Chapter 39: An Unexpected Windfall

The blood on the ground pulsed and flowed, forming large characters in blood:

“Side Quest One: Eliminate ‘Qiankun in the Palm,’ one of the four Innate Masters from the opposing faction. Meng Qi will be rewarded with eighty Virtue Points, Qi Zhengyan with fifty, while Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan will each receive twenty.”

With the prompt indicating the task was completed, Meng Qi felt completely reassured. Yet, out of habit, he still walked over to Tang Shun’s corpse with his saber in hand, poking it a few times to prevent any possibility of resurrection.

“It seems the reward for this side quest is calculated based on the relative strength between the two sides…” Meng Qi casually remarked to Qi Zhengyan, then hurried to Jiang Zhiwei, asking with concern, “Miss Jiang, do you still have any healing pills?”

The previous time they had surrounded and killed the “Versatile Scholar” in the Grand Shrine, Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan had remained unharmed and significantly stronger than the enemy, so the final reward was relatively low. This time, both Jiang and Zhang had less than thirty percent of their strength, had forcibly interrupted their recovery, and their injuries were unstable. Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan were also far inferior in strength to Tang Shun, hence the generous Virtue Points reward.

Jiang Zhiwei spoke with difficulty, nodding slightly, and pointed to her waist with her left hand.

Meng Qi reached out and felt something inside a bottle. It was a thumb-sized white jade bottle. Upon opening it, a fragrant aroma wafted out. Inside lay a dark red pill, resting quietly.

Meng Qi poured out the pill and fed it to Jiang Zhiwei, watching her swallow with difficulty, then sit cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began to meditate.

Without delay, Meng Qi then ran to Zhang Yuanshan, asking if he had any healing pills.

Zhang was more severely injured than Jiang, his eyes dull, his breath shallow and weak, unable to move. With great effort, he rasped out two words: “Chest… pocket…”

Meng Qi reached out and searched his chest area, indeed finding a white porcelain bottle. Inside were five or six jade-green pills, exuding a pleasant fragrance like bamboo after the rain.

At this time, Qi Zhengyan, after taking some pills he had brought, had recovered a bit of energy and staggered over, watching Meng Qi feed the pills to Zhang Yuanshan.

“If we had killed Tang Shun without using the ‘Zimu Lihun Biao,’ our reward would have been even greater,” Qi Zhengyan replied to Meng Qi’s earlier question while squatting down, skillfully setting Zhang Yuanshan’s broken ribs, then carefully helping him sit up in the meditative posture with palms upward.

Meng Qi watched with envy. He had just entered the martial arts world and had not yet had the chance to learn how to treat various injuries.

Qi Zhengyan caught his breath and continued, “You must be surprised why I had the ‘Zimu Lihun Biao.’ Hehe, you might not even know what the ‘Zimu Lihun Biao’ is.”

Miss Qi’s act of exchanging secret manuals gave me an idea. I secretly traded martial arts such as the Changhe Sword Technique and the Luori Heart Method for the “Master of the Six Paths of Reincarnation,” accumulating 150 Virtue Points. Initially, I had planned to exchange for “Tiancong Pills,” but over the past month, I failed to complete the final acupoint refinement. Even with the “Tiancong Pills,” a breakthrough would have been impossible. So, during my second attempt, I recalled your advice about “exchanging for hidden weapons and poisons for self-defense” and decided to keep a hidden trump card.

The “Tanghua” that Miss Qi exchanged suited my needs perfectly, but the finished product’s Virtue Points price was too steep, and I didn’t have time to study it. Later, I considered “Beisui Qingfeng,” but its application environment and methods were too restrictive, and it was costly—just a small bottle with antidote cost two hundred Virtue Points.

“After several considerations, I chose the ‘Zimu Lihun Biao,’ worth 130 Virtue Points, capable of killing an opponent with opened acupoints. I didn’t expect it to actually come in handy. Zhen Ding, are you surprised?”

Meng Qi looked at the chattering Qi Zhengyan, twitched his lips slightly, and said, “Senior Brother Qi, actually, I’m not surprised about that.”

“Eh? What are you surprised about? The ‘Mother-Child Soul-Separating Darts’ aren’t as easy to use as they appear. Originally, only someone with unblocked acupoints could wield them, but with special techniques, a practitioner who has achieved ‘Great Accomplishment in Qi Accumulation’ could still launch them—though at the cost of severe self-injury…” Qi Zhengyan was momentarily stunned before proceeding to explain the intricacies of the Mother-Child Soul-Separating Darts.

He did not hide the fact that he had been severely hurt in the backlash, as anyone with eyes could see his current condition.

Meng Qi suddenly chuckled: “Senior Brother Qi, what surprises me is that after being seriously injured, you seem to have become a different person, no longer so silent and talkative like an old woman.”

I already guessed about the Zimu Lihun Biao long ago!

Qi Zhengyan silently turned his head, watching Zhang Yuanshan recover, then sat cross-legged himself, attempting to restore some of his energy.

After a while, Zhang Yuanshan’s breathing shifted from weak to clear, and Meng Qi finally felt relieved—he had at least saved his life. On the other side, Jiang Zhiwei’s pale, bloodless face had also regained a little luster.

After Zhang Yuanshan’s injuries stabilized, he slowly opened his eyes and pointed at the white porcelain bottle: “Caomu Shengsheng Pill. You take one too.”

Trying not to aggravate his injuries, he spoke as concisely as possible.

Meng Qi was only lightly injured, and the pill couldn’t restore his Iron Shirt Kung Fu, so he hadn’t paid much attention to it before. But since Zhang had mentioned it, Meng Qi took the advice and poured out a pill, swallowing it.

