Chapter 17: Another Breakthrough, Lü Xiang Comes Knocking

They've started fighting!

After a standoff lasting over half a month, the Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang have finally started fighting!

And so, the workload for the corpse-buriers has surged!

It went straight from a few dozen a day to nearly a hundred.

Clearly, the Blood Eagle Gang intends to take this opportunity to finish off the Iron Hand Gang, while the Iron Hand Gang, as the late-coming pursuers, also needs to fight with enough ferocity to force the Blood Eagle Gang to cough up territory.

Both sides have their own agendas and want to seize the opportunity, so naturally, they gathered their men, arranged a battle outside the shanty area under the cover of a dark and windy night, and fought until heads were rolling.

By the time the corpses were delivered to the burial wasteland, none of the ones Du En and the others saw were intact; they were either missing heads or had severed hands and feet.

Most importantly, there was nothing left on their bodies, just a few tattered rags.

Through Du En's efforts, the "Gathering and Appraising" skill among the Hundred Arts quickly broke through to the "First Glimpse of the Path" stage, allowing him to harvest completely and efficiently, as well as skillfully and rapidly identify medicinal properties and food principles.

Being familiar with the work, like driving a light carriage on a familiar road, he could naturally do it with his eyes closed; he was exceptionally proficient.

Even if he were to start cultivating from scratch now, it would take him less than seven years to break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining, a massive reduction compared to the original thirty-plus years!

Of course, the fact that his cultivation accumulation is now at twenty-one points is due to the short-term effect brought about by the breakthrough in his cultivation method, which added five points.

Within the meridians of his body, the thick, earthy-yellow mana is wrapping around the spiritual Qi, traveling in a light and composed manner, using his body as a furnace to rapidly refine the spiritual Qi.

On this point, there is no need to worry, because his hard work has paid off; he achieved his predetermined short-term goal before the Blood Eagle Gang came knocking.

Thus, another two days passed quite steadily.

Bang!

A foot suddenly kicked the gate of the small courtyard, the sound exploding and startling the six of them.

Du En's cultivation method officially broke through to this level tonight.

"Gathering and Appraising is stuck..."

After the practical verification just now, the efficiency of sensing and refining spiritual Qi has increased by another ten percent on top of the previous foundation.

Du En made this judgment.

This point was not unexpected.

The workload of the corpse-buriers surged and then fell back, and due to the ripple effects of the two gangs' standoff, it even dropped to the point of only thirty-something corpses a day.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, as if he were a lump of yellow earth, becoming increasingly tough and hard through the bit-by-bit accumulation and tamping.

And once the Blood Eagle Gang frees up their hands, they will likely arrange for someone else to replace the late Luo Heng and collect protection fees in this sector.

The sharp knife held in his hand seemed to be itching to jump!

He stared fixedly at Du En, the leader of this group of corpse-buriers; if there were any sign of cowardice or weakness here, he would rush over first to slash him, just to provide a solid deterrent.

Once these words were spoken, Ning Caize and the others could not help but feel timid and worried.

That night, Du En was practicing in his room as usual.

Ninety low-grade spirit stones?!

With a thought, the panel appeared.

His threat was so obvious; as he showed off his power and greed spread, he no longer harbored any avoidance toward Du En's side, glaring at the nearby Du En, clearly intending to swing his blade if anyone dared to talk back.

He must find a way to catch those big owl-demons, but those big owl-demons are truly hard to catch; they stay far away, are well-fed, and are very alert, so he cannot rely on playing dead to easily and effortlessly lure them over.

Du En quickly sensed that the situation was somewhat ominous; he worked by day and cultivated by night, starting to race against time.

On this morning.

After finishing his worries and thoughts, Du En did not slack off; he closed his eyes again, immersed himself in cultivation once more, and continued his bit-by-bit accumulation.

As for Du En, he remained steady and calm, not buying into this: "Even if you kill us, you won't find ninety stones."

Previously, when Du En caught one, he couldn't finish it all, but now his body is strong and digests well, so he can eat it all, including the soup and the medicinal dregs; yet, after his cultivation method broke through tonight, he still felt it was beyond his power.

No, you brat, you're immune to reason, aren't you!

It stands to reason that the culinary arts would be the same.

However, this part is actually fine; the Three Talents Stewed Owl counts as a graded spiritual meal, so he can continue to stew it, stewing one every day as free food, and no one will suspect anything until he becomes proficient.

He slowly opened his eyes, and a bright, earthy-yellow light flashed across the depths of his pupils.

Because there simply isn't that much!

