Chapter 45

It happened extremely suddenly.

A large number of flying darts suddenly came at him.

Fortunately, Wei He was prepared. He dodged a few darts by sidestepping, and for those he couldn't avoid, he used the iron plates on his body to block them. He absolutely did not use his arms or legs to touch them.

Seeing that the final hidden move was ineffective, the fat man's heart turned to ashes. He staggered a few steps and fell to the ground again.

This time, he truly didn't move.

Wei He quickly drew out the poison needle again and fiercely threw it at him.

With a "pu" sound, the poison needle deeply pierced into the fat man's abdomen, but he didn't move at all, showing no signs of life.

Only then did Wei He let out a sigh of relief. He picked up a stone and threw it hard, hitting the fat man's forehead. Blood slowly flowed out, and the fat man's head was dented in.

Wei He then slowly approached and began to handle the body.

The fat man had quite a few good things on him.

A pair of metal gloves, five remaining poison darts, one remaining bag of poison powder, and one leather money bag. Each contained a bag of dry rations and a water bag.

After searching through everything and cutting the wounds, Wei He quickly withdrew.

He wanted to drag the body away, but time was running out. The bodies he had left earlier might have already been discovered.

He could faintly hear subtle movements coming from the mountain, unsure if they were animals or people. At least there were quite a few of them.

But whatever it was, he couldn't stay here any longer. He knew that people from Shaoyang Sect usually liked to go out in groups.

Wei He quickly withdrew, taking the items with him, and went down the mountain.

He found the clothes he had prepared and hidden in a patch of weeds, changed into them, and switched to a burlap bag, putting all the loot inside.

This bag was originally meant for carrying game, but now it had another use.

Wei He sprinkled deodorizing powder on his body, wet a towel with water from the water bag, and cleaned the blood off his face and body, tidying up his messy hair.

Finally, he dragged the burlap bag and quickly headed toward Feiye City's gate.

This trip had a good harvest, but it also caused a lot of trouble.

A gang of bandits, plus a person from Shaoyang Sect, all killed by him. That added up to seven lives.

Wei He felt a sense of regret. Unconsciously, he had already come to view human life as insignificant.

Once upon a time, he was still that naive young man who would tremble after killing someone.

Now...

He returned home. He threw the bag onto the ground in the courtyard.

It was already noon. His second sister had gone to Huishan Fist Academy to help and visit Old Zheng.

Since the closure of the bun shop, Wei Ying often visited Old Zheng when she had nothing to do.

With his daughter not around, Old Zheng had become even closer to Wei He and his sister.

With his second sister not at home, Wei He didn't delay. He quickly took out the python, nailed it to a tree trunk, and began to skin it with a knife.

The python was non-venomous. Skinning it and cooking it as soup or roasting the meat would be delicious.

After skinning and removing the internal organs, he washed it several times in the water from the water tank, then stewed it.

He sprinkled some salt on a portion and hung it in the courtyard to dry, making jerky to prevent spoilage.

After a while of busy work, the snake soup was ready.

Wei He didn't put it in a pot but kept it warm with the charcoal he had bought. He scooped up a spoonful, blew to cool it, and took a light taste.

A faint fishy smell, mixed with the taste of salt, ginger, and scallions, filled his mouth.

"Although it's a bit fishy, it's really fresh."

He quickly picked out a large amount of meat, let it cool, and then went to the inner room to get some chili and spices to make a dipping sauce.

The python was large, and the meat was thick.

Wei He dipped the meat in the sauce and ate large pieces, enjoying the fresh, spicy, and numbing flavors to the fullest.

If the charcoal hadn't almost run out, he would have made another pot.

After eating the snake meat, Wei He estimated he had eaten about three pounds of pure snake meat.

For a python over two meters long, this was just a small section of its body.

The remaining meat would last him a long time.

He felt comfortable, half-reclining in a rattan chair under the shade of a tree in the courtyard, with a cup of Cassia seed tea by his side, sipping it slowly.

"This snake meat is really delicious, but it's a pity it's not from a mystical beast. The nourishing effect isn't as immediate as the flower branch deer meat.

But it should be much better than ordinary poultry. With such a long snake, it will last me at least half a month."

Tasting the sweetness of hunting, Wei He was immediately motivated and planned to explore again in a few days to go hunting.

Of course, the next time he went, he would definitely check first to see if there were any movements from Shaoyang Sect after the person's death.

After resting for a while,

Wei He took out the small booklet he had obtained from the bag and examined it carefully.

The booklet recorded a martial art called Wuling Palm.

This Wuling Palm practiced the skills of both hands. According to the description, when practiced to a high level, the hands would be as hard as metal, leaving finger marks on metal with a single strike.

Wuling Palm, in fact, was another name for Wuzhishan Palm.

Wei He flipped through the details and found that this martial art was quite incomplete, lacking the refining formula needed for breakthroughs.

"It makes sense. Who would be so foolish as to carry the complete manual with them? This part mainly focuses on movements and techniques, which are likely carried for review. If I were to, I would definitely keep the formula separate."

