Good Deeds Bring Good Rewards

The heavy rain was still falling.

On the street where Chen Haoyan had died, Shouchong's figure appeared abruptly. With a hint of surprise in his eyes, he surveyed the Chen Haoyan scattered all over the ground.

"Who did this?"

His entire body had been smashed apart. What kind of blood feud did that take?

Sighing, Shouchong carefully searched the street, examining even every crack as scenes from before and after the battle rapidly unfolded in his mind.

"The killer had plotted meticulously and ambushed him at the corner. But his skill was lacking, so Chen Haoyan spotted him from far away. Interesting—using weakness to overcome strength? Chen Haoyan fired an arrow. The killer... didn't block it? He withstood it head-on and charged right up to him, then... hm? Chen Haoyan lost?"

Shouchong's brows suddenly furrowed.

But soon, as though he had discovered some crucial clue, his tightly drawn brows relaxed again, and he even revealed a faint smile.

"This footwork, this method of bursting qi and blood... Lotus in Fire?"

What a fine lad!

Shouchong looked around, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"I only made a move before him once. Just that one time, and he actually gained some insight from it. He even learned and used it on the spot... and used it rather convincingly."

What astonishing talent!

"Besides that... my [Lotus Blade] is gone. If not for that, [Liansheng Bodhisattva] would not have been implicated and suddenly lost contact. And that Dragonrise County Seal—could that brat have taken it too? After fighting desperately for half the night, someone else ended up filling their bowl to the brim."

Thinking of this, Shouchong felt rather helpless.

His plan that night had actually been simple: his true body would step out and draw the fire, while [Liansheng Bodhisattva] secretly went to [Spirit Wandering Temple] in his place.

Yet two accidents had occurred.

The first accident was naturally that Chen Haoyan had thought of the same thing, causing [Liansheng Bodhisattva] to arrive one step too late and allowing Chen Haoyan to beat him to the punch.

The second accident was the [Lotus Blade].

Just as [Liansheng Bodhisattva] seized Chen Haoyan and was about to kill him, the [Lotus Blade] suddenly vanished, and the backlash immediately affected Shouchong himself.

The chain reaction caused [Liansheng Bodhisattva] to fall into a standstill as well.

That was what allowed Chen Haoyan to seize the chance to escape alive. By the time Shouchong recovered and chased after him, all he saw were corpses strewn across the ground.

"...Forget it." Shouchong shook his head and swiftly adjusted his mindset. "I was the one who suffered the main loss. I failed to obtain the pills within [Spirit Wandering Temple], but [Liansheng Bodhisattva] still achieved its objective and harvested this season's incense offerings from [Spirit Wandering Temple]. At least I did not return empty-handed."

Besides, Wang Ping was, strictly speaking, also a disciple of the White Lotus Sect.

No matter how he calculated it, the rich water had not flowed into outsiders' fields.

"And besides... this is also an opportunity."

Beneath the rainy night, Shouchong raised his head and looked into the distance. At the heart of Longxing County, the towering county yamen lay sprawled upon the earth like a colossal beast dozing with its eyes shut.

Logically, with Inner Force martial artist Chen Haoyan gone, the county yamen should no longer have posed any threat to him. Yet that was not the case.

In Shouchong's senses, Chen Haoyan's death had not weakened the sense of danger the county yamen gave him. Instead, it had intensified to the point of life and death.

He knew the reason why.

At that thought, Shouchong's lips curled into a cold sneer. "A useful blade broke unexpectedly, and now there is no blade to use. So you are forced to step onto the stage."

"Hmph... let's see how much longer you can hide."

Drawing back his gaze, Shouchong swiftly restrained his aura. He then cleaned up the scene once more, erasing every trace of battle before striding away.

Wang Ping no longer had the heart to care about what else had happened that night.

He had already returned to his own small courtyard, changed out of his soaked clothes, and placed a bulging bundle onto the table.

Even now, he was still savoring that battle.

Compared to his battle against Xie Shi, the battle with Chen Haoyan had undoubtedly been far more perilous. In theory, he should not have been the final victor at all.

