Chapter 92: Sneak Attack

「One day.」

Li Chang’an went to the Black Market again to ask for news about Poison Dao Treasures.

But he still found nothing.

"Fellow Daoist, Poison Dao Treasures are rare to begin with, and they’re monopolized by the Poison Cultivators from the Five Poison Wanderer’s lineage. You should just give up. It’s nearly impossible to buy one."

"Alright, I understand."

Li Chang’an had no choice but to give up for now.

’The resources in Yellow Crane Immortal City are more abundant. Perhaps I can find a Poison Dao Treasure there.’

But Li Chang’an didn’t ask Xu Fugui for help. He didn’t want his good friend to get the wrong idea.

’Whatever, I’ll just get back to my alchemy.’

For the time being, Li Chang’an pushed the matter of the Ten Thousand Poison Gu to the back of his mind.

「In the days that followed.」

His Alchemy Skill grew steadily.

「That evening.」

Inside his residence, the Pill Fire blazed.

"Condense!"

With a mental command, Li Chang’an made the medicinal liquids inside the Pill Furnace fuse together.

Before long,

An aquamarine pill took shape.

Li Chang’an made a beckoning gesture, and the pill flew into his palm. He observed it carefully.

’A Water Cloud Pill. It’s a pill suitable for Water Element Demon Beasts. A high-quality, Low Grade Elixir. The quality is excellent.’

He smiled and casually tossed the pill to the Profound Water Turtle.

Successfully refining this pill meant his Alchemy Skill had reached the high-quality tier among Low Grade Alchemists.

The next step up was becoming a Middle Grade Alchemist.

Many Pill Masters who reached this stage were often stymied by the lack of a higher-level inheritance, but Li Chang’an had no such worries.

’It’s time to study the contents of the Middle Grade Refining inheritance.’

With a thought, he took the Inheritance Jade Scroll from his Storage Pouch.

He was just about to begin studying it.

Suddenly, a golden light appeared before his eyes.

[Divination Refreshed]

[Today’s Divination: Ominous]

[Steward Zheng Qian will come to collect this month’s Talismans. As you hand them over, he will suddenly ambush you with a Tier Two Talisman. You will dodge quickly, but the commotion from the Talisman’s activation will be too great, attracting the attention of the Zheng Family’s Foundation Establishment Ancestor.]

’The attention of a Foundation Establishment Ancestor?’

Li Chang’an was inwardly alarmed.

’I haven’t grown strong enough yet. I can’t afford to face a Foundation Establishment Ancestor directly.’

According to the Divination,

’All I have to do is stop that Tier Two Talisman from being activated.’

’A Tier Two Talisman...’

Li Chang’an frowned.

’There isn’t a single Tier Two Talisman Master in all of Qinghe Marketplace, so naturally, no Tier Two Talismans are in circulation here.’

’To buy a Tier Two Talisman, you have to go to Yellow Crane Immortal City.’

’But Zheng Qian is a member of the Zheng Family, after all.’

’Perhaps the Zheng Family has internal channels to acquire Tier Two Talismans.’

’But he and I have no grievance with each other. There’s no reason for him to pay the huge price for a Tier Two Talisman just to ambush me at my home.’

’It must have been Zheng Lingfeng’s orders.’

After a moment of thought, Li Chang’an had a good idea of who was behind it.

After Zheng Songcheng’s death, Zheng Lingfeng had laid low for a few months.

’From the looks of it now, he plans to resume his efforts against me.’

’Zheng Lingfeng wanted to control me before, to use me to keep Zheng Qingqing in check. But this time, he’s using a Tier Two Talisman. He clearly intends to eliminate me directly.’

Li Chang’an pondered for a moment.

’If my guess is correct, then in Zheng Lingfeng’s eyes, I no longer have any value to be exploited.’

’Could it be that Zheng Lingfeng has found a new way to deal with Zheng Qingqing?’

Li Chang’an frowned, deep in thought.

He had a faint feeling that something major was about to happen within the Zheng Family again.

’I just hope this doesn’t drag me into it.’

