Chapter 91: Debt Collectors Show Up

It was midday, and the intense sun, hanging high in the sky, was impossible for mortals to look at directly.

Just like Gu Muqing, standing in the sunlight at this moment, she was incredibly radiant, like a celestial fairy.

Although her light orange Daoist robe somewhat obscured her figure, its inherent grace could not be fully concealed. With her shapely curves, one could imagine the slender and graceful figure hidden beneath the robe.

Her soft, jade-like arms, exposed beyond her sleeves and resembling snow-white lotus roots, her graceful and smooth neck, and her cascade of dark hair, all complemented by her delicate, smooth, tender, and lustrous skin, made her truly stand tall and graceful.

This beautiful scene captivated Zhang San, who appeared dazed and flushed. However, Xu Qing, standing in the shadows nearby, showed no change in expression and coldly assessed the woman's neck.

Whether this woman was beautiful was unimportant to Xu Qing. It wasn't his first time seeing her; he hadn't encountered many core disciples in the main city, so he recognized her instantly as the woman he had met outside the pharmacy a few months ago.

That day, they had merely passed each other, but now she had called out his name without hesitation. This made Xu Qing extremely vigilant, and he needed to determine if she possessed the power to threaten his life.

After a quick assessment, Xu Qing made his judgment: if it came to a fight, he was confident he could kill her quickly. Her cultivation was decent, but her posture and vigilance were far inferior to those of the rogue cultivators on Sea Lizard Island.

As for her identity as a core disciple of the Second Peak, considering that the Second Peak primarily focused on alchemy, Xu Qing instinctively scanned his surroundings for any traces of poison.

"Junior Brother Xu Qing, you don't need to be surprised," Gu Muqing said with a sweet smile. "Senior Brother Zhang San didn't tell me your name; I learned it by chance." Her voice was clear and melodious, very pleasant to listen to.

Zhang San's heart rate quickened at that moment. He felt that the woman before him was truly worthy of being called the recognized heavenly daughter of the Second Peak; that one address, "Senior Brother Zhang San," made him incredibly comfortable.

So he laughed heartily, just about to say something, when Xu Qing's calm voice rang out.

"I'm not surprised."

"Uh..." Zhang San glanced at Xu Qing and sighed inwardly, thinking, "Oh, Xu Qing, Xu Qing, this lovely young lady is being so forward, yet you still have no reaction. If it were me, I'd immediately go up and chat, then invite her out. Wouldn't that be how fate begins?"

Gu Muqing heard this and smiled softly. She took a pill from her person, placed it in her palm, and offered it to Xu Qing.

"Junior Brother Xu Qing," she said, "all your White Pills have been sold to my shop. I've studied your pills for a long time and am very curious as to why their purity is so high."

Xu Qing glanced at it, recognizing it as one of his own pills. After a moment's thought, he didn't answer her question, but instead took out several sea lizard skins.

"Eighth-level Qi Condensation sea lizard skin is 530 spirit stones, ninth-level is 960 spirit stones, and Great Circle is 1430 spirit stones. How many do you want?"

Xu Qing's prices were the same as the retail prices from shops. He figured selling to a merchant shop wouldn't fetch this price, so since Gu Muqing wanted to buy them, selling directly to her would be more profitable for him.

Gu Muqing's eyes lit up as she looked at the sea lizard skins, but she didn't buy them immediately. Instead, she continued with her previous questions; it seemed that after recognizing Xu Qing, her interest had shifted from the sea lizard skins.

Xu Qing frowned slightly, but recalling that her shop had bought many of his White Pills and that she was about to buy his sea lizard skins, he patiently spoke.

"During the compounding stage, appropriately adding some Night Corpse Morning Glory will increase the purity."

The young woman showed thoughtfulness upon hearing this. After a while, she asked again, her manner very polite. But Xu Qing's impatience rose once more; in his view, knowledge could not be acquired for free.

What she was doing was a bit excessive.

Senior Sister Ding, for example, understood this principle well and always offered something of value with each inquiry.

So Xu Qing didn't answer; instead, he asked her about matters concerning the Way of Medicine.