"Killing Xie Shi only looked dangerous. In truth, timing, terrain, and human harmony had all been on my side. All I had to do was swing my blade, and everything followed its natural course. There were no surprises... But Chen Haoyan was different. There was seventy percent luck in killing him. With the first strike after getting close, he chose to cut off my arm."

At that thought, Wang Ping rubbed his shoulder again.

The phantom pain from his severed arm had yet to fade. On top of that came the backlash from excessive exertion. The intense soreness in his muscles made it difficult even to move.

That was the consequence of training tendons but not flesh.

He had strength and explosive power, yet his body could not endure the devastation brought by that outburst. His endurance was too poor; before even three minutes had passed, he had already run out of steam.

"If that strike had not hit my arm but my neck, I would have died on the spot. Even with [Perish with the Sun], I would not have had the chance to use it."

"But that did not count as him underestimating me. At the time, the hand holding my blade was the greatest threat on my entire body. My injuries made it obvious that I would not live long. From his perspective, as long as he dealt with that hand, I was certain to die. Naturally, he instinctively made the safest choice."

Wang Ping continuously reviewed the course of that deadly fight in his mind.

With the Desire-Realm Celestial Body, he could sharply sense Chen Haoyan's emotional changes, which also helped him reconstruct Chen Haoyan's psychological shifts during that battle.

This too was precious practical combat experience.

After completing his review, Wang Ping came to a conclusion. "With [Qi Suppression] and [Perish with the Sun], a fighting style that trades injury for injury suits me best."

"And... my martial arts are too weak."

"Defeating the strong from below is not my style. Bullying the weak with strength is more to my liking. My greatest problem this time was that my martial arts were inferior to Chen Haoyan's."

"Otherwise, he would not have discovered me in advance."

"I need to find a way to fix that. Fortunately, with Spirit Sense and the Desire-Realm Celestial Body enhancing me, my martial arts progress is very fast. I am merely lacking a suitable weapon."

A moment later, Wang Ping sat upright again.

He formed hand seals with all ten fingers and cast a technique. Using [Qi Suppression] to transform True Qi, he circulated it through several cycles within his body. His listless vitality immediately recovered by more than half.

Then he looked toward the bundle on the table beside him.

He had noticed long ago that Chen Haoyan had kept this bundle tucked against his chest like some precious treasure. That was why Wang Ping had specially taken it before leaving.

"Let's see..."

Wang Ping stepped forward and untied the bundle.

The next instant, twelve porcelain bottles accompanied by a rich medicinal fragrance appeared before his eyes. Each bottle had a corresponding label beneath it.

"Holy shit!?"

Wang Ping's eyes went wide in an instant. The words on the labels of those twelve bottles nearly blinded him, and his hands trembled with excitement.

"Sure enough, good deeds bring good rewards..."

Wang Ping murmured under his breath. He rubbed his eyes again, seemingly still unable to believe it, as though he were dreaming. Only after a while did he reveal a relieved smile.

They were all pills!

Wang Ping had learned about pills while chatting with Liu Ye before. Supposedly, only the court's strange men and alchemists possessed the skill to refine them.

"One pill can replace a month of dietary supplements!"

"Did Chen Haoyan force his way into [Spirit Wandering Temple] for these? Don't tell me he looted the temple's pharmacy clean?"

Wang Ping carefully counted the types of pills.

Heartbreak Pill, Gu Poison Pill, Skill-Dissolving Powder.

Tendon-Transforming Pill, Bone-Forging Pill, Marrow-Cleansing Pill, Qi-Replenishing Powder, Antidote Pill, Body-Tempering Pill, Heaven-Reversing Rebirth Pill, Snow Ginseng Icefruit Nectar, Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill.

"Three poison pills, nine tonics."

Looking at the porcelain bottles on the table, Wang Ping fell into deep thought. He had suddenly thought of a problem that might seem paranoid, but against which he had to guard.

"Do these pills actually match the labels on their bottles?"

