Chapter 137: Harvest

"The Inner Tower isn't the true core of the Scripture Pavilion either!"

After choosing the Nine-Turn Tide Hammer and the fundamental chart of the Turtle-Crane Twin Blades, Li Yuan wandered around once more, and finally understood in his heart.

Although the Inner Tower held the introductory chapters of the Inner Sect's five supreme secret transmissions, it was only the introductory chapters; combat methods, killing moves, breathing techniques, and Qi arts were not stored here.

Not to mention the supreme secret transmission's "Form Chart."

"That's right, secret transmissions naturally can't be placed in the Inner Tower for everyone to learn. Hmm, I'll still have to wait for Old Han to return."

After wandering around a few times, Li Yuan saved those two opportunities for later use.

He turned and came down from the Inner Tower, handing over the fundamental chart of this secret scripture to the fat old man for registration.

He then went to the Outer Tower, preparing to borrow some other books. Every few days, he would come to borrow a batch.

Martial arts, unofficial histories, travel records—he didn't pick and choose, eagerly making up for his own foundation and knowledge.

If one cannot travel ten thousand miles, one must naturally read ten thousand books.

By the time Li Yuan came out carrying the secret scriptures and books, the Qiu family's disciples had also dispersed, leaving only one to help him carry the books.

"The Elder said the Xieshen Sect branch has been wiped out, Senior Brother Li can return to Bingtang, but to be safe, it's best not to leave the valley these days."

That disciple helped Li Yuan carry the books, his attitude very respectful.

"Mm."

Li Yuan nodded.

The Qiu family's elite disciples had some complaints about him occupying the true transmission quota of the Dust-Leaving Hall, but most ordinary disciples felt nothing much about it.

After all, they never had a chance to become true transmissions to begin with.

Returning to Bingtang again, Ba Ba Wanli had not yet returned, but Fang Fang Bao Luo had, setting up a rack in the bamboo grove and roasting meat.

His skills were excellent; the roasted meat sizzled with oil, the aroma overwhelming, but Li Yuan frowned the moment he approached: "Senior Brother Fang, you're injured?"

"The Xieshen Sect had a few tough nuts to crack. I wasn't careful for a moment and took a minor injury."

Fang Fang Bao Luo smiled, brushing past it lightly, and asked: "Elder Qiu didn't take the opportunity to make things difficult for you, did he?"

"It was actually fine."

Li Yuan stepped up himself, tore off a lamb leg, sprinkled on spices, took a bite, and immediately felt the fragrance linger in his mouth.

During the half month in the Dust-Leaving Hall, he could feel the hostility of the Qiu family disciples, but he also had to sigh at how strictly Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong governed.

From his arrival to his departure, aside from himself observing Qiu Qiu Changying practice archery and getting shot by an arrow, no one truly came to provoke him.

Of course, this also had a lot to do with his rich experience in coaxing old men.

"That's strange. Has Elder Qiu's heart grown bigger?"

Fang Fang Bao Luo cut off a small piece of meat with his knife, blew on it and ate it in small bites: "The remnants of the Xieshen Sect may not have been completely eliminated. During this period, don't leave the valley."

Li Yuan nodded.

The business in Fucheng was handled by Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao, so he didn't need to worry about it at all.

"Speaking of which, if Ding Zhi hadn't been killed, the Valley Master might not have steeled his heart to root out the Xieshen Sect and the moles planted by those few families."

Fang Fang Bao Luo added some firewood, his face gaining a little color, yet still appearing Solemn:

"Ding Zhi wasn't a good sort, but he was a true transmission of the sect after all. Assassinating a true transmission is a complete tearing of faces...

Those few families are probably really going to make a move."

"Huh?"

Li Yuan's expression turned slightly odd.

His daring to kill Ding Zhi was partly because someone was hunting down disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley, making that scapegoat easy to pin.

The subsequent chain reaction was something he hadn't expected either.

"What is a true transmission? The sect's face!

The last time a true transmission was killed was already over fifty years ago. The shock back then was no smaller than this time. You think this is a small matter?"

