You must understand that my Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, although just a cub, was a genuine Spirit Beast.
Yet, it barely sold for only ten thousand taels of silver.
This Pseudo-Spirit Beast level Ghost Face Black Sandpiper actually dares to ask for eighteen thousand taels, which is almost equivalent to two Silver-patterned Black Crocodile cubs.
Even if the price of avian exotic beasts might be slightly higher than terrestrial ones, it absolutely shouldn't reach this level.
However, thinking about it carefully, it's not too excessive. After all, the exotic beasts bought from the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall are living creatures, so it's understandable for the price to be a bit higher.
But such a high price was still too unexpected for him. He didn't come here with the intention of actually buying, only to inquire about the price of Spirit Beasts in advance.
Leaving the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall, he didn't stop, heading straight to the East District of Wanhua City, stopping only when he reached the front of an antique shop, then stepping inside.
This antique shop was the Dark Star Organization's base in Wanhua City.
After exchanging secret codes, Lin Sheng revealed his Gray Star Envoy emblem and was led into the backyard of the antique shop by the contact person.
"What do you want?"
The person in charge of the base was a middle-aged woman with proper features and lingering charm, except for a large area of skin on one cheek that was burned, completely destroying her original beauty.
The woman looked at Lin Sheng and spoke indifferently.
Lin Sheng merely glanced at the woman. After all, Dark Star Organization members are all skilled at disguise, and the woman's appearance before him might not necessarily be real.
"I want to take on a mission."
"The wooden plaques hanging on the wall ahead are all missions. Just pick the one you want to take and give it to me."
The woman showed no surprise and spoke indifferently. After speaking, she turned and left the room, leaving Lin Sheng alone.
Ignoring these, Lin Sheng walked to the wall covered with wooden plaques, his gaze sweeping over each one.
The number of missions here was much greater than at the Tongzhi base.
And hanging in the first position was a Dark Star level mission, the same as the one in Tongzhi at the time: assassinating Prince Yan Zhao Hongzhang.
His gaze merely swept over it, moving away from the Dark Star level and Fiery Star level missions. Missions of these two levels were still too far away for him at present.
His attention was mainly focused on Gray Star Envoy and Hidden Star Envoy missions.
【Hidden Star level mission: There is Cold Spirit Withered Night Grass in the Purple Bamboo Forest of the Congyun Mountains. Bring back a complete stalk of Cold Spirit Withered Night Grass. Reward: 500 Merits points.】
"Cold Spirit Withered Night Grass..."
He had never even heard this name before, but he had some understanding of the Congyun Mountains. The Congyun Mountains were the largest mountain range in Linjiang Prefecture. Perhaps saying this isn't entirely accurate, because the Congyun Mountains span across two prefectures. Besides Linjiang Prefecture, a part of it is also within the Yuntian Prefecture's territory.
It almost completely separates the two prefectures, which shows how vast the area of the Congyun Mountains is.
Exotic beasts are abundant in the Congyun Mountains, and many rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures are nurtured within. However, compared to the heavenly materials and earthly treasures inside, the degree of danger is even greater.
There are a large number of Spirit Beasts within, and it is also filled with various poisonous creatures and miasma. Even Blood Transportation Warriors who have great resistance to poison only dare to operate in the outer areas. Rashly entering it is basically a one in ten chance of survival.
There is definitely more than one Demon Beast within.
More than once, Demon Beasts have emerged from the Congyun Mountains and entered the two prefectures, causing almost devastating damage to the cities near the mountain range each time.
Fortunately, such incidents have not occurred for many years. The last time was decades ago, and the cities near the Congyun Mountains have long since relocated away from the Congyun Mountains.
Even the Imperial Court forces, which are filled with experts, are helpless against the Demon Beasts in the Congyun Mountains and dare not rashly enter to suppress them.
The Purple Bamboo Forest where the Cold Spirit Withered Night Grass is located is at the boundary between the inner and outer areas of the Congyun Mountains. As a Hidden Star level mission, its difficulty coefficient is definitely not ordinary.
Moreover, the Purple Bamboo Forest is quite far from Wanhua City, so Lin Sheng's gaze only paused for a moment before he lost much interest.
There are many exotic beasts in the Congyun Mountains, and he is indeed very interested, but now is not the time. When his strength increases further, he might just have to take a trip into the Congyun Mountains.
He looked at a few more Hidden Star level missions, but their difficulty coefficient was much higher than he had imagined, so he still focused his attention on the Gray Star Envoy level missions.
There were quite a few Gray Star level missions, with more than 20 wooden plaques at a glance. Lin Sheng's gaze quickly swept over these plaques and soon settled on the third plaque from the bottom on the left.
