Exotic Beasts

Before long, word spread among the Outer Court disciples that Lu Ren would gather qi by the end of this month at the latest, leaving them astonished.

It generally took three months to reach the First Martial Dao Gate. Lu Ren was going to gather qi in just two months-an astonishing pace.

If his family had been well-off enough to give him dozens of taels of silver in resources each month, like those wealthy disciples, he could have done it even sooner.

Both Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong felt the pressure and began training even harder.

"Brother Lu Ren is going to gather qi this month. Can Xu Yang still keep up with him?"

That was the question Luo Dehu asked while spreading the news that Lu Ren would gather qi this month.

"Can you keep up?" Zhang Hong asked with a smile.

Xu Yang shook his head!

Even if he could, he would not say so. Why invite that sort of attention? Who could say for certain what would happen a month from now?

Luo Dehu built up Lu Ren's reputation every day. It might look glorious now, but sooner or later, he would fall flat on his face.

Seeing this, Zhang Hong felt a little disappointed. He had actually hoped Xu Yang could surpass Lu Ren and trample him underfoot, but from the looks of it, Xu Yang could not manage that.

"Oh, right. We've arranged to go into the mountains with a few others to hunt Exotic Beasts in a few days. Want to come along?" Zhang Hong suddenly asked.

Exotic Beasts were strange creatures that lived deep in the mountains. They were ferocious, but every part of their bodies was a treasure. A single kill could fetch at least twenty or thirty taels of silver, while some rarer specimens could fetch hundreds or even thousands.

Not only were these creatures difficult to kill, they were also extremely hard to find.

Some martial artists who did not wish to serve as Attendants to wealthy households made their living going into the mountains to hunt Exotic Beasts.

Back when Xu Yang had been short of money, he had considered hunting Exotic Beasts in the mountains. But after learning more about them, he had abandoned the idea. Supposedly, even martial artists were no match for some of the stronger beasts.

Xu Yang shook his head. "Exotic Beasts are dangerous. I'd advise you not to take that risk."

If Exotic Beasts were so easy to hunt, there would not be so many poor people.

He did not ask who was going. Even if a martial artist led the group, he would not join them.

"An Inner Court senior brother is leading us," Zhang Hong said. "Zhang Yong and the others are coming too. We'll mainly help search for the Exotic Beasts. There won't be much danger."

So there really was a martial artist involved, and an Inner Court senior brother at that.

But Xu Yang still refused. With so many disciples in the Outer Court, why would such a fine opportunity fall into the laps of a handful of mud-legged peasants like them?

He did not voice this suspicion. He did not want to offend an Inner Court senior brother who was a martial artist.

Nor did he keep trying to dissuade Zhang Hong.

He was confident he could become a martial artist, so he would not take risks, nor did he need to. But if Zhang Hong did not take risks to obtain cultivation resources, his chances of becoming a martial artist really were only one in ten.

Zhang Hong did not try to persuade him again. He stood and left.

"Well? Did he agree?" Zhang Yong asked.

Zhang Hong shook his head. "Xu Yang refused."

"I never thought he'd be such a coward."

Zhang Yong had thought Xu Yang would join them. Once they killed an Exotic Beast and obtained cultivation resources, their aptitude would give them a strong chance of gathering qi and becoming martial artists. It was worth the risk.

"You can't plaster a wall with rotten mud. The Huang Family was right to abandon him," Luo Dehu said disdainfully.

Of the nine people the Huang Family had trained, everyone was taking part except Lu Ren, who had no intention of risking his life given the resources being devoted to him. They all knew that only by staking their lives would they have a chance of successfully gathering qi in the future.

Yet Xu Yang, whose talent was second only to Lu Ren's, did not even have the courage to stake his life on one attempt.

"We meant to give him a hand, but he probably thinks we're trying to hurt him," Tang Ruiyang said with a cold laugh.

He had arranged this expedition. He had some ties to that senior brother from the Inner Court, and had sent Zhang Hong to find Xu Yang because he wanted to help someone mired in the same mud as they were.

