Exemption Bead Accumulates Over Half

Chen Jing carried the buffalo-hide bag containing the Red-patterned Spirit Fish, but instead of heading straight home, he detoured toward the carriage firm.

Just as he reached the entrance, he saw from a distance a group of constables in black uniforms, long sabers at their waists, surrounding the doorway.

The lead constable stood with his hands on his hips, his face dark and sullen.

Old Man Lin stood hunched over, blocking the gate firmly. Though his legs trembled uncontrollably and his face was pale with fright, he gritted his teeth and refused to budge.

"Old Man Lin, don't be ungrateful!"

The head constable barked at Old Man Lin viciously, "Someone died inside, and we are here to investigate the case and perform our duties! If you dare to obstruct official business again, believe it or not, I'll drag you back to the yamen, give you thirty heavy lashes, and make you regret it!"

"I... I cannot let you in!"

Old Man Lin's voice trembled, yet he still held his ground, shouting, "Master Chen instructed me to watch over this carriage firm. Without his orders, no one is allowed to enter!"

"Master Chen?"

The head constable's brow furrowed instantly, his face full of confusion as he turned to his subordinates, "Have any of you heard of a Master Chen in this area?"

The subordinates shook their heads in unison; clearly, none of them had heard of such a name.

The head constable grew impatient, his tone turning even more menacing, "Where did this nobody come from? I think you've gone senile! If you don't move aside, I'm going to take action!"

"Master Chen is a martial artist from the River-Breaking Fist Academy!"

Old Man Lin panicked and quickly revealed Chen Jing's identity, "If you dare to force your way in, you are showing disrespect to Master Chen!"

"A martial artist?!"

As soon as those two words were uttered, the expressions of the constables changed instantly, their previous arrogance wilting away.

The head constable's pupils contracted, and he instinctively reined in his aggressive aura.

They knew full well that while Red Rock County appeared to be governed by the magistrate, it was actually controlled by the Three Great Families of the inner city.

As for them, these constables could bully ordinary folk, but if they truly crossed a martial artist, it simply wasn't worth it.

Not to mention that they were just common constables; even the magistrate had to be respectful in the presence of a martial artist.

After all, martial artists possessed formidable combat power. If a conflict truly broke out and one was punched to death, the magistrate wouldn't dare say much, at most offering a token sum of money to settle the matter.

Martial artists in the capital might give officials some face, but here in the county, the magistrate was merely a figurehead.

After all, among the many officials, few were proficient in martial arts, and they were fundamentally incapable of controlling martial artists.

As for the provincial and commandery levels, they were carved up by major martial arts factions. The Great Gan Dynasty could only control a few provinces around the capital.

The so-called Great Gan Dynasty and the so-called Emperor were, in the end, merely the leaders of one faction; they could not command the world and were only nominal sovereigns.

The head constable calculated quickly, unwilling to offend a potential martial artist but also not wanting to slink away in defeat.

Just as the head constable was struggling with what to do, Old Man Lin's eyes lit up as he saw Chen Jing approaching from not far away, and he shouted excitedly, "Master Chen! You've come!"

"Master Chen?"

Hearing this, the constables' bodies shuddered in unison, and they quickly turned to look.

They saw a tall, well-built young man walking slowly toward them, carrying a bulging buffalo-hide bag.

The young man wore a tight-fitting martial outfit, and a rich, surging aura of blood energy emanated from him; just one glance was enough to make anyone wary.

The bloodstains on his clothes only added to his menacing air.

Along the way, the surrounding carriage drivers and passersby stepped aside voluntarily when they saw Chen Jing, their eyes filled with awe.

During the time Chen Jing had been away, the news of him killing Wang Chi with a single punch had already spread through the area.

Chen Jing reached the entrance, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding constables before landing on Old Man Lin, asking in a flat tone, "What is going on here?"

"Master Chen, these are constables, and they insist on breaking into the carriage firm..."

Old Man Lin hurried forward, explaining breathlessly.

"Wait!"

Before Old Man Lin could finish, the head constable stepped forward, a fawning smile instantly plastered on his face, his tone as respectful as could be, "Master Chen! A misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! We aren't here to intrude on your property; we heard someone died here and came specifically to help you dispose of the body!"

The head constable quickly added, "I figured these carriage drivers are just ordinary people and might not know how to handle a corpse. It would be bad if they let the place start to stink."

"So I brought my men to help you clean up the body. Don't you worry, I guarantee it will be handled perfectly!"

This head constable had practiced martial arts for a few years in his youth, taking five full years to barely break through to the First Blood realm. It was precisely because of this strength that he had secured the position of head constable after Head Constable Zhao died.

As soon as he got close, he sensed an extremely dense blood energy fluctuation from Chen Jing, stronger than any First Blood Martial Artist he had ever seen.

This was definitely an expert at the Second Blood realm!

The head constable rejoiced inwardly, thankful that he hadn't actually tried to force his way in. Otherwise, given Chen Jing's strength, his entire group wouldn't have been enough to withstand a single punch.

"I see."

Chen Jing nodded, not pursuing the matter further, and turned to Old Man Lin, "Has anyone else come to cause trouble during this time?"

"No!"

