Exotic Beasts

Before long, word spread among the Outer Courtyard disciples that Lu Ren would achieve Qi Gathering by the end of this month at the latest. The news left them all astonished.

Most people needed three months to reach the First Martial Barrier. Lu Ren was set to achieve Qi Gathering in just two months—an astonishing pace.

If his family had been well-off and could provide him with dozens of taels of silver in resources each month, like those wealthy young masters, he would have done it even sooner.

Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong both felt pressed for time and trained even harder.

"Brother Lu Ren is going to achieve Qi Gathering this month. Can Xu Yang keep up with him?"

That was the question Luo Dehu asked while spreading the news that Lu Ren would achieve Qi Gathering this month.

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

Xu Yang shook his head!

Even if he could, he wouldn't say so. There was no point showing off; who could say what would happen a month from now?

Luo Dehu was building up Lu Ren every day. It might look impressive now, but sooner or later he'd take a fall.

Seeing this, Zhang Hong was a little disappointed. He had hoped Xu Yang would surpass Lu Ren and trample him underfoot, but from the looks of it, Xu Yang couldn't do it.

"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. They were extremely ferocious, but every part of them was valuable. A single beast could fetch at least twenty or thirty taels of silver, and some of the rarer ones could be worth hundreds or even thousands.

The trouble was, they were not only difficult to kill but also incredibly hard to find.

Some martial artists who didn't want to become Attendants to wealthy families made a living by going into the mountains to seek out and hunt Exotic Beasts.

When Xu Yang had been short on money, he'd once considered going into the mountains to hunt Exotic Beasts. But after learning more, he'd abandoned the idea. It was said that even martial artists were no match for some of the more powerful beasts.

Xu Yang shook his head. "Exotic Beasts are dangerous. I advise you not to risk it."

If Exotic Beasts were that easy to hunt, there wouldn't be so many poor people.

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

"A senior from the Inner Courtyard is leading the group," Zhang Hong said. "Zhang Yong and the others will be joining too. Our main job is to help search for the beasts, so there won't be much danger."

So a martial artist really was going—and a senior from the Inner Courtyard, at that.

But Xu Yang still refused. With so many disciples in the Outer Courtyard, why would such a good opportunity fall to a few dirt-poor kids like them?

He didn't voice that suspicion. He didn't want to offend a martial artist from the Inner Courtyard.

Nor did he try to dissuade Zhang Hong further.

He was confident he could become a martial artist, so he had no need to take risks. But if Zhang Hong didn't take a chance and secure cultivation resources, his odds of becoming a martial artist really were only one in ten.

Zhang Hong didn't press him to join again. He stood and left.

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

Zhang Hong shook his head. "Xu Yang turned us down."

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

Zhang Yong had thought Xu Yang would join. If they managed to hunt an Exotic Beast and got their hands on cultivation resources, the bone roots of their group gave them a good chance of achieving Qi Gathering and becoming martial artists. It was worth the risk.

"He's a good-for-nothing. The Huang Family was right to abandon him," Luo Dehu said dismissively.

Of the nine people the Huang Family had trained, everyone except Lu Ren had agreed to go. Lu Ren wasn't taking the risk because the family was investing heavily in him. They all knew that only by staking their lives could they hope to achieve Qi Gathering someday.

Xu Yang, whose talent was second only to Lu Ren's, didn't even have the courage to risk his life.

"I'd originally wanted to give him a hand. I guess he thinks we're trying to harm him," Tang Ruiyang said with a cold laugh.

He had arranged the whole thing. He knew the senior from the Inner Courtyard and had asked Zhang Hong to invite Xu Yang because he wanted to look out for someone who'd once been in the same boat as him.

"Forget him. Everyone makes their own choices. 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 something called Bewilderment Smoke. You put it in a tube, light it, then blow the smoke into a room, and everyone inside passes out in an instant. Is there really something like that?"

Qiu Wenjie gave Xu Yang a strange look. "Senior Brother Xu Yang, are you trying to become a flower-picking bandit too?"

Too?

Xu Yang didn't pursue the matter. "So there really is such a thing?"

"Of course," Qiu Wenjie said, nodding.

"Where can I get some?"

"I don't know." Qiu Wenjie lowered his voice. "Senior Brother Xu Yang, have you got your eye on 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 get the stuff you're talking about, but I do know of something called Muscle-Softening Powder. If you scatter it and someone breathes it in, anyone who isn't a Qi-Gathering Martial Artist will lose all strength and collapse to the ground within a dozen breaths at most.

"Even Qi-Gathering Martial Artists might succumb if they inhale too much."

Muscle-Softening Powder?

It sounded about as effective as Bewilderment Smoke, but if he scattered it, a change in the wind—or accidentally breathing some in himself—could spell trouble. He couldn't exactly hold his breath throughout a fight.

"You can take the antidote beforehand." Qiu Wenjie rolled his eyes. "The people who came up with Muscle-Softening Powder had already thought of all that."

Xu Yang's eyes lit up. He lowered his voice. "Where can I get some?"

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

Xu Yang hadn't expected him to carry something like that around. Was he really planning to become a flower-picking bandit?

"Can you sell me some?"

"I'll give it to you. I can just ask my dad for a few more packets when I get home tonight!"

Xu Yang took the packets. He nearly opened one to have a sniff, but managed to stop himself.

Qiu Wenjie probably wouldn't lie to him.

Qiu Wenjie showed him which packet was the antidote, which ones contained Muscle-Softening Powder, and how long the effects lasted.

"If I use this stuff to kill someone, could it lead back to your family?" Xu Yang thought for a moment, then asked.

If it was something exclusive to the Qiu Family, he couldn't use it.

"No. This kind of underhanded stuff is common all over the martial world."

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

He was a clever fellow himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have told his father, Qiu Yongqiang, about Xu Yang.

"If you can't handle it, you can ask my dad for help. The Qiu Family isn't some wealthy clan, but we can take care of ordinary problems," Qiu Wenjie said.

The Qiu Family had invested in Xu Yang, and he didn't want anything to happen to him. Besides, in his eyes, Xu Yang couldn't possibly have crossed any powerful figures.

If he really had offended someone powerful, Xu Yang wouldn't still be here.

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

Xu Yang got up and left. He sat down somewhere else and looked at the Status Panel.

[Technique: Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Beginner (31/100); Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Beginner (63/150)]

[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 31]

It had been more than ten days since he killed Li Hu, and his points had built back up to over thirty. He'd originally planned to use them to improve his Bone Root, but now he could only spend them on his techniques.

Although he'd gotten Muscle-Softening Powder from Qiu Wenjie, to be safe, he still needed to improve his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. A dozen or more people wouldn't be easy to kill; he had to make sure not a single one survived.

That meant he'd have to put off breaking through to Qi Gathering.

"If I kill all these people, I should be left in peace for a while."

Xu Yang closed his eyes and poured all his points into the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

The Turtle-Snake Great Stance was a stillness technique, a method for internal cultivation. Improving its proficiency wouldn't increase his cultivation.

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

A flood of insights washed over him, bringing his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist proficiency up to ninety-four. His understanding of the technique had changed dramatically.