277: Dao Sword Clash

The water mirror in the Hanyue Valley Underground Palace reflected the flustered figure of the Longhu Mountain Daoist acolyte.

Zhang Xuansu's purple golden Pill Furnace had been hoisted away by Luowang Assassins using specially crafted grappling claws and hung from the eaves of the Scripture Pavilion. A note was stuck to the bottom of the furnace: "Borrowing the furnace for use, will return in three days. Interest: three volumes of books from Haoran Academy."

Zhang Xuansu was so angry that his whisk shook until it came undone. The green ox pawed the ground, and the white mist it exhaled carried signs of anger: "Jun Xiaoyao! Do you really think this Daoist priest dare not flatten your Beyond Heaven?"

Pale golden Dao resonance emanated from his body, and the pressure of the Great Grandmaster Realm spread out. The roof tiles of the Scripture Pavilion rattled, and Lin Sanlang and the others at the street corner turned pale, retreating involuntarily.

[Panel popup: Zhang Xuansu data card updated: Status: Furious, Martial Skill: Five Thunders Orthodox Method (Ready to fire), Magic Treasure: Soul Suppressing Bell (Activated)]

Jun Xiaoyao tapped his finger on the panel, and the message talisman from the Marshal of the Unruly connected immediately: "Young Lord, the old Daoist Zhang is about to make a Move. Once his Soul Suppressing Bell rings, I fear our assassins will lose their composure."

In the image, the Marshal of the Unruly had already placed his golden spear across his chest, and the Luowang Assassins behind him had all stuffed mugwort into their mouths—this was the calming herb given by the Famous historical physician, which could resist low-level sonic attacks.

"Let Jiang Jing calculate the account," Jun Xiaoyao said indifferently. "How much is the purple golden Pill Furnace worth, and how much are the three volumes of books worth? If he refuses to trade, punch a hole in the bottom of the furnace."

The sound of Jiang Jing's abacus came through the message talisman: "The Pill Furnace is cast from thousand-year purple copper and is worth at least five hundred taels of gold. The three volumes of books are rare editions from Haoran Academy, with a market price of at most one hundred taels... We are making a steady profit!"

In the water mirror, Zhang Xuansu was indeed bluffed by the threat of "punching a hole." He stared at the Pill Furnace on the eaves and flicked his whisk: "Three volumes of books are fine, but they must be the ones I specify!"

"As you wish." Jun Xiaoyao's voice came through the Marshal of the Unruly's message talisman. "But you must first have your Daoist acolyte withdraw from Qingzhou. If he dares to step in again, it won't just be one hole punched in the furnace."

Zhang Xuansu gritted his teeth, but eventually waved his hand to let the Daoist acolyte retreat outside the city: "Three days! I will come to take the furnace in three days. If it is missing even a fraction, this Daoist priest will ensure your Beyond Heaven has no peace!"

The disturbance temporarily subsided, and Jiang Jing immediately added to the account: "Note: The Net 'borrowed' one purple golden Pill Furnace, to be exchanged for three rare volumes from Haoran Academy, with a projected net profit of four hundred taels."

He looked up at the water mirror. "Young Lord, do we really have to return this Pill Furnace? I think we could melt it down to forge ten good swords."

"Return it," Jun Xiaoyao pointed his fingertip at the newly lit summoning array on the panel, "but first let the Famous historical physician take a look to see if there is anything good hidden inside the furnace."

The light of the summoning array was brighter than last time, and the flowing runes even carried the scent of medicine.

Jiang Jing tactfully stepped back, and an old man in a Daoist robe slowly walked out of the array. He had the appearance of a crane-haired child, leaning on a medicinal hoe, and was none other than the Medicine Immortal, Hundred Herbs Elder, from "Shushan".

[Summoning Successful] [Character: Hundred Herbs Elder] [From: Shushan Wuxia World] [Realm: Great Grandmaster Realm Middle Stage] [Martial Skill Cultivation Technique: 1. Hundred Herbs Scripture (Perfection) — Identify all herbs in the world, Alchemy skills are superb, especially good at detoxification 2. Medicinal Hoe Skill (Major Achievement) — Use the medicinal hoe as a weapon, Moves contain vitality, can attack and defend 3. Withered Glory Art (Perfection) — Internal breath flows with the withering and flourishing of plants, extremely strong endurance] [Loyalty: 93%]

"This old man, Hundred Herbs Elder, greets the Young Lord."

Hundred Herbs Elder bowed, leaning his medicinal hoe on the ground, and several tender shoots sprouted from the cracks in the ground. "I heard the Young Lord has a Pill Furnace, and this old man would like to try his hand at it."

Jun Xiaoyao adjusted the image of the Pill Furnace for the water mirror: "See if there are any tricks inside."

Hundred Herbs Elder leaned close to the water mirror and pointed his fingertip at the bottom of the Pill Furnace: "There is an interlayer here, hiding something. Judging by the shape, it looks like a notebook."

He paused. "And the rust on the furnace wall is wrong; it was painted on artificially. I fear there is a Formation carved underneath."

Jiang Jing's eyes widened: "There's an unexpected harvest?! Doesn't that mean we'll earn even more?"

Jun Xiaoyao did not reply, only asking the Marshal of the Unruly to hoist the Pill Furnace back to the Luowang stronghold.

