Treasure

His cervical vertebrae were shattered. His spinal nerves snapped. No matter how formidable the demonized man's physical constitution was, the breath of life drained swiftly from his body. Even so, when Yaoguang closed to within two meters of the man, he abruptly burst forward, lunging with maximum speed to stomp viciously down on the man's head. Crack! The sound of a fracturing skull echoed crisply. "Phew." Yaoguang exhaled a breath tinged with the scent of blood. Only at this moment did he truly set his mind at ease. Schwing! He pulled out the Chengying Sword. He had no idea what demons truly were. Yet when they lived in human form, they shared every vital weakness humans possessed. Therefore, humans could never survive an injury where the neck was nearly snapped through, and these creatures shouldn't be able to either. Not to mention... his skull was completely crushed. Still, recalling that this demon had actually mastered spirit intent attack techniques and was far stronger than any demon he had encountered before, Yaoguang exerted a bit more effort and severed the demon's head. "Young Master Yaoguang..." At that moment, Lei Yun's anxious voice drifted from the alley's entrance. "I'm fine," Yaoguang called back. Considering the matter of disposing of the corpse, and since he didn't have a driver's license, he needed Lei Yun to drive him to Deyuelou... "Call Lin Xiaowei and have her come over," he instructed. "Yes." Hearing Yaoguang's reply, Lei Yun breathed a slight sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Yaoguang glanced at the man's attire. A successful businessman. A luxury car, a luxury watch. Without hesitation, living up to the fine, profit-seeking tradition of the [Merchant] profession, he took the watch off the corpse and searched his body. As for loans... those required nodding or blinking, so that was out of the question now. Moments later, however, Yaoguang seemed to have stumbled upon an unexpected windfall. A black bead the size of a ping-pong ball. The bead was crystal-clear and translucent, looking as if it could draw a person's soul inside. Yaoguang took a look at it, and in a daze, a scene of this man answering a phone call surfaced in his mind. An elderly man was instructing him to secretly clean up anyone continuing to investigate the "Yulong International" incident. This bizarre phenomenon made Yaoguang instantly focus his mind. "What is this...?" He stared at the black bead with mild astonishment. Immediately following that, as if realizing something, he concentrated and sensed his [Merchant] profession. Sure enough, the branch of this profession had received a massive influx of nutrients. The sheer quantity was even greater than when he had pocketed three hundred million. This was a precious bead. It was likely worth no less than several billion. Yes! Several billion! The reason the gained nutrients hadn't skyrocketed into the stratosphere was that the "labor costs" invested into this "transaction" were too high. He had been injured. The time lost due to his injury was also factored into the "labor costs." In addition to the [Merchant] profession receiving a vast amount of growth nutrients, the profession on his fourth branch finally surfaced. Yaoguang sensed it slightly. [Artifact Refining] This profession gave him a peculiar look. "So... this isn't a world of science and technology, but a world of immortal cultivation? Urban cultivation?" Yet when he carefully felt the initial abilities of [Artifact Refining] at Rank 1, he understood. "This profession... is really suited for going into a factory to screw bolts in the future." The thought welled up in his mind. Within moments, however, he suppressed it. Screw bolts? What a joke. The Su family's tens of billions were waiting for him to inherit; why on earth would he need to screw bolts? Still, the method for gaining "experience" in this profession at Rank 1 was to manufacture precision instruments, assemble them, and make them function. The amount of experience depended on factors such as precision, practicality, influence, and value. "So, to grind experience for this profession, I have to become the king of the assembly line and open my own factory just to screw bolts freely?" Yaoguang shook his head. He glanced down at the precious bead in his hand. He recalled a line the middle-aged man had spoken: "Once I beat you to death, I'll naturally find the information I want." A treasure that extracts the lingering memories of the deceased? Could the [Artifact Refining] profession have been activated by this bead? Why, then, had he only extracted such a brief snippet from the man? Was it because his "spirit" was too weak and the enemy's "spirit" was too strong, or did using this treasure require specific incantations and techniques? Whatever the reason, this sort of thing... was already unscientific. "Interesting." Yaoguang put the bead away. Having gained plenty of "experience" for both [Demon Hunting] and [Merchant] this time, he intended to first form the Dao Fruit of a Rank 4 Martial Saint and catch a glimpse of the Rank 5 "spirit intent" realm. Once his [Martial Path] reached Rank 5, he would take the time to level up [Artifact Refining]. He was curious to see if he could eventually forge some natal magical artifact or natal immortal sword. With these thoughts, he diverted a large amount of nutrients into [Martial Path]. Immediately, the [Martial Path] branch, which had already surged to 85%, began to grow wildly. It swiftly blossomed and bore fruit, surging forward with undiminished momentum straight toward Rank 5. Yaoguang quietly assimilated the rapidly mounting experience and insights. Countless pieces of information broke down the process of blood-cleansing and marrow-tempering, filling his mind to the brim. The rich accumulation of experience allowed him to see straight through the flow of a person's vital blood with his naked eyes simply based on their physical movements. If he were tasked right now with protecting and guiding a Grandmaster whose physical body had reached the human