Fang Fang Bao Luo shook his head, knowing quite a bit about this matter:

"The true transmission who died fifty years ago actually had some grudge with Master. At one point, people suspected Master was behind it..."

"The one who died had a grudge with Master?"

Li Yuan chewed on the lamb meat.

Putting himself in their shoes, he felt

that true transmission was very likely killed by Han Han Chuijun...

"Master's way of doing things is a bit violent, but he still has his limits. Generally speaking, he won't casually kill disciples within the sect."

So if it's unusual, he killed them, right?

Regarding Han Han Chuijun's deeds, Li Yuan knew them in great detail.

He felt he might be somewhat similar to Old Han—both afraid of trouble, both thinking of danger when safe.

"Ding Zhi dying isn't necessarily a bad thing for us."

Fang Fang Bao Luo lowered his voice: "Ever since the news that the Valley Master's internal organs were injured spread, that branch of his has been openly targeting us..."

"For the position of Valley Master?"

Li Yuan had some guesses.

Whether it was Shi Hong or Ding Zhi, their hostility toward him naturally couldn't have arisen out of thin air.

"Power and status move the human heart."

Fang Fang Bao Luo sighed.

Hidden Dragon Prefecture had a population of over ten million. Not to mention the hundred industries of its various cities, the taxes intercepted each year alone were a massive fortune.

No one could remain unmoved.

Li Yuan understood completely.

If he became the Valley Master, not to mention the Sixth-Rank Military Command Talisman, pushing even higher would be no problem, let alone the vast family fortune accumulated by the Valley over a thousand years.

Just thinking about it makes one's heart stir.

It's just...

"Internal troubles and external threats."

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly.

The Divine Weapon Valley has a lineage of fourteen hundred years; even though it has repeatedly produced powerful figures, corruption is inevitable.

If not for the threats from the Xieshen Sect and the Three Great Sects, he would suspect that chaos would already be brewing within the Divine Weapon Valley.

But upon a moment's thought, he felt the families in the Thousand-Quintessence Cave were no better; their external campaigns might simply be a way to shift internal factional conflicts.

"Come, eat meat."

Fang Fang Bao Luo clearly had no idea how far his junior brother was thinking; he took a knife and cut him a piece of meat.

Li Yuan reached out to take it, then asked about Han Han Chuijun.

"The Master is likely in some trouble."

Fang Fang Bao Luo looked worried: "After hearing the news, the Valley Master and several Elders split up and headed to Pinggou.

I'm worried they won't make it in time..."

In the eight prefectures of Huizhou, there are indeed a hundred or so sects, large and small, but only four families rule a prefecture.

That Master of the Thousand-Quintessence Cave is a renowned expert of many years.

Li Yuan had gathered intelligence on the matter; seeing Fang Fang Bao Luo's furrowed brow now, his own heart tightened:

"Is the Master of the Thousand-Quintessence Cave very skilled in Wu Gong?"

He was currently under Old Han's protection; if anything happened to him, the trouble would be immense.

"His Wu Gong is very high, and his status is also very high; I've heard he has deep connections with the Huailong Palace in Huazhou City."

Fang Fang Bao Luo's expression was solemn:

"The reason the Valley Master and the others rushed off is that they fear the Master will lose his temper; if he kills the Master of the Thousand-Quintessence Cave, a great war will likely erupt immediately..."

"..."

So you're afraid the Master of the Thousand-Quintessence Cave will be beaten to death?

Li Yuan was speechless for quite a while: "Senior Brother Fang, you..."

"Do not underestimate the Master. Although he has also undergone Yi Xing, the gap between one Yi Xing and another far exceeds what ordinary people can imagine."

Fang Fang Bao Luo put down the small knife and wiped the grease from his hands: "Before Yi Xing, the gap in the quality of bone and marrow is not too large,

but once Yi Xing is achieved, that gap becomes far, far too great."

Recalling the scene of Han Han Chuijun unleashing his full power, Fang Fang Bao Luo felt a chill in his heart.

Once upon a time, he too thought his Master ranked last among the five Inner Gate Elders, until he achieved Yi Xing...

