Yin Twenty-Four said, "The greatest value of this high-grade blood-refined dharma artifact lies in the strength of the blood soul sealed within it. If that blood soul's battle strength is only at the third realm of the Wuhai Realm, it would be worth just over ten thousand Yongquan coins at most."
"Do you have ten thousand Yongquan coins?"
Li Weiyi looked her up and down, skeptical that a Hidden One who had only recently broken through to the Wuhai Realm could be so wealthy. Ten thousand Yongquan coins were equivalent to a million silver coins or a hundred million copper coins. She was only sixteen years old—how could she possess such deep pockets?
A trace of awkwardness crossed Yin Twenty-Four's face, and she hesitated before answering, "Of course I don't have that much money right now. But aren't we going to harvest that precious herb in the spider cave? That's worth a fortune. When the time comes, I won't take a single jin of it."
"That's still nowhere near enough." Li Weiyi waved his hand dismissively. "Stop making trouble! I really need money, and I really need Light Flame Pills."
Light Flame Pills were condensed from high-grade spiritual light flames. Only spirit mind masters could concoct them, and they were supreme treasures for rapidly boosting a mind master's cultivation. Every single pill was a rare marvel. In the medicinal domain, forming an elixir was equivalent to a transcendent metamorphosis.
"Noodles are up!"
Two piping hot bowls of noodle soup were served to their table.
***
Selling it, of course, was out of the question.
Yin Twenty-Four suspected Li Weiyi did not understand the weapon's true worth at all. "Blood-refined dharma artifacts mostly come from the Nether Realm of the Dead, the demon race, or the devil kingdom. By rights, such a treasure could never end up in the hands of someone in the Yongquan Realm. Where did you get it?"
The three-headed snake bracelet had naturally come from the Bronze Ship. The reason Li Weiyi wanted to sell it was that activating it required a blood sacrifice of the user's own lifeblood. Back then, to trigger the bracelet and unleash the blood soul of the three-headed snake, Director Yang had completely drained his body of blood, withering into a desiccated corpse. No matter how powerful such a self-harming treasure was, Li Weiyi had no interest in it.
Li Weiyi smiled. "Didn't you say I was completely transparent in the eyes of the Hidden Gate?"
He had no fear of exposing a few dharma artifacts; after all, he carried an imperial mandate in his pocket. When the time came, he could simply pin everything on the Coffin Master.
Yin Twenty-Four knew Li Weiyi had caught the eye of Yin Jun and the elders, and there was nothing she could do to force him. Even so, she slipped the three-headed snake bracelet onto her wrist before tasting the noodle soup. It was indeed far more delicious than medicinal cuisine.
"I won't short you a single Yongquan coin! As for Light Flame Pills, however many you need, I actually have a way to get you some," she said in earnest.
Li Weiyi turned serious and cautioned her, "This thing requires your own blood to activate. I saw with my own eyes someone wither away to a wretched death because their blood was drained dry while using it."
Yin Twenty-Four clearly understood the dangers of blood-sacrificial artifacts. "That only proves his cultivation was too low and the quality of his blood qi was insufficient. You should know that with these blood-refined dharma artifacts, the higher the cultivator's realm, the less blood is consumed. Besides, it's not as if I'd treat it as an everyday weapon; I'll only bring it out in life-or-death crises. It might just be my second life."
Seeing her insistence, and considering that he seemed to need only Light Flame Pills in the short term, Li Weiyi asked, "How many can you get?"
"Three to five shouldn't be much of a problem," Yin Twenty-Four replied.
Li Weiyi looked at her with newfound respect. "You aren't the illegitimate daughter of some priest in the Jiuli Divine Temple, are you?"
In Lizhou, when it came to formidable mind masters capable of concocting pills, the nine priests of the Jiuli Divine Temple were second to none. Those nine figures had ventured extraordinarily far in their spiritual soul cultivation. Light Flame Pills were so precious that any single pill commanded a price in the tens of millions of copper coins. Even someone of Li Ling's standing had likely never consumed one since childhood. Ingesting one was equivalent to swallowing an entire mansion in Jiuli City.
