CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 31: IS THIS STILL BLACK SAND PALM?

"Make it a bit cheaper, will you? Nine hundred taels for a jar of medicinal wine, isn’t that too expensive?"

"Are you buying or not? If not, just leave. As I said, not a single tael less than nine hundred."

Looking at the stall owner before him, who was impervious to both hard and soft tactics, Qi Xiu clenched his teeth so hard they made a grating sound.

Am I this annoying when I sell things to people?

"Stop hesitating. My medicinal wine is quality assured on the Ghost Market. There is absolutely no false advertising. If it’s no use, you don’t even need to find me—the Ghost Market itself would skewer me."

Seeing that Qi Xiu was still somewhat hesitant, the stall owner threw in some more firewood.

"Fine, it’s just nine hundred taels, I’ll pay up!"

Thinking of how the nine hundred taels he had painstakingly earned hadn’t even had a chance to warm up before they were gone, Qi Xiu took a deep breath.

Looks like I’ll have to hurry up and sell off those hundred or so bottles of Golden Lock Kidney Tonic at home.

「The moon shone bright, the stars sparse.」

Having returned home with the jar of medicinal wine still speckled with dirt and grass roots, Qi Xiu sat on a stool, supporting his knee as he scrutinized the wine jar before him.

I hope its effects are really as that tightwad claimed.

He pried open the seal of the wine jar, and a pungent, rich aroma laced with a strong medicinal scent burst forth into Qi Xiu’s nostrils.

So many different herbs?

One hundred and twenty-five—no, one hundred and twenty-six different herbs.

Plus, there are four main herbs I can’t even recognize by smell, along with thirty-seven special auxiliary herbs of unknown properties.

Qi Xiu’s eyes gleamed with a hint of sharpness. Considering the vast quantity of herbs and the ingredients he couldn’t distinguish, he thought, This stuff should be genuine.

Oh well, let’s just try it and see.

He fetched a copper basin and poured the blood-colored medicinal wine from the jar into it, just enough to submerge both hands.

Setting aside the clay jar, Qi Xiu slowly rolled up his sleeves and then plunged his hands into the basin, soaking them in the crimson medicinal wine.

HISS!

The moment his palms touched the medicinal wine, he felt an acute pain as if they were pierced by red-hot iron needles, causing a slight change in Qi Xiu’s expression.

He quickly adjusted his breathing, circulating the power of Black Sand Palm to allow his hands to gulp down the medicinal potency of the wine.

Enduring the pain, Qi Xiu pursed his lips and brought up the proficiency panel, his gaze locking onto the Black Sand Palm.

[Black Sand Palm (First Realm): 67.2%]

[Black Sand Palm (First Realm): 67.4%]

[Black Sand Palm (First Realm): 67.6%]

[Black Sand Palm (First Realm): 67.8%]

...

It’s truly effective!

His eyes suddenly erupted with radiance; he hadn’t expected his random trial to actually uncover such a treasure.

This medicinal wine was named: Red Blood.

According to the wine seller, Red Blood was a supporting medicinal wine for a top-tier palm technique called Red Heart Palm.

Although it was Red Heart Palm’s supporting wine, due to its outstanding medicinal effects, it also had an excellent refining and enhancement effect on other Outer Sect palm techniques.

However, the potency of this medicinal wine was domineering.

For those whose skills were insufficient to use it rashly, this wine was not mere wine, but rather copperas oil—also known as concentrated sulfuric acid.

Watching the proficiency of the Black Sand Palm rise at a speed visible to the naked eye, Qi Xiu’s mouth turned upward uncontrollably.

He was figuring that next time he went to the Ghost Market, even if it meant spending all his family’s wealth, he would buy all the remaining medicinal wine from that man.

That man has Red Blood Medicine Wine, and perhaps the Red Heart Palm technique is also in his hands. But such a top-tier palm technique is indeed rare. I may be willing to buy, but he may not be willing to sell.

The thought of the Red Heart Palm technique, associated with the Red Blood Medicine Wine, inevitably excited Qi Xiu.

In the Ghost Market, there were heaps of martial arts manuals for sale, but they were mostly like panning for gold in the sand—more fakes than real finds, and top-tier martial arts had never been seen.

That’s not quite right, though. True Cultivation Power has its price, let alone other martial arts. As long as I’m willing to pay, there’s nothing that can’t be bought.

For three consecutive days, Qi Xiu didn’t set foot outside his home.

With the aid of the Red Blood Medicine Wine, the proficiency of his Black Sand Palm climbed to new heights daily. The constant feeling of his strength improving almost brought Qi Xiu to a state where he forgot himself.

