Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

"You heard, Junior Brother? Kong Yu’s been missing for days. He must be dead."

The same day Xu Yang returned from Li Fire Peak, a beaming Sun Tao sought him out.

If you were missing for that long, it basically meant you were dead. Otherwise, there would be no way he wouldn’t have returned to the Sect. Besides, there had been no sign of Kong Yu or his group in Cyan Yang City either.

This was the first time since joining the Sect that Sun Tao was actually happy to hear someone had died.

Kong Yu was too talented, and a disciple of Gale Hall to boot. With him dead, everyone could finally rest easy.

Xu Yang smiled. "Senior Brother, I already heard people talking about this on Li Fire Peak. Good riddance."

He had also been on edge for the past few days.

Before killing Fang Wei, he had made sure to ask. Fang Wei had sworn that no one else knew they were coming to kill him, but Xu Yang had still been afraid he might have been lying.

Now that the Sect had issued a bounty and the investigation still hadn’t led to him, the matter could be considered closed, at least for now.

’But I still can’t use the contribution points I got from Kong Yu’s group, just in case it draws attention.’

’A pile of contribution points suddenly appearing after more than a month of not doing any missions would be highly suspicious.’

Kong Yu’s death was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake. It caused a great stir, but the waters soon settled, and other news took its place.

Du Chuan, second of the Ten Heroes, reached Gang Qi Minor Achievement. Jiang Fan, the third, announced he had done the same soon after.

Before long, Huo Cheng, who had taken Kong Yu’s place as fourth, also achieved Gang Qi Minor Achievement.

Soon, no one cared about Kong Yu’s fate anymore. Everyone was focused on their own training, going all out, as many were still stuck in the Qi Gathering Realm.

Xu Yang, meanwhile, fell back into his daily routine: forging and cultivating.

At the same time, in Cyan Yang City, the Zhu Family’s sudden new supply of Blood Coagulation Pills was also making waves.

The Zhu Family leveraged these Blood Coagulation Pills to strike deals with several other families, successfully encroaching on the medicinal herb market that had previously belonged to the Su Family.

Su Family!

"Investigate this! Where did the Zhu Family get those Blood Coagulation Pills!"

Patriarch Su, Su Jianye, spoke with a dark expression. "The Zhu Family’s Pill Masters can’t refine Blood Coagulation Pills, and they wouldn’t have had time to refine so many. Someone else must have made them."

Su Jianye’s tone was firm.

It takes a Pill Master more than a day or two to learn how to make a new elixir. Besides, the number of elixirs any given Pill Master can refine each month is relatively fixed.

"The Zhu Family announced they’ll have an additional two hundred Blood Coagulation Pills every month going forward. That’s obviously not the work of their current Pill Masters. They must have either found another supplier or recruited a new Pill Master. There’s no way two hundred Blood Coagulation Pills could just appear out of thin air."

"In the medicinal herb market, elixirs are power."

"They haven’t seized much of the market yet, but in business, if you’re not advancing, you’re retreating. If we don’t solve this, the Su Family will slowly decline over time."

"Send someone to the Purple Sun Sect," Su Jianye said angrily. "Find out if the Zhu Family somehow got their hands on an elixir quota from the Sect."

Across from him, his younger brother, Su Jiangong, replied in a low voice, "We’ve already asked the Purple Sun Sect. The elixirs aren’t from them. No one at the Sect refines Blood Coagulation Pills."

"The Pill Masters at Purple Sun Sect focus on the more cost-effective Qi Replenishing Pills. No one there bothers with a more expensive elixir like the Blood Coagulation Pill."

Alchemy is about making a profit. When you have a cost-effective option like the Qi Replenishing Pill, who would bother refining the more expensive Blood Coagulation Pill?

A sharp glint flashed in Su Jianye’s eyes. "In other words, this Pill Master only knows how to refine Blood Coagulation Pills, not Qi Replenishing Pills."

Su Jiangong nodded. "That’s likely the case. But we can’t rule out the possibility that he has studied the Blood Coagulation Pill extensively. If his Pill Formation Success Rate is high, refining Blood Coagulation Pills might be more profitable for him than Qi Replenishing Pills."

"I got a Blood Coagulation Pill from the Zhang Family and had our family’s Pill Master examine it. He said this Pill Master’s skill with Blood Coagulation Pills is very high. His Pill Formation Success Rate might be as high as ten refined pills per batch."

Su Jianye said, "I don’t care. Find this person for us. Check if any new Pill Masters have come to Cyan Yang City recently."

Su Jiangong shook his head. "We’ve already checked. There are no new Pill Masters. Our family’s intelligence network has come up with nothing."

Seeing he wasn’t getting anywhere, Su Jianye raged, "Useless! It’s not like a Pill Master will have the words ’Pill Master’ carved on his forehead! Start monitoring the ingredients for Blood Coagulation Pills."

"As long as this Pill Master is still refining Blood Coagulation Pills, he will have to buy medicinal herbs."

Su Jiangong’s eyes lit up. "Brother, you are brilliant! I’ll send men to watch the major apothecaries at once."

A smug look appeared on Su Jianye’s face. "Find him. Whatever the Zhu Family is offering, the Su Family can offer better. Get him to work with us."

At this, a vicious glint appeared in his eyes. "And if he proves ungrateful, then get rid of him."

’If we can’t have him, then we’ll destroy him. As for the Zhu Family’s reaction... once he’s dead, would they really go to war with the Su Family over a corpse? They don’t have the guts.’

"Yes!"

Su Jiangong spoke again. "Brother, Xiao Hua, an Outer Sect Steward from the Purple Sun Sect, sent a messenger. He wishes to arrange a marriage between his son and Su Man. What are your thoughts?"

Su Jianye frowned. "A mere Outer Sect Steward? Who does he think he is, asking to become in-laws with the Su Family?"

The Outer Sect Stewards of the Purple Sun Sect were all disciples who couldn’t make it in the Inner Sect and were sent to serve in the Outer Sect. Apart from lording over the Outer Disciples, they had no real say in the Purple Sun Sect.

The Su Family could befriend someone like that, but for a marriage alliance? He wasn’t nearly qualified enough.

Su Jiangong said, "He recently reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement. Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare make such a proposal to our family. What’s more, it seems Su Man is also fond of his son."

A harsh light flashed in Su Jianye’s eyes. ’So, they got involved first and are only telling us now.’