Time never stops, and the seasons flow like water.
When one shuts himself away to train, days pass faster than ever. In the blink of an eye, twenty days had gone by.
The northern border grew colder by the day.
Fortunately, since their stipends had increased, the soldiers of the Poyang Thousand-Household Division were living more comfortably and no longer had to worry about freezing.
On the training grounds, Chen Sanshi was sparring with Sub-Flag Officer Fang.
To get the best results, one needed to train against someone a realm higher.
At first, Fang was confident. But before five rounds were over, his expression darkened completely.
'This guy's supposed to be at tempering blood minor achievement?'
His strength, speed, and endurance—none of them were inferior to his own.
No, to be precise, they were even stronger—far stronger than Fang's own tempering blood major achievement!
He barely managed to hold on until the tenth round. The skin between his thumb and forefinger split open from gripping his saber too hard, blood dripping freely. His arm went numb and stiff, and for a moment he couldn't even recall how to perform his own saber techniques.
All around, soldiers were watching—most of them Fang's own subordinates.
Realizing he couldn't keep it up, Fang shouted, "Enough! Draw! It's a draw!"
Chen Sanshi withdrew his spear and nodded. "Thank you for the match, Sub-Flag Officer Fang."
Fang hid his trembling right hand behind his back. "Kid, you're about to reach tempering blood major achievement, aren't you?"
"In just a few days."
Chen Sanshi didn't bother denying it.
[Technique: Basic Spearsmanship for Infantry (Minor Achievement)]
[Progress: 1,855/2,000]
[Effect: Spear strikes fierce and swift; endurance extraordinary; qi and blood vigorous—Blood Manifestation Awakens]
The effect of spirit beast meat was remarkable.
And since Chen Sanshi was well-off, he no longer drank Blood-Replenishing Soup. Instead, he only consumed Nine-Turn Vitality Soup—each set costing fifteen taels of silver. With such resources, how could his progress not be fast?
"Good," Fang said with a sigh. "Once you reach tempering blood major achievement, you'll be promoted to Sub-Flag Officer too—same rank as me."
"Thank you, Sub-Flag Officer Fang, for looking after me these days."
With his cultivation improvement, his promotion was practically guaranteed.
Though, he'd likely end up a commander without troops.
There were only so many men in the garrison.
Where could they pull fifty soldiers from just to give him a full squad?
At best, he'd receive the title and pay grade of a Sub-Flag Officer—an empty rank.
Morning drills, afternoon patrols.
Ever since the report on the missing persons, Thousand-Household Officer Xiang Tingchun had ordered constant patrols through the city every day.
And he was furious.
Everyone above the rank of Sub-Flag Officer was getting scolded daily.
After all, the Elite Selection Officer was about to arrive. Forget the issue of the so-called immortal treasure—even the constant deaths without a single captured culprit could get Xiang Tingchun charged with dereliction of duty.
The problem was… there were truly no clues.
So many people had died. It couldn't have been done by just one or two.
Yet Poyang County was tiny—there was no way another hidden base like Golden Bell Temple existed.
Unless… the killers weren't from the Witch God Sect at all!
If that were the case, then it made sense why no trail could be found.
Chen Sanshi's mind drifted back to the medicinal valley he'd stumbled upon in the mountains that day.
It had been sealed off from such a distance—that wasn't normal.
But what reason would a martial hall have to kill people?
'Better take a look.'
He might as well hunt something while he was at it.
He still had around two hundred taels of silver left at home—enough to get by—but bagging a bear or two wouldn't hurt. No reason to waste a trip.
…
Early the next morning, Chen Sanshi set out.
"These past few days, people are still disappearing," Zhao Qiao said, walking behind him with the others, "but…"
"But what?" Chen Sanshi asked.
"They're all villagers," Zhao Qiao replied.
"Villagers?"
Chen Sanshi, having been focused on his cultivation rather than the patrols, knew there were deaths but hadn't heard this detail.
"Yeah," Wu Da added. "At first, both townsfolk and villagers went missing. But lately, it's only been people from the countryside. To put it bluntly—it's the poor ones."
That made Chen Sanshi feel even more uneasy.
The Witch God Sect never cared about money or status when they killed.
This sort of thing reeked of an inside job.
Once they entered the mountains, Chen Sanshi led them straight toward the medicinal valley.
Before Chen Sanshi even reached the place, he saw from afar three figures standing on the road that led toward the medicinal valley.
