“Eight hundred autumns since attaining the Dao, never have I used a flying sword to take a life…” Taoist Qinggu muttered. The torchlight illuminated his aged face, his blank gaze brewing with excitement.

“Eight hundred autumns since attaining the Dao, this eminent figure is from eight hundred years ago. Heavens, isn’t that even older than the Great Feng Dynasty?”

“A, a divine immortal from the Great Zhou era?”

“An immortal, truly an immortal…”

The surrounding martial artists trembled with excitement. They already knew about the terrifying ancient corpse sealed beneath the underground palace, that the collapse there was caused by a great battle, and about the miraculous events that occurred at Yangbai Lake at noon that day.

Gong Sun Xiu and the others had already informed every one of these things when they came up earlier.

Therefore, upon hearing this poem, no one doubted the cyan-robed man’s authenticity, believing him to be one of those ethereal experts who appear fleetingly in the world.

Gong Sun Xiu was slightly moved. The firelight dyed her face a warm orange, flames dancing in her dark, moist eyes. She gazed at the disappearing silhouette of the cyan-robed man, unable to withdraw her gaze for a long time.

…

After descending the mountain, Xu Qi’an circled a large bend along the mountain valley, entering the western side of the mountain range. He aimlessly searched the mountains for poisonous plants.

Seeking out toxic flora was an innate ability of the poison gu.

Even though Xu Qi’an knew nothing about poisons, as long as he embraced the poison gu and became one with it, he could inherit this ability.

He spent an entire night finding over a dozen poisonous plants of varying toxicity. The milder ones would cause vomiting and diarrhea at most, while the more potent ones could kill instantly upon contact with blood.

Additionally, he dug up several hibernating venomous snakes and extracted their venom.

The highly toxic substances available in pharmacies were limited and monotonous, which was not conducive to the poison gu’s development. Taking advantage of this trip, he decided to collect some poisonous materials here.

Upon returning, he planned to mix these with the ancient corpse’s venom to create a lethal poison that could kill instantly, using it to feed the poison gu.

This would increase his strength by several more points, giving him a stronger ability to deal with risks.

“I feel that if this continues, a poison master named Xu Qian might appear in the jianghu, perhaps even ranking among the top hundred…”

He might also become Xu Qian the notorious flower thief, Xu Qian the sworn brother, or Xu Qian the beast king. Of course, what Xu Qian does has nothing to do with me, Xu Qi’an.

I’m still the god in the hearts of Great Feng’s citizens.

Hmm, this time, I can’t let the Xu Qian alias slip… He gathered the poisonous plants and snake venom, found a pond, and cleaned the mud from his body and feet.

He returned to the Ju Jiu Lou before dawn. In the main hall, the waiter was sound asleep at the counter, and several stoves were burning hot water, the charcoal fire already very weak.

For a large inn like this, providing hot water throughout the night was the most basic service during autumn and winter.

The waiter didn’t notice a figure silently sneaking into the inn, heading towards the residential area.

Xu Qi’an walked along the long corridor, his ears suddenly twitching as he heard the sounds of a man and woman making love from one of the rooms.

The bed creaked rhythmically, the man’s panting and the woman’s muffled moans intertwining.

Really, morning exercise this early? There are still two hours until dawn… Xu Qi’an grumbled internally as he passed by the room emitting indescribable sounds and continued forward.

Come to think of it, the combination of the shadow gu and the love gu would be a dream tool for flower thieves.

This made him increasingly glad that he had transcended the category of crude martial artists, becoming a sufficiently flamboyant and mature jianghu hero.

Arriving at the room at the end, bright candlelight shone through the door crack.

Oh? Is she still not asleep?

Xu Qi’an knocked on the door. There was no response from inside, but Xu Qi’an heard a faint sound of someone pulling a blanket, and a chaotic, intense heartbeat.

He knocked again, but still no response from inside.

His body turned into a shadow and disappeared, then emerged from the shadow under the table.

In the warm, spring-like bedroom with elegant furnishings, Wang Fei Mu Nanzhi was curled up on the large brocade couch, the blanket pulled over her head, trembling.

No way, she stayed up all night out of fear? I know you’re timid and afraid of ghosts, but this is too cowardly… He had always been fond of teasing women, and seeing the Wang Fei in such a state, he quietly approached.

His hands silently slipped under the covers.

The Wang Fei, peering through a crack in the blanket towards the door, didn’t notice the hands entering the bedding.

Just as she was highly tense, a pair of ice-cold hands suddenly gripped her waist, and a loud shout came from beside her ear: “Hey!”

“Aaaaah!”

The Wang Fei’s whole body jolted, letting out a high-pitched scream.

