The instant he crossed the thirty-strand limit, Lin Shu had already broken through to Mid Qi Condensation.
And as his Inner Method reached Perfection, that limit was suddenly raised to a hundred strands!
Such an enormous increase was like widening a pond several times over without having enough water to fill it.
The feeling of weakness throughout his body surged all at once.
Fortunately, Virtue Coin not only improved his Inner Method, but also summoned the spiritual energy drifting through the heavens and earth.
Dense white mist came rushing in, replenishing his parched spiritual pool.
A strand at a time, White Qi swiftly condensed until the hundred-strand limit was filled. Only then did the changes gradually stop.
"Phew!"
Lin Shu felt the tremendous changes throughout his body, yet he was nowhere near as shaken as he had been when deducing the Evil Method.
Warmth washed through his body, soothing his mind.
He exhaled a stream of air and felt a hint of drowsiness come over him.
It wasn't from exhaustion. Since arriving in Blackwater City, Lin Shu had rarely let his taut nerves relax. Now he finally felt a trace of ease.
"That feels amazing..."
He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, planning to savor the feeling a little longer.
But as the last White Jade Coin disappeared, that comfort was abruptly snatched away. He felt as if he had fallen from the clouds and crashed back down to earth.
"Come on, man. I'd have accepted it if you'd just improved a little slower, but this is way too realistic."
Lin Shu opened his eyes, speechless, and couldn't help grumbling inwardly.
He sighed and silently tallied up the cost.
To bring a cultivation method to Sixth Rank Perfection, the Evil Coins had taken around twenty coins, while Virtue Coin had taken nearly fifty, even with Yu Sheng's Essence Blood to help.
It really was much slower. The Evil Coins were more than three times as efficient.
At the same rate, reaching the Upper Three Grades with the Inner Method would require at least three hundred White Jade Coins.
"Where am I supposed to find that many people who need saving?"
Lin Shu shook his head. If he only saved ordinary people, three hundred lives would be a major event in Blackwater City.
But if he saved cultivators, he might need only a few people to make up the difference.
Wait...
Lin Shu suddenly realized something was wrong and slowly furrowed his brow.
He raised his hand and looked at the pile of Evil Coins suspended in midair.
Since when had he started so crudely measuring a person's life by how much it was worth?
After a long silence, Lin Shu was at a loss for words.
If he let external things control his thoughts, was he cultivating—or working for this pile of coins?
He saved people because he wanted to save them, and killed because he believed they deserved to die.
He had already died once. If he still couldn't follow his own heart in distinguishing good from evil, then he truly would have wasted both his lives.
Lin Shu gathered his thoughts and turned his attention back to cultivation.
Virtue Coin might be a little slower, but it had its own added benefit.
It saved him money.
That alone saved him nearly a hundred Qi Replenishing Pills.
Both methods had their advantages.
"Among the Lower Three Grades of Inner Methods, from Subordinate Ninth Rank to Seventh Rank, perfecting each one lets you absorb ten to thirty strands of Qi."
"Now that I think about it, if perfecting a Sixth Rank Inner Method can boost that to a hundred strands, wouldn't the best Fourth Rank Inner Method among the Middle Three Ranks let you absorb three hundred?"
Even among cultivators at the same Mid Qi Condensation stage, there was still a considerable difference between the upper and lower limits.
Lin Shu pondered for a moment.
Judging by the abilities he had mastered, he couldn't claim he'd crush even an opponent at the same realm.
And that was without even mentioning the cultivators in White Tiger Hall who had a chance of reaching Foundation Establishment.
He still wasn't strong enough.
With that thought, he didn't even bother considering the risk that the White Wolf apparition might wake up. He pressed down all ninety-one Evil Coins at once.
Since he had no idea when it would wake up anyway, feeding it a few more mouthfuls wouldn't matter. At least the Immortal Method he gained would be his to keep.
Nearly a hundred Evil Coins would completely restore Bone Burial Soul Entombment and break through the Upper Three Grades barrier!
Black light thickened!
The Young Wolf was fed once again, and its body grew stronger. Its fur was glossy black, a far cry from its original snowy-white appearance.
Black mist curled among its fur, and its body gradually transformed.
The Lone Wolf Howling at the Moon Painting slowly unfurled. It showed the same frigid mountain peak shrouded in black mist, but the lone wolf's flesh had rotted away, leaving only a skeleton. Bony claws covered the mountainside, making the scene even more terrifying.
But this time, protected by the Spirit Sparrow Qi-Eating Method, Lin Shu managed to steady his mind.
He felt only a slight trace of restlessness.
He felt the Immortal Method in his mind gradually complete, and the prompts that appeared became more detailed.
The vanished proficiency reappeared.
Dozens of Evil Coins worked at once, and at last they broke through the hardest barrier in the Qi Condensation stage!
[Qi Condensation Third Stage. Bone Burial Soul Entombment: Perfection]
Now that this Immortal Method had reached the Upper Three Grades, even the Evil Coins' frightening efficiency was beginning to struggle to make further progress.
Seeing little hope of improving it further, Lin Shu looked at the dozen or so Evil Coins left in his hand and invested them in another Wolf Tooth.
He had already experienced the use of the eye technique.
Often, to defeat an opponent, you first had to see clearly what kind of method they were using.
Without the Red Moon Dharma Eye, even Liu Zhen's trick of splitting into three would have been enough to give Lin Shu a serious headache.
