Qingyang Marketplace.
Leaving Juxuan Pavilion, Qin Ming walked at a slow pace down the main thoroughfare of the market.
On the street, cultivators of every shape and size formed an endless, bustling stream of foot traffic.
Yet there seemed to be quite a few more unfamiliar faces in the market today compared to usual.
As Qin Ming ambled along: “Fellow cultivator, care for a little passionate spending?” At the entrance of a nearby brothel establishment, a young female cultivator dressed in scant green attire winked heavily at him.
Qin Ming paused for a moment, withdrew his gaze without a trace of emotion, and quickened his pace straight past her.
“Oh?
A man of pure virtue?” the female cultivator muttered in surprise, her triumphant look vanishing in an instant.
She rolled her eyes toward the direction Qin Ming was leaving, then turned to greet the next customer.
After Qin Ming departed: A bearded brute stepped out from inside the brothel door, his eyes narrowing slightly as he asked, “Didn’t take the bait?” “Nope, just a greenhorn.
Truly boring,” the green-clad female cultivator replied casually while rubbing her fingernails.
The brute nodded silently and retreated back inside.
…
Leaving the market, Qin Ming mused with utter disdain: ‘What a joke.
I wouldn’t even take free ones.’ ‘Why would I pay for you?’ ‘Just cheap beauty…
Luckily my Dao heart is firm.’ …
Evening.
Qin Ming returned to the shantytown.
For dinner, he cooked another pot of Fine-Grade Beast-Tooth Rice before commencing his practice of the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture.
Over the past half-year: The amount of Fine-Grade Beast-Tooth Rice he had consumed was an indisputably terrifying figure.
Had it not been for good luck continuously refreshing [Ripening] traits, even he wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the consumption demands of this body-refining technique.
Daoist Ruan’s claim of it being a ‘bottomless pit’ was truly no lie.
Ordinary cultivators simply could not support such a drain of spirit materials.
Qin Ming discovered that with every layer higher in the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture, the amount of vital-blood-enhancing spirit materials required increased almost geometrically.
Although the price to pay was exceptionally high: The technique indeed had extraordinary qualities.
Its first three layers alone were significantly stronger than conventional body-refining effects.
Qin Ming’s stock of Fine-Grade Beast-Tooth Rice remained fairly sufficient for now.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Just as Qin Ming finished his meditation, a sudden flurry of urgent knocks sounded at the door.
He knitted his brows slightly.
‘Who could be in such a hurry?’ Qin Ming stood up, stored away the Beast-Tooth Rice, and only then went out to open the door.
He peered cautiously through the crack of the door.
Outside stood Old Nine Cai.
Except right now he was dripping with sweat, looking completely panicked and flustered.
Qin Ming opened the door and hastily asked, “Old Nine, what happened to you?
Why are you in such disarray?” “Something…
something terrible has happened!” Old Nine Cai stammered out.
A slight tremble laced his voice, as if he were terrified of something.
“Daoist Long has per…
perished!” Old Nine Cai’s face was deathly pale as he squeezed out those few words trembling.
Qin Ming’s mind went blank in an instant…
This news…
was truly hard to believe!
“Are you sure?
Could you have gotten it wrong?” “Daoist Long is a grand cultivator of the late stage of Qi Condensation.
His powers are not something ordinary cultivators can compare to—how could he suddenly perish?” “Did he also go to the pioneering front lines?” As Qin Ming spoke, doubt and unease began to swirl in his heart.
Old Nine Cai said urgently, “What time is it right now?
How could I get this wrong?” “Daoist Long didn’t go to the front lines either.” “Daoist…
Daoist Long was killed by a rogue cultivator, and his corpse is right in the nearby riverway…
It was only just discovered!
Come take a look with me and you’ll see.” With Old Nine Cai dropping an even more explosive piece of news, Qin Ming panicked as well.
Without further words, the two rushed toward the vicinity of the riverway.
In less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea: The two arrived at the scene of the incident.
Only then did Qin Ming realize with a start that the place where Daoist Long’s body was found was so close to his own house—merely a few hundred meters away!
