A month later.
Late at night, in the secret chamber of Deliverance Studio.
The oil lamp burned like a bean, its dim yellow glow falling over Chen Mo as he sat cross-legged, wisps of white vapor rising from his body.
It was not sweat, but a breath expelled as the yin chill within him mingled with the lingering heat.
Scattered across the floor before him were fragments of dark-red crystals, their luster completely gone, like charcoal burned to ash.
The last Red Sun Blood Crystal had been exhausted, too.
Chen Mo slowly opened his eyes.
The lingering ashen pallor in them had faded, replaced deep within by a trace of icy sharpness.
He held out his hand and slowly curled his five fingers into a fist.
"Crack..."
A grating sound of bones rubbing together rang through the air, hard and solid.
Even the contours of his finger bones beneath the skin looked clearer and more rigid.
He lowered his gaze to his arm.
Though he still looked thin—and had grown even gaunter from a month of near-masochistic cultivation—his complexion remained an unhealthy pallor.
But he could clearly feel that the main bones wrapped in his muscles had undergone a complete transformation.
They were no longer fragile mortal bones, but iron bones forged through a thousand hammerings.
His bones had been tempered like iron!
The first level of the Mystic Yin Bone-Tempering Method was complete!
At a thought, the Moonlight Treasure Mirror appeared in his consciousness:
[Name: Chen Mo] [Remaining Lifespan: Approximately 271 days] (Yin-baleful erosion rate significantly reduced) [Root Bone: Grade C, Low → Grade C, Mid (Weak Yin Meridian Affinity; bone strength greatly increased)] [Techniques]: Nether Paper-Crafting Art—Incomplete (Third Layer) Mystic Yin Bone-Tempering Method (First Level) [Mystic Yin Sha Bone (Newly Formed)]: Trait 1: [As Hard as Cold Iron] Trait 2: [Affinity for/Resistance to Yin-Baleful Energy] Trait 3: [Innate Strength] [Current Condition]: Qi and Blood: Moderately depleted.
Feeling the unprecedented strength within his body, he knew that even without using any techniques, his newly tempered physique alone would keep three or five ordinary strongmen from getting close.
With a Paper Puppet at his side, his fighting ability was already worlds apart from the sickly state he'd been in a month ago.
Unfortunately, he had run out of resources.
The three Red Sun Blood Crystals had carried him through the first level of cultivation. The results were impressive, but they had also revealed just how extravagant this technique was.
Without a treasure of pure yang like a Red Sun Blood Crystal to balance it, tempering his bones with yin-baleful energy alone would be no different from courting death.
Red Sun Blood Crystals were clearly no common commodity. Lei Tiger had treasured three of them, and had likely gone to great lengths to obtain them.
"I have to get to the Ghost Market as soon as possible!"
Chen Mo clenched his fist, his knuckles giving a faint metallic ring. "I need to find resources for further cultivation—and a way to increase my lifespan."
Though the danger posed by yin-baleful energy had been brought under control, his lifespan had barely recovered.
Two hundred-odd days could vanish in the blink of an eye.
Chen Mo rose and stretched his limbs, feeling much lighter.
Strength filled his every movement. The weakness that had left him short of breath and his heart pounding at the slightest exertion was gone.
"Bang!"
He tried throwing a punch at the secret chamber wall.
A dull thud sounded. The wall shuddered slightly, and dust trickled down.
His fist felt no pain at all; his hardened bones easily absorbed the recoil.
There wasn't even a red mark on his knuckles.
"Good." Chen Mo nodded.
And this was only the first level. If he mastered the third level and fully developed his Mystic Yin Sha Bone, he might truly gain the legendary strength to lift a massive cauldron.
By then, even against the Inspection Bureau's martial artists, with their abundant qi and blood, he might not be outmatched in close combat.
"Those people keeping watch have finally left. Going out now will still look suspicious, but I can't waste any more time."
After reaching the third layer of the Paper Crafting Technique, his senses had grown sharper.
He had noticed signs of surveillance a month ago—and there had been more than one group.
Over the past few days, those groups had finally given up.
What he lacked most now was time.
He couldn't wait—and didn't want to wait any longer!
