44: A bottle of liquid can't buy a city, but it can buy a life.

The old dog's low growl was like a sudden clap of thunder, tearing through the dead silence of midnight.

It was as fast as a bolt of faded lightning, its golden pupils igniting like two flames in the darkness, fangs bared with none of its usual lethargy.

A figure in the crowd disguised as a buyer didn't even have time to react before being tackled to the ground by a massive force. His thick winter clothes were easily torn open, and a dark green jade bottle tumbled from his robes, hitting the bluestone floor with a sharp "crack."

The bottle didn't break, but the wooden cork had popped off.

An indescribable stench, a mix of sulfur and rotting meat, instantly exploded outward—a hundred times more foul than the black blood that had leaked from White Deer Elder's seven orifices!

Several people nearby began to gag on the spot, their faces turning pale as they retreated in terror, pointing at the man on the ground.

"Hu San Dao! It's the thug from the west of the city, Hu San Dao!" someone recognized his face.

The facade of honesty on Hu San Dao's face was instantly replaced by terror. He scrambled to crawl away, but the old dog's paw pinned his shoulder down firmly. That paw, which usually did nothing but brush away sunflower seed shells, was now as immovable as an iron vise.

"It's not me! This thing isn't mine!" Hu San Dao screamed hoarsely, yet his eyes involuntarily flickered toward the bottle of foul-smelling "fake liquid."

The commotion in the crowd came to a sudden halt as everyone's gaze focused on the puddle of murky liquid.

The liquid was also changing rapidly. Once out of the jade bottle, it seemed to lose some form of suppression and began to emit wisps of black smoke. The bluestone it touched hissed as it was corroded, leaving behind ugly black spots.

This sight was so similar to the remnant "Reverse Three Caves" patterns that had appeared on White Deer Elder's skin before he died!

Fear spread through the crowd like a plague.

"It's... it's that fake medicine! Just like the one White Deer Elder drank!" a Martial Artist shouted with a trembling voice; he had witnessed White Deer Elder's gruesome death earlier that day.

"What is he trying to do? Hiding in the crowd, does he want to sell this poison to us?"

"Goddammit! We came here looking for a way to survive, but he wants to cut off our path to life!"

Anger instantly replaced fear. Several hot-tempered Martial Artists clenched their fists; had that yellow-furred old dog not been guarding him, Hu San Dao would likely have been torn to shreds.

Zhang Xuanyi slowly rose from his bamboo chair. The movement aggravated the injury in his chest, causing him to break into another fit of violent coughing. A trace of bloody froth leaked from the corner of his mouth, which he nonchalantly wiped away with the back of his finger.

He didn't look at Hu San Dao. Instead, he paced over to the puddle of filth, crouched down, and lightly poked it with a bamboo skewer.

"Using Corpse Oil, Yin Soul Grass, and three mace of Heart-Rotting Stone, ground into powder and mixed with Intestine-Piercing Venom. To mimic the Spiritual Qi fluctuations of the Qi Liquid, crushed inferior Spirit Stone powder was specifically added." Zhang Xuanyi's voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. "Fine craftsmanship. Unfortunately, this thing of yours isn't even a grave; it's just a sewer. Drink it, and far from reaching the heavens in one step, you'll immediately turn into a puddle of pus and blood, with even your soul defiled, never to be reborn."

His words were like a bucket of ice water poured over everyone's hearts.

Only then did the crowd realize how close they had been to death.

If not for this unremarkable old dog, or if someone had tried to save money by buying the "budget version" from Hu San Dao, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Hu San Dao's face was ashen; he knew he was finished.

He said tremblingly, "It's not my fault... It's... it's the people from 'Tongxuan Hall'! They found me and gave me a hundred Spirit Stones to bring this bottle in and find a chance... a chance to swap it with the real liquid on your stall!"

As soon as the words "Tongxuan Hall" were spoken, the crowd erupted in an uproar once again.

That "hope for Mortals" initiated by White Deer Elder, which had even begun selecting a site in the city to erect a monument—was it actually the mastermind behind all this?

