52车

At the foot of the mountain.

Han Zhao wore a mask and his white clothes were spotless. He held a black box in his hand and walked into the cave where the Saber Hunters’ stronghold was.

In front of him was a deep corridor. Lamps hung on the walls on both sides, and the dim yellow light illuminated the passage.

Han Zhao walked all the way to the end and saw a spacious underground hall.

At this moment, a burly man with a fierce expression and a height of nearly two meters stood in front of the counter. He carried a saber that was nearly 1.2 meters tall on his right shoulder and a blood-stained head in his left hand.

He casually threw his head on the counter and handed over the mission to the officer behind the counter.

Trickle…

Blood flowed down the counter and dripped to the ground.

The pungent smell of blood spread out, but the official’s expression was very respectful, and he did not show any dissatisfaction.

The burly man did not hide anything and directly revealed his true appearance. Clearly, he was very confident in his strength.

“Lord Lei, this is your bounty. Please keep it well.” After the official confirmed it, he handed over twenty taels of silver with both hands.

“Okay.” Lei Hu took the silver and turned to leave. When he noticed Han Zhao not far behind him, he was stunned.

Han Zhao was dressed in white and had a funny fox mask on his face. He had thin arms and legs and didn’t look like a Saber Hunter at all.

However, when he saw the wanted poster on the black box in Han Zhao’s hand, he no longer looked down on him.

“You killed the Pine Breeze Swordsman, Zhou Han?!” Lei Hu’s eyes widened as he pointed at the box in Han Zhao’s hand. This Pine Breeze Swordsman, Zhou Han, was an expert in the Bone Tempering Realm. He had chased after him a few times, but they could only fight to a draw.

A quasi-Martial Master at the Blood Tempering Realm disdained to be a Saber Hunter, so the strongest among them was at the Bone Tempering Realm.

As long as the fugitives didn’t enter Blackrock City and only wreaked havoc nearby, and didn’t provoke any large factions, the experts in the city wouldn’t specially pursue them. At most, the county office would issue a bounty mission and get the Saber Hunter to deal with them.

Zhou Han, the Pine Breeze Swordsman, was one of the strongest wanted criminals in the vicinity, but he was actually killed by this weak-looking masked man?

“Mm.” Han Zhao glanced at Lei Hu and replied indifferently. The persona he gave Song Que was cold and aloof.

“My name is Lei Hu. I wonder who you are…?” Lei Hu cupped his fists and introduced himself. Although Han Zhao’s attitude was very cold, he still wanted to befriend him.

“Song Que.” Han Zhao’s tone remained unchanged.

“I didn’t know that there was an expert like Brother Song nearby. You really have an extraordinary bearing.” Lei Hu’s smile did not fade. Seeing that the masked man had no intention of befriending him, he was not anxious. It was normal for people in their line of work to be vigilant.

“I won’t disturb Brother Song anymore. Please go ahead.” Lei Hu made way for him.

“Okay.” Han Zhao nodded and walked to the counter.

Lei Hu’s intention to befriend him was obvious, but the more people he knew, the easier it was to be exposed, so Han Zhao didn’t want to pay attention to him.

Seeing this, Lei Hu was not angry. He turned around and walked out.

In the martial arts world, having more friends meant having more options.

He had been in the martial arts world for a long time, so he preferred to befriend people with Song Que’s personality. This was because although such people were arrogant and difficult to get close to, most of them were not sinister and cunning. They were much better than people who hid sabers in their smiles.

“Lord Song.” The official also heard their conversation. Seeing Han Zhao put the black box on the counter, he immediately bowed respectfully and began to verify it.

He remembered Song Que’s attire. Previously, Song Que had killed a Skin Tempering Flower Picking Bee, Kuai Wei. However, he had sold a cultivation technique that could cultivate to the Blood Tempering Realm. At that time, the official only thought that Song Que was lucky and had encountered a fat sheep.

Unexpectedly, after not seeing him for more than half a year, Song Que directly killed the most troublesome person in the Bone Tempering Realm, Zhou Han. Clearly, Song Que was an expert in the Bone Tempering Realm back then and was only using the Flower Picking Bee to practice.

The official was glad that he did not neglect the other party at that time, nor did he deliberately ask for it when purchasing cultivation methods and exchanging gold.

“Lord Song, this is your bounty. It’s a total of twenty-five taels of silver. Do you want to exchange it for gold?”

“Mm.” Han Zhao nodded.

The head of this Bone Tempering Realm wanted criminal was really worthless. Fortunately, the spoils of war were powerful.

Zhou Han had more than ten taels of silver and a book of the Pine Breeze Sword Technique that could be cultivated to the Blood Tempering Realm.

Han Zhao indeed wanted to practice a sword technique, but he planned to practice it after reaching the Blood Tempering Realm. This way, it wouldn’t delay his cultivation progress.

The reason why he wanted to cultivate sword techniques was to raise the level of the [Sword and Saber Duo] Trait.

He realized that after his Saber Dao Aptitude increased by five times, there was no notification of proficiency growth. It was probably because the proficiency of his Sword Dao Aptitude was dragging him down.

The [Sword and Saber Duo] Trait was a growth-type Trait that could allow him to advance another two levels. It was one of the important things he relied on for his cultivation.

However, he was not prepared to cultivate the Pine Breeze Sword Technique. He did not care about the cultivation technique that could not grasp Internal Force.

Moreover, this sword technique leaned towards dexterity and elegance. The corresponding combat method was a fight. He liked instantaneous and long-lasting bursts of power. Persistent combat was not his combat style.

