Chapter 75: Tracing the Tracks

The night deepened, and the Wang Fu gradually quieted down.

Yang Dabiao and others settled into the guest rooms of the Wang Fu; since Xie Jinhuan had just earned great merit, the steward arranged a courtyard with a small lake for him, while Linghu Qingmo, for the sake of convenient care, stayed in the next room.

Indeed, a day of travel by carriage and horse was truly tiring; after returning to his room, Xie Jinhuan placed the sleeping Meiqiu beside his pillow, then swallowed a Dragon Blood Pill, began soaking in a medicinal bath to heal his injuries, and secretly pondered his plans for what lay ahead.

The Ghost Bride's grave explosion is imminent; the current sole objective is still to figure out how to gather thirty thousand taels of silver and a stem of the Sixty-Year Lotus!

There is currently no lead on the Sixty-Year Lotus, and the fastest way to get money is nothing other than asking fellow Daoists for a heart-to-heart alms.

Who to ask...

Han Jingchuan made his father take the blame, indirectly causing him to end up in today's situation, and he might even try to strike a dark blow against him; he must be killed to prevent future trouble.

But Han Jingchuan holds a special post; he just returned, his whereabouts are unclear, so this person cannot be dealt with tonight.

According to Tai Shu Dan and others, my father was ambushed by the Mingshen Sect; I will kill every single one of those turtle grandsons I see.

But the Mingshen Sect's tracks are not easy to find, and I do not know if today's murderer is truly connected to the Mingshen Sect...

At this thought, Xie Jinhuan looked at the Zhenglun Sword:

"Night Beauty?"

Splash~

As the words fell, the sound of splashing water came from the opposite side.

Looking up, the bright and moving plump beauty was soaking in the other side of the bath tub again, flicking a few drops of water with her fingers:

"The long night is endless with no peace to sleep; you can go find the girl Mo Mo; why call for sister?"

Even though Xie Jinhuan had seen this scene before, he still found it hard to hold back; immediately he used his foot to touch the winding secluded place, but unfortunately, he still clipped through the model:

"Regarding those seventeen corpses today, you said there were two murderers?"

"Mm-hmm."

Ye Hongshang raised her left hand; a sphere appeared in her palm, its internal scene resembling a world in the palm, revealing extremely fine human tissue and meridians.

Seeing the 'Ghost-App Microscope' again, Xie Jinhuan's expression naturally grew solemn; he leaned in to examine it closely and even tried to touch it with his hand.

The Ghost Bride saw his intent; it really was touchable.

As both hands stretched, the image inside the sphere rapidly magnified; the originally dry, pale skin gradually transformed before his eyes into crisscrossing mountain ranges, with every single hair like a pillar holding up the sky.

"Heh~ this divine ability is quite powerful; what is its name?"

"It is called realm!"

Ye Hongshang's eyes were like those of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Goddess; she explained seriously:

"'Moving mountains and filling seas' is merely the external appearance of the strong; within lies the exploration of the essence of heaven and earth; you can also understand it as 'one grain of sand, one world; one leaf, one bodhi'."

"From your perspective, your 'Ice Scale Armor' is already flawless, but in my view, you are merely wearing a mosquito net and strutting about; as long as one condenses a thread of even finer true qi, it can pass through the gaps and strike the lungs and heart directly."

"The same applies to cultivation techniques and physique; anything perfect and flawless, if you can see it more minutely, is full of pits, bumps, and flaws."

Xie Jinhuan understood this principle; he continued to magnify and observe; after the image entered the interior of the 'crisscrossing mountain ranges', fine patterns could be seen existing between the mountain ranges.

The patterns extended in the same direction, forming traces resembling a dried-up riverbed.

"What are these?"

"Traces left by the Yuan-Stealing Demon Art extracting the essence and soul. Humans have distinctions in realm and cultivation technique; even if the same divine ability or move is used, the traces left will not be exactly the same."

As Ye Hongshang spoke, the scene inside the sphere began to switch frame by frame; in total, seventeen similar scenes were displayed, before and after.

Among them, four traces were similar in form but different in spirit, with minute differences, as if someone else had imitated the same method; these four corpses were all from young men under twenty years old.

Because the traces were clear at a glance, Xie Jinhuan also saw that the murderer was not one person; he looked back and forth:

"Is the first person's skill level a bit lower?"

Ye Hongshang nodded with gratification:

"Correct; the first thirteen died at the hands of demon Daoist loose cultivators; their cultivation technique foundations were all average."

"The last four died at the hands of Mingshen Sect experts; their cultivation technique style was identical to Tai Shu Dan's, merely imitating the loose cultivator's method."

"The deceased were all fifteen or sixteen-year-old youths; the purpose was likely to plunder bodies with 'undischarged primal yang' to supplement lifespan."

