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Chapter 582: Plucking a Tiger’s Whiskers; Breaking Ground above Taisui (part 1)

“Faith,” he murmured. Thanks to his previous experiments, he already knew what the second subtest was about.

The second subtest of faith was something that ninety-nine percent of cultivators in the Moonrite Region wouldn’t have a problem with. It was primarily designed to weed out cultivators from the Red Moon Cathedral. If you had faith in the red moon, or had blessings from the red moon within you, then you couldn’t pass the test.

Xu Qing sighed. He knew full well that, considering how he had passed the first subtest, the second subtest was going to be incredibly difficult.

The first subtest basically proves that the Moonrebel Congregation can’t distinguish between my violet moon and the red moon....

It made sense considering that both the violet moon and the red moon were essentially the same type of authority. Their affiliations were different, but to Xu Qing, it was still going to be a frustrating conundrum. He obviously didn’t exercise faith in either the red moon or Crimson Mother. However, his violet moon power would make it seem like he was a red moon cultivator. In fact, it was possible it could make him seem like a godchild.

I need to think of another way to pass the subtest.

He didn’t want to perform any casual experiments, but at the same time, wasn’t ready to give up. After spending some time thinking about his Master’s style of doing things, he came up with some ideas. However, he needed more time to contemplate the finer details.

Just like that, days passed.

The shadow kept going out to hunt for Xu Qing. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior worked hard from the rafters to keep a close eye on all customers. And Sprouty kept growing; every day it would sway back and forth almost like it was dancing. Ling’er seemed to be in a better mood each day as she ended up spending more and more time on bookkeeping.

Now that their medicine shop had been open for a while, and word had spread about their white boluses, they were starting to get some repeat customers.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior made sure to stay more vigilant than ever. That said, he never had to actually do anything. Most of the cultivators who came to buy medicinal pills were in the Qi Condensation level, with only a handful in Foundation Establishment.

White boluses were most commonly used by Qi Condensation cultivators. Although there were a few high-level cultivators among the residents, most such customers were rogue cultivators stopping by on their travels through the Bitter Life Mountains. People like that could easily get white boluses through a number of channels, and generally looked down on small medicine shops.

There were scattered organizations based in the Bitter Life Mountains. Some were made up of people from the same species, while others had been started by teams who worked well together. Low-level cultivators from such groups, as well as ordinary residents of the city, were the most common customers.

At the moment, a young man had just entered the shop. He wore a voluminous robe, and was roughly in the fifth level of Qi Condensation. He came from a mid-sized organization nearby, and had heard about the shop from a friend who had previously purchased pills.

Upon entering, he looked around vigilantly. The first thing he noticed was the ugly girl behind the counter doing bookkeeping. Seeing that the place wasn’t dangerous, he walked up to the counter.

“I want ten white boluses!” he said, putting ten spirit coins down in front of him.

Eyes lighting up, Ling’er quickly scooped up the spirit coins, examined them carefully, and after she was sure they were authentic, handed the customer a bag.

“Come back again!” she said with a smile.

The young man looked through the bag and found that, just as his friend had told him, the pills were different from the kind commonly available. They had no impurities. Taking out a pill, he put it in his mouth. Ten breaths of time later, he was covered with a sheen of sweat. His eyes widened.

They’re so effective! With that, he took a few steps toward the door, then stopped and looked back at Ling’er.

Ling’er smiled back at him. “Is there any other way I can help you, sir?”

The young man hesitated. Acting a bit more respectfully than before thanks to how effective the pill was, he lowered his voice and asked, “Do you have any antidote pills? During my daily cultivation routine lately, I keep coughing up black, noxious blood. Also, I feel pain in my chest near my heart. Sometimes it hurts so badly I can’t even meditate. I suspect I’ve been poisoned.”

Ling’er looked him up and down, then opened her mouth to speak. Before she could, the young man said, “I have a whole spirit stone here!”

Ling’er blinked a few times then looked toward the back of the shop. “Big Bro, we’ve got a high roller here!”

In the back room, Xu Qing opened his eyes. He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at Ling’er’s cheeky comment. Knowing how quick she was to pity people, he stood and walked out into the main floor of the shop.

The moment the young man saw Xu Qing, he backed up with a vigilant look on his face. Just looking at Xu Qing made him shiver from the indescribable terror that rose up within him. He didn’t sense any cultivation base fluctuations, such that Xu Qing almost looked like a mortal to him. However, he knew that it was highly unlikely that a mortal could produce medicinal pills of such high quality.

Xu Qing wasn’t bothered by the young man’s vigilance. After looking at him, he could tell what was wrong. The young man really had been poisoned. And the specific poison... was familiar to Xu Qing. It was the very same kind of poison the one-eyed cultivator had used, although it had been diluted significantly, and hadn’t been activated. Because the young man had a weak constitution, he was suffering some of the effects early.

