Chapter 358 177: Hundred Poison Scripture

For them, it was no loss at all.

The sky was just beginning to lighten at dawn as the group set out from the inn, continuing on their way to Evergreen Mansion.

Jiang Ran and the others had arrived in town yesterday and claimed the various rewards that had accumulated.

The Venerable Hundred Poisons of the Hundred Poison Sect.

And several assassins from the Death Building.

The amount of silver taels wasn't much. Only the Venerable Hundred Poisons from the Hundred Poison Sect and Greed Poison from the Death Building were worth anything.

The rest weren't even worth mentioning.

But Jiang Ran no longer cared about money. The fortune he had amassed wouldn't be enough to last a lifetime of wild extravagance.

But if he was frugal, it would more or less be sufficient.

The most important things were the rewards from the system.

[Reward Acquired: Hundred Poison Scripture (Forty-three Years)]

[Reward Acquired: Three Years of Inner Strength!]

[Reward Acquired: Five Years of Inner Strength!]

[Reward Acquired: Divine Skin Skill (Thirteen Years)!]

[Reward Acquired: Breath Condensing Skill (Twenty-five Years)!]

Jiang Ran had frowned when he saw these rewards.

The Breath Condensing Skill was the reward from Greed Poison. To be honest, it was a bit of a letdown for Jiang Ran.

He had been more interested in Greed Poison's Five Poison World-penetrating Scripture.

'It's just that the drop rate for that technique obviously isn't very high.'

'I wonder if I'll ever get the other four poisons… But judging from the three words "Breath Condensing Skill," it must be another breath-concealing art.'

'That's to be expected.'

'After all, the Death Building is a group of assassins. It couldn't be more normal for them to have a Cultivation Technique like this.'

But since Jiang Ran already had the Hidden Shadow Enchanting God Step, which possessed its own breath-concealing abilities, this new skill wasn't even icing on the cake for him.

'As for the Divine Skin Skill…'

'It was obviously that fat chef's martial art.'

The man's skill had been a real eye-opener for Jiang Ran at the time.

His fleshy skin could resist and block attacks, making him nearly impervious to blades and spears.

And yet, Man Shengming had deflated him with a single poke of his finger.

Besides, the skill was useless to Jiang Ran.

'For one, I'm not sure if practicing this art would make my skin all loose and saggy.'

'For another, who knows if I'd have to eat myself into a giant fatty just to make it effective.'

'Most importantly, I have the Great Brahman Vajra Skill, which provides extraordinary protection.'

So, after some consideration, he gave up on these two rewards and converted them into a buff.

He had intended to use this buff to directly upgrade his Hundred Poison Scripture.

But unexpectedly, the notification he received after doing so was…

[Upgrade Failed!]

It was only after claiming the reward that he understood why it had failed.

The Hundred Poison Scripture wasn't a martial art.

It was a complete poison manual, detailing the use of poisons, the creation of antidotes, and records of various poisonous insects and plants.

But Jiang Ran wasn't disappointed by this. In fact, he was quite intrigued.

He had always enjoyed poisoning people. Sometimes, poison was far more useful than martial arts.

This Hundred Poison Scripture was the most treasured secret of the Hundred Poison Sect.

It contained many deadly poisons that Jiang Ran had never even heard of before.

'I can definitely put many of these methods to good use in the future,' Jiang Ran mused.

Finally, he absorbed the eight years of Inner Strength he had obtained, channeling it into his Creation and True Heart Scripture.

With that, all the rewards had been claimed.

He had spent the previous night organizing everything he had learned.

The current state of Jiang Ran's body was actually quite strange.

The Creation and True Heart Scripture possessed the power of creation, making it naturally extraordinary.

Starting from the eighth layer, it required him to incorporate other Inner Energy arts to advance its cultivation.

Inside Jiang Ran's body, the Great Brahman Vajra Skill, the Cold Moon Skill, and the Vast Righteous Qi Scripture—three divine arts—all operated independently without interfering with one another.

But their source was the Creation and True Heart Scripture.

This martial art was like a shepherd, and the three divine arts were its flock.

It allowed them to develop and grow, but it would never let them escape its control.

Whenever Jiang Ran wished, he could use the Creation and True Heart Scripture to power them.

However, as his cultivation deepened, Jiang Ran discovered that these three divine arts were also subtly changing.

They were gradually aligning themselves with the Creation and True Heart Scripture.

The manifestation from his Great Brahman Vajra Skill was a clear indication of this.

Initially, it was the image of a Vajra wearing Taoist robes—Taoist on the outside, Buddhist on the inside. This signified that Jiang Ran was using a divine skill from a Taoist Sect to power a true Buddhist art.

Now, the manifestation had subtly transformed, gradually shedding its Buddhist characteristics.

It was taking on a more ethereal, transcendent aura.

This was a process of metamorphosis.

For some time now, Jiang Ran had also been contemplating how to integrate his existing martial arts in the absence of new rewards.

His path of growth was inevitably one of complexity and chaos, which would then lead to refinement from that chaos.

To make significant strides, he needed to constantly seek improvement.

But this was easier said than done.

Whether they were skills enhanced by a buff or rewards obtained directly, they were arts that someone had already cultivated to an extremely high level.

For Jiang Ran, this was like trying to advance from an already high point. How could it possibly be easy?

He wasn't in a rush, though.

After claiming his rewards yesterday, his lifespan had once again increased significantly.

He had now accumulated a total of four years, one month, and thirteen days.

While telling anyone he only had four years left to live would be considered devastating news…

…Jiang Ran was actually living longer and longer. Sooner or later, he would be able to completely restore his lifespan.

When that day came, he would no longer fear anything.

The weather had been good for the past few days, with clear, cloudless skies.

After leaving the town, the group traveled along the main road.

The next two days were peaceful and uneventful.

There were no disturbances whatsoever…

This was partly because they were nearing Evergreen Mansion, and almost everyone who intended to make a move on Jiang Ran along the way had already done so.

The rest either felt the timing was wrong or were planning to wait for the Tea and Zither Appreciation Gathering to act.

Of course, the most important reason was that Jiang Ran was no longer traveling alone.

He was accompanied by people from both the Celestial Yang Escort Agency and the Blood Saber Hall.

The men from the Blood Saber Hall, in particular, were an intimidating sight. Dressed in red with sabers at their waists, they carried themselves with an air of extreme arrogance. It was a good day if they weren't bullying others; who would dare provoke them?

And so, in the blink of an eye, the group arrived at Evergreen Mansion.

Unexpectedly, however, a small incident occurred just before they entered Evergreen Mansion.

A disciple from the Blood Saber Hall came to report that they had found a heavily injured person on the side of the road.

Upon inspection, they discovered it was an old acquaintance… Gu Xizhi!