20: Chapter 20 First Test of the Deadly Blade

He scared off two blind Loose Cultivators who wanted to block the road and rob him.

Yun Ming returned to his residence.

He put that Demonic Technique along with the purchased Magical Artifacts and spirit talismans into his naxu ring and began to study the two Pill Formulas.

At this time in the Sunset Glow Sect, Yun Ming was not the only one who had picked up this "Wanling Guixu Scroll."

Zhao Zheng, a Utility Disciple of Sword Peak, was originally the Twelfth Prince of Great Qian. He was neither favored nor had any supporters, but he was smart and ruthless enough.

After lying low for over a decade and using various means to eliminate all the brothers in his way, he finally touched the edge of the Peak of Mortal power.

Unfortunately, there was an Immortal Master beside the Crown Prince who shattered his decade-long arrangements with a flick of a finger, erasing all his ambitions and dignity.

Unwilling to give up, he fled the imperial palace and joined the Sunset Glow Sect by a stroke of luck. However, his talent was extremely poor, and he had passed the optimal age for Cultivation. Three years later, he was still at Qi Refining Level 3.

But just today, while out on a mission, he accidentally picked up this "Wanling Guixu Scroll" by the side of a mountain path.

It recorded that as long as one killed living creatures and absorbed their Divine Soul essence, they could nourish their Divine Soul and strengthen their Root Bone, allowing even those with the trashiest talent to Breakthrough to the Golden Core.

At first, he didn't believe it, but he still put the Cultivation Technique away.

Today's mission was to slay a Mountain Lord that had been terrorizing the area. This beast had already eaten over a dozen people, and the Sect feared that if it continued, there would be a risk of it transforming into a Yao.

Zhao Zheng soon found the tiger's silhouette. It was currently sleeping soundly in its lair, with bits of meat still hanging from the fur around its mouth and human bones scattered all over the ground.

Zhao Zheng remained expressionless and wasted no words, severing the massive tiger head with a single sword strike.

With the mission complete, he was about to leave, but then he thought of that Cultivation Technique again.

With a "try it and see" attitude, he followed the guidance of the "Wanling Guixu Scroll" and began to refine the tiger's Soul, which had not yet fully dissipated from the recently deceased carcass.

As he refined it, strands of weak Qi actually followed his guidance and entered his body, beginning to nourish his Root Bone and Divine Soul.

"Too... too incredible!" Just as he was overjoyed and prepared to refine more, everything came to an abrupt halt.

It was as if it had all been a dream just now.

He checked anxiously and realized that the Divine Soul of a beast was too weak to truly strengthen and nourish him; it was like a fleeting flash in the pan.

Only human Divine Souls or the Yao Souls of the Yao Race could truly nourish oneself and strengthen the Root Bone.

"Humans..." Zhao Zheng muttered to himself in his heart.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Yun Ming remembered that he had an agreement with Liu Bai to buy information.

So, he took the Blood-Stopping Powder and spring return pills he had refined over the past three days and set up a stall in the market to wait.

He waited until the afternoon, and even though the Blood-Stopping Powder was sold out, there was still no sign of Liu Bai.

Yun Ming thought he wasn't coming, but then he saw Liu Bai, covered in blood, stumbling toward him.

The moment Liu Bai saw Yun Ming, his eyes lit up, but he couldn't hold on and fainted in front of Yun Ming.

"Damn! Buddy, don't die on me here."

Yun Ming picked up Liu Bai and found he was still breathing, just unconscious from severe injuries, so he stuffed a handful of spring return pills into his mouth.

The spring return pill truly lived up to being a Rank 1 High Grade Medicinal Pill; its healing effect was excellent.

After a short while, Liu Bai woke up.

The first thing he said made Yun Ming's face turn dark.

"Fellow Daoist, this information will cost extra."

"Extra money? Fine. I just fed you seven Rank 1 High Grade spring return pills. Each one is worth five Spirit Stones, so that's thirty-five Spirit Stones in total. Pay up!"

"Hehe, I'm just joking with you, Fellow Daoist. No extra charge, it'll be whatever the original price was."

Yun Ming pushed the smirking Liu Bai aside and asked, "How did you get injured?"

Liu Bai moved his body and found that he indeed felt much better. In his memory, the healing effect of the spring return pill wasn't this good. Hearing Yun Ming's question, he spoke up, "To be honest, Fellow Daoist, it was all for your information."

"Were you injured by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator?"

"How could that be? But it was close. He was at the Qi Refining Great Circle, not a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Let me tell you, the situation at the time was like this, you have no idea how dangerous it was, luckily I..."

Seeing that he was about to go on and on, Yun Ming quickly interrupted, "Alright, alright, just give me all the information directly."

Liu Bai was a bit embarrassed at being interrupted and said, "Fine, I'll tell you about it when we have time later."

"Well, the one who wiped out the entire Ye family is one of the Outer Sect Deacons of the Heavenly Demon Hall, named Yin Mei. She is at the Qi Refining Great Circle. Rumor has it she was born with Charming Bones and devours people without spitting out the bones. She loves torturing young boys and girls. The fact that Ye Chen managed to escape alive might be related to that."

Yun Ming nodded. "Mhm, and then?"

Liu Bai looked at Yun Ming with a grin and then stretched out his hand.

Speechless, Yun Ming counted out fifty Spirit Stones from his naxu ring and handed them to Liu Bai.

Liu Bai's eyebrows jumped at the sight of the Spirit Stones. "Hahaha, Fellow Daoist is generous! Besides being at the Qi Refining Great Circle, this Yin Mei's Demonic Technique is also superb; she specializes in illusions. Her common Magical Artifact is a Rank 1 High Grade long whip. It's rumored to be poisoned—anyone hit by it will feel hot all over and then fall madly in love with her, becoming deeply obsessed and unable to extricate themselves. Moreover, she has already found Ye Chen's trail and is preparing to hunt him down."

"As our first collaboration, I'll give you another piece of news for free. This Ye Chen is in Qiya City, Wan Province."

Yun Ming frowned slightly. "Why are you telling me news about Ye Chen?"

Liu Bai had a "I understand everything" look. "Fellow Daoist, no need to say more. This Ye Chen is quite good-looking. It's normal for a young person like you to take the wrong path."

Yun Ming's eyes widened, wearing a "what the hell are you talking about" expression.

"Isn't it? Did I guess wrong?" Liu Bai hesitated. Could he have guessed wrong?

With a dark face, Yun Ming pressed a hand on Liu Bai's shoulder. "I had you investigate because I was afraid of getting burned. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll make sure you don't see tomorrow's sun."

Feeling the immense force on his shoulder, Liu Bai was certain the man in front of him wasn't lying. Even though his Realm was much higher, he felt that the other party could send him to Reincarnation with a single punch.

Cold sweat pouring down, Liu Bai nodded, indicating he would definitely not talk nonsense.

Only then did Yun Ming release his grip, packing up his stall to leave.

Liu Bai then said, "Fellow Daoist, how should I address you? I can't keep calling you Fellow Daoist forever."

Without looking back, Yun Ming said, "Yun Ming."

After speaking, he tossed another bottle of spring return pills to Liu Bai. "Consider the news about Ye Chen as something I bought. I only like it when others owe me favors."

Liu Bai caught the spring return pills and was about to give thanks when he was surprised to find he could no longer sense Yun Ming, as if Yun Ming had suddenly vanished from before his eyes.

"Damn! I knew it, this Fellow Daoist is definitely no Mortal. Old bastard, your Jade Talisman really works!"

The people in the market looked at Liu Bai as if he were a fool. What was this idiot muttering to himself just now?