If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

"This life."

Zhou Yang looked at the Imperial Advisor and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"I need to pay more."

Before he could finish speaking...

Others have moved.

It lacked any earth-shattering grandeur.

There was no afterimage due to extreme speed.

It's just one step.

It's just a very ordinary step.

They moved from one side of the blood pool to the other.

He went before the Imperial Preceptor.

The Imperial Advisor's pupils suddenly contracted.

He wanted to hide.

My body, however, was completely unresponsive.

The power of the blood pool was drained. He had exhausted everything. He was now just an empty shell.

He could only watch helplessly.

Looking at Zhou Yang's hand, she grabbed his neck.

That hand was very steady.

Like iron clamps.

"you……"

The Imperial Advisor squeezed out two sounds from his throat.

Zhou Yang didn't give him a chance to speak.

Apply slight pressure with your hand.

"Click."

A crisp sound.

The Imperial Advisor's neck was broken.

But he didn't die.

Zhou Yang is currently controlling his power very well.

He can decide who dies.

He can make you live as long as he wants you to die.

The imperial advisor collapsed, his eyes still open, filled with terror.

Zhou Yang carried him like he was carrying a dead chicken.

He walked back to the center of the blood pool.

They pressed the Grand Preceptor's head into the thick, sticky blood.

Glug. Glug.

Bubbles rose to the surface.

The Imperial Advisor is struggling.

He moved his hands and feet erratically.

Zhou Yang's hand remained completely still.

A long time passed.

Zhou Yang then picked him up.

The Imperial Advisor's face had turned bluish-purple. His mouth was stuffed with congealed blood clots.

"Now, we can talk about the price."

Zhou Yang's voice was calm.

It's like talking about a business deal.

"Your life is worthless. But what's in your head is very valuable."

Zhou Yang loosened his grip.

The Imperial Advisor lay paralyzed in the pool of blood, gasping for breath. He tried to roar, but could only manage a sound like a broken bellows.

"The capital city..."

Zhou Yang squatted down and looked into his eyes.

"Your Majesty. Blood sacrifice for alchemy. Anything else? Please explain all at once."

The Imperial Advisor was startled.

He didn't expect Zhou Yang to even know this.

He looked into Zhou Yang's eyes.

There was no murderous intent in it. Only coldness. A pure, emotionless coldness.

More terrifying than death.

"The Celestial Envoy..." the Imperial Advisor finally spoke, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper were being rubbed together. "Every year... His Majesty sacrifices a thousand virgins... to the Celestial Envoy... in exchange for... elixirs of longevity..."

"Who is the celestial envoy?" Zhou Yang asked.

"I don't know..." The Imperial Advisor shook his head, his eyes filled with despair. "No one has ever seen the true faces of the Celestial Envoys. They only appear after dark through a secret passage in the palace... taking away offerings... leaving behind elixirs..."

"Where is the secret passage?"

"In...in..."

The Imperial Advisor's breathing grew weaker and weaker.

His vitality is rapidly fading away.

Zhou Yang did not save him.

He was waiting.

We've been waiting for this moment.

"Speak," Zhou Yang said, his voice as cold as ice.

"Qianqing Palace... Nine Dragons Relief... The third dragon scale... Below is a hidden compartment... The key... is in my... my arms..."

After saying that, the Imperial Advisor tilted his head to the side.

It was completely lifeless.

He gave his life for his last few words.

Zhou Yang touched his chest.

Sure enough, there was a key.

A very small key. Made of bronze, engraved with intricate cloud patterns.

He put the key away.

Then, he began to loot the Grand Preceptor's body.

This is the important thing.

The lay Buddhist who adds money talks about money and also takes money.

A sachet. It's empty inside, with only a little incense ash left. It's not very useful.

A waist tag. Made of black jade, engraved with the characters "Ren Zong" (人宗, meaning "Human Sect"). There's also a small "three" character. Is this the Imperial Preceptor's identification document for some organization?

Finally, there was his inner shirt.

There was a book hidden in his pocket.

