Martial Saint with Passives

Jiang Che nodded and went down the mountain with them.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the group of Hunters insisted on treating Jiang Che to a meal to thank him properly.

But Jiang Che made an excuse about needing to find his companions and left.

After returning home and stashing the poisonous mushrooms, Jiang Che took out the spoils he had looted from the bodies.

He took stock and found there were mainly five types of items.

First, there were money pouches.

He emptied them all out and discovered this group was quite wealthy, carrying a lot of gold and silver.

After a quick tally, converting everything to gold, it came out to just over three hundred taels!

Looking at so much gold, Jiang Che couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

"Robbery really is the fastest way to get rich!"

Adding the gold bars he had exchanged before, Jiang Che now had over five hundred and thirty taels of gold!

The second category was comprised of things like beast bait, Deodorizing Powder, and antidotes.

He had no use for the antidotes, so he kept the beast bait and Deodorizing Powder.

These were consumables, after all.

The third category was Martial Arts Secret Manuals.

This was what interested Jiang Che the most.

However, not many of them had been carrying Secret Manuals.

There were only three in total.

One of them was taken from the leader’s body.

It was a Saber Technique for the Qi Blood Realm.

It was called the *Flowing Light Saber*.

This type of Saber Technique excelled in speed.

It required a light and nimble saber.

Jiang Che guessed it was the same Saber Technique the leader had used.

Although this Saber Technique wasn’t very suitable for Kunji.

But Jiang Che still planned to find time to practice it.

After all, Jiang Che possessed the Skill Proficiency Panel and had Heart Stream.

When it came to Martial Arts, the more, the better.

The other two were no ordinary Martial Arts.

Moreover, they seemed to be incomplete fragments, with missing content.

One was called the *Beast Taming Technique*. It was said that after mastering it, one could tame Black Beasts.

Jiang Che didn’t know if that was true or not.

He decided to study it carefully in the future.

The other was the *Soul Capturing Technique*.

According to its contents, once mastered, it could be used to control the thoughts and Soul of others, turning them into one’s own puppets.

"What kind of Evil Techniques are these?"

Jiang Che shook his head.

"This kind of Evil Technique..."

"Truly, only a person as righteous as me is fit to practice it!"

Jiang Che mused.

After all, a Cultivation Technique itself is neither good nor evil; it all depends on the user.

If a person is evil, even the most righteous Fist Technique can be used to kill.

But if a person is good, even the most sinister technique can be used to save people!

Jiang Che carefully put the Secret Manuals away.

The fourth category was Black Crystals.

Five Iron Skin Realm Black Crystals and twenty-eight Stone Skin Realm Black Crystals.

’Now I won’t be short on Black Crystals at all...’

Jiang Che thought to himself.

As for the fifth category, it consisted of various waist tokens and similar items.

Most of these waist tokens were engraved with the two words "Black Wind."

However, the different tokens varied in material and craftsmanship.

’It seems this group was the Horse Bandits of Black Wind Mountain...’

Jiang Che had his suspicions before, and now he was certain.

After all, there weren’t many factions in the vicinity that could boast so many Iron Skin Realm Martial Artists.

Plus, the leader had mentioned his adoptive father.

The only ones who fit both these descriptions were the Horse Bandits of Black Wind Mountain.

’In that case, I’ve killed one of Tuoba Lie’s adopted sons...’

A trace of worry appeared in Jiang Che’s heart.

He had heard many rumors about this Tuoba Lie.

They said he was a master from the Western Regions with outstanding Martial Arts.

Some said he was also above Force Integration, no weaker than Li Hanchuan.

Furthermore, the man seemed ambitious, having built a small town on Black Wind Mountain and was recruiting soldiers and buying horses.

’They won’t find me, will they?’

Jiang Che carefully considered if he had missed any details.

’After a night, the bodies must have been completely devoured by Black Beasts. They can forget about finding any clues about the killer...

’But those Hunters saw me coming down the mountain. I didn’t say I’d seen the people from Black Wind Mountain, though. Besides, I’m only at the Stone Skin Realm. Even if they claimed I killed them, no one would believe it...’

Jiang Che mulled it over and concluded that it probably wasn’t a big deal.

’I can’t go outside the city for a while. I need to lay low...’

However, he had more than enough Black Crystals now, so he wouldn’t need to go hunting in the mountains for a long time anyway.

「The next morning」 Jiang Che arrived at Tingzhu Garden, carrying a bag of poisonous mushrooms.

When Zhang Jinghuai saw an entire bag full of various poisonous mushrooms, his expression was a mix of shock and suspicion.

"You kid, where did you get so many poisonous mushrooms?"

"I picked them. Yesterday, I happened to run into a Hunting Team heading up the mountain, so I had them take me along," Jiang Che said, giving a half-truth.

Zhang Jinghuai didn’t suspect a thing and began to sort through the mushrooms.

"Are there any Pigeon Red Mushrooms?" Jiang Che asked worriedly.

If not, there was nothing he could do. He wouldn’t be able to go back for a while.

"Yes! Not only are there Pigeon Red Mushrooms, but there’s something even better!" Zhang Jinghuai’s expression was ecstatic.

"Oh? What is it?" Jiang Che asked.

"A Spiritual Mushroom! This is the main ingredient for making Qi Strength Pills!"

Zhang Jinghuai took out a small, pale pink mushroom.

Its cap was dusted with some golden powder that glittered, making it quite beautiful.

Jiang Che had only picked it because he thought it looked pretty; he never expected it to be so useful!

"Old man, when you make the Qi Strength Pills later, save some for me, will you?" Jiang Che said with a cheeky grin.

"You brat! I knew you’d say that! Fine, seeing as you went to the trouble of picking the mushrooms, I’ll save some for you!" Zhang Jinghuai said, shaking his head.

"Many thanks, Elder Zhang!" Jiang Che said, clasping his fists.

"’Elder Zhang, Elder Zhang’... Just look at you!"

Muttering to himself, Zhang Jinghuai took out the Pigeon Red Mushrooms and began preparing the poison mixture needed for the Poison Cultivation Technique.