Chapter 231

Returned to the manor in the city.

Qin Shuo immediately caught a faint corpse stench.

It was the same aura he had detected on the blood‑drained Yunwen officers in the Demon Suppression Office's council hall earlier.

"The Ghost Mother Sect really came here!"

He snorted coldly, walked around the manor, found no lurking earth‑escaping zombies, and then gave up.

However, not long after things had quieted, a sense arose in his heart again,

Looking up, he saw a huge bird swooping across the sky, its shadow drifting down, and it landed steadily on his own training ground.

"Elder Nie……Valley Master?"

Qin Shuo was surprised; he hadn't expected the other party to come.

"Old Valley Master?"

Nie Jin Feng leapt down from the eagle's back, his brows slightly raised, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.

"Cough cough."

Qin Shuo covered his embarrassment with a dry cough and quickly changed the subject: "Valley Master Nie, why have you come at this late hour?"

Nie Jin Feng gave him a deep look, then walked on his own to the main seat in the hall and sat down before speaking slowly:

"How about we call off your life‑and‑death duel with Yue Shan?"

"Call it off?"

Hearing that Elder Nie had come seeking peace, Qin Shuo straightened his back a bit and replied with teasing and mockery:

"This life‑and‑death duel was originally forced upon me by you, Valley Master."

"Now that I've heard my cultivation is exhausted and I repelled Lu Dingzhou, you want to back out?"

Nie Jin Feng's mouth twitched; he suppressed the urge to beat this brat, then said coldly:

"Back then I had you accept the duel so that Yue Shan's backers wouldn't strike at you, thereby deepening the enmity between Wind Thunder Valley and the Demon Suppression Office."

"Now I ask you to withdraw the duel for the same reason."

"Oh? How so?"

Qin Shuo seemed intrigued, looking at Elder Nie with a half‑smile.

Nie Jin Feng's face twitched again; if he weren't actually in the wrong this time, he would really want to give this brat a good thrashing.

But for now, he endured and said:

"With your current cultivation, killing Yue Shan would be easy, but it would surely provoke a frenzied backlash from his forces."

"You now have enemies on all sides—the Xiao family, Profound Arms Mountain, the Ghost Mother Sect, and the demon kings of the Myriad Great Mountain…"

At this point, Nie Jin Feng also staggered a little—this brat really knows how to stir up trouble.

But after a turn of thought, he continued:

"With so many foes and not a single ally, you may seem glorious, but you're actually in a perilous state."

"If you insist on holding the duel to take Yue Shan's life, I will naturally not stop you."

"But if you are willing to give up revenge, I, as Valley Master of Wind Thunder Valley, promise to pass on a superior supreme art to you, plus a Wind Thunder Pill as compensation."

"Furthermore, I will spare no effort to help you attain the rank of Grandmaster and become the Lord of Divine Weapons; I could even take you as my true‑disciples."

"Hah!"

Qin Shuo snorted coldly, cutting off Elder Nie's words.

"Take me as a true‑disciple?"

"That old coot's dreaming big!"

"A true‑disciple is impossible."

"But this compensation…"

"I won't turn it down for free."

"As for Yue Shan and his backing Shock Thunder Hall,"

"once I become a Grandmaster, I'll find any excuse to tear them apart in front of Elder Nie—what can he do about it?"

"Since I harbor murderous intent toward him, his survival is utterly impossible."

"For now, I'll first collect some interest—no loss there."

"Moreover, I have a strong premonition that even if I don't seek out Yue Shan's disciples, they will come to me on their own."

"After all, aside from Xiao Yingqi, the ones who fear my continued growth the most are probably Yue Shan's disciples from Shock Thunder Hall."

"Therefore, I needn't rush; I'll just take any benefit that comes my way."

"When Yue Shan's disciples come to me of their own accord, even if I kill them, Elder Nie will have nothing to say."

"In the flash of his thoughts, he spoke before Elder Nie could erupt:"

"If you want me to cancel the duel, fine—but you'll have to pay extra!"

"Speak."

Nie Jin Feng's heart eased.

He really feared that this brat would be single‑minded about revenge, which would put him in a difficult spot.

"As for compensation, with Wind Thunder Valley's resources, even if this brat demanded ten thousand taels of gold and three thousand pills, I, Nie Jin Feng, could afford it."

However, Qin Shuo's next sentence almost gave him a complete shutdown.

"I want the Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow!"

"Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow?"

Nie Jin Feng even doubted his ears, but seeing Qin Shuo's non‑joking expression, his face instantly turned cold:

"You brat, are you crazy? Do you know what you're saying?"

