Gou Zai Xianwu Chaos World, Physical Sainthood

An incense stick later, at the old house of Yang Biao, the leader of the Fish Gang.

Standing in the courtyard, Lu Cheng couldn't help but admire the man's vigilance.

After sending the young master to see the young gang leader, Lu Cheng did not delay at all.

He arrived here with five hundred taels of silver notes.

Since Zhang Rensheng was unaware of the assassination attempt, killing the Fish Gang leader would likely cover it up.

After all, he was currently no match for a martial artist in the Body Refinement stage.

Even just buying some time would be helpful.

But to my surprise, I came up empty-handed.

The Yang family home wasn't large; it was just a two-courtyard house.

The house was covered with white silk ribbons, and the paper money on the ground was so thick it was beyond description.

Lu Cheng turned the courtyard upside down in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

They searched inside and out, even the secret room, but they found not a single person or a single penny.

Even all the items that could be exchanged for money disappeared.

The ever-burning candles in the mourning hall had long since gone out, and the unburnt paper money in the brazier was scattered all around by the wind.

Only the fruits and melons on the table were still fresh.

According to the young master of the inn, Yang Biao had sent all the servants and concubines home a few days ago under the pretext of mourning and seeking peace and quiet.

He even handed over all the affairs of the Fish Gang to his subordinates to handle.

For the next few days, he stayed home and didn't go out much until this morning when he finally found me with the money.

In retrospect, it seems they had planned this all along.

The so-called mourning and purification practices were indeed real.

But more likely, they are planning revenge in advance.

All the gold and silver were prepared in advance, and on the last day, the money was used to seek revenge on the young master.

As for why he "fled".

Judging from the young master's simple-minded appearance, the five hundred taels were probably a trap set by Yang Biao.

Now that we've used it all, keeping it would only make us miserable.

On the other hand, they might also be afraid of retaliation from Changfeng Escort Agency.

After all, no matter how ruthless Yang Biao was, he was just a street thug, and he was nothing compared to a martial artist.

It's quite daring of them to stir things up.

Such a flight and hiding is not unacceptable.

Of course, all of this was just Lu Cheng's speculation.

Now that people are either dead or have fled, there's no way to verify their whereabouts.

That's fine, at least it saves us from having to clean up the mess afterwards.

Besides that, there was other information obtained from that dead young master.

A lucky draw prize.

With the Zhenwu Battalion present, these prizes had no choice but to be offered.

Therefore, the seventeen families were divided into three groups.

The Four Symbols Martial Arts Schools, led by the Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise Martial Arts Schools, along with the Xu and Huang families, and the remaining eleven schools, each contributed one share.

Money is not a problem, as these forces have many businesses in both the legitimate and criminal worlds.

Three or four thousand taels of silver is a lot, but it's still manageable.

The key lies in the other elixirs.

Five thousand doses of Blood-Activating Powder, and five hundred doses each of Hundred Essence Pills, Bone-Strengthening Powder, Tendon-Changing Pills, and Jade Skin Ointment.

Even if these pills were only a third of what they were, it would be enough to make them anxious.

Lu Cheng didn't know the situation of the other martial arts schools, but the Vermilion Bird Martial Arts School was far behind.

According to the quota, the Zhuque Martial Arts School needs to prepare 500 doses of the Blood-Activating Powder alone.

However, there are only eighty doses of the prepared medicine and a little over one hundred unprocessed medicinal materials.

The reason there are so few is that the price is secondary.

The key issue is that they dare not make a fuss about it.

The news of the fight is currently only circulating within a small circle.

Most people are unaware of this.

All seventeen families only dared to secretly hoard pills and medicinal herbs.

Once the news gets out, it will instantly drive up the price of elixirs in Yangcheng and the surrounding areas.

That's what the seventeen families couldn't afford.

But whether they can bear it or not is sometimes not up to them.

……

"What do you mean? Buy all the herbs for the blood-activating powder?"

Inside the Black Market, Old Pi was extremely surprised to hear Lu Cheng's request after his return.

"Five hundred taels of silver, if you buy all of it for medicinal herbs, that would be... a thousand doses! Are you crazy?"

Lu Cheng was also somewhat surprised to hear "one thousand sets".

I only thought that way, but I haven't calculated it carefully yet.

"A thousand sets does sound a bit much," Lu Cheng said thoughtfully.