limit to help them break through... he couldn't guarantee absolute certainty, but nine times out of ten it would succeed. "Experience exhausted. Broken through to Rank 5, with progress pushed to 15%." Reaching this stage meant not only beginning to nurture the spirit, but also learning applications of the "spirit." Visualization. Hypnosis. Perception. Manipulation. Every living creature was born with a spirit. By manipulating the mind, one could manipulate all living things. A mere 15% progress could not fully demonstrate the power of a Rank 5 cultivator. Yet from the various applications of the "spirit" in this realm, Yaoguang had already realized that ordinary living beings in the eyes of such existences were... far too fragile. If he succeeded in cultivating his spirit right now, he could completely manipulate someone's mind through hypnosis, making them jump off a building to commit suicide. Extrapolating from this, if such a method were used to control the head of a nuclear weapons facility, one could order them to launch a nuclear missile directly. Of course, those with firm willpower could resist hypnosis. However, as cultivators reached higher and higher ranks—at Rank 6 or Rank 7—even if they made no other progress, merely perfecting spirit cultivation would allow them to control top military brass, initiate retaliatory nuclear strikes, and destroy the world. "People are the fundamental core," Yaoguang murmured softly. No matter how powerful a weapon was, it still required people to operate it. And modern humans, compared to cultivators who wielded the power of the "mind"... were far too weak. The dazzling, prosperous modern civilization was like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water before these "Spirit Realm" powerhouses, easily destroyed. "Fortunately, this Dao Fruit is tailored specifically for this situation." He focused his mind to perceive the Dao Fruit borne from the Rank 4 Martial Saint realm. The Great Sun Spirit-Suppressing Diagram. Visualizing the great sun, burning all things with the boundless radiant power of the sun to guard and suppress the mind. It was specifically designed to fend off spirit intent attacks and mental corruption. If he had possessed the Great Sun Spirit-Suppressing Diagram before battling this demon, he wouldn't have momentarily lost his senses when faced with the demon's spirit intent attack; instead, he could have relied on the visualized radiant sun to scorch the foe and inflict severe trauma upon their mind. In contests on the mental plane, home-field advantage was immense. Unless one held absolute superiority, any misstep in a spirit intent attack would backfire on oneself. "Once I nurture my spirit and rely on this newly acquired bead, when I slay demons in the future, I should be able to pry answers from them and uncover just how vast the faction behind them truly is," Yaoguang thought to himself. The unveiling of the truth was not far off. "Right over here." Just as Yaoguang finished digesting his gains from this battle, a voice sounded from the distance. Footsteps... quite a few of them, in fact. When Yaoguang stood up and looked toward the alley's mouth, he found that not only were Lei Yun and Lin Xiaowei present, but Ye Yuhe was there as well. Among them was Xia Wuyuan, whose vital blood was somewhat unsteady and who was clearly injured. Seeing him, Yaoguang was slightly surprised, but upon second thought, it made sense. Xia Wuyuan was clearly full of questions right now. Lin Xiaowei happened to be with Ye Yuhe, so when Lei Yun called, it wasn't surprising that Xia Wuyuan had overheard and followed along. "This is..." Lin Xiaowei and Ye Yuhe immediately caught sight of the decapitated corpse on the ground. "Young Master Yaoguang, are you all right?" Lei Yun asked hastily. "I'm fine," Yaoguang replied. Although the demon's distinct physical traits had receded upon death, Xia Wuyuan grasped the crucial detail at once: "Did you have to cut off his head?" Yaoguang glanced at him, understanding his meaning: "Their vitality is a bit more tenacious than a human's, but they share all the same vital weaknesses as humans." Xia Wuyuan took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, "What... on earth are these people?" "I'm waiting for you to investigate and find that out," Yaoguang said, taking a look at him. "You're looking rather worse for wear." "I thought he was only at the Martial Master level, but once we fought, his strength was not at all beneath mine... No!" Though reluctant to admit it, Xia Wuyuan still confessed, "In purely martial terms, he was stronger than me." "Then how did you...?" Yaoguang looked at him. Xia Wuyuan directly produced a firearm that was a size larger than an ordinary handgun. "A gift from the Third Prince when I won the Fourteenth National Martial Arts Championship—Black Blade. Caliber 12.7, using specialized bullets, with a muzzle velocity of 1,130 meters per second." Evidently, apart from martial arts, this Martial Paragon was also extraordinarily proficient with firearms. Yaoguang nodded. The destructive power a weapon could unleash varied drastically depending on who held it. "This is..." At that moment, Ye Yuhe's gaze settled on several footprints not far from the corpse. Clear footprints were stamped into the stone-paved ground. And along the wall where the footprints led, spiderweb-like cracks were plainly visible. An impact of such destructive force... was identical to the scene of Xia Li's death not long ago. If it had merely been a suspicion before, then now... it was confirmed beyond any shadow of a doubt. For a moment, Ye Yuhe looked at Yaoguang with sheer shock. It was hard to imagine that a youth a whole twelve years younger than her senior brother possessed such terrifying strength! "Were these... left by Young Master Yaoguang?" Lei Yun looked at the shattered flagstones, then at his slightly damaged shoes, her eyes filled with disbelief. Just... what kind of strength did it take to cause such astonishing destruction!? A Martial Master!? Or perhaps... a Grandmaster!?