The book is very thin. The cover is made of sheepskin, with four characters written on it in blood: "Blood Essence Transformation".

Zhou Yang opened it and took a look.

It contains the methods for setting up a blood sacrifice array and extracting blood essence to refine elixirs.

This is good stuff.

Zhou Yang put the book away as well.

Then he stood up.

His gaze swept over the enormous underground palace.

Thirty years of accumulation.

The Imperial Preceptor's wealth extends far beyond what he carries with him.

He walked toward the walls of the underground palace.

A row of lamps were burning on the wall.

The lights were dim and yellowish.

Looking at the rows of wooden frames.

The shelves were full of things.

Zhou Yang walked over.

The first row is full of pills.

Jade bottle, porcelain bottle, gold bottle.

He picked up a jade bottle and uncorked it.

A rich aroma of herbs wafted over.

There were three pills in the bottle, each the size of a longan and as red as fire.

Zhou Yang tasted one.

The elixir melted instantly upon entering the mouth, transforming into a warm current that flowed into every part of the body.

He closed his eyes and felt it.

The potency of this pill is equivalent to the power he gained by burning ten years of his lifespan.

nice one.

Without hesitation, he swallowed the remaining two.

He then picked up another porcelain bottle.

Inside were green pills, emitting a cool, refreshing scent.

This is an antidote pill. And it's top-grade.

Zhou Yang counted them; there were exactly one hundred.

You can never have too many antidote pills.

He continued reading.

Healing, energy-boosting, and temporarily enhancing strength...

An entire shelf was filled with pills.

This imperial advisor is practically a walking pharmacy.

Zhou Yang didn't stand on ceremony.

Elixirs are a form of hard currency.

It can save lives, and it can also be exchanged for money.

He swept all the pills into a storage bag.

This storage bag was placed on the shelf by the Imperial Advisor. It seems to be used to store miscellaneous items.

Next is the second row of shelves.

Weapons are placed here.

Swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks.

It has everything.

Each one gleamed with a cold light.

It's clearly not an ordinary product.

Zhou Yang casually picked up a long knife.

The blade is heavy and extremely resilient.

It's a good knife. Sharp.

But it's of no use to Zhou Yang right now.

He already has a better knife.

He only glanced at it before putting it down.

These weapons were of little value to him.

He walked to the third row of shelves.

These are the cultivation techniques and secret manuals.

Most of them were bamboo slips, and a few were animal skin scrolls.

Zhou Yang glanced through it briefly.

Most of them are second- or third-rate martial arts techniques.

What are these "Thunderbolt Blade Technique" and "Mysterious Water Heart Sutra"?

For him in the past, it might have been a treasure.

Looking at it now, it tastes bland and tasteless.

He tossed the bamboo slips aside.

Finally, he spotted a black lacquered wooden box in the corner.

The wooden box was not locked.

Zhou Yang opened it.

Three books lay quietly inside.

The first book had a dark red leather cover with three large characters embroidered in gold thread: "The Dragon Transformation Manual".

Zhou Yang opened it.

My breathing faltered.

This cultivation technique is actually a top-level mental cultivation method that directly leads to the Grandmaster realm!

Moreover, it's not much worse than "The Legend of the Demon Slayer".

The second book was a boxing manual. The cover was iron gray, with only two powerful characters written on it—"Collapse Mountain".

As you can tell from the name, it's incredibly domineering.

The third book is the most special.

It was not a book, but a thin sheet of metal.

It looks like it's made of silver.

It was covered with densely packed runes.

Zhou Yang couldn't understand it.

But he can use his lifespan.

"Consuming one year of lifespan, deduced."

He was silent.

Instantly, a massive amount of information flooded into my mind.

This is actually a blueprint for forging a divine weapon!

Its name is Dragon's Spine.

A unique weapon that can infinitely stack materials and continuously grow.

The blueprints documented the initial refining method, and the materials required were extremely rare.

It requires millennia-old cold iron, fiery rock from the earth's core, and the essence blood of a dragon...

Finally, at the end of the drawing, there was a pattern of a fragment.

