Strange Beasts

Before long, news spread among the outer courtyard disciples that Lu Ren would reach the Qi Gathering stage within the month, leaving the entire crowd astonished.

It typically takes three months to reach the first gate of martial arts; for Lu Ren to achieve Qi Gathering in just two months was a staggering pace.

Had his family background been better, allowing him the same resources as those wealthy scions—dozens of taels of silver a month—that time would have been even shorter.

Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong felt a sense of urgency, and their training became even more grueling.

"Brother Lu Ren is gathering Qi this month. Can Xu Yang still keep up with his pace?"

This was the question Luo Dehu asked while spreading the news of Lu Ren's progress.

"Can he keep up?" Zhang Hong asked with a laugh.

Xu Yang shook his head.

Even if he could, he wouldn't say it out loud. Who could say for sure what would happen in a month? Flaunting like that was just asking for trouble.

Luo Dehu was busy building hype for Lu Ren every day; it looked glorious now, but he would surely trip and fall sooner or later.

Seeing this, Zhang Hong felt a bit disappointed. He had actually hoped Xu Yang could surpass Lu Ren and trample him underfoot, but it seemed Xu Yang wasn't capable of that.

"By the way, we've gathered a few people and plan to head into the mountains in a few days to hunt exotic beasts. Do you want to come along?" Zhang Hong suddenly asked.

Exotic beasts were strange creatures found deep in the mountains, possessing immense ferocity, but their entire bodies were treasures. Hunting just one could fetch at least twenty or thirty taels of silver, and some rarer ones could be worth hundreds or even thousands.

However, these things were not only difficult to kill but also extremely hard to track.

Some martial artists who refused to become retainers for wealthy families made a living by venturing into the mountains specifically to hunt them.

Back when Xu Yang was short on money, he had considered hunting exotic beasts himself, but after learning more about them, he abandoned the idea. It was said that some powerful beasts were more than a match for even trained martial artists.

Xu Yang shook his head. "Exotic beasts are dangerous. I advise you not to take the risk."

If they were so easy to hunt, there wouldn't be so many poor people left.

He didn't ask who else was going; even if a martial artist were leading the group, he wouldn't go.

Zhang Hong said, "A senior brother from the Inner Courtyard is leading the team, and Zhang Yong and the others are joining too. We're mostly there to help track the beasts, so there isn't much danger."

So, a martial artist was actually involved, and an Inner Courtyard senior at that.

But Xu Yang still refused. He didn't want to think about the sheer number of outer courtyard disciples—why would such a good opportunity fall into the laps of a few nobodies like them?

He kept this doubt to himself, not wanting to offend an Inner Courtyard martial artist.

He also didn't continue to dissuade Zhang Hong.

He was confident he could become a martial artist, so he didn't need to take such risks. But for Zhang Hong, if he didn't take risks to secure resources, his chances of becoming a martial artist were truly only one in ten.

Zhang Hong didn't try to persuade him further and got up to leave.

"Well? Did he agree?" Zhang Yong asked.

Zhang Hong shook his head. "Xu Yang refused."

"I didn't expect him to be such a coward."

Zhang Yong had assumed Xu Yang would join. Once they hunted an exotic beast and secured resources, given their natural aptitude, they had a high chance of gathering Qi and becoming martial artists. It was worth the risk.

"Mud can't be plastered onto a wall. The Huang Family was right to abandon him," Luo Dehu said with disdain.

Of the nine people the Huang Family had been cultivating, everyone except Lu Ren—who didn't need to risk his life due to the level of investment in him—was participating. They all knew that only by gambling with their lives could they hope to succeed in Qi Gathering.

Yet Xu Yang, whose talent was second only to Lu Ren, lacked the courage to stake his life on it.

"I originally wanted to give him a hand, but I suppose he thought we were trying to harm him," Tang Ruiyang sneered.

He was the one who had arranged this; he had some connections with that Inner Courtyard senior and had asked Zhang Hong to invite Xu Yang, thinking to look out for someone stuck in the same mire.

"Forget about him. Everyone has their own path. Let's talk about when we're heading into the mountains."