"But it's impossible to predict exactly what the situation will be like then."

"We'd be in trouble if it really wasn't enough."

"Moreover, as the purchase volume increases, it certainly won't still be five yuan a pair."

Old Pi shook his head as he listened:

"What do you mean 'not enough'? This is medicine, for practicing martial arts. Do you think it's food?"

"Don't even mention a thousand sets, even a hundred sets would be enough for you to use until you die."

Lu Cheng shook his head: "No, no, no, you don't know what I want to do."

"Here's what we'll do: help me rent a shop in a secluded spot in the Black Market. It doesn't need to be big, just the cheapest one will do."

"Use the rest to buy herbs for blood-activating powder."

"I only want the blood-activating powder; nothing else."

Other elixirs are too expensive and the market is not large enough to achieve the effect Lu Cheng wanted.

Old Pi stared blankly at Lu Cheng:

"You're really crazy. You may have some talent for alchemy, but you can't do it like this."

Old Pi was greatly shocked by Lu Cheng's ability to refine fifteen doses of the Blood-Activating Powder in a row.

Before this, even the top alchemists in Shiyang City only had an 80% success rate in refining the Blood Activating Powder.

Old Yang next to him only had 50%.

The high price of elixirs is partly due to the losses from failed attempts.

The higher the grade of the elixir, the more expensive the medicinal materials and the lower the success rate, naturally resulting in an exorbitant price.

Lu Cheng shook his head and said:

"No, I'm not crazy. What I'm going to do isn't actually that complicated."

"It's just that I definitely can't explain it to you in a short time."

Then he stared at Old Pi, his eyes beneath the black cloth unusually firm:

"Old Pi, you don't need to spend any money on this. All you need to do is help me buy medicinal herbs, and you'll earn more money than you could in a lifetime, no, ten lifetimes. Are you sure you want to refuse?"

Hearing that he could make money without spending any money, Old Pi finally nodded.

But still with doubt, he asked:

"Old Pi...who is that?"

"..."

Lu Cheng pursed his lips:

"Old Pi... it's a code."

Meeting Old Pi's questioning gaze, Lu Cheng waved his hand and said firmly:

"It is indeed just a code. This matter is far more extensive and important than ordinary plans, and it will also take a very long time."

"Buying medicinal herbs right now is just the very beginning, but it's just as important as what comes next."

"As for what might happen next, even I can't fully predict it."

"But don't worry, once you succeed, you'll have more money than you could spend ten lifetimes on."

"Therefore we must be careful, and no one but me can be informed."

"And even if it's me, from now on, as long as I don't start by saying 'Old Pi,' then you shouldn't pay any attention to me."

Old Pi touched the leather mask on his face, smacked his lips, and felt that something was off.

However, considering that I don't have to spend my own money, I won't lose money no matter what I do.

Moreover, no matter how many medicines he concocts, it will be Lu Cheng who gets exhausted, so what reason do I have to refuse?

Anyway, I'm just idling around in the black market.

Old Pi nodded:

"Okay, so what code should I use when I call you? Is it Old Pi again?"

Lu Cheng:

"..."

"No, just call me... Livermore."

"A millstone...does it have ears?"

Lu Cheng:

"It's not a millstone, it's... well, just call it that."

After saying that, he added:

"But with such a big plan, it needs a name."

"Old Pi, from now on, we'll refer to this plan as the 'financial storm'."

Old Pi:

"..."

Lu Cheng:

"Also, no matter what, the medicinal herbs cannot be bought from Yangcheng, but buying five or eight doses every two or three days is not a problem."

"But if we're buying in bulk, we can only buy from other counties, um... preferably from other prefectures, and we can't have any connections with Yangcheng."

Old Pi:

"..."

……

After explaining some other details to Lao Pi, Lu Cheng inquired about the entrance and exit of the Black Workshop in the north of the city.

After obtaining the exact location, Lu Cheng left all the silver notes and quickly departed.

Before the plan begins, I need to go back to the escort agency and have a good chat with Feng Zhan, Little Fatty, and the others.

As expected, I will spend most of my time in the Black Market until the competition begins.

There are quite a few things we need the little fat guy and his friends to help with in our plans.

As for training, if one can spar with Feng Zhan frequently, the chances of achieving perfect mastery of internal strength within three months will be much greater.

Lu Cheng had not forgotten what his main purpose was.

Martial arts is the right path.