Clearly, the man in black had not expected Lin Changsheng to be sitting in the courtyard in the dead of night.
Once the man in black reacted, he clawed at Lin Changsheng's throat, his claw wind razor-sharp!
Lin Changsheng noticed that the man in black wore a pair of gloves, their fingertips a vivid blue that gleamed bluely beneath the moonlight.
Moreover, the man's inner force surged powerfully—he was unmistakably in the Second-Rate Expert Realm.
"Who are you?"
Seeing that the gloves of the man in black had been laced with poison and that he had gone straight for the kill, Lin Changsheng's heart jolted. He grabbed the bamboo pole at hand, executed the Flying Eaves Lightness Skill, and leaped onto the roof in an instant like a swallow.
"A Second-Rate Expert Realm!"
"You hid yourself deeply!"
Seeing how superb Lin Changsheng's movement technique was, the man in black was plainly shocked. His gaze sharpened, and with a flick of his hand, three cold glints shot toward Lin Changsheng's upper, middle, and lower vital points.
They targeted his eyes, throat, and groin!
"Azure Snake Sword Technique!"
Lin Changsheng circulated his surging inner force and poured it into the bamboo pole in his hand. Using the Perfect Stage Azure Snake Sword Technique, he instantly struck the three incoming hidden weapons back at their sender.
Like a great bird, Lin Changsheng lunged toward the man in black. The bamboo pole in his hand displayed the Azure Snake Sword Technique, its angle as tricky as a venomous snake's as it stabbed toward the man's throat!
At this point, Lin Changsheng's cultivation had already reached the Second-Class Peak. He needed only a tiny bit more experience to advance into the First-Class Realm.
Though this middle-aged man was in the Second-Rate Expert Realm, he was far from Lin Changsheng's peak level. In an instant, Lin Changsheng pierced him in three places—the chest, thigh, and elsewhere—leaving three bloody holes!
Blood streamed freely.
"You!"
The man in black stared at Lin Changsheng, horror surfacing in his eyes. He had never expected this seemingly harmless young man to be so powerful despite his tender age.
And yet—
His cultivation had been concealed so deeply that the man had failed to see through it at all!
Relying on his lightness skill, the man in black instantly retreated and swept toward the courtyard wall.
"Since you came, do you think you can still leave?"
Seeing that the man in black actually wanted to flee, Lin Changsheng's eyes flashed. He took out the powerful bow from behind the door, drew it, nocked an arrow, and fired.
Whoosh!
The bamboo-feathered arrow, infused with Lin Changsheng's Second-Class Peak inner force, shot like a meteor and pierced through the man in black's body from behind!
"Urgh!"
The man in black gave a muffled groan. The powerful impact sent him stumbling several steps forward before he collapsed to the ground.
"It's him?"
Lin Changsheng stepped forward, used a stick to turn the man in black over, and tore off his face covering. To his surprise, this man was Ling Ziyu, the very person who had come earlier that day to ask whether he had buried Gao Yang.
"This Ling Ziyu still hasn't given up over that token. It seems that token truly is no ordinary thing."
Lin Changsheng thought of the token engraved with white clouds that he had found in Gao Yang's bundle.
When Ling Ziyu had come asking that day, he had offered one hundred taels of silver. It was fortunate that Lin Changsheng had refused.
"Looks like I won't need to use this hairpin."
Inside the room, Yu Wenjing stood beneath the window, looking at Lin Changsheng in the distance with his bow in hand. Surprise showed in her beautiful eyes. She held an Emerald Hairpin in her hand, and the glow upon it gradually faded.
The glow faded away.
Yu Wenjing inserted the hairpin back into her beautiful hair.
This hairpin was her protective item. Every use depleted it, and she would not use it unless absolutely necessary. Of course, if Lin Changsheng encountered danger, she would use it—after all, he was the one who had saved her life.
"One hundred and thirty taels of silver, and the hidden weapon technique Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers (Incomplete)?"
Lin Changsheng carefully searched the man in black and found banknotes and loose silver in his clothes, totaling one hundred and thirty taels.
