Chapter 110: Chaos In Desolate Mountains
In the room, the decorations were quite luxurious, with high-quality wooden soft bed, silk gauze soft furnishings, and faint incense lingering around, just like a young lady from a great family’s boudoir.
“I… I don’t know where the Leader put his things.”
Cai Yao said fearfully as soon as she came in.
Although she was indeed Du Erniang’s personal maid and confidante.
But that didn’t mean Du Erniang would tell her about important things.
Su Yan didn’t speak and directly went forward to lift the entire bed board, revealing the secret compartment inside.
The secret compartment opened to reveal a carved black essence wooden box.
Inside the box, there were banknotes and valuables worth about forty to fifty thousand silver, and besides these things, there were beast hide parchment scrolls on both sides and a small porcelain bottle.
Su Yan glanced hastily at the contents of the parchment scrolls and confirmed them.
One was the Red Leopard Mountain Suppressing Technique, the cultivation manual that Du Erniang cultivated, roughly on the same level as the Golden Ape True Skill that Su Yan cultivated and Hundred Herbs Hall’s Green Goat Technique.
However, there was also a difference: the Red Leopard Mountain Suppressing Technique was incomplete. Although it had a visualization diagram, the accompanying martial skills and auxiliary skills were missing.
If not for this, Du Erniang wouldn’t be using whip techniques as her martial skills.
The remaining parchment scroll was the pill prescription for the True Intent Pill.
This pill prescription looked very ancient just from its appearance. Su Yan looked at the contents.
“The True Intent Pill requires refining feral beast spirit and bloodline as the trigger, so only three treasures can serve as the main ingredient: feral beast heart, feral beast spine, feral beast brain, and so on, assisted by Illusion Heart Grass, Heart Protecting Flower, Rosemary Green…”
Su Yan’s eyes flickered slightly. The True Intent Pill was indeed precious, and its refining method was no less difficult than that of the Blood Essence Condensing Pill.
More importantly, the choice of materials: there were dozens of auxiliary medicines alone. If all were bought, it would probably cost no less than ten thousand silver, and with the main ingredients, the price would be ridiculously high.
Su Yan put away the pill prescription, his gaze falling on the small porcelain bottle, disgust immediately appearing in his eyes.
As soon as the small porcelain bottle was opened, it was indeed the Blood Changing Pill, with seven or eight pills remaining.
The effects of the Blood Changing Pill were undeniably unique, but Su Yan disliked it.
Refining pills with human marrow today, using human hearts for pills tomorrow, day after day, the bottom line would only keep slipping, eventually turning into something that eats people.
There were countless ways to grow stronger; such a disgusting method was merely inferior.
“In the end, it’s the loss of not being educated. The pill prescription uses human marrow as the trigger to induce bloodline fusion resonance, but it doesn’t say that other medicinal herbs can’t have the same effect…”
Pill refining is the process of creating and modifying pill prescriptions…
The idea of the Blood Changing Pill was good, but the next idea would be his, Pill Master Su Yan’s.
Cai Yao watched Su Yan fall into contemplation, her heart growing increasingly uneasy.
“Take me to the storeroom.”
Cai Yao didn’t dare refuse any of Su Yan’s requests.
By now, when that secret compartment even she didn’t know about was uncovered by Su Yan.
She was completely certain that Du Erniang was dead, and everything had been forced out of her.
“Cai Yao, you dare betray the Leader!”
As they came outside, Deputy Stronghold Leader Cheng Lingyun had already brought people to surround them, fully one to two hundred mountain bandits and river pirates, each holding weapons, their gazes like fierce wolves.
Su Yan looked over. The leading deputy stronghold leader was in his early forties, with dark skin and stubble short beard, his eyes like those of a fierce wolf.
Behind him, the phantom of a black-furred fierce ape faintly reappeared, roaring and blocking Su Yan’s path.
“Half-step True Intent Realm, not easy…”
Su Yan’s voice was heard clearly by Cai Yao nearby, and her body trembled.
“N-No, don’t offend Mister!”
Cai Yao mustered her courage, her voice trembling.
“Thief, when the stronghold leader comes out, you’ll be in trouble!”
The things Cai Yao and Du Erniang did were relatively secretive, so Cheng Lingyun still hadn’t realized something had happened.
Under the mask, Su Yan revealed a smile: “Your stronghold leader probably won’t be coming. I can send you to see her instead.”
With a thought from Su Yan, a large mass of deep red insect mist immediately appeared around him, blotting out the sky and buzzing loudly.
The sudden change startled everyone. Before they could react, the blood bees had already swarmed over, enveloping them all.
The buzzing of wings enveloped their sides as one ferocious blood bee after another launched attacks.
Sharp proboscises pierced skin, devouring blood.
Waving sabers to chop, scattering to flee—even Spirit Nurturing Realm martial artists felt a fear of being overwhelmed when facing these tens of thousands of blood bees.
Cheng Lingyun mobilized his beast spirit phantom, trying to have the black-maned fierce ape cooperate with martial skills to sweep away the blood bees.