Besides, the eye technique itself had some offensive power.
It was still worth investing in.
Just like the Ghost Moon Bone-Splitting Hand before, a dozen or so Evil Coins were enough to raise the eye technique by one rank.
[Qi Condensation Fifth Stage. Red Moon Dharma Eye: Perfection]
After using up all the Virtue Coin and Evil Coins,
Lin Shu leaned back in his chair again. His cultivation and strength had undergone a qualitative leap since before he'd gone to the gambling house.
For one thing, if he ran into Liu Zhen again, he was confident he wouldn't even let him draw his saber.
And he certainly wouldn't be left as weak as before after killing him.
But Lin Shu didn't get up right away. Instead, he rubbed his brows, looking a little tired.
He kept up his sickly appearance.
As if telling everyone else:
Sigh, I've run completely dry again.
It was midmorning.
Four Directions Street had lost the quiet of night and grown noisy once more.
For the common people, the hours when the Evil Constable and Fierce Wolf were both resting were the best part of the day.
Everything on the street seemed like a repeat of yesterday.
The street vendors were still hawking their wares. The young servants and maids, having worked for hours, got a brief rest and sat by the roadside whispering to each other. The shopkeepers were still chatting and laughing as usual.
Only the subject of their idle talk had changed.
Nearly all of it centered on yesterday's Fierce Wolf.
"I reckon everything will go on as usual."
The shopkeepers shook their heads. Chief Constable Liu's actions on the street yesterday, and his dealing with the Zhao Family, both seemed like warnings to them.
A way of making them understand who the master of this street was.
And that Fierce Wolf's response had been so calm—one might even say timid—that the answer was obvious.
"I heard from the master of the household that we should keep off the street for a while." At the gate, a young servant clicked his tongue and lowered his voice. "That wolf couldn't get its food, and it's starving. I reckon it's about to start eating people!"
If it couldn't get meat, then it could only gnaw on bones.
Small households without powerful connections were like that great pork bone that had already been gnawed four or five times and still wasn't safe—one that might well be chewed to splinters.
Chang Yi carried his Precious Saber and helped a gaunt, dazed pregnant woman along the street, guiding her carefully. "Sister-in-law, take it slow."
He heard the talk by the roadside, but truly couldn't defend Lin Shu.
After all, in these people's eyes, the Blackwater Gang had always stood for violence and greed.
Who would believe that Master Lin had joined the Blackwater Gang less than half a month ago, hadn't even taken a bite out of the common people, and was already the Fierce Wolf?
"Thank you."
The pregnant woman's voice was as faint as a mosquito's. Her face was pale and bloodless, and she was clearly still grieving after watching her husband beaten to death with her own eyes yesterday.
She didn't beg Little Chang for anything more. She knew how hard the young constable had worked to get her out of prison.
Revenge was no business for ordinary folk.
"I..." Chang Yi's mouth was dry, and his eyes filled with guilt and shame. "I'll clear the Zhao Family's name!"
He knew that Zhao family's sister-in-law had been wronged. Now that Brother Zhao was dead, it seemed pointless to offer any more comforting words.
"I ate something I wasn't blessed enough to enjoy. You're still young; don't act rashly. The innocent will be proven innocent. My family doesn't need that empty reputation..."
The pregnant woman gripped Chang Yi's arm and reminded him softly.
She didn't care about clearing her name. She cared only about her husband's life. There was no need to put this good constable in danger again for something so hollow and fleeting.
As for her own desire to avenge her husband, this young man couldn't fulfill it, and few people in Blackwater City could either.
Perhaps only the Azure Heaven could grant it?
At that thought, the pregnant woman looked up with numb eyes. Then her pupils rapidly widened.
Bang!
Accompanied by a powerful stench of blood and decay, a heavy figure plummeted straight down from the second floor.
It slammed into the ground not far in front of them, sending up clouds of dust.
Blood, not yet fully dried, splattered across the ground.
The corpse, with only half its flesh left and its entrails visible through its stark-white bones, looked all the more horrific!
From nearby to far away, the entire street fell silent in patches, until it was completely quiet.
Everyone instinctively turned to look.
The dead man's face had been torn apart, making him impossible to identify.
But his constable's uniform, and the Purple Flood Dragon on its tattered lapel, were unmistakable.
The faces of the shopkeepers and the servants by the roadside were swiftly overtaken by terror. Their limbs began to shake like sieves.
The dead man was... Liu Zhen!!
"Ah—!"
A piercing scream tore through the street. An account book fell straight out of the air and smacked into Chang Yi.
He stopped himself from instinctively drawing his saber and puzzled over the book, flipping through a couple of pages.
When he saw the writing, his expression changed drastically. He abruptly looked up toward the building, but there was no one in sight, so he quickly scanned the surrounding area.
With everyone else consumed by panic, a figure who remained calm stood out all the more.
At an inconspicuous street-corner stall in the distance,
a handsome young man had been sitting at a low table for quite some time.
A steaming bowl of soy milk sat in front of him. He unhurriedly tore apart the crisp, golden fried dough stick in his hand.
Apart from a little grease on his fingertips, his hands were fair and clean, like those of a frail scholar who had never lifted a finger around the house.
Chang Yi stared intently at those hands.
Then he lowered his head and looked at the mangled, horrifying corpse at his feet. His eyelids twitched rapidly as if in a spasm!
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