The "Spirit" Is Dead?

"Is there anyone who hasn't left?"

Xu Fan sat at the stone table and gestured for Old Man Kong to sit.

He had let Old Man Kong stay only because nine years of compulsory education had yet to erase his compassion, and he pitied the old man, who was all alone with no one to rely on.

The old man could also sweep the courtyard and tend the fields for him.

As for the others?

He had no obligation to lend them a hand.

He had gotten where he was without relying on anyone in the fish market. He had relied on his own world-shocking wisdom, along with a little help from the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram.

The others had nothing to do with him.

"There's Yudan and Gensheng's families too."

Old Man Kong shook his head and sat down.

"Have a drink with me."

Xu Fan couldn't be bothered to say more. Why did he need to explain his actions to anyone?

"Hiss... Could I have what it takes to become the king of showing off too?"

He cast aside that dangerous thought, tore off a chicken leg, and asked as he ate:

"Has anything major happened in Wuling County or the prefectural city?"

For the sake of his cultivation, he didn't spend much time at the fish market. He had to find precious fish on the lake to cultivate.

He only came by every two or three days to buy some wine and meat to satisfy his cravings.

For now, he had left the small task of gathering news to Old Man Kong.

"Lin Chu has been captured by the Brocade-Clad Guard. As it turns out, he didn't die, and he even killed those experts from the Canal Gang."

Old Man Kong took a sip of wine and sighed.

"That boy had a hard life too. He only learned that Devil Cultivation Method to get revenge, and all the bastards he killed deserved it."

"But the law shows no mercy. If you learn a Devil Cultivation Method, you have to die."

He recalled what Lin Chu had done: first wiping out the bandits of the twelve water strongholds, then killing the fish market steward, and finally wiping out the Canal Gang's upper ranks.

Every last thing had been for revenge.

"What else?"

Xu Fan nodded slightly and continued eating.

He didn't care what happened to Lin Chu. Everyone had their own path, and everyone acted for their own sake. He was no different.

"Aside from Lin Chu, there's Jiang Yunhe, who caused such a stir throughout Yin Mountain Prefecture before. He cultivated the Wedding Robe Divine Art too. I heard he was a top expert who had undergone Blood Exchange eight times."

"The Brocade-Clad Guard's notice didn't mention Jiang Yunhe. They probably didn't catch him."

"Jiang Yunhe not only committed all kinds of evil, he also killed a True Disciple of the Clearwater Sect and stole a heavenly material or earthly treasure called... Emperor Flow Serum."

Old Man Kong had studied for a few years, so he spoke fluently enough, picking out the important points.

"Jiang Yunhe? Emperor Flow Serum?"

Xu Fan paused and touched the two jade bottles tucked inside his robes.

The Wedding Robe Divine Art cultivator he had killed on Peach Blossom Spring Lake came to mind. He seemed to fit the description.

So the golden fruit in that jade bottle was Emperor Flow Serum?

Wasn't Emperor Flow Serum supposed to be liquid?

If it's a fruit, why call it Emperor Flow Serum?

"In other words, I already have both kinds of Great Yin Spiritual Qi needed for the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction?"

Miscellaneous Records of the Land of Wu recorded that Emperor Flow Serum appeared once every sixty years and had endless wondrous uses. It was a kind of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi that had once belonged exclusively to the Supreme Yin Dao Lineage.

As for Moonlight Yin Qi, one wisp could be gathered each day, and eighty-one wisps made one portion.

Now he had both kinds of Great Yin Spiritual Qi.

It had truly come to him without the slightest effort.

Things are going so smoothly. Looks like I have great fortune too.

"Next, I just need to condense the Jade Capital Wheel and Spirit Beginning Wheel and cultivate them to their peak. Then I can refine the Great Yin Spiritual Qi and become a great Qi Refinement cultivator?"

"There's definitely something special about Peach Blossom Spring Lake. No, this world."

Since that strange phenomenon appeared in the heavens, there had first been Liang Chi, a fisherman who had somehow obtained a martial arts inheritance and displayed extraordinary talent. No one even knew where he had gone now.

Then Xu Fan's memories of his previous life had awakened, followed by Lin Chu, who had lost an arm, obtaining the Wedding Robe Divine Art.

No matter how he looked at them, they seemed like important figures blessed with fortune.

"This world... isn't going to produce one of those protagonists who pretend to be pigs to eat tigers, is it?"

