Third-Realm Demon Beast Essence Blood, a Chance to Break Through!

Lin Ye pushed the door open and walked in, dark circles beneath his eyes. Clearly, he had not slept well last night either.

The moment he entered, he pulled a somewhat rough parchment scroll from his robes and handed it over.

"Miss Su, this is a map of Great Li's powers that I managed to get overnight."

Lin Ye scratched his head, his expression somewhat guilty. "After seeing your strength yesterday, I knew my meager skills couldn't help at all. I was the one who got carried away and wanted to stand up for you, but in the end, I dragged you into the water instead."

He could not get over it. He had to do something, so he went out to ask around about the situation in the imperial city.

Su Yueli was somewhat surprised. She took the scroll and spread it across the table.

This kid might be rash, but he was thoughtful. He was someone worth befriending.

The two leaned over the table and studied it.

According to the markings on the map, four foremost Martial Dao lineages held sway within Great Li Imperial City: the Pang, Lin, Yun, and Chu Lineages.

These four lineages stood out among countless martial houses and ran rampant through the imperial city because immortal sects stood behind them, with cultivators supporting their clans.

Among them, the Pang and Lin Lineages had formed an alliance, while the Yun and Chu Lineages had done the same, the two sides opposing each other. The Pang Family and Chu Lineage, in particular, had slaughtered one another for years, mutually checking each other.

"As for the immortal cultivation sects with even deeper foundations, and the nobles within the imperial palace..."

Lin Ye gave a bitter laugh and said helplessly, "There was no way I could find out about those. The moment the information brokers heard what I was asking, they threw me out."

Su Yueli's thoughts stirred, and she shook her head.

Sure enough, information barriers existed everywhere.

In this world, the weak did not even have the right to inquire about the strong. If your standing was insufficient, the more you knew, the faster you died.

Setting those thoughts aside, Su Yueli glanced at Lin Ye and suddenly teased, "You're surnamed Lin too. Tell me, could you be related by blood to that Lin Lineage in the imperial city?"

Lin Ye froze, then shook his head vigorously with repeated bitter laughs. "Miss Su, don't tease me. My family has been merchants in Shuo Province City for three generations. This is my first time in the imperial city, so how could I possibly have anything to do with such a colossal force?"

"You never know."

Su Yueli raised a brow. "Maybe you're an illegitimate son lost outside the family years ago? Or perhaps your parents were actually direct descendants of a branch line who resolutely fled the Lin Lineage for love back then?"

Lin Ye's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape. "Miss Su, your imagination is far too rich. If I really were a young master of the Lin Lineage, we wouldn't be holed up in this inn, worrying every day about being surrounded and slaughtered by Pang Family experts."

Su Yueli shrugged and put away the scroll. "That's true."

The Pang Family wanted to kill her. If she could not break through to the Fifth Realm soon, the situation would become extremely passive.

"Come on. Let's take a look around."

Su Yueli rose to her feet. Shutting herself away to build a cart behind closed doors was no solution; she intended to try her luck in the imperial city's streets and markets.

Naturally, Lin Ye had no objection. He slung his long saber across his back and followed her.

It was early morning, yet the streets of the outer city had already begun to bustle with life.

Shops lined both sides of the road, and cries of hawkers rose without end.

The imperial city's prosperity far surpassed that of Azure Province City. Even a random passerby by the roadside carried faint traces of surging blood and vitality.

After walking for a while, Su Yueli turned to ask Lin Ye beside her, "Are there any pills in this imperial city that martial artists can use?"

She wanted to see whether she could use external aid to force her way through the Fifth Realm's barrier.

Lin Ye thought for a moment, his face revealing his difficulty. "It's hard... Most pills in this world are used by cultivators who stand high above us. Ordinary martial artists can hardly come into contact with them."

"Besides, pills from immortal sects contain spiritual energy. We martial artists have no spiritual roots and cannot absorb it at all. If we force ourselves to take them, we'll only explode and die."

Su Yueli sighed inwardly.

For mortals to practice martial arts was difficult in the end. Even resources that aided cultivation were monopolized by immortal sects. If mortals wanted to advance even an inch, they could only endure it with their lives.

Just as she was beginning to feel disappointed, an enormous shop appeared at the street corner ahead.

The black plaque with golden lettering read Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. Inside were all kinds of cultivation resources, along with quite a few weapons and suits of armor rarely seen in the mortal world.

After pondering for a moment, Su Yueli walked inside.

What if... what if there was something she could use?

After entering, she was greeted by the rich fragrance of medicinal herbs. Several exquisite white jade porcelain bottles were neatly arranged on a wooden shelf at the very back.

Su Yueli could sense that some kind of thick liquid seemed to be sealed within those bottles.

"Miss, you have a good eye!"

The shopkeeper was a shrewd middle-aged man. The instant he saw Su Yueli's appearance and bearing, his eyes crinkled with a smile as he hurried over.

"Miss, you possess the beauty of a celestial maiden, yet your blood and vitality are so abundant. You are truly extraordinary."

The shopkeeper enthusiastically pointed to the white jade bottles and lowered his voice. "What's inside these is the essence blood of Third-Realm demon beasts from deep within the mountains!"

"Immortals from a sect used secret arts to erase the violent Killing Intent inside, leaving behind nothing but flesh-and-blood essence immensely beneficial to mortal martial artists!"

"If mortal martial artists drink it, it can strengthen their blood and vitality, cleanse their marrow, and temper their bones. The core descendants of the great lineages in our imperial city drink this stuff like water every day!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ye immediately scratched his head.

He had not expected such excellent goods, so useful to martial artists, to be sold right by the street. Yet when he had gathered information, he had failed to learn of it.

He was instantly embarrassed and looked toward Su Yueli.

Su Yueli stared fixedly at the white jade bottles. A ripple finally surfaced in her ever-calm eyes.

Demon beast blood.

There really was something capable of helping martial artists break through their realm!

She had said they should try their luck, and sure enough, they had found something good!

The strength of a Third-Realm demon beast was no trifling matter. One had to know that even mortal martial artists who cultivated to the currently known Tenth Realm could only contend with cultivators at the Second Realm, Foundation Establishment—and might not even win.

Against the Third Realm, they would basically be seeking death.

Thus, though martial artists were strong, that was only in the eyes of mortals. Before cultivators, they remained ants.

And a Third-Realm demon beast was equivalent to a Third-Realm cultivator. This essence blood truly was a great tonic for mortal martial artists!

With that thought, Su Yueli hurriedly asked, "Shopkeeper, how much is this?"

Seeing Su Yueli's interest, the shopkeeper immediately beamed, rubbing his hands together.

He gave a chuckle. "Miss, you surely know how difficult it is to kill a Third-Realm demon beast. Even immortals have to pay no small price~"

"Not to mention extracting essence blood from a demon beast. Even this essence blood is not something mortals like us can endure. Forget mortals—even martial artists would explode and die from drinking it!"

"Therefore, the immortals must further refine it, adding supporting medicinal ingredients before it can be made into a grade that martial artists can tolerate..."

Black lines crawled across Su Yueli's pretty face, and her head began to ache from listening.

After saying all that, wasn't he just laying the groundwork to say the price was high?

She then said irritably, "Shopkeeper, just tell me how much it costs."