Chapter 74: Carters, Boatmen, Innkeepers, Porters, and Brokers

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Carters, Boatmen, Innkeepers, Porters, and Brokers

Inside the pavilion.

Mo Ziming sighed, "Sect Leader Yun, I have done everything I can. Without the Blood Worm and the Holy Blood, you won’t be able to open this box even if you kill me."

Yun Shouxuan laughed coldly, "Since you know this kind of worm exists in Miaojiang, just go and bring it back for me."

The matter of the Holy Blood, on the other hand, was the simplest part. She was preparing to find an opportunity to go up Dao Yi Mountain to see her son.

Mo Ziming shook his head. "Sect Leader Yun, you overestimate my abilities. Although I, Mo, am skilled in Mechanical Techniques, Miaojiang is a treacherous land of barren mountains and turbulent waters, and it does not lack experts. How could a lowly Grandmaster like me possibly go to the Holy Insect Valley and obtain that precious Blood Worm?"

Yun Shouxuan glanced at Mo Ziming, noncommittal.

Mo Ziming looked up and said, "My suggestion is for you, Sect Leader, to make a trip to Miaojiang personally. With your First-Grade strength, let alone the Holy Insect Valley, even if all the poison experts of Miaojiang joined forces, they might not be able to harm your Demon Body."

Yun Shouxuan pondered inwardly. She had originally intended to have Yun Feifei take a few people on this trip, but that girl was too disappointing. She had just come down from Dao Yi Mountain with severe injuries; sending her to Miaojiang now would likely be sending her to her death. Furthermore, she rarely succeeded in anything she did...

"The Asura Treasure Box is of vital importance to me, and I cannot let anyone else know about the Blood Worm," Yun Shouxuan thought silently, her eyes turning profound.

Currently, the six major factions of the Demon Sect were acting independently, each wishing to unify the Demon Sect. If they found out that the Holy Sect’s Demon Gallbladder was inside this Asura Box...

Yun Shouxuan said indifferently, "You have some understanding of the Holy Insect Valley, so you will accompany me personally. If the Blood Worm you speak of is there, all is well. But if it isn’t...

"You won’t have to return to the Central Plains with me."

Mo Ziming’s heart skipped a beat. Ultimately, he exhaled a breath and sighed, "How could I, Mo, dare to disobey?"

......

......

On Dao Yi Mountain.

Chen Sha had no idea what kind of blood existed within his body, nor that it would inevitably draw his Demon Sect mother up the mountain to find him in the coming days. He simply sat cross-legged on a boulder, further cultivating the power of the Throat God Hundred Exiles.

"According to the Yellow Court Scripture, the Twenty-four Gods within the body not only have their own colors and names, but also have different forms and heights. Those are their true bodies," he thought.

Chen Sha intentionally closed his eyes, ’gazing’ at the nine-colored light within his throat node.

"The Throat God Hundred Exiles is nine-colored, standing at eight point eight inches tall," he noted inwardly.

Right now, he could only see a beam of light with no discernible length. This proved that he had not yet brought his Visualization of the Throat God to the Great Success stage. Only when he could clearly see an eight-point-eight-inch streak of colorful divine light would he have truly seen the God’s main body.

At this moment, one end of the throat node beneath his skin had already taken on a jade-like hue. This change was invisible from the outside, but under Chen Sha’s inner vision, it was crystal clear.

"Twelve Throat Nodes, Twelve-Story Tower... I cannot neglect the Cultivation of this First-Grade Martial Scripture either," he reasoned. "Simply based on the relationship between this Martial Scripture and the Throat God, I can be certain that as long as more than six of my throat nodes turn to jade, I can cultivate the Throat God to Great Success within the Great Yellow Court."

Furthermore, if he could clear another Chapter scene behind the Southern Heavenly Gate and obtain a portion of True Qi as a reward, he could directly push the Realm of his Jade Emperor Tower up a few floors. Then, he wouldn’t have to divide his attention between cultivating two First-Grade Martial Scriptures like he was doing now.

"The difficulty of clearing Zhang Daoxuan’s Chapter is too high," he assessed. "This Daoist is no ordinary First-Grade Great Innate. With my current Cultivation, I won’t be able to clear his stage even if I try for half a year to a year."

Then he could only look for a new, easier instance to clear.

Chen Sha thought of a certain person’s temple.

"Judging from the temples of those people last time, the ones who underwent Ascension from the True Realm were basically all at the Broken Great Vajra Realm. Meanwhile, those who ascended from the True Remnant World had lower Realms..." he deduced.

For example, Hong Qigong. The difficulty of clearing his first Chapter was only at the Grandmaster Level.

"Dugu Qiubai. This Sword Demon also ascended from the True Remnant World, just like Hong Qigong, and even from the same world. His clay true body in the temple is at the ’First-Grade Great Innate’ level. This proves that his first stage should only possess strength below the Innate level. It will only be in the final few stages that he exhibits First-Grade Ascension strength."

