My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: You Have to Pay More

The Herb-Planting Zhuangzi.

In a small building, on the third floor.

A dozen or so servant girls brought platters of colorful, fragrant, and delicious dishes from the kitchen, carrying them into the small building’s simple reception hall.

Although the servant girls’ mouths watered at the sight, they didn’t dare make a move.

They were the female family members of the refugees, and having been provided for by the master for over a month, they would certainly not commit a taboo act like stealing food.

Qian Fugui had no intention of making things difficult for these women either.

Only after the trial disciples returned from the mountain, once the dust had settled and everyone from the Zhuangzi had withdrawn, would he kill these people to eliminate any loose ends.

All sorts of dishes piled high on the table.

Only then did Qian Fugui and the three sect elites sit down, toasting one another and enjoying the wine and conversation.

"The trial has been going on for the better part of half a day now. I wonder how many heart-orifices these disciples have collected."

Qin He raised a full cup of wine and chuckled. "I just don’t know if the sect prepared enough Blood Blades this year. Let’s hope we don’t end up having to fight over them!"

"Whether we can get a Blood Blade or not depends on whether your disciples show any mercy, Elder Qin."

Liu Lanxiang also raised her wine cup, livening up the atmosphere:

"Especially that young lady, Tao E. Her blade skills are quite good; she’s considered one of the best among the disciples."

"If she doesn’t hold back, I’m afraid our disciples won’t even get to have a Body Nourishing Pill, let alone dream of a Blood Blade!"

"Hahaha!"

Her words sent Qin He into a fit of delight, his salt-and-pepper beard trembling as he laughed.

"Miss Liu, oh, Miss Liu! With a sweet tongue like yours, any man who marries you would die from happiness!"

Liu Lanxiang covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled softly, her ample chest trembling slightly.

Listening to the old lecher’s words, Zhao Rui and Qian Fugui exchanged a knowing glance.

The atmosphere was cheerful as they all raised their cups simultaneously to celebrate their gathering.

However, at that very moment:

CRACK!

A nearly inaudible sound echoed in the room, yet it struck their ears like a clap of thunder.

Qin He’s hand, holding his cup, froze in mid-air. The color drained from his face.

The others in the room also sensed something was wrong. They saw Qin He’s hand, veins bulging, retrieve a simple, unadorned, cyan Jade Pendant from his waist.

They all recognized the Jade Pendant. Each of them had one, containing a drop of their Direct Disciple’s essence blood.

A crack in the pendant meant that the Direct Disciple was dead.

Staring at the Jade Pendant in his palm, now split down the middle, Qin He trembled. His face turned ashen, and his Qi and Blood surged as if he were about to erupt.

As the Zhuangzi’s manager, Qian Fugui reacted quickly, grabbing him and holding him down.

"Elder Brother, don’t be angry! The trial is a life-and-death struggle. It’s not unusual for disciples to have accidents!"

"My condolences! My condolences!" he said soothingly.

His Direct Disciple had been killed; how could Qin He possibly listen to reason? His bloodshot eyes glared at Qian Fugui as he roared in fury:

"It wasn’t your disciple who died, so of course you don’t care! Let go of me!"

Qian Fugui didn’t dare let go, afraid the old man would either tear the Zhuangzi apart or rush into the mountains and disrupt the trial.

Either way, as the Zhuangzi’s manager, he couldn’t escape responsibility and would be held accountable by the sect.

He shot a look at Zhao Rui and Liu Lanxiang, signaling for them to help restrain him, then turned back to Qin He and said helplessly:

"Elder Brother Qin, getting angry is pointless. Your disciple is definitely dead. Just tell us what you want to do! The same as last time?"

"The same as last time?"

Qin He’s white hair stood on end, his face contorted.

"My disciple’s Ghost Howl Blade Technique was nearing Great Success! Not only that, but she had a real chance of entering the sect’s Blood Road trial!"

"Putting all that aside, she was my Direct Disciple! My most prized student!"

Qian Fugui asked, "So?"

Qin He sneered, "You’ll have to pay extra!"

Qian Fugui: "???"

Zhao Rui and Liu Lanxiang: "..."

...

「Broken Blade Mountain, halfway up the slope.」

After hastily burying the Demon Sect disciple’s body, Wu Chen and Liu Linshan moved swiftly through the forest.

"Master Liu, running around like this isn’t going to work."

Gazing at the endless mountain forest, Wu Chen felt this approach was ineffective and said:

"The refugees are scattered all over the mountain, and the Demon Sect disciples are likely just as spread out. If we hunt them down one by one, there’s no telling how long it will take."

Liu Linshan nodded. "Does Young Master Wu have a plan?"

"The summit."

