"Alchemy with human lives..." Chen Mu's expression shifted between clear and dark.
"In the end, I'm still too soft-hearted!" Chen Mu let out a sigh.
But thinking of the Ghosts that might appear at any moment, Chen Mu once again found himself in a dilemma.
"Replicate a few more Secret Medicines from Zhu Yi Pavilion?" An idea sparked in Chen Mu's mind.
The income from Spirit Sand Pills and Gentle Breeze Powder could earn him more than three hundred Silver a month.
To use this income to buy the exorbitantly priced Zuming Talismans was truly a drop in the bucket.
"While expensive Secret Medicines have high profits, they're rarely used." Chen Mu sighed.
It was only Elixirs like the Dragon Transformation Pill, which could enhance one's strength, that would sell out regardless of the price.
"Can't other creatures replace living humans?" Chen Mu stared at the last paragraph of the Thousand Mountains Sutra, unwilling to give up.
At the very end, there was a section of text several hundred characters long.Although he recognized every character, when combined they became meaningless gibberish.
He was familiar with such texts; hidden within them were the Curse Commands to activate Magic Artifacts.
"Soul Locking Curse?" Chen Mu's eyes narrowed slightly: "Why not start practicing this Curse first?"
...
Da Liang 641st year, April 16.
Chen Residence, Lin Heng Lane.
Beneath the octagonal pavilion, black smoke billowed, and a dark iron ingot the size of a watermelon appeared on the stone table.
Chen Mu took a deep breath and a Dagger materialized in his right hand.
Hisss!
With an almost inaudible swoosh, nine holes silently appeared on the iron ingot.
The edges of the holes were crimson, and the nearby air was slightly distorted by the high temperature.
Chen Mu bent down to find that the nine holes went all the way through, perfectly pierced by the Sleeve Sword Technique.
Chen Mu looked towards the grey wall.
Sleeve Sword Technique: 178/10000/Fourth Rank;
"I wonder if the current Sleeve Sword Technique could pierce through Shell Soul." Chen Mu looked at the Ebony Dagger with a bit of eagerness.
The last time he encountered Zhuo Yinghai.
He had to go all out to execute Qiankun Strike, and he could only slightly puncture the opponent's Soul Strength.
Now that he had broken through to the Third Rank and acquired a Secret Technique called Cloud Piercer.
It enabled him to induce high-frequency vibrations at the sword tip upon striking, thereby delivering tremendous piercing force.
Combined with the inherent hardness and sharpness of the Ebony Sword, Chen Mu's excitement surged.
His left hand was quickly covered by Jet Black Soul Strength. Right hand holding the sword, he aimed the tip at the palm of his left hand, and then... Chen Mu put the Sleeve Sword Technique away. ŗἈɴȮＢƐṢ
"That hurts quite a bit... Better try it on a Wandering Soul expert next time."
After staying at home for five or six days, his injuries had completely healed.
The White Jade Toad Shape Cultivation Technique, which he had devoted a lot of energy to, had yet to break through to the Fourth Rank.
Yet the long-neglected Sleeve Sword Technique quietly reached the Fourth Rank.
The muscles and bones of his whole body transformed once again, to an extent similar to the White Ape Shape Cultivation Technique.
The improvement in physical fitness was less than ten percent, but coordination had greatly increased. The power output became more fluid, and the strength of the Sleeve Sword Technique more than tripled.
Moreover, with the Cloud Piercer Secret Technique, it dramatically increased the piercing force.
...
Putting away the iron ingot and Sleeve Sword Technique, Chen Mu took out two Zuming Talismans and laid them on the stone table.
"Two thousand eight hundred Silver for one... Even a heroic man is tripped by money."
Thinking back to the Ghosts he encountered a few days ago, Chen Mu still felt a lingering fear.
That was just one, and if he encountered a group...
"Two talismans won't be enough." Chen Mu felt a chill in his scalp.
He even started to miss Lin Que a little.
The generous gift from the leader of the Startling Swan Gang, Master Lin, allowed Chen Mu to live lavishly for a while.
Renting any house he wished, visiting Chunfeng Tower at will, eating large chunks of meat and drinking bowls of milk with plenty to spare.
"Without windfall, a man doesn't get rich," Chen Mu was tempted: "Time to find another easy mark?"
As he thought about it, he couldn't help but smile wryly and shake his head: "Thoughts of killing and looting just naturally come to mind."
"Bad company corrupts good character," Chen Mu sighed.
"It's all this damned world's fault! It almost shook my kind nature!"
