Chapter 106: Chapter 15: Qinggong is Also a Matter of Brute Force
’Unfortunately, Refining Essence and Transforming Qi is still just a technique at its core. There’s a daily limit to the spiritual foods I can rapidly refine. With my current strength, three and a half roots would be stuffing myself. It’s a case of too much of a good thing. Three is enough.’
’Any more would be like taking medicine that is also a poison. It wouldn’t just be unhelpful; it would disrupt the Spiritual Qi Circulation in my body and cause me to suffer a deviation.’
Having gotten a taste of the benefits of Refining Essence and Transforming Qi, Su Zhou gazed at the two remaining ginseng roots beside him and began to ponder. ’If I had this kind of Spiritual Material to help me every day, reaching Awakening Peak—the realm of a Grandmaster in this world—would probably only take ten-odd days. I’ll ask the Rebel Army later what kind of Spiritual Objects they plan to give me as a reward. If it’s not something I desperately need, I’ll just trade it all for more Treasures of Heaven and Earth.’
While Su Zhou was focused on his Cultivation, the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army was busy preparing to forge Divine Soldiers and scouting the surrounding area. Soon, it was dinnertime.
The Taibai Mountain fortress had been gradually built over several years by the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army, with Martial Artists personally hauling the supplies. The food consisted mostly of long-lasting dry rations. Although there were also various dried fruits and vegetables, cured meats, and some alcohol, the quantities were limited. Everyone received a fixed portion, intended mainly to sustain the Martial Artists’ Blood Qi.
But today, to celebrate the arrival of their new Grandmaster, Su Zhou, the rations were doubled so everyone could enjoy a proper feast.
"Refining Essence and Transforming Qi is one thing, but eating is another."
In response to Yara’s quip, ’You can still eat more?’, Su Zhou, who occupied an entire table by himself like the other Grandmasters, declared righteously, "Eating Treasures of Heaven and Earth and eating a normal meal don’t use the same stomach. There’s no conflict."
Amidst the rare, festive atmosphere, Su Zhou closed his eyes, inhaling the aroma of food wafting from the nearby kitchen, and his heart filled with joy—it was cured meat claypot rice! (Large pot, 7,100 kcal!)
Although the food on the mountain couldn’t possibly compare to a fully-stocked tavern, let alone a modern restaurant, there was a certain pleasure in eating the cuisine of this era. As someone who loved exploring the unknown and experiencing all sorts of things, Su Zhou believed that you should eat food whether it’s delicious or disgusting. Only then could you be considered well-rounded.
Besides, how bad could cured meat claypot rice possibly be?
But in the midst of his anticipation, Su Zhou suddenly caught a very, very faint, fresh, and sweet scent—one he would have been utterly incapable of smelling if not for his Perfect Body, which gave him a natural sense of smell far beyond that of a normal human.
’This scent... it’s like a flower... no, it’s the scent of a fragrant leaf!’
—SLAM!
He slammed his hand on the table, creating a huge noise. Su Zhou rose to his feet and, under everyone’s astonished gazes, strode toward a cook walking out from the back kitchen carrying a jar of wine, an equally bewildered look on his face.
He politely took the jar of wine from the cook, then scanned everyone present and announced in a loud voice, "There’s poison in this wine."
"Everyone, if you aren’t strong enough, I suggest you stay back."
After he finished speaking, a few seconds passed. Once the Martial Artists and cooks around him had retreated several steps, Su Zhou’s eyes narrowed. Having used his ostentatious actions to confirm something in the crowd, he smiled, shattered the seal on the jar, and channeled the Spiritual Power in his hand.
WHOOSH!
In an instant, a plume of pale blue, toxic mist was forced out of the wine jar by his Spiritual Power—
And then, it was inhaled in a single gulp by Su Zhou, who had been ready for it!
’Mm, tastes pretty good. It has the refreshing sweetness of a mint... This mouthful of Spirit Poison, if only there were more of it, has a purity comparable to an Evil Demon Crystal! I’m a little stuffed.’
