, proving that Zhao An had done quite a bit of killing these past few days.

[Soul Slave Xu San, enslavement period has ended. Extract Karma Fruit?]

"Extract."

The enslavement period for Xu San had lasted a full five years; according to the time flow of martial arts deduction, only five days had passed in the outside world.

Following the command, the Soul Slave Xu San instantly dissipated into nothingness, and the resulting ghostly light reconverged into a small red fruit, which was absorbed by Zhao An on its own.

The next moment, the sensation of an epiphany washed over him.

This was the final result condensed from the five years of tireless martial arts practice by the Soul Slave Xu San.

The content was incredibly orderly and complete, the blade techniques tempered a thousand times, almost identical to the Fierce Tiger Blade Art once displayed by the gang leader Zhou Hu!

The Soul Slave Xu San had replicated every move of the blade art almost perfectly, restoring it with incredible precision.

At the same time, Zhao An's body was also synchronously accepting the fruits of this arduous training!