Early the next morning.
Wang Ping rose before dawn as usual and headed to the training grounds to practice his archery, though this time he held a bright-red bun in his hand.
Whenever his qi and strength ran dry, he took a bite. Instantly, a warm current surged into every limb and bone, washing away all fatigue and letting him dive straight back into training. With the explosive rise in his repetitions, Wang Ping could distinctly feel his comprehension of the Cloud-Piercing Sky-Shaking Bow deepening.
Boom!
Another arrow shot forth, yet this time it did not merely strike the bullseye; the instant it hit the center, it exploded, blasting out a ring of concussive shockwaves.
"Phew!"
A hundred meters away, Wang Ping slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. The thick sinews across his entire body snapped and flexed. As he stretched his limbs, a distinct, churning rush resonated within him.
His blood was surging with sound!
Entry into the bow technique—blood like fire was achieved!
Wang Ping closed his eyes, examining his interior with his spiritual sense. He could clearly see the blood rushing through his body, explosive power accumulating within it.
This was merely his normal state. Whenever he deliberately galvanized his blood and qi, that explosive power would pour forth entirely along the blood's flow. Although doing so placed an immense strain on his skin, flesh, sinews, and bones, his strength in that burst far exceeded the ordinary!
"No wonder it's called blood like fire.
"Simply put, it ignites the body, trading lingering damage for a brief blaze of power. It kills a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of your own—not something to use lightly."
At the same time, Wang Ping understood how Xie Shi had erupted that night.
Despite suffering grave injuries, Xie Shi had repeatedly brushed off his wounds and unleashed power rivaling his prime. That, surely, had been the effect of blood like fire.
"What he could do, I can do too.
"And I can do it even better!"
Wang Ping slowly opened and closed his palm, feeling the blood and qi flow through it. Guiding his spiritual sense deep into his body helped him master his condition with the utmost speed.
"Just like sinews like dragon, blood like fire has distinct tiers. The manual explains this in detail, dividing it into four grades: Raging Fire, Blazing Flame, True Blaze, and Supreme Yang... Judging by Xie Shi's explosive power that night, he probably had Blazing Flame blood. Compared to me right now, he falls far short."
Wang Ping marveled once more at his present physique.
*The Desire Realm Deva Body—leaving aside whatever miraculous effects it might have in immortal cultivation, in this world of martial arts, it is practically the caliber of a martial god.*
All that toil at Danfeng Tower hadn't been in vain!
Wang Ping did not doubt for a second that with the quality of this body, across all six external hurdles—skin, flesh, sinews, bones, blood, and marrow—whatever he mastered would inevitably reach the supreme tier!
*Indeed, I really am a one-in-a-million martial prodigy now.*
After reveling in self-satisfaction for a moment, Wang Ping suddenly felt a twitch in his spiritual sense. He turned toward the entrance of the training grounds to see Old Liu ambling over, leisurely carrying his tobacco pipe.
"Well? Does that blood jade bun pack a punch?"
The moment Liu Ye stepped onto the training grounds, his eyes immediately went to the bright-red bun in Wang Ping's hand. With a grin, he said, "I hauled that in all the way from the neighboring county."
"Much obliged, Brother."
Wang Ping offered quick praise, then lowered his voice. "By the way, Brother, I have an impudent favor to ask... Do you know anywhere in town that sells good iron?"
Iron was a monopoly of the imperial court.
What circulated openly on ordinary days was generally nothing more than ordinary refined iron of little account; truly miraculous exotic iron was exceedingly rare, commanding a price with no supply.
Naturally, constables had dedicated channels for procurement.
Even so, Liu Ye instantly caught the subtext in Wang Ping's words and narrowed his eyes. "How good of an iron do you need? Can it see the light of day, or must it stay in the shadows?"
Wang Ping shook his head. "It can't see the light of day."
"Then don't buy it in town. Too many eyes here—even with money, you'd have nowhere to spend it, and it makes things awkward... Go buy it at the grass market outside town.
"There are channels there."
Liu Ye's tone was calm. "We'll need an excuse, though... Hmm, we'll just say you and I are heading out to collect this month's routine dues. It's only a few days early anyway."
Routine dues... Wang Ping's gaze flickered slightly as he suddenly recalled the scene when he had first transmigrated and seen Liu Ye collecting dues at the grass market. Back then, he had only thought this street-clearing tiger was quite adept at fleecing the common folk, never expecting that he himself would now become one of them.
Then again.
Although Liu Ye collected monthly dues from the grass market, he also ensured its stability and order; one couldn't look at things too harshly.