A line of small print was written next to it:

"Obtaining this fragment can replenish the soul of the divine weapon."

Zhou Yang's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the pattern on the fragment.

He knew that pattern all too well.

Isn't this the piece of iron he took from Fang Tian and kept close to his body?

So, that thing was a fragment of a divine weapon!

Zhou Yang suppressed his inner elation.

He didn't immediately retrieve the fragments from the storage bag.

Now is not the time.

He carefully put the three items away.

This trip was incredibly fruitful.

Killing the Imperial Advisor not only resolved the crisis in Anyang County, but also provided crucial clues for getting to the capital, and unexpectedly yielded top-tier martial arts techniques and divine weapon blueprints.

This bet was a huge win.

Zhou Yang couldn't help but smile.

Just then.

He suddenly sensed something.

He looked up sharply.

Look towards the entrance to the underground palace.

There, someone had appeared sometime earlier.

Dressed in red.

It was particularly glaring under the dim light.

It's Qin Shuang.

She didn't know when she arrived.

I just stood there, quietly watching him.

Looking at the blood pool. Looking at the dead imperial advisor. Looking at the devastated underground palace.

Her face was somewhat pale.

His eyes were complicated.

There was shock. There was doubt. And a hint of... an emotion Zhou Yang couldn't understand.

The two looked at each other.

The air was eerily quiet.

"You heard everything?" Zhou Yang spoke first.

Qin Shuang did not answer, but simply nodded.

"What do you want to say?" Zhou Yang asked again.

He didn't like this feeling.

Your secrets have been spied on.

This made him very uncomfortable.

Qin Shuang remained silent for a moment.

She spoke slowly, her voice a little hoarse.

"I just want to know, who are you?"

Zhou Yang smiled.

He stepped out of the pool of blood, and the blood on his body evaporated instantly, revealing clean clothes.

He walked up to Qin Shuang.

Does it matter who I am?

"It's important." Qin Shuang looked into his eyes, very seriously. "I need to know whether what I'm cooperating with is a person, or... something else."

Zhou Yang looked at her.

This woman is always like this.

Calm and rational, even when she sees something beyond the realm of common sense, her first thought is always to judge and weigh the options.

"I'm a businessman." Zhou Yang reached out and pinched Qin Shuang's chin. Her skin was cool.

"Commander Qin, as long as you can afford the price, I can be anyone and do anything."

He leaned close to her ear and spoke very softly.

"Now, a new business has emerged in the capital. Are you going to jump into this muddy water, or not?"

Qin Shuang's body stiffened for a moment.

She could feel the warm breath Zhou Yang was exhaling.

You can also feel the heart-stopping power emanating from him.

She didn't push him away.

A long time passed.

She spoke softly.

"Down."

"Why?" Zhou Yang asked.

"Because..." Qin Shuang turned her head and looked into his eyes, "I'm very curious about just how high your price is."

The indescribable swelling finally subsided.

Zhou Yang slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, which turned a faint grayish-white color and shot out more than three feet like a sharp arrow before dissipating into the air.

He looked down at his hands.

His skin, which had become somewhat withered from forcibly activating his cultivation technique, had now become plump again, even radiating a strange rosy glow. It wasn't the color of healthy flesh, but rather more like a piece of freshly forged, still dripping crimson agate.

Five hundred years of cultivation.

even more.

The mixed blood and evil energy was forcibly purified by the "Innate Yang Technique," turning into the purest fuel that burned throughout his limbs and bones. Now, he felt that he had inexhaustible energy, and even his vision had become exceptionally clear. He could see the tiny dust particles floating in the air, and even "see" the chaotic flow of energy within the old monster in front of him.

The "Imperial Advisor" looked rather pathetic at that moment.

His once ruddy complexion now looked ashen, his eyes sunken, and the aura of a master who once stood above all others was completely gone. He stared intently at Zhou Yang, making strange gurgling sounds in his throat, as if an unseen hand was gripping his neck.

No, not like.

Zhou Yang could clearly feel that the new power within his body was locking down the other party's every move through some mysterious connection.

"You monster..."

