Chapter 402: Calling in a Favor

At Divine Physician Shen’s infirmary, Wangchuan paid a late-night visit.

The moment Divine Physician Shen saw him, he smiled and personally invited him into the tearoom at the back.

“An honored guest has come to my door.”

“Hall Master Wangchuan, how did you find the time to visit my infirmary today? I had thought you would be overwhelmed with work these days.”

“I have indeed been swamped ever since taking over all the Hall’s affairs, but no matter how busy I am, I still had to come see you, Senior Shen.”

Wangchuan smiled and said, “The fourteen men at the Five Poisons Sect’s temporary stronghold in Kuaiji County were wiped out to the last. You should have heard the news by now, shouldn’t you?”

Divine Physician Shen froze for a moment, then lowered his voice and asked,

“Was that your handiwork, Hall Master?”

Wangchuan said nothing. He only blinked.

A smile appeared on Divine Physician Shen’s face.

Medicine King Valley and the Five Poisons Sect were mortal enemies.

When the newly assigned Five Poisons Sect men had all been wiped out, including Scorpion Elder, and none of them had even gotten the chance to strike, Medicine King Valley had assumed that some old enemy of the Five Poisons Sect had done it.

Divine Physician Shen stared at Wangchuan, and only then did understanding slowly settle over him.

“And besides the Five Poisons Sect, the Beggar Sect as well...”

“Hall Master truly is formidable.”

“You have only just taken office, yet your first stroke has burned away the Five Poisons Sect’s Scorpion Elder and one of their branch helm masters, while at the same time purging a batch of Beggar Sect disciples... I, Shen, truly admire your methods.”

Though Divine Physician Shen healed the wounded and saved the dying, he had long since learned to look lightly on life and death. He viewed the kill-or-be-killed struggles between Jianghu factions with complete equanimity.

Wangchuan lifted his teacup and took a quiet sip.

Divine Physician Shen suddenly said,

“Please wait a moment, Hall Master.”

Then he rose and went inside.

Wangchuan’s five senses were sharp. He could clearly hear the sound of a drawer being pulled open.

A moment later, Divine Physician Shen returned carrying a small box.

“And this is...?”

With a broad smile, Divine Physician Shen patted the little box and said,

“Every time the Five Poisons Sect puts down roots somewhere, Medicine King Valley suffers a blow. Since Hall Master has removed one of the Five Poisons Sect’s poisonous sores for us, Medicine King Valley naturally has to show a little gratitude. I see that Hall Master has already broken through to the Fourth Rank. Inside this box are two Lesser Rejuvenation Pills and one bottle of Hundred Poisons Detoxification Pills. Please accept them.”

Wangchuan immediately tried to decline.

“How could I possibly accept this? This time, I did not take any commission from Medicine King Valley. It was purely a private grudge.”

“I know.”

The smile on Divine Physician Shen’s face did not fade. Lowering his voice, he continued,

“But Hall Master had to hire and mobilize people as well, and that costs money. Treat this as a token of goodwill from Medicine King Valley. If you happen to run into any more people from the Five Poisons Sect in the future, we would be more than satisfied if you were willing to go to the trouble of helping Medicine King Valley eradicate them.”

“Heh...”

Wangchuan no longer refused.

“Since Senior Shen is being so generous, then I will not stand on ceremony. I will accept these. If Divine Physician Shen ever receives more intelligence on the Five Poisons Sect in the future, feel free to let me know.”

“Good!”

Divine Physician Shen was delighted.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Wangchuan picked up the box and rose to leave.

Only after that did Divine Physician Shen suddenly come to his senses.

That brat...

He had come here specifically to call in a favor!

When he returned to the Hall, Ye Baiyi eagerly came over with good news.

“Hall Master.”

“I brought a few people over from Black River, all of whom know 《Snake Control Art》... I led them out into the mountains beyond the city and spent the whole day catching snakes. We’ve already sent them all up to the company’s seventh floor. At the moment, the studio has more than nine hundred snakes and over two hundred wild boars.”

“What do you think? Would you like to go train?”

Wangchuan’s eyes immediately lit up.