Wu Chen pointed toward the top of Broken Blade Mountain and said:

"We’ll split up and run through the mountains, shouting that there are lots of medicinal herbs at the summit—more than enough for everyone to get ten stalks. We’ll trick the refugees into gathering there first."

Liu Linshan’s eyes lit up as he understood the plan:

"That way, the refugees, figuring they have nothing to lose, will definitely go to the summit to check it out."

"And the Demon Sect disciples who entered the mountain this morning to hunt the refugees for their heart-orifices will also have to gather at the summit."

"That’ll save us the trouble of hunting them down one by one!"

"Exactly!"

Wu Chen nodded in agreement, then gave a warning:

"After we split up, if you run into any Demon Sect disciples, don’t engage them. Just run for a few miles, shout a couple of times, and then head for the summit. Wait for me there."

"I’ll run a bit farther ahead and see if I can find Zhou Yuntao and the others."

Liu Linshan nodded and, without any hesitation, turned back the way he came.

Admittedly, he might not be a match for these Demon Sect disciples in a direct fight.

But when it came to movement, as an old Hunter with the solid Body Technique ’Spiritual Snake Step’ at his disposal,

he was confident he could escape from right under their noses, as long as he didn’t run into anyone in the Flesh Refining Realm.

Soon, after running for about a mile, Liu Linshan began to shout at the top of his lungs:

"Lots of herbs found at the summit! Everyone, hurry and pick them!"

"Lots of herbs found at the summit! Everyone, hurry and pick them!"

"There’s enough for everyone to get ten stalks and finish the task early!"

Wu Chen did the same, shouting through the forest. Being in the Flesh Refining Realm, his voice was more resonant and carried much farther.

Many people throughout the mountain forest heard the calls.

"There are lots of herbs at the summit?!"

"Let’s go check it out!"

Hearing the shouts, a look of joy flashed in the eyes of some refugees.

They had been worrying about the herbs; many of them hadn’t found a single stalk since entering the mountain.

Seeing a figure run past, shouting nonstop, one of them wanted to stop the man and ask if it was true.

But the man was running too fast to be caught for a word.

But the refugees figured they had to go to the summit eventually anyway, so they might as well go now and see what was happening.

’Otherwise, if we’re late and it’s real, what if someone else picks them all clean!’

As for the Blood Slaughter Sect disciples who heard the shouts, they reacted just as Wu Chen had predicted:

’Lots of herbs at the summit? This mountain is as barren as they come, how could there be any herbs!’

’Could it be a method devised by one of our fellow disciples to gather these ’great medicines’ at the summit for a mass harvest?’

"Hiss! That makes sense. The other side of Broken Blade Mountain is a sheer cliff, which is how it got its name. If the ’great medicines’ believe the lie and go to the summit, they’ll have nowhere to run. We could round them all up in one fell swoop!"

’Yeah, we’d better hurry. If we’re late, we’ll miss our chance!’

Two Blood Slaughter Sect disciples stuffed bloody chunks of flesh into the satchels at their waists and hastily leaped off in the direction of the summit.

Meanwhile, in another direction, Wu Chen, moving at full speed, finally found Zhou Yuntao and his group.

"Young Master Wu!"

Zhou Yuntao wiped the sweat from his brow. Looking at the five corpses on the ground, he was still shaken.

"It’s a good thing you arrived when you did, otherwise, we would have been... But why are there people from the Blood Slaughter Sect in these mountains!"

Looking at the patterns on the sleeves and collars of his attackers, he had clearly recognized their identity.

"This is the location of a Blood Slaughter Sect herb-planting Zhuangzi. We were abducted to serve as ’great medicines’ for these Demon Sect disciples’ trial."

Wu Chen explained the situation briefly while searching the corpses for Martial Arts manuals.

He ended up finding five Martial Arts manuals on the bodies, but his expression soured when he realized three of them were duplicates.

He stood up and briefly explained his plan:

"Head to the summit immediately and meet up with Liu Linshan. I’ll be there shortly."

Without further explanation, he shot forward and quickly vanished from sight.

Watching Wu Chen disappear, Zhou Yuntao and the other two were bewildered.

They didn’t understand why they were heading to the summit instead of escaping down the mountain, especially with demon cultivators around.

However, since the words came from Wu Chen, they were sure he had his reasons.

The three of them didn’t hesitate for long. They exchanged a look and headed straight for the summit.

[I’m boldly asking for everyone to keep reading!]

[I’ll be even bolder and ask for monthly tickets!]

[I don’t know if monthly tickets are even useful, but I just want to break into the top ten for the category. I’m only a few spots away!]

[Kowtowing to all you masters!]

[THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK!]

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