50: Darkness under the lamp

Since the Inner District was locked down, the nights had become exceptionally long. Aside from the heavy footsteps of the patrolling Black Armored Guards, only the wailing of the cold wind hitting the defensive Formation remained.

Zhou Wannian sat cross-legged in his secret room, the bronze tortoise shell placed before him.

Although he had made a fortune relying on the black market and Chen Zhaozu, Zhou Wannian knew very well that no matter how many Spirit Stones he had, they were just a pile of pretty rocks if he wasn't alive to spend them.

“The Chen Family's blood sacrifice Formation is already operational; those thousands of Loose Cultivators in the outer district are turning into nourishment.”

“But that's not enough.”

Zhou Wannian looked at the “demonic path map” in his hand. Although the red dots on the map were flashing, the speed at which they converged toward the Chen Family Ancestral Residence seemed... a bit slow.

“The energy required for what the Chen Family wants to do is definitely not small. Relying solely on those low-level Qi Refining Loose Cultivators in the outer district won't even fill the gaps between their teeth. Sooner or later, they will extend their reach to the Inner District.”

“Before that happens, I must have the ability to protect myself, or even... strike back.”

His current cultivation was at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. Although he had progressed quickly by piling up Medicinal Pills, he was still some distance away from the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Cultivating step by step would take at least another three months.

But he didn't have three months.

“I seek the heavenly secrets.”

Zhou Wannian took a deep breath and injected Spiritual Qi. “In this Inner District, besides diligent cultivation, where is an Opportunity hidden that can help me 'get rich overnight' and quickly Breakthrough my cultivation Bottleneck? It must be hidden, safe, and undetected by others.”

Buzz—

The bronze tortoise shell rotated in his Sea of Consciousness. This time, its rotation was somewhat sluggish, as if it were probing some extremely dangerous Forbidden Ground.

A moment later, a strange light emerged, intertwined with the smell of decay and spiritual radiance:

【Today's Divination: Moderate Luck (Darkness Under the Lamp)】

【Location of Opportunity: Behind the Chen Family General Affairs Hall, three zhang below the abandoned sewage outlet.】

【Divination Verse: The cleanest places often hide the deepest filth; the most fortified fortresses often rot at the Foundation. When the Chen Family's Clan Protecting Great Formation, the 'Myriad Souls Blood Fiend Formation,' extracts vitality from the outer district, a very subtle 'spiritual liquid leak' has occurred at the sewage pipes beneath the General Affairs Hall due to aging Formation nodes.】

【Core Guidance: This leaking liquid is 'array core spiritual liquid' purified by the great Formation. Though mixed with filth, its spiritual purity is extremely high. The Chen Family's Formation Masters are busy operating the main Formation and have overlooked this minor loss.】

【Strategy: Infiltrate using an 'identity,' purify with a 'Cleaning Talisman,' and be a giant rat that no one knows about.】

“The sewers?”

Zhou Wannian looked at the divination, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

“You want me, a wealthy man with thousands of Spirit Stones, to crawl through the sewers?”

But then he laughed.

“However, this flavor... I like it.”

Only in those dark, filthy, and neglected corners do the fattest mushrooms grow... Fifteen minutes later.

Zhou Wannian changed into the grey short-coat of a low-level Chen Family servant. He wore a highly realistic human skin mask (bought from the black market) on his face and an inconspicuous wooden plaque hanging from his waist.

This wooden plaque was Chen Zhaozu's “servant waist token.”

That foolish young master was being kept in the cellar by him to “recuperate,” so his belongings were naturally being “safekept” by Zhou Wannian for the time being.

“That corrupt official Wealthy Chen must be busy counting money and arranging an escape route right now. The General Affairs Hall will likely be at its most lax.”

Zhou Wannian activated the Turtle Breathing Technique, suppressing his aura to the first layer of Qi Refining, making him look like a Mortal servant with zero presence.

