Trouble

He calmed the churning emotions in his heart.

Jiang Jingnian glanced around Zhou, confirming that no one else's aura remained before he began searching the corpse.

The female corpse before him had been stretched far longer than her original height because her bones had been smashed into several sections. She looked like a long, blood-red strip of noodles—or rice cake.

And that bloodied, mangled "rice cake" lay quietly embedded in the mud.

Ever since Jiang Jingnian had cut down Huo Qi with a single slash, his mindset had changed.

Taiwan Novel Network had a complete library—??????????.??????—for him to choose from.

So now, faced with these remains, he did not find them dirty. He merely reached out with both hands and dug the skin-and-flesh "rice cake" out of the muddy hollow.

A moment later.

Jiang Jingnian had sifted out and cleaned up two compact mechanical hidden weapons, some paper scraps mashed into pulp, several shattered medicine boxes, a token made of unusual material, and an ancient bronze ring.

"There wasn't even a money pouch on her? She didn't even carry a single silver dollar?"

Under the hazy moonlight, Jiang Jingnian counted his gains, surprise showing on his face.

Judging from his earlier observations, this woman's status was clearly far above that of a wandering Martial Master like Huo Qi.

Yet.

She did not have a single silver dollar on her.

She was poor enough to rattle.

"Or perhaps she followed that Young Master Tao around, so she had no need to spend her own money while outside."

Jiang Jingnian made a casual guess, then cast the matter aside.

He tossed the paper scraps and shattered medicine boxes straight back into the remains, then put away the bronze ring and picked up the token for a closer look.

"How interesting. Even this bronze ring doesn't count as a special item, yet this token does."

Both sides of the token bore an engraved image of a drooping lotus. It felt somewhat warm and smooth, like jade but not jade.

Like iron, yet not iron.

Despite the fierce battle earlier, it had not shattered like the medicine boxes.

[Lotus Attendant Token: A maidservant's token of the Lotus Intent Sect, forged from red jade azure iron. It has been infused by the lotus homeland and possesses the ability to track and locate. It is also a symbol of identity for sect members and can be devoured and fused into an Archetype.]

"Lotus Intent Sect? Some sect from the Chen State? This woman was a maidservant from there?"

Jiang Jingnian thought it over but found no related records of this "Lotus Intent Sect" in the newspapers.

Still, at least he now knew whom he had killed.

As for this Lotus Attendant Token in his hand.

Though it possessed no traits, it was still a special item that could be devoured into his Archetype.

Moreover, the token was a hot potato. That Lotus Intent Sect could use it to track and locate him, so devouring it outright was the best way to deal with it.

His gaze flickered, and the Lotus Attendant Token vanished in an instant, evaporating into thin air.

Once the token had been refined, it was fed directly into his Archetype. The data on the panel shifted for a while before gradually stabilizing.

[Name: Jiang Jingnian]

[Traits: Taotie, Psychic Whip (Dream)]

[Technique: Taiji Vajra Art (Beginner)]

[Archetype: Martial Master (Blood Tempering 25%)]

Jiang Jingnian silently calculated that the token had added roughly a dozen percentage points of progress.

It was not much.

But it had still saved him one or two months of cultivation.

After all, when relying on his usual cultivation, Jiang Jingnian needed anywhere from one day to several days just to increase his progress by one percent.

"It's still a good thing. If I can devour a few more similar tokens, I'll immediately advance into a Bone-Tempering Martial Master."

Feeling the qi and blood coursing through his body grow stronger by several degrees, Jiang Jingnian smiled.

Ordinary martial artists.

Needed to rely on the four fundamental elements of innate physique, comprehension, secret medicine, and blood food. Not one could be lacking if they wished to advance by leaps and bounds; otherwise, they would be nothing but mediocre talents.

The first two were one's natural physical and learning talents, while the latter two were the resources required for cultivation.

Yet for Jiang Jingnian, who possessed trait entries, he needed neither exceptional innate physique nor much comprehension. Nor did he need precious resources such as secret medicine or blood food to complete his cultivation and advancement.

Of course.

At the end of the day, Jiang Jingnian still required cultivation resources.

It was simply that what he needed differed from what martial artists needed. He required special items with a somewhat fated and random nature.

As for secret medicine and blood food, they could indeed speed up his cultivation progress. But compared to the other option, those two resources were no more than icing on the cake.

Tongda Escort Agency.

Discussion Hall.

The escort agency's First Chief and Third Chief, who had been away for many days, were absent.

Only the Second Chief, the Chief Escort Master, and several returned escort chiefs, including Duan Escort Chief—a total of five people—sat around an ancient square table to discuss matters.

Not far from them stood the female escort hand who had previously traveled with Jiang Jingnian, along with two young apprentices.

All three looked uneasy and apprehensive.

During the escort mission two days ago, they had been forcibly conscripted by the Black Flood Dragon Army before encountering Demon Wraiths. Their fellow escorts had suffered grievous casualties.

Yet near Hongfeng Mountain, the three had lucked into survival, escaping amid the chaos caused by the Demon Wraiths. During their flight, they had also discovered the rosewood goods confiscated by the Black Flood Dragon Army outside the forest.

The carts had naturally been damaged. At least thirty to forty percent of the goods had been lost or destroyed, and the escort agency's horses had vanished without a trace.

After some discussion and hesitation, the three had still used manpower to haul the carts onto the official road.

Then, on the following morning, they encountered a merchant caravan passing along that road. After paying a sum of money to buy several horses, they transported the carts—now carrying only sixty to seventy percent of their goods—back to Tongda Escort Agency.

Now that the agency's upper ranks had learned of the situation, they had convened an emergency meeting.

However, this meeting was limited to the few of them discussing the situation. Aside from the escort hands and apprentices originally assigned to this mission, no one else had been summoned.

The Second Chief stroked his long beard and sank into thought, remaining silent for a long while.

The several escort chiefs around Zhou also wore grave expressions and said nothing.

The atmosphere was exceedingly heavy.

"The loss of goods is severe, but that isn't the thorniest problem."

After glancing at the others, the Chief Escort Master spoke first, breaking the silence. "Second Chief, the Tao Family of the Black Flood Dragon Army isn't easy to provoke. But hasn't the Tao Family's influence yet to reach Zhou's vicinity of Peace City?"

"I don't know. Several young masters of the Tao Family seem to have brought batches of people into Peace City one after another recently. They have also reached some kind of deal with the local Aristocratic Clans, though I'm not clear on the specifics."

The Second Chief pondered for a moment before speaking.

The threat brought by the Tao Family.

Was enormous to Tongda Escort Agency.

Because it controlled the Black Flood Dragon Army, it counted as a warlord rather than an ordinary Aristocratic Clan.

Among ordinary Aristocratic Clans.

Only a scant few held military power.

"This batch of goods belongs to the Qian Household, yet even after we named the Qian Household, that unit of the Black Flood Dragon Army still dared to rob it outright."

"It seems this Tao Family doesn't regard the local Aristocratic Clans as worth noticing."

"Well, the foremost Aristocratic Clans in Peace City have no military power in their hands. Naturally, others look down on them."

At that moment, another young escort chief spoke.