Mind Unburdened, What a Rush!

Yet with that supremely murderous slash, the emotions he had bottled up for months found release, leaving no regrets.

An eye for an eye—his thoughts flowed freely.

During those three days of lying in wait, his mind had been tranquil, occupied by only one thought: killing. His focus had been drawn to its utmost limit.

Especially when he swung his blade, watching his target gradually move away from its edge, a surge of killing intent suddenly burst forth from his body.

That flash of enlightenment had allowed him to directly grasp the introductory section of the Ghost Slaying Blade Art.

One murderous stroke shattered the golden locks and jade shackles.

The Decapitation Blade Technique had taken a substantive, crucial step forward.

Liang Qisheng then checked the data in his mind.

Martial Skill: Ghost Slaying Blade Art 1% (Beginner)

"Looks like the way to comprehend the blade arts of the executioner lineage is to kill."

"...Harboring killing intent and moving in an instant—that is the true marvel of this school's martial skill."

"Shutting oneself away to build a cart can never yield the true essence."

Thinking back on it afterward, that was indeed the case.

When killing, murderous intent surged within his heart, spraying forth almost tangibly.

Through this, the Decapitation Blade Technique, already at Great Perfection, took its most crucial step and merged with certain secrets of the Ghost Slaying Blade Art.

In one stroke, he crossed the threshold and ascended into a new realm.

Name: Liang Qisheng

Realm: Late Flesh Refining.

Lifespan: 70 years.

Cultivation Arts: Black Tiger Fist 89% (+)

Ghost Slaying Blade Art 1% (+)

Seven Kill Blood-Transforming Divine Blade! (Contains blade intent, exceeds the realm's capacity, sealed)

Auxiliary: Hundred Herb Scripture

Merit: 158!

Checking the data, it was indeed just as he had imagined.

With the Ghost Slaying Blade Art entering the beginner stage, the plus sign had appeared behind it. He could continue raising the blade art through point allocation.

This held tremendous significance for Liang Qisheng.

It would allow his strength to rise swiftly, increasing his efficiency within a comparatively short time.

Bang!

As a bloody line circled his neck, Shopkeeper Lin stood there with an expression of utter astonishment. His head slowly slid from his neck and fell backward onto the ground.

His eyes remained wide and round from beginning to end, as though silently roaring:

Why did I have to die here?

He seemed to have a thousand words to say, yet he could no longer utter any of them.

No matter what, Shopkeeper Lin had never expected that he, the chief shopkeeper of Nine Harmonies Hall and a local magnate whom everyone treated with courtesy, would suddenly meet such a fatal calamity.

All because one of his clerks had died. For the sake of so-called face, he had ambushed Liang Qisheng—only to end up dead without even a burial place.

Perhaps before his death, he had felt boundless regret.

Unfortunately, it was all too late!

Everyone had to pay for their own decisions, and Shopkeeper Lin's death here was karmic retribution!

Standing in the room, Liang Qisheng took a deep breath.

His expression gradually calmed, and even his breathing became steady.

"My thoughts flow freely—what a rush!"

Even Liang Qisheng could not help but feel the pent-up emotions in his chest ease away.

Though he had come with the goal of killing Shopkeeper Lin, he had not dared to be certain that he would succeed.

After all, the gap between their realms was there.

But now that Shopkeeper Lin's corpse lay before him, he finally relaxed completely, and a wave of fatigue immediately washed over him.

Sometimes, realm and strength were not absolute.

So long as things were properly arranged, it was not impossible for the weak to defeat the strong, or for one of a lower realm to kill one of a higher realm.

Of course, this only applied below Bone Refining.

Over the past few days, he had kept his mind under extreme concentration. Especially that slash which had killed Shopkeeper Lin—he had erupted with every ounce of his focus, turning it into killing intent and pouring it out in one stroke.

So it had looked like only a single slash, but in truth, everything beforehand had been in preparation for that one blow.

Or rather, all the preparations of the past three days had been condensed into that strike.

Thus, it was only natural for Liang Qisheng to feel mentally exhausted.

Yet although the matter had been settled, he did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he began examining the room.

After circling his gaze around it several times, something stirred in Liang Qisheng's heart.

"With Shopkeeper Lin's shrewd and calculating nature, buying a small courtyard in such a remote place and concealing the information so tightly—surely it wasn't just to keep a beauty in a golden house and support a courtesan, was it?"

To become the leading figure of Nine Harmonies Hall in Lotus Town, Shopkeeper Lin's scheming depth went without saying.

He was an old fox, crafty and calculating, with countless tricks up his sleeve.

It was not uncommon for martial artists to keep beauties in golden houses, but it was rare for someone to conceal it as secretly as he had.

If the person he had encountered had not been Liang Qisheng, someone who utterly refused to play by common sense, he truly would not have been so easily capsized in a gutter.

A question arose in Liang Qisheng's mind.

Perhaps what was hidden within this little courtyard was not merely the courtesan Li Sanniang.

The exchange between Liang Qisheng and Shopkeeper Lin had been like an eagle swooping and a falcon diving; in the blink of an eye, life and death had been decided.

The guards and maidservants of the Inner Courtyard were still sleeping soundly, utterly unaware that their master had already been separated from his head.

Rather than searching the room first, Liang Qisheng turned his attention to Shopkeeper Lin's pile of clothes.

The man had already stripped himself nearly bare earlier. Aside from a pair of underpants, he had nothing else on him.

Liang Qisheng had no interest in looting the corpse of an old man.

Using the Decapitation Blade to flick open Shopkeeper Lin's clothes, he indeed found something.

At the waistband worn close to his body, Liang Qisheng discovered a brocade pouch.

The blade flashed, severing the pouch's thin cord.

When he opened it, several crisp white banknotes fell out.

Liang Qisheng's heart stirred. He hurriedly picked them up, then stared wide-eyed as his pupils dilated.

"Great Silver Banknotes—two thousand five hundred taels in total. Has Nine Harmonies Hall become this extravagant already?"

"A shopkeeper carrying two thousand taels in banknotes on him, and they're from an imperial merchant at that. These banknotes are bearer notes; they can be redeemed anywhere under the Great Zhou Imperial Court without any other trouble."

Liang Qisheng even felt his heartbeat quicken.

"These are probably part of Nine Harmonies Hall's payment for purchasing goods. Otherwise, even as a shopkeeper, carrying thousands of taels in banknotes around so openly would make no sense."

Liang Qisheng secretly guessed.

But there was no longer any way to investigate the legitimate origin of these banknotes, and he did not care much about it.

In short, he had truly struck it rich overnight.

At the very least, his future supply of Body Tempering Pills was secured—enough for him to consume to his heart's content.

"Forget anything else—these Great Silver Banknotes alone have already made this trip worthwhile. All that running back and forth wasn't for nothing."

"Even if there are no further gains, I'm still guaranteed to profit."

With a thought, Liang Qisheng tucked the stack of Great Silver Banknotes into his clothes.

Without dwelling on it further, he began searching the room.

He searched with extreme care, examining every inch of the place.

Yet after searching the entire room, he found nothing at all.

That made Liang Qisheng wonder whether he was being overly suspicious.

"That shouldn't be right. Someone like Shopkeeper Lin, who held sole authority over Nine Harmonies Hall and helped the Li Family, one of Stone Martial County's three great families, rake in wealth—I don't believe his hands could have been that clean."

Liang Qisheng was deeply suspicious.

When the water is too clear, no fish can live in it. This place was already secret enough; if no wealth could be found here, that only meant the problem was even greater.