“Use fire, fire attack!”
He shouted loudly, several bloody gashes already on his body.
Even at half-step True Intent, the gap was obvious. Without fully manifesting the phantom as real, he couldn’t isolate attacks with beast spirit True Intent.
Pfft
Just as he was preparing to organize people for a flame counterattack, a sharp tibial scythe pierced through his body from within the insect mist.
The terrifying figure of the Blood Fiend Mother Worm appeared before him, its ferocious aura completely enveloping him, malevolent energy stripping away his last vitality.
“S-Second-order feral beast…”
The underlings in the stronghold couldn’t cope with the insect mist siege at all, and soon one to two hundred people were left with only a ground full of corpses.
With the Blood Fiend Mother Worm present, no martial artist could escape.
Su Yan swept his gaze, and the remaining seven to eight thousand blood bees pounced, devouring their companions’ corpses and these mountain bandits’ corpses clean.
He frowned slightly: “A loss. Next time, let the Blood Fiend Mother Worm handle it itself.”
Blood bees had extremely short lifespans and would naturally die after a period of time post-hatching.
And hatching each blood bee consumed the Blood Fiend Mother Worm’s demonic essence and power.
So each one hatched needed to create value exceeding its own.
Right now, two to three thousand blood bees had died. Even after devouring these underlings’ flesh and blood, it still wasn’t enough to compensate much.
The accumulation of remaining insect eggs could only rely on the Blood Fiend Mother Worm slowly producing them itself, trading time for resources.
Cai Yao’s face was completely pale. Such terrifying insect control ability, disregarding human lives.
This guy called Feng Ruohan, could he be someone from the Demonic Path?
She didn’t dare ask more and led Su Yan to the storeroom.
The door was opened by Su Yan, fully exposing the stored items inside to him.
There were quite a few things, packed in sacks, wooden boxes, and shelves. The large storeroom looked quite full.
But Su Yan frowned slightly; there were fewer things than expected.
Weapons and armor were the most numerous. Though not high-grade, they could all reach first-order low-grade level.
This was the foundation of San Die Stream’s survival. Though True Intent Realm martial artist Du Erniang was the stronghold’s stabilizing force.
But whether it was friction and conflict between bandits, or intercepting and robbing merchant caravans, ambushing feral beasts, all required subordinates to exert effort.
The stronger the armor and sharper the weapons, the more useful they were for overall strength.
Apart from armor, the quantities of feral beast materials and spiritual herbs and treasure plants were even lower than Su Yan had anticipated.
“Lord, San Die Stream has convenient water routes, black goods are easy to sell, we generally don’t keep things but exchange them for money.”
Cai Yao hurriedly explained. There were several boxes of silver in the storeroom, used to reward subordinates.
“Mm.”
Su Yan just responded once, then proceeded to collect all the things into the Insect Realm Space.
Cai Yao’s eyes widened, and seeing Su Yan collect everything, her heart grew even more fearful.
“Lord, Cai Yao is willing to be a slave or maidservant. I absolutely won’t reveal a word of today’s events.”
She kept begging, already kneeling on the ground, her fair forehead knocking against the floor until it was broken.
But she didn’t dare stop, as this was the moment deciding her life or death.
“Next time for sure.”
Su Yan smiled, the Blood Fiend Mother Worm’s tail hook piercing through the back of Cai Yao’s head, then quickly devouring her flesh and blood, finally swallowing her completely into its abdomen.
Although this girl Cai Yao was indeed quite pretty, with a slender waist and considerable fullness, since she had participated, she couldn’t be left alive.
A fire burned the upper stockade, thick smoke billowing into the sky.
The ordinary mountain villagers in the lower stockade noticed something wrong, sounded the gong, and shouted that there was a fire.
Su Yan mounted the Blood Fiend Mother Worm and fled into the mountain forest, leaving San Die Stream behind.
He didn’t return to Grindstone Stockade immediately but changed identity and went to Tiger God Temple City, finding the Golden Ape Martial Arts School shop.
He had someone send a message back, saying he was delayed by matters in the mountains and would return in a couple of days.
Then he purchased some medicinal herbs, all auxiliary medicines for refining Beast Essence Pills and True Essence Pills.
After careful selection, though not as precious as main ingredients, buying large quantities still cost nearly ten thousand silver.
Some were purchased under Su Yan’s identity, while others under Feng Ruohan’s identity.
Along the way, Su Yan couldn’t help but sigh at the great changes.
“After Hundred Herbs Hall weakened, these apothecaries and pill shops are truly dazzling. Little Mountain Association, Tianhe Gang, Eight Directions Trading Company, even the Lin Family is emerging…”
When Hundred Herbs Hall was strong, relying on its monopoly on pill master training and medicinal herbs, it occupied seventy percent of Yun Cang Town’s medicinal herb and pill business.
Such control couldn’t be broken by pure martial force.
From cultivating herb farmers, operating medicine fields, to pill masters and apothecary reputation… it was all interlinked.
