Chapter 81: Ning'an

A cool, warm current surged from within his body, bringing with it a light, floating sensation, as if he were about to ascend to immortality.

A moment later, Qin Jiang opened his eyes; they had become bright and clear, as if the entire world were reflected within them.

He clenched his fist slightly, his heart calm.

This improvement did not have a massive impact on his strength, increasing it by about half a percent.

Yet, he felt an indescribable sensation, as if some obscure shackle within his body had been snapped.

Looking at the panel's notification: 【Innate One Qi Formula (First Layer) (1/1000) 【78%】】

【Potential Points: 742.6】

Although there was still a gap in grade compared to the Black Fiend Demon Statue Art, it was still a high-level True Martial Art with five layers of realms.

This was likely the strongest nourishing technique at the True Martial level.

The consumption of Potential Points was not high, only 50 points, about the same as pushing a high-level True Martial Art to the perfection realm.

Perhaps the Potential Points consumed for fusion and deduction were related to the number of martial arts involved.

It was just unclear if there was a difference between deducing True Martial-level and Secret Martial-level martial arts.

As his gaze fell behind the Innate One Qi Formula, he understood the difference between the Potential Panel's fusion deduction and his own deduction of martial arts.

First was the difference in realm; when he smelted his own martial arts to deduce the Black Fiend Demon Statue Art, it directly reached the fifth layer, not far from perfection.

Whereas the Innate One Qi Formula, like when he previously deduced ordinary True Martial Arts into high-level ones, started from the first layer.

Furthermore, there was a large gap in compatibility; although the Innate One Qi Formula had undergone some adaptive adjustments to reach 78%, it still had a huge gap compared to the Black Fiend Demon Statue Art's absurd 95%.

At most, this could only be considered as allowing him to concurrently cultivate a powerful True Martial nourishing technique, without the effect of an innate divine ability.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile; he was being too greedy.

A martial art with 78% compatibility was already extremely hard to find.

Without further thought, "Potential, add points, Innate One Qi Formula!"

【Innate One Qi Formula (First Layer) (1/1000), Experience +7900】

【Innate One Qi Formula (Perfection) 【78%】】

【Potential Points: 663.6】

His physical body was strengthened once more, increasing by about thirty percent.

For now, he was not short on Potential Points, so there was no need to be overly frugal.

Furthermore, after going to the County City, there would be opportunities to obtain Potential Points, and the area controlled by the County City was much larger than all the cities around Black Mountain City combined; naturally, there would be more Potential Points.

Knock, knock, knock.

A knocking sound rang out. Qin Jiang looked toward the sound and saw Xu Yanran standing outside the courtyard gate in a green dress.

Qin Jiang smiled slightly, "Yanran is here, sit."

Xu Yanran walked over and sat down. Qin Jiang pushed the grapes in front of him toward her, "Try them, the taste is quite good."

Xu Yanran picked up a grape and put it in her mouth, nodding slightly, "Very sweet."

"Yanran, you came here, is there something the matter?" Qin Jiang asked.

Xu Yanran nodded, "Brother Qin, I came to bid farewell."

Qin Jiang was taken aback, "So urgent?"

"Mm, right now is a time when all kinds of supplies are scarce, I have decided to make a final gamble this time," Xu Yanran said.

If she could, she would also like to plan slowly, but the Xu Family had basically suffered no losses during this Weirdness Crisis, and in the eyes of others, they were like a piece of fat meat; everyone wanted to take a bite out of the Xu Family.

There was no help for it; the current Xu Family was no longer one of the Nine Great Noble Families of the past.

However, this was also a once-in-a-few-decades opportunity! She had already planned it; this time, she would spare no cost to push her father back to the Secret Martial Artist realm! As long as there was one Secret Martial Artist to hold the fort, although they couldn't restore the glory of the past, at least they would have the power to protect themselves.

If they couldn't safely pass through this crisis... although she had left a backup plan, there was no hope of recovering to the current state within ten years.

Thinking of this, she looked at Qin Jiang; if they could survive this crisis, only then could she open her heart without burden.

Strong as she was, how could she force her own troubles onto Brother Qin?

"Good, if there is anything you need help with, you can tell me. By the way, in a while, I will be going to the County City; the Copper Bell Sect side is already settled," Qin Jiang said.

Xu Yanran was stunned upon hearing this, then reacted; it must have been the handiwork of County Lieutenant Long.

It seemed that the Secret Martial Artist who came must be a person from the Long Family faction.

Thinking about it, it made sense; like Brother Qin, who could suppress a Weird Eye with the body of a True Martial Artist, there probably wasn't such a heaven-defying talent even in the Prefecture City? "That's good, after things end here, I will lead the Xu Family back to the County City," she said.

Qin Jiang's eyes twitched slightly, back? So the so-called returning meant returning to the County City.

"Why were you forced out of the County City in the first place?" he asked.

Xu Yanran was startled, then lowered her head slightly, "That night, a group of mysterious people killed their way into the Xu Fu; it was Grandfather who risked his life to send us out. We originally thought we would encounter interception on the road of escape, but nothing happened at all.

It was as if... as if their goal was only the location where the Xu Fu stood; as for us, the Xu Family members, we were just bugs that could be crushed at will, and they didn't care at all."

Even though many years had passed, she still couldn't forget that night.

That was the turning point of her life's trajectory, and she lost many relatives.

Speaking of this, she became conflicted again; if she wanted to track down the true culprit, she would inevitably clash with that group of mysterious people, and if Brother Qin were implicated then, what would she do?

Qin Jiang sat opposite her, casually picking up a grape and throwing it into his mouth.

"By the way, Yanran, there is one thing I need to entrust to you."

Xu Yanran raised her head, "What is it?"

"Wait for me a moment."

Saying this, Qin Jiang walked into the room, and before long, he walked out holding a stack of silver notes.

"This is fifty thousand taels of silver notes; when you travel between various cities, help me keep an eye out for all kinds of antiques and old items, especially bronze ware from the Ancient Yu period."

Having said that, he placed the silver notes into Xu Yanran's hands.

A portion of these silver notes was looted from the Autumn Leaf Gang, and another portion was his own, about five hundred taels... "Fifty thousand taels!" Xu Yanran's heart was slightly shocked.

Even the current Xu Family would find it difficult to produce fifty thousand taels of cash at once.

All the tax revenue of a small city for ten years combined might not even reach fifty thousand taels! Using so much money to buy antiques, what was Brother Qin thinking? It was impossible to use that much.

Could it be... her eyes turned slightly red, and then she suppressed it with Internal Qi.

"Thank you, Brother Qin."

Several days later, Ning'an County City.

Long Yuesheng and Qin Jiang were leading their horses, waiting in line outside the city.

Qin Jiang looked at this giant city built against the mountain; the height of the city wall was at least thirty meters, and standing beneath it, there was a feeling that it was about to tilt and crush down.

"How is it? Isn't it much bigger than Black Mountain City? This Ning'an City has a total of forty-nine wards, and the scale of each ward is at least five times larger than the wards of Black Mountain City," Long Yuesheng said.

Actually, with his status, he could completely lead Qin Jiang directly inside; in this vast Ning'an City, there was no one who dared to stop people from the Long Family.

However, he wanted to lead Qin Jiang to familiarize himself with the layout inside the city, which was why he followed the procedure and waited in line.

Not long after, the two walked into the city, and a feeling of prosperity and noise rushed toward them; even at the city gate, there were still many peddlers shouting to sell their goods.

"Not bad, right? Ning'an, tranquility and peace; it is a name personally set by the previous Governor of Yuan Prefecture who walked out from here."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 82 =====