Just as he was about to sell the Pine Breeze Sword Technique, he realized that when the official handed over two taels of gold and three taels of silver, he also handed over a green token.

There was the word “District” engraved on the front and a word “Chen” on the back.

“What’s this?”

“Lord Song, this is the entry token for the Nine Links Town’s Chen Family Fort’s auction.” The official explained.

“The cultivation method to practice weapons is much more expensive than ordinary cultivation methods. According to the purchase price here, you can only sell this Pine Breeze Sword Technique for 70 to 80 taels at most. If it’s put up for auction, it can be sold for at least 100 taels of silver. The Zhao family’s commission is only 5%, and the Zhao family’s castle can also be exchanged for gold.”

When Han Zhao heard this, he sized up the official and immediately reacted.

“Okay, got it.” He took the token, took out a silver coin from his purse, and threw it to the other party.

“Thank you, Lord Song!” The official took the silver and smiled even more warmly.

It wasn’t like he was the one making money from the government. He had already made a profit by selling a favor to Song Que, not to mention that he had to be rewarded.

“The auction is held once every three months. There are still fifty-one days until the next auction.”

“Okay.” Han Zhao turned around and left.

It was a pity that he could not copy the cultivation method and sell a few more copies. Otherwise, he could earn more money.

After Han Zhao left the hall, the official took out more than ten copper coins and handed them to his colleague.

Looking at how the other person was collecting money, they knew that this was not the first time they had done such a thing.

…

Han Zhao returned home and charged two taels of gold into the system.

[Current Balance: 4 taels of gold]

[15 Notification Fragments have been collected. Do you want to synthesize the Trait?]

[This will consume 20 Notification Fragments, 3 taels of gold…]

“No.” Han Zhao muttered in his heart. The Yin energy in his heart had been exhausted recently.

However, the Essence Soul Bead seemed to automatically accumulate Yin energy. He could absorb it every three months or so. The Yin energy inside was enough for him to accumulate 10 to 15 notifications.

In a few days, he would be able to absorb Yin energy and accumulate more notifications to simulate it.

Han Zhao realized that there was a benefit to this. He could wait until he needed a proper notification before absorbing the Yin energy inside to avoid hearing those flirtatious words.

After selling the Pine Breeze Sword Technique, he could go to Edge Sharpening Manor to customize a better saber. He could also save the remaining money to buy supplementary food and nourishing herbs.

As long as he did not encounter any bottlenecks, even if he did not simulate it for a certain period of time, his current cultivation progress was not slow.

“There’s still 51 days before the auction. I can get some more money.”

…

One and a half months later.

During this period of time, Han Zhao had killed a few more wanted criminals, but they were all Skin Tempering martial artists. The bounty was not high, and the cultivation techniques on him were extremely poor. In total, they had only brought him 40 taels of silver.

He did not plan to go out for the rest of the time.

The auction would end in a week. In another week, he would go to the martial arts school and tell Lu Yi that he had broken through.

However, plans could not keep up with changes. In the evening, Han Zhao had just returned home when he saw someone waiting at his door.

After asking, he found out that Edge Sharpening Manor had encountered some trouble and needed him to make a trip tomorrow.

After the other party left, Han Zhao returned to his room.

“Little troublemaker? I remember that in the last simulation, because of Edge Sharpening Manor, I seemed to have provoked the Flying Dragon Stockade on Nine Links Mountain.”

After all, he was in Edge Sharpening Manor, he could not take the money for nothing.

“Steady.” Thinking of this, Han Zhao prepared to simulate it first.

[Collected 30 Notification Fragments. Do you want to synthesize a Trait?]

[Synthesized once. Consumed 20 Notification Fragments…]

“Synthesize. Beginning simulation.”

[18 years old. You broke through to Bone Tempering. You were entrusted by Edge Sharpening Manor to come into contact with Flying Dragon Stockade.]

[When you returned to Edge Sharpening Manor, you entrusted Deputy Manor Master Zhu Kangsheng to forge a good saber for you. The other party said that he would do everything he could to forge a saber for you. He hoped that you can kill the leader of the Flying Dragon Stockade, ‘Flying Dragon Saber’ Qi Xing. You didn’t want to be enemies with Blood Tempering martial artists, so you didn’t agree.]

[After that, you participated in the auction.]

[A week later, you informed Lu Yi that you had broken through. The other party was overjoyed and agreed to keep it a secret for you. Half a year later, news of you breaking through to the Bone Tempering Realm spread.]

[22 years old. Your Life Nurturing Technique broke through to the Third Level. You went to Edge Sharpening Manor to buy a better saber. Zhu Kangsheng made another request and you agreed.]

[After spending two months scouting, you took advantage of Qi Xing’s absence and ambushed him halfway. You successfully killed him and brought the head to Zhu Kangsheng.]

[Three months later, Zhu Kangsheng informed you to get the saber. When you arrived, he actually jumped into the fire and sacrificed himself to forge the saber. You were shocked. A blood-colored saber was forged. You waved it gently and felt that the saber was oppressive.]

[A month later, you left the city to attend an auction at the Chen Family Fort. Halfway there, you were attacked by a Blood Tempering expert. You forced him back with three slashes.]

[You sensed danger and decided to return to Blackrock City. On the way, three Blood Tempering Realm martial artists launched a surprise attack on you. You killed one and severely injured two. In the end, you died from exhaustion.]

“Is the danger in the Flying Dragon Stockade so deep?”

“What kind of grudge does this Deputy Manor Master have that he would sacrifice himself for this saber?”

Han Zhao looked at the information in the simulation and fell into deep thought.