Chapter 108: The Dagger Revealed
Cai Yao didn’t understand alchemy, but she knew that a pill master who had just started with a new pill prescription and hadn’t practiced it yet would definitely not have such a success rate.
Familiarizing oneself with medicinal properties, adjusting techniques… these all take time.
She had already prepared to form a team and hunt more First-order Perfection Feral Beasts.
As long as Su Yan was confident in refining the Blood Essence Condensing Pill, then Su Yan would meet their requirements.
But now, with Su Yan having only been inside for a little over two hours at most, he claimed to have finished refining.
And he had refined two furnaces, both successfully producing pills.
“Help me prepare the third batch of materials. After the refining is finished, our trade will be considered complete.”
Su Yan tossed the jade bottle into Cai Yao’s arms, and she subconsciously reached out to catch it.
Then she snapped back to reality, “Mister, please rest for a while. Hunting First-order Perfection Feral Beasts is not easy, and I fear Mister will have to wait a bit.”
Her expression slightly calmed as she made an excuse.
Beneath the mask, Su Yan saw through it but didn’t expose her, simply smiling.
Asking her to prepare the third batch of medicinal materials to end the trade was precisely to disrupt their plans.
Cai Yao sent Su Yan back to his room and immediately went to find Du Erniang.
“Leader, that person has refined the pills, and neither furnace failed.”
The first thing Cai Yao said to Du Erniang was to recount what had just happened.
She handed over the porcelain bottle in her hand. Du Erniang took it and looked, her pupils contracting slightly, and she also revealed a look of shock.
“So quickly? How long did it take him?”
“A little over two hours, no more than three hours.”
Cai Yao answered immediately, “He asked me to prepare the third batch of medicinal materials. Once it’s done, the trade will end.”
The implication was that Su Yan would leave after the trade concluded.
Du Erniang pondered with a narrowed gaze, as if she had made a decision.
“No need to prepare the third batch of medicinal materials. I will handle it.”
The Blood Essence Condensing Pill was merely a test of the other party’s alchemy skills.
Now that it was known their alchemy skills were superb, there was no need to prepare further.
When Su Yan received Du Erniang’s invitation, it was already around afternoon.
The maid outside the door had been replaced with an elegant adult woman, who stood outside waiting without disturbing Su Yan.
Cai Yao came and stood outside the door, saying, “Mister, my Leader invites you to attend a banquet in person to discuss some matters.”
“Alright, lead the way.”
Beneath the mask, Su Yan’s eyes flickered, knowing that Du Erniang’s true objective would arrive soon.
He followed Cai Yao out the door, but this time, they weren’t heading to the upper levels of the inner mountain stronghold, but rather downwards.
“Isn’t the bottom the underground dark river?”
Su Yan asked curiously. Cai Yao explained, “The very bottom is the dark river, but there are some larger caves. The Leader’s place for practicing martial arts is mostly below.”
The two walked for a while, and as they approached the lower level, there was indeed another tunnel extending into the mountain.
It was about one person high, with a cave as its base, showing signs of excavation, and it extended on, with only sparse torches stuck at the entrance.
Du Erniang stood before the entrance, having changed into a tight-fitting red dress that accentuated her figure. The white on her chest contrasted with the red, and the crimson stripes were like flowers, making her appear particularly alluring.
She smiled, walked forward, and waved Cai Yao away.
“Mister, please excuse our humble stronghold’s conditions. I have prepared food and drink inside. Please.”
Du Erniang was in her early thirties, and with this feigned intimacy, she was like a blooming poppy.
Su Yan’s gaze shifted, and he wondered, “Does she need something from me?”
Du Erniang did not hide her intentions in this regard; her attitude was very clear.
This demeanor made Su Yan even more curious, so he nodded and said, “It’s fine. It’s not an everyday opportunity for ordinary people to be personally entertained by Leader Du.”
