Translator: Cinder Translations
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As the flying vessel left the market for over three hundred miles, night had completely fallen.
Suddenly!
A sharp pain struck the back of Steward Qin's head. His vision blurred, and he fell from mid-air.
It was unclear how much time had passed, but Steward Qin slowly regained consciousness.
He found himself in a dark, small cave with some bruises on his body. The back of his head throbbed from a severe impact, but it wasn't life-threatening.
In front of him stood a figure cloaked in darkness.
As soon as he woke, he heard the figure speak.
"Steward Qin, please don't be offended. There's no malice in this. I have a business matter to discuss with you."
Steward Qin gradually stood up. He knew that if the person wanted to kill him, it would be easy, so the fact that he was still alive meant he was not in immediate danger.
"Since you've captured me, let's hear what you want."
"Steward Qin, you're straightforward. I admire that. So, I'll get to the point. I need silver-horned grass and beast refining pills, as many as you can provide."
Steward Qin furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment.
"You must have already checked my storage bag. It doesn't contain those two items."
"To be honest, silver-horned grass and beast refining pills are quite precious within the Beastmaster Sect, and their prices are very high."
"One silver-horned grass costs fifty spirit stones, and each beast refining pill costs forty spirit stones."
"Moreover, the sect has strict control over these items. It's not easy to purchase them."
A faint killing intent emerged from Song Wen, and he said with a sinister smile.
"Hehehe… I believe that Steward Qin will certainly have a way."
Steward Qin's heart tightened, and he forced a smile.
"Don't worry. I am well-acquainted with several elders in the sect. I can manage to obtain a few silver-horned grasses and beast refining pills."
"I need at least fifteen silver-horned grasses and as many beast refining pills as possible, no less than ten. I'll pay twenty percent more than your quoted price."
Steward Qin's face brightened with joy. "Are you serious?"
"Of course!" Song Wen said. "If the transaction goes smoothly, I will continue to buy beast refining pills in the future."
Steward Qin said, "Good! We'll do as you say. Give me seven days, and I will bring the items you need."
Song Wen replied, "We'll meet here at midnight on the seventh day. At that time, we'll exchange spirit stones for the goods."
Steward Qin said, "You're straightforward. It's a deal then."
Steward Qin glanced at the cave entrance behind him and said, "I'll take my leave now."
Song Wen nodded and did not say more.
Seeing that Song Wen agreed to let him leave, Steward Qin felt a surge of relief. He turned and walked toward the cave entrance. Just as he reached it, he heard the voice behind him.
"Steward Qin, don't forget our agreement in seven days."
"There are many wandering cultivators who deeply hate the two people residing at East District 109. They wish they could skin them alive and eat their marrow. If someone strong were to storm their residence, it would be quite satisfying."
As Steward Qin was about to ascend in his flying vessel, his body suddenly shook.
East District 109 was the residence of his wife and child.
Steward Qin was startled and felt a surge of fear and a hint of anger. This figure not only held him captive but also investigated his family.
Suppressing his unease, he said, "Don't worry. I will arrive on time. You should prepare the spirit stones."
"That's best."
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Back in the market, Song Wen released the Sacred Gu to monitor Steward Qin's wife and child.
He then returned to his own courtyard to continue his cultivation.
With the support of the enhanced Blood Qi Pills, the "Longevity Technique" was now close to breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refining.
However, he was gradually becoming dissatisfied with the enhanced Blood Qi Pills.
Within the realm of righteousness, demonic methods should not be easily demonstrated, which makes the techniques he can show in front of others somewhat insufficient.
He must quickly improve his cultivation!
Song Wen began experimenting with the creation of a more potent Blood Qi Pill.
Referring to the experience of creating an enhanced version of the Blood Qi Pill, the more spiritual herbs added at once, the stronger the potency of the pill.
Song Wen decided to try this approach.
When he added several times the amount of herbs into the pill furnace, extracting the essence from the spiritual medicine, and prepared to fuse the extracted essence,
"Bang!"
The pill furnace exploded, shattered into pieces.
Fortunately, the room was set up with a "Spirit Locking Formation," which preserved the house; otherwise, half of it would have collapsed.
Having learned from the first explosion, Song Wen was much more cautious in his next attempt at refining the new pill.
He first bought a high-grade spiritual tool-level pill furnace, which should be more durable.
This time, he dared not immediately add several times the amount of herbs. He started with twice the amount.
However, unsurprisingly, it failed.
Exploring a completely new pill formula was not as easy as expected.
Next came the third and fourth attempts.
After dozens of failures, Song Wen had gained some insight into pill refining, but the development of the new Blood Qi Pill made no progress.
That night, while Song Wen was refining pills, the black-armored gu monitoring the surroundings outside the house relayed a message.
The mysterious woman Ji Ruxue had gone out again at night.
Song Wen had been monitoring; this mysterious woman had gone out several times in the middle of the night.
On one occasion, Song Wen had the Sacred Gu track her and discovered she had sneaked outside the Lei family's Treasure Pavilion, but the pavilion was protected by a formation at night, and she could not enter.
After circling around the Treasure Pavilion, she went to the Heavenly Spring Courtyard.
The Heavenly Spring Courtyard was still brightly lit at night, with people coming and going, but all the visitors were male cultivators, with not a single woman in sight.
Ji Ruxue, being a woman, looked somewhat out of place entering the Heavenly Spring Courtyard.
She entered through the back door of the Heavenly Spring Courtyard and then into a room isolated by a formation. What happened inside the room, Song Wen did not know.
The seventh day.
Noon.
Qin Ge, as usual, returned home for lunch.
At the small courtyard's entrance, he looked around cautiously, confirmed that no one was following him, and then pushed open the door to enter.
His mother, Qin Shi, had prepared the meal and placed it on the table in the courtyard. Seeing her son return, she said,
"Ge'er has returned; come and eat."
Qin Ge looked at his mother, glanced inside the house, and signaled her to come in.
Seeing her son's cautious demeanor, Qin Shi knew something significant had happened. She did not make a fuss and went straight into the house.
The two entered the house and closed the door.
Qin Ge took out a letter and handed it to his mother.
The letter had been discreetly given to him by an acquaintance of Steward Qin while he was strolling on the street.
He was very puzzled after receiving the letter and wanted to ask the acquaintance for details, but the acquaintance turned and left without saying a word.
Seeing the acquaintance's cautiousness, Qin Ge did not dare to be careless. He returned to his own gambling house before opening the letter.
The letter, written personally by Steward Qin, described a situation where someone was forcefully buying spiritual medicine.
Steward Qin advised the mother and son to secretly leave the market and avoid the trouble until he dealt with the unknown black-clad person, after which they could return to the market.
Qin Shi was filled with shock after reading the contents of the letter. She opened her mouth to ask loudly, but was stopped in time by Qin Ge.
Qin Ge pointed to the window, indicating that there might be eavesdroppers on the other side of the wall.
(End of the Chapter)
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