Clearly, the black-clad man never expected Lin Chang'sheng to be sitting in the courtyard at this hour.
Realizing what was happening, the man lunged with a claw toward Lin Chang'sheng's throat—his claw-wind was fierce!
Lin Chang'sheng noticed that the man's hands were gloved, the fingertips gleaming blue under the moonlight.
And this guy's inner strength surged; he was obviously a second-class expert.
"Who are you?"
Seeing the poison on the gloves, and that he was going straight for the kill, Lin Chang'sheng was startled. He grabbed the bamboo pole at his side, activated Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill, and like a swallow, leapt instantly onto the rooftop.
"Second-class expert!"
"You've hidden yourself well!"
The black-clad man was visibly shocked at Lin Chang'sheng's skillful body technique. His eyes hardened and, with a flick of his wrist, three cold flashes shot towards Lin Chang'sheng's upper, middle, and lower gates.
Namely: the eyes, throat, and groin!
"Cyan Snake Sword Technique!"
Lin Chang'sheng surged inner strength through the bamboo pole, unleashing his perfected Cyan Snake Sword Technique, instantly sending the incoming hidden weapons ricocheting back.
Lin Chang'sheng, moving like a giant bird, closed in on the man, his bamboo pole weaving with Cyan Snake Sword Technique, its angles sharp like a poisonous serpent, stabbing right for the man's throat!
By now, Lin Chang'sheng's cultivation had reached the peak of second-class, just a few experience points shy of advancing to first-class realm.
The middle-aged man was a second-class expert, yes, but nowhere near Lin Chang'sheng's peak level—within an instant, Lin Chang'sheng stabbed him in the chest, thigh, and more—three bleeding holes!
Blood gushed out.
"You—!"
The black-clad man stared at Lin Chang'sheng, his eyes filled with terror. How could this young, harmless-looking kid be so strong?
And more than that—
He hid his cultivation so deeply, the man couldn't see through him at all!
The black-clad man relied on his lightweight skill, swiftly darting backward, trying to flee the courtyard.
"You came this far, you think you can leave now?"
Seeing the man try to run, Lin Chang'sheng's eyes sparkled. He grabbed a strong bow from behind the door, drew it, and loosed an arrow.
"Whizz!"
The bamboo feathered arrow, infused with Lin Chang'sheng's peak second-class inner strength, shot forth like a meteor and pierced through the man's back!
"Ugh!"
The man grunted; the force drove him stumbling forward a few steps before collapsing.
"It's him?"
Lin Chang'sheng walked up, used a stick to turn the man over, and pulled off his mask. To his surprise, the black-clad man was none other than Ling Ziyu—the one who'd asked earlier in the day about Gao Yang's burial.
"This Ling Ziyu, just for that token, still wouldn't give up. Seems that token really is something special."
Lin Chang'sheng remembered the token carved with white clouds he'd taken from Gao Yang's package.
Earlier, Ling Ziyu tried to buy it for 100 silver taels. Good thing Lin Chang'sheng refused.
"Looks like I won't need to use this hairpin, after all."
Inside the house, Yu Wenjing stood near the window, gazing at Lin Chang'sheng with the bow off in the distance. Surprise flickered in her beautiful eyes, and she put away the emerald hairpin she'd been holding as its glow faded.
The glow dispersed.
Yu Wenjing placed the hairpin back in her hair.
This hairpin was her protective talisman; each use drained its power, so she avoided using it unless absolutely necessary. Of course, if Lin Chang'sheng was ever in real danger, she wouldn't hesitate—he had saved her life, after all.
"One hundred thirty taels, Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (fragment)?"
Lin Chang'sheng carefully searched the man, finding some silver notes and broken silver in his chest—totaling 130 taels.
And a beast hide scroll.
The scroll was incomplete; it documented a hidden weapon technique called Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers, with only three moves: Three Birds with One Stone, Separation, and Life-taking Meteor.
"Didn't expect to land a haul like this."
Looking at tonight's loot, a smile crept into Lin Chang'sheng's eyes.
He put on gloves, picked up the corpse, and, making use of the darkness, hurried to the spot where he'd slain Tie Yang a few days before.
It didn't take long for him to toss Ling Ziyu's body into the Grand Canal.
"Chang'sheng, are you okay?"
Yu Wenjing walked over, concern shimmering in her eyes.
"I'm fine, really. You get some rest, I'll go to bed too."
Lin Chang'sheng clapped his hands as he spoke.
He was in great spirits. Tonight's yield was huge—five taels could feed a whole family for a year, but he'd just scored 130 taels, plus the secret manual for hidden weapons.
"Mmm!"
Yu Wenjing nodded and headed back to her room.
Lin Chang'sheng had no intention to sleep. He sprawled near the window, soaking in moonlight, and took out the Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers manual, reading intently.
That Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers secret manual—
Listed three maneuvers: Three Birds with One Stone, Separation, Life-taking Meteor, each described with force application techniques.
Lin Chang'sheng stepped outside, picked up a few pebbles, and flung them out, emulating the force movement from the manual.
The pebble left his palm—smack!
[Detected Hidden Weapon Technique: Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (fragment). Would you like to consume ten taels to simplify it?]
Right then, a red notification popped up on Lin Chang'sheng's panel.
"Simplify."
Lin Chang'sheng inwardly confirmed at once.
[Great Dao is Simple: Hidden Weapon Technique, simplifying Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (fragment)... Simplification successful... Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (fragment) == Throwing Stones]
Not even a moment after Lin Chang'sheng confirmed, another red message flashed on the panel.
"Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (fragment) simplified to "Throwing Stones"?"
Lin Chang'sheng saw the notification and gawked; he was a bit stunned.
The hidden weapon skill got boiled down to simply throwing rocks—cultivating this would be way faster now.
Lin Chang'sheng gave a mental command and opened the panel.
[Great Dao is Simple: Level 1]
[Lin Chang'sheng: 16/55]
[Cultivation: Second-class (2499/2500)]
[Cultivation Technique: Sun and Moon Breathing Technique (Expert 13278/25000)]
[Martial Arts: Archery (Great Perfection), Iron Sand Palm (Great Perfection), Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill (Great Perfection), Cyan Snake Sword Technique (Great Success 6223/12500), Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (fragment) (Entry Level 0/500)]
[Consume a certain amount of silver taels to simplify cultivation techniques, martial arts, and more.]
[Status: Yin Qi Invasion (Weakened)]
"Looks like this can boost experience points too."
Lin Chang'sheng started tossing stones. He discovered that even playing the childhood game from his previous life, balancing then flipping stones, granted experience points too.
Just toss stones onto the back of his hand, flip onto his palm, and an experience point was his.
Lin Chang'sheng suddenly wasn't sleepy at all. He spent half an hour throwing stones—Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (fragment) was already at "proficient."
To bathe in moonlight, he simply dragged a chair out to the courtyard to rest, making the most of both moon-powered cultivation and sleep.
.......
Three days later.
Hundred Herbs Hall.
"You're ready for the Medicine Boy assessment?"
"You finished the Hundred Herbs Pharmacopoeia already? Got all those herbs memorized by heart?"
Pharmacist Chen from Hundred Herbs Hall eyed Lin Chang'sheng with suspicion.
Pharmacist Chen was the examiner here, having worked all his life as a pharmacist—over sixty now, his hair snowy, though still vigorous. Sadly, he lacked any alchemy talent, and could only brew Qi Blood Soup and Qi Blood Ointment so far.