After muttering it about a dozen times, a look of pleasant surprise washed over Lin Zheyu's face.
It worked!
It really worked!
[Heaven Rewards Diligence]
Name: Lin Zheyu
Origin Power: 0
Skills:
Wild Bull Fist (Perfection)
Golden Goose Skill (Fifth Layer 1%)
Turtle Breathing Art (Third Layer 1%)
Six Harmonies Saber (Proficient 88%)
Poison King Body (First Layer 0%)
"Haha, it really works."
"I'm a bloody genius!"
Lin Zheyu couldn't help but say smugly.
The Poison King Body had no entry stage; it began directly with the first layer.
He had taken the medicinal dose only once, not even reaching one percent progress.
"Still, this technique relies on drugs to temper the body. Can that miraculous space of consciousness generate toxins and antidotes?"
Lin Zheyu felt doubtful.
Previously, whenever he upgraded his abilities, he had focused wholeheartedly on practicing martial arts, tireless and ceaseless, without taking any medicine, relying solely on physical training.
Within that space, only his spiritual body existed.
That spiritual body seemed inexhaustible, eternally brimming with vigor, capable of maintaining peak energy without needing any medicine.
However, that state could not last too long.
Lin Zheyu had tested it before: if he expended five units of Origin Power at once, his spirit would become utterly depleted and listless, requiring several days of recuperation to recover.
As long as his spiritual will within the conscious space was elevated to the corresponding martial realm, his spirit could reflect onto his physical flesh, causing his body to grow stronger alongside it.
"The fact that the Poison King Body appeared in the consciousness data proves it can be upgraded with Origin Power. Does that mean there's a strong chance that space can conjure up medicines?"
Lin Zheyu pondered.
If that conscious space could manifest poisons, didn't that mean it could also conjure medicines that aided martial cultivation?
If so, during future upgrades, if he visualized taking pills or tonics before training, wouldn't a single unit of Origin Power achieve the effect of several units?
The only catch was that he would need to prepare more Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction afterward.
"Too bad I have no Origin Power right now; otherwise, I could test it out," Lin Zheyu thought.
Having confirmed that the Poison King Body could be upgraded using Origin Power, Lin Zheyu did not continue consuming poison to practice the technique.
Each time he ingested poison, he had to give himself time to recover, or his body wouldn't be able to bear it.
He began reading through the Poison Canon from the beginning, studying toxicology.
Throughout the entire afternoon, Lin Zheyu pored over the Poison Canon, giving him a long-lost feeling reminiscent of his student days in his previous life.
The way of poison was just like medicine; it required long periods of immersion, study, research, and experimentation to yield results.
***
As dusk fell.
The first and fifteenth of every month were the days when the black market Ning Hui had mentioned was open.
Even on the first day of the new year, the black market operated as usual.
Lin Zheyu tidied up and, before the inner city gates closed, slipped through the dark to Pingnan District in the outer city.
Songyi City was divided into an inner city and an outer city. The inner city was the proper walled city, while the outer city was the outer perimeter, home to destitute commoners; anyone with a bit of money had already moved into the inner city.
Lin Zheyu had once scraped by in the outer city for a time, living a miserable life.
Upon arriving in the outer city, he found a deserted spot, changed into the dark clothes he had prepared, and put on a mask to prevent anyone from recognizing him.
He made his way to Baishan District, with which he was quite familiar, having lived there for a while.
Cutting through a small path to the border between Baishan District and Pingnan District, Lin Zheyu spotted the four-to-five-meter-tall tree.
Following the sketch Ning Hui had drawn, Lin Zheyu located the old residence.
Along the way, he encountered many people, all dressed mysteriously, their builds and appearances concealed.
Some had cloth tied over their faces, some wore masks, and others wore veiled conical bamboo hats.
After paying one tael of silver, Lin Zheyu finally entered Songyi City's black market.
The black market was an excavated subterranean cavern, vast and crisscrossed by numerous passages, giving the impression that it led everywhere.
This was Lin Zheyu's first time visiting a black market, and he was full of curiosity.
