Chapter 11: Regret, No Bone Rot Powder

Fury consumed Wang Zhong. Someone had dared to ambush him in his moment of distraction, and worse, had slaughtered his family members. The power of Acquired 8th Layer cultivation was fully unleashed. In a rage-filled retaliation, he sent Zhang Shen soaring through the air.

Seeing the bodies of his dead comrades, Wang Zhong’s rage intensified.

“Bastard! Prepare to meet your maker.”

His Drizzling Rain Sword Technique fell with the intensity of heavy rain.

Upon landing, Zhang Shen rolled over, calling upon the Full Moon Amid Sparse Stars. His sword qi formed a wall, attempting to deflect the downpour. However, the wrathful onslaught of an Acquired 8th Layer warrior was not something that a 6th Layer counterpart could easily withstand.

The discrepancy in their qi quality was too large.

If constant drips of water could erode stone, what about a relentless downpour?

The sword qi wall held for a moment before it was breached. The Cold Moon Blade was sent spiraling through the air.

‘Seamless Light Rain!’ 

Wang Zhong unveiled his lethal move, thrusting his sword toward Zhang Shen’s skull. Wang Zhong was entirely confident that the audacious ambusher would have his head punctured by his sword.

However, with a resonating clap, a pair of sturdy palms clasped onto the long sword, halting its advance.

Before Wang Zhong could realize what had happened, Zhang Shen’s physical strength of the Acquired 9th Layer erupted.

‘Tenfold Power Strike, Tenth level!’

Mustering all his strength, Zhang Shen delivered a crushing kick to Wang Zhong’s chest, causing a brutal and pure force to explode within him. The power, comparable to ten full-strength strikes, detonated and tore through Wang Zhong’s chest, decimating it entirely.

“You underestimated your opponent.”

That was all Wang Zhong heard before his head and heart were simultaneously struck, both areas devastatingly obliterated. Wang Zhong’s mutilated body tumbled straight to the ground.

Zhang Shen casually dusted his hands and picked up his Cold Moon Blade that had been sent flying.

Had he revealed his overwhelming prowess from the start, Zhang Shen feared that Wang Zhong would have run away. If a warrior at the Acquired 8th Layer used all his strength to escape, even Zhang Shen wasn’t confident he could stop him.

Zhang Shen searched the bodies, examining the four corpses sprawled on the ground from top to bottom.

In total, he found two storage bags, a handful of secret scrolls, and a few magical items. The storage bag was retrieved from Wang Zhong, while the other secret scrolls and magical items were found on Qin Shuang, Wang Quan, and Wang Min.

“Found it.”  Zhang Shen’s joy was heightened by the discovery of the map.

“An item that an Acquired 8th Layer warrior would desperately seek, even enlisting the help of an Acquired 5th and 6th Layer. The mere thought sends a thrill through me.”

Due to the considerable distance, Zhang Shen hadn’t heard Wang Zhong’s mumblings. Yet, he deduced that an object held in such high regard by an Acquired 8th Layer must be related to the Innate Stage.

‘What else could possibly capture the attention of a warrior at this cultivation level?’  he thought. And this was why Zhang Shen resolutely ambushed the trio, without a moment’s hesitation.

According to the map, Zhang Shen deduced that the marked location was at the edge of the Endless Wilderness.

The Endless Wilderness stood as a dividing line between the human and beast races, serving as both a boundary and a battleground for countless years. Due to the conflicts between the two races, the earth’s veins in this region have been severely damaged. Also, many powerful beings had also met their demise here. Young warriors, seeking the opportunities left by these fallen powerhouses, venture into this wilderness in a ceaseless stream. While some found success, far more were buried within this vast expanse. The relics left by these fallen warriors represented immense riches.

With this in mind, Zhang Shen surveyed the map, “I should find some time to explore this.”

Then Zhang Shen began sorting through the possessions of Wang Zhong, Wang Quan, and Wang Min.

“These were actually members of the Wang family from Jiuchuan City.”

Zhang Shen exclaimed in relief, feeling fortunate that he had been decisive, killing them all without leaving a trace, otherwise, there would be big trouble.