Chen Mu quickly admonished himself: "I must be a good person, I absolutely must not actively seek trouble."
After continuously reinforcing this mental suggestion to himself, Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief with confidence.
"Or maybe... show off a bit of wealth in gambling dens or the black market?"
It took a good while for Chen Mu to suppress the tempting thought with a firm will.
But a bright light suddenly flashed through his mind: "That Pavilion Master Lin, it seems he didn't just give away a large sum of money."
"Dragon Transformation Pill... What was the other elixir called again?
"Six Flavors Treasure or Power Pill?"
"Forget it, forget it, it's not important."
"Um... let's just call it Blue Medicine Pill."
...
Dusk.
Jie Jia looked at the porcelain bottle in front of him and asked, "What is this?"
"Blue Medicine Pill," Chen Mu said calmly.
Jie Jia, who had seen much and knew much, opened the bottle and took a sniff, his eyelids twitching involuntarily.
"It looks like you really are short on money."
The Blue Medicine Pill of ghosts, this is the imitation of Golden Sun Pill. The aphrodisiac that is in high demand but short supply in the Red Ship's pleasure house.
Jie Jia looked puzzled at Chen Mu: "Didn't you give me all your Golden Sun Pills?"
"With your current skills, you can replicate it just from memory?"
Chen Mu's face twitched and he said calmly, "Of course!"
Jie Jia looked at Chen Mu with a smile that was not a smile: "So you had already replicated it in advance."
"To replicate such a medicine, this is... a precaution, or... a precaution?" Jie Jia's face was full of deep meaning.
Chen Mu emphasized with an expressionless face, "I want to make one thing clear, when I first figured it out, it was purely for practicing Pharmaceutical Technique."
"Besides, what would I need this thing for? It's completely useless to me!"
Jie Jia's mouth twitched into a sincere nod, "Right, you just did it for practice."
Chen Mu: "..."
"Let's eat, let's eat!" Chen Mu quickly got up and went to the kitchen to serve dishes.
Today, he had specially stewed a pot of braised pork in an earthen jar.
Slowly simmered on a low heat all afternoon, the meat was shiny and reddish-brown, tender and soft, easily breaking apart with the touch of chopsticks.
Walking out of the kitchen, Chen Mu was once again composed.
Ignoring the undisguised mockery in Jie Jia's eyes
It was just a slightly peculiar gaze.
Making money, after all, is nothing to be ashamed of.
...
After the meal, Chen Mu brought out sesame cakes and served warm herbal tea.
More than halfway through April, the weather in Nanyang was getting steadily hotter. Drinking a cooling herbal tea was just right for the season.
Holding a wooden cup, Chen Mu took an easy sip of the slightly bitter, sweet herbal tea and casually asked, "Does the Zuming Talisman definitely come from a living person?"
Jie Jia glanced at Chen Mu: "Living creatures."
"Humans can be used, so can spirits and beasts, and even ordinary domestic animals will do."
Spirits? Chen Mu held back his curiosity and continued to inquire, "Then why do the great families insist on using humans?"
"Efficiency," Jie Jia said flatly. "A choice between ten thousand cows and a hundred people, which would you pick?"
A chill suddenly ran through Chen Mu's heart.
"Moreover, some Magic Artifacts require a Human Soul during their consecration," Jie Jia added calmly.
Chen Mu was silent.
In this world of strict hierarchy, the children of great families stood high above, never caring for the lives of common folk.
To them, commoners were merely slaves, cattle. In their eyes, a hundred people certainly couldn't compare to ten thousand cows.
Thinking about the Dragon Transformation Pills, Huang Ya Pills, and all the other elixirs circulating in the Jianghu, Chen Mu felt his whole body tense.
Whether they knew it or not, those in the Jianghu who consumed the elixirs all seemed repugnant.
And as for the members of the families at the Origin of Elixirs, labeling them as demons in human skin would be no exaggeration.
It was always the ordinary people who were the passive victims.
"The tragedy of the weak..." Chen Mu sighed.
He couldn't help but think of the fog in Qingshan County.
"I certainly don't want to die without understanding why."
After seeing off Jie Jia, Chen Mu took out the Thousand Mountains Sutra and began to recite the Soul Locking Curse.
Since domestic animals could be used as substitutes, there was no reason for him to give up on replicating the Dragon Transformation Pill.
The sudden onslaught of Ghosts hung over his heart like dark clouds, always leaving Chen Mu feeling uneasy.
He urgently needed a large number of Zuming Talismans.
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