What? At its core, wasn't it still fleecing the commoners?
How could that be the same!
Having swiftly convinced himself, Wang Ping followed Liu Ye. After reporting their itinerary to the county yamen, the two left town and made their way to the grass market.
"Liu the Skinner is back!"
"Gods have mercy, why is he early this month?"
"Quick, get the money ready..."
In an instant, an uproar rippled through the grass market. Although many lowered their voices, to the keen ears of martial artists, it was no different from speaking aloud.
Liu Ye's expression turned somewhat awkward, and he couldn't help muttering curses. "Ungrateful rabble with no sense of the big picture. Don't they realize this market couldn't even exist without me? It would've been stripped clean long ago by martial bandits and brigands. Is asking for a bit of dues too much? Have I ever demanded a single copper extra?"
Cursing aside, he did nothing to them.
Wang Ping remained silent throughout, trailing him from shop to shop. Each stall paid the exact amount owed until they reached the grain shop, where an unexpected hitch occurred.
"Lord Liu, here is this month's dues."
The grain shop owner hurried over to present a string of copper coins, smiling ingratiatingly. "Rest assured, I've strung them all up for you this time, not a single copper short, so as not to waste your time."
Seeing this, Liu Ye took the money with satisfaction at first, but after counting it, his expression turned to disdain. "Old Chen, didn't you go to private school?
"Can't you even count?"
At those words, the grain shop owner panicked. "N-no, that's impossible. I counted it several times. It's the exact amount for the dues, not one copper missing..."
"Who said it was missing? It's too much!"
Liu Ye snapped, sliding off a section of coins from the string and tossing them back. "Didn't I tell you last month? Whatever was overcharged would be deducted this month.
"So this time, I'm only taking sixty percent of your dues.
"Next time, count it properly for your lord! Figure it out, make sure it's exact before handing it over. You waste my time every single time—do you have any idea how busy I am?"
Liu Ye took the opportunity to thoroughly berate the shopkeeper.
Yet looking at the refunded coppers, the shopkeeper couldn't muster the slightest resentment. He bowed and scraped repeatedly, stopping just short of dropping to his knees.
Having finished his scolding, Liu Ye strode off without looking back.
*He actually follows his own rules.*
Following behind, Wang Ping watched the whole exchange without feeling particularly moved one way or the other; at present, he had neither the surplus energy to intervene nor the power to change anything.
Before long, all the routine dues were collected.
Only then did Liu Ye turn his steps and lead Wang Ping to a secluded corner of the grass market. There stood a lone stall, tended by a man.
Upon seeing Wang Ping, the vendor, who had looked perfectly at ease, changed expression slightly and instinctively stood up.
"Lord Liu, you..."
"Cut the chatter."
Liu Ye waved a hand dismissively. "I'm introducing a newcomer today. Relax, he's trustworthy... He wants to buy a piece of exotic iron. Bring out your bottom-of-the-chest goods."
Wang Ping remained silent throughout, noticing the vendor furtively eyeing him several times before sitting back down. The man then produced three metal ingots from somewhere and tossed them onto the stall, muttering, "As far as exotic iron goes, these three are all I have lately."
Wang Ping looked down, and his expression shifted slightly.
For no other reason than out of the three pieces of exotic iron, he actually recognized two!
One was stark white. He recognized it at a glance—it was undeniably the throwing dagger Xie Shi had used that night, merely reforged into an ingot.
The other was pitch-black, and equally familiar, for its material was identical to the oxtail saber at his waist—it even bore traces of blood!
*One is Xie Shi's flying dagger, and the other... could it have been scavenged from the body of a constable killed that night? What audacity! How did he even get his hands on that? No, wait—maybe people from the county yamen are involved in this. Good grief, this is a fencing channel for stolen goods!*
The waters behind this ran deep indeed!
While Wang Ping was pondering this, the vendor spoke up: "White Rainbow Steel, Black Cloud Iron, and a piece of hundred-refined primordial copper, ranked from lowest to highest quality. Which one does your lordship want?"
"The hundred-refined primordial copper."
Wang Ping chose the highest quality without hesitation. The reason was simple: his primary goal in buying exotic iron was to refine the Classic of Great Peace.
Earlier, he hadn't even possessed the strength to protect himself, so he naturally had had no leisure to attend to his precious cheat. Now that he had secured a foothold, he naturally wanted to upgrade the Classic of Great Peace to unlock another slot for a scripture volume, allowing him to figure out a way to open a new cheat in the future.