Old Man Lin patted his chest in assurance, "A few people tried to take advantage of the chaos to break in, but I stopped them all. However, some servants, the steward, and a few family members took advantage of the confusion and fled through the back door."

"No matter."

Chen Jing didn't mind, instructing Old Man Lin, "Go notify the other carriage drivers to come here tomorrow. The rules of this carriage firm need to change."

"Understood! Rest assured, Master Chen!"

Old Man Lin quickly agreed and turned to go spread the word.

Chen Jing said no more, leading the group of constables into the carriage firm and heading straight for the side hall.

The head constable followed behind. Seeing the corpses strewn about the side hall, especially the twisted state of Wang Chi, his heart couldn't help but tremble, making him all the more grateful for his own timely display of sensibility.

Chen Jing pointed at the corpses on the floor and said in a flat tone, "You lot, clean these up."

"No problem! We'll make sure it's spotless!"

The head constable hurriedly agreed, turning to bark at his subordinates, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and carry these bodies out, find somewhere to bury them! Move fast, don't disturb Master Chen!"

The subordinates didn't dare to delay, rushing forward to haul the bodies away in a chaotic scramble.

Watching the constables work with practiced efficiency, Chen Jing ignored them and turned to begin looting the carriage firm for spoils.

Chen Jing first went to Wang Chi's bedroom, and before long, he found a heavy, large wooden box in a hidden compartment beneath the bed.

Opening it, he found it filled with silver ingots, copper coins, and some scattered jewelry.

Although a portion of the wealth had been taken by the fleeing servants, the steward, and Wang Chi's family, most of the valuables remained, totaling nearly a hundred taels of silver.

Among them, the most important item was the deed to the carriage firm.

This meant that from this moment on, this carriage firm, along with the building itself, had become Chen Jing's legal property, beyond any dispute.

Securing the deed, Chen Jing felt completely at ease. After properly stowing away the wealth and the document, he walked straight into the carriage firm's kitchen.

He placed the buffalo-hide bag containing the Red-patterned Spirit Fish on the cutting board, untied the opening, and reached into the water, precisely grabbing the spirit fish by its dorsal fin.

The spirit fish struggled in alarm with considerable force, but Chen Jing remained unmoved. With his other hand, he curled his fingers into a fist and tapped the fish's head lightly; the spirit fish instantly lost its struggle and went limp.

Following that, Chen Jing skillfully processed the spirit fish, scraping off the fine silver scales, slitting the belly, and cleaning out the internal organs and blood lines.

Once cleaned, Chen Jing rinsed the spirit fish with fresh water. Without needing any complex seasoning, he simply made a few cuts in the flesh and placed it into a large iron pot, adding water to submerge it before covering the pot and lighting a fire to steam it.

After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, a fresh, savory aroma wafted from the pot, spilling out through the gaps in the lid.

Chen Jing didn't stand on ceremony after lifting the lid; he picked up a pair of chopsticks, plucked a large piece of snow-white fish meat, and without even blowing on it, popped it straight into his mouth.

The fish meat melted upon contact. Once it hit his stomach, a surge of pure blood energy, several times more potent than that of the Green-skinned Horned Pig, erupted like a rushing stream from his abdomen, rapidly flowing toward his limbs and bones. Wherever it passed, his meridians were nourished until they felt slightly swollen, and the blood energy that had been flowing steadily suddenly became vibrant.

"The effect of this Red-patterned Spirit Fish far exceeds expectations!"

Feeling the sensation of his body being flooded with blood energy, a flash of pleasant surprise crossed Chen Jing's eyes.

The blood energy provided by this single bite of fish was even more substantial than a large chunk of Green-skinned Horned Pig meat he had eaten before, and the nourishing effect was worlds apart.

What surprised Chen Jing even more was that as the spirit fish's blood energy nourished him, the dormant Exemption Bead in his mind began to grow slightly warm, actively absorbing this pure energy. The bead, previously dim, gradually began to emit a faint glow.

Chen Jing didn't delay any further, accelerating his pace of eating.

The fish meat melted in his mouth, blood energy poured into his body in an endless stream, and the energy of the Exemption Bead accumulated rapidly.

Before long, the entire half-zhang-long Red-patterned Spirit Fish had been eaten clean, and he had even finished every drop of the clear fish soup.

Setting down his chopsticks, Chen Jing let out a long, stale breath. His blood energy surged and circulated throughout his body, his pores opened slightly, and he felt entirely refreshed.

Furthermore, with the boost from the spirit fish's blood energy, the Exemption Bead in his mind had accumulated fully half of the required energy.

One must know that ever since Chen Jing broke through to the Blood River Realm, the energy required by the Exemption Bead had skyrocketed; previously, eating a pound of Green-skinned Horned Pig meat would only increase the energy by a mere sliver.

Now, a single spirit fish had filled over half the gauge—the efficiency was far beyond imagination.

Chen Jing calculated in his mind that at this rate, either another Red-patterned Spirit Fish or fifty more pounds of Green-skinned Horned Pig meat would be enough to fully charge the Exemption Bead, granting him another chance to exempt a price!

"While the Exemption Bead isn't full yet..."

Chen Jing's gaze shifted, his mind made up.

"I must make a trip to the Ghost Market."

"I'll see if I can fish out a few more evil arts; once the Exemption Bead is fully charged, I'll cultivate them."