Xu Fan wasn't sure.

In his view, Liang Chi looked quite a lot like a fortune-blessed protagonist who followed the path of keeping a low profile.

"Am I the two-worlds type?"

Could there also be people with great fortune of the good-for-nothing type, or the Long Aotian type?

"If that's the case, we're all people with great fortune. I hadn't originally intended to crush them with a higher-dimensional strike."

After settling his thoughts, Xu Fan gave a light cough and gestured for Old Man Kong to continue.

"There's also something about the fish market."

Old Man Kong's expression grew grave.

"The Canal Gang's upper ranks have been wiped out, but the Han Household hasn't given up on Peach Blossom Spring Lake. I heard they're sending one of their own descendants to take charge."

"The Han Household isn't like any of the powers in Wuling County. It's one of only two Aristocratic Clans in Yin Mountain Prefecture's city, and it has never lacked Grandmaster experts from one generation to the next."

As a man who had lived forty or fifty years, he had heard of the Han Household and Ye Household's great reputations since he was a child.

The Canal Gang had never changed its name, but its members had been replaced several times over. They were all lackeys of the prefectural city's powers, used to control the fish market.

Xu Fan might not fear the Canal Gang, but the Han Household was different.

It was a major power with more than one Grandmaster.

It also had no fewer than ten top experts who had undergone Blood Exchange at least seven times.

"Young Xu, you must be careful of the Han Household. They're not easy to reason with."

The people in charge and the stewards at the fish market showed him respect because Young Xu was stronger.

But if the Han Household sent someone, they would surely be far stronger than the previous stewards.

Xu Fan smiled, unafraid.

"Don't worry. If I can't beat them, I'll run."

After mastering the Divine Movement Technique, even a martial artist who had undergone Blood Exchange nine times couldn't catch him, and an Innate Grandmaster might not be able to either.

With the Golden Light Technique's combination of offense and defense, he was still confident he could escape from a Grandmaster expert.

"Haha, with how shrewd you are, Young Xu, I suppose I worried too much."

Wuling County.

Inner city, the Hundred Household Office.

"Jiang Yunhe's 'spirit' is already dead?"

"How is that possible! Who below the Grandmaster realm could kill him?"

Lan Ci's face was covered by a light veil, and disbelief filled her eyes. Even her voice rose a little.

In all of Yin Mountain Prefecture, who could kill Jiang Yunhe besides herself and the Grandmasters of the Ye and Han Households?

The Han Household's genius on the Hidden Dragon Ranking wasn't in Yin Mountain Prefecture either.

If those Grandmasters had acted, they couldn't have done so in secret. Killing someone who cultivated the Wedding Robe Divine Art would bring quite a bounty and spread their fame.

If it wasn't any of them, who else had secretly killed Jiang Yunhe?

No wonder she had waited so long without Jiang Yunhe making a move. It wasn't that her judgment had been wrong; he had died long ago.

A Great Grandmaster's Thousand-Li Enemy Search could lock onto a person's "spirit." No matter if they fled to the ends of the earth, they couldn't erase it.

Only another Great Grandmaster, or the intervention of a different Great Grandmaster, could conceal the existence of the "spirit."

Since the "spirit" was dead, that meant the person was dead too.

"So he actually died?"

Zhu Xiuwen frowned.

He had been puzzled before by Jiang Yunhe's failure to appear. Now that he knew why, he found the situation even more troublesome.

An unknown expert had appeared in Yin Mountain County without a sound and even killed Jiang Yunhe.

"Could it have been a Grandmaster cultivating the Wedding Robe Divine Art?"

Zhu Xiuwen and Lan Ci exchanged a glance.

Anyone who could find Jiang Yunhe and kill him without a sound had to be an expert who had undergone Blood Exchange at least nine times and comprehended True Intention.

It was very likely that a Grandmaster cultivating the Wedding Robe Divine Art had secretly come and devoured Jiang Yunhe.

"What do you think, Lord Tie?"

Lan Ci looked at the burly Brocade-Clad Guard Commandant, known for his iron-fisted methods.

A Divine Intention Great Grandmaster who had slain numerous Grandmaster experts guilty of all manner of evil.

Even among his fellow Great Grandmasters, no fewer than five had died at his hands.

"I can't rule out that possibility."

Tie Shan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance, his tone calm.

"The matter of Jiang Yunhe ends here."