His Refining Essence and Transforming Qi technique spun wildly, converting the rare Spirit Poison into Spiritual Power.
Able to consume nutrients and poison alike, Su Zhou let out a long breath, then casually pointed to a Martial Artist at the very back of the crowd who was stealthily retreating, poised to run.
"He’s the one who planted the poison."
Hearing this, the Martial Artist instantly dropped all pretense. He drew upon his full power and sprinted with all his might toward the fortress exterior!
’What kind of monster is he! He could smell the Blue Azure Leaf Spirit Poison from several tables away, even though it was sealed in a jar! That’s not a human sense of smell!’
’A Demon, he really is a Demon!’
As the Martial Artist fled frantically under the moon, his heart was filled not only with panic at his mission’s failure but also with utter disbelief. ’A normal Grandmaster would have had to drink the wine to notice something was wrong! By then, the Spirit Poison would have already entered their Inner Strength circulation. Even if they managed to expel it in time, it would take them one or two months to fully recover their strength... Ah!’
BOOM—CRACK!
Accompanied by a deafening boom and the sound of shattering rock, the piercing shriek of wind suddenly erupted, rapidly closing in on the fleeing Martial Artist!
The fleeing Martial Artist was extremely fast, apparently having specialized in some form of Qinggong. However, as the violent shriek of wind—generated not by technique but by pure Spiritual Power—roared up from behind, he could feel a hand reaching for his back like an iron pincer!
’Impossible! Didn’t they say he doesn’t know Qinggong? How can he be this fast... Can you really do whatever you want just by having immense Inner Strength, without even needing Qinggong!?’
—But sorry, with enough force, even a brick can fly. And with enough Spiritual Power, you really can do whatever you want!
With no time to think, the fleeing Martial Artist grit his teeth, spun around, and channeled all his power into a direct palm strike. A wave of Inner Strength, righteous and overpowering but which burned away the life force of friend and foe alike, surged out like a tidal wave!
This strike, the ’Body-Burning and Stone-Splitting Palm,’ was a famously tyrannical Palm Technique, as well as a famously desperate one. In the moment of ’crisis setting the body aflame, the heart’s fire igniting on its own,’ even an ordinary Postnatal Martial Artist could instantly crack a boulder the size of a table. The point of impact would be pulverized by the Palm Force, which could penetrate a foot deep!
But the person chasing him was Su Zhou.
When these two incredibly heavy palms struck Su Zhou’s raised arm, they produced only two laughable sounds, a mere PAT, PAT. It was like striking a mountain. With a simple flex and shake of his arm, Su Zhou completely dissipated all the force.
Immediately after, Su Zhou’s other hand shot out. He curled his finger and flicked it toward the fleeing Martial Artist’s chin, intending to knock him senseless to prevent him from committing suicide and to facilitate interrogation later.
However, Su Zhou hadn’t anticipated that at the instant the man struck—or perhaps even before—he had already crushed a hidden capsule in his back tooth. By the time Su Zhou blocked the counterattack, the man had already stopped breathing and collapsed limply to the ground.
’...I lack experience. I thought that counterattack was a last-ditch effort, but it was really just to guarantee he could kill himself successfully.’
Lifting the dead man by his collar, Su Zhou "tsked" in annoyance.
By this time, the other three Grandmasters, along with Zhou Buyi and other experts, had arrived. They saw the fleeing Martial Artist’s powerful counterattack strike Su Zhou with all the effect of a mayfly trying to shake a tree, and they saw him stop breathing immediately after. They understood at once what had happened.
"This is normal. Even a Grandmaster probably couldn’t stop someone from committing suicide this way. He crushed the poison sac the instant you caught up to him. His counterattack was just his Dying Glow."
The bald Grandmaster Wei, who had years of experience fighting Demon Soldiers, took one look and immediately recognized the tactic. "It’s Heart-Burning Poison—a suicide poison we in the Rebel Army commonly use to prevent our bodies from being absorbed as nourishment by the enemy should we fall in battle against Demon Soldiers."
