Longevity Martial Arts: Obtain Golden Affixes at the Start

Without wasting words, Zhou Liang took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to him: "This poison is fatal upon contact with blood. You only need to hurt him in the slightest way for the poison to enter his body."

Liu Xiao carefully put the bottle away: "Does Your Excellency mean to ambush them halfway?"

"No." Zhou Liang shook his head. "The matter of the evil spirit is true. Wait until he and the evil spirit are both severely injured before you make your move. Make sure to do it cleanly."

"Yes." Liu Xiao clasped his hands in a fist salute, turned around and left the courtyard.

Zhou Liang stood in the courtyard and sighed softly.

On the battlefield, life and death are left to fate.

His two brothers-in-law were too eager to make a name for themselves, but their skills were inferior, so they had no one to blame but themselves for their deaths.

But he couldn't ignore his wife's tears.

The woman had been married to him for seven years, always obedient to him, but now, for the sake of her two younger brothers, she was crying her heart out.

"I'm sorry," Zhou Liang murmured to himself.

……

Boom boom boom!

As night fell, a woman knocked on Hong Lang's door.

When Hong Lang opened the door, he saw Hehua, Mo Wentian's maid. She had been by Mo Wentian's side for a long time and was considered one of his confidantes.

"Lotus Girl, what brings you here?"

"My family asked me to come here to tell you some things."

After entering the room, Lotus took out two things from her sleeve: a booklet and a small porcelain bottle.

"The magistrate said that although you, County Lieutenant Hong, are highly skilled in martial arts, dealing with evil spirits is different from dealing with people. You have no experience in this area, so the magistrate asked me to give you a few instructions."

She opened the booklet titled "The Illustrated Record of Ten Thousand Evils," which was covered with dense writing and some rough drawings.

"Evil spirits in the world are divided into four grades: A, B, C, and D. Grade D is the weakest, but even Grade D wounds will heal on their own if cut by ordinary swords. As for Grade A... if you encounter one, just run."

Hong Lang took the booklet and asked, "Can't you kill him?"

"Almost immortal."

Lotus waved the porcelain bottle in her hand: "This is heavenly dew. If you splash it on evil spirits, it can temporarily suppress their regenerative abilities."

"I wonder how long this can be suppressed?"

"It takes about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Within that time, you must shatter the core of the evil spirit. Every evil spirit has a pivot point inside its body, similar to the human heart. Destroy it, and the evil spirit will temporarily collapse."

As for when it will be able to reform, that's another matter entirely.

"I see! Thank you for your guidance, Miss Lotus!" Hong Lang put the "Illustrated Catalogue of Ten Thousand Evils" and the porcelain bottle into his bosom and thanked her.

After seeing Hehua off, Honglang opened the entry panel.

I've been so busy these past few days that I haven't had time to organize my notes. I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'm taking this opportunity to do a good job of organizing today.

Name: Hong Lang

[Cultivation Level: Beginner Level of Marrow Cleansing Realm]

[Entries: No destruction, no construction (color), vigorous and powerful (gold), exceptional comprehension (gold), exceptional eyesight (purple), exceptional hearing (green), swift and agile (white)]

[Next draw progress: 46%]

[Martial arts points: 420]

Regarding the progress bar, due to the significant damage sustained in the previous days, it has increased by more than 40% under the influence of the "no destruction, no construction" principle.

With 420 martial arts points, I can not only exchange them for "Lion's Roar," but also have 220 points left over.

Hong Lang immediately opened the exchange list.

[Lion's Roar, exchange price: 200 Martial Arts Points]

"exchange!"

A flash of white light appeared, and a dusty gray manual appeared in Hong Lang's hand, inscribed with "Lion's Roar".

He casually flipped through it; it was full of pictures and text, explaining the method of using qi and blood to generate sound waves.

This skill places extremely high demands on the internal organs; without a foundation of "dragon's essence and tiger's ferocity," attempting to use it rashly could result in injury.

Since it was inconvenient to practice martial arts in the city, Hong Lang tucked the manual into his robes, planning to find another opportunity later.

In the section for pills, one Blood Essence Pill costs 50 Martial Arts Points, and Hong Lang exchanged for one.

"There's not much else worth exchanging. I'll save my martial arts points for now, just in case."

