Chapter 201 – The Five Viscera Devour Gold, Extreme Yang Blood, A Husband and Wife United Against Ghostly Foes - Part 3

The sudden rush of memories faded, leaving Li Yuan feeling as though he’d lived them himself. Upon reaching full mastery of the Five-Viscera Gold-Swallowing Art, he discovered that his body could now store ordinary toxins, letting them float like bubbles in his bloodstream.

This was reminiscent of his earlier experiences, when his beast taming skill had mutated at the final stage into a connection with birds. And now, though most levels of the Five-Viscera Gold-Swallowing Art merely strengthened his organs, its perfect culmination had morphed into something else, allowing him to hold small amounts of poison in his system.

At first glance, it seemed nearly useless, but who knew what the future would hold in store?

Setting those thoughts aside for now, Li Yuan headed to the cellar, retrieving 10 kg of sixth rank demonic beast meat. He lit a fire, boiled the meat in a large pot, then devoured every last morsel, broth included. Strengthened by the art, his organs compacted the dense mass of meat with ease; even after 10 kg, his stomach hardly bulged.

This was precisely what he wanted, continued compression of his shadow blood. Afterward, he resumed training.

By nightfall, he found another outlet for the excess energy surging within him—spending time with the four maids, Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju, two of them each evening.

In the end, he would still visit Xue Ning before bedtime. His blood coursed too powerfully, and he needed this method of release. Once their evening passed, he would listen to the latest news she had gathered.

“The demon hunters are open to working with us,” she reported one night. “They’re pleased the black market moved to Brighthold, makes it easier to transport live demonic beasts. But when we asked about visiting their territory, they refused...

“Meanwhile, word from up north via the Purejade Merchant Association says many taverns that initially didn’t want our goods have now started placing orders for Springdream Brew. That’s the good news.

“The bad news is...it’s a total mess out there.”

Each new detail only heightened Li Yuan’s sense of unease. He couldn’t help feeling that conflict might erupt in Gemhill County at any time.

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Three months went by, and Autumn arrived.

By now, Li Yuan had consumed a staggering 450 kg of sixth rank demonic beast meat. Under normal circumstances, a sixth rank martial artist would only need about 60 kg a month.

Yet Li Yuan, already at the peak of the sixth rank, devoured nearly three times the typical amount thanks to his reinforced organs. And still, it wasn’t quite enough.

In the end, he borrowed another 160 kg from his nephew Yan Mu and pushed himself even harder. At last, he felt the heavy, mercury-like density of his shadow blood change in a significant way.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

His heart thudded wildly, pumping an overwhelming tide of blood and forcing it back into the muscle itself.

The process reached some critical threshold, and his heart began to evolve—growing scalding hot, more solid and compact, taking on a vivid, crimson hue.

It seemed as though the blood sand he had painstakingly nurtured had finally tempered his heart to the limit. In turn, his newly strengthened heart fed its energy back into his shadow blood.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

He felt a surge of blazing warmth race out of his heart, swirling around it like a fiery dragon. Compared to that one searing flow, his regular shadow blood felt as cold as ice water. Cloaked in that cool stream, the hot current gradually lost its extreme heat, balancing toward a new state of Yang energy.

Not everything went perfectly, however. This spark of extreme Yang blood felt oddly stiff, almost out of sync, like it lacked its own spirit.

Peering at the row of numbers floating in his vision, Li Yuan realized his power had jumped from 1450~2200 to 2100~2850. Once again, history repeated itself; he’d crossed half-step into fifth rank. But the awkwardness in that thread of scorching blood showed it was far from complete.

He clenched his fists, trying to see if he could fly at will like a true fifth ranker. No matter how many times he tried, he still couldn’t take off. Yet there was no denying how much stronger he felt.

That evening, he decided to test his new might in the black market ghost domain.

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Deep in the night.

Sheng'er struggled to merge her first crow into a strand of hair under her mother’s guidance. After considerable effort, she succeeded. Yan Yu urged her to keep going, to fuse all 50 crows into her hair.

The little-seven-year old girl propped her chin on her hand, a frown on her face as she concentrated deeply.

Following Yan Yu, Li Yuan arrived at the border between the black market and the rouge shop.

Under the pale moonlight, autumn winds bit with lonely chill.

Waxen human skins warred with ghastly white female specters, as though two kingdoms fought at close quarters, each side striking relentlessly.

Though the wind howled, Yan Yu stood unmoving, her robe hanging still like lifeless water. Li Yuan, on the other hand, raised a crimson bow in his hands.