By the time he and Old Nine Cai arrived, a large crowd of nearby resident cultivators had already gathered by the bank of the riverway.
At this moment, every single one of them was terrified, pointing and gesturing toward the corpse floating in the river.
Qin Ming forced his way through the crowd and looked up.
“It really is Daoist Long!” Now he had nothing left to say.
As far as Qin Ming’s vision reached, Daoist Long’s pale corpse had been stripped completely bare, all his valuables and storage bags vanished into thin air.
Furthermore, several dozen terrifying bloody holes were clearly visible across his entire body, his neck and heart pierced through by magic artifacts.
Presumably when he died…
he didn’t even have time to call out for help…
“Sigh, so tragic.
I heard that Fellow Cultivator Wang and the others came out to wash clothes by the river just now, which was how they discovered Daoist Long’s body.” “Isn’t that right?
He’s been dead for quite some time.
The body must have been stuck in the bridge archway last night and only got washed out of the riverway just now.” “Do you think this was done by rogue cultivators?
But with Daoist Long’s strength, what level of cultivation would a rogue cultivator need to have to kill him without making a sound?” The surrounding people exchanged glances upon hearing this, an ominous foreboding looming over everyone’s hearts.
The atmosphere instantly turned oppressive.
Before long: A patrol squad from the Spirit Feather Sect also rushed over toward the area.
The squad leader scattered the onlookers, looked into the riverway, and with just a single glance, displayed a look of alarm and doubt.
He asked himself honestly: even if he were to encounter the murderer who killed Daoist Long, he would have zero chance of survival.
“Could it be a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator at work?
But…
it doesn’t look like it either?” The Spirit Feather Sect commander cupped his chin in thought, then decisively pulled out a transmission talisman to report back to the sect; this had clearly exceeded his scope of capability.
Qin Ming returned to his house feeling somewhat absentminded.
He hadn’t expected danger to be so close to him.
“It seems the shantytown has become unsafe.” “Inside Qingyang Marketplace, there is a Tier-Two formation protecting it; even Foundation Establishment cultivators can be warded off.” “I must make plans early and find a way to move inside the market to live.
Only then will it be safer.” Thoughts churned frantically in Qin Ming’s mind.
“As for the spirit fields, hopefully the Spirit Feather Sect will step up their patrols.” “Sigh, to think that even farming in the future will require being constantly on edge—it really makes one numb…” “Hopefully that rogue cultivator, having robbed a fat sheep of the late stage of Qi Condensation, won’t target us bottom-tier spirit farmers.” “They…
shouldn’t care about us, right?” Daoist Long’s death deeply rattled Qin Ming.
Even someone as strong as a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator ended up with his life snuffed out and his body destroyed.
Qin Ming couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of crisis.
‘After robbing and killing Daoist Long, they didn’t even process the corpse, brazenly dumping it into the river.
The killer clearly has no misgivings whatsoever.’ ‘Instead, it feels like a blatant show of force.’ Because for all these years, the shantytown had been deterred by Daoist Long, a righteous late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator.
The petty scoundrels in the vicinity hadn’t dared to act recklessly.
Now that Daoist Long was dead, neighborhood security became the biggest problem first and foremost.
Qin Ming retrieved the Mid-Grade Lightning Arrow Talisman and slipped it into his sleeve, which gave him a slight sense of relief.
‘After the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture reached the Third Level, the vital blood enhancement effect of Fine-Grade Beast-Tooth Rice has begun to slow down.’ ‘I need better vital-blood-enhancing spirit rice to speed up my body-refining progress.’ ‘What would happen if I upgrade the quality of Fine-Grade Beast-Tooth Rice to the Supreme Grade?’ ‘But except for the very first one, the [Quality Enhancement] trait hasn’t refreshed for half a year…’ Pondering up to this point, a decisive look flashed in Qin Ming’s eyes!
His current stock of Fine-Grade Beast-Tooth Rice was still enough to eat for a year.
Whatever, he was going all-in!
This time, he prepared to use his very last [Ripening] trait on those three mu of Yin-Congealing Flowers.
He was betting it all on the appearance of a [Quality Enhancement] trait!