"Enough about him. Everyone makes their own choices. Let's talk about when we're heading into the mountains."

After Zhang Hong left, Xu Yang found Qiu Wenjie. "Let me ask you something. I heard there's something called Drowsiness Smoke. You light it inside a tube and blow the smoke into a room, and the people inside pass out almost instantly. Does something like that exist?"

Qiu Wenjie gave Xu Yang a strange look. "Senior Brother Xu Yang, do you want to become a flower-plucking rogue too?"

Too...?

Xu Yang did not probe further. "So it really exists?"

"Of course!" Qiu Wenjie nodded.

"Where can I get some?"

"No idea!" Qiu Wenjie lowered his voice. "Senior Brother Xu Yang, have you taken a fancy to someone's daughter?"

"Get lost!"

Having learned nothing useful, Xu Yang rose to leave, but Qiu Wenjie pulled him back.

"I don't know where to find what you're talking about, but I know of something called Muscle-Softening Powder. Just scatter it, and anyone who breathes it in will lose all strength and collapse within a dozen or so breaths, unless they're a qi-gathering martial artist.

"Even a qi-gathering martial artist can fall victim to it if they inhale enough."

Muscle-Softening Powder?

Its effects sounded much like Drowsiness Smoke. But once he scattered it, if the wind blew the wrong way or he accidentally breathed some in, he would suffer too. He could hardly hold his breath throughout an entire fight.

"You can take the antidote beforehand." Qiu Wenjie rolled his eyes. "The person who created Muscle-Softening Powder thought of all that long ago."

Xu Yang's eyes lit up. "Where can I get it?" he asked quietly.

Qiu Wenjie pointed at himself, then reached into his clothes and pulled out several paper packets. "This is Muscle-Softening Powder."

Xu Yang had never expected him to carry something like this around. Did he really want to become a flower-plucking rogue?

"Can you sell it to me?"

"You can have it. I'll just ask my father for a few more packets when I go home tonight!"

Xu Yang took the packets and nearly opened one to sniff it, but managed to restrain himself.

Qiu Wenjie probably would not lie to him.

Qiu Wenjie showed him which packet contained the antidote and which contained Muscle-Softening Powder, and explained how long their effects lasted.

"If I use this to kill someone, could it be traced back to your family?" Xu Yang asked after some thought.

If this was something exclusive to the Qiu family, he could not use it.

"No. Plenty of people in the martial world have this sort of dirty stuff."

Qiu Wenjie did not ask whom Xu Yang wanted to kill or what he intended to do.

He was a clever person himself. Otherwise, he would not have told his father, Qiu Yongqiang, about Xu Yang.

"If you can't handle it, you can ask my father. Our Qiu family isn't some great household, but we can deal with ordinary little matters," Qiu Wenjie said.

The Qiu family had invested in Xu Yang, and he did not want anything to happen to him. Besides,

as far as he was concerned, what important figure could Xu Yang possibly have offended?

If it really were someone important, Xu Yang would hardly still be here.

"It's nothing. I can handle it myself."

Xu Yang rose and left, then sat down elsewhere and looked at his panel.

[Techniques: Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Entry (31/100), Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Entry (63/150)]

[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 31]

Over ten days had passed since he killed Li Hu, and his points had accumulated to more than thirty again. He had originally intended to use them to improve his aptitude, but now he could only improve his techniques first.

Although he had obtained Muscle-Softening Powder from Qiu Wenjie, he still needed to improve his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist to be safe. Killing over a dozen people would not be easy. He had to ensure that not a single one survived.

It would just mean delaying his breakthrough and qi gathering.

Once I slaughter those dozen or so people, I should have some peace for a while.

Closing his eyes, Xu Yang poured all his points into Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

Turtle-Snake Great Stance was a stillness practice, a method of internal cultivation. Improving its proficiency would not increase his cultivation.

[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Entry (94/150)]

A flood of insights came to him. His progress in Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist rose to ninety-four, and his understanding of the technique underwent a tremendous change.