The "Imperial Advisor" gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, "What exactly are you? How could the 'Innate Yang Technique' possibly produce such an evil method? My primordial spirit... why can't I move my primordial spirit!"

He wanted to run away.

If you can't beat them, can't you at least run away?

As the Dharma King of the Heavenly Principle Sect, he has witnessed countless storms in his life and has honed his survival skills to the bone. As long as his primordial spirit leaves his body, even if his physical body is destroyed, he can possess another body and be reborn. Even if his cultivation level drops, it is better than losing his life here.

But all that hard work over the past thirty years, the sacrifice of 9,999 lives, was fed to dogs.

He was not reconciled.

"Trying to leave?"

Zhou Yang's lips curled into a slight smile, a smile devoid of warmth, only filled with the mockery of watching prey fall into the trap. "This show has only just begun; how can the male lead leave without permission?"

A ruthless glint flashed in the eyes of the "Imperial Advisor".

Since I can't get away, I'll take you down with me!

His already depleted dantian suddenly contracted, and the remaining power of his primordial spirit was frantically compressed, as if he were about to detonate his primordial spirit and create final chaos. Even a moment's gap would be enough for him to unleash the Blood Escape Technique.

boom--!

A violent surge of energy exploded within his body.

However, the anticipated devastating impact did not occur.

The violent power that burst out of the dantian vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

The "Innate Yang Technique" within Zhou Yang's body circulated on its own. The scorching airflow was like a greedy beast, opening its unseen maw to swallow the self-destructing power whole, chewing it to pieces, and then turning it back into nourishment to replenish Zhou Yang's meridians.

Zhou Yang even squinted his eyes comfortably.

It's like taking a sip of ice-cold plum juice on a hot day—so refreshing.

"This...this is impossible!"

The "Imperial Advisor" completely lost his composure.

That was his last trump card, the power of his primordial spirit cultivated for hundreds of years, yet it didn't even make a splash.

"Nothing is impossible."

Zhou Yang took a step and walked towards him.

The bloody mud underfoot made a "plop plop" sound, and every step felt like stepping on the "Grand Tutor's" heart.

"Your cultivation technique, your level of expertise, even your life."

Zhou Yang stopped three feet away from the "Imperial Advisor," looking down at this once high and mighty figure. "Now they're all my assets."

He didn't rush to take action.

It's like a creditor standing in front of a bankrupt deadbeat; instead of rushing to seize their property, they want to calculate the interest first.

"A 30-year plan".

Zhou Yang held up a finger and waved it in front of the "National Advisor".

"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine living human sacrifices."

He extended another finger.

"There was also the risk that I almost got caught up in it too."

The third finger is raised.

Zhou Yang bent down, his gaze level with the terrified "Imperial Advisor," and spoke softly as if chatting with an old friend: "I've kept track of all these debts for you. Now it's time to settle them. Guess if your hundred or two hundred pounds of flesh are enough to pay the interest?"

"Zhou Yang! You dare kill me?!"

The "Imperial Advisor" roared, his voice laced with bravado but betraying his inner fear, attempting to intimidate with his status: "I am the Dharma King Protector of the Heavenly Principle Sect! If you harm me, the Sect Leader will never let you go! Once the Heavenly Principle Sect issues a kill order, no matter how vast the world is, there will be no place for you to hide!"

"Tenrikyo?"

Zhou Yang chuckled as if he had heard a funny joke. "When you used the blood pool to refine me just now, did you ever think that I was also a member of the Heavenly Principle Sect? Oh, right, back then I was the adopted son of that fool Fang Tian, ​​a pawn in your eyes."

"That's because you don't know what's good for you!"

The "Imperial Advisor" was still trying to argue, "If you spare me today, I swear that everything will be forgiven, and I might even take you as my adopted son and teach you the true essence of—"

"stop."

Zhou Yang interrupted him, a look of disgust on his face. "I have no interest in being your son. I have a father, who, though he died young, was at least a decent man. As for your so-called 'true inheritance'..."

He raised the embroidered spring knife in his hand.

The blade gleamed with a chilling light.