Hong Lang sat cross-legged and swallowed the Blood Essence Pill. The medicinal power flowed into his limbs and bones like a warm current.

As his blood and qi surged, he vaguely felt the barriers within his body loosen a little more.

The aura of the initial stage of the Marrow Cleansing Realm settled steadily within his body. Although there was no further qualitative change, the Blood Essence Pill had replenished his blood and qi, and his condition was better than ever before.

[Next draw progress: 56%]

"Just over forty more progress points away from reaching the Lesser Completion of the Marrow Cleansing Realm..."

Seeing that it was already light outside the window, Hong Lang quickly packed his things, spurred his horse out of the city, and headed towards Sanyi County.

The journey of over four hundred li is neither far nor near.

Fortunately, the horses in this world are strong enough. In my previous life, a horse would never have been able to run four hundred miles.

At noon, Honglang could see the outline of Sanyi County in the distance.

The county town was of medium size, a bit larger than Hengjiang County. There weren't many pedestrians on the streets. Hong Lang found a hotel that was still open, ordered a bowl of wine, and asked the innkeeper about the evil spirits.

Upon hearing the word "evil spirit," the innkeeper's expression immediately changed: "Sir, are you referring to that thing on Lonely Cloud Ridge?"

"Lonely Cloud Ridge?"

"It's about twenty li northeast of the county town." The shopkeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That place used to be a quarry, but after a few strange things happened and several people died, no one dared to go there anymore."

Hong Lang asked a few more questions, but the shopkeeper couldn't offer any more useful information, only repeatedly telling him not to go near that place.

After finding out the location, Hong Lang did not delay and immediately left the city heading northeast.

Guyun Ridge is not high, but the terrain is steep. Hong Lang led his horse up the mountain path, and the more he went, the more he felt something was wrong.

It was so quiet all around; there were no birdsong, no insect chirping, not even the sound of the wind. It was deathly still.

Dark clouds rolled across the horizon, and it looked like it was about to rain.

Hong Lang quickened his pace and found a dilapidated temple halfway up the mountain.

The temple is small, with two courtyards, and half of the mountain gate has collapsed.

The plaque hangs crookedly above the door, the characters on it long since blurred and illegible, only the character "mountain" can be vaguely discerned.

The main hall is relatively intact. Although there are a few holes in the roof, most of it can still keep out the rain.

The statues enshrined inside the hall were long gone, the clay body peeled off, revealing the wooden frame inside, which looked somewhat ferocious in the dim light.

Hong Lang looked around and his gaze fell on the corner of the wall, where there was a pile of burnt ashes and some scattered dry grass, as if someone had spent the night there.

He crouched down to look at the ashes, reached out and touched them; they were cold, indicating they had been there at least a day ago.

"Someone has been here." Hong Lang stood up, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall.

Apart from the dilapidated statue and a few offering tables, there was nothing else in the hall.

He walked around the dilapidated temple again, and after confirming that there was no one else around, he returned to the main hall and found a sheltered spot against the wall.

The rain started falling quickly.

Hong Lang took out the book "The Book of Ten Thousand Evils" from his pocket and started reading it.

He was reading the section on "evil spirits of the lower classes..." when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the temple gate.

The footsteps grew closer, and Hong Lang gripped the halberd beside him tightly.

A man carrying a sack walked in.

The man was tall and wore a straw raincoat. A burlap sack was slung over his shoulder, bulging and swaying slightly.

In the dead of night, amidst a sudden downpour in the desolate wilderness, this person suddenly appeared; something seemed amiss.

Hong Lang's gaze was fixed intently on the other party.

Then a muffled sound came from inside the sack, as if someone's mouth had been covered.

The man threw the sack heavily to the ground, and a girl of about eighteen years old crawled out of it. Her hands were tied behind her back, a rag was gagged, and her eyes were wide open, filled with terror.

Hong Lang was momentarily confused about the situation and did not loosen his grip on the halberd.

The man took off his straw raincoat, revealing a angular face. He was about thirty years old, with deep-set eyes and a weary expression.

He glanced at Hong Lang, his gaze sweeping over the halberd in his hand, and said calmly, "Young man, don't misunderstand, this woman is no ordinary person."