Wang Ping picked up a porcelain bottle labeled [Body-Tempering Pill]. But what if it actually contained a [Heartbreak Pill]?

"Putting myself in their shoes, if it were me, I would definitely use one set of labels openly and another set in secret, deliberately misleading ignorant outsiders."

It was also a basic anti-theft precaution.

[Spirit Wandering Temple] stood right there. Could that Spirit Wandering True Person have never considered the possibility of his pills being stolen while refining them?

Wang Ping did not believe it!

"In this world, not a single person who rises above the crowd is human. Anyone who acts human surely will not live long... It is never wrong to be cautious and think things through."

Thinking of this gave Wang Ping a headache.

"I don't understand pharmacology."

With Spirit Sense, he could analyze the ingredients in these pills. But without knowledge of pharmacology, even knowing the ingredients would make it difficult to determine their precise effects.

"...Looks like I need to find something to test them on."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Ping simply pushed open the door and entered the stable beside the courtyard. He led out the Curly-Mane Horse assigned to him by the county yamen and patted it affectionately.

For safety's sake, he could only let his own horse suffer.

The next moment, Wang Ping activated Spirit Sense and extracted portions of powder from each pill in the porcelain bottles, feeding them one by one to the Curly-Mane Horse. Then he waited patiently.

To guard against every possibility, he extracted powder separately from the pills' surfaces, cores, and middle layers, ensuring that the entire pill was nonpoisonous. What if a poison pill had been wrapped in a harmless outer skin? Caution could sail a ship for ten thousand years. He would rather waste them than fall into a trap.

Throughout the process, he observed with Spirit Sense.

From the moment the powder entered the horse's stomach to the point where it began to take effect, he saw clearly which organs and body parts it affected and how potent the effects were.

An hour later.

After feeding some Antidote Pill powder to the Curly-Mane Horse, which had begun foaming at the mouth and kicking all four legs in the air, Wang Ping returned to his room with a face as black as iron.

The facts proved that he was not being paranoid.

All the labels were scrambled. The true means of distinguishing the pills was not the labels, but the patterns on the porcelain bottles. Clearly, they were some kind of special code.

There really was not a single human-like person in this damned place!

If I had not been one step ahead, remembered how that old bastard Shouchong had screwed me over with blood before, and kept another guard up, wouldn't I have had to revive and start over again?

"Bastards!"

Wang Ping cursed for a while, then rearranged the twelve pill bottles. Fortunately, although the labels had been shuffled, the labels themselves were not incorrect.

There were only three poison pills, while the nine tonics remained nine different kinds.

"Heartbreak Pill, Gu Poison Pill, Skill-Dissolving Powder—these three go together. Deadly poison."

"Tendon-Transforming Pill, Bone-Forging Pill, Marrow-Cleansing Pill, Qi-Replenishing Powder, Antidote Pill, Body-Tempering Pill... these are for strengthening the physique, suitable for external martial artists."

"Heaven-Reversing Rebirth Pill, Snow Ginseng Icefruit Nectar... these two are used to improve Inner Force. After taking them, an inexplicable current of qi appears within the body. But if one's cultivation is insufficient, they are harmful instead. The Curly-Mane Horse nearly died on the spot after taking them. Good thing I reacted quickly enough and pumped its stomach in time."

"The last one..."

Wang Ping picked up the final porcelain bottle. It was labeled [Body-Tempering Pill], but it should actually contain the [Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill].

The problem was that he did not know what it did.

"After the Curly-Mane Horse took it, no changes appeared in its body. None of its organs changed either. I cannot even determine whether it is poisonous, making it difficult to judge."

Wang Ping guessed that this pill was Chen Haoyan's true target.

After all, while the other eleven pills were precious, few of them were actually useful to Chen Haoyan. At the very least, they were not important enough for him to risk his life over.

"If that is the case, this is quite the prized treasure. If people learn that I killed Chen Haoyan and took these pills, perhaps there will be trouble?"

At that thought, Wang Ping immediately stored the Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill separately, then placed the Heartbreak Pill into the porcelain bottle labeled [Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill].