The blade, which had been dulled, began to glow with an eerie red light under the influence of the powerful blood energy within Zhou Yang's body.

"I'll take your junk myself."

Before he could finish speaking...

A flash of light appeared.

This strike was neither earth-shattering nor particularly flashy.

It's fast.

A slash that is incredibly fast.

The "Imperial Advisor" only felt a red line flash before his eyes and a chill run down his neck.

He instinctively tried to circulate his protective qi to block it, but the qi within his body seemed to have solidified, making it impossible to mobilize. The suppression from the "Innate Yang Technique" was like several invisible nails, pinning him firmly to the spot.

puff.

A soft sound.

That was the sound of a sharp blade cutting into flesh and severing a neck bone.

The "Imperial Advisor's" expression froze in the final moment of shock and pleading.

A magnificent head, soaring into the sky.

Blood gushed out like a fountain from the severed neck, splashing a tragically beautiful blood curtain in the air.

Zhou Yang did not dodge, letting the scalding blood pour over his body.

The "Innate Yang Technique" within his body began to operate joyfully once again, greedily devouring the bloodthirsty aura permeating the air.

【Ding! 】

[Slayed a near-Grandmaster level expert and plundered three hundred years of their lifespan.]

[Obtained a fragment of the Blood Fiend Body Refining Technique.]

[Obtained an unidentified spatial storage ring.]

[A mutation in the host's constitution has been detected; the corpse poison and blood evil have fused, and the rudimentary form of the indestructible Vajra is beginning to emerge...]

The system's notification sounds rang incessantly in his mind.

Zhou Yang closed his eyes, feeling the new surge of heat entering his body.

A lifespan of three hundred years.

This is a huge sum of money.

Adding to the fragmented lifespans he had previously acquired, his current lifespan reserves are enough for him to squander for a while. Moreover, this is without him using the system's "deduction" function, and is purely an increase in physical strength.

He opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing within them.

This was a good deal.

It could even be said that they made a fortune.

The headless corpse of the "Imperial Advisor" collapsed with a thud beside the pool of blood, twitched twice, and then lay still.

Zhou Yang stepped forward and kicked the head that had rolled to the ground away, as if kicking away a bag of garbage.

He bent down and rummaged through the corpse for a while, and soon found a dark ring.

This is the storage ring mentioned in the system notification.

Such things are extremely rare in the martial arts world, usually only possessed by grandmaster-level experts or sects with deep foundations. That old bastard, the Imperial Advisor, has certainly plundered the people's wealth.

Zhou Yang didn't stand on ceremony and dripped a drop of blood onto it. After recognizing it as his own, he probed it with his divine sense.

Good guy.

The space inside was as large as a small courtyard, with mountains of gold bars and silver ingots, as well as numerous bottles and jars, all labeled as precious medicinal herbs for replenishing qi and nourishing blood. In one corner, there were also several ancient books and even a few seemingly insignificant fragments.

Zhou Yang nodded inwardly. This wasn't a murder scene; it was clearly an ATM.

As for the materials at the bottom of the blood pool...

Zhou Yang glanced at the blood pool, which was almost completely dried up. The remaining residue and waste were of little value to him. The "Dragon Spine Fragment," which the Imperial Preceptor regarded as a treasure, lay quietly in the blood mud.

He walked over and picked it up.

The fragment felt cold and heavy to the touch, with irregular patterns on its surface, resembling the skeleton of some kind of creature.

"What's the point of this thing?"

Zhou Yang frowned. The system indicated that repairing this thing would require a huge amount of lifespan, which he couldn't bear to do now.

Zhou Yang casually tossed it into his storage ring, then turned and looked toward the cave entrance.

There, leaning against a figure.

Qin Shuang.

She was covered in blood, and her flying fish robe was torn to shreds, revealing her thin inner garment, which was stained with large patches of blood, making it impossible to tell whether it was someone else's or her own.

One of her hands hung limply at her side, clearly broken, while her other hand still gripped the broken longsword tightly.

Her face was as pale as paper, and her lips were bloodless, but her eyes were wide open, staring intently at Zhou Yang.