Chen Mo gathered the Blood Crystal fragments and put them away, setting aside five hundred silver dollars as a reserve. He stuffed everything else into a bundle.
A thousand silver dollars, along with gold bars, jewelry, and opium, weighed more than forty kilograms. The bundle hung heavy in his hand.
Chen Mo hefted it, his brow furrowing slightly.
Taking this much silver and gold straight to the docks would be like a child carrying gold through the marketplace.
"I need a safe way to hide it."
His gaze fell on the half-finished paper figures and horses in the corner of the chamber, and he hit upon an idea.
In less than half an hour, several imposing paper funeral offerings had taken shape on the floor: a particularly stout and heavy House-Guarding Paper General, a tall packhorse with a slightly bulging belly, and two Gold and Silver Chests that looked crammed full.
From the outside, they seemed like ordinary funeral goods—just a little rough in their workmanship and sturdier in their construction.
Only their weight gave away anything unusual. But who would bother hefting such unlucky things?
He hid the remaining few dozen silver dollars and some odds and ends against his body, then tucked the Wraith Fluff and Resentful Bone into specially made inner pockets.
Finally, he crafted two palm-sized Stealth Paper Puppets.
These Paper Puppets took little effort to make and had almost no combat ability.
Their purpose was not to fight, but to warn and distract.
If anyone tried to destroy the offerings by force, the Paper Puppets would give him a faint warning and, if necessary, set themselves alight.
Once he was ready, Chen Mo changed into a well-worn black cotton jacket and trousers.
He put on a conical straw hat and disguised his face again, making himself look like a pale-faced employee from a paper-crafting shop.
It was already evening, and dusk was falling.
Chen Mo remembered there was a boat that made night runs to Jin City. The fare was cheap: one silver dollar per person.
For cargo, the fee ranged from two to ten silver dollars.
He pushed an old handcart fitted with wooden slats, securing the Guardian General, the horse, and the Gold and Silver Chests firmly on top, then casually draped a torn straw mat over them.
Liu Shoucai of the Longevity Coffin Shop stood outside his shop, smoking a dry tobacco pipe and enjoying the breeze. Seeing Chen Mo's setup, his eyes lit up. "Well, Chen boy! This is... Did you land a big job? Heading out of town?"
Chen Mo stopped the cart and lifted the brim of his straw hat slightly, revealing the pale lower half of his face. He nodded to Liu Shoucai. "Mm. An old client in Jin City ordered these. They're in a hurry, so I'm delivering them."
"Jin City?" Liu Shoucai smacked his lips and examined the large items on the cart, especially the stout Guardian General. He clicked his tongue twice. "Not bad, kid! Your craftsmanship is looking more and more like old Chen's. That general's got real presence!"
He walked over and, apparently casually, patted the general's leg. The heavy feel beneath his hand made his brows rise, but he thought nothing of it, assuming Chen Mo had simply pasted on a few extra layers of paper to make it sturdier.
"Just trying to make a living." Chen Mo answered briefly, with no desire to say more.
Just then, the curtain at the neighboring funeral-clothes shop was lifted, and Widow Li came out carrying a dustpan to dump the ashes.
When she saw Chen Mo, she paused, a complicated expression crossing her face.
"C-Chen..." Widow Li's voice was soft and hesitant. "Brother Chen."
Chen Mo turned and gave her a slight nod. "Auntie Li."
Widow Li took a few steps closer, looking at the cart and then at Chen Mo's back, which seemed a little straighter than before. Her lips moved several times before she finally said quietly, "Are you going to Jin City? It's a long way. Be careful on the road."
"Do you have enough for the fare? You don't need to rush to pay me back..."
Chen Mo waved her off, cutting her short. "You're too kind, Auntie Li. It's only right."
In the original owner's memories, Widow Li had helped him out with porridge and meals in secret several times, even though her own family was struggling. It had added up to about one or two silver dollars.
"I heard from a peddler the other day that there's a group of strange, superstitious people in Jin City. They wander around the docks and the poor districts, saying they worship some kind of moon. They don't look like good people."
"Stay far away from them." Her warning was clearly more specific than Boss Zhao's.
Worship the moon? Chen Mo's heart stirred, but his expression remained unchanged. He nodded again. "Thank you, Auntie Li. I'll remember that."
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