38: Chapter 38: Star Grass

The entrance to the secret vault of the Generals Mansion was under the bed in General Jiang Ce's main room.

Jiang Yan swept his Divine Sense over it and found a tiny indentation on the edge of the floor tiles—the mechanism was at the base of the bedpost and required Internal Energy or Qi to be injected to trigger it.

He injected a wisp of Qi, and the floor tile slid open silently, revealing a set of stone steps leading downward.

The secret vault was not large, about three zhang square. A few night-luminescent pearls were embedded in the walls, casting a ghostly green glow that made the entire secret chamber look as if it were submerged at the bottom of a lake.

Two jade boxes were placed side by side on the stone platform in the center.

Inside the first box was a Spirit Medicine that was crimson red all over—a red blood ganoderma.

The cap was a circle larger than a cattail leaf fan, with edges slightly curled inward. Golden rings spread from the center to the edges on its surface, resembling the annual rings of a tree.

When brought close to his nose, a medicinal fragrance, a mix of pungent and sweet, rushed straight to his crown.

A three-hundred-year-old red blood ganoderma, a Medium Grade First Tier Spirit Medicine. Its medicinal properties were fire-attributed, making it an excellent main ingredient for refining the peiyuan pill.

Inside the second box was a medicinal herb that was silvery white all over.

Five leaves spread out at equal angles, forming a perfect star shape.

Every leaf was covered with fine, silvery-white veins, resembling the light trails of stars in motion.

The edges of the leaves were as sharp as knives. He lightly touched the leaf edge with his fingernail, and a shallow white mark immediately appeared on his nail.

A two-hundred-plus-year-old star grass, a Low Grade First Tier Spirit Medicine.

Jiang Yan's gaze lingered on the star grass for a long time.

In his memories from his previous life, there was an incomplete Body Refining Cultivation Technique—the "Star Saint Body."

This Cultivation Technique was extremely formidable and had a very high concept; the complete version was at least at the fourth or fifth tier.

Unfortunately, what he had obtained was an incomplete version; it only had the complete content up to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and although it had a portion for the Golden Core Stage, it was missing critical components.

If he could obtain a Heaven And Earth Treasure like Enlightenment Tea in the future, he might be able to deduce and complete the missing parts.

And the star grass was precisely the key to accelerating the entry into the "Star Saint Body."

Using star grass to refine the star pill could temper his Physical Body to the threshold of the first level of Body Refining in a short period.

This was of great significance to his plan.

He had always planned to disperse his cultivation and switch to the Righteous Path in the future, but dispersing his cultivation meant a significant regression in his cultivation base and a major reduction in combat power for a long period.

If he could raise his Body Refining cultivation before that, he would not only be able to maintain a certain level of combat power when dispersing his cultivation but also use the Qi released during the process to nourish his Physical Body, pushing his Body Refining cultivation further. It was a matter of killing two birds with one stone.

He put the two jade boxes into his Storage Pouch.

Besides the Spirit Medicine, there were a few low-level spirit materials in the secret vault—a few fist-sized pieces of fire copper Ore, a few catties of mysterious iron, and a few pieces of spirit jade.

On the shelf in the corner were a few bottles of low-level Spirit Pill for healing; they were not of high grade, but better than nothing.

Jiang Yan took everything, Divine Sense again carefully swept every corner of the secret vault to confirm there were no omissions, and then turned to walk up the stone steps.

After coming out of the main room, he kept his Divine Sense extended the entire way.

When Jiang Yan walked into the Buddhist hall, Zhou Muqing was kneeling on a prayer mat, chanting scriptures.

Three sandalwood incense sticks were inserted in the incense burner, with smoke curling around. Hearing footsteps, she turned around and met Jiang Yan's gaze.

She did not scream or beg for mercy; she just looked at this square-faced man with an ordinary appearance and remained silent for a while.

Jiang Yan did not speak. He flicked a strand of Qi, directly shattering her heart meridian.

Zhou Muqing's body slumped onto the prayer mat. The incense burner was knocked over, spilling ash all over the floor, and the still-burning sandalwood incense rolled onto the floor tiles, extinguished by the blood seeping out.

Jiang Yan turned and walked out of the Buddhist hall.