There was also a scroll of animal hide.
The animal-hide scroll was incomplete. It recorded a hidden weapon technique called Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers, containing only three moves: One Stone, Three Birds, Parting Swallows, and Life-Taking Meteor.
"I never expected such a harvest."
Seeing what he had gained that day, Lin Changsheng's eyes gleamed with delight.
He put on gloves, lifted the corpse of the man in black, and ran under cover of night toward the place where he had killed Tie Yang that day.
Before long, he threw Ling Ziyu's body into the Grand Canal.
"Changsheng, are you all right?"
Yu Wenjing stepped forward, concern filling her beautiful eyes.
"I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. Go to sleep—I'm getting ready to sleep too."
Lin Changsheng said, patting his hands.
He was in an excellent mood. Tonight's gains had been abundant. Five taels of silver could cover a family of three's food and drink for a year, yet he had obtained one hundred and thirty taels in one stroke, along with a hidden weapon manual.
"Mm!"
Yu Wenjing nodded and returned to her room.
Lin Changsheng, however, felt no drowsiness. He lay beside the window, bathing in moonlight, then took out the Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers manual and began reading it carefully.
This Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers manual—
contained three moves: One Stone, Three Birds, Parting Swallows, and Life-Taking Meteor, along with the methods of exerting force for each of the three moves.
Lin Changsheng went outside, picked up several stones, and threw them according to the force-exertion methods in the manual.
The stones fell beyond his palm with a smack!
[Detected hidden weapon technique Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers (Incomplete). Consume ten taels of silver to simplify it?]
At that moment, a red notification popped up on the panel before Lin Changsheng.
"Simplify."
Lin Changsheng immediately confirmed with his mind.
Less than a moment after Lin Changsheng confirmed it with his mind, another red notification appeared on the panel.
"Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers hidden weapon technique (Incomplete) has been simplified into throwing stones?"
Seeing the notification on the panel, Lin Changsheng could not help widening his eyes in surprise.
A hidden weapon technique had been simplified into throwing stones. Training it would be far faster now.
With a thought, Lin Changsheng opened the panel.
[Great Dao Made Simple: Level 1] [Lin Changsheng: 16/55] [Cultivation: Second-Rate Realm (2499/2500)] [Technique: Sun-Moon Breathing Method (Proficient 13278/25000)] [Martial Arts: Arrow Technique (Grand Perfection), Iron Sand Palm (Grand Perfection), Flying Eaves Lightness Skill (Grand Perfection), Azure Snake Sword Technique (Great Accomplishment Stage 6223/12500), Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers (Incomplete) (Entry Stage 0/500)] [By consuming a certain amount of silver, techniques, martial skills, and more can be simplified.] [Status: Yin Energy Invasion (Weakened)]
"So this can increase experience too."
Lin Changsheng picked up some stones and began throwing them. He discovered that even playing the stone-stacking game from his childhood in his previous life could increase his experience.
He simply tossed a stone onto the back of his hand, then tossed it into his palm, gaining one point of experience.
Lin Changsheng immediately lost all desire to sleep. He tossed stones for a full half hour, bringing the Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers (Incomplete) hidden weapon manual to the Proficient stage.
In order to bathe in the moonlight, he simply moved out a chair and sat resting in the courtyard. This way, the moonlight could shine on him, allowing him to cultivate and sleep without neglecting either.
Three days later.
Hundred Herbs Hall.
"You want to begin the medicine apprentice assessment?"
"You've finished reading the Hundred Herbs Pharmacopoeia? You've memorized every medicinal herb until they roll off your tongue?"
Pharmacist Chen of Hundred Herbs Hall looked at Lin Changsheng with doubt in his eyes.
Pharmacist Chen was the examining pharmacist at Hundred Herbs Hall. He had been a pharmacist all his life and was over sixty, with grizzled hair but an exceptionally vigorous spirit. However, he lacked talent in alchemy and, even now, could only brew Blood-Qi Decoction and Qi-Blood Paste.
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