"They said your Qi Liquid is a Tianshi Mansion forbidden technique and that something would go wrong sooner or later. They wanted to use a 'safer' and more 'mass-producible' formula to truly achieve 'Qi for All People.' They said White Deer Elder's death was an accident, that there was something wrong with your medicine, and they just wanted to... set things right!" Hu San Dao spoke incoherently, spilling everything he knew.

After hearing this, a strange smile appeared on Zhang Xuanyi's face, one that held three parts mockery and seven parts realization.

Set things right? What a fine way to "set things right."

It turned out that White Deer Elder had been a pawn from the very beginning—a pawn used to test the reality of his Qi Liquid and, in turn, nail him to the pillar of shame as part of the Evil Path.

White Deer Elder's death wasn't an accident; it was part of the plan.

His death would become the best weapon for Tongxuan Hall to attack Zhang Xuanyi, and Hu San Dao's bottle of fake liquid was the final straw to break the camel's back.

All they had to do was swap this fake liquid onto the stall and let some "lucky fellow" buy it and drop dead on the spot.

Then, Zhang Xuanyi's crime of "selling poison and disregarding human life" would be set in stone.

At that time, Tongxuan Hall would appear with their "improved" pseudo-liquid and naturally take over everything, harvesting everyone's hope and wealth.

What a brilliant move to substitute the real with the fake; what a masterstroke of psychological warfare.

"So I wasn't selling hope... but paying off someone's debt?"

In Zhang Xuanyi's mind, the figure writing "Repay Debt" under the star chart and the System's final prompt, "Purification Liquid's first target: A Yuan," suddenly merged into one.

He had always thought he was the creator of this game, the source of the miracle.

Only now did he realize that from beginning to end, he was just a pawn, an executor.

Everything he had done was merely repaying an old debt, owed at some unknown time, concerning the lives of countless people.

This mysterious System, this unknown "creditor," had even anticipated his enemies' moves and bestowed upon him the methods to counter them—such as that "Qi Liquid Purification Talisman" which had purified White Deer Elder's remnant soul.

"A Yuan..." He whispered the name, and his heart felt a sudden, inexplicable pang of pain, more agonizing than the turbulence in his Qi Sea.

It was a name that felt incredibly familiar, yet he couldn't recall a single specific face to go with it.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze passing over the shaken crowd to look at the brightly lit silhouette of the city in the distance.

He could almost see a massive stone monument being hoisted overnight in the city's central square. Perhaps the foundation inscription for "Tongxuan Hall" was already carved upon it, and the craftsmen were in high spirits, anticipating the arrival of a new era.

They didn't know that what they were building with their own hands was not a hall leading to the Great Dao, but a massive grave leading to Hell.

In the wind, there truly seemed to be a faint scent of blood.

Zhang Xuanyi withdrew his gaze, glanced at the completely dazed Hu San Dao pinned by the old dog, and said indifferently to the crowd, "Whether you hand him over to the officials or throw him down the mountain is up to you."

After speaking, he ignored the external noise and turned to walk back behind the stall.

Su Qingzhu immediately handed him a clean towel, her eyes filled with worry.

Zhang Xuanyi waved his hand, signaling that he was fine.

He carefully took out the jade bottle from his robes; it had turned from murky to clear and was emitting a soft glow.

This was the true "Purification Liquid," obtained in exchange for three days of his cultivation.

The liquid in the bottle was crystal clear, like a freshly born spring, containing an indescribable and pure vitality.

It was no longer just "Qi Liquid," but something that had shed all impurities—the only antidote capable of seeing through all false Daos and purging the "Reverse Three Caves" rune curse from its source.

The System's prompt still hovered in the corner of his vision: "First target: A Yuan."

Zhang Xuanyi gripped the jade bottle tightly. The cool touch of the bottle caused his chaotic thoughts to gradually settle.

He understood that this bottle of Purification Liquid was not for sale, nor was it meant to prove anything to the world.

It had a place it had to reach and a person it had to save.

Repaying the debt would begin tonight.

His eyes became more determined than ever before.

The city lights in the distance cast a reflection of prosperity in his dark pupils, and above this reflection, he seemed to see that stone monument under construction being stained red, inch by inch.