"Is there a method to make the blue blood of the Ghost Desire Horseshoe Crab more potent and preserve it for longer?"

Gu Muqing thought for a moment, then spoke with a serious expression.

"I haven't thought about that," she said. "My master only teaches remedies of pure yang. Let me see... if it were me, I would add Earthly Tea. Its richness would enhance the toxicity of the Ghost Desire Horseshoe Crab."

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed upon hearing this. After a moment of contemplation, his mind stirred slightly, as her words had opened up some new ideas for him. So he asked again.

"Earthly Tea is used for neutralization, but it also contains a certain amount of toxins. How can its toxins be transformed into a medicinal primer?"

"Ah? More poison? Let me think... perhaps it could be forced out with Golden Button Grass?" Gu Muqing said uncertainly, but her words were still insightful for Xu Qing.

This piqued Xu Qing's interest, and he began to discuss the Way of Medicine with Gu Muqing. Their conversation had a peculiar dynamic: Xu Qing's questions were mostly about the Way of Poison, while Gu Muqing's questions were mostly about the Way of Medicine.

Yet this didn't hinder their discussion. They implicitly found verification in each other's words, and in fact, the more they communicated, the more enlightened they became. Eventually, Gu Muqing simply walked into the shadows and continued to exchange ideas with Xu Qing, back and forth.

Time flowed on.

In the sunlight, the two in the shadows – the man refined, the woman ethereal – resembled a beautiful painting. Only Zhang San, standing by like an old farmer, seemed out of place in this scene.

Zhang San was dumbfounded, staring blankly at the two. After a long while, he sighed deeply, thinking, "Being beautiful truly gives you too much of an advantage."

His heart sank again as he wondered if his seafaring business would fall through. But then he remembered that Xu Qing had just returned from sea and was unlikely to go out again, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. Still, he couldn't help but speak.

"Um... Junior Brother Xu Qing, why don't you give me your Dharma Boat first? I'll go refine it for you. It looks like you two won't be done talking anytime soon."

Xu Qing heard this, cupped his fist towards Zhang San, and took out a small bottle containing the flying craft, handing it over.

Zhang San instinctively raised his hand to take the small bottle containing the flying craft. His eyes suddenly widened as he stared blankly at the thin and broken flying craft inside, stunned for a moment.

"Where's the Dharma Boat?" he exclaimed. "Isn't this the airship I put inside your Dharma Boat?"

"It's shattered," Xu Qing said calmly, then turned his head and continued to ask Gu Muqing about the Way of Poison.

Zhang San took a breath, looking at the small bottle in his hand. He already realized that Xu Qing's trip out to sea this time had probably been a brush with death.

And so, two hours passed.

As the setting sun's afterglow fell, and the shadows on the ground merged with the fading light, Xu Qing ended their conversation, with Gu Muqing still wanting more, and completed the lizard shedding trade with her.

"Junior Brother Xu Qing, thank you for clarifying my doubts," she said. "It's getting late, so I'll take my leave. I'll go back and try the method you mentioned, though I think it's highly likely it will still be difficult to succeed. In fact, I've tried it many times before, and only occasionally achieved that level of purity."

Gu Muqing spoke with a troubled expression.

Xu Qing thought for a moment. He believed that, on one hand, this was likely related to the compounding method taught by Master Bai, and on the other hand, perhaps it was related to his own body having no impurities.

When he refined pills, no mixed or impure aura was released and infused into the pills.

But he naturally wouldn't reveal this.

Gu Muqing shook her head and departed, still lost in thought.

Xu Qing watched her leave, giving a small, solemn bow. He had benefited greatly from this exchange, gaining a more thorough understanding of the Way of Poison and subtly developing some new ideas for refining poisons.

Now that Gu Muqing had left, Zhang San approached Xu Qing, sighing with a worried expression.

"Ah, Xu Qing, your boat... it's not easy to fix," Zhang San lamented. "I can't cover that many spirit stones; it's like building a new one, far too expensive."

Xu Qing didn't speak; he looked around, then took out one of the three divine lizard shed skins from his person.

The moment this shed skin appeared, Zhang San merely caught a glimpse of it and shuddered. All his worries vanished instantly. His eyes widened as he looked at the golden glimmer on the shed skin, and he gasped.

