bookbashuk Chapter 45 The Chaos Begins
Chapter 45 The Chaos Begins
"It's a pity only one pill was successfully formed; the rest were all useless... Shall we stick to the old rules for our transaction?"
Su Wanqing parted her red lips slightly, her beautiful eyes were ethereal, and her tone was calm, showing no sign of discouragement.
For her, once she crossed the threshold of the intermediate grade, the rest was just a matter of constantly summarizing experience and improving the success rate of pill formation; it was nothing more than a matter of grinding and polishing.
"Naturally, each discarded Marrow Cleansing Pill costs thirty spirit pearls, each discarded Rejuvenation Pill costs twenty-three spirit pearls, and each discarded Spirit Nourishing Pill costs eighty spirit pearls. What do you think, fellow Daoist?"
Yang Changsheng nodded and quoted the price.
This price is much higher than the purchase price of waste pills at the market, but much lower than the price of finished pills, which is fair to both parties.
The transactions have been completed several times, and the situation has remained largely unchanged.
Su Wanqing was clearly satisfied with the price. She hadn't expected the discarded pill to fetch a high price, so Yang Changsheng's offer was already a pleasant surprise.
"Okay," she readily agreed, still not bothering to investigate the purpose behind it.
Yang Changsheng immediately took out the spirit stone.
Fifteen wasted Cleansing Marrow Pills, eight Rejuvenating Powders, and five Spirit Nourishing Pills, totaling ten spirit stones and thirty-four spirit pearls.
He placed the angular, low-grade spirit stone and the small spirit pearl on the table and pushed them over.
Su Wanqing scanned the three jade bottles with her divine sense and, after confirming that they were correct, pushed them toward Yang Changsheng.
The transaction was completed, and the atmosphere became even more harmonious.
Yang Changsheng put away the jade bottle and placed it in his storage bag. With a calm and casual expression, he began to speak, saying, "Just now at Wanbao Pavilion, I heard that things seem to be a bit unsettled between the Lu family and the Chixiao Wang family?"
Since the Lu family wiped out the robbers and cultivators last time, the two thousand miles of territory around Biyue Lake has been much more peaceful, but there have been some disturbances.
Su Wanqing picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and her gaze narrowed slightly, clearly aware of the matter.
She glanced at Yang Changsheng and said softly, "That's right. The Wang family has been making frequent moves in the past year, and prices in the market have fluctuated. In particular, many scarce pills and talisman materials may have the Wang family's shadow behind them. You should have heard about this from Steward Qian."
The territories of the two Foundation Establishment families are partially adjacent, which already led to many conflicts, and now the situation has escalated further.
Yang Changsheng recalled the possible considerations behind Deacon Qian's enthusiasm and the hidden worries he mentioned about regional unrest, and nodded: "Deacon Qian also hinted that we should be cautious. It seems that things are about to get turbulent around Biyue Lake."
His vigilance intensified, and he became even more determined to never leave the Azure Lake area before reaching the late stage of Qi Refining, to peacefully raise fish, study puppetry techniques, and cultivate Qi.
In the midst of chaos, those who lack strength will be utterly destroyed with the slightest misstep.
After chatting for a while about the recent situations of the other members of the mutual aid group, Yang Changsheng learned that Wang Ergou was still trying to break through to the third level of Qi Refining, Li Qingshan was still stuck at the bottleneck of the fifth level of Qi Refining, and Liu Xiaoying's talisman dao seemed to have encountered a small problem. Yang Changsheng then got up to say goodbye.
He knew that Su Wanqing's time was precious, and it was already difficult enough that she could take the time to receive him and complete the transaction.
Su Wanqing didn't linger and escorted him to the courtyard gate.
The barriers were closed again, separating the tranquil elegance of the courtyard from the secluded depths of the alley.
Yang Changsheng stood at the entrance of Bichao Lane, glanced back at the white-walled courtyard hidden among the flowers and trees, felt the richer spiritual energy of the place, suppressed the envy in his heart for the independent courtyard, and turned to blend into the deepening night.
