"This band of more than thirty rogue soldiers was clearly coming for us!"
Wuzheng was certain of this. The soldiers had charged straight toward where he was staying, clearly acting on premeditation.
He asked Zhou Wuji, "Junior Brother, are there any survivors?"
Zhou Wuji shook his head. A few of the soldiers had brutally butchered the entire family at the village entrance, young and old alike.
Creatures that merely looked human on the outside had already turned into beasts to the marrow. How could Zhou Wuji have spared them?
Before killing the final Rank Eight martial artist, Zhou Wuji had interrogated him.
To save his own life, the man had truthfully confessed: Zhang Xinhu had offered ten wagonloads of grain as a bounty, hiring them to commit the slaughter.
Upon completion, there was to be further payment in gold and silver.
Most importantly, only with the Zhang family's backing could they establish a firm foothold at White Wolf Stronghold.
Otherwise, with so many men gathered deep in the mountains, what would they eat or use? Going out to raid constantly would inevitably expose the stronghold's location sooner or later, drawing large numbers of government troops to surround and eradicate them.
Zhou Wuji was not in the least surprised; everything was within expectations.
White Wolf Stronghold lay deep in the Siming Mountains, some two to three hundred li from Siming County. Decades ago, dozens of families had once lived there, but a great demon had appeared in the mountains and wiped out every single household.
Ever since, White Wolf Stronghold had lain desolate for decades.
Not only that, because the mountain interior was far too dangerous, the residents of all the strongholds deep in the Siming Mountains had moved out.
This band of rogue soldiers had great nerve, actually hoping to settle permanently in White Wolf Stronghold.
Zhou Wuji had left no survivors among the soldiers, first to eradicate the evil completely, and second for fear of cornering Zhang Xinhu.
With hundreds of lives in the Zhang family at stake, there was no telling what desperate madness Zhang Xinhu might resort to.
With no living witnesses, Zhang Xinhu at least would not be driven mad.
When Zhou Wuji explained the stakes in detail to Wuzheng, Wuzheng nodded repeatedly; Zhou Wuji had indeed considered everything thoroughly.
They were currently in Laocang Village, with neither reinforcements nor an expert overseeing the situation. If Zhang Xinhu truly went mad, all of them would perish.
Yet without a living witness, it would be difficult to convict Zhang Xinhu...
Wuming widened her bright eyes and asked, "Senior Brother Wuji, you already killed a Rank Seven martial artist. Killing Zhang Xinhu shouldn't be hard, right?"
Zhou Wuji said earnestly, "Junior Sister overestimates me. There is an enormous gap even between different Rank Seven martial artists.
"Zhang Xinhu has been famous for over a decade, and his martial cultivation is exceedingly seasoned. He is definitely not someone that Rank Seven soldier could compare to."
The Rank Seven rogue soldier who had been slain had clearly only advanced recently, his jin violent and impure.
After being ground down continuously by their attacks, his circulating jin could no longer keep up. His saber technique was not particularly impressive either.
With his swordsmanship elevated to the Great Mastery realm, Zhou Wuji had gained a deeper understanding of the martial path; the more he understood, the more acutely he recognized the formidable power of a Rank Seven martial artist.
Without four consecutive Yin Thunder Beads, even with his Great Mastery swordsmanship, he would have found it exceedingly difficult to kill that Rank Seven soldier alone! Let alone Zhang Xinhu.
To kill Zhang Xinhu, he would have no chance unless his true qi advanced another tier, or his swordsmanship reached the Perfection realm.
Though Zhou Wuji detested Zhang Xinhu, he had no desire to gamble his life against him.
With Wuzheng and Wuming's backgrounds, requesting an expert from the lower abbey to suppress Zhang Xinhu shouldn't be difficult, should it?
He was confident that Wuzheng was just as eager to see Zhang Xinhu dead, so there was no need to remind him.
Wuzheng pondered for a moment before speaking: "This is the Zhang family's sphere of influence. For now, we must pretend we do not know Zhang Xinhu is the mastermind.
"First, keep Zhang Xinhu pacified, and wait until the lower abbey dispatches an expert. As for those rogue soldiers, we cannot deal with them either; we will inform the lower abbey upon our return and see what they decide..."
Zhou Wuji promptly chimed in, "Senior Brother is wise. That is indeed the proper course!"
Wuzheng then turned to the bewildered Wuming and said, "Today's events must be kept strictly confidential; you cannot even tell Wuye. Once we enter Siming County, you must not cause trouble under any circumstances!"
Wuming pouted slightly in displeasure and looked to Zhou Wuji for support. Zhou Wuji could only coax her gently: "Senior Brother is speaking reason. Let us endure for a few days; someone will deal with Zhang Xinhu in due time."