"But this poison is extremely precious and can also be used to injure Demon Soldiers. The suicide capsules are generally only issued to experts who have broken through to Postnatal Second Rank, or to Grandmasters. Where did Zeng Xi get his?"
It was a good question, but unfortunately, no one could answer it. Grandmaster Han, who had crouched down to examine the corpse in detail, mulled it over for a moment, then said, "There are no traces of the Undying Root or the Divine Wood Bloodline. He was a normal human."
"So there really is a traitor. He must have gotten anxious when he saw four Grandmasters here, realized an assault was unlikely to succeed, and decided to take a dangerous risk." Li Daoran fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "Even in a team we so carefully selected and trusted, a snake found its way in. If we can’t annihilate the Demon Dynasty soon, the lower ranks might hold out, but I’m afraid the upper echelons of the martial world will be entirely corrupted by their Power of Immortality."
"Thank you, Grandmaster Su, for exposing this villain’s plot!"
"It was nothing. I was looking out for myself as well."
Not much more was said. Traitors were a common occurrence. After thanking Su Zhou, the crowd marveled at his ability to simply swallow the Spirit Poison. The poison of the Blue Azure Leaf is potent, and though it has a faint, sweet scent that makes it somewhat easy to detect, that scent is easily masked when mixed in alcohol, especially strong liquor.
By discovering the poison, Su Zhou had arguably saved the lives of many people who enjoyed their drink.
The sight of Su Zhou digesting the Spirit Poison was also taken as powerful evidence that he was from the suspected ’Kunlun Jianmu Lineage’ of the west. After all, not even those from the Demon Dynasty’s own lineage could cure this poison, let alone digest it and convert it into Spiritual Power.
It had to be a Kunlun Secret Technique!
After such an incident, the celebration naturally couldn’t continue. With the exception of Su Zhou, who remained quite unconcerned and ate an entire pot of cured meat claypot rice by himself, most people found their food tasted like wax and drank very little.
’Morale has taken a hit.’ While eating off to one side, Su Zhou noticed that many people who were usually close with Zeng Xi were being called away for questioning by Zhou Buyi and Fang Hui, who were trying to root out more traitors.
And as soon as the investigation began, two more people committed suicide on the spot—one of them was even a Master Artisan!
This instantly sent the Grand Master into a fury. Alarmed, he rushed back to check the True Qi Furnace for any potential vulnerabilities or sabotage... The results were probably fine, however. Before those men killed themselves, Su Zhou had vaguely sensed the conflict in their expressions and hearts. He guessed they hadn’t thrown their lot in with the Anx Dynasty Demon Emperor willingly, but had been coerced somehow.
For a time, the entire camp was thrown into a massive investigation, leaving Su Zhou alone in the bustle.
—Alone atop Taibai Snow Mountain, drinking in the evening wind under an endless, snowy night sky... it created quite a poetic scene.
"The Anx Dynasty Demon Emperor... Sigh. Yara, why do so many people chase after immortality?"
Sitting in his chair, he watched the snow clouds that seemed to churn right before his eyes. Though he had addressed Yara, he was essentially talking to himself. He shook his head and said softly, "Anyone can pursue immortality. But if you do it by slaughtering countless humans and destroying innumerable lives, then being targeted and hunted down by someone like me is just you getting what’s coming to you."
"Su Zhou, only a chuuni would call himself ’retribution.’"
"I haven’t even graduated from middle school yet—and I’ll work hard to make this thought a reality, so it’s not just some chuuni delusion."
His belly full, Su Zhou returned to his tent alone, lay down on his inflatable mattress, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
The next day, not long after Su Zhou woke up, and before he had a chance to do anything, a Master Artisan wearing a small yellow cap found him.
"Grandmaster Su, the Grand Master is ready to reforge your weapon for you."
