Chapter 45

The branch of the San Lu Money House was located in the middle of this street, and from a distance, one could see its large signboard. However, after the two had only taken a few dozen steps, Chuxue suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground with a thud.

Zongshou, standing beside her, was taken aback. As a martial artist, Chuxue's reflexes were quick, especially given her innate talent from the Tiger Cat Clan. The chance of her falling while walking was one in a million, almost impossible.

Yet, at this moment, she had fallen to the ground for no apparent reason.

Chuxue's face turned red with embarrassment, all the way to her ears. Just as she was about to stand up hurriedly, she let out a surprised exclamation. After brushing off the dust from her body, she picked up a small red cloth bag from the ground. Upon opening it, she saw that it was filled with a golden glow.

"It's a money bag! There's a lot of money inside—ten taels of gold, seven hundred taels of silver, and a first-grade beast crystal. Young Master, do you think who dropped this? We should return it to the rightful owner—"

As she spoke, Chuxue continued walking, counting the money. Suddenly, a large pot from the building beside them fell down, hitting Chuxue right on the head.

The pot shattered instantly, and a thin stream of blood trickled down Chuxue's forehead, her eyes flashing with anger. However, in the next moment, she let out another exclamation and picked up a black seed the size of a finger from the debris.

"Young Master, what is this? It seems to be a seed of some spiritual wood, and the spiritual energy inside is very strong—"

The corner of Zongshou's eye twitched slightly.

This seed was clearly the seed of a thousand-year-old thunder apricot, a treasure that any spiritual master below the Out-of-Body Realm would revere.

Whether for refining spiritual artifacts or making medicine, this item had significant uses. It must have been mixed into the soil by the owner of the pot when they were taking soil.

Zongshou thought to himself, could this be the power of the luck talisman? Falling for no reason and picking up property worth over three thousand taels. Getting hit by a pot and obtaining a thousand-year-old thunder apricot seed. The true meaning of 'misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may hide a curse' in the talisman was indeed not false.

Thinking about this, Zongshou's expression became extremely strange, unsure whether to be dejected or happy. In any case, he was immensely relieved that he had not used himself as a test subject earlier.

Before he could think it through, another sword suddenly flew through the air from the side. This time, Chuxue dodged just in time, narrowly avoiding it. However, as the sword passed by, it made a tearing sound and completely cut off the right sleeve of Chuxue's robe.

From the street entrance to the branch of the San Lu Money House, it was only 1,700 steps. However, the entire journey was filled with incidents.

Zongshou remained silent, quietly recording everything. Chuxue fell four times, picking up 11,000 taels of silver and two night pearls. She was hit by a pot, receiving a thousand-year-old thunder apricot seed. She narrowly avoided being stabbed by a flying sword, and the sword's owner compensated her with a set of clothes worth a thousand taels and 3,000 taels as a consolation fee. She was also hit by a carriage, but fortunately, she was unharmed, and the carriage owner compensated her with a Tayan horse.

This was truly 'misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may hide a curse'—

By the time the two finally reached the entrance of the San Lu Money House, Chuxue's face was already a picture of woe.

Zongshou tried to act as if nothing was wrong, his face expressionless.

"Young Master, there must be gods in this world, right? Did I do something wrong?"

"Nonsense, there are no gods in this world. As a martial artist, one should be strong and confident, not believe in any deities. Even if the ancient gods of the Daoist spiritual masters or the Buddhas of the Buddhist preachers truly exist, we martial artists should have the courage to face them! What are gods? With the cultivation of martial arts, we can destroy any god."

"But why am I so unlucky? Falling for no reason, being cut by a sword, and being hit by a carriage! If it's not gods, could it be spirits causing trouble? It's so frustrating! If I catch it, I'll tear it into pieces!"

Zongshou almost burst out laughing but barely managed to hold it in. He felt a twinge of guilt and decided that he must never let Chuxue know about the luck talisman.

Fortunately, after that, possibly because the effect of the talisman had worn off, no similar incidents occurred.

They smoothly withdrew 100 third-grade beast crystals from the San Lu Money House.

The wealth that Zong Weiran had left for him was far more than this. Besides silver and beast crystals, there were also some spiritual artifacts, talisman soldiers, and even secret martial arts manuals of the Zong family. However, these were all stored in the main branch of the San Lu Money House in Donglin Yunlu, and they would need to go there to retrieve them.

The two exchanged some of the beast crystals and soul stones needed for Zongshou's cultivation, as well as three 'Pine Pattern Wind Swords' with the same design but even sharper. Just as they were about to go to other places, Zongshou suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, feeling a cold gaze fixed on him.

Despite the crowded street, he felt no warmth. The bone-chilling cold seeped into his heart, making his face pale.

He looked around carefully but could not find the source of the gaze.

Chuxue also noticed that something was wrong with Zongshou and frowned, asking, "Young Master, what's wrong?"

Zongshou shook his head slightly, his face returning to calm, but his eyes still glinted with a dangerous light.

"Let's go back. We should leave Xiaoyuan City as soon as possible. It seems we have truly provoked a formidable person—"

Before he finished speaking, Zongshou had already taken the lead, heading towards the street entrance. As he passed by the entrance of an armor shop, he suddenly felt a slight movement and turned to go inside.

Not long after, he came out again. After visiting several more shops, he finally had three flying knives in his hand.

Flying knives were common in Donglin Yunjie, and most martial artists had practiced with them to some extent.

However, those who could refine flying knives into talisman soldiers were few. A talisman knife that could completely carry a thread of the Surging Clouds and Destroying Gods Sword Intent was even rarer.

Zongshou searched the entire street and found only three such knives. Unfortunately, he could only stay in Xiaoyuan City for two days and could not have them custom-made by a spiritual forger.

If he had ten such talisman knives and infused them with sword intent, he could take on even a Secret Martial Artist with nine activated meridians.

When they returned, Yin Yang had already invited the spiritual masters. Four high-ranking spiritual forgers, all at the Nourishing Spirit stage, which was even higher than Qi Xiao. Yin Yang had to pay 20,000 taels of gold to invite these four.

Although the price was high, the damage to the Fanyun Carriage was severe.

Yin Yang was willing to spend more to repair the carriage rather than buy a new one because of the Wind Wall Array inside the carriage.

An array that could withstand a先天高手 (先天高手 means a high-level martial artist with innate abilities) was not something that could be bought for just 20,000 taels of gold.

After replacing a few steel plates and redrawing the entire Wind Wall Array on the bottom of the carriage according to the array diagram provided by Zongshou, the Fanyun Carriage was restored to its original state in just two days. At least from the outside, there was no sign of damage.

Yin Yang then bought eight more Tayan horses to replace the two injured horned horses, increasing the number of Tayan horses pulling the carriage to eighteen. Only after everything was in order did they set off from Xiaoyuan City again.

This time, they headed directly east, straight into the vast plain covered with mud and swamps.