He pushed open the courtyard door and, like a grey rat, slipped into the night... The back courtyard of the Chen Family General Affairs Hall.

This was the hub for resource distribution in the entire Inner District and was also Wealthy Chen's territory. It was usually bustling with people, but because of the city-wide martial law these past few days, most of the manpower had been deployed to the front lines, leaving the back courtyard quite deserted.

It was piled with various discarded Formation Flags, cracked Pill Furnace fragments, and household waste, emitting an unpleasant odor.

Zhou Wannian kept his head down, holding a broom and pretending to sweep the floor as he slowly edged toward the withered well in the corner.

This was the “sewage outlet” indicated by the divination.

No one was around.

Only on the distant sentry post were two guards huddled in a sheltered spot, dozing off.

Zhou Wannian's figure flashed, and like a loach, he slid into the withered well.

Below the well was a wide underground canal where wastewater from the Chen Family residence flowed.

Enduring the nausea, Zhou Wannian slapped a Dust-Repelling Talisman and a breath concealing talisman on himself, then felt his way deeper along the canal.

He walked about a hundred paces.

Suddenly, an extremely faint spiritual energy fluctuation appeared ahead—one that would be impossible to detect without careful sensing.

“I've arrived.”

Zhou Wannian stopped in his tracks.

On the stone wall above his head was a thick bronze pipe. The surface of this pipe was covered in Formation patterns and was currently vibrating slightly, as if under immense pressure.

At a joint in the pipe, due to lack of maintenance, a hair-thin crack had opened.

Droplets of liquid with a faint red glow were seeping from the crack, dripping into the sewage below and vanishing instantly.

“Drip... drip...”

With every drop that fell, Zhou Wannian could feel a surge of spiritual energy so rich it was suffocating.

“array core spiritual liquid!”

Zhou Wannian's eyes lit up.

This was the essence the Chen Family's great Formation had squeezed out of the thousands of Loose Cultivators in the outer district! After the initial refinement by the Formation, most of the blood-fiend resentment had been removed, leaving only the purest life energy.

This stuff was a supplement for the Chen Family Old Ancestor, but for a Cultivator, it was a massive tonic!

“What a waste of heavenly treasures!”

Seeing those spiritual liquids dripping into the sewage, Zhou Wannian's heart ached so much he sucked air through his teeth.

He immediately pulled out a specially made large-bellied jade bottle and a stack of Earthworm Version Cleaning Talismans.

“Suck!”

He pasted a ring of Cleaning Talismans around the pipe crack, but this time it wasn't to absorb filth, but to create a miniature “drainage force field.”

The spiritual liquid that had been dripping naturally began to form a thin line under the guidance of the Talismans, flowing continuously into the jade bottle in Zhou Wannian's hand.

“This flow rate... tsk tsk.”

“I can fill a bottle in fifteen minutes. The spiritual energy content of this one bottle is equivalent to a High Grade qi gathering pill!”

“And it's liquid, so the absorption efficiency is even faster!”

Squatting in the dark and damp sewer, listening to the wonderful “splashing” sound, Zhou Wannian felt like a mouse that had fallen into a rice vat.

How was this a sewer?

This was clearly a river flowing with gold!

However, just as he was happily collecting it, the pipe above his head suddenly vibrated, followed by a dull thudding sound.

“Hmm?”

Zhou Wannian was startled. He immediately stopped his movements, withdrew his aura, and pressed himself against the wall.

The sound came from inside the pipe.

It sounded like... something was crawling inside?

Or perhaps it was “trash” being washed down along with the spiritual liquid?

“Clang!”

A discharge port at the end of the pipe suddenly opened, and a dark mass was flushed out, slamming heavily into the nearby sludge.

Zhou Wannian narrowed his eyes, looking through the faint spiritual light.

It was a severed arm.

But this severed arm was very strange. It didn't seem to be made of flesh and blood; instead, it looked like a product forcibly sewn together from some kind of withered wood, metal, and rotten flesh. There was no blood at the stump, only black flocculent material.