"This is..." Zhang San had just begun to speak when he grabbed Xu Qing and rushed straight to his warehouse. Only after entering the warehouse did he tremblingly take the lizard shed skin from Xu Qing.

After carefully examining it as if it were a supreme treasure, his breathing became more rapid. After a while, he suddenly looked up at Xu Qing.

"A divine lizard shed skin!"

"And a Foundation Establishment lizard shed skin!" he exclaimed. "Moreover, it carries a trace of Golden Core aura. This thing is too valuable; if word gets out, it will definitely cause widespread slaughter and fierce contention. How did you get it?"

"I stole it," Xu Qing said calmly. "Is it enough to build a new Dharma Boat?"

Looking at Xu Qing's expression, Zhang San's eyes narrowed. He heard a strong sense of bloodshed in that sentence and finally understood why Xu Qing had left with a Dharma Boat but returned with only a flying craft.

"More than enough!" he exclaimed. "A Dharma Boat built with this will reach an astonishing level. I need some time to prepare; you can pick it up tomorrow!"

Zhang San turned to look at the divine lizard shed skin, a strong light shining in his eyes. He felt that the Dharma Boat built with this item would be his most outstanding work in recent years.

Xu Qing nodded, then took out some spirit banknotes, roughly five thousand. After placing them aside, he thought for a moment and also took out the spirit stones from his storage bag, bringing the total to well over ten thousand.

Many of those spirit stones were stained with blood.

These spirit stones made Zhang San's eyes narrow again, and his mind was shaken. His expression became even stranger, and he couldn't help but ask.

"This time, how many people did you kill?"

"Not many," Xu Qing shook his head.

"You're using all your spirit stones to refine a Dharma Boat. What about your cultivation needs?" Zhang San asked, looking at Xu Qing. "And... you trust me this much?"

"Someone still owes me a few thousand spirit stones; I'm going to collect them tonight," Xu Qing replied. "As for trust, I think the value of everything Senior Brother Zhang San has here combined is more than what I gained this time."

Xu Qing spoke earnestly. He cupped his fist towards Zhang San, then turned and left decisively.

It was dusk outside, and the world was gradually dimming. Zhang San watched Xu Qing's receding figure, his heart filled with emotion.

"Someone actually dares to owe this person spirit stones?" he mused. "Also... since he trusts me so much, it wouldn't be right for me to secretly skim off the top. Since I've committed to him, I'll see it through to the end!"

Meanwhile, in the twilight, at the inn on Banquan Road, the old man was contentedly smoking his pipe, looking smug.

"I'm rich this time!" he exclaimed. "A mid-Foundation Establishment lizard shed skin, worth five thousand spirit stones! It's just a shame I didn't get the divine lizard shed skin."

"But that poisonous kid probably had a tough time too. He might have come back empty-handed."

"Just thinking about him getting nothing makes me happy, haha!" he chuckled. "After being closed for days, many people are sure to come and stay tonight. Double happiness!"

The old man was feeling smug when a great force slammed into him from beside.

It was the large snake, which had violently collided with the old man, emitting sorrowful gurgling sounds.

The old man glared, about to scold it, but seeing the snake's sorrowful expression, his heart softened, and he sighed.

"Sigh, that kid is very cunning," he said. "Seeing danger, could he not run? He won't die, he won't die."

Hearing this, the large snake's emotions eased slightly, but it still remained somewhat dispirited, huddled in a corner.

The old man felt sorry for it and comforted it until the sky outside completely darkened and a guest's figure quickly approached in the distance.

"I'll get you some snacks later. No more talking now, it's time to open."

The old man quickly stepped out, a smile appearing on his face as he looked at the approaching guest in the distance, but the next instant, his expression suddenly changed.

A dagger gleaming with cold light whizzed in like lightning from a distance the moment night fell, directly piercing the neck of the wanted criminal who was about to enter his inn and pinning him to the nearby wall.

The force was so great that the wall boomed, and blood splattered.

A horrifying scream echoed at that moment, then abruptly ceased!

Only the sound of footsteps, steady and calm, came from the distance in the night.