【Gray Star level mission: A group of Red Hair Bandits is causing trouble outside Pingshan County. Kill the leader of the Red Hair Bandits, Red Haired Ghost Luo Hu. Reward: 100 Merits points.】
"Red Haired Ghost Luo Hu..."
Lin Sheng softly muttered the name, finally taking down the wooden plaque and walking away.
"Have you chosen? Give me the mission plaque, and I'll register it for you."
The middle-aged woman outside the door saw Lin Sheng come out, spoke indifferently, and took the wooden plaque from his hand.
Glancing at the mission on it, the middle-aged woman showed a hint of surprise, her gaze falling on Lin Sheng as she sized him up, finally speaking coldly.
"This group of Red Hair Bandits is not weak. Their leader, Red Haired Ghost, has been confirmed to be a Blood Transportation Warrior. Are you sure you can handle it? Don't say I didn't warn you, two Gray Star Envoys have already fallen to this Red Haired Ghost."
Speaking of this, the middle-aged woman paused before continuing.
"And compared to its difficulty, the mission reward is not generous. Have you thought it through?"
"This one will do. I've already thought it through."
Lin Sheng just spoke calmly.
"Okay."
Seeing this, the middle-aged woman was too lazy to say anything more. She took out a booklet from a hidden compartment, quickly recorded some information, and then waved her hand.
"Alright, it's been recorded. You can go. The mission duration is one month. If you can kill that Luo Hu within a month, the mission will be considered successful."
"Okay."
Lin Sheng was about to turn and leave. Before he had taken many steps, the woman seemed to remember something and called out to him from behind.
"Oh, right, the client for your mission has a request. Before you go to kill that Luo Hu, he wants to meet you first. The location is at 175 Shuixiang Street in Wanhua City."
"Understood."
Lin Sheng paused his steps, threw out a sentence, and then walked out of the antique shop.
Watching Lin Sheng's figure disappear from sight, the middle-aged woman finally snorted coldly.
"He hasn't even entered the Blood Transportation Realm, and he dares to take on this mission. Another fool. The organization's quality is getting worse and worse..."
Shaking her head slightly, the woman withdrew her gaze and busied herself.
On the other side, Lin Sheng walked out of the antique shop.
He was also calculating in his heart. The reason he took on this mission was also based on his own considerations.
Compared to other Gray Star Envoy missions, the Merits reward for this mission was decent, and it wouldn't waste too much time.
After all, there is a definite target, and the general location is also clear.
And there was the most important point: the reward for this mission was not just the apparent 100 Merits points.
A bandit group with a Blood Transportation level Martial Artist guarding it, goes without saying, must have a lot of wealth.
The wealth accumulated by a single Blood Transportation Warrior alone should not be a small amount.
Therefore, the income gained from eliminating this group of bandits is not a small amount.
With good luck, it might even be enough for him to purchase a Spirit Beast avian.
So, he had to give it a try.
Before breaking through, he might not have had a completely certain grasp against a Blood Transportation Warrior, but since he broke through to Forging Tendons Completion and had the Blood Demon Centipede enter his body, his strength has greatly improved compared to before.
Not many people in the Blood Transportation Realm should be his opponent.
Of course, he didn't plan to just go and find that Red Haired Ghost like this.
Not in a hurry to meet the so-called client, Lin Sheng purchased some poisonous herbs and qi and blood soup from the pharmacy on the street and returned to his residence in Wanhua City.
In the afternoon.
In the room of the residence.
Thick white mist drifted in the room, filling it, creating a misty atmosphere.
In the center of the white mist, in a round wooden tub, a shirtless figure was faintly visible.
The figure was none other than Lin Sheng.
At this moment, his whole body was flushed as if filled with blood, and blue veins bulged on his red skin like twisting greenish-black small snakes.
The dark-colored medicinal liquid in the wooden tub was visibly becoming thinner at a speed discernible to the naked eye. Half an hour later, the white mist in the room dissipated, and the medicinal liquid in the wooden tub had turned into clear water.
Lin Sheng opened his eyes and exhaled.
"The Breakthrough of Ape Embryo Skill is getting closer and closer."
The Rank of the Qingniao Chasing Star Finger martial art is clearly above first-class martial arts. It should be considered a relatively low-level True Skill, or perhaps it is more appropriate to call it a Pseudo-True Skill.
Although cultivating this martial art alone cannot break through to the Divine Form Realm, it can reach the Peak of Bones Transformation.
Its power is quite a bit stronger than Ape Embryo Skill, but the gap is not that exaggerated, after all, the true difference in cultivation method power is in the later major Realms.
Since the cultivation difficulty of Qingniao Chasing Star Finger is high, his current cultivation progress is not that fast.