Having made his decision, Chen Sha prepared to close his eyes and head behind the Southern Heavenly Gate to temper himself in a new scene.

But at this moment, a sudden sensation rippled through his mind. He felt a portion of his power being consumed...

"Huh?"

Chen Sha immediately inspected his body and found that the True Qi throughout his body was neither deviating nor flowing erratically.

"It’s..." A realization dawned on him. He walked out of his room and looked down the mountain. "Song Yu used the Cosmic Light Stone I gave him. The True Qi Incarnation inside the Cosmic Light Stone has taken action."

Song Yu was in trouble.

He had encountered danger!

Chen Sha’s eyes flashed as he muttered to himself, "What kind of expert did he encounter? I can actually feel that half of the True Qi I left behind has been used up!"

Even though the True Qi he had left for him in the Cosmic Light Stone possessed Grandmaster Peak strength and could unleash attacks at Chen Sha’s full power—making it practically invincible within the Grandmaster Realm—Chen Sha couldn’t help but feel a bit worried since he didn’t know the exact situation.

Song Yu had been secretly protecting those two Named Disciples down the mountain for about three months now.

"I gave him the Nine Yin Scripture, a Half-First Grade Martial Scripture, which contains some quick-to-master Martial Arts. Combined with Song Yu’s original strength, he should be able to fend off ordinary Grandmasters. But the fact that he was forced to use my True Qi proves that his opponent is at least at the Grandmaster Level."

......

Three days ago.

Zhao Country, Black Stone City.

Qii Zhengyi and Lin Qingqing, who had been down from Dao Yi Mountain for three months, now bore the marks of their arduous journey on their faces. Even Lin Qingqing, a pampered young lady from a wealthy family, had her face sunburnt, turned somewhat dark and red by the harsh Taiyang.

What made Qii Zhengyi admire her was that over these three months, this junior sister seemed to have completely forgotten her pampered upbringing. Not only did she handle starting fires and cooking meals along the way, but she also frequently and boldly accompanied him to taverns, drinking heartily with unacquainted Jianghu heroes.

When it came to drinking, Qii Zhengyi felt rather ashamed. His alcohol tolerance was not even twenty percent of Lin Qingqing’s. Every time, he would drink until he was unconscious, while Lin Qingqing remained completely unaffected.

Today, their travels had brought them to Black Stone City in the northern region of Zhao Country.

Lin Qingqing looked at five or six children leaning against the corner of a small alleyway. There were boys and girls, all with crippled limbs, kneeling there and begging.

She looked thoughtful as she spoke to Qii Zhengyi, "Senior Brother Qii, do you remember when we were coming from Baisha City two days ago? We met a woman crying out along the road, asking everyone she met if they had seen her child..."

"Junior Sister, are you saying..." Qii Zhengyi trailed off. Upon hearing this, he looked at the children again, his expression turning serious. "It is indeed a bit strange... I see that these children are all disabled, and some even have fresh wounds on their faces. It’s highly abnormal."

Lin Qingqing whispered, "When I was at home, I used to hear from uncles who worked as armed escorts that there is a group in Jianghu called the brokerage. They specialize in kidnapping and trafficking children. Obedient children are sold to families who can’t conceive. But if they encounter disobedient ones who scream and shout, they sell them to Beggar Gangs or street performers. Once children fall into the hands of these gangs, their throats are first poisoned to make them mute, and then their legs are broken. Some are even blinded. They earn alms from kind-hearted people by parading their misery on the streets..."

Qii Zhengyi felt his scalp tingle upon hearing this. He asked in shock, "Such things actually happen in Jianghu?"

Lin Qingqing replied, "I didn’t believe it before either. I thought the uncles just made it up to scare me. But now, look at those children, and combine that with the woman we met two days ago who was searching for her child. Is it possible that this sort of thing is real...?"

Qii Zhengyi could no longer hold back. "I’ll go over and take a look first."

He stepped forward and walked over.

Lin Qingqing watched from a distance. Qii Zhengyi went over, first asking them questions, then using hand gestures. Finally, he tossed some money into the children’s bowls. When he returned, his face was ashen.

"Junior Sister, none of those children can speak. Could it really be as you said, that they were poisoned and rendered mute? What do we do now?"

Lin Qingqing pondered for a moment before looking up. "Coachmen, boatmen, innkeepers, porters, and brokers have always been the most inhumane groups in Jianghu, but we can’t make a rash decision.

"Let’s do this: we’ll move further away and secretly watch those children from a distance. Let’s wait until it gets darker to see where they go. If it’s truly as we suspect, someone will definitely come to pick them up. When that happens, we’ll follow them. We should be able to find the brokers’ lair here in Black Stone City..."