“Yan Yu,” he said quietly, “tonight, I want to try helping you take down that rouge shop.”

She smiled at him without putting too much faith in his ambition. She knew her husband’s heart. Some things simply couldn’t be rushed. Still, as long as he was earnest in offering, she would play along.

“Alright,” she agreed softly.

In the next instant, Li Yuan stepped forward and a sudden shift came over him. Yan Yu paused, surprised. She could feel him blaze like a living flame within this ghostly realm, a scorching presence welling from his body.

Whereas the ghost domain was like a glacial abyss, brimming with Yin energy so frigid it seeped into one’s bones, Li Yuan’s aura clashed against it like fire against ice, Yang pitted against Yin.

With a single drop of blood seeping from his fingertip, Li Yuan drew the bow. That droplet sizzled the moment it touched the air, like hot soup hitting fresh snow. At every fraction of its surface, Yin and Yang repelled each other in a ceaseless struggle. But as soon as the bowstring released, the blood-tinged arrow struck the distant, gloom-cloaked pavilion of the rouge shop.

A harsh hiss rent the night...like a great painting suddenly set aflame, leaving a charred hole behind.

Startled, Yan Yu realized her husband’s bold words had not been empty. It might actually be possible this time!

Without hesitation, she unleashed her ghost servants, flinging them forward in a fierce assault. Li Yuan kept his eyes fixed on the target. One drop of blood after another welled up at his fingertips, flicking onto the bowstring and hurtling forth. Unlike a normal bow, the Ghost Bow loosed arrows in total silence, a stillness as eerie as its namesake. Yet in that silence, Li Yuan’s blazing Yang energy cut a vividly violent swath.

Bit by bit, the dripping blood melted the oppressive Yin energy swirling around the rouge shop. Though the Yin surged to recover, his blood rained down relentlessly. Dizziness descended upon Li Yuan, but he kept at it, refusing to yield. His vision began to blur.

He could barely make out large beads of blood seeping from every pore of his palm, forming a small, blazing orb like a miniature sun.

Boom!

That bloody sun shot forward; the recoil knocked Li Yuan flat onto the ghostly street. A wave of vertigo crashed over him, his body nearly spent. He blinked, seeing not just the swirling gloom of the ghost domain above, but also a scattering of stars in the sky beyond.

Sensing something, Sheng'er dashed to her parents’ side. She released her flock of 50 crows with a shrill cry. “Go, crows! Catch them, catch them! Catch those wicked skins!”

Time crept by in agonizing slowness. Near dawn, Li Yuan finally roused himself from the ground, swaying as though drunk, his face white as a sheet.

“I have to leave,” he mumbled.

He left at precisely that time every day. Any later and Yan Yu would lose control. Yan Yu did not stop him, only gave a gentle nod.

With Sheng'er in tow, Li Yuan departed. Once back in the Hundred Lotus Manor, he collapsed onto his bed and remained there for three days before his strength returned.

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Three days later, Pang Yuanhua came rushing over, bowing in greeting. “Something’s changed in the ghost street marketplace...strangely changed.”

Though Li Yuan was still pale, his eyes lit with anticipation.

Pang Yuanhua’s expression turned somewhat odd. “That rouge peddler...he’s disappeared. He was always there, but not today.”

Li Yuan’s eyes went wide. He hastily dressed, pulled on a cloak, slipped on a mask, and made for the ghost street marketplace. Sure enough, the rouge peddler was nowhere to be seen.

Walking deeper and deeper along narrow paths bleached white by moonlight, twisting like countryside lanes, he passed a little girl selling flowers, which he declined.

Then a gray-robed shop attendant, face wreathed in a pleasant smile, bounded up, inviting him in chirpy tones,“Sir, a new shop has opened! Care to have a look?”

A quick sidelong glance revealed the attendant was a woman. Pretending not to know her, Li Yuan walked on. After circling the entire marketplace and finding nothing, he returned hastily to the Hundred Lotus Manor.

“What in the world happened?” he wondered. “Is it good or bad?”

He couldn’t help worrying about Yan Yu. When night fell, ignoring his lingering weakness, he took a solitary boat to the black market ghost domain. There, in the northeastern part of the black market, the rouge shop had vanished entirely.

Upon docking, he spotted Yan Yu in her white robes waiting on the shore. She caught sight of him and strode forward at once, wrapping him in a tight embrace before complaining gently, “During the day, I sent one of my shop attendants to fetch you. Why didn’t you come?”