Eternal Life: I Can Sell Everything

Song Ciwan stood by the cloth curtain, listening to the conversation between Master Wu and the so-called "Barbarian Envoy," her mind racing.

’The Second Prince...’ He was undoubtedly one of her enemies!

There’s a saying: for a gentleman, ten years is not too long to wait for revenge. But Song Ciwan’s philosophy was different: if revenge could be had now, why wait ten years?

As the conversation between Master Wu and the Barbarian Envoy continued, Song Ciwan watched wisps of red and white energy emanate from the mouth of the Purification Bottle. Fine as silk, these streams of energy flowed into the cloth curtain, passing through it and toward some unknown, distant place.

Song Ciwan reached out to snatch that energy.

Her hand, as ethereal as mist, passed through the cloth curtain as if it were nothing and deftly caught the formless energy in her palm.

The Heaven and Earth Scale materialized and absorbed the energy.

[Human desires: the joy, fury, and sorrow of mortals. One tael, two mace. Tradable.]

[Wish Power, born from the faith of all sentient beings. One tael, three mace. Tradable.]

...

Wisps of red and white energy were absorbed into the Heaven and Earth Scale. Some of them, mixed in with the red and white, also had a faint golden glow. This type of energy wasn’t ordinary "human desires," but Wish Power!

Wish Power was something that Song Ciwan could rarely collect directly, even when she was playing the part of the Nameless Divine Venerable or a Divine Envoy.

But this time, she had taken thirty-six wisps of energy from the Purification Bottle in one go. Among them were twenty-three wisps of ordinary "human desires" and thirteen wisps of Wish Power!

Even though the amount in each wisp wasn’t large, it was still free Wish Power.

Song Ciwan’s features relaxed in satisfaction. A moment later, a furious roar suddenly erupted from behind the curtain: "Wu Yu, you dare deceive me!"

Wu Yu hadn’t even processed what was happening, and he had no time to react.

In an instant, a gigantic, hairy claw shot out from behind the curtain like a bolt of lightning.

The gray-black beast claw, as large as a millstone, moved with lightning speed, grabbing Wu Yu’s head, neck, and entire upper body in its palm!

Wu Yu only belatedly realized what was happening. Only when his entire upper body was caught did he shriek, "You bastard! You barbarian slave, what do you think you’re doing!"

As he shouted, countless iron feathers instantly detached from his feathered cloak. These iron feathers were sharp and pointed. They shot out, spinning through the air to slice at the giant claw.

It became a life-and-death battle in an instant.

’Although Wu Yu is fighting back,’ Song Ciwan had just judged in her mind, ’I’m afraid he’s no match for the Barbarian Envoy...’

Just then, the iron feathers sliced into the gray-black beast claw, and blood went flying.

The Barbarian Envoy howled in pain and fury, letting out a long, savage beast’s roar. "GYAAAH—"

The beast claw tightened. SPLAT!

Wu Yu didn’t even have time to let out a second cry before his entire upper body was crushed into a bloody pulp by the beast claw.

Flesh and blood exploded, and Wu Yu died instantly.

The Barbarian Envoy was victorious, but his pained cries only grew more shrill.

Countless bits of shredded flesh clung to the beast claw, and among them, innumerable tiny red threadworms seemed to be squirming and burrowing through the claw’s gray-black fur.

He screamed, "Ah! Help! What is this damn thing?"

"Master! Master, save me! Ahhh—"

The beast claw instantly retracted deep behind the curtain, and the Barbarian Envoy’s screams grew more frantic: "Master, save me! Master, save me!"

Standing outside the curtain, Song Ciwan took out a Paper Crane Tracking Talisman and touched it to a drop of the Barbarian Envoy’s blood—

This too was strange. There were many things in the Mortal World that Song Ciwan could not touch. For example, when she had crossed paths with the down-and-out Niu the Sixth on the street earlier, they had passed right through each other, unable to make contact.

Another example was the many objects in Master Wu’s room—the charcoal braziers, the feathers, the tools—all of which Song Ciwan was also unable to touch.

But she could capture "human desires" and "Wish Power" with her bare hands, and right now, she could also use the Paper Crane Tracking Talisman to collect the Barbarian Envoy’s blood.

Even more interestingly, Song Ciwan had a feeling: she felt that she should be able to touch this crow-blue curtain in front of her!

But Song Ciwan did not recklessly try to touch it. Instead, the moment the Barbarian Envoy’s voice faded completely, she summoned the Heaven and Earth Scale and absorbed the curtain directly into it.

The moment the curtain was taken, Song Ciwan felt a powerful pulling sensation.

On the other side of a vast expanse of time and space, a furious, astonished voice seemed to ask, "Who?"

From the unseen depths, a hand with pale skin and sharp nails seemed to reach out, attempting to part the veil of spacetime and track its way to Song Ciwan’s location.

But just before the space began to destabilize, Song Ciwan swept her sleeve. The Heaven and Earth Scale flew out, its Balance Plate spinning across the floor in a circle.

In an instant, all the scattered chunks of flesh and blood in the room, including Master Wu’s grotesque, bird-footed remains, and all the feathered decorations that gave off a sinister, bewitching aura, were swept up into the Heaven and Earth Scale.

Indeed, while Song Ciwan couldn’t directly touch many things in the Mortal World, the Heaven and Earth Scale could.

After her Cultivation breakthrough, her connection to the Heaven and Earth Scale had grown stronger. Within a certain range, she could actively command it to collect items directly!

In a flash, Song Ciwan had the scale collect everything it could from the room. The Heaven and Earth Scale vanished into the void, and with a flicker, Song Ciwan herself transformed into wind and departed, leaving the hut far behind in an instant.

Though it takes many words to describe, everything happened in the time it takes to snap one’s fingers.

One finger-snap later, she was far from the hut. Another snap later, a strange, demonic shriek of fury erupted from within the building.

AHHH—

The shriek was inaudible to the mortal ear, but Song Ciwan, looking from a distance, saw a wave of formless energy blast out from the hut.

In an instant, the little hut, with its colors both ancient and vibrant, was reduced to dust by the invisible shockwave.

BOOM. Dust filled the sky, then settled in silence.

In the distance, on the bustling streets, the sounds of people’s laughter and cheerful chatter continued.

Fireworks still bloomed one after another in the sky. No one noticed that a small hut deep in an alley had, from this moment on, been wiped from existence.

Song Ciwan paused for only a moment. When she discovered that the hand she sensed couldn’t seem to leave the vicinity of the hut, let alone track her hiding nearby, her eyes curved slightly, and she smiled without a sound.

’This state of being in the Mortal World, but not of it, is truly extraordinary.’

Song Ciwan quickly turned and left, heading straight for the Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall.

Tracking the Barbarian Envoy could wait. Song Ciwan decided to find Niu the Sixth first and see how things had unfolded for him.

So, Song Ciwan used the Wind Manipulation Technique, speeding through one alley after another.

As she sped along, she summoned the Heaven and Earth Scale again. She wanted to sell off some of the items she had just acquired from Wu Yu’s Hut.

Especially that magical cloth curtain. Song Ciwan wanted to see what she could get if she sold it!