Unexpected Fortune

The dirty blood on the ground formed bloody characters that read:

"Side task one: 80 Karma points are awarded to Qi Zhengyan, 50 to Zhen Ding, 20 to Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan respectively for killing the Cosmos Juggler, one of the four Preternatural Master Pros from the rival camp."

Meng Qi was entirely relieved when he saw the task completion prompt. He habitually walked over to Tang Shun's body with his sword in hand, poking at him to make sure that he was dead.

"Looks like the points awarded for the tasks depend on the strength of both parties..." Meng Qi casually told Qi Zhengyan. He then walked briskly over to Jiang Zhiwei and said earnestly, "Lady Jiang, do you still have any healing elixir left?"

Last time, the award for killing Hundred Face Bookster in Great Buddha's Hall was relatively small, because Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan were in good condition and their strength surpassed that of their enemy. But this time, not only did they lose over 70% of their strength, their harmonizing of Qi-circulation was also interrupted, leading to unstable conditions of their injuries. There was also a great gap in power between Tang Shun and them, so more Karma points were awarded.

Jiang Zhiwei had difficulty speaking, so she only gave a slight nod and pointed at her waist with her hand.

Meng Qi reached over and felt a bottle-like item. It was the thumb-sized white mutton-fat nephrite. Once it was opened, it would emit a pleasant fragrance, where the dark red elixir silently sat inside.

Meng Qi poured it out and fed it into Jiang Zhiwei's mouth, watching her struggling to swallow it. She then sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began meditating.

Without any delay, Meng Qi ran over to Zhang Yuanshan and asked if he had any healing elixir.

Zhang Yuanshan was worse off than Jiang Zhiwei. He had dull eyes and was breathing weakly. It took him a long time to open his mouth and he squeezed out the words in a hoarse voice: "Ch-chest..."

Meng Qi fumbled around Zhang Yuanshan's chest for a while and finally found a white jade bottle with five or six dark elixirs inside. The fragrance was so refreshing that it smelled like green bamboo after the rain.

Having swallowed his own elixir, Qi Zhengyan recovered slightly and staggered over to Meng Qi. He watched as Meng Qi fed Zhang Yuanshan the elixir.

"We could've gotten greater awards if we didn't use the Double-Killing Dart when we killed Tang Shun," said Qi Zhengyan, responding to Meng Qi's question. He crouched down to deal with Zhang Yuanshan's broken ribs skillfully. When he was done, he carefully lifted Zhang Yuanshan up and helped him with his posture for meditation and harmonizing Qi-circulation.

Meng Qi watched them enviously, lamenting the fact that he had just crossed the threshold of Kung Fu and did not yet have the opportunity to learn how to handle injuries.

Qi Zhengyan took a breath and seemed to be speaking to himself. "You must be very curious why I have the Double-Killing Dart. Oh, you might not even know what it is.

"When Lady Qi exchanged her script of miscellaneous knowledge, it gave me a hint. I secretly exchanged my Kung Fu, Long River Sword Art and Setting Sun Cultivation Method, with Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms for 150 Karma points. I initially planned to get the Heavenly Acumen Pill, but if you haven't condensed your last Aperture acupoint within a month, you still won't be able to break through even with the pill. During my second entrance, I thought over how you mentioned exchanging concealed weapons and poison for self-protection. So, I decided to get a secret weapon of my own.

"The Tangs's Dart that Lady Qi exchanged was pretty satisfactory for my needs, but the points required for its finished product is way too high. Besides, I don't have the time to study it. After that, I had my eyes on Grieving Wind Softener, but its use is subject to a specific environment and techniques. It's also pricey, 200 Karma points for a tiny bottle plus antidote.

"Through careful selection, I finally picked the Double-Killing Dart. It costs me 130 Karma points and can even kill Enlightened Master Pros. But I didn't think I would actually use it. Were you surprised, Junior Brother Zhen Ding?"

Meng Qi looked at the chattering Qi Zhengyan and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Senior Brother Qi, that wasn't what surprised me."

"Ah? Then what was it? You know, the Double-Killing Dart isn't as easy to handle as it looks. Only Enlightened Master Pros are supposed to use it, but with special methods, people with the advanced success of Qi-cultivation could manage it. But they'd be risking severe damage to themselves..." Qi Zhengyan was momentarily dazed before he began explaining about the dart in detail.

He did not try to hide the fact about being badly countercharged. Only the blind would not be able to see it.

Meng Qi laughed out loud. "Senior Brother Qi, what surprised me was how you have seemingly become another person after getting hurt. You aren't as reserved, but rather talkative like an old woman."

As for the Double-Killing Dart, he had already guessed it anyway!

Qi Zhengyan quietly turned around and watched Zhang Yuanshan heal himself. He sat down cross-legged as well, trying to recover a little of his power.

A moment later, Zhang Yuanshan's shallow breathing had become distinct. Meng Qi finally relaxed now that he was out of danger. On the other side, Jiang Zhiwei's pale face had regained some color.

Zhang Yuanshan was basically in stable condition now. He slowly opened his eyes and pointed at his white jade bottle. "You take one of the Curing Bolus too."

Worried of further burdening his body, he tried to be curt.

Meng Qi did not initially care about the elixir as his injuries were slight and the elixir could not help him recover his Iron Shirt. But since Zhang Yuanshan offered, he took one and swallowed it without hesitation.

