Chapter 8: Rising Sun Art
Ji Qing reached into the flesh of his abdomen and pulled out the Hidden Weapon.
It was a Bone-Piercing Nail.
Blocked by Ji Qing’s Internal Energy, it had only pierced two inches into the flesh.
“Hmm?”
“The Hidden Weapon is non-toxic?”
The blood on the Bone-Piercing Nail remained bright red, not like it was poisoned.
Earlier, although Ji Qing had killed the Three Oddities of Lingdong with one Saber Slash, he had also been struck by the Hidden Weapon. Fortunately, it did not hit a vital spot, and he was only slightly injured.
Ji Qing squatted down and tore a piece of cloth strip from the corpse of the Three Oddities of Lingdong to bandage the wound on his abdomen.
Then he began searching the corpses.
Not only the Three Oddities of Lingdong, he also did not spare the corpses of the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert.
A total of twenty-one corpses yielded only a little over one hundred taels of silver.
“Jianghu people are really poor…”
Ji Qing shook his head.
However, he did find a Martial Arts Manual on the body of one of the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert.
He did not examine it closely and did not know what Martial Arts it was.
“Right, Chief Escort Han, is there a bounty on the Three Oddities of Lingdong?”
Ji Qing’s gaze turned to Han Jin.
Han Jin hurriedly shook his head and said, “Although the Three Oddities of Lingdong are Greenwood martial artists, they are not wicked villains and have not committed any major crimes. They have no bounty in the Jianghu.”
Ji Qing seemed thoughtful.
These Three Oddities of Lingdong looked strange in appearance and temperament, yet they were not bandits.
No wonder there was no deadly poison smeared on the Bone-Piercing Nail.
“However, there is a government bounty on the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert, and it’s quite substantial. Each one has a bounty of fifty taels of silver.”
“Fifty taels?”
Ji Qing’s eyes lit up.
Fifty taels of silver per head, eighteen heads would be nine hundred taels of silver.
Not bad!
But he had a long journey ahead, and with Ji Yao in tow, he simply could not carry eighteen heads.
Ji Qing returned to the temple and extended his hand toward Han Jin.
“Fine, hand over the silver! Just eight hundred taels, and the corpses of the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert are yours. You still make a hundred taels profit.”
“Uh…”
Han Jin’s face stiffened.
In the end, Han Jin still handed over eight hundred taels in banknotes.
After all, the corpses of the Three Oddities of Lingdong were still lying on the ground. Did he dare refuse?
This “profit,” he had to take whether he wanted to or not!
“Brother, you’re bleeding…”
Ji Yao was about to cry.
“Minor injury, no big deal.”
Ji Qing applied some hemostatic golden wound medicine himself, then closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
At the other end of the temple, Miss Lin gazed at Ji Qing’s figure, her eyes showing some surprise.
“Chief Escort, the Villain Ranking Eighth does not seem as vicious as the Jianghu rumors say…”
Miss Lin asked in a low voice.
“Miss Lin, Han has walked the Jianghu for many years and knows that many Jianghu rumors cannot be trusted. Regardless of this Young Master Ji’s temperament, his major crimes are proven beyond doubt. We should not interact with him too much. We’ll just wait until dawn tomorrow morning and go our separate ways.”
Han Jin softly reminded Miss Lin.
Miss Lin frowned slightly.
Her “third uncle” had always wanted her dead. Even if she could enter the city smoothly this time, what then? She would probably still have to fight her third uncle, and it was hard to say who would come out on top in the end.
Ji Qing could kill the Three Oddities of Lingdong with one Saber Slash; his strength was extraordinary. If he were willing to enter the city and help her, her chances of victory would be much greater!
As for reputation…
Her third uncle could shelter the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert, so why couldn’t she take in Ji Qing?
Thus, Miss Lin had already made up her mind.
She stepped out from the crowd and approached Ji Qing.
“Young Master Ji, if you can accompany me into the city and lend me a hand, I will surely reward you handsomely!”
Miss Lin said softly.
But Ji Qing seemed not to hear her at all, keeping his eyes closed with no response.
“If Young Master can lend me a hand, I am willing to reward you with three thousand taels of silver!”
Miss Lin took light steps forward, continuing to offer tempting conditions.