Jiuchuan City, much like Hongyuan City, was situated at the perimeter of the Endless Wilderness. However, unlike Hongyuan City, governed by three families, the Wang family held absolute control in Jiuchuan City.

Even a combined force of the three families would barely measure up to the might of the Wang family.

“Despite them also lacking a True Core expert, the Wang family has more comprehensive cultivation methods than the Zhang, Lin, and Ye families, and their strongest warrior is significantly superior.”

Zhang Shen pondered, a flicker of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

He snapped a stout branch from a nearby tree and smashed Qin Shuang, Wang Zhong, Wang Quan, and Wang Min’s bodies into pulp before burying them in the ground. He then destroyed all traces of the battle around.

“It’s a regret that I don’t have any Bone Dissolving Powder to turn the bones into liquid.”

Zhang Shen quietly lamented his inexperience and lack of appropriate tools for body disposal.

“It can’t be helped, after all, I didn’t have a storage bag.”

Zhang Shen patted the two storage bags he had tucked into his pouch. Not every warrior roaming the Endless Wilderness carried such a device.

The Zhang family had a few, all in possession of several individuals in the Innate Stage, and a handful of Acquired 8th and 9th Layer held them.

“A lone cultivator at the Acquired 5th Layer, having acquired a storage bag and a map that may lead to an Innate Stage opportunity, indeed had tremendous luck. But he was too negligent and allowed himself to become a target. He must’ve carelessly revealed some information. I can’t repeat this mistake,” Zhang Shen warned himself.

Having transferred all his loot into the storage bags, he felt greatly satisfied. This time, he had hit the jackpot, and his wealth amplified manifold.

“A horse wouldn’t grow fat without night grazing, this saying is right. Unfortunately, I can’t do this kind of thing often, otherwise, how long can one walk along the river without getting their shoes wet?”

With the two storage bags in his bosom, Zhang Shen resumed his mission and headed to the edge of the swamp and found that the rogue cultivator was indeed hiding in the swamp.

This time, he had no interest in using this opportunity to train. Using the Cloud-Drifting Step technique, he sneaked within ten meters of the rogue cultivator, his physical strength surging. With a single strike, he killed the rogue cultivator of the Acquired 4th Layer.

Swiftly inspecting the corpse and procuring some identifying evidence, Zhang Shen departed back to Hongyuan City.

After he left, the swamp devoured the corpse of the rogue cultivator. The scent of blood lured numerous carnivorous creatures and poisonous beings residing within the swamp, which consumed the flesh and eroded the bones.

Back in Hongyuan City, Zhang Shen submitted his mission and retreated to his residence. He had not carefully evaluated the items, but now that he reached his dwelling and with the door securely locked, Zhang Shen emptied the contents of the storage bags.

“There are as many as seven hundred low-grade spirit stones.”

A surge of self-assurance swelled within Zhang Shen. It felt as though he was leaning against a mountain–a mountain crafted from spirit stones.

While he had always been well-resourced, the number of spirit stones had always fluctuated between a modest ten to a few dozen, which didn’t exactly make him rich. After developing a more concrete sense of his wealth, Zhang Shen turned his attention to assessing the remaining items.

A top-grade Acquired sword, a pair of broken low-grade Acquired double maces, a low-grade Acquired tiger hook sword, a pair of mid-grade Acquired wind walking boots which he had taken from Qin Shuang, two top-grade Acquired cultivation techniques, three mid-grade Acquired martial techniques, and five low-grade Acquired martial techniques.

The martial arts covered a wide range of areas, offering a comprehensive mix.

“I can’t expose these martial techniques at the moment, and I lack the time to cultivate them. However, I can skim through them to gain some insight. Moreover, once I’ve exhausted the resources of my family’s martial techniques, these will come in handy.”

The Zhang family’s cultivation technique had its restrictions, reaching its ceiling at the Innate Stage 5th Layer.

In the future, Zhang Shen’s cultivation would inevitably confront this limitation. But the issue wasn’t critical, if his cultivation hit a standstill, he could earn experience points and increase his physical level by practicing other low-grade martial techniques. It wouldn’t hinder him at all.