Du Erniang chuckled and led the way inside with books. After a few steps, the cave revealed another world within, indeed a spacious mountain belly.
There was a training ground, a sandalwood incense burner, a couch, and some chairs; it was indeed a place for practicing martial arts.
However, on the table and chairs nearby, there was now a lot of food and drink, all dishes made from Feral Beast meat.
Two chairs were placed opposite each other. Du Erniang stepped forward to pour wine and sat down on the opposite side.
“I am from the greenwood, so I will speak plainly. The reason for auctioning the Second-order Low-grade Blood Essence Condensing Pill was to find a Second-order Pill Master to help me refine a special pill. Now that Mister Feng can so easily refine it, the Blood Essence Condensing Pill is truly beyond my expectations.”
Su Yan heard her address and gave a half-smile; this woman had investigated his background.
Under the guise of Feng Ruohan, he had purchased information on Grindstone Mountain and others from Eight Directions Trading Company. Not long after, Ding Meng, Cai Peng, and others completed their alliance.
Such changes could not be hidden from Eight Directions Trading Company’s surveillance.
Similarly, if someone specifically went to Eight Directions Trading Company to buy his information, some of it would inevitably be revealed.
“Does Leader Du think I have passed the assessment?”
Su Yan picked up his wine cup and drank it down.
Du Erniang’s brows flickered slightly, and she nodded, “Mister, please forgive me, but your alchemy skills should make it easy to help me refine the pill.”
“What kind of pill?”
Su Yan looked up, staring into Du Erniang’s eyes.
“A Second-order Mid-grade pill, the Blood Changing Pill.”
Blood Changing Pill?
Su Yan frowned slightly. Although his Basic Alchemy had reached the Transformation Realm, he only possessed the techniques and lacked experience. For a moment, he hadn’t heard of such a pill.
He only heard Du Erniang opposite him say, “If this pill is to be refined, it will take some time. If Mister is willing, I will offer ten thousand taels of gold and hunt a Second-order Feral Beast for Mister as materials for the True Intent Pill, to help Mister achieve True Intent Martial Artist.”
Ten thousand taels of gold, which was one hundred thousand taels of silver notes, was more than enough. It could be said that Du Erniang was truly spending a fortune.
Not to mention the True Intent Pill, which was, in a way, priceless.
Su Yan asked in surprise, “You actually have a pill prescription for the True Intent Pill?”
“By chance, I obtained it from a passerby.”
The True Intent Pill, depending on the main ingredient and the ratio, had different refining methods and prescriptions. However, regardless of which one, it was Second-order Mid-grade.
It was used to stir the spirit, attract True Essence, and condense the Beast Spirit True Intent.
Su Yan’s smile became subtle.
To catch a big fish, one must use a large bait.
Du Erniang was investing so much, which showed that her Blood Changing Pill had problems, significant problems.
Su Yan lightly tapped the table, as if deep in thought, and said leisurely, “Leader Du is willing to invest so much, I presume there’s another reason you haven’t fully disclosed. Aren’t you going to tell me more?”
Su Yan speaking like this did not anger Du Erniang; instead, she smiled slightly.
She was afraid he wouldn’t be interested.
She stood up, her posture graceful, and said, “Mister, please follow me. The Blood Changing Pill requires one more main ingredient. I will take you to see what it looks like.”
She walked towards a protruding rock in the training ground, touched it, and infused True Essence into it. The hidden stone door slowly opened.
It revealed a dark, downward-sloping tunnel.
The tunnel echoed with a mournful wind, as if beast roars could be heard.
Du Erniang turned slightly and said to Su Yan with a smile, “Mister, please.”
She lit a torch and walked ahead, and Su Yan, unafraid of her, followed behind.
After walking for about a hundred steps, the beast roars became increasingly less real, not caused by the tunnel wind.
Upon reaching the bottom, the water cave was damp, and a vast space appeared before Su Yan, covering a hundred mu. It was half cave and half a murky pool.