"Yi Bai Xing?"

Li Yuan also found it hard to imagine.

His understanding of Yi Xing was limited to Ding Zhi, but Ding Zhi, who was ambushed and beaten to death by him, was clearly incomparable to Han Han Chuijun.

"There's no need to worry too much."

Seeing Li Yuan frown in silence, Fang Fang Bao Luo offered comfort again: "With the Valley Master intervening, I imagine the problem won't be great."

"Let's hope so."

Li Yuan nodded.

Li Yuan ate most of a whole roasted lamb, filling his stomach, and then simply dragged Fang Fang Bao Luo to his courtyard to eat another meal.

Along the way, he also asked about Wu Gong and the various events, big and small, that had occurred over the past half-month.

"Hoo!"

Full of food and drink, after seeing Fang Fang Bao Luo off, Li Yuan soaked in a medicinal bath.

Although his internal strengthening was complete, he had not stopped nurturing his Jin, and naturally could not stop taking pills and medicine.

"Jin power flows from the outside in, until it weaves a great net between the organs; this marks the completion of great internal strengthening."

Li Yuan closed his eyes slightly, feeling the changes in his body within the medicinal bath.

Guiding Jin power inward tests a martial artist's control over Jin power, because internal strengthening is itself the process of stimulating the organs to break through human limits.

The benefit of his cultivation of multiple types of internal Jin only now revealed itself; the alternating and interweaving of different internal Jin could shorten the time required for his great internal strengthening to complete.

Splash~

Yu Xiang and the other two were still boiling water, occasionally pouring a bucket of hot water into the bath tub and draining the cold water.

After repeating this many times, Li Yuan had digested all the medicinal power before he finally rose.

"The firewood consumed by one medicinal bath is enough for Second Brother to gather for three or four days previously, but the effect is also very good."

After seeing Yu Xiang and the other two off, Li Yuan finally wiped his body and changed into a set of clean clothes.

He was generous with medicine; if not for this, even with his talent and bone quality being good, such rapid internal strengthening would have been impossible.

"Squeak squeak!"

Li Yuan closed the door; the little rat darted up to his shoulder in a flash, squeaking as if in reproach.

"This little thing."

Li Yuan smiled and reached out to take the little rat that greeted him.

He noticed its fur was becoming smoother and smoother, having the feel of silk, moist and warm.

Its pair of mung-bean-sized small eyes rolled about, seeming to possess even more spirit.

"I reckon it might truly become a spiritual beast?"

Li Yuan thought that since one's bone structure could be altered, ordinary beasts could naturally be transformed into spirit beasts:

"Come, eat the pill."

During his half month at Lichen Hall, he had never once opened the Soldier-Forging Space, let alone taken stock of Ding Zhi's "gifts."

Now, naturally, the time had come.

"Squeak!"

The little mouse bristled all at once, turned and fled without a second thought, but was pinned down by Li Yuan, gazing at him with pleading eyes.

"There are plenty of Detoxification Pills, what are you afraid of?"

Li Yuan took out bottle after bottle of pills—Ding Zhi's wealth was enormous, with over twenty bottles of pills.

Every one of these pills was a fine product: thirteen top-grade Origin-Supplementing Pills, as many as eight Spirit-Preserving Minor Restoration Pills, and a full six bottles of Blood-Augmenting Pills.

This alone was worth over ten thousand taels of silver.

"Squeak?!"

The little mouse grew ever more terrified, shaking its head repeatedly, but unable to resist, it could only lower its head in dejection.

"Too much spiritual intelligence isn't a good thing either—it's almost becoming a spirit."

Li Yuan clicked his tongue in wonder, released the resigned little mouse, took out a Bone-Strengthening Pill, and scraped off a fingernail-sized pinch of medicinal powder.

"Squeak squeak…"

The little mouse lay resigned on the table, letting Li Yuan stuff the medicinal powder into its mouth,

when suddenly it gave a start and darted off.

"Still running?"

Li Yuan was just about to reach out and grab it when he suddenly froze.

