Chapter 108: Seventh-Rank Elixir Cultivator

Fu Jingyu looked utterly bewildered, while Yan Lao and Lu Lao saw through the situation, turned their faces away, and secretly chuckled.

Bai Laoyan's house was not good; there were many dilapidated spots, all patched up with wood nailed directly on, and compared to his few shacks in the mountains, it was no better by much.

This old mountain runner might have done it on purpose; he felt more at ease staying in the shack.

Bai Laoyan opened the door, the four entered, and Yan Lao glanced around before his expression turned serious.

Hanging from the roof beams were various strange "materials."

Three pieces of zombie scalp with hair still attached, with congealed clumps of filthy blood on the hair!

A withered Ghost-Face Flower vine.

A yellow weasel the size of a wild boar, split in half.

On the cabinet by the wall sat a large conch shell, inside which was a "Beauty's Head" shrunk down to the size of a fist, all wrinkled and shriveled!

The old mountain runner had his own methods; after processing, the corruption on these "materials" had faded to almost nothing.

These are all good things; if a Craft Cultivator from the Purification Bureau saw them, they would surely try every means to negotiate a price with the old mountain runner and buy them.

Xu Yuan stared at the conch shell a few extra times, guessing if this was one of those "sisters" from the Beauty's Dam.

Bai Laoyan noticed his gaze and said, "Like it? I'll give it to you."

Xu Yuan hurriedly waved his hand and politely declined.

Bai Laoyan continued, "Or you can hunt one yourself; I'll teach you how to tan and shrink this Beauty's Head to this size."

"I didn't control it well back then; there are too many wrinkles on the face. I was just preparing to make another one..."

Xu Yuan said earnestly, "Thank you for your generosity, Senior, but I really don't need it."

Bai Laoyan pouted, "Don't think this thing is useless. I heard there's a Beauty's Dam in your town. I know those evil bitches; they chatter and make such a racket!"

"Hang this thing around your neck, and next time you pass by, I guarantee they will all shut up obediently, and not a single one will dare to disturb you again."

Bai Laoyan then lifted his feather cloak, and a rattling sound came from his neck; besides a miniature Beauty's Head, there were several other "ornaments" made from parts of evil spirits and strange creatures!

One more bloody and terrifying than the next...

Xu Yuan nodded, "No wonder no evil spirits dare to provoke you when you walk in the mountains, Senior."

Bai Laoyan grinned proudly, "I have eleven on my neck. That guy Gao Guanzi has even more, a full eighteen. Want to learn? I can teach you this skill."

But Xu Yuan still refused, "But I am still young, and I plan to marry and continue my lineage in the future. Hanging these things of yours around my neck, I would probably be saying goodbye to all the fine women of my Great Ming for the rest of my life."

"What's so good about women?" Bai Laoyan muttered, then said to the four, "I'll arrange a place for you to rest tonight."

He opened a side door; behind it was not a house, but a tunnel sloping downwards.

The tunnel had no steps; inside were all claw marks.

Xu Yuan was absolutely certain this was not dug by Bai Laoyan himself; perhaps he had captured some strange creature good at burrowing and forced it to work as a laborer to dig it out.

Down below were two large holes.

There were no beds, but there were two iron posts, each with several thick iron chains tied to them.

At the end of the iron chains hung a large meat-hook like those used in butcher shops.

Stuck to it were some unidentified substances that had not been cleaned off...

Yan Lao and the other two exchanged glances: this place was absolutely not the old mountain runner's "guest room," but a prison cell.

Xu Yuan also smiled bitterly, "You want us to stay here?"

The old mountain runner still held a bit of distrust towards everyone.

Bai Laoyan rubbed his hands and said, "This place of mine is just this big. Although the environment here isn't great, it is clean and warm... If you go to borrow lodging from the villagers' homes, it wouldn't be very appropriate; Xiao Xu knows this."

Xu Yuan clicked his tongue and nodded, "Fine, this place it is."

"I'll go get some food for everyone," Bai Laoyan said. Xu Yuan refused, "No need, dried rations are fine for us."

"You put us in a prison cell to stay, so we wouldn't dare eat your food anyway."

Bai Laoyan nodded, "Then sleep."

He was about to leave when Xu Yuan said again, "Senior, wait a moment, there is another matter to discuss."

Bai Laoyan stopped, and the five sat on the ground. Xu Yuan said, "Why didn't the Haikou Toad appear? Is it because it has a bad relationship with the other Head Monsters?"

This was a question for Bai Laoyan.

"The Haikou Toad's level is slightly higher than that of the Ghost Temple Statue. The other Head Monsters indeed aren't very willing to associate with it, fearing that this fellow might suddenly say something that implicates them."

"But to say the relationship is bad is not quite right. As for why it didn't appear, I can't figure it out either."

Yan Lao asked, "Xiao Xu, do you have any thoughts?"

Xu Yuan indeed did, "Perhaps someone is holding the Haikou Toad back for us."

"Who is it?" Yan Lao said, "We must thank them."

"No need to thank them; for us, it might not be a good thing," Xu Yuan said. "To get to Laoya Mouth, we must pass through the village. Let's just guard here!"

Xu Yuan then said to Bai Laoyan, "Senior, go discuss with Zhang Sanba. Tonight, ask him to help watch the road outside the village. If anyone passes, come tell us immediately. I will give him ten boxes of matches and ten jin of top-quality tobacco leaves."

Everyone was completely baffled.

That night, Yan Lao and Lu Lao shared one room, while Xu Yuan and Fu Jingyu shared another.

After eating the dried rations, they prepared to rest. Xu Yuan took out the "Ghost Temple Statue" trapped inside the carriage.

This evil spirit was already dead.

Moreover, because it had swallowed too much Fu Zhong Huo, the broken statue, now one and a half feet tall, was now free of any evil spirit corruption.

There were also the nine snake skins of the Snake Pole.

All good materials!

Both of these evil spirits were slain by Xu Yuan, so naturally, they all belonged to Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan asked Fu Jingyu for a stinky Xing Guo Zi and put the snake skins inside it.

He asked for it, and Fu Jingyu gave it.

Young Master Fu didn't tell Xu Yuan that each bag cost seventy taels of silver.

Had he said so, Xu Yuan would surely have shouted "Robbery!" and returned the bags. Anyway, Xu Yuan feared no infection.

At midnight, with Young Master Fu fast asleep, Xu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, opened the Xing Guo Zi, and devoured all nine snake skins in one breath.

The ointment of Elder Shen still held its effect; Xu Yuan activated the Five Cauldrons Cooking and fully refined the snake skins to replenish the Skin Pill!

Through the night, the ointment's effect finally exhausted completely.

Xu Yuan refined all the snake skins entirely into the Skin Pill.

Xu Yuan silently clicked his tongue; Elder Shen's ointment was indeed remarkable!

This speed was more than ten times faster than his previous refinement of Old Eight's skin piece.

After this replenishment, the Skin Pill changed little in size, but could now cover his entire body.

Its defense matched the snake rod itself.

If condensed entirely onto one part, such as the chest, Xu Yuan surmised, he could even attempt to withstand the bronze cannons forged by the Ping Tian Society!

Moreover, as the Skin Pill greatly strengthened, Xu Yuan's Dan Xiu rank rose accordingly to Seventh Grade!

(End of this chapter)