Ning Caize and the others were dumbfounded, while Lü Xiang waved his knife and grinned with a wide mouth.

Old Luo being scared off really wasn't because he was too weak; looking at this brat, I actually feel a bit hollow inside myself, as if he really has a lot of confidence, tsk!

Secretly clicking his tongue and feeling that his momentum had actually been suppressed, Lü Xiang couldn't help but be annoyed, his expression becoming increasingly fierce as he waved his knife and spoke with malicious intent: "This master is named Lü Xiang. From today on, the protection fee for this area will be collected by me, and you bunch of zombie-like scum, who actually dared not pay before, really thought you could get away with it?"

For the people living in the shanty area who were under the direct influence of these two gangs, it was naturally just a false alarm, and it did not develop into the worst-case scenario.

【Divine Ability: None】

If I put on a fawning face and say a few soft words, couldn't I just smoothly enter the next step, record it as a debt first, and have you hurry to the manager to ask for money, making up as much as you can?

Thus, time quickly arrived at the latter half of late October.

In fact, it did not exceed his judgment.

Lü Xiang actually knew it clearly, but his lion's share demand wasn't just talk; he immediately held the knife to Du En's neck and shouted angrily: "I don't care if you have it or not; in any case, if you can't take it out, then die for me!"

After merging into a mass, it was the size of a fist!

What was meant to come has come!

Moreover, this Lü Xiang before him came with aggressive momentum and was full of killing intent; his eyes, staring at people like a tiger seeing a lamb, were truly terrifying—he must have killed someone not long ago!

After one full major circulation was completed, this gaseous mana retracted into the dantian sea of Qi.

"So, including the half-year owed previously, fifteen low-grade spirit stones per person, ninety in total, hand it all over to me!"

I am just robbing you!

That scoundrel Zhang Lin directly scraped away twenty low-grade spirit stones before, which took several years to accumulate; now, I must scrape and rob to recover my losses!

"You had better hand it over honestly, otherwise, don't blame me for the white blade going in and the red blade coming out!"

【Age: 18/91】

Du En has been grinding hard during this period precisely to deal with this point.

After a battle, the two gangs discovered that both sides were tough nuts to crack and difficult to deal with, so they tacitly returned to their previous standoff, both thinking that as long as the other side showed a little weakness first, they could take the step down and return to their previous state.

【Spiritual Root: Low-grade】

"It seems the fighting isn't intense enough, so they still have the leisure to loot the belongings of the dead."

Compared to others, this is at least a fourfold difference!

With the assistance of spiritual meals, the number of times he can circulate his cultivation technique every night has already been increased to eight!

It's just that.

【Cultivation Technique: Yellow Earth Art (Proficient 0/50)】

You are robbing me!

That's right!

They came out of their houses one after another, only to see Lü Xiang, who was short and fierce-looking, wearing clothes embroidered with a blood eagle, looking over with a ferocious expression and full of baleful aura.

"Furthermore, the deterrent effect of the stench brought by the boiled owls has clearly weakened; for a while now, the Blood Eagle Gang has looked like they are still in a standoff with the Iron Hand Gang, but in reality, they have each gone home, and it is just a facade."

As the ones who slipped through the net last time, the grave diggers will likely become the chicken that the newcomer uses to warn the monkeys, thereby establishing their own prestige.

However, Du En remained as calm as an ancient well, completely absorbing this preemptive strike, walking steadily without fear or trepidation, and approached to ask: "What is your business?"

"It's just that those old, weak, and sick individuals who can't grab food and are hungry, and are easy to catch, have almost all been caught by me; moreover, the meal efficacy that such individuals can provide now appears stretched and is very barely enough."

【Hundred Arts: Gathering and Appraisal (Entry-level 0/20), Culinary Arts (Novice 4/10)】

Seeing him like this, Lü Xiang couldn't help but mutter to himself.

【Spell: Earth Bullet Technique (Entry-level 8/20)】

There is also the Earth Bullet Technique; because it is also of the Earth element, it received a positive boost, which also raised it by five points.

"Even if I die, I can't take it out."

【Cultivation: Qi Refining Initial Stage (21/100)】

Then, those unranked ordinary medicinal herbs can no longer provide proficiency; one needs to gather and appraise Rank 1 medicinal herbs to do so.

Du En's brow didn't even twitch: "So?"

I know you haven't gone to collect money this month!

At this moment, facing Du En, this cold, hard stone that wasn't afraid of blades at all, Lü Xiang was also somewhat helpless and began to feel flustered and exasperated.

Do you really think I don't dare to hurt anyone?!

Please follow and read!

Please add to your library!

(End of this chapter)