A fright

"Eight hundred years have passed since I attained enlightenment, and I have never taken a head with my flying sword." The old Daoist priest in Qinggu murmured to himself, the torchlight illuminating his aged face, his dull eyes brewing with excitement.

"He attained enlightenment eight hundred years ago. This eminent person is a figure from eight hundred years ago! My goodness, isn't that even older than the Great Feng Dynasty?"

"A deity from the Great Zhou Dynasty?"

"A god, a god!"

The warriors around them trembled with excitement. They already knew that a terrifying ancient corpse was sealed beneath the underground palace, that the collapse there was caused by a great battle, and that the strange events that had occurred at Yangbai Lake at noon that day.

Gongsun Xiu and the others had already told everyone this when they came up.

Therefore, upon hearing this poem, no one doubted the man in blue's authenticity, concluding that he was the kind of reclusive master who appeared only briefly in public.

Gongsun Xiu was slightly moved. The firelight tinged her face with a warm orange hue, and flames danced in her dark eyes. She stared at the disappearing figure of the man in blue, unable to look away for a long time.

After descending the mountain, Xu Qi'an circled around the mountain pass and entered the western side of the mountain range, where he aimlessly searched for poisonous herbs.

The ability to seek out highly poisonous flowers and plants is a natural talent of poisonous insects.

Even if Xu Qi'an knows nothing about poisons, as long as he can contain the poison gu and become one with it, he can inherit this ability from the poison gu.

He spent the entire night finding more than a dozen kinds of poisonous herbs, with varying degrees of toxicity. The milder ones would at most cause vomiting and diarrhea, while the more potent ones could kill instantly upon contact with blood.

In addition, he unearthed many hibernating venomous snakes and extracted their venom.

The pharmacies only had a limited selection of highly poisonous substances, which was not conducive to the development of poisonous insects. So, taking advantage of this trip, he decided to collect some poisonous substances here.

After returning, they combined the venom of the ancient corpse with a highly toxic substance that could kill instantly upon contact with blood, and fed it to the poisonous Gu.

This would further enhance his abilities and give him a stronger capacity to handle risks.

"I have a feeling that if things continue like this, a 'Poisonous Gentleman' like Xu Qian will emerge in the martial arts world, and he might even make it onto the list of the top 100 martial arts masters."

It could also be the notorious womanizer Xu Qian, my sworn brother Xu Qian, the beast king Xu Qian. Of course, what Xu Qian did has nothing to do with me, Xu Qi'an?

I am still the god in the hearts of the people of Great Feng.

Well, this time, Xu Qian can't let his disguise slip. He collected poisonous herbs and snake venom, found a pool of water, and cleaned the mud off his body and feet.

He returned to the izakaya before dawn. In the lobby, the waiter was fast asleep in front of the counter, and the charcoal fire in the stoves was very weak.

For large inns like this, providing hot water all night long is the most basic service during the autumn and winter seasons.

The waiter did not notice a figure silently sneaking into the inn and heading towards the living quarters.

Xu Qi'an walked down the long corridor, his ears suddenly twitched as he heard sounds of a man and woman making love coming from one of the rooms.

The bed creaked rhythmically, and the man's heavy breathing and the woman's muffled groans mingled together.

"Really, this is way too early for morning exercise. There are still two hours until dawn," Xu Qi'an muttered to himself as he passed the room from which the indescribable sounds were coming from and continued on his way.

Speaking of which, the combination of Dark Gu and Love Gu is simply a method that flower thieves dream of.

This made him even happier that he had transcended the category of a crude and vulgar martial artist and was now a sufficiently flamboyant and mature chivalrous knight-errant.

Upon reaching the room at the far end, bright candlelight shone through the crack in the door.

Huh, she's still awake?

Xu Qi'an knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside the room. However, Xu Qi'an could hear a faint sound of the blanket being pulled down, as well as a erratic and rapid heartbeat.

He knocked on the door again, but there was still no response.

His body vanished as a shadow, then emerged from the darkness under the table.

In the warm, spring-like bedroom, elegantly furnished, Mu Nanzhi curled up on a large brocade couch, the blanket pulled over her head, shivering.

"No way, you were so scared you didn't sleep all night? I know you're timid and afraid of ghosts, but this is too cowardly." He was the kind of guy who liked to tease women, and seeing the princess so flustered, he immediately crept closer.

He quietly slipped his hands under the covers.

The princess, peeking through a crack in the covers at the door, did not notice the hands that had slipped under the covers.

Just as she was on edge, a pair of icy hands suddenly gripped her waist, and a loud shout rang in her ear, "Hey!"

"Aaaaaah~"

The princess jolted and let out a high-pitched scream.

