Chapter 88: Harvest
After Xue Liang fell, the surrounding ice shards, now severed, lost their supply of mana and instantly shattered into white powder. Zhao Zuo bent down to take the Storage Bag from the corpse. Letting out a long sigh, he gazed at Xue Liang’s unblinking, dead eyes and whispered softly.
"Was it really necessary?"
If he hadn’t grown greedy and malicious, he could have at least lived out his final years in peace. But then Zhao Zuo realized that it was precisely because Xue Liang was unwilling to accept his fate that he had gambled everything. Still, Zhao Zuo couldn’t approve of such actions deep down.
After all, even at his poorest in his previous life, he had never considered murdering someone for their money.
Even in death, Xue Liang could never have imagined that a mere Qi Refining Fifth Layer Loose Cultivator would possess multiple Upper Grade Magical Artifacts. His strategy hadn’t been wrong: use Ice Talismans to suppress Zhao Zuo’s close-quarters abilities, weaken him as much as possible with other Talismans, and then move in for the kill with his sword.
But in the end, he miscalculated one point: not everyone could be judged by conventional standards.
Although Zhao Zuo had ended the battle in an extremely short amount of time, his limbs were still cut by the shattering ice shards. Dark red beads of blood seeped out from all over his body, leaving him in a wretched state. In reality, they were just minor flesh wounds that would likely heal in a few days.
Zhao Zuo turned and headed back toward his courtyard. As he walked, he took Golden Wound Medicine powder from his Storage Bag and applied it to his worst injuries, then swallowed a healing Pill Medicine. Simultaneously, the Source Water bead in his Dantian began to continuously release a gentle energy, prioritizing the repair of his most severe wounds.
’Just in case,’ he thought. To guard against any hidden poisons in his opponent’s attacks, Zhao Zuo swallowed two different types of Antidote Pills in succession. Finally, he used a Cleaning Talisman to remove the bloodstains and any lingering foreign auras from his body.
Although the bloodstains were gone, his tattered Taoist Robe still made him look quite wretched. Fortunately, the journey back to his courtyard was uneventful.
Standing before the gate to his courtyard, Zhao Zuo used another Cleaning Talisman to eliminate any lingering scents on his body.
Only then did he push the gate open and enter. He first went to the bathing room, where he washed his wounds with hot water and reapplied the Golden Wound Medicine. He wrapped the more serious injuries tightly with strips of white cloth. After using one more Cleaning Talisman to remove the lingering smell of blood, he finally changed into a new gray Taoist Robe.
Zhao Zuo took off his old undergarments, planning to throw them away.
Once he was cleaned up, Zhao Zuo returned to the courtyard. He planned to open Xue Liang’s Storage Bag and inspect his spoils from the battle. Of course, he didn’t forget to put on his Spirit Silk Gloves first, just in case of poison.
Zhao Zuo placed the Storage Bag on the table and slowly infused it with his mana, washing away the imprint Xue Liang had left behind. After about three minutes, he felt a faint connection form. Zhao Zuo continued to pour in his mana and finally sensed it... a space of one cubic meter.
RATTLE...
He dumped everything onto the tabletop and carefully began to sort through it all. There were a number of Talismans.
There were a few scrolls, about a hundred Spirit Stones, and eight porcelain vials.
There were also three wine jars, some clothes, a few miscellaneous items, and the deed and Token for the neighboring courtyard. Unfortunately, both the deed and the Token required being bound by mana, which meant he couldn’t use them. After a brief inspection, Zhao Zuo tossed them aside.
After checking the pile of clothes, Zhao Zuo tossed them aside as well.
The main event was next: the vials of Pill Medicine and the scrolls.
Zhao Zuo casually opened a porcelain vial. The pill inside was an azure blue, faintly shimmering with Spiritual Light—it was a Purifying Spirit Pill, something he had used several times. The other vials contained thumb-sized, dark-brown pills, likely Grain Avoidance Pills for staving off hunger.
With the Pill Medicines inspected, he carefully picked up the scrolls. They contained notes on refining Purifying Spirit Pills and Grain Avoidance Pills. Unfortunately, they didn’t include the actual Pill Formulas, only insights on the refining process, such as heat control and when to add ingredients.
The notes were useless to him personally, but he figured he could probably sell them for a few Spirit Stones. ’After all, these are an Alchemist’s insights on Alchemy,’ he thought, placing them in his Storage Bag. ’If I’m ever destitute, I can make a few copies and sell them.’
Then... there were three scrolls.
One of the scrolls was faintly stained with dark red, like old blood. Zhao Zuo slowly unrolled it. It was a Pill Formula.
The pill was called... the Pure Blood Pill.
The required ingredients were Blood Evil Grass, Mother and Child Grass, and the blood of a Demon Beast. The final, main ingredient was the heart of a Cultivator. A special note was added on the side: the heart of a Body Refining Cultivator was optimal. A Demon Beast heart could be used as a substitute, but doing so carried a high risk of affecting one’s sanity and even the purity of one’s mana.
The pill’s effects were to increase the user’s Qi Blood strength, slow the body’s aging process, and slightly increase one’s lifespan!
As he read, Zhao Zuo felt a chill run down his spine. This was, without a doubt, the most evil Pill Medicine he had ever encountered. And yet... the promise of an extended lifespan was an irresistible temptation to any Cultivator.
In that moment, Zhao Zuo finally understood why Xue Liang had attacked him even after knowing he didn’t have the inheritance. What Xue Liang had been after was his heart. He wanted to use him as an ingredient for Alchemy!
Zhao Zuo stared blankly at the Pill Formula for a few seconds. Then, he rubbed his hands together, conjuring a crimson flame, and immediately set the scroll ablaze. ’Anyone who would consume a pill like this... can no longer be considered human.’
He then opened the second scroll and found that it was a diary...
"I have a grandson. He is a good, filial boy. He’s in the Inner Sect of the Moyun Sect, at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer."