Purple Spirit Herb! Ghost Servant Evil Art!

There were ten cards in all. Four green [Vitality Pill] cards, four blue [Three-Treasure Vitality Pill] cards, and the remaining two were Mountain Lord Ghost Servant Art and that purple card!

"Mountain Lord Thunder Herb!"

Wu Yu immediately looked at the purple card, his brows knitting slightly.

"It's actually a material card... What a waste!"

This was the first purple card Wu Yu had seen in the [Newcomer Secret Realm], and perhaps the only one he would ever see.

If it had been a Pill or technique card, it would have immediately granted Wu Yu immense power—perhaps even opened the Transcendent Gate and turned him into a Transcendent lifeform!

But it was only a spirit herb...

Wu Yu pondered for a moment, then looked at his inventory.

The "Exquisite Food" inside had been piled together in large quantities, yet after a day had passed, nothing had changed.

Its temperature, shape, and everything else remained the same.

There was even soup among it. It had been steaming hot when put in, and it was still steaming hot when taken out!

"The inventory probably has preservation... No, it should be said that it can freeze time!"

After thinking it over, he decisively used the card in his hand.

A spirit herb appeared in his palm. It was entirely purple and had nine leaves.

Each leaf bore twisting golden patterns, like lightning. Crack—!

Suddenly, lightning flashed across the nine-leaved spirit herb.

Wu Yu was jolted numb and nearly threw it away.

Fortunately, after getting started with Heaven-and-Earth Toss, his body had become far more nimble. He hurriedly reached out, caught it, and sent it into his inventory.

The "Mountain Lord Thunder Herb" also occupied one slot. Like the Exquisite Food, the nine-leaved spirit herb remained frozen in the state it had entered in.

Lightning curled around its nine leaves as though it could breathe. Strands of lightning intertwined, forming a web of thunder.

At the sight, Wu Yu's face twitched.

If his hand had been any slower, the lightning web on that spirit herb would have let him enjoy some "free electrotherapy."

"Worthy of purple quality. Even a single spirit herb is this domineering."

"This thing's value is hard to estimate, but it's definitely incredibly expensive. I absolutely can't expose it carelessly!"

Wu Yu thought it over.

After the Great Cataclysm, spiritual-energy technology had developed at breakneck speed, and one dazzling supercity after another had risen across the shattered land like stars.

But because of the Great Cataclysm, spiritual-energy technology had focused on military applications, leaving civilian development generations behind.

Even with spiritual-energy technology capable of rapid cultivation, "spirit herbs" remained things one could only encounter by chance!

Forget the major markets of River City—even places like the Black Crow Merchant Guild did not have them.

Coming back to himself, Wu Yu looked at the remaining cards.

There was no need to say anything about the [Vitality Pill]; he tossed it into his inventory.

The [Three-Treasure Vitality Pill] should have been a higher-grade Pill, but it was still for ordinary people. It was presumably an upgraded version of the [Vitality Pill], so he tossed it into his inventory as well.

As for Mountain Lord Ghost Servant Art...

With his previous experience using Tiger Roar Eight-Slash Saber and Heaven-and-Earth Toss, Wu Yu naturally longed for a new technique.

Mountain Lord Ghost Servant Art was green quality and quite impressive.

But once one got started with it, one would turn into a ghost servant and be enslaved by the Mountain Lord!

"Could it be similar to the Mountain Lord Rite the natives mentioned?"

Wu Yu's heart stirred. He decisively gave up on using the technique and threw it into his inventory.

After searching the house, Wu Yu found nothing new.

He then strode away, checked the [Map], and estimated the time.

"There's about an hour left until noon."

Wu Yu closed the map and looked toward Evil Tiger Stronghold.

Aside from the stronghold gate and the guardhouse, Evil Tiger Stronghold had three remaining areas.

On the left stood a cluster of crude wooden houses, piled with all kinds of large crates and lined with bamboo poles for drying things. Some bandits inside were moving items, while others rested.

On the right was a large, flat expanse filled with bamboo-tiled houses. More than a hundred people moved about within it—practicing martial arts, sparring, chatting and bickering, while some crawled along the ground.

The uppermost area contained only a single exquisite brick house!

"A warehouse, kitchen? Then a training ground and living quarters! The place at the top should be where the chief is."

After observing for quite some time, Wu Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as the information he had gathered said, these bandits had become ghost servants through the "Mountain Lord Rite," but they were still people in the end.

They needed to eat and drink!

If he killed his way through with the [Bi Fang Sigil], relying on the dozens of small stones stored in his inventory, Wu Yu could absolutely beat those several hundred bandits to death.

But he certainly would not be able to stop the archers and Transcendent Martial Artists from escaping.

Not to mention that the enemy could launch long-range attacks with bows and arrows, while the Transcendent Martial Artists ambushed him.

That chief was no weakling. He could punch through iron armor with one fist. If Wu Yu went up against him with this scrawny body, he would simply be courting death!

So... Wu Yu looked at the [Lifeless Evil Pill] in his inventory and revealed a smile.

On the left side of the stronghold, several bandits dressed in animal-hide clothes were cooking, steam billowing from the kitchen.

Beside the kitchen stood an enormous warehouse. Meat chunks were drying outside, while bones and miscellaneous clutter were piled inside.

Two bandits at the warehouse entrance were sleeping soundly.

Wu Yu quietly climbed up from behind the house. When he realized no one had noticed him, he immediately relaxed.

"Heaven-and-Earth Toss truly deserves to be a blue-quality technique!"

To go from a frail student to an agile assassin required only a single thought.

What a miraculous thing that was!

At that moment, he spotted some familiar clothing.

"It belongs to that auntie!"

Wu Yu recognized it at a glance.

He did not know the middle-aged woman's name, but the clothes she wore were far from ordinary. A single piece might cost one or two thousand.

Modern-style clothing stood utterly out of place in an ancient stronghold, making it exceptionally conspicuous!

"Could she have been captured here and made into the chief's wife?"

The thought surfaced in Wu Yu's mind, but reason told him there was another possibility. A chill ran through his heart.

So many [Unpleasant Meat Chunk] items had dropped earlier...

He held his breath and carefully approached the wall corner, peering into the warehouse.

Besides various animal hides, bones, and dried meat, the warehouse also contained vegetables, fruit, and all manner of unrecognizable odds and ends.

But several large crates stored all kinds of Unpleasant Meat Chunks!

And the middle-aged woman's head had already been processed, piled in a crate alongside bloody bones.

Wu Yu's expression changed. He hurriedly covered his mouth and pressed himself against the wall!

Only after suppressing his body's instinctive reaction did he lower his hand, his eyes filled with icy coldness.

"Ghost servants are no longer human."

Wu Yu sighed inwardly, calmed down, and continued scouting.

Before long, he had figured out the situation here.

There were fourteen people in total. Several were cooks, while the rest were laborers here to move things.

But they were all ghost servants, and their animal-hide clothes were exceptionally conspicuous.

The cooks had already prepared the food, along with some liquor.

Activating the [Heaven-and-Earth] state, Wu Yu became even more nimble. He tiptoed into the warehouse and came to the large wine jars one after another.

Opening their lids, he discovered that only three jars contained liquor.

"Not all these bandits necessarily have the qualifications to drink!"

"The best way is to poison the water too!"

Wu Yu took out the [Lifeless Evil Pill]...