Liang Zhan, Song Wu, and a young man of about thirty.
The young man's robe had a cloud-pattern embroidered on the chest.
Judging by his equal manner of speech with the other two, he must be the young master of Yunhe Martial Hall—the one who'd once lost his family business to his uncle but later seized it back.
'What's with these pampered rich young masters lately? Why are they all running into the deep mountains?'
One person would've been nothing. But three of them together, gathered here in the wilderness—clearly not out of boredom.
And that valley was sealed tight. Two li away, martial hall disciples patrolled the perimeter, not even letting a bird fly in. It screamed secrecy.
Chen Sanshi thought carefully.
That young master from Yunhe Martial Hall had been mediocre for half his life, yet suddenly broke through at a critical moment.
In Poyang County, the disappearances had started around that same time.
And then there was Song Wu.
Rumor had it his father was gravely ill and needed white deer essence to heal.
But it had been so long, and there hadn't been any funeral held at Tailei Martial Hall.
Looking at Song Wu now, he didn't seem the least bit anxious either.
No wonder he'd dared to take that white deer in front of everyone's eyes. He probably had some special method of healing.
When Chen Sanshi pieced everything together, it became clear.
The missing townsfolk had everything to do with them.
The only problem—there was no solid proof yet.
He had no intention of getting close for now.
There were already three tempering bone cultivators right in front of him.
Inside the medicinal valley, there were bound to be several old servants as well.
Tracking and Hiding wasn't true invisibility. If they caught him snooping, those people could easily lash out in desperation.
He decided it was best to return, break through to tempering blood major achievement, and wait until his ten-stone bow was finished.
Once he could at least retreat safely even against a tempering bone opponent, he'd come back to investigate.
With that plan set, Chen Sanshi slipped away silently.
…
"We can't have any more deaths," Liang Zhan warned the two beside him. "Let's stop for now."
"No need," Song Wu replied confidently. "The ones we took were all poor peasants. No one will seek justice for them."
"Xiang Tingchun has started investigating again," Liang Zhan sighed. "Let's hold off for now. Your father's injuries are already healed anyway, and we still don't have the key immortal treasure. Killing more people won't make any difference."
"Brother Pan," Song Wu turned to the young master of Yunhe Martial Hall, "you're not hiding something from us, are you?"
"Absolutely not."
Pan Quan's expression tensed. "I only managed to take back my martial hall thanks to your help. How would I dare keep secrets from you? The immortal treasure must be in Xiang Tingchun's hands—I swear it!"
"That bastard Xiang Tingchun," Song Wu cursed. "We've been giving him silver, food, and medicines for a whole month, and he still won't even let us see what's inside that treasure!"
"We can't keep this up," Liang Zhan said, frowning. "After all this time, we still don't even know what the immortal treasure is. Even if he just opened the box to show us once, that'd be something! A tempering organ cultivator bullying us like this—it's unbearable."
"One side doesn't know what the treasure is. The other doesn't know how to use it even if they had it. What a mess."
"Let's stop giving him silver, food, and medicines. We can't keep compromising like fools."
"I agree," Song Wu said firmly.
…
After leaving the medicinal valley, Chen Sanshi hunted down a black bear.
With his current strength, such prey was no challenge at all.
At the stream, he met up with Zhao Qiao and the others.
To his surprise, they had managed to take down several wolves.
"Your hunting luck's getting good," Chen Sanshi said with a smile before warning, "but I'd advise you all—don't go up the mountain for now. It might be dangerous."
He knew full well it was the martial halls doing the killing, and it was only right to warn them.
"Why, Brother Shi?" Wu Da asked, puzzled. "We finally found a good hunting spot. We'll definitely bag more wolves tomorrow!"
"Would Shitou ever lie to us?"
Zhao Qiao, the oldest, understood there had to be a reason. "Starting tomorrow, we stop going up the mountain."
Zhuang Yi looked uneasy. "But our family's out of food. We can't even fill the pot anymore."
"I'll give you grain," Chen Sanshi said simply. He wasn't short on money now.
"No way!" Zhao Qiao immediately refused. "Shitou, we already owe you enough. You've taken us hunting and shared your meat. How could we take your grain too?"
"Think of it as a loan," Chen Sanshi replied. "When spring comes next year, pay me back."
Only then did they agree.
After selling the black bear, Chen Sanshi returned to the military camp, ready to push himself straight into major achievement.