He strolled around and discovered that they truly sold everything here, whether legal or illicit, an eye-boggling assortment.
"They even sell martial arts manuals!"
Spotting a stall selling manuals, Lin Zheyu crouched down out of curiosity. The man selling the manuals wore a chubby-faced baby mask. He had a burly build and emanated a powerful aura, having reached the level of the Viscera Tempering Realm.
There were very few manuals, only three, each displaying just a title and a brief description:
Blazing Fire Sword, Heaven-Burning Palm, and Great Strength Fist.
"Brother, how much for these manuals? Are they reliable?" Lin Zheyu asked in a slightly hoarse voice.
"A hundred taels of silver per manual, firm price. Cultivated to a high level, they can take you all the way to the peak of Viscera Tempering," the man said, glancing at Lin Zheyu.
*So expensive.*
Lin Zheyu grumbled inwardly. To charge so much for such shoddy arts! He pondered for a moment and asked, "Are they reliable? There aren't any hidden pitfalls, are there?"
"Guaranteed reliable. Feel free to ask around—I show up every time the black market opens. If they weren't reliable, my reputation would've been ruined long ago," the man said, patting his chest.
"So that means you've sold these manuals to lots of people? You've sold them to so many, yet you still charge this much?" Lin Zheyu asked.
"So what if I've sold them to a lot of people? Aren't they still martial arts that can get you to the Viscera Tempering Realm?" the man retorted.
"Will you take ten taels?" Lin Zheyu bargained.
"Get lost!"
The man glared at him.
Lin Zheyu shrugged, stood up, and continued wandering through the black market.
Passing through one cavern into another, he found another fellow selling the exact same arts as the previous vendor.
This guy was selling them cheaper—eighty taels of silver per manual.
Lin Zheyu was speechless. He felt that if he kept browsing, he might well run into vendors selling them for seventy or even sixty taels.
After touring the entire black market, he found quite a few people selling manuals, with prices all above fifty taels of silver.
Moreover, they were all ordinary techniques; some could only take a practitioner to the early Viscera Tempering Realm, while the best could only reach peak Viscera Tempering.
Unfortunately, they were too expensive. If they had been ten-odd taels of silver, Lin Zheyu wouldn't have minded buying a few to study.
Besides cultivation arts, there was no shortage of good items in the black market. People were even selling weapons and armor, as well as various poisons, toxic powders, and concealed weapons.
Lin Zheyu had seen the names of many of the poisons in the Poison Canon. They fetched steep prices; even the ones with the lowest profit margins were sold at double their cost.
*This is quite a lucrative business too!*
Lin Zheyu's eyes lit up as he spotted a viable way to make money.
Aside from the assorted small stalls, there were also official shops run by the black market itself.
Unlike the street stall vendors, goods in the shops were pricier, but they were also more reliable and free of scams.
Lin Zheyu looked around and chose a trustworthy shop to sell off the jewelry he carried, along with the concealed weapons and poison powders he had no use for, fetching a total of one hundred seventy-eight taels of silver.
"Not bad. Another hundred-plus taels in the bag."
"Honestly, how much can one earn through an honest day's work? Crooked paths really bring in the money the fastest," Lin Zheyu mused to himself.
The black market remained open from dusk until dawn, with people constantly leaving and entering, maintaining a heavy flow of traffic all night.
Lin Zheyu did not stay until morning. Once he had sold his goods, he departed.
Although the black market had all manner of items, none were what he needed right now.
He stepped out of the old residence.
The moment Lin Zheyu emerged, he felt dozens of malicious gazes land on him.
He swept his gaze around but saw no figures; they were all lurking in the surrounding woods.
Inside the black market, fighting and brawling were prohibited, but once outside, no one cared.
Whether you robbed or were robbed depended entirely on your own capability.
Lin Zheyu cast a glance toward the woods, then walked away into the distance as if nothing were amiss.
"Boss, do we hit him?"
In the woods, five burly men clustered together, and the man on the left asked in a low whisper.
They had to be discerning when picking their targets; one careless move, and crossing paths with an expert would spell their doom. Robbing people outside the black market required sharp judgment.
