ragginovel Chapter 17 Looking Up to 1
Chapter 17 Looking Up to 1
"There's no way I can get the Qi Gathering Technique... I should just run away..."
Du Jianyuan repeatedly pondered Huang Quan's two last words.
Then, recalling Yan Jun's failure to break through after consuming the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, he quickly understood the true meaning behind Huang Quan's words.
Yan Jun must have the Qi-gathering method of the "Burning Heart of Evil Fire" in his possession, but the other party will not give it to him easily. They will only treat him as a beast of burden, constantly extracting his resources.
When Ling Yue returned from her trip and took over the workshop again, Yan Jun had already made a fortune off her, which is why he sold her the Qi Gathering Method.
"This isn't a change of heart; it's just that he wants me to gather spiritual energy from heaven and earth so he can continue sucking blood in another way."
Du Jianyuan sneered inwardly.
Ultimately, even if he did obtain the Qi Gathering Method, he would still need Yan Jun and Ling Yue's approval to consume a mouthful of spiritual energy to break through his bottleneck.
Otherwise, as soon as he returns after gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, these servants will jump out and take it away without hesitation.
"Huang Quanzheng saw through this situation, which is why he said that no matter how hard I try, I'm doomed sooner or later... Only by escaping this hellhole might I have a glimmer of hope."
Du Jianyuan sighed inwardly. Although he had deduced the underlying intention from the few words, he also truly felt the firm control that the upper-level cultivators of the Demonic Sect had over the lower-level cultivators.
Whatever he wanted to do, he needed the approval of his superiors; otherwise, he would be given a warning first.
If they don't listen, I'll just wipe it off.
'No wonder there's no Qi gathering technique in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall. Some people with this thing can use it to swindle money and control others...'
Du Jianyuan had a slight realization: if he wanted to climb the ranks, he had to go with the flow and wait for the right opportunity.
He composed himself, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding corpses, and he chuckled softly.
"Instead of staying here to be fertilizer for the bamboo, you might as well help this poor man like me."
Then, he flicked out a few wisps of crimson-black flames, which floated lightly among the corpses.
With his current cultivation level, he is already able to extract the essence from the corpse bit by bit, collect it and seal it into the evil fire, leaving only an empty shell.
While these essences can certainly be used to enhance cultivation, they can also impure one's magical power and even erode one's mind. Only those who have exhausted their resources would take this step.
Du Jianyuan took out his talisman brush and spiritual ink, and drew fiery runes on each of the hollow flesh.
As the spiritual light flickered, the remaining essence in the flesh was absorbed by the runes and transferred together with the newly extracted essence into the Fiery Talisman suspended in mid-air.
"Brother Quan's cultivation level is too low; he can't help the Fiery Talisman reach the mid-grade level."
After examining the five Flame Talismans, Du Jianyuan found that four of them had barely reached the threshold of the middle grade, while only one had not changed much.
After tidying up everything, he glanced at the signs of the fight, but didn't bother to wipe them away, and left.
Above the bamboo forest, fine snow fell softly through layers of mist, quickly covering the traces with a thin layer of white.
On his way back, Du Jianyuan passed by the place where Zhu Huai had died, where only a scorched earth in the shape of a human was left.
He didn't stop for a second, nor was he naive enough to feel guilty, after all, he chose this path himself and couldn't blame anyone else.
……
Cave No. 3, Class A.
Du Jianyuan took out the six storage bags he had hidden in his bosom one by one, and couldn't help but sigh at how fruitful this harvest had been.
He never expected that he would be the ultimate beneficiary of Huang Quan's meticulously planned trap.
As the magical imprint on the storage bag slowly dissipated, the contents inside were gradually revealed.
Seven Fiery Talismans, three mid-grade Flame Blade Talismans, and eight Silence Talismans and Entangling Talismans in total.
More than 500 catties of spirit rice, six spirit stones, four jade pendants for warding off evil spirits, and two low-grade magic weapons, large swords...