A cool sensation spread through his chest and abdomen as his inner energy began to circulate.

Suddenly, he had a thought and rushed to Wang Jin’s corpse in three quick steps, picking up the round, black tube.

“This is the ‘Storming Pear Blossom Needles’! A hidden weapon even more expensive than ‘Tanghua’!” Meng Qi was overjoyed, turning the needle tube over and over in his hands, stroking the mechanism on its surface.

Even though the needles had already been fired and were temporarily useless, this item was still priceless. At worst, he could return and exchange with the Master of the Six Dao Reincarnation for more needles to refill it.

On the “Exchange List,” even the “Storming Pear Blossom Needles,” which were discarded after one use, were worth four hundred Virtue Points. The one he held should be usable two or three times!

And refilling it with needles—though Meng Qi hadn’t looked closely before, he guessed it wouldn’t cost more than a hundred Virtue Points.

Meng Qi, who had always been in a state of “poverty and hardship,” suddenly felt he was about to “strike it rich.”

…

The Grand Shrine was now a scene of broken walls and collapsed beams, some still burning in flames, while heavy rain poured down, occasionally producing wisps of steam.

The night was pitch black, and the lightning had stopped. This place resembled a ghostly realm.

Two figures, one chasing and one fleeing, sped toward the back mountains, moving as swiftly as birds.

The one in front was hunched, with fading golden light, while the one behind was surrounded by whirlwinds, like a celestial demon.

On the highest cliff of the back mountain stood a small pagoda entirely covered in glazed tiles. Under the starlight, it exuded an aura of purity and solemnity.

Dark clouds gathered, obscuring the starlight, and the glazed tiles dimmed. Xin Ji fled here, suddenly stopping to sit cross-legged before the tower, a faint serene smile appearing on his face.

“You finally realize you can’t escape?” Dor Chad’s left chest was torn, with a clear handprint, as if forged from gold.

At the corresponding spot on Xin Ji, a punch wound pierced through his body.

…

Meng Qi tucked the small “Storming Pear Blossom Needles” tube into his robe and walked to Wang Jin’s corpse, planning to pull out each of the needles with a faint blue luster to see if he could save a bit of Virtue Points.

Just then, the stars above suddenly darkened as dark clouds gathered overhead.

One by one, clouds gathered, and the wind began to howl.

“Has Dor Chad come to the back mountain?” Meng Qi was startled. He abandoned the effort to pull out the poisoned needles and ran back to where Jiang Zhiwei and the others were meditating.

Just as he was about to speak, he caught sight of the glazed Buddhist pagoda shimmering in the distance, and suddenly realized: “Dor Chad must be pursuing Master Xin Ji here. We should hide first to avoid being slain by him after he defeats Master Xin Ji.”

After all, his left eye was blinded by Jiang Zhiwei, and he must be filled with hatred toward her. At that time, he would certainly not mind killing them all as accomplices.

Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan were at a critical stage of recovery. They managed a slight nod, agreeing with Meng Qi’s judgment and letting him take charge.

Interrupting their recovery now would leave them completely unable to move, so whether they interrupted or not made no difference.

Qi Zhengyan had mainly suffered from backlash and still retained basic physical strength. After interrupting his recovery with a flushed face, he directly asked, “Where should we hide?”

Meng Qi looked around at the forest and instinctively pointed to the familiar right side: “Let’s hide in the woods first.”

“At Dor Chad’s level, this kind of forest wouldn’t really block his senses much,” Qi Zhengyan hesitated slightly.

Meng Qi insisted, “If Master Xin Ji dies, Shaolin will soon fall, and our main quest will be completed. We only need to hide from Dor Chad for a short while before returning to the Reincarnation Space.”

Right now, he felt a bit regretful that he didn’t know more about hidden weapons. Otherwise, if he had pulled out the poisoned needles and reloaded them into the Storming Pear Blossom Needles tube, he might have had a little more means of counterattack.

However, the poison on the needles had already weakened after one use, and it would be difficult to threaten Dor Chad anymore.

With time pressing, Qi Zhengyan didn’t dare to say much and could only choose to trust the “Shaolin monk” Zhen Ding. He turned around, carried Zhang Yuanshan on his back, and ran into the forest alongside Meng Qi, who carried Jiang Zhiwei.

After running a certain distance, Meng Qi suddenly stopped in his tracks, stunned as he looked ahead—the familiar red boulder stood right there.

Could this really be the same stone?

Could there be a secret passage here too?

Meng Qi was both shocked and astonished, his emotions surging.

Boom!

Lightning struck, thunder roared, and the rain poured down.

“Dor Chad…” Meng Qi was silent for a moment, then suddenly thought—if they could hide in the secret passage, they could avoid Dor Chad’s search. And in this world, there should be no ghosts or monsters, so the danger inside the passage wouldn’t be high.

“Hide here?” Qi Zhengyan looked at Meng Qi, sighing, “Sigh, I wish I had prepared more hidden weapons and poisons. When one’s power is weak, these things are really effective…”

Meng Qi ignored the now-chatty Qi Zhengyan and carried Jiang Zhiwei forward a few steps, walking behind the red boulder and mimicking Zhen Guan’s movements to feel around.

Was there really a mechanism here?! Suddenly, Meng Qi felt a movable protrusion.

He took a deep breath, gently pulled it, and a faint creaking sound followed. An entrance appeared in the cliff wall!

Could this actually be real?! A storm of emotions surged within Meng Qi.

Qi Zhengyan looked at him in confusion, then at the dark, lightless entrance, unable to figure out when he had learned about this Shaolin secret passage.