Xu Qing hadn’t forgotten about that one-eyed cultivator, and thus, when he noticed the poison, his interest was piqued. He took out an antidote pill.

“Go home and prepare a wooden barrel of water. Add in nine drops of early-morning dew. Take this antidote pill and then do breathing exercises in the water for two hours. When the water has turned completely black, it will mean the poison is extruded.”

The young man took the medicinal pill. Despite looking a bit suspicious, he gave the spirit stone to Ling’er then hurried away.

Ling’er took the spirit stone and smiled sweetly at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing shook his head and went back to working on his curse research and the Moonrebel Congregation test. Of course, he left a slip of divine sense on the young man. It wouldn’t do anything unless the young man ran into that one-eyed cultivator. If that happened, Xu Qing would know immediately.

As Xu Qing focused on study and research, half a month passed.

The Green Spirit Pharmacy had now been in business for nearly two months. Because of how cheap and effective the white boluses were, the shop was starting to get fairly popular. More and more customers were coming in every day. Eventually, when there were upwards of ten customers coming in every day, the shop really started to attract the attention, not only of the local residents, but of nearby organizations.

Sometimes, the tree may crave calm, but the wind will bother it anyway. And many times, popularity only results in unwanted frustration. The principle applies just about anywhere and everywhere. It was especially true in a place with so many random organizations. And thus, one day at around noon, an unwanted guest arrived in the medicine shop.

He was a nonhuman cultivator in the great circle of Qi Condensation. He wore a black robe and had a necklace with a skull on it, making him look quite dramatic. The moment he entered the shop, he released the power of his cultivation base, while simultaneously kicking a chair that was in his way. The chair sailed through the air and hit the counter, damaging it before shattering into pieces.

Ling’er looked up from her accounting book, a slight frown on her face.

Slamming his hand down onto the counter, the cultivator coldly said, “Starting today, you’ll give the Skull Syndicate 300 white boluses every month. Got that? I’m only going to say it once!”

He hadn’t come alone. There were four other cultivators keeping watch outside, all dressed the same way as him. Passersby who saw the men and their distinctive clothing quickly left in the opposite direction.

“It’s the Skull Syndicate!”

“They’re vicious and merciless. I heard that any store in this little city that offends them ends up getting slaughtered overnight.”

“Their leader is in the great circle of Foundation Establishment! Ai. They don’t dare to cause problems for anybody that’s truly strong. They just bully hardworking and honest people.”

Ling’er didn’t say anything.

In the rafters, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior trembled excitedly. A long time had passed with no action, and now someone had come looking to get killed. It seemed like it was finally his chance to shine. Just as he was about to fly down and poke the cultivator full of holes, he stopped in place. Ling’er had just waved him back.

Ling’er looked as pale as death, as if she were terrified. Quickly taking out a bag, she held it out and nodded.

“Of course, of course. We’ll give you whatever you want.”

The Skull Syndicate cultivator laughed coldly at how easily he had succeeded. This was how they normally operated. First they would observe their target for a while to make sure they weren’t dangerous, then they would extort them. They’d been watching the Green Spirit Pharmacy for about half a month, and had only been planning to come inside and probe for information. To the cultivator’s surprise, he actually succeeded immediately. Casting a glare at Ling’er, the cultivator grabbed the bag and hefted it to gauge its weight.

“So, you do know what’s good for you!” With that, he turned arrogantly to leave.

After the Skull Syndicate cultivators were gone, the alarmed look on Ling’er’s face vanished. Making a notation in her accounting book, she said, “Master Freespirit.”

“Here!” the patriarch replied from the rafters. “What is your command, milady?”

“Killing them here could hurt business,” she replied coolly. “Later tonight, I want you to track them down and slaughter them all. Remember to bring back the medicinal pills. I don’t want even a single one to go missing. If you see anything valuable there, take it. It’s too bad Little Shadow isn’t back to help.”

The patriarch glanced at the back room, then Ling’er. All of a sudden, he felt like he had learned a lot more about Ling’er.

My lady and mistress only seems like a harmless angel!

Back when Xu Qing had been dealing with the one-eyed cultivator, Ling’er had casually said to ‘just get it over with.’ That had surprised the patriarch a lot.

“Milady, I guarantee success in this mission!”

Ling’er smiled and started cleaning up the broken chair. “Oh, by the way, make sure to bring back a replacement chair. No. Three of them.”

The patriarch blinked a few times. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Another thing,” she added. “Bring back some heads for Big Bro Xu Qing to use in his research.”