Wei He understood.

Without the formula, this martial art had little reference value.

Such an external martial art, if practiced without the specifically designed formula, would eventually lead to injury or disability.

He put the booklet aside and prepared to check the other loot.

Suddenly, he paused.

"This martial art... if the basic diagram isn't needed and only the refining formula is required for breakthroughs, then can my Breakthrough Pearl be used to replace the formula and directly break through?"

The moment he thought of this possibility, his heart started pounding.

If this possibility was feasible, then this Wuling Palm would be the most suitable martial art for him!

Because this martial art required less qi and blood than Huishan Fist, but the breakthroughs were more difficult.

Temporarily suppressing his speculation, he continued to check the other items.

Apart from a bunch of powder bags, the most valuable items were a pair of metal gloves and a money bag.

The metal gloves had metal plates only at the joints, with the rest being leather, but this was enough.

With some repairs, they could be useful in ordinary combat, giving him an advantage.

Unless he encountered someone with a hand spike like him.

He put the gloves aside and then looked at the money bag. Inside were a stack of gold notes with lotus patterns.

The gold notes had "Money God" printed in large characters.

Wei He took one out to examine it, pinching it.

This was the first time he had held a gold note. In other places, he had always asked for food and meat.

"It's not paper... This is... some kind of leather?" Wei He was surprised to find that the gold notes were made from some animal skin, and they had a faint, pleasant fragrance.

"This thing... might have some special function... not just a substitute for gold..."

Wei He speculated.

He took out all the gold notes and counted them, only to find that there were a thousand taels.

According to what Cheng Shaojiu had told him about the exchange rate of gold for rice in the inner city,

A thousand taels was definitely not a small amount.

He noticed that all the gold notes had "Dama Bank" printed at the bottom.

But he didn't know where this Dama Bank was.

Tasting the sweetness of the loot, Wei He immediately understood why there were so many bandits and robbers in this era.

One successful robbery could yield so much money and good items. If he could have such good income every day, it would be unimaginable...

But he also knew that even if he went to Shaoyang Mountain every day, he wouldn't always encounter a fat man from Shaoyang Sect with a large sum of money.

After putting away the money and various bags, Wei He rested contentedly.

From that day on, he continued hunting, changing his location. He didn't go to Shaoyang Mountain but to other places in Feiye City.

For over a month,

He spent his days hunting, practicing martial arts in the afternoon, and living in a cycle of skinning and refining.

At the same time, in his spare time, he began practicing the Wuling Palm according to the manual.

With the abundant meat nourishment, Wei He's Breakthrough Pearl grew faster, quickly reaching one-third.

His qi and blood also gradually condensed into the first real Nine Dawn Flower.

However, compared to the Breakthrough Pearl, the speed of skinning and refining was much slower.

Wei He could also tell from Old Zheng's expression during his checks that his qi and blood growth was not satisfactory.

Old Zheng had initially considered Wei He a genius due to his rapid breakthrough, but...

As time passed, Wei He's potential gradually revealed itself.

His qi and blood growth was far from what a genius should have.

To be precise, his growth rate was less than one-third of Xiao Ran's.

This made Old Zheng's hopes gradually turn to disappointment.

Fortunately, just as he was feeling disheartened, Xiao Ran had a new turn of events.

"Master Zheng!! Xiao Ran, Xiao Ran...!!"

One day, in the inner courtyard, Wei He was listening carefully to Old Zheng explaining the techniques of Huishan Fist against enemies.

Suddenly, Jiang Su rushed in, panting, and called out, "Xiao Ran, he has recovered!!"

"Xiao Ran? Recovered??" Master Zheng was initially stunned, then asked in disbelief.

"Did you just say Xiao Ran has recovered? What exactly has he recovered? Tell me clearly!"

Jiang Su glanced at Wei He and Zhao Hong beside her, then quickly focused on Master Zheng.

She said seriously, "Master Zheng, Xiao Ran has recovered his Stone Skin and qi and blood! He is in the outer courtyard now. I just tested him myself, and it's definitely at the second level of qi and blood. There's no mistake!"

Master Zheng stood there in a daze, listening carefully, and for a moment, he couldn't speak.

His initially disappointed mood due to Wei He's performance seemed to spark a new hope.

He repeatedly tugged at his beard, walked a few steps, and then stopped.

"Let's go! Take me to see him!"

"Yes!" Jiang Su immediately led the way, taking Master Zheng to the outer courtyard.

Leaving the eldest disciple Zhao Hong and Wei He behind.

The two exchanged glances and quickly followed.

Although neither of them particularly liked Xiao Ran, they had to admit that his talent was truly remarkable.

Wei He followed to the outer courtyard and saw Xiao Ran surrounded by a group of fellow disciples.

Facing him was Master Zheng.

Master Zheng's hand was on Xiao Ran's shoulder, his eyes closed as if sensing something.

Soon, Master Zheng slowly opened his eyes.

"Amazing... Amazing, he has completely recovered!" His hand trembled as he patted Xiao Ran's shoulder repeatedly.

"You... You did very well!"