"Undischarged primal yang..."

Xie Jinhuan was somewhat curious: "Is this demon person a female demon?"

Ye Hongshang shook her head: "Harvesting yang to supplement yin; if it were a female demon, these four would have died very happily, not in this state. A man's primal yang is endlessly generated; normally there is no need to harvest and supplement; being able to use such means likely means his physique can no longer form its own cycle, and his life is near its end."

Xie Jinhuan nodded, feeling that this old immortal of the Mingshen Sect was hard to track; he then switched the image back to the corpses of the first thirteen:

"How do you know this person is a loose cultivator?"

Ye Hongshang's demeanor became like that of a big-breasted female tutor; she raised her hand and pointed at the traces:

"A proper demon Daoist begins using 'human blood qi' to nourish from the very start of learning; even if they use Blood Yuan Essence, they will add some human blood to it."

"This person, however, seems to have always been using beast-made Blood Yuan Essence to consolidate their physique; there is a difference compared to human essence and blood, which also leads to the cultivated technique not being pure enough."

"Look at these traces; the line thickness varies slightly, indicating the qi meridians are rough, not smooth and steady enough..."

Xie Jinhuan examined closely and indeed found that the traces left by the Mingshen Sect demon bandits were much smoother.

Because he had encountered Blood Yuan Essence in Danyang, he had also investigated the ways of this thing afterward.

Genuine Blood Yuan Essence is refined using living people, but in peaceful times, doing this is too difficult; nowadays, demon Daoists mostly use nine parts beast blood mixed with one part human blood as a makeshift; the effect is roughly the difference between rhinoceros horn and water buffalo horn."

And the Blood Yuan Essence from the Demon Control Bureau, the Dan Hospital, and even the black market is, without exception, extracted from beasts; used directly, it is no different from injecting 'beast medicine' to build muscle."

For this reason, demon Daoists who buy it usually have to get human blood qi themselves, supplemented with various body-forging medicinal materials, to refine into a 'Demon Transformation Pill' for consumption."

"This loose cultivator has been eating beast medicine the whole time, yet can still cultivate to reach Rank 4?"

"Yes, but the foundation is not solid; upon reaching Rank 4, one will encounter a bottleneck; only a loose cultivator with no one to guide them would start making such a mistake, and later, upon discovering they could not cultivate further, would secretly start killing people."

Hearing this, Xie Jinhuan nodded slightly, feeling that this murderer was not too hard to track down.

Blood Yuan Essence is a great forbidden item; its refinement requires a large amount of livestock; the blood evil qi is too heavy to hide at all."

Demon Daoists with backgrounds let their behind-the-scenes organizations secretly supply blood, just like Lin Wanyi practicing poison; all required supplies are handled and sent over by Southern Border; she uses them directly, with no need to worry about exposure at all."

And scattered cultivators certainly lack secret backing from a sect, nor dare they refine Blood Origin Essence themselves; the only way to obtain it is to 'buy' it.

Blood Origin Essence is strictly forbidden from flowing into the common folk; in Jingcheng, the places where Blood Origin Essence exists, aside from the Imperial Hospital and the Imperial Medicine Bureau, are only the black market.

The difficulty of succeeding on official territory is too great; for this person to want Blood Origin Essence, he can almost only go to the black market.

Thinking of this, Xie Jinhuan's heart stirred greatly:

"Later I will go to the black market, find the Blood Origin Essence supplier, and perhaps trace some clues."

Ye Hongshang retracted the floating sphere: "Since it is the black market, there is no way to track the buyer's destination; how will you investigate?"

"This person did not buy only once; even if he only started practicing at the beginning of the year, he must have bought for eight months; I do not believe the black market merchants have no impression at all."

Xie Jinhuan spoke to this point, then remembered the matter of the female demon, and asked curiously:

"If a man releases his primordial yang, will it affect his cultivation power?"

Ye Hongshang blinked her eyes: "Yin and Yang combining is the Heavenly Dao; regardless of male or female, releasing it will only be very pleasurable, as long as one does not indulge in lust."

Xie Jinhuan breathed a sigh of relief: "Then it is better to release it, to avoid being coveted by the demon."

"Oh?"

Ye Hongshang blinked her eyes, stood up from the bath tub, and leaned forward:

"Do you want sister to help you with a favor?"

Splash splash~

As her figure stood up, the plump white orbs immediately floated above the water surface.

Xie Jinhuan's eyes narrowed slightly, but immediately discovered that the ghost bride was actually wearing a flesh-colored chest wrap, not even revealing the cleavage...

?

Xie Jinhuan was greatly disappointed, leaning against the bath tub, his arms resting on the tub's edge, his gaze defiant:

"Fine. Use whatever means you have; I just happen to want to test my own weakness, to see if I can fight in the arena tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)