Yin Twenty-Four replied coolly, "Don't look down on people. I reached the nine-spring Wuhai Realm at sixteen, making me renowned across all of Lizhou. Aren't you already twenty?"
"Eat your noodles."
After a long pause, Li Weiyi looked up and added, "When we return to the Hidden Gate, we'll find an elder to evaluate the strength of the three-headed snake's blood soul. I suspect it's more than just the third realm of the Wuhai Realm. We have to settle the account clearly."
***
The two departed the city and entered the South District of the suburbs.
Li Weiyi first swung by the courtyard where he had previously stayed before heading with Yin Twenty-Four toward the Changlin Gang.
The Changlin Gang's headquarters was a sprawling manor covering a hundred mu. Its perimeter walls rose over two zhang high, enclosing dense clusters of buildings, decorative rockeries, pools, and dozens of luxuriant century-old trees. In the City Domain, such a lavish estate could only be enjoyed by the most prominent clans.
Taking a room in an inn not far from the gang's headquarters, the two swiftly donned their low-grade dharma artifact nightwear.
Li Weiyi channeled dharma qi into the garment, and his figure gradually faded into near-invisibility. Because of its low grade, it could not render him entirely unseen. Under the cover of night, coupled with sufficient speed, it could deceive ordinary eyes to some extent. But attempting to close in on martial experts for an assassination would be nothing more than a pipe dream.
Standing by the window, Yin Twenty-Four watched without blinking, observing the movements of people around the Changlin Gang's estate. "The scale of this headquarters far exceeds what an ordinary suburban gang should have. Even the eight mutant race martial cultivators guarding the front gates look to be at the five-spring or six-spring cultivation level."
Li Weiyi stepped up beside her. Tall and handsome with sharply defined features, he towered a head above the cloaked girl at his side.
Gazing carefully at the sprawling manor, he sensed an unusual, somber depth in the estate before him.
"For a gang headquarters, isn't it a bit too quiet?" Li Weiyi asked.
"It's a formation! The entire headquarters is shrouded in a hundred-rune formation; what we see is not the true interior." Sensing something, Yin Twenty-Four turned her gaze toward the far end of the broad street below.
A convoy clad in teal robes was approaching at an unhurried pace.
Her small hand darted out to seize Li Weiyi's arm, pulling him two steps back from the window.
"What is it?" Li Weiyi asked.
Yin Twenty-Four's expression turned grave. "There is a formidable Wuhai Realm cultivator in that convoy. Just now, his eyes swept the surroundings with terrifying sharpness. As he scanned the area, his imposing aura slipped out unintentionally, which was the only reason I sensed him ahead of time."
Li Weiyi had always considered his perception exceptionally keen, yet a noticeable gap remained between him and a true Wuhai Realm cultivator. "For your senses to be so acute, have you already comprehended martial intent?" he asked.
"Is that so strange? I'm a genius too, all right? Not counting the Hidden Gate, the entire Jiuli Clan has produced only six Nine-Spring Perfected Persons in the past ten years." Yin Twenty-Four lifted her chin, exuding proud confidence.
***
Down on the street, the teal-clad convoy consisted of eight horse-drawn carriages, each laden with four massive wooden crates. The entire column halted before the Changlin Gang's imposing bronze gates, which spanned three zhang across.
The thirty to forty martial cultivators escorting the cargo had dressed down as much as possible, disguising themselves as commoners. But they could not fool Li Weiyi and Yin Twenty-Four, who could tell these escorts possessed formidable cultivation, with many at the seven-spring level. Curiously, although they were all men, they exuded a distinctly effeminate aura.
Tang Yan, the vice gang leader of the Changlin Gang, came out in person to receive them.