In the corner, the little mouse was pinning down a thumb-sized beetle, spraying an entire mouthful of medicinal powder right onto the beetle's face.

"???"

This time, even Li Yuan was startled.

In his past life he had heard that some animals imitate human actions and behavior, but seeing it with his own eyes still gave him a fright.

Had it really become a spirit?

"Squeak squeak!"

The little mouse, beetle clamped in its mouth, darted onto the table, pressed it down with its short little legs, and called out nonstop.

"…What a character."

Li Yuan laughed despite himself, then flicked the beetle into the corner with a snap of his finger.

What decent person tests medicine on bugs?

Many bugs are inherently poisonous, and even non-poisonous ones have very different compatibility with humans—far less accurate than the little mouse.

"Squeak~"

The little mouse, crestfallen, tested the medicine in low spirits.

"It's fine, there are plenty of Detoxification Pills."

Li Yuan offered a word of comfort, then tested all twenty-plus bottles of pills obtained from Ding Zhi one by one.

The pills Ding Zhi had bought were all top-grade and none were poisoned, so it was quickly done.

Leaving behind the little mouse, bristling with energy and so nourished its fur had turned red, Li Yuan finally put all the pills away.

He closed his eyes slightly and began taking stock of Ding Zhi's gifts.

Hum!

On the gray stone platform, within the great incense burner, lay a Scarlet Dragon Fish, still in its freshly-dead state—very fresh, over sixty jin.

"Books say this Scarlet Dragon Fish contains the blood of a flood dragon, and thus has the effect of altering bone structure—I wonder if it's true?"

Over these past few months, Li Yuan had read extensively, and his understanding of spirit beasts had deepened.

Though he didn't quite believe in the saying "like nourishes like," clearly everyone else did.

Take Qiu Qiu Changying—she practiced the Spirit Deer Vaulting Art and drank deer blood and ate deer meat year-round.

Ba Ba Wanli treated bear paws and bear meat, tiger bones and tiger whips as daily fare.

Examples like these were countless among the inner and outer disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley, and throughout Fucheng.

Even back in Gao Liu County, he had heard of similar things—for instance, Qin Xiong once ate monkey meat and the like.

"The 'like nourishes like' saying existed in my past life too—for example, that wretched heather flower…"

Li Yuan muttered to himself—perhaps spirit beasts were different?

He was somewhat expectant; the form of a flood dragon often combined multiple shapes, one form comparable to six shapes—if it really worked, it would save him a tremendous amount of effort.

"I'll find time to eat it. Mm, the fish bones can go to the little mouse."

Li Yuan continued taking stock of his assets.

The true disciple Ding was quite wealthy: over thirty silver notes, each with a face value of one hundred, thirteen gold notes, among which was one worth a thousand taels.

Loose gold and silver, when gathered, also came to over a hundred taels.

Besides that, there was a great heap of pearls, agates, necklaces, and jewelry—at the very least worth over a thousand taels of silver.

"Roughly thirty thousand taels of silver!"

Even though he had taken a rough look before, Li Yuan was still somewhat shaken.

Ding Zhi alone was richer than all the dozen-plus powers inside and outside Gao Liu County combined—and this was just ready cash.

If one factored in mines, farmland, property deeds, land deeds, and the like…

"So rich!"

The materials needed to advance the sixth-rank Soldier-Forging Register were now more than a small fraction gathered!

Getting such a huge windfall in one go, even Daoist Li was deeply shocked—this sum of money would take someone like Cao Yan decades to scrape together!

"This doesn't even count the elixirs!"

Li Yuan clicked his tongue in amazement.

Compared to true-disciple successors backed by great clans, he was like a pauper; as for Heroine Fang, there was no need to even mention it.

Ding Zhi was the rich man among true disciples; Heroine Fang was the pauper among inner disciples.

"The disparity of the world."

Li Yuan sighed for a moment, then continued tallying up.

Apart from the house deeds and land deeds he had absolutely no use for, the most valuable thing on Ding Zhi was naturally that superior-grade renowned-weapon-level treasured sword.

"A fifth-tier longsword."