’Whatever. This is a perfect opportunity to test the Heart Control Gu on this Zheng Qian.’

...

「The next day.」

「At dusk.」

Just as the Divination had predicted,

Zheng Qian arrived outside Li Chang’an’s courtyard.

"Is Daoist Li in? I’m here to collect this month’s talismans."

His face was all smiles, and he seemed very relaxed, but inwardly he was tense to the extreme, secretly clutching a Tier Two Talisman.

He didn’t notice a blood-red insect hiding in the nearby shadows, staring fixedly at him.

"Daoist Li, are you home?"

Zheng Qian asked again, reaching out to knock on the door.

Just then, the insect suddenly moved!

It was incredibly fast, like a flash of blood-red lightning, and it burrowed into his ear in an instant.

Zheng Qian couldn’t react in time; his whole body shuddered.

In the next instant, his expression grew stiff, like that of a soulless walking corpse.

The courtyard gate slowly swung open.

Li Chang’an’s voice drifted out from inside.

"Daoist Zheng, come in."

"Yes."

Zheng Qian responded stiffly and stepped into the courtyard.

He was now just like Chen Qianya had been.

Li Chang’an watched him, a thoughtful look on his face.

’The Heart Control Gu is even more effective than I imagined.’

Through the Heart Control Gu, he could indirectly manipulate Zheng Qian’s body, controlling his every word and deed.

Simply put, Zheng Qian had now become another one of Li Chang’an’s avatars.

’So he really does have a Tier Two Talisman.’

At Li Chang’an’s mental command, Zheng Qian raised his hand and offered him the Tier Two Talisman.

’Could this be a Tier Two Low Grade Talisman, the Nether Killing Talisman?’

Li Chang’an took the Talisman and observed it carefully.

His current skill with talismans was at the absolute peak for a Tier One Talisman Master.

Although he had not yet broken through to Tier Two, he had some knowledge of Tier Two Talismans.

The Nether Killing Talisman was one of the more powerful offensive talismans among Tier Two Low Grade Talismans. Once activated, an ordinary Qi Refining Cultivator would be completely unable to block it.

’Whatever, I’ll question him first.’

With a mental command, Li Chang’an had the Heart Control Gu leave Zheng Qian’s body.

Zheng Qian shuddered and collapsed to the ground.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a flicker of confusion in their depths.

But when he saw Li Chang’an, that confusion turned to terror.

"D-Daoist Li..."

"Daoist Zheng, we have no grievances. Why did you try to harm me?"

Li Chang’an cut straight to the chase, brandishing the Tier Two Talisman in his hand.

Zheng Qian’s face went pale.

He knew he’d been found out.

But he still clung to a sliver of hope, trying to defend himself.

"Daoist Li, this Talisman is for my own protection! I never thought of harming you."

"Is that so?"

Li Chang’an sneered.

He couldn’t be bothered to waste words on the man and went straight to torturing him.

An instant later, an agonized scream echoed through the courtyard.

After only a few breaths, Zheng Qian could no longer stand it and screamed.

"Daoist Li, it was the Second Young Master, Zheng Lingfeng! He gave me this Talisman and ordered me to eliminate you!"

"You should have just said so from the start. Why suffer all this pain?"

This was more or less what Li Chang’an had guessed.

However, Zheng Qian didn’t know where Zheng Lingfeng had obtained the Tier Two Talisman, nor was he clear on why Zheng Lingfeng wanted to kill Li Chang’an. He was simply following orders.

’Using a Talisman to ambush me, a Talisman Master... Zheng Lingfeng is a real fool.’

Talismans were powerful, but they had one major problem.

The time between a Talisman’s activation and its detonation might seem instantaneous, but Cultivators had incredibly fast reactions.

As long as one was vigilant, it was possible to dodge.

For this reason, Talismans were better suited for open combat.

Li Chang’an rarely used Talismans for sneak attacks, almost always opting for a Treasure like the Ghost Soul Needle, which was specifically designed for ambushes.

However, even the Ghost Soul Needle was often dodged.

Ambushes were basically useless against Cultivators who had years of experience in Magical Combat.