Apart from eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom, practice of all his other martial arts skills was halted.

He dedicated all his efforts to practicing Black Sand Palm, intending to use the Red Blood Medicine Wine to break through to the Second Realm of Black Sand Palm in one fell swoop and fully step into the Condensation Realm!

「Evening.」

The setting sun spilled blood-like across the sky.

Bare-chested, Qi Xiu’s eyes were tightly closed as he soaked his hands in the blood-red medicinal wine, faintly glowing cracks intermittently visible on the skin of his palms.

Suddenly, Qi Xiu opened his eyes, the cracks on his hands completely solidifying.

A rough, scorching heat, similar to iron sand, cycled abruptly through his body before returning to his hands.

Exhaling a faintly red breath, a slight smile appeared on Qi Xiu’s face.

The Second Realm of Black Sand Palm. Finally, he had succeeded.

Feeling the terrifying power hibernating in his hands, the usually cautious and composed Qi Xiu, unusually, entertained the thought of engaging in a fierce battle with someone.

In martial arts, you first cultivate a trace of malevolence. That saying truly is the experience of elders.

Calming the restlessness in his heart, Qi Xiu picked up his clothes from the side and had just walked to the door of the room.

BOOM!

The earth-shattering noise made the ground beneath Qi Xiu’s feet tingle slightly.

Surprised and puzzled, he turned his head towards the source of the sound.

What’s happening?

With a flicker in his eyes, after a moment’s hesitation, Qi Xiu turned back into the room, grabbed the Hundred Faces Mask, transformed into a black-clothed man, and hurried towards the direction of the loud noise.

「The Qian Family’s mansion.」

The courtyard walls had collapsed; the trees were shattered.

The exquisitely paved cobblestone ground was plowed open, leaving behind two lengthy trenches.

A group of Taibao Sect Disciples and Yuhua Temple’s Daoists were locked in combat, fighting fiercely.

Wu Changqing’s mouth was filled with blood; a copper bell gently jingled in his hand.

Three tall, robust, and expressionless zombie-children crushed the ground beneath them as they ferociously charged towards the stern-faced Jin Tai.

"Donor Jin, your arrival today is truly unfortunate. My Magic Artifact has just been restored and is in dire need of a Blood Meal to drink its fill. Since you are here, you might as well stay."

Watching Jin Tai getting entangled with the zombie-children, Wu laughed with self-assurance.

It had taken nearly a month to corrode and destroy the suppression Spell on the jade Buddha with the Ten Thousand Insects Return to the Origin Skill.

Looking at the triumphant Wu Changqing, Jin Tai’s expression was solemn.

This evil Daoist is damn lucky. If that talisman had come one day earlier, this evil Daoist would be dead!

With the [Suppression] Talisman, he had broken through Wu Changqing’s protective Evil Method and delivered him a heavy blow.

But this evil Daoist’s vitality was strangely tenacious; a full-powered palm strike from him had not taken Wu’s life.

Before he could strike again, the evil Daoist had already summoned the copper bell, calling forth three monstrous beings with immense strength, immune to pain.

They firmly entangled him.

Could he really fall here today?

Just as Jin Tai felt pressed and inwardly cursed his carelessness, a black-clothed man suddenly burst forth. He stamped his foot, the ground shattered, and he struck out with a palm.

It slammed forcefully into one of the zombie-children!

CRACK!

The struck zombie-child’s body suddenly swelled, its flesh and bones rapidly corroded by the palm’s poison, leaving only a flap of human skin collapsed on the ground.

What the fuck!

Seeing the black-clothed man dispatch a zombie-child with a single palm strike, both Wu Changqing and Jin Tai’s eyes widened in shock.

This is... Black Sand Palm?! Could this third-rate palm technique actually condense energy? Wait! Just a few days have passed, and he’s already stepped into the Condensation Realm?!

Staring incredulously at the black-clothed man before him, Jin Tai felt his worldview severely shaken.

"Ye Wen?"

His expression turning suddenly ugly, Wu Changqing spoke in a low tone, "The poor Daoist has no grudge against you, sir. Why bother stepping into this muddy water?"

Glancing at the zombie-child he had just dispatched with one palm, Qi Xiu lifted his head slightly.

The thing that he had deeply feared, causing him much anxiety... was that all?

He felt a long-suppressed frustration finally being released from his chest.

The cracks in Qi Xiu’s hands grew brighter as his gaze lightly settled on Wu Changqing.

Qi Someone might have to kill again today.