Hundred Herbs Elder followed to the stronghold and sent back news in less than an hour: There was indeed a notebook in the interlayer, which was Zhang Xuansu's Alchemy notes, recording how to use the "nether flower" to refine "fake death pills"—this was precisely the Sharp Weapon for Luowang Assassins to escape after carrying out an assassination; the Formation on the furnace wall was a "Spirit Gathering Formation", which could speed up the Formation of Medicinal Pills, which would be of great benefit to the Alchemy of the Famous historical physician and Sun Simiao.

"We've made a fortune now!" Jiang Jing's abacus clattered rapidly. "The notebook is worth at least three hundred taels, the rubbing of the Spirit Gathering Formation is worth two hundred taels, plus the previous four hundred taels, that's a total of nine hundred taels!"

The water mirror suddenly switched scenes: The three volumes of books specified by Zhang Xuansu were delivered to the Luowang stronghold.

The Marshal of the Unruly was flipping through them, and one of the volumes was actually a supplement to the "Haoran Righteousness Art", which recorded how to use righteous energy to resolve evil arts—this happened to compensate for the weakness of Luowang Assassins being countered by Haoran Academy.

"It seems Zhang Xuansu is not stupid," Jun Xiaoyao chuckled. "He knows to send something practical to avoid us really breaking his furnace."

Hundred Herbs Elder, however, frowned while holding the notebook: "Young Lord, the prescription for this fake death pill has a problem. Using the nether flower as a primer, although it can induce fake death, it will damage the Foundation. Long-term use might..."

"No matter," Jun Xiaoyao interrupted him. "Let the Famous historical physician work with you to modify it. Use our herbs to replace the nether flower to preserve the medicinal effect and remove the side effects."

Three days later, Zhang Xuansu came to take the Pill Furnace as promised.

The Marshal of the Unruly delivered the goods at the city gate. Both parties exchanged the books and the furnace, neither saying much, but when Zhang Xuansu took the Pill Furnace, his expression changed significantly—he must have discovered that the interlayer had been tampered with, but because the Daoist acolytes were all outside the city, he could only suffer in silence.

Jiang Jing added another entry to the account book: "The Net obtained one volume of the 'Haoran Righteousness Art' supplement, one copy of the improved fake death Pill Formula by Hundred Herbs Elder and the Famous historical physician, and one rubbing of the Spirit Gathering Formation, for a net profit of one thousand one hundred taels of gold."

In the water mirror, Lin Sanlang and Fatty Zhou were parading several old scholars from Haoran Academy through the streets.

These old scholars had their long robes stripped off, were wearing coarse cloth, and were holding signs saying "I colluded with the enemy," drawing crowds of onlookers and laughter.

Kong Xiu was hiding in the Scripture Pavilion, watching the farce on the street, unable to catch his breath, and fainted.

[Panel popup: Haoran Academy's reputation in Qingzhou dropped to 0, The Net reputation + 500, Hidden task triggered: Take over the Qingzhou literary lineage]

Jun Xiaoyao looked at the task reward on the panel—control over the Qingzhou Confucian Temple, where the literary Luck of the previous dynasty was hidden, which was said to be able to stabilize the Foundation of a force.

He said to Jiang Jing: "Let the children of the merchants go to the Confucian Temple to clean up, saying it is to 'atone for sins' on behalf of Haoran Academy, and by the way... make a copy of all the books inside."

Jiang Jing's abacus clattered: "More profit! There are at least five thousand volumes of books in the Confucian Temple. Making a copy could sell for a lot of money, and we can keep an eye on the literary Luck... The Young Lord is brilliant!"

The summoning array in the underground palace lit up again, and this time the light carried Sword Qi.

Hundred Herbs Elder stepped back half a step, and a swordsman in white walked out of the array, carrying a long sword on his back, with a cold expression. It was Xie Xiaofeng from "The Third Master's Sword".

[Summoning Successful] [Character: Xie Xiaofeng] [From: gu long wuxia world] [Realm: Initial Heaven Human Realm] [Martial Skill Cultivation Technique: 1. Xie Family Three Absolute Swords (Perfection) — 'Shocking the Sky', 'Moving the Earth', 'Startling the Soul', three Moves, blood must be seen when the sword is drawn 2. Swordless Sword Intent (Major Achievement) — Returning to simplicity, Sword Intent is restrained, seemingly without a sharp edge but unstoppable 3. Heart Sword Clear (Perfection) — Controlling the sword with the heart, man and sword as one, seeing through all illusions in the world] [Loyalty: 94%]

"Subordinate Xie Xiaofeng, greets the Young Lord." Xie Xiaofeng bowed, his voice as cold as the sound of a sword.

Jun Xiaoyao looked at the direction in which Zhang Xuansu had left in the water mirror: "Three days later, I fear people from Longhu Mountain will come to retaliate. You go and meet them."

Xie Xiaofeng drew his sword and sheathed it again, his movements so fast that only afterimages remained: "The Young Lord can rest assured, I will receive them one by one if they come one by one; I will receive them in a group if they come in a group."

The lamp light of the underground palace reflected on Jun Xiaoyao's side profile. He looked at the rising power value of Beyond Heaven on the panel, which had quietly reached the threshold of a "Heavenly Human Realm force."

Jiang Jing was still calculating the new account, Hundred Herbs Elder was studying the Pill Furnace Formation, and Xie Xiaofeng was closing his eyes to rest, but his fingertips remained pressed against the sword hilt—

The wind in Qingzhou seemed to be blowing harder, but The Net of Beyond Heaven was being woven tighter and tighter.