Where they met, steel pillars as thick as a wrist pierced the rock walls above and below, encircling the pool side as a cage.
Splish splash.
The water surged, and a terrifying shadow appeared in the water, swimming rapidly. It suddenly lunged out and slammed against the iron bars with a thunderous sound.
Su Yan looked closely, and the monster was a dark red Feral Beast.
It was over two Zhang in length, with a leopard’s head and a tiger’s body. Its tail was thick, like a flat, long fish tail. Its four claws were sharp, with webbed toes, and it had gills on its cheeks and armpits.
It plunged into the water, churning it up, creating water currents of demonic essence like ribbons, breaking through the surface as if sliced by a knife.
“Second-order Low-grade Feral Beast, Abyssal Water Leopard.”
Su Yan recognized the Feral Beast’s identity, his tone filled with surprise.
“Everyone says Du Erniang ranks third among the Three Great Thieves, but I didn’t expect her to be so capable, actually taming a Second-order Low-grade Feral Beast. What skill.”
Sieging Feral Beasts, single-handedly killing Feral Beasts, caging Feral Beasts of the same order.
These feats were increasingly difficult.
Du Erniang was merely a martial artist in the True Intent Realm Heart Ape Stage, yet she could cage such a Second-order Feral Beast. One could imagine how skilled she was.
Her own strength must also not be the weakest; at least she could suppress Feral Beasts of the same order.
Du Erniang heard Su Yan’s surprised tone, and her eyes couldn’t help but brighten.
Her elaborate plan was precisely to prove she was not inferior to others.
“Mister flatters me.”
On the surface, she praised Su Yan, then took out an old beast hide pill prescription.
Su Yan glanced at it and knew it wasn’t a new item, unlike the copied prescription for the Blood Essence Condensing Pill.
This was an old item that had been written for decades.
He was not polite and took the Blood Changing Pill prescription to examine it carefully.
A Second-order pill prescription was a precious resource for him now.
Accumulating pill prescriptions, deducing pill prescriptions, copying, modifying…
In a martial arts world without patents, this was the way to quickly absorb the experience of predecessors.
“Using upper-tier beast blood as a guide, refining blood into pills, inducing bloodline resonance, and then promoting the metamorphosis and evolution of the Beast Spirit True Intent to unleash its upper-tier power…”
Su Yan understood the pill prescription’s purpose. He looked at Du Erniang beside him and said, “The idea of this pill prescription is brilliant, taking a different path. Besides the auxiliary skills aiding the main cultivation technique and promoting the continuous metamorphosis of the Beast Spirit True Intent, it can also start from pills to promote the metamorphosis of the True Intent.”
Beast Spirit True Intents have always had differences in strength, this is inevitable.
A Beast Spirit True Intent modeled after a First-order Feral Beast would, in combat, not be able to unleash as powerful a force as a Second-order or Third-order Feral Beast.
Martial artists are the foundation, while the Beast Spirit True Intent is the bridge to communicate with heaven and earth, an amplifier.
Under the same order, the stronger the Beast Spirit True Intent, the more auxiliary skills and weapons are stacked, and naturally, the stronger one becomes.
To put it bluntly, no matter how much the True Intent Realm in Yun Cang Town is boasted about, the Beast Spirit True Intent of most people is modeled after First-order Feral Beasts.
Of course, Su Yan’s Green-scaled Poisonous Flood Dragon is an exception. The Green-scaled Poisonous Flood Dragon is at least Second-order Upper-grade Feral Beast. If it continues to metamorphose, it might even become a Third-order or even Fourth-order Poison Dragon, echoing the name of the Poison Dragon Golden Body Technique…
However, it was a pity that Su Yan didn’t know if there were any subsequent cultivation techniques.
As for Du Erniang in front of him, according to the martial arts world’s version of “the rich rely on technology, the poor rely on mutation.”
