Chapter 1057: Essence Blood
Chapter 1057: Essence Blood
"Water Monkey!"
The door opened, and Fang Xi strolled out with an unhurried grace, gazing at the monster in the courtyard.
Its torso resembled a human's, covered entirely in scales and fur. Its face was now split open at the mouth, and a putrid, purplish-black tongue darted out like a snake.
Any ordinary person witnessing this sight would be struck down by fear, their limbs turning to jelly, unable even to flee for their lives.
This wasn't mere fright; it was the suppression that ordinary humans felt when encountering something supernatural.
Just like a common person trembling uncontrollably when faced with a tiger!
Fang Xi, being a natural high-sensitivity individual, immediately recognized this monster as the very one that had tried to harm him in the water back then!
As his spiritual perception focused on the indistinct patterns on its scales, even more information surfaced in his mind.
Of course, while its strength was akin to an adult's, with its scale defense and inherent intimidation, slaughtering a dozen unarmed adults would be as easy as pie.
"So, they couldn't resist making a move, after all?"
Fang Xi murmured.
Ever since their falling out earlier today, he had already anticipated Fang Cheng Dong's next actions.
His opponent was quite impatient, directly making a move tonight.
Whoosh!
The wind whistled.
That purplish-black tongue, like a hidden weapon, pierced through the air and arrived.
Fang Xi shifted his feet, and his entire body drifted backward like a sheet of paper, narrowly dodging the tongue.
His gaze met the Water Monkey's wild, amber pupils, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he took out the 'Yin Dog Bone'.
After his mind's journey through the Netherworld, he already had a clear plan for how to utilize the Yin Dog Bone in his hand.
Although with his own skill, he could certainly slay this Water Monkey once it was out of water, it would simply be too troublesome.
Woof woof!
He rubbed his palm over the 'Yin Dog Bone', his expression suddenly becoming incredibly serene, as he chanted a few peculiar syllables.
It sounded somewhat similar to the abstruse incantations of the Yin Superior Master.
'I myself haven't advanced yet and possess no supernatural power, but within this Yin Dog Bone there is. . . currently, I'm merely using my heightened spiritual perception, combined with incantations, to activate the extraordinary power within. '
The surrounding darkness seemed to grow even deeper.
Woof woof!
Two points of emerald-green ghostly fire appeared, and from the darkness, a large black-furred dog suddenly leaped out.
Its form was somewhat illusory, seemingly composed of countless black wisps of air, and two emerald-green spectral flames burned within its eye sockets.
With a single pounce, the large black-furred dog immediately pinned the Water Monkey to the ground, emitting a low whimper from its maw.
"Yin Dog Soul. . . summoned forth by relying on the remnants within the Yin Dog Bone. Its various attributes are far inferior to a true Yin Dog, but it's still far stronger than a weakened version of the Water Monkey."
Seeing the large black-furred dog tightly clamped onto the Water Monkey's throat, Fang Xi nodded inwardly.
At the same time, his mind was somewhat tainted by the Netherworld's influence.
This made Fang Xi realize that rashly using such extraordinary power crystallized remains not only required incantations and the proper activation method, but also came at a price.
Perhaps after a few uses, a person might start to become unstable.
Of course, to him, this minor contamination was utterly insignificant compared to the Heavenly Son of Yin.
Crunch!
Amidst the teeth-grinding crunch, the Water Monkey's tongue, which had been tightly wrapped around the large black-furred dog, finally grew weak and fell limp.
The large black-furred dog whimpered again, then vanished without a trace into the darkness.
Fang Xi quickly went over, took out a bottle, and filled it to the brim with 'Water Monkey blood'.
"This item, whether for advancing to a Water Master or an Essence Qi Cultivator, is quite good. . ."
According to his deductions, the secret medicine for an Essence Qi Cultivator, whether based on the Five Elements or Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, would be incomplete without water ghost blood.
This portion of essence blood was just right.
"What a pity. . . I don't know any tracking spells right now, otherwise, I could track them down and counter-kill them."
Fang Xi sighed, then looked at the well, a hint of disgust appearing on his face: "This well. . . can't be used anymore."
...
The next day.
Fang Xi stepped out of his home, intending to buy breakfast, then head to the mass grave.
Since he had decided to advance to an Essence Qi Cultivator, he needed to diligently gather materials.
Among these, the 'Solitary Grave Flower' from the mass grave should be an earth-attribute spiritual material.
After that, he might browse the city's shops; perhaps he could gather the Five Elements or the Four Symbols.
If he found any Yang-attribute spiritual materials, he could even directly pursue the path of Yin-Yang.
Breakfast options in Black Marsh City were incredibly diverse, and naturally, Fang Xi wouldn't settle for those hard, dry flatbreads. Instead, he found a stall and ordered a bowl of soy milk and two donkey meat pastries.
The donkey meat pastries were generously filled, the donkey meat wasn't adulterated, and the price was relatively cheap.
After eating his fill, Fang Xi felt the reactions throughout his body and couldn't help but nod inwardly: "Poor scholars, rich martial artists. . . Although this body is decent, it's still far from truly robust blood-qi and the limits of an ordinary person. I need to nourish it well. . . Hmm, I seem to be short on money. I could sell that mansion, anyway, I was already a prodigal son, isn't that just par for the course?"