She flailed about like an amateur who had only learned a few shoddy moves, kicking wildly and throwing punches in the blanket, her rosy little mouth continuously emitting shrieks.

Even though he had only pinched her waist once and immediately let go, the aftereffects were so severe. She kept kicking, punching, and screaming for quite a while before gradually calming down.

Then she heard familiar laughter coming from beside the bed. Teary-eyed, she looked over to see Xu Qi’an sitting on the bed, laughing to the point of tears.

“I’ll fight you to the death!”

Mu Nanzhi lunged at him, crying, intending to tear Xu Yinluo apart with her bare hands.

After a bout of commotion, realizing her strength was no match for her target, she wrapped herself in the blanket, lying on her side with her back to him, sulking alone and silently cursing in her heart.

“Hey, were you really that scared just now? I told you I’d be back before dawn. What should we have for lunch? The best thing to eat in Yong Province this season is still lake crab.” Xu Qi’an attempted to ease the atmosphere with conversation.

She stubbornly refused to turn around.

Proud women were always difficult to appease, especially after suffering such a great grievance. But neither of them realized that the truly inappropriate action was the waist-pinching, not the scare itself.

Xu Qi’an sat behind the large desk, pondering how to collect dragon energy in the bright candlelight.

The materials for the soul-summoning bell were difficult to gather. It was impossible to collect other materials in the short term. Obtaining the ancient corpse’s nails and venom was already a perfect completion of the task.

Next, he needed to consider how to collect dragon energy.

“As one of the thirteen provinces of Great Feng, Yong Province must have dragon energy hosts. This is beyond doubt. But with Yong Province city and its subordinate counties and prefectures, there are millions of people. Even if I’m a small radar myself, I can’t possibly walk every inch of Yong Province’s land.

“Moreover, doing so would be foolish and inefficient. I need to think of a time and energy-saving method…”

He associated this with the ancient corpse in the underground palace and the Gong Sun clan. A vague idea surfaced in his mind, but he couldn’t fully form it yet.

At this moment, he heard even breathing. Mu Nanzhi had fallen asleep at some point, her breathing steady, sleeping peacefully.

In the candlelight, he smiled, his expression gentle.

…

The next day.

At the Gong Sun manor, Gong Sun Xiu rode a fast horse, returning to the manor before dawn, heading straight for the courtyard where her father, Gong Sun Xiangyang, resided.

Gong Sun Xiangyang was a peak Internal Energy stage martial artist, just one step away from the fourth rank. In Yong Province, he was considered one of the top experts.

Normally, in a province, there would always be three or four fourth-rank martial artists. After all, with a population base of several million, Yong Province also had fourth-rank experts, but they had joined the imperial court and held official positions.

In these times, how could organizing forces in the jianghu compare to being an official?

Places like Sword Province, where martial arts flourished, were exceptions. That’s why Sword Province was called the martial arts holy land of Great Feng’s jianghu.

Gong Sun Xiangyang had just climbed off the soft belly of a beautiful concubine. As maids helped him dress and wash up, he reflected on his life at forty-three, still in his prime.

This year, he had already successfully impregnated three concubines. The one in bed was a newly acquired young concubine, only eighteen, two years younger than his most relied-upon daughter, Gong Sun Xiu.

Gong Sun Xiangyang planned to have her conceive this year as well. For jianghu families, as long as the tool was still usable, one couldn’t forget the important task of expanding the family line.

The path of martial arts relied heavily on talent. The larger the population base, the higher the chance of producing geniuses.

Those families that only had odd numbers of children inevitably weakened over time.

Before he could finish washing up, he saw his beloved daughter storming into the courtyard.

Standing in the yard, she called out in a delicate voice: “Father, there’s an urgent matter.”

Knowing his daughter had organized clan members to explore the tomb last night, Gong Sun Xiangyang immediately grabbed a towel from a maid, wiped his face, and strode out of the room.

Gong Sun Xiangyang looked at his travel-worn daughter in shock: “Xiu’er, you, you…”

In just one night, his twenty-year-old daughter had become haggard, her face pale, her eyes weary, no longer the bright-eyed, spirited girl she once was.

“Daughter has lost a large amount of vital energy. I’ll recover after resting for a while,” Gong Sun Xiu said.

Gong Sun Xiangyang’s expression immediately turned serious. He scrutinized his daughter up and down, and seeing she wasn’t injured, he let out a slight sigh of relief and asked in a low voice:

“What’s the situation in the great tomb? How are the casualties among our clan members?”

“Daughter returned specifically for this matter. It’s not suitable to speak here, Father. Let’s go to the study,” Gong Sun Xiu said.