Murder and Arson

Taking advantage of Lin Shaokun's coughing fit, Gao Fei instantly rushed over. Ignoring his second uncle's warnings behind him, he punched Lin Shaokun in the chest.

It was the same spot as during the day. Injury piled upon injury, followed by a blow to the head.

Merit Points +31

His sin value was even higher than those Minor Monsters that ate people.

"Why are you staring at me? Dig out the Fox Demon's Demon Core. Once we get back, we can go into seclusion."

Gao Linyue shook his head and began hacking, slicing, and sawing at the Fox Demon, one cut at a time.

"You brat, can't you listen to advice? The Lin Family has several Spirit-Absorption Realm cultivators. Once the war ends, they'll return. It'll be troublesome if this gets discovered."

"Then clean it up properly and don't let them find out. We'll leave the Fox Demon's corpse here. Even if they discover it, they won't dare make a sound."

Gao Fei quickly began gathering spoils from Lin Shaokun's corpse.

All he found was a thumb-sized Demon Core that was nearly stone, not even a scrap of silver.

After watching Gao Linyue remove the Fox Demon's Demon Core, he hurriedly called out.

"Second Uncle, come search with me. Where do you think this brat hid his banknotes?"

As he spoke, he searched several places, yet still found nothing.

Gao Linyue walked to the bed, lifted the quilt, then pried up the bedboard.

There was a small wooden box beneath the bed.

When he opened it, there were more than ten banknotes inside.

There were notes for dozens of taels, a hundred taels, and a thousand taels.

Gao Linyue gathered the banknotes, carried the Fox Demon's corpse inside, and placed it together with Lin Shaokun's body.

He overturned the lamp oil and set it alight in one fluid motion.

"Go!"

After leaving the manor, the two changed out of their night clothes, found a pond, tied stones to the clothes, and sank them to the bottom before heading home.

There were few people out at night to begin with. They easily avoided passersby and returned home.

Then they began dividing the spoils in Gao Fei's room.

They exchanged the pills for the Beast Core, while the 2,350 taels' worth of banknotes were split evenly.

"Second Uncle, starting from the Organ Tempering Realm, how many of these pills would you need to reach the Spirit-Absorption Realm?"

"It depends on one's foundation and aptitude. I'd need ten. The hall master's daughter, Yue Qinghe, might only need seven."

Gao Linyue was delighted as he received the pills. "I'm going into seclusion for a month. It'll take half a year in total to digest the medicinal power. Be careful out there."

"You can't come out during that time?"

"I can. I'm practicing martial arts, not becoming immortal. I still have to eat. It's just that while my internal organs are being shaken and tempered, I can't engage in fierce combat."

Gao Fei understood. So long as the county city had not fallen, there should be no problem.

"Try one. I want to see the effect."

Hearing that, Gao Linyue did not stand on ceremony. He poured out a pill and swallowed it.

Gao Fei could see Gao Linyue's lower abdomen trembling faintly. Spiritual energy slowly seeped out from his body.

Only then did Gao Fei understand that not a bit of the spiritual energy he had absorbed over eighteen years had gone to waste.

His second uncle was like a funnel—how much remained depended entirely on how much his body could absorb.

He took out the Beast Core he had found on Lin Shaokun.

"Take this. It'll help your cultivation."

This Demon Core had nearly turned white. For Gao Fei's cultivation, it was not even enough to temper his heart properly, so it was meaningless.

After Gao Linyue left, Gao Fei held the Fox Demon's Beast Core in his hand.

"System, put a hundred Merit Points into the Purple-Organ Tempering Art first."

In the first year, you continued using the bone-tempering method to temper your heart. Nourished by the spiritual energy within the Beast Core, your progress was incredibly rapid.

In the eighth year, you completed the tempering of your heart. Both its elasticity and defensive strength greatly improved. It was hard as iron, yet as elastic as rubber.

Your physique improved.

At this level, even Dark Force would find it difficult to injure your heart.

In the ninth year, you began tempering your liver. The liver governed qi and blood.

In the fiftieth year, you completed the tempering of your liver.

In the fifty-first year, you began tempering your spleen. The spleen governed the transformation of qi and blood, turning food into qi and blood.

In the ninety-eighth year, you completed the tempering of your spleen.