After Zhang Hong left, Xu Yang found Qiu Wenjie. "I want to ask you something. I heard there's a thing called Bewilderment Smoke. If you light it in a tube and blow the smoke into a room, the people inside will fall unconscious in an instant. Does such a thing exist?"

Qiu Wenjie looked at Xu Yang with a strange expression. "Senior Brother Xu Yang, are you looking to become a flower-plucking thief?"

Also looking to...

Xu Yang didn't dwell on the comment and asked, "So, such a thing really exists?"

"Of course it does!" Qiu Wenjie nodded.

"Where can I get some?"

"I don't know!" Qiu Wenjie lowered his voice. "Senior Brother Xu Yang, have you taken a fancy to some girl?"

"Get lost!"

Unable to get any useful information, Xu Yang stood up to leave, but Qiu Wenjie pulled him back.

"I don't know where to find the stuff you mentioned, but I do know of something called Muscle-Softening Powder. Once it's sprinkled, as long as the person isn't a Qi Gathering martial artist, they'll lose all strength and collapse to the ground within a dozen breaths of inhaling it."

"Even a Qi Gathering martial artist might fall for it if they inhale enough."

Muscle-Softening Powder?

The effect sounded similar to the Bewilderment Smoke, but if the powder were scattered, what if the wind direction changed or he accidentally inhaled it himself? He would be doomed. It wasn't like he could hold his breath and fight forever.

"You can take the antidote beforehand," Qiu Wenjie rolled his eyes. "The person who created the Muscle-Softening Powder already accounted for such things."

Xu Yang's eyes lit up, and he whispered, "Where can I get some?"

Qiu Wenjie pointed at himself, then reached into his clothes and pulled out several paper packets. "This is the Muscle-Softening Powder."

Xu Yang never expected this guy to carry such things on him; was he really planning to become a lecherous thief?

"Can you sell it to me?"

"I'll give it to you for free. I can just go back tonight and ask my father for a few more packets!"

Xu Yang took the items, nearly unable to resist opening them to take a sniff, but ultimately held back.

Qiu Wenjie shouldn't be lying to him.

Qiu Wenjie pointed out which packet was the antidote, which were the Muscle-Softening Powder, and explained their duration of effect.

"If I use this to kill someone, will it be traced back to your family?" Xu Yang thought for a moment before asking.

If this was a proprietary item of the Qiu Family, he couldn't use it.

"It won't. This kind of low-down, dirty stuff is common among many people in the martial arts world."

Qiu Wenjie didn't ask in detail who Xu Yang wanted to kill or what he intended to do.

He was a smart person himself; otherwise, he wouldn't have told his father, Qiu Yongqiang, about Xu Yang's affairs.

"If you can't handle it, you can ask my father. The Qiu Family isn't a massive powerhouse, but we can handle most minor matters," Qiu Wenjie said.

The Qiu Family had invested in Xu Yang, and he didn't want anything to happen to him. Besides, in his view, what kind of big shot could Xu Yang possibly offend?

If it were truly a big shot, Xu Yang wouldn't still be here.

"It's fine, I can handle it myself."

Xu Yang stood up and left, sat down in another spot, and looked at his panel.

[Technique: Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Entry (31/100), Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Entry (63/150)]
[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 31]

More than ten days had passed since he killed Li Hu, and his points had accumulated to over thirty. He had originally intended to use them to improve his aptitude, but now he had to use them to upgrade his techniques first.

Although he had obtained the Muscle-Softening Powder from Qiu Wenjie, for the sake of caution, he still needed to improve his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. Killing over a dozen people wouldn't be easy; he had to ensure not a single one survived.

It meant his breakthrough to Qi Gathering would have to be delayed.

"After slaughtering these dozen or so people, I should be able to have some peace for a while."

Closing his eyes, Xu Yang poured all his points into the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

The Turtle-Snake Great Stance was a static exercise, an internal cultivation method; increasing its proficiency would not raise his cultivation level.

[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Entry (94/150)]

A massive influx of insights flooded his mind, pushing the progress of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist to ninety-four, and his understanding of the technique underwent a tremendous transformation.