“Stop!”
“Those who cross the line, die!”
Ji Qing did not even lift his head, his tone ice-cold.
Miss Lin’s face turned pale.
She looked down at the line drawn in charcoal; she had nearly crossed it.
The man before her was no pushover, but the Villain Ranking Eighth, a great demon renowned throughout the land!
If he said those who cross the line die, then they would surely die!
“Miss, hurry back…”
The maidservant hurriedly pulled Miss Lin’s hand and returned to the crowd of the Wei Yuan Escort Agency.
Han Jin let out a long sigh and said, “Miss Lin, Young Master Ji is not interested in your affairs. Do not force it. There are still loyal retainers left by Master Lin in Li City who will surely protect Miss Lin.”
Miss Lin gave Ji Qing a complicated look, but in the end nodded.
Ji Qing meditated and regulated his breathing for an hour before opening his eyes.
He was not affected by Miss Lin’s little interlude earlier and took out the Martial Arts Manual he had found on one of the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert.
“Rising Sun Art.”
Ji Qing examined it carefully. This was a third-rate Martial Arts for cultivating Internal Energy, but it was quite impressive among third-rate Martial Arts.
This Martial Arts could only be practiced every morning at sunrise, so it was very time-consuming.
But once mastered, the Internal Energy was fierce and domineering, endless and surging, far superior to the Jadeite Art, and could be called top-tier among third-rate Martial Arts!
Ji Qing currently had no second-rate Martial Arts. To break through to second-rate, he could only cultivate more third-rate Martial Arts.
This Rising Sun Art met all his requirements.
In the blink of an eye, it was the next morning, and dawn had not yet broken.
Ji Qing woke up early.
He glanced at the sky, then sat cross-legged and silently circulated the “Rising Sun Art,” cultivating with the morning sunlight energy at sunrise.
Sure enough, the Rising Sun Art could only be practiced in the morning.
Last night, Ji Qing had tried cultivating the Rising Sun Art but could not even get started.
Now, practicing in the morning, a thread of Internal Energy soon formed in his body.
This thread of Internal Energy was different from the Jadeite Art; it seemed of higher quality and more domineering.
After cultivating for half an hour, Ji Qing stopped.
The Rising Sun Art could only be practiced for half an hour each morning; more time would be counterproductive.
At this moment, a strand of Rising Sun Art Internal Energy had appeared in Ji Qing’s body. Although his Rising Sun Art was only at the beginner stage, his stagnant Internal Energy had finally shown a slight improvement after many days.
This was great news!
As long as he practiced the Rising Sun Art diligently, his Internal Energy would continue to improve.
Unfortunately, the Origin Points were used up.
Otherwise, he could use Origin Points to quickly raise the Rising Sun Art to Major Accomplishment or even Perfection!
Without Origin Points, Ji Qing could only cultivate the Rising Sun Art on his own for now.
How far he could progress would depend entirely on his own talent.
Ji Qing glanced at the people from the Wei Yuan Escort Agency.
Both sides had spent the night in the ruined temple without incident, minding their own business.
“Yao’er, time to go.”
He gently patted Ji Yao’s head to wake her.
Ji Yao rubbed her eyes, then obediently climbed into the woven basket.
Ji Qing stood up, shouldered the woven basket, and strode out of the ruined temple.
Watching Ji Qing’s slowly disappearing figure, Miss Lin sighed and said, “This man’s Martial Arts are exceptionally high, but it’s a pity he cannot be used by me. Otherwise, he could surely help me reclaim my father’s foundation!”
Han Jin shook his head. “Miss Lin, we have already dodged a disaster. If not for the Three Oddities of Lingdong and Young Master Ji last night, the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert would have wiped us out.”
“Moreover, since Young Master Ji is ranked Villain Ranking Eighth, the troubles on him are probably no less than ours. If he stayed by Miss Lin’s side, whether it would be a blessing or a curse is truly uncertain…”
Miss Lin was startled.
Yes, she had only seen that Ji Qing’s Martial Arts were high but had not considered the troubles on him.
Villain Ranking Eighth—how great must those troubles be?
“Thank you for the reminder, Chief Escort…”
Miss Lin no longer thought about Ji Qing and continued onward with the Wei Yuan Escort Agency toward Li City.