"That'll be fifty taels of silver."
The vendor held out his hand.
Just as Wang Ping was about to hand over the money, Liu Ye pressed down on his hand.
"Fifty taels? Why don't you just go rob someone!"
Liu Ye barked with righteous indignation. The vendor, clearly no stranger to such rebukes, offered a bitter smile. "Then how much does Lord Liu think it's worth?"
"Five taels."
"You old dog, you call that haggling?!"
The vendor flared up instantly, rolling up his sleeves and jumping to his feet as if ready to fight Liu Ye to the death. Liu Ye, however, remained entirely unperturbed.
"Save your breath. If this hundred-refined primordial copper of yours were clean and could see the light of day, let alone fifty taels, I wouldn't mind paying sixty or seventy."
Liu Ye sneered.
"Well? Can you guarantee this iron can see the light of day?"
The vendor fell instantly silent.
Wang Ping had a sudden realization: fifty taels was the regular market price, but was anything here clean? Glancing across the row, which of them wasn't hot goods?
Fencing stolen goods called for a discount!
"Still, five taels is impossible! Twenty at least!" the vendor pleaded desperately.
Hearing this, Liu Ye sighed. "Fine, running a business isn't easy for you, and you're only pocketing a cut anyway. How about this: I'll give you ten taels, good enough?"
"You beast!"
The vendor's hands trembled with rage, looking as though he had suffered the greatest grievance under the heavens. Yet Liu Ye remained unmoved, digging in his heels at ten taels—not a single tael more.
"Do you believe I won't sell it to you at all?" The vendor shot up in fury.
Hearing this, Liu Ye chuckled. "Then as a county constable and the imperial court's most loyal supporter, I'll have to discuss with you the crime of illicitly trafficking exotic iron."
The vendor sat right back down.
"Lord Liu, look what you're saying... How could I not sell it to you? I was only jesting just now. Ten taels of silver it is, and please patronize my humble business more often in the future."
Only then did Liu Ye glance at Wang Ping, signaling him to pay.
Wang Ping felt profound admiration.
*A lesson learned!*
*Seems this street-clearing tiger's domineering swagger isn't entirely without merit. 'Commoners shouldn't fight officials'—that saying really holds true everywhere.*
***
After parting ways with Liu Ye, Wang Ping hurried home without a moment's pause.
"Time to begin!"
Wang Ping took out the freshly acquired hundred-refined primordial copper. Though Liu Ye had warned him before they split up that it was stolen goods and needed to be handled with care, Wang Ping didn't actually mind.
After all, it would soon vanish.
The next second, Wang Ping sent his consciousness into the Mortuary, sensing a profound and wondrous might emanate from the towering tome and settle upon the hundred-refined primordial copper.
*Hundred-Refined Primordial Copper (Mundane Object)*
Immediately after, Wang Ping watched as that block of hundred-refined primordial copper, capable of forging common weapons, rapidly melted into molten copper and flowed into the Mortuary.
The next moment, the Mortuary shuddered violently upon absorbing the hundred-refined primordial copper, and the towering tome at its center turned to its second page.
*Volume Two: Empty*
*Awaiting entry.*
"It worked!"
Wang Ping looked thrilled. Those two lines of text meant the second page of the Classic of Great Peace had opened, ready to accommodate a new volume.
Thinking of this, Wang Ping couldn't help letting his imagination run wild. After all, with the stellar precedent of the Fiend from Beyond—which granted resurrection, travel across different worlds, and provided an identity—as long as he chose good enough materials for the new volume, it would surely unlock an even more potent cheat, wouldn't it?
A bright future ahead, a truly bright future!
Just then—
"Brother Wang? Brother Wang!"
An urgent voice suddenly came from outside the door, startling Wang Ping from his thoughts. Pushing open the door, he found a constable whose face looked somewhat familiar.
"...What happened?"
"Lord Chen wants to see you!"
The reporting constable spoke at rapid speed: "Just a quarter of an hour ago, White Lotus Sect Master Shouchong forced his way into the county seat and has now vanished without a trace inside the walls."
"...What?"
In an instant, Wang Ping understood.
*That old bastard Shouchong suddenly showing up most likely means he doesn't want to wait any longer. Chen Haoyan intends to divert the trouble as soon as possible to keep from getting burned himself.*
In other words, they couldn't wait until the third day.
Plans never kept pace with changes.
Chen Haoyan summoning him at this moment had to mean he wanted him to act immediately—to escort the Lotus Blade to Youshen Temple in full view of the public!
Chapter 16