She was like a clumsy apprentice who had only learned a few basic kung fu moves, kicking her legs haphazardly and punching wildly in bed, screaming incessantly from her rosy little mouth.

He only pinched her waist once and then let go, but the aftereffects were so great. She kicked and screamed for a while before gradually calming down.

Then she heard familiar laughter coming from beside the bed. With tears in her eyes, she looked over and saw Xu Qi'an sitting on the edge of the bed, laughing through his tears.

I'll fight you to the death!

Mu Nanzhi rushed over while crying, wanting to tear Xu Yinluo apart with her bare hands.

After making a scene for a while, realizing that her fighting skills were not up to par with her target, she wrapped herself in the blankets, turned her back to him, and fumed alone, silently Curse in her heart.

"Hey, were you scared just now? I told you I'd be back before dawn. What are we having for lunch? In Yongzhou this season, the best crabs are still from the lake." Xu Qi'an tried to ease the tension with conversation.

She stubbornly refused to turn around.

Proud women are never easy to appease, especially after suffering such a great injustice. But neither of them realized that the truly outrageous gesture just now—the pinching of her waist—was not the act of intimidation itself.

Xu Qi'an sat behind a large desk, pondering the matter of collecting dragon energy in the bright candlelight.

The materials for the Soul-Summoning Bell are very difficult to collect, and it's unlikely that any other materials will be found in the short term. Collecting the ancient corpse's fingernails and venom is already a successful completion of the mission.

Next, he needed to figure out how to collect dragon energy.

"As one of Great Feng thirteen states of Dafeng, Yongzhou must have a host of dragon energy, that's beyond doubt. But Yongzhou City and its subordinate counties and states have millions of people. Even if I were a small radar, it would be impossible for me to travel to every inch of Yongzhou."

"Besides, doing it that way would be too foolish and inefficient. We need to find a time-saving and labor-saving method."

He thought of the ancient corpse in the underground palace and the Gongsun Aristocratic Clan, and a vague idea stirred in his mind, but he couldn't quite form it for a while.

At that moment, he heard even breathing. Mu Nanzhi had fallen asleep at some point, her breathing steady and she was sleeping peacefully.

In the candlelight, he smiled, his eyes gentle.

The next day.

Gongsun Xiu rode a fast horse back to the manor before dawn, heading straight for the courtyard where his father, Gongsun Xiangyang, lived.

Gongsun Xiangyang is a martial artist at the peak of the Transformation Realm, just one step away from the fourth rank. In the Yongzhou City area, he is considered one of the top experts.

Normally, a continent would produce three or four fourth-rank martial artists, given its population of several million. Yongzhou also has fourth-rank masters, but they have served the imperial court as officials.

These days, can organizing a force in the underworld compare to being an official?

Places like Jianzhou, where Martial Dao flourish, are exceptional. That's why Jianzhou is considered the holy land of martial arts in the Great Feng Jianghu.

Gongsun Xiangyang had just climbed off the soft belly of a beautiful concubine and was getting dressed and washing up with the help of a maid. He was forty-three years old this year, in the prime of his life.

This year, he has successfully fathered children with three of his concubines. The one in bed is his newly acquired concubine, who is only eighteen years old and two years younger than his most trusted daughter, Gongsun Xiu.

Gongsun Xiangyang plans to get her pregnant this year as well. For a martial Aristocratic Clan, as long as the tools are still usable, they cannot forget the important task of continuing the Lineage line.

The path of Martial Dao relies heavily on talent; the larger the population, the greater the chance of producing geniuses.

Lineage that only have an odd number of children inevitably decline in the end.

Before I had even finished washing up, my beloved daughter burst into the yard.

Standing in the courtyard, she said in a sweet voice, "Father, something urgent has happened."

Knowing that his daughter had organized the clansmen to search the tomb last night, Gongsun Xiangyang immediately grabbed a handkerchief from the maid, wiped his face, and strode out of the room.

Gongsun Xiangyang looked at his travel-worn daughter and was shocked. "Xiuer, you, you..."

In just one night, the young woman, who was only twenty years old, looked much more haggard. Her face was pale, her eyes were tired, and she no longer had the bright eyes and white teeth and the spirit she used to have.

"My daughter has lost a lot of Qi and Blood; she will recover after a period of rest," Gongsun Xiu said.

Gongsun Xiangyang's expression immediately turned serious. He scrutinized his daughter from head to toe, and seeing that she was unharmed, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and whispered:

What's the situation inside the tomb? What were the casualties among the clansmen?

"My daughter has returned for this matter. This is not the place to speak. Father, let's go to the study," Gongsun Xiu said.

P. S.: When I'm writing late into the night, I usually take a nap at my desk. I overslept today, so this chapter will be shorter.