"Go!"
"Even though he's bundled up tightly and wears a mask hiding his face, the skin on the back of his exposed hands is exceptionally smooth and delicate. He's definitely not over twenty-five."
"Even if the kid has remarkable talent, how strong could he possibly be at that age?" the leader analyzed.
He had a keen eye and was skilled at gauging a person's age; his last few ambushes had all succeeded without a hitch.
"Let's move, before someone else beats us to it!"
Hearing their boss's assessment, one of them urged impatiently.
Shifting their stances, they swiftly gave chase in the direction Lin Zheyu had left.
Right after the five men set out, another three masked men in black darted out of the woods and followed behind.
Under the moonlight, a cold wind blew.
Tree branches swayed, casting shadowy silhouettes.
Lin Zheyu walked along the secluded path at an unhurried pace, the bundle tied at his waist bulging with one hundred seventy-eight taels of silver.
His expression shifted slightly as he detected movement coming from behind.
Eight people were approaching, moving with startling swiftness, closing in on him rapidly.
"Targeted after all," Lin Zheyu sneered faintly.
He took no pleasure in slaughter, but neither was he averse to it.
Lin Zheyu had not brought his saber; the long saber Han Mo had gifted him possessed rather distinct features. However, he had brought plenty of throwing knives, prepared specifically for circumstances like this.
His right hand reached into his waist pouch and drew out eight throwing knives gleaming with cold light.
"Boss, he stopped. It looks like he's waiting for us. Are we really doing this?"
Watching Lin Zheyu stand still in the distance, a trace of dread crept into the five men's hearts.
This person clearly knew he was being tailed, yet instead of running, he stood right there. Something was definitely off.
"What's there to be afraid of? He's definitely bluffing. I've seen plenty like him!" another man snapped impatiently.
"Not good, he's charging at us!"
The man keeping watch on Lin Zheyu went pale with shock.
*Swoosh!*
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!*
Before they could even turn to flee, throwing knives glinting with a silvery-white chill streaked through the dark, shooting toward them at terrifying speed.
*Thud, thud, thud!*
The sound of blades piercing flesh rang out, followed by eight screams shattering the silent night.
Not only had the five burly men been struck, but the three trailing behind them had also been hit by Lin Zheyu's throwing knives.
*Damn it, we hit a tough nut!*
That was the leader's final thought.
As he struggled to scramble away, a second throwing knife struck diagonally into the back of his head, shattering bone and splashing blood.
The screams ceased, and silence returned to the dark night, broken only by the howling wind.
Lin Zheyu walked over and searched the bodies of all eight men, turning up plenty of concealed weapons and poison powders, as well as fifty-eight taels of silver.
"This money really comes easily!"
Holding the coins, Lin Zheyu couldn't help but marvel.
Once upon a time, he had fretted over lacking the money to buy Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction. Who would have thought that today, just walking down the road, over fifty taels of silver would deliver itself right to his door?
Sorting out their belongings, Lin Zheyu turned around and headed back into the black market.
Seeing Lin Zheyu return, the people still concealed outside the old residence had their expressions change slightly, relief welling up within them.
*Good grief, thank heavens we didn't make a move just now.*
Selling off the items from the men fetched him another thirteen taels of silver.
Lin Zheyu thought for a moment, acquired a cloak in the black market, bought a conical bamboo hat veiled in black gauze, and changed his disguise.
Stepping out of the old residence, Lin Zheyu appeared somewhat timid this time, his steps nervous and his breathing slightly ragged, looking just like an inexperienced novice.
Yet even after walking a great distance, he saw no one following him, which left him somewhat disappointed.
*Should I head back and finish those bastards off?*
Lin Zheyu felt a stir of temptation.
None of those fellows were good people anyway; killing them wouldn't weigh on his conscience.
And so, he went back.
Yet when he crept silently into the woods and reached the spot where those people had previously hidden, he discovered they had all fled!
His scheme had come to naught.
Those men were exceptionally sharp; the moment they sensed something amiss, they had bolted.
Chapter 65