"That's about thirty spirit stones!"
Even though Du Jianyuan was usually calm and collected, he couldn't help but hold his breath and feel his heart racing.
No wonder so many people go into robbery and murder; it's a quick way to make money.
"But if you're unlucky enough to do something like this even once, you'll have to learn your lesson in your next life."
Du Jianyuan shook his head and sighed softly, showing absolutely no intention of changing careers.
However, although the harvest was considerable, the four jade pendants for warding off evil and the two low-grade magic weapons were a hot potato.
If he were to sell it at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, everyone would know that he was behind it.
After much deliberation, Du Jianyuan recalled Huang Quan's words, "An Mingjun cares about you the most," and his heart stirred slightly. He sighed softly.
"This can only be known to Brother Falcon... let's see if he can find a way to get rid of these things."
After all, keeping it in the cave all the time isn't a solution. If Yan Jun comes to search the place one day, they'll surely be extorted again.
"That bastard Yan Jun is desperately poor right now, who knows how many more people he's killed. We have to be careful..."
Du Jianyuan cursed, adding that the guy had a habit of searching storage bags, so it was never safe to put the supplies anywhere. He could only use them up as soon as possible.
……
The next day.
Du Jianyuan was about to go to the alchemy room when he opened the stone door and saw a familiar figure standing outside.
An Mingjun was also taken aback for a moment. The two looked at each other and then laughed at the same time.
"Planning to go to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall?"
An Mingjun asked.
"No, I was just about to come looking for you."
Du Jianyuan shook his head and stepped aside to let him into the cave.
"Oh, you've grown up so much, you even know to come see me now."
An Mingjun joked, even though he knew that Du Jianyuan was probably only looking for him because he had something to ask, but he was still quite happy inside.
After taking his seat, he accepted the hot tea offered by Du Jianyuan and asked directly:
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Falcon is brilliant!"
Du Jianyuan laughed and turned around to take out six storage bags from the quiet room and put them on the stone table.
An Mingjun, who was leisurely sipping his tea, jumped to his feet upon seeing so many storage bags. His expression turned extremely serious, and he quickly asked:
"Who did you kill? Where did you kill them? Have you cleaned up the mess?"
These three questions, asked in quick succession, almost left Du Jianyuan completely bewildered.
So he told the whole story.
After listening, An Mingjun's tense expression relaxed slightly, and he breathed a sigh of relief:
"They're just six menial servants... It doesn't matter, they'll die if they die, nobody will care."
"These things aren't difficult to handle. I often have to go to the market to do some business for Lord Xiao, so I can sell them off while I'm at it."
Seeing that he had a solution, Du Jianyuan felt relieved and smiled:
"I'll send you some more talismans in a few days to sell at the market, and we'll split the profits."
"Pshaw, who cares about your few spirit stones? Keep them for yourself..."
An Mingjun waved his hand, then suddenly remembered something and asked:
"How many talismans does Yan Jun require you to hand over every two weeks? He's not making things too difficult for you, is he?"
"Last time it was sixty, this time it's eighty... I estimate next time it will be over a hundred."
Du Jianyuan frankly stated.
"That bastard! He won't give me the slightest bit of face!"
An Mingjun flew into a rage, slamming his hand on the stone table, splashing tea from his cup. His face turned ashen as he said:
"I bumped into him at a banquet earlier, and made a point of chatting with him and even gave him a gift, hoping he wouldn't make things too difficult for you... Who would have thought that this guy would take the gift but do nothing!"
Du Jianyuan was slightly taken aback, never expecting that An Mingjun had secretly helped him.
"But that's normal..."
An Mingjun sneered, his eyes filled with ruthlessness, and said again:
"People like us who aren't even considered low-level cultivators, even if we were lucky enough to be promoted by a powerful person and become a headman... we wouldn't be looked up to by people like Yan Jun who have family connections."