Under the same conditions, Hundred Herbs Hall had the best price-to-quality ratio. Even if others reached the same level, reputation would still make people choose Hundred Herbs Hall.
Now, with Hundred Herbs Hall weakened and spitting out much of the market, various factions were emerging.
However, because everyone was emerging too aggressively, both overt and covert conflicts were far more severe than before.
Not to mention those fishing in troubled waters.
Su Yan had just left Tiger God Temple City when several tails followed behind him.
They trailed all the way, and at the foot of Tiger God Temple City mountain, they directly sped up, catching up to block Su Yan’s path.
“Leaving in such a hurry, think you can escape?”
The leader was a burly man wearing a felt hat half-covering his face. The people on his left and right were dressed similarly, in grayish-yellow clothes, carrying bamboo-woven conical hats on their backs, holding sharp curved sabers in hand.
“Daring to rob at the foot of this mountain, your guts aren’t small.”
“Rob?”
The man laughed with disdain, shaking his head: “Straw Hat Saber Yang Fang. Take off your mask. I suspect you’re Pang Tianfeng.”
Under the mask, upon suddenly hearing this name, Su Yan immediately showed a puzzled expression.
Given the growth in the desolate mountains, the grass on Pang Tianfeng’s grave should already be half a person high.
Coming here to find Pang Tianfeng, were these people here to shit?
“You don’t seem like someone looking for Pang Tianfeng.”
Su Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly, staring at the leading Straw Hat Saber Yang Fang, his tone full of playfulness.
“Hmph, if I say you are, you are. Since you won’t admit it, don’t blame the brothers for acting.”
Yang Fang drew his saber, a True Intent phantom condensing behind him like an old ape holding rotten wood, fur gray and withered like grass, saber intent sharp.
Rotten wood like saber—this was a saber-wielding ape.
‘True Intent with weapons, this is the first time I’ve seen it. Interesting.’
This person was only at Spirit Nurturing Realm perfection, but by using the old ape as True Intent phantom, he integrated saber intent comprehension—or rather, the beast spirit True Intent he cultivated inherently had this saber intent characteristic, resulting in this special state.
This suddenly made Su Yan realize that this world’s martial arts and beast spirit True Intent might have even more wondrous aspects.
Straw Hat Saber Yang Fang saw Su Yan’s reaction, greed nearly spilling from his eyes. They were saber catchers, sure, but who said saber catchers couldn’t do some dirty work?
‘This guy spends lavishly, who knows where he hid the spiritual herbs and treasure plants he bought? Rob his silver later, then force some questions.’
“Take him down!”
Yang Fang made up his mind, charging forward, his curved saber already chopping toward Su Yan’s mask.
Su Yan saw him pounce, saber intent growing sharper. Before the saber light arrived, the edge was already pressing close.
He suddenly smiled, thinking of an interesting way to play.
The Mountain Traversing Saber appeared in his hand at some unknown time, and he raised it for a slash—precisely Peak Falling Slash.
Clang
Saber light shattered, the sound breaking the quiet forest.
“Falling Peak Saber Technique?! You really are Pang Tianfeng?!”
Just one saber, and Yang Fang recognized the technique’s origin.
“Didn’t you already know just now?”
The playful tone didn’t anger Yang Fang; instead, it intensified the desire almost bursting from his eyes.
His eyes full of excitement, his face flushing red.
“Hahaha, this luck is meant for me, Yang Fang.”
Yang Fang laughed loudly, tone urgent, ordering: “Block his escape routes. Even if it kills him, leave him here for me.”
Su Yan’s puzzlement deepened, thinking: “Looks like things have changed.”
“Pang Tianfeng, if you’re smart, hand over the treasure from the ruins. I can spare your life.”
Without even starting to pry, the self-assured Yang Fang began threatening.
Saber light gathered on his curved saber, stepping closer to Su Yan.
Wherever the blade slashed across, weeds and shrubs fell apart, showing his powerful saber intent.
The surrounding six people also closed in. Four among them were at Blood Moving Great Accomplishment, and the remaining two were also Spirit Nurturing Realm Minor Accomplishment martial artists.
At this moment, their gazes toward Su Yan were like fierce wolves spotting prey.
Pang Tianfeng possessed a great treasure; whoever got it would surely enter True Intent Realm.
Rumors in the martial world spread like wind, circulating in the current chaotic desolate mountains.
No one knew the source of the news, but since that government head constable Xu Guan relentlessly pursued and tried to kill Pang Tianfeng time and again, the news couldn’t be fake.
“Swish”
Yang Fang attacked again, this time seven people charging together, saber light completely surrounding Su Yan.
Even an expert couldn’t dodge this saber net woven from several slashes.
“Roar”
Poisonous flood dragon roared, falling saber like the moon. Su Yan’s Mountain Traversing Saber merged with the green-scaled poisonous flood dragon phantom.
One slash across, flesh and blood sliced open like paper by the edge, blood spraying out.