There was no relief at surviving a disaster in those eyes, nor any admiration for the strong.

I was simply shocked.

And a deep, undisguised...complexity.

She is a smart person.

She had seen everything that had just happened.

The changes in Zhou Yang, the sudden surge in his aura, and the chilling, blood-red light that seemed to come from the depths of hell.

Most importantly, that final blow.

That arrogant national advisor, that half-step grandmaster whom even her father had to be wary of, was slaughtered by Zhou Yang as easily as killing a chicken.

Is this still the same Zhou Yang who usually grovels before her, is greedy for money, and runs away faster than a rabbit at the slightest danger?

That cunning and ruthless junior officer of the Imperial Guard who always talks about "adding money"?

Qin Shuang felt that her brain was not working properly.

She remembered what Zhou Yang had once said to her.

"Commander Qin, I'm the kind of person who would give you his life if you paid me enough."

At the time, she thought it was just a joke, or an exaggerated expression by people from the martial arts world.

But now it seems that this statement should be taken in reverse.

He'd take anyone's life if the money was right.

Zhou Yang chuckled inwardly as he looked at Qin Shuang's dazed expression.

At times like these, you have to put on an act.

This was both to conceal the fact that his cultivation method was strange and to gain more initiative in future interactions.

The cold, indifferent expression on his face vanished instantly, replaced by that familiar, slightly roguish smile.

He casually shook the blood off his embroidered spring knife, then limped toward Qin Shuang.

"Oh my, my Commander Qin, you're still alive?"

As Zhou Yang walked, he rubbed his shoulder and groaned, "That old monster's palm strike almost dislocated my shoulder, it hurts like hell. Speaking of which, you're such a terrible centurion, you had to rely on me, a mere squad leader, to save your life at a crucial moment. You'll have to settle this score when we get back."

Qin Shuang looked at Zhou Yang walking towards her.

He reverted to being the same Zhou Yang who always looked like he wanted to punch someone.

But the overwhelming, nauseating smell of blood emanating from him, and his eyes, though smiling, still as cold as knives, silently told her:

That killer from before was the real him.

"Zhou Yang".

Qin Shuang moved her chapped lips, her voice weak, "You..."

"What do you mean, 'me'?"

Zhou Yang walked up to her, plopped down on the ground, not caring whether the ground was dirty or not, and pulled out a bottle of wound medicine that he had just found in the Grand Preceptor's storage ring. He uncorked it, and a cool medicinal fragrance wafted out.

Without wasting words, he grabbed Qin Shuang's severed arm and skillfully set the bone, then tore off a piece of his own clothing to bandage her wound.

"hiss--!"

The intense pain made Qin Shuang gasp, a fine layer of cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. She gritted her teeth, suppressing a cry, and stared intently at Zhou Yang, "Who exactly are you?"

Who I am is not important.

Zhou Yang didn't even look up, his hands continuing their work, but he said casually, "The important thing is, I'm your creditor now. Commander Qin, that last strike almost cost me my life. That's top-tier service, extra charge applies."

Qin Shuang was stunned.

Looking at the man in front of her, covered in blood yet still haggling over "more money," the shock in her heart slowly subsided, replaced by a strange emotion.

This person is dangerous.

But it's also...very reliable.

At least at this moment, in this dark and cold underground cave, amidst the stench of blood and corpses, he was the only one still standing beside her.

"it is good."

Qin Shuang took a deep breath, enduring the sharp pain in her chest, and squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth, "Go back... I'll give you more money."

"Alright!"

Zhou Yang neatly tied a knot, clapped his hands, stood up, extended a hand to Qin Shuang, and revealed his signature, money-grubbing smile.

"Then it's settled. If I'm short even a penny, I'll come to your house and freeload until you go bankrupt."

Qin Shuang looked at the hand that was stretched out in front of her.

The hand was still stained with the Grand Preceptor's blood; it was dirty and greasy.

But she didn't hesitate; she reached out her good hand and grabbed him.

The palm was warm and firm.

This is the warmth of being alive.