You know! Even borrowing it for a month won't work?

Qin Shuo spoke nonchalantly, making Nie Jin Feng's fists clench with a creak, but he eventually said with a grim face:

"Anything else?"

He knew full well that given this brat's nature, once he opened his mouth, it certainly wouldn't be that simple.

"Besides, the top-secret arts require three disciplines, the Wind Thunder Grand Pill needs two pellets, and there are also a hundred thousand Blood Qi Pills!"

Qin Shuo made lion-sized demands, asking for the sky.

After all, it's Old Nie who came begging on his own—we shouldn't let it go to waste.

"You think Wind Thunder Valley is a pawnshop I run?"

Nie Jin Feng's face darkened like a pot bottom, but he eventually relented and said:

"Other requests can be met, but only this Wind Thunder Grand Pill—I can give you just one, none more."

The Wind Thunder Grand Pill is truly the king of pills, also known as the Sixty-year Pill.

As the name suggests, after a body-refining martial artist consumes this pill, it can transform into sixty-year true qi, its value beyond measure,

Even within Wind Thunder Valley, there are hardly any reserves; it is extremely precious.

"One pellet—fine, one pellet it is!"

Qin Shuo hadn't really expected Old Nie to agree to everything, but hearing the other party so readily, he secretly felt delighted.

"Besides, I can lend you the Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow for a month, but only usable within Cloud Prefecture City, and cannot leave my sensing range."

Nie Jin Feng made a demand.

The Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow is a myriad-forged divine weapon left by the two patriarchs of the Wind Thunder Two Sages; not only is it of great significance, its power is extraordinarily strong.

With this divine bow in hand, even a grand master who has reached the Divine Condensation Realm, he is confident he can contend with them.

Therefore, it must not be lost!

"Deal!"

Qin Shuo beamed with delight, immediately reaching out to have Old Nie bring out the Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow for him to examine.

That day, after a hurried glance in Phoenix Sun City, he couldn't forget this bow; now having the chance to get his hands on it, he was naturally impatient.

"Hmph!"

Nie Jin Feng gave a cold snort, but still flipped his palm, taking the Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow from his mustard-seed space and handing it to Qin Shuo, repeatedly urging:

"This bow carries the martial will of the founding patriarch of my Wind Thunder Valley; unless necessary, do not lightly use this bow."

"Rest assured, rest assured!"

Qin Shuo gave a perfunctory response, his gaze already completely absorbed by the terrifyingly huge bow before him, which stood over a person's height.

He had also encountered many strong bows: the Thunder-strike Iron-wood Bow, the Dragon-spine Splitting Sky Bow, the Ghost King Bow, the Fine-iron Great Bow……

But none of those bows gave him a feeling as if they were alive.

Not bad—it's actually alive!

As soon as the bow before him entered his hand, he sensed it contained extraordinary spirituality, as if it had its own consciousness.

Most importantly, even though he had already grasped it in his hand, he still could not probe the spiritual imprint contained within.

It was as if some force was actively blocking the Taotie Cauldron's inspection.

However, this blockage, as Qin Shuo's will to see through it strengthened, thereby causing the Taotie Cauldron to tremble, then shattered with a boom.

Lines of text surfaced from the bottom, fully revealing the spiritual imprint contained within before his eyes,

【Ingredient: Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow!】

【The Wind Thunder Subduing Flood Bow, made from an ancient evil flood dragon, aided by wind-thunder strange stone and metal essence, refined through sacrificial forging, its bones condensed from heaven-and-earth essence, its soul forged from sun-and-moon splendor, already initially possessing spirituality.】

【Grade: Myriad-forged Divine Weapon (Supreme)】

【Upon refinement, one can obtain: Wind Thunder Four Symbols Arrow (Perfected), Blazing Wind True Gang (Perfected), Thunderbolt True Gang (Perfected), Four Symbols True Gang (Perfected), Thunderclap True Gang (Perfected), Thunderfire True Gang (Perfected), Wind and Cloud True Gang (Perfected), Wind God's Body (Perfected), Thunder God's Body (Perfected), Wind Thunder Combined Strike, Wind Thunder Tyrant Body (Perfected), Ancient Evil Flood Dragon's Innate Divine Ability (Damaged), Thunderclap God's Palm (Damaged)……】

【The spiritual will contained in the ingredient is strong; it cannot be refined all at once, so a batch refinement mode has been activated.】

【Current energy reserves are sufficient; you may select any imprint to refine!】

【Refine?】