Once outside the area of Bitiao Lane, the lights on the edge of the market became sparser and the roads became darker. After purchasing some puppet materials, he left the port market.
……
The bright moonlight fell, and the lake surface shimmered, reflecting the water patterns of the newly painted awning boat.
Yang Changsheng stood at the bow of the boat, the six-zhang-long awning boat cutting through the slightly turbulent blue waves in the middle of the lake.
The light blue robe with its wave pattern clung to his body, its soft texture protecting him from the dampness of the lake.
He silently spread his divine sense, covering a water area of more than ten feet in radius. This was thanks to his cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining and the improvement of his spiritual eye technique, which allowed him to explore a very wide range.
Knowing that things have been turbulent lately, we must not let our guard down until we return to our own waters.
As his consciousness swept past the shadow of a dense patch of water plants below the side of the boat.
Two auras, deliberately suppressed yet unable to conceal, emanated greed and murderous intent, like pebbles thrown into a still pond, instantly creating ripples.
Is it really dangerous?
Yang Changsheng's eyes narrowed slightly, but his face remained expressionless, as if he were simply sailing an ordinary boat.
He quietly made a hand seal with his right hand inside his wide sleeve, and the water-based magic power of the Xuan Yuan Technique was already surging and gathering momentum in his body's meridians.
"Whoosh...!"
The sharp, piercing sound of water breaking the tranquility of the lake shattered the stillness of the water. A dense, black needle-like jet of water shot out from the left side of the lake, aiming straight for Yang Changsheng's heart.
Immediately following, a chilling sword light pierced through the water curtain from the right, carrying a sharp, piercing aura, and lunged at his neck like a venomous snake.
The timing was ruthless, and the teamwork was seamless; they were clearly seasoned veterans who were adept at launching surprise attacks together.
"Why do you have to force me!"
Yang Changsheng's face was cold, his eyes filled with killing intent. After a long period of preparation, he suddenly unleashed his newly mastered water-based magic.
"boom!"
The magic spread, and the lake water around the boat surged with waves, instantly transforming into two rapidly spinning, thick waterspouts with water that was almost dark blue.
One stream swept towards the flying needles, while another met the flying sword that pierced the water. The resilient water currents swirled together at high speed, emitting a muffled, thunderous roar.
when!
The jet-black needles crashed into the raging waterspout, as if trapped in quagmire, their momentum vanished instantly, swept away by the rapids and losing their aim, before plunging into the lake.
Although the chilling flying sword had greater penetrating power and pierced deep into the water tornado, it was as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand. The sword light trembled violently and cried out, unable to advance even an inch further.
The attackers clearly did not expect their target to react so quickly, and their manipulation of magic was exquisite.
Yang Changsheng had no intention of giving them a chance to breathe. He suddenly spread his five fingers, which were forming a hand seal, and pressed them hard against the water below.
"Freeze!"
The spell changed again, and the two huge water tornadoes suddenly disintegrated, but the scattered water did not fall; instead, it instantly solidified.
Countless crystal-clear, foot-long ice arrows, gleaming with a sharp, cold light, rained down on the water where the two assassins were hiding, accompanied by a piercing whistle.
puff!puff!puff!
A dense barrage of ice arrows pierced the water's surface, striking the two suddenly glowing, earthen-yellow mana shields below.
Ice shards flew everywhere, the protective shield fluctuated violently, and the light dimmed at a visible speed, groaning under the strain.
"Splash!"
Water splashed everywhere, and the two disheveled black figures were forced out of the water by the sudden and fierce attack, hovering in the air above the lake.
Both were dressed in tight-fitting black night clothes, with ghost masks covering their faces, revealing only their eyes filled with shock and anger.
"Damn it... What kind of rubbish information did the Wang family give us! This guy just broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining? And that water technique..."
The slightly taller man in black on the left spoke in a hoarse voice, tinged with disbelief and horror.
"This is a tough one, we'd better get out of here!" The shorter man in black on the right made a quick decision, his voice urgent.
The mission intelligence contained a fatal error; the target's strength far exceeded expectations, making this deal far riskier than anticipated.