"Or, should I press Fang Cheng Dong to return the money?"
Musing, he walked towards the city gates.
As he passed the Martial Ancestor Temple, a burly man happened to step out.
This man, eight feet tall with a majestic bearing and a purplish-red face, saw Fang Xi and his eyes lit up: "A fellow practitioner, indeed! His steps move like a nimble cat, his body like a drawn bow, already integrated into instinct, transforming into true essence. . . I didn't expect to meet a martial artist upon leaving today."
He then scanned Fang Xi's face, a hint of doubt appearing in his expression: "Blood-qi is insufficient. . . somewhat strange. Eh, aren't you that Fang family scion?"
"Oh, it's Uncle Zhang."
Fang Xi glanced at him, recognizing him as a friend of his former body's parents, named 'Zhang Long Yi'. He had only met him a few times, but hadn't expected him to be a member of the Martial Ancestor Temple.
"It seems you've truly found something, going around looking for monsters."
Zhang Long Yi seemed to recall something, his expression tinged with melancholy: "Actually, getting involved in such matters isn't good for you. It's better to diligently practice martial arts, forge your body, then marry a wife and have children—that's the proper path. . ."
"Thank you for your guidance."
Fang Xi smiled, cupped his hands in greeting, and departed directly.
Such elders always liked to lecture and impart their life experiences.
But times had changed; their experiences might not be useful. If one had their own plan, they could simply disregard it.
'This Zhang Long Yi, he's not simple at all. . . Possessing extraordinary power. So, there really is something to the Martial Ancestor Temple. '
Fang Xi exited the city gate and immediately hastened towards the mass grave.
The recent times were ordinary, yet there were still many common people who met untimely deaths.
Almost every day, people came to the mass grave to abandon corpses.
The carrion foxes of that mass grave had remained undiscovered for so many years, clearly not active during the day. Therefore, picking the Solitary Grave Flowers during daylight hours should still be relatively safe.
"This lad. . ."
Zhang Long Yi watched Fang Xi's retreating figure, shaking his head: "Sigh. . . We are old, after all."
He strode forward, and not long after, arrived at a government office.
The Dayue nation had been established for over three hundred years, setting up the 'Anomaly Suppression Division' to suppress all evil entities under heaven.
Among them, the Martial Ancestors were an exceptionally powerful lineage within the Anomaly Suppression Division.
This Zhang Long Yi held a post in the Anomaly Suppression Division, and was a ninth-rank Martial Cultivator!
He walked into the yamen and entered a room.
Inside, he saw several people already waiting.
Among them was an old man with half-black, half-white hair, yet with a youthful face and the bearing of a crane, full of vigor, clearly extremely well-preserved.
"Elder Xue. . ."
Zhang Long Yi greeted him.
If Song San were still alive, he would discover that this Elder Xue was none other than the 'Divine Needle Elder Xue' from the Green Hut Clinic!
"Brother Zhang, you've come at just the right time. . ."
Beside them, a stunning woman, seemingly bored and embroidering, smiled faintly and put down her embroidery needle: "Elder Xue found the hiding place of that demon from the Heavenly Water Sect yesterday. Today, it falls to us to make a move and capture that person!"
Elder Xue, too, was a member of the Anomaly Suppression Division, though only a select few usually knew, and he was merely responsible for logistics, being a ninth-rank Healer!
Some unorthodox sect members, unaware of his true identity, would seek him out for treatment and often fall into a trap.
"Oh? With four of us ninth-rankers joining forces, taking down a Water Master shouldn't be a problem. . ."
The last one, a languid young man, chuckled.
A cynical smile played on his face: "We are government officials. When the government handles cases, we never bother with one-on-one fights; it's always ten-on-one, or a hundred-on-one. . . A Water Master isn't that strong a position, either. . . The key is the bounty."
At the mention of this, the expressions of the several people grew serious.
None of them lived on air; whether for food, clothing, housing, or continued cultivation, silver was always needed!
Elder Xue's expression remained unchanged: "No need to worry, Brother Qi. The authorities already have an official document stating that whoever captures Yin Jiu will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver. . . Furthermore, the items on his person can be divided among us as we see fit."
The languid young man's name was Qi Liu Zhi, a disciple of the Divine Thief Sect. His eyes lit up: "This bounty is indeed substantial. . . It seems my 'Empty-Handed Wondrous Skill' will finally have a chance to shine today."
The secret medicine secretly passed down by the Divine Thief Sect could allow one to advance and become a ninth-rank Divine Thief!
Although their reputation wasn't the best, having a Divine Thief as an auxiliary in battle was indeed like adding wings to a tiger.
Generally speaking, the secret medicine configured to allow one to advance to the ninth-rank was also worth around a hundred taels of silver.
If one added the wealth on Yin Superior Master's person, they might gather two hundred taels, enough for each of them to receive several tens of taels, equivalent to nearly a year's salary!
"That person is in Elm Alley in the east of the city, with an old fisherman providing cover for him. . ."
Elder Xue continued with his intelligence: "The only thing we need to be careful of is an underground river not far from Elm Alley, which connects directly to the Black Marsh River. . . If something goes wrong, that person will surely escape through the water channels. If he's underwater, even all of us combined would find it hard to capture that Water Master. . ."
"This matter is indeed quite concerning. . ."
Zhang Long Yi frowned.
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