What made Zhou Wannian's skin crawl even more was that one of the fingers on the severed arm was wearing an ancient ring engraved with the character “Chen.”

“This is...”

A thought flashed through Zhou Wannian's mind like lightning.

“A part of a corpse puppet?!”

It was no longer a secret that the Chen Family Old Ancestor was a corpse puppet. But why would a part be flushed out?

Could it be... a rejection reaction?

“It seems that old monster's condition is even worse than I imagined.”

Zhou Wannian stared at the severed arm and made a deduction. “Although it has absorbed a large amount of blood Qi, its bodily functions have completely necrotized and simply cannot withstand such massive energy. It rots as it absorbs.”

“This shows that the Chen Family is now in a difficult position; they must complete the advancement before the Old Ancestor completely collapses.”

“They are getting desperate.”

Zhou Wannian didn't touch the severed arm. That thing was covered in Death Qi and corpse poison; even touching it would be bad luck.

He just silently increased the speed of collecting the spiritual liquid.

“You guys rot your way, and I'll suck my way.”

“Once I've had my fill, I'll be sure to send you on your way.”

...An hour later.

Zhou Wannian had ten full bottles of 'array core spiritual liquid' tucked into his robes and finished his work with satisfaction.

Before leaving, he extremely carefully cleaned up all traces, even using a Cleaning Talisman to suck up all nearby footprints and scents completely.

Then, he resealed the discharge port and conveniently stuffed a Time-Delayed Explosion Talisman inside.

“A little souvenir for you.”

“In case this place ever gets clogged, I'll help you clear it out.”

...Back at Yard No. 88, Ding Block.

Zhou Wannian didn't disturb anyone and went straight into his secret room.

He looked at the row of jade bottles emitting a faint red light, his eyes flashing with the light of ambition.

“Ten bottles of array core spiritual liquid.”

“Enough for me to push my cultivation to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining Perfection, or even... touch the threshold of the sixth layer!”

“Once I reach the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, my Divine Sense will be enough to support me in controlling three 'Second-Tier Poison Thunder Drills' simultaneously.”

“At that time, even facing the Foundation Establishment Stage, I'll have the confidence to escape with my life.”

He didn't hesitate, picking up a bottle of spiritual liquid and downing it.

Boom!

A cold yet extremely violent energy instantly exploded in his stomach. Unlike the gentleness of Medicinal Pills, this spiritual liquid carried a predatory dominance, as if it wanted to rampage through his Meridians.

“Hmph, now that you're in my stomach, if you're a Dragon, you'll coil; if you're a tiger, you'll crouch!”

Zhou Wannian operated the Everlasting Spring Art (though it was a common technique, its advantage lay in being balanced and inclusive), and combined it with his Fifth Layer of Qi Refining Divine Sense to forcibly suppress and guide this energy.

His Meridians were aching and swelling, and his Dantian was boiling.

Yet he felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.

This stolen power, carrying a thrill akin to being a “thief,” made his cultivation speed several times faster than usual... Meanwhile.

In the cellar next door, Chen Zhaozu was still fast asleep, dreaming of making a fortune.

To the left, Tang Ruyan was still fretting over her Pill Furnace, wondering how to control the explosion's power within a range that wouldn't demolish the house.

In the Chen Family General Affairs Hall, Wealthy Chen was still counting that pile of Spirit Stones laced with “tracking powder,” calculating when to run away.

Deep within the Chen Family Ancestral Residence, that rotting monster was roaring in a blood pool, completely unaware that the nutrient solution it relied on for survival was being intercepted at the source by someone, just like a rat in the sewer.

The entire Qinghe Market was like a giant pressure cooker about to explode.

And Zhou Wannian was the one sitting on the pressure cooker's valve, using it to boil eggs while waiting to watch the fireworks... an absolute master of playing it safe.