Then it's better to Cultivate Ape Embryo Skill and Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm first.
Especially the former is on the verge of Breakthrough and can enter Forging Tendons Completion in at most ten days. With good luck, the time might be even shorter.
As for the latter, because it has just broken through, it will take longer to make further progress, but it is still much faster than Qingniao Chasing Star Finger.
The Red Hair Bandits mission had been taken by Gray Star Envoys before, but all ended in mission failure, even costing their lives. It is clear that the strength of this group of bandits is not weak.
Therefore, cultivating Qingniao Chasing Star Finger for a month might not bring a significant time advantage, but Ape Embryo Skill is different.
Breaking through it to Forging Tendons Completion within 10 days will undoubtedly significantly increase his strength, compensating for the not-so-outstanding physical quality boost of Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm.
As for Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm, although it is impossible to enter the Blood Transportation Realm in a month, he can take advantage of this time to strengthen the toxicity and elevate the power of this poisonous skill to a higher level.
This will also give him more confidence in completing this mission.
Moreover, after Ape Embryo Skill breaks through, with the Black Tiger Ape and White Ape entering his body, under the double agility boost, his speed will also be greatly enhanced. Even a Blood Transportation Warrior focused on agility might not be able to keep up with him. If things go wrong, he also has the confidence to escape.
This was what he had already planned in his heart, which is why he took on this mission.
In the following time, Lin Sheng's cultivation was basically mechanical repetition. Most of the day was spent on cultivation.
Ape Embryo Skill and Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm seamlessly connected.
Soon, seven days passed in a flash.
In 7 days, he only returned to the Seven Forms Sect for half a day before returning to his residence in Wanhua City to diligently Cultivate. The Bottleneck of Ape Embryo Skill was only a sliver away.
This day.
In the large courtyard, Lin Sheng's figure was sometimes fast, sometimes slow, his movements extremely agile.
His movements produced whooshing sounds of air bursts.
In the corner of the courtyard, Big Yellow was lazily lying on the ground, shaking his head and watching the dodging Lin Sheng, looking quite bored.
Suddenly, Big Yellow raised his head and looked at a black fly constantly circling in the sky.
The fly circled in the air, then actually descended towards Big Yellow.
Whoosh!
Big Yellow let out a low growl, revealing his full set of white teeth. The next moment, his head shot out.
Only a 'click' sound was heard.
Big Yellow bit at empty air, while the fly flew to the other side, still circling Big Yellow, as if very interested in the furry thing below.
Whoosh... Woof!
Big Yellow's furry head swayed left and right, trying to bite the fly to death, but the fly was extremely agile and nimble. He lunged several times in vain, accidentally biting his tongue instead, causing him to bare his teeth in pain.
Just then, Lin Sheng in the courtyard suddenly stopped moving, standing on one leg with his eyes closed, his entire body motionless like a stone sculpture.
However, compared to the external stillness, the internal qi and blood were completely in a state of violent boiling.
Even muffled sounds of qi and blood surging were emitted from his body.
At this moment, the fly seemed to have lost interest in Big Yellow. After circling in the air, it searched for a new target and quickly chose the statue-like Lin Sheng in the courtyard as its target, flapping its wings and flying towards Lin Sheng.
Big Yellow kept barking, his eyes staring angrily at the fly in the air and chasing after it, occasionally leaping high, trying to bite it down. However, even with a full leap, he was only about half a meter high, far from the fly.
Soon, the fly flew above Lin Sheng, circled once, and then descended towards Lin Sheng's head.
But before it could land, a rough large hand had already lifted upwards, flicked a finger, and before contact, a gust of wind had shot out, slicing the fly into two halves.
At this moment, the sound of qi and blood surging in Lin Sheng's body abruptly stopped, but soon a series of crackling sounds like firecrackers erupted from his bones.
This startled Big Yellow, who had just approached, and he scurried into the woodpile in the corner of the wall, only revealing a pair of eyes cautiously watching outside.
"Break!"
Lin Sheng's eyes suddenly opened, a sharp glint flashing within. With a low shout, he felt the thin, cicada-wing-like Bottleneck in his body completely break open.
"Success!"
Feeling the lightness in his body, his brows relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face.
He moved his body, feeling better than ever before.
Tipping his toes, he had silently reached the rooftop.
A civet cat on the rooftop was licking its fur, but soon stopped its movements. The next moment, it flew up with a 'meow' and fled away like it was flying, disappearing from sight.
The culprit was, of course, Lin Sheng.
"Not bad. With the further Breakthrough of Ape Embryo Skill, my movements are even more agile... Next, I should test my strength..."
He muttered a few words to himself, and his figure flashed, disappearing from the rooftop again.