The moonlight illuminated the courtyard brightly, and the withered branches of the old plum tree swayed gently in the wind.

The red blood ganoderma and star grass in the Storage Pouch hung heavily at his waist.

He still had many things to do—Alchemy, array refinement, and deciding his next steps. The four months were passing day by day.

...

When the news from Pingjiang Commandery reached the imperial palace, it was already three days later.

Sun Hao opened the urgent secret report, and after reading only the first two lines, his expression changed.

He read the secret report from beginning to end twice, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the edges of the letter, creasing the paper.

The secret report clearly stated: General Jiang Ce was killed, two Early Xiantian deputy generals were killed at the same time, and Jiang Ce's wife, Zhou Muqing, died in the Buddhist hall.

There were clear traces of fire Spells at the scene; the floor tiles were cracked by fire, and the rockery was scorched by flames.

He could figure out who did it with his eyes closed. Mortal Martial Artists did not have this ability.

To be able to kill an Xiantian Perfection head-on while also taking out two Early Xiantian ones, the person who made the move was at least Middle Stage, and they had powerful Magical Artifacts on them.

It should be the same person who killed Zhao Xuancheng—that Demonic Cultivator running rampant across the Jin Kingdom territory.

Sun Hao paced back and forth in the quiet room with the secret report. The soles of his boots clattered against the stone floor, making a dull, rhythmic sound.

General Jiang Ce was no ordinary official. He was the anchor of the Jin Kingdom's military, holding command over one hundred thousand border troops and stationed at the northern border all year round to defend against the Northern Yan Kingdom.

With his death, the border troops were leaderless, and those civil and military officials in the imperial court would fight tooth and nail over this vacancy.

What was even more dire was that the Northern Yan Kingdom had always been eyeing them covetously; if they took this opportunity to invade, the border would likely face a major disaster.

Of course, this had little to do with him as a Cultivator; the situation was not yet chaotic enough to require them to intervene.

But what alarmed him the most was that Demonic Cultivator. From the Marquis Zhennan Mansion to the Generals Mansion, this person's appetite was growing ever larger.

Zhao Xuancheng was just a piece of trash at Qi Refining Stage 2; killing him was no big deal.

Jiang Ce, however, was an Xiantian Perfection, the ceiling of existence among Mortal Martial Artists. If even he couldn't stop that Demonic Cultivator, who else in the Jin Kingdom could stop him besides the three of them, the Cultivators?

Sun Hao took the secret report and went to find Cao Xiong. Cao Xiong was sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat, meditating, and remained silent for a long time after listening.

It was not the silence of contemplation, but of chewing on a problem that was hard to swallow.

"Jiang Ce was an Xiantian Perfection," Cao Xiong finally spoke, his voice low. "Anyone capable of killing him in a head-on battle is at least at the third level of Qi Refining with an Advanced Magical Artifact, or is at the Middle Stage. A Late Stage is unlikely—at that Realm, killing an Xiantian Perfection wouldn't require such a huge commotion; a single Spell would solve it, without leaving traces of fire all over the ground."

Meng Tong leaned against the wall, his Flying Sword resting across his knees. He frowned after listening. "This Demonic Cultivator is getting more and more carried away with his killing. First that piece of trash Zhao Xuancheng, then Jiang Ce; is he going to set his sights on us next?"

"He doesn't have the guts yet," Cao Xiong stood up. "If he really had the confidence to face us head-on, he wouldn't only be acting in the Mortal world.

He only picks the tough nuts among Mortals—Innate Martial Artist, noble mansions—these are the ceiling for Mortals, but soft persimmons for Cultivators.

This shows he knows where his strength limit lies and dares not touch real Cultivator forces."

"But there is another possibility," Sun Hao said. "He is hoarding resources. Every time he kills someone, he absorbs their essence and blood from the corpse and then loots their treasury.

He didn't get much from the Marquis Zhennan Mansion because Zhao Xuancheng himself wasn't wealthy.

But Jiang Ce is different—the Generals Mansion hides decades of rare treasures seized in battle; heaven knows how many good things have fallen into his hands.

If there are aged Spirit Medicine among those things, and he refines the Spirit Medicine into Medicinal Pill, his cultivation will rise another notch after consuming them..."