Tang Yan was cautious. After scanning the surroundings, he offered an obsequious smile and bowed to the Wuhai Realm powerhouse leading the convoy. "Min Jun, you have had an exhausting journey. Please, come inside at once. Our gang has already prepared fine wine and delicacies to wash away the dust of travel."
Min Jun was the leader of the convoy. Despite his towering cultivation, he kept a low profile, mounted on a plain, sturdy steed. He appeared to be in his thirties, with a pale, beardless face and a shrill, effeminate voice. "Where is Yang Qingxi? Why did the Sui Sect leave such an important matter to the likes of you?"
Sensing the haughty arrogance and overbearing aura rolling off the man, Tang Yan dared not show the slightest displeasure. "Jiuli City is, after all, the domain of the Jiuli Clan, where crowded streets invite prying eyes. But it is different here. The Changlin Gang controls this entire district, and our informants are everywhere. No one will ever learn of this. Furthermore, the Eldest Young Lady attaches great importance to this delivery and will return to Jiuli City later today."
"Very well. I shall leave the goods in your hands for now. I have business to attend to in the city, and I will return tonight to meet with Yang Qingxi."
Taking four personal retainers, Min Jun spurred his horse toward the city gates.
Watching the five departing figures, Tang Yan sneered inwardly, his eyes brimming with contempt. *Another strutting eunuch. What good is a high cultivation when you're lacking down there? Hah!*
"Bring everything into the headquarters and guard it well. Nothing must go wrong," Tang Yan ordered, clasping his hands behind his back as he stepped through the gates first.
***
Inside the distant inn, Li Weiyi stared toward the Changlin Gang's gates. "Why are there so many eunuchs?"
"They came from outside, of course—lingering poison left behind by the Lesser Field Order," Yin Twenty-Four replied.
Li Weiyi had heard of the Lesser Field Order more than once; it was said that the chaos throughout the Lingxiao Realm of the Living was triggered by Lingxiao Palace promulgating that decree. Curious, he asked, "What was actually written in the Lesser Field Order?"
"Exactly what the words say."
Yin Twenty-Four could not be bothered to elaborate; it was all old news from over a decade ago anyway. She added, "For Yang Qingxi to rush back from Immortal Burial Town in person, this shipment is definitely no ordinary cargo."
"Then before night falls, we'll take down the Changlin Gang and prepare a grand gift for Yang Qingxi," Li Weiyi said.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
The two channeled their dharma power, activating the cloaking properties of their nightwear. Leaping from the inn window, they suppressed their auras and dashed toward the Changlin Gang's gates, slipping inside right behind the last carriage.
Tang Yan's ears twitched with faint suspicion, and he immediately glanced back toward the convoy.
*Swish!*
Decisive as ever, Li Weiyi bounded across the roofs of the carriages. Wrapped in his nightwear, he moved like a translucent blur.
The moment he arrived a zhang above Tang Yan, he splayed his five fingers as dharma power surged wildly within him. In front of his palm, dharma qi condensed into a luminous divine seal three feet square.
He had to strike by surprise and eliminate Tang Yan as swiftly as possible. Otherwise, once Gang Leader Xu Changlin and a host of Yongquan Realm experts surrounded him, he would not be able to kill anyone and might even have to rely on Yin Twenty-Four just to escape. How humiliating would that be?
Tang Yan had been in the Wuhai Realm for over twenty years, his martial arts honed to near perfection. Facing Li Weiyi's sudden strike, he reacted instantly, hurling a fist upward.
Dharma qi flared upon his fist like brilliant stars, bending the very air with its force.
*Boom!*
Fist met palm in a deafening crash like thunder.
A gale of dharma qi tore across the entire courtyard. Both the eunuchs guarding the shipment and the Changlin Gang members in the front yard were knocked staggering back by the violent shockwave.
The clash between Wuhai-level forces was earth-shattering, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
Chapter 87