Chapter 118 - 117: Swindling Food and Drink

Chapter 118: Chapter 117: Swindling Food and Drink

"What rotten luck..."

He hadn’t looked closely on the way back. It was only after taking out the three Martial Arts Manuals that Wu Chen realized he had already seen two of them at Li Qi’s place.

In other words, of the three Martial Arts Manuals he received from the Silver Wolf Captain, only one was actually useful to him.

’There’s nothing to be done about it. An ordinary Martial Artist can break through to the next realm with two or three Martial Arts that match their current level, the corresponding medicinal pills, and several years of hard work.’

’But I need ten, all told.’

’Getting one is still a good thing. If that Captain hadn’t needed to hand out rewards to the selected constables, I probably wouldn’t have gotten even one!’

Wu Chen didn’t overthink it. He would use the one he had now and worry about finding the next one later.

But then, he seemed to think of something, and his eyes lit up. ’With medicinal pills?’

The last few times he’d upgraded his Martial Arts, he hadn’t had any pills for various reasons, but this time, he did!

Wu Chen quickly pulled out the porcelain pill vials the Captain had given him from his storage pouch. The vials came in three colors: yellow, gray, and red.

The Martial Arts Manual noted which vial contained the corresponding pills, so it was easy to find the ones for cleansing the sinews and refining the marrow.

But Wu Chen knew you could never be too careful, so he didn’t just pop one into his mouth.

Instead, he caught a wild rabbit, nearly two feet long, in the mountains and stuffed a pill from the vial into its mouth.

An hour later, seeing the rabbit showed no adverse effects, Wu Chen finally felt safe enough to swallow a pill himself and began the process of upgrading his Martial Arts.

’I wonder if I can achieve consecutive breakthroughs with the pills this time and step into the Organ Refining Realm.’

Watching the numbers flicker on his panel, Wu Chen thought with a hint of anticipation.

But soon, he had his answer.

[Deep Red Host] Wu Chen

[Martial Arts Realm] Jade Bone Realm, Seventh Stage

(Qi Power: Rampaging Bull Shakes the Earth) (Stamina: Enduring Qi Power)

[Martial Arts & Cultivation Techniques] Bone-Eroding Wind Blade (Momentum), Spirit Swallow Plucks a Leaf Step (Momentum), Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill (Perfection), Iron Shirt Bone Grinding Skill...

After several warm currents surged through his body, the numbers stopped flickering. The panel didn’t show the leap across several minor stages into the Organ Refining Realm that he had imagined.

Just like before, he had only broken through a single minor stage.

’Did the pills not work? Or did I just not take enough for there to be a difference?’

’Or... maybe all I need are the Martial Arts Manuals? Nothing else?’

Seeing that his realm had still only advanced by one minor stage, Wu Chen wasn’t sure what the problem was.

But he didn’t plan to investigate further, because as things stood, not needing pills was actually a good thing for him.

’Not relying on pills means I won’t have to depend on a large organization for a long time. That saves a lot of trouble.’

It was just like the disciples in the sects, or the Demon Suppression Guards in the Demon Suppression Bureau.

It wasn’t enough to have Contribution Points to exchange for Martial Arts; they also needed merit to trade for pills.

The moment they ran short on pills, their cultivation would stagnate or slow to a crawl.

Therefore, to keep advancing, they had to spend their entire lives in their Sect or the Demon Suppression Bureau, serving them faithfully.

Since the result of his upgrade was set in stone, Wu Chen quickly put the matter of his cultivation realm out of his mind and began to take stock of his money from this trip:

’Counting the three thousand taels I just received, and subtracting my recent miscellaneous expenses, I have a total of over forty-five hundred taels!’

’If I add in the loose silver taels and copper plates, plus the small-denomination silver banknotes, and sell off the useless poison powders and pills, that’s over six thousand taels!’

Wu Chen gave his things a quick once-over, then put them back in his storage pouch. He planned to find a shop or a black market sometime to sell off everything he didn’t need.

Then he looked at his other storage pouch, the one used exclusively for storing heads.

Inside were nearly fifty freshly severed demonfolk heads. Adding the five from before, that made almost sixty in total.

’Three are at the Late Stage of the Jade Bone Realm, five at the Mid Stage, and ten at the Early Stage. The rest are all at the Meridian Passage Realm...’

’All told, even by a conservative estimate, that’s thirteen or fourteen hundred Contribution Points.’

Wu Chen smacked his lips. "If I exchanged that for silver taels, it’d be thirteen thousand taels of silver!"

"Achievement unlocked: Ten-Thousand-Tael Tycoon!"

Wu Chen wasn’t short on money right now, so he obviously wasn’t going to trade his Contribution Points for silver taels. That would be a losing proposition.

For example, a storage pouch could be bought for six hundred Contribution Points, but it might cost fifteen thousand, or even twenty thousand silver taels to buy one with money.

So, in a way, Contribution Points were a kind of perk the sect offered its disciples.

Of course, trying to accumulate Contribution Points through manual labor at Refining Valley would take who knows how long.