Sects with complete inheritances and comprehensive cultivation techniques, with mature auxiliary skills and branches, can naturally complete the metamorphosis of their Beast Spirit True Intent.
Du Erniang, with her grassroots background, only had paths related to pills and other external means.
“Mister can indeed see the exquisiteness of this pill prescription.”
Du Erniang’s eyes flashed with joy. Su Yan’s pointed observation clearly showed he understood the intricacies of the pill prescription.
“My learned skills were obtained by chance, the Red Leopard Mountain Suppressing Technique. The Visualization Diagram is incomplete, and I can barely visualize it, nurturing my True Intent to be merely a First-order Feral Beast, the Crimson Spotted Leopard. To advance further, I am lacking a matching auxiliary skill, so I had to find another way. Please help me, Mister.”
Although the Blood Changing Pill sounds simple by name, its refinement involves merging bloodlines, somewhat similar to the Blood Essence Condensing Pill, and is not easy.
Su Yan suddenly sneered, “The Blood Changing Pill is not something that can be achieved overnight. It requires long-term consumption, and it may not show results in three to five months. Moreover, as your strength increases, the medicinal potency needs to be gradually enhanced. To truly complete the metamorphosis, it will take at least several years. Now that I know your secret, I fear you won’t let me leave, will you, Leader Du?”
His tone suddenly turned cold, and the beast roars in the cave continued incessantly, the firelight flickering erratically.
Du Erniang’s smile shifted, turning into a calm smile, “Where did that come from? It’s just that Mister will have to stay for a little while. What I promised will naturally remain unchanged. Once I break through to the Ruyi Realm and my Beast Spirit True Intent metamorphoses into the Abyssal Water Leopard, Mister is free to leave.”
“Free to leave, you say so nicely.”
Su Yan just sneered, but Du Erniang was unconcerned, “If Mister is afraid of being bored, the women in the stronghold are at Mister’s disposal. If you don’t like Xi Er and the others, let Cai Yao personally attend to you, it’s also fine. If you stay, in San Die Stream, you will be the Second Leader.”
“If I say no, Leader Du will likely resort to other means.”
Su Yan said leisurely, “The Sandalwood Incense Burner contains Illusory Butterfly Incense, and the wine cup has Illusory Tassel Fruit. They can make people dream of butterflies and become so intoxicated that they can never leave… Should I continue?”
Du Erniang’s expression changed slightly, and her tone turned cold, “Mister Feng indeed has great skill, to actually know these two Treasure Plants. Since you know, Mister should also know that if these two Treasure Plants are cut off, you know what that will feel like.”
In the past, it wasn’t that she hadn’t lured pill masters to refine the Blood Changing Pill.
At that time, the pill masters were only at the First-order level, and the Blood Changing Pills Du Erniang needed were also at a corresponding level, possibly to achieve the True Intent of the Crimson Spotted Leopard.
As her cultivation continuously increased, her needs also reached the Second-order, leading to the current situation.
Her control over previous pill masters was nothing more than wine, sex, wealth, anger, and poison.
The word “poison” was always effective.
It was just that Su Yan’s calmness now made her uneasy; this fellow seemed to have already dealt with the toxins of these two Treasure Plants.
“A few minor poisons are merely nutrients.”
Su Yan raised his eyes and stared at Du Erniang, “Actually, if it were any other pill prescription, cooperating with you in a different way might not be impossible. However, Du Erniang, you have to tell me, on the pill prescription, how much Human Marrow, this ingredient, was used. Do you, think, it’s, disgusting?”
He said each word slowly. The beautiful woman before him was not some female leopard, but a man-eating viper.
The Blood Changing Pill could change Feral Beast Blood, thereby inducing resonance, but it couldn’t be done solely with Feral Beast Blood; it also required the martial artist’s Spinal Cord as an introducer.
Using the marrow as an introducer, only then could it be fused.