"All right, I'll listen to both senior brothers..." Seeing Zhou Wuji say so, Wuming could only nod in helpless agreement.
Zhou Wuji was utterly exhausted. Leaving the remaining chores to Wuzheng, he went to rest first.
Lying on the wooden bed, Zhou Wuji's mind was still somewhat hyperactive. The life-and-death battle had been far too exhilarating, making it difficult for his emotions to settle for the moment.
He opened the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment in his sea of consciousness, where all thirty rogue soldiers were recorded.
Two of the destiny patterns were two liang seven qian and two liang eight qian, while the rest were below two liang five qian, with the majority falling below two liang.
In his estimation, this was because the rogue soldiers had forcibly elevated their cultivation through slaughter, using malevolent qi to alter their fates into baleful destinies and artificially inflating their destiny patterns.
The current situation was extremely perilous, and all these destiny patterns needed to be converted into personal strength as soon as possible.
After tonight's battle, Zhou Wuji realized that his shortcoming lay in his true qi tier being too low.
If his true qi could reach Rank Seven, then even if it were somewhat inferior to a Rank Seven martial artist's Transforming Jin, he could still contend on equal footing relying on his Great Mastery swordsmanship.
Primordial profound spirits could not directly increase qi, but they could enhance his comprehension of the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture and improve the efficiency of his qi circulation.
He first selected a two liang three qian destiny pattern to convert into primordial profound spirit, investing it into the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture.
A purple spiritual light descended, unfolding a small world within which Zhou Wuji cultivated the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture day and night.
When the small world dissipated, Zhou Wuji checked the inscription again; the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture had reached the Proficient level.
As an essential qi-refining method, the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture was remarkably subtle.
Zhou Wuji had previously only been practiced in it, but now he possessed his own unique comprehension, achieving a level of pure, thorough mastery.
Setting aside other benefits, his qi value alone increased by over thirty points, leaving him not far from opening the sixth acupoint.
Zhou Wuji was well pleased with this result. He continuously invested two more destiny patterns of two liang five qian, but only barely managed to push the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture to the Minor Mastery realm.
The Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture appeared simple, but the higher its realm, the more profound it became.
Since this method was the very foundation of qi refinement, Zhou Wuji gritted his teeth and invested the two highest destiny patterns into it.
This time, the results were excellent; the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture was elevated to the Great Mastery realm.
Zhou Wuji knew, however, that this was already a ceiling of sorts; without destiny patterns of three liang or higher in the future, it would be difficult to advance this method any further.
Fortunately, reaching the Great Mastery realm in the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture allowed him to fathom its subtle essence, successfully opening the acupoint corresponding to the Yuheng Star—namely, his left nostril.
According to the records of the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture, the left nostril governed the discernment of qi. Through his nose, he could sense shifts in breath and aura, further heightening his perception of the outside world while augmenting his total reserve of qi.
His qi value reached 509, jumping nearly eighty points from before—a twenty percent increase in qi, which was a tremendous leap forward.
Zhou Wuji compared himself to that Rank Seven soldier. That man's musculature had been extraordinarily robust, and he could coalesce the blood-curdling malevolent qi of the rogue soldiers, which was why he had appeared so exceptionally ferocious that even the Yin Thunder Bead could barely harm him.
By his own standards of measurement, the Rank Seven soldier had been roughly thirty percent stronger than he was now.
The reason the man had been killed so easily was that he had only just broken through, leaving his Transforming Jin wild and impure.
The Yin Thunder Beads in Wuzheng's possession were visibly more powerful. If Zhou Wuji had eight or ten of them, he should be able to kill Zhang Xinhu.
Unfortunately, such powerful artifacts were difficult to craft, and Wuzheng possessed only two.
The advancement of the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture brought another benefit: the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword also advanced by a realm, reaching the Proficient level.
The Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture was the foundational method, and the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword was the closely linked technique; the two were inherently of one body, so such an improvement was only natural.
At the Proficient level, the casting time for the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword was one hundred breaths. While the improvement was vast, it remained of little practical use.
In direct combat, only instant-cast spells were meaningful.
Zhou Wuji glanced over his other spells, feeling none were worth upgrading.
Actual combat had proven that only the Six Yang Dharma Eyes was somewhat useful, and the Proficient level was already more than adequate.
Others, like the Pure Heart Divine Incantation and the Golden Light Incantation, were meant for subduing demons and evil spirits.
The Rejuvenation Technique was for healing wounds; the Minor Mastery realm was plenty, with no value in upgrading it further...
Then a thought struck Zhou Wuji: the Rejuvenation Technique could rapidly heal wounds and stimulate blood and qi, so could it rapidly restore true qi as well?
If it could quickly recover true qi, then it would be immensely useful!
Chapter 32