In the ninety-ninth year, you began tempering your lungs. The lungs governed breathing. Those with strong lungs had long-lasting breath, and absorbing spiritual energy relied entirely on the lungs.

He looked at his remaining 329 Merit Points.

Of the five viscera and six bowels, eleven components in all, he had now completed three.

It seemed his Merit Points were not enough to reach the Spirit-Absorption Realm.

Judging by how pale the Beast Core in his hand had become, it did not seem sufficient either.

"After all this effort, I hope this technique won't disappoint me."

"System, finish it in one go."

In the fiftieth year, you completed the tempering of your lungs.

In the fifty-first year, you began tempering your kidneys. The kidneys governed essence and qi, the foundation of one's origin.

You discovered that your kidneys were extremely weak and began reducing the intensity of tempering.

In the one hundred and thirtieth year, you completed the tempering of your kidneys. Your physique improved.

In the two hundred and fifth year, you completed the tempering of your stomach.

In the two hundred and fiftieth year, you completed the tempering of your small intestine.

In the three hundredth year, you completed the tempering of your large intestine, reaching the Late Organ Tempering Realm.

The process stopped at the bladder. He had run out of Merit Points.

The Beast Core retained only the faintest trace of color, no better than the one taken from Lin Shaokun.

Only the gallbladder and triple burner remained.

Back to zero Merit Points again. Tomorrow, he would have to leave the city and investigate the monsters' movements.

That night, a great fire broke out at the Lin Family, alarming the entire small county city.

Yet the Lin Family refused to let anyone else go in and fight the fire.

Fortunately, the Lin Family estate was large. Every side was separated from neighboring homes by a street, so no one else was affected.

The clamor continued until the rooster crowed before finally dying down.

Once the blaze was extinguished.

Two charred corpses were laid before the ruins.

An energetic old man in brocade robes, around sixty years old, walked over to the bodies with a middle-aged man following behind him.

He looked at Lin Shaokun, whose facial outline was still barely visible, and at the Fox Demon's corpse beside him.

"Bury the bodies in the rear courtyard. Instruct the servants to keep their mouths shut. At present, there are practically no one in the city capable of killing a Spirit-Absorption Realm monster."

After pondering for a while, he seemed to mutter to himself. "Was it you, my Lord County Magistrate?"

"Father, should we continue our plan to throw the county city into chaos? If it truly was the county magistrate, I fear this was merely a warning! Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and Xiao Feng are all absent. We simply can't defend against his assassinations."

The old man stood where he was, staring at the ruins in silence for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice had become somewhat hoarse.

"Gather the family's money and silver. Take the direct line to Qing Province. I'm old. If this vengeance goes unavenged, I won't be able to rest in peace even in death."

Early the next morning.

Gao Fei rose very early and went out without even eating breakfast.

He could not afford not to hurry. Spirit-Absorption Realm monsters could enter the county city.

If several more came, how many Organ Tempering Realm martial artists would have to be sacrificed to fill the gap?

The number of Rat Demons that had surrounded him offered a glimpse of the whole leopard through a single spot. There were definitely quite a few Organ Tempering Realm monsters.

Once the city fell, he would not even be able to protect himself.

This time, Gao Fei went to the county yamen again to replenish his white-shafted great spears.

The blade in his hand was not good either. It could barely pierce armor. At some point, he needed to find himself a better treasured saber.

Otherwise, he might as well use a great hammer.

Other than the guards at the gate, there was not a single person in the county yamen.

He walked over to the mission board.

After scanning it once, he saw Tao Hua Village again. The note said that large groups of Dog Demons had appeared nearby.

Gao Fei tore it down.

He found an Armor-Piercing Spear that fit his hand and walked out.

There were not many useful ones left now, which gave him a headache.

He needed a spear made entirely of metal. Wooden shafts simply were not durable.

He also needed a horse—one that had become a monster—to use for travel.

Unfortunately, the Martial Suppression Guards had ridden them all away.

This time, Gao Fei finally paid off his debt at the breakfast stall, but the owner still watched him like a thief, as though Gao Fei might simply rob the place outright.

When Gao Fei reached Tao Hua Village, he could see from afar that several large holes had been torn through the outer wooden fence.

Several Dog Demons with Unawakened Intelligence frolicked around the holes, running in and out.