’I might as well make a trip to Refining Valley today and exchange these heads for Contribution Points first.’

’That way, if I run into another large group from the Blood Slaughter Sect, it won’t be a hassle if I can’t fit all the heads.’

’Besides, it feels a little weird to be eating and sleeping while carrying around all these human heads.’

Wu Chen wasn’t one to procrastinate. He immediately mounted his horse and set off for Refining Valley.

On the way, Wu Chen didn’t stay idle. He began to mentally calculate what he would exchange his points for at Refining Valley’s Hundred Weapons Pavilion.

After all, his top priority was still to increase his strength. Everything, whether his realm or his external equipment, needed to be improved.

He wasn’t going to be a hoarder who just stockpiled Contribution Points.

’I don’t have a need for medicinal pills, but I have to be careful. If I acquire a Martial Arts Manual, I need to make a show of needing pills. I don’t mind spending a little extra money; the biggest worry is someone figuring out my secret.’

’Small-time sects might not know any better, but with their centuries of accumulated knowledge, the major sects and families might notice something is off. I have to guard against that.’

’Last time they said I couldn’t exchange points for Martial Arts and Cultivation Techniques. I’ll ask again later. After all, I have more demonfolk heads this time. Maybe they’ll make an exception. If not, there’s no need to press the issue. It would be a waste of time.’

’As for weapons, my Ink Blade is still effective. I haven’t encountered anything it can’t cut through yet. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have it re-forged and enhanced with some new materials...’

’I also need some protective gear, maybe some form-fitting Soft Armor. I remember seeing something like that on the third floor of the Hundred Weapons Pavilion last time.’

’But I estimate that protecting my entire body, every single inch, will cost a ton of Contribution Points.’

’I’ll need another storage pouch, too. I should be heading to the Blood Slaughter Sect’s Purple Mist Mountain soon. If I don’t get a few more pouches, I’m afraid I won’t have enough space for the Blood Road trial.’

’Hiss! I didn’t realize until I started planning it out... It seems my Contribution Points are already stretched a little thin...’

A moment ago, Wu Chen had been feeling on top of the world, thinking the fifty-odd heads from high-level demonfolk would be enough to buy out the entire Hundred Weapons Pavilion.

But after listing out his needs, he realized it might not be enough. In fact, he might be far short.

He rubbed the corners of his eyes. "Looks like I’ll have to inconvenience the demonfolk from the Blood Slaughter Sect again."

As he swayed with the horse’s gait, the extravagant entrance to Refining Valley appeared in the distance.

CLIP! CLOP! CLIP!

A crimson horse ambled forward, its vibrant color extremely eye-catching. From far away, it caught the attention of the dozen or so disciples on duty under the archway.

Their pounding hearts told the disciples who it was before their eyes did.

It was the guy who had brought a sack of demonfolk heads last time, the one Stone Ox called "Brother Wu"!

"He’s back again?!"

"It’s only been a few days!"

"..."

Everyone craned their necks to look behind Wu Chen. Seeing no pack horses and no blood-soaked sacks, they quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Right, that’s more like it. Those are Blood Evil demonfolk, not weeds on the side of the road you can just mow down whenever you feel like it."

"Gave me a scare, too. Looks like he didn’t use up all his Contribution Points last time and just came back to exchange them."

A few disciples breathed another quiet sigh of relief, but then they suddenly remembered that Zhuang Bo, the one who had handled Wu Chen’s exchange last time, was dozing right behind them!

Something occurred to them, and they turned their heads to ask curiously:

"Senior Brother Zhuang, what did that guy Stone Ox brought over a few days ago end up exchanging for at the Hundred Weapons Pavilion?"

"Who?" Zhuang Bo was half-asleep. He had been forging iron for the past few days, and his sturdy frame was completely exhausted. He couldn’t remember right away.

The disciple rephrased the question. "The guy who brought the sack of demonfolk heads. What did he get from the Hundred Weapons Pavilion?"

"Why didn’t you just say ’the sack’ in the first place!"

Zhuang Bo’s mind was fuzzy, but that detail jogged his memory instantly.

"That guy went to the third floor of the Hundred Weapons Pavilion and exchanged for a storage pouch worth six hundred Contribution Points—the biggest one they have."

"The biggest storage pouch?"

"What does he need the biggest one for?!"

The disciples fell silent. He wouldn’t have spent so much just to... fill it with demonfolk heads, would he?

But as the figure drew closer, they were forced to accept the possibility.

"So he filled up the storage pouch and came back to trade for more Contribution Points?"

"Impossible! If he actually filled it, I’ll eat ten pounds of red-hot iron!"

"Bluffer!"

"..."

The group chattered nonstop.

Zhuang Bo rubbed his drowsy eyes, his mind clearing up a bit. He asked in confusion:

"What are you all arguing about? And why did you suddenly ask about that guy?"

Hearing this, the Refining Valley disciples all moved aside, revealing Wu Chen swaying on his tall horse as he approached them.

As he drew near, a smile as warm as a spring breeze spread across his face. He waved at Zhuang Bo.

"It’s been a while, Senior Brother Zhuang."