He hurried back to his room, logged off, and headed straight to the seventh floor with Ye Baiyi.

On the seventh floor, access had already been placed under Li Na’s control. In the entire studio, aside from her and the boss, no one could enter or leave without being personally escorted by her.

As they stepped out of the elevator, rows of cages partitioned off with metal mesh stretched ahead of them.

The slithering hiss of snake bodies rubbed endlessly against the ears.

The more than two hundred wild boars had been arranged at the far end.

Ye Baiyi said,

“There are still plenty of venomous snakes in the mountains outside the city.”

“If we head into the mountains once a week and use 《Snake Control Art》 to gather and catch them, bringing back a few hundred snakes each time will not be a problem.”

“When Xiao He was in charge, why did he never think of catching snakes, and instead go after wild boars?”

Wangchuan found it rather curious.

Li Na interjected with an explanation.

“That, I actually do know.”

“Disciples of the Five Poisons Sect are generally forbidden from killing the Five Poisons, because once they kill too many, a kind of baleful aura clings to them. That makes it harder for the Five Poisons to approach them, and all sorts of poisonous creatures will instinctively recoil from them. So the higher-ranking members, for the sake of cultivating more advanced methods later on, will not lightly hunt or kill the Five Poisons.”

“Manager Li Na is right.”

Ye Baiyi nodded and added, “I never intended to make a future in the Five Poisons Sect in the first place, so I secretly used the snakes in the Snake Den to train. By sheer luck, I managed to bring my saber art to Perfect Mastery.”

Wangchuan immediately understood.

“Good!”

“From now on, Baiyi, you will be responsible for leading the snake-catching team!”

“I’ll give all of you fifty taels of gold in rewards every month, plus one martial arts manual per person each month. As for you, your reward will be doubled.”

“Thank you, Boss!”

Ye Baiyi beamed.

Li Na asked,

“Boss, there are more than a thousand wild boars and venomous snakes here. That is enough to raise two martial arts to Entry-Level Mastery and stack six attribute points. What weapon do you need? I’ll have the security robots bring it up.”

Wangchuan thought for a moment, then said,

“《Raging Tide Sword Art》.”

As a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist, the most important thing was naturally to push his strongest method as high as possible first.

A security robot quickly delivered a longsword.

Carrying the sword, Wangchuan stepped into the cage.

The aggressive venomous snakes nearby instantly lunged at him.

But the moment they moved, his sword-light flashed past, and their bodies were severed in two.

A few minutes later, Wangchuan had already killed more than five hundred venomous snakes before finally stopping.

He returned to spirit realm and took a look.

“Ding!”

The system responded as expected.

“《Raging Tide Sword Art》 advances from Practice Makes Perfect to Entry-Level Mastery. Reward: +3 Agility.”

《Raging Tide Sword Art》: Experience 0/2000

Current Realm: Entry-Level Mastery

+120 Attack. Builds force with Inner Power. Each successive attack stacks 30% Attack from the initial state, for a maximum of four consecutive stacks (second attack: +36 Attack, third attack: +72 Attack, fourth attack: +108 Attack, fifth attack: +144 Attack). Strikes to vital areas deal double critical damage. Inner Force erosion. Fixed probability to interrupt enemy moves and fixed probability to force the enemy into a stiffened state.

Next Realm: Integration

+150 Attack. Builds force with Inner Power. Each successive attack stacks 35% Attack from the initial state, for a maximum of five consecutive stacks (second attack: +48 Attack, third attack: +96 Attack, fourth attack: +144 Attack, fifth attack: +192 Attack, sixth attack: +240 Attack). Strikes to vital areas deal double critical damage. Inner Force erosion. High probability to interrupt enemy moves and high probability to force the enemy into a stiffened state.

When Wangchuan saw this, his gaze sharpened slightly.

The increase in combat power brought by the higher realm of a Fifth-Rank sword art was extremely obvious!

But venomous snakes with only Quasi-Martial Artist strength were no longer enough to help a sword art at the Entry-Level Mastery realm. They could no longer provide experience.

《Raging Tide Sword Art》 stalled at Entry-Level Mastery.