A breath of refreshing air filled Meng Qi's chest and abdomen, offsetting his inner force.

His mind became abruptly clear and he recalled something. He rushed near Wang Jin's corpse and picked up the black cylinder lying nearby.

"This is a Pearflower Storm Needle! A concealed weapon pricier than the Tangs's Dart!" Meng Qi could hardly suppress his excitement and admired it over and over again, feeling the construction of the weapon with his fingers.

Though the weapon was useless without silver needles in it, it was still worth a fortune. All he had to do was exchange for the needles with Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms.

On the Exchange List, a one-time-use Pearflower Storm Needle was worth 400 Karma points. And this one ought to be good for two or three uses!

Meng Qi estimated he needed no more than 100 Karma points to replace the silver needles. But he was not sure as he did not pay close attention to their price before.

Meng Qi, who had always been in distressed circumstances, felt like he was finally about to gain a fortune.

...

Collapsed walls and ruins scattered about Great Buddha's Hall, the pile of beams was burning furiously. When the burning pile met the heavy rainfall, white smoke would occasionally trail in the air.

The sky was pitch dark and the lightning had ceased, making the place look like it was the netherworld.

Two shadows ran toward the back mountain as fast as flying birds, one chasing after the other.

The shadow in the lead stooped, the Buddha Aura flickering about. As for the other one, a tornado swirled around the shadow behind with the Skyscraping Devil momentum.

A small pagoda coated in colored glaze overlooked the highest cliff of the back mountain, exuding a peaceful and solemn air under the starlight.

The gathering clouds overshadowed the starlight and dimmed the glaze of the pagoda. Xin Ji abruptly stopped when he reached it. He sat cross-legged in front of the pagoda with a faint smile on his face.

"Did you finally realize that you can't possibly get away?" Duo Ercha asked. The clothes covering the left side of his chest were ripped off, revealing a distinct handprint as if cast in gold.

At the same spot on Xin Ji's body was a wound resulting from a fist penetrating his flesh.

...

Meng Qi tucked the compact Pearflower Storm Needle cylinder into his chest and walked over to Wang Jin's body. He planned on pulling out all the deep blue needles to see if he could save some Karma points.

His vision abruptly went dark, as clouds begin covering the sky overhead.

Dark clouds gathered and the wind blew stronger.

"Duo Ercha has come to the back mountain?" A frightened Meng Qi ran back to where the rest were meditating and harmonizing their Qi-circulation. He left the needles as they were.

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed the Colored Glaze Pagoda had become gloriously radiant. "Duo Ercha must have chased after Master Xin Ji there. Let's hide in case he decides to kill us after attacking Master Xin Ji."

After all, Duo Ercha's blind left eye was Jiang Zhiwei's doing. He must have been harboring bitter hatred for her and would not hesitate to kill the rest of them as well.

Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan, at a critical moment of their harmonization of Qi-circulation, strained to nod along to Meng Qi's suggestion and put him in charge.

Even if they had continued, they had no strength to move at all. So it did not matter whether or not they interrupted their healing process.

Despite being countercharged, Qi Zhengyan still maintained his basic strength. After interrupting his harmonization of Qi-circulation, his face flushed and he simply asked, "Where do we hide?"

Meng Qi looked at the woods on both sides and pointed to the right one, which he was familiar with. "In the woods."

"Going by Duo Ercha's level, the woods won't hold him back for long," Qi Zhengyan said hesitantly.

Meng Qi resolutely said, "When Master Xin Ji dies, the Shaolin Temple will collapse. We will have completed our main task by then. All we need to do is to avoid Duo Ercha for a moment and we can all return to Samsara Space."

He now regretted his lack of knowledge about concealed weapons. Otherwise, he could pull out those needles, put them back into the Pearflower Storm Needle cylinder, and keep them as a weapon.

But those needles would become less lethal once used. That would pose less of a threat to Duo Ercha.

In such an emergency situation, Qi Zhengyan did not dare to say much and chose to believe in the Shaolin monk, Zhen Ding. He turned around and hauled Zhang Yuanshan onto his back. With Meng Qi carrying Jiang Zhiwei, they ran into the woods together.

After running for some distance, Meng Qi suddenly came to a stop. Stunned, he stared ahead where a red megalith stood in a familiar spot.

"It really exists?

"Can there also be a secret passage in this place?"

Meng Qi was seized by fright and astonishment.

"Boom!"

Lightning struck, thunder roared, and rain came pouring down.

"Duo Ercha..." Meng Qi went silent for a moment and it suddenly hit him that the secret passage might hide them from Duo Ercha's search. Besides, there should not be any demons and ghosts in this world, so the risks were low.

"This is where we're gonna hide?" Qi Zhengyan looked at Meng Qi. "If I had known this earlier, I would've prepared more concealed weapons and poison. They're quite useful when our strength is weak..."

Meng Qi did not respond to the chatty Qi Zhengyan. He took a few steps toward the megalith with Jiang Zhiwei on his back and studied it as Zhen Guan would have done.

"There really is a secret mechanism?!" Meng Qi suddenly felt a movable bulge.

He took a deep breath before giving it a nudge. After a light "Ka, ka, ka!" sound, an entrance slowly emerged on the cliff.

"There really is a secret passage?!" A tumultuous wave of shock rose in Meng Qi's heart.

Qi Zhengyan looked at him and the dark entrance in great confusion, unable to understand how Meng Qi found out about the Shaolin Temple's secret passage.