He also put the remaining two poisons, the Gu Poison Pill and Skill-Dissolving Powder, into the bottles for [Heaven-Reversing Rebirth Pill] and [Snow Ginseng Icefruit Nectar]. He then kept all three bottles close against his body... It had only been a casual move, but perhaps it would produce a miraculous effect.

Only after finishing all this did Wang Ping return to bed.

"My [Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow] has only just reached the beginner level. To break through to minor mastery, I must cultivate [Bones Like Tigers]. This step mainly involves tempering the bones..."

At that thought, he took out the Bone-Forging Pill.

He swallowed the pill, mixed it with water, and drank it in one gulp.

At first, he felt nothing. But before long, Wang Ping felt as though a ball of blazing fire had ignited in his abdomen and was rapidly spreading through his limbs and bones.

Then came the itch! An unbearable itch!

The itch arose from within his bones, impossible to scratch. Wang Ping knew the medicine was taking effect, so he dared not delay. He immediately gripped the Black Chi Bow in his hand.

"Hu!"

Spirit Sense began to circulate, suppressing every distracting thought and sensation. Wang Ping's mind swiftly sank into his connection with the Black Chi Bow, digesting the surging medicinal power of the Bone-Forging Pill.

Feeling the hot current within his body, Wang Ping grew increasingly excited.

"With Spirit Sense assisting me, I took less than three days to reach beginner [Blood Like Fire]. Now that pills are aiding me, one night will be enough to reach minor mastery in [Bones Like Tigers]!"

The following morning.

The rain had passed and the sky had cleared. Beneath the newly risen sun, a rainbow hung high overhead, while fresh air rode the breeze through the county town that had just endured a night of wind and rain.

Bang!

A night later, Wang Ping, who had been sitting upright on the bed as immovable as a towering stone statue, suddenly opened his eyes. A burst of sound erupted from within his body out of nowhere.

The sound did not come from his mouth, nor was it the sound of his abdominal organs. It was formed by the faint vibrations of every bone in his body, which drove his muscles, skin, and internal organs to tremble together. The sounds converged like muffled thunder rolling across the sky and the low roars of tigers and leopards, containing the transformation of shedding flesh and remaking bone.

"It's done!"

Once the sound faded, Wang Ping was drenched in sweat. At some point, all the muscle soreness from yesterday had vanished, and light seemed to shine within his eyes.

Bones Like Tigers!

Like tendons and blood, bones had four grades: spirit cat, brindled, white-browed, and mountain lord. Wang Ping's bones were still of the highest grade—[Mountain Lord Bone]!

Now, with True Dragon Sinew, Supreme Yang Blood, and Mountain Lord Bone empowering him, Wang Ping could clearly feel his stamina rise sharply again, while his ability to endure pressure and his endurance soared. Even when using Lotus in Fire to twist his entire body into a single force, he found it much easier than before.

Especially when his tendons and bones exerted force together.

True Dragon Sinew, Mountain Lord Bone—when he threw a punch, dragons and tigers roared in unison. Amid the fierce whistle of his fist wind and the steam of qi, blood, and sweat, it seemed as though wind and clouds truly followed him!

"Excellent!"

Wang Ping moved his limbs and let out a low roar. This feeling of such a dramatic increase in strength was even more exhilarating than the instant he unleashed Iron Ox Skill.

Only after a long while did Wang Ping stop moving.

Then he wrapped and sealed the remaining pills. With Spirit Sense assisting him, he had his Curly-Mane Horse swallow them one by one and hid them in its stomach.

"This way, they can at least remain hidden for one to three days."

Wang Ping used Spirit Sense to adjust the pills' positions inside the horse's stomach, ensuring they would not be excreted. Only then did he relax, turn around, and head toward the county yamen.

As expected, the county yamen had surely learned of Chen Haoyan's death by now.

Rebels killing one another, the chief constable dead—upon hearing such pleasing news, that county magistrate who had rarely shown himself until now should no longer be able to sit still, right?