The shopkeeper held up a finger and said with a smile, “One thousand taels of silver a bottle. No bargaining.”
Su Yueli's eyelid twitched slightly, her heart filled with surprise.
It was so expensive...
Over the past five years, she had left the winery business to Tie Ling'er's management. Due to the high production volume, her accumulated share of the profits amounted to nearly four thousand taels of silver.
For a mortal, this was definitely a massive sum of money they wouldn't even dare to dream of.
Yet now, just a single small bottle of demon beast essence blood to assist her in breaking through would cost her a full quarter of her net worth.
The things produced by cultivators were practically highway robbery.
But to break through that deadly barrier, cope with the Pang family's pursuit, and achieve good results in the Martial Arts Tournament, she had no choice.
With this thought, Su Yueli drew ten hundred-tael banknotes from her robes and placed them on the counter.
“I'll take one bottle.”
Seeing this, the shopkeeper's eyes instantly lit up. Big spenders who didn't haggle were always the most pleasant customers.
Beaming with joy, he took the banknotes, respectfully handed over a white jade porcelain bottle, and then glanced at Lin Ye, who was standing there dazed, offering a casual word of flattery. “How prompt! You are truly generous, young lady!
“But... why not buy another bottle to help your companion improve his martial path as well?”
Su Yueli had just tucked the porcelain bottle away. Hearing this, the corner of her mouth twitched, while Lin Ye beside her was completely dumbfounded.
His eyes widened slightly as he pointed at his own nose, his voice carrying a touch of innocence. “Companion? Are you talking about me?”
The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly. “Of course, young master. You two are a handsome couple, a perfect match.”
Lin Ye froze for a moment, then chuckled. His ears turned visibly red, and he reached out to scratch his head in embarrassment, looking quite bashful.
Seeing his coy and awkward display, the corner of Su Yueli's eye twitched violently.
This guy was actually playing along!
Her mind was currently entirely occupied with breaking through and killing, with no desire to bicker with these two. She rolled her eyes, too lazy to bother, turned around, and walked straight out of Wanbao Pavilion.
Only then did Lin Ye snap out of it, quickly waving his hands at the shopkeeper. “It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! We're just friends!”
With that, he hurriedly chased after her.
“Miss Su, why are you walking so fast? That was just a misunderstanding. The shopkeeper was just talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart...”
Lin Ye nagged all the way beside her, but Su Yueli acted as if she didn't hear a thing.
“There's still a lot to see in the East Market of the imperial city. Why don't we walk around a bit more up ahead?” Seeing her ignore him, Lin Ye quickly changed the subject.
“No.”
Su Yueli didn't stop. “I'm going back to the inn to break through first. Go walk around by yourself.”
Seeing Su Yueli's firm attitude and that she only had martial arts on her mind, Lin Ye sighed helplessly.
He had no choice but to part ways with her at the intersection, slinging his saber on his back as he went to wander the streets alone.
Returning to her private courtyard at the inn, Su Yueli locked her door and sat cross-legged directly on the bed.
She pulled out the white jade porcelain bottle and pulled the wooden stopper. A rich, slightly metallic, sweet medicinal aroma rushed into her nose.
Without hesitation, she tilted her head back and drank the demon beast essence blood in the bottle in one gulp.
The essence blood entered her throat.
It didn't taste as metallic as she had imagined. Instead, it turned into a scalding line of fire, sliding down her esophagus and plunging straight into her stomach.
Boom!
The violent medicinal power instantly dissolved within her body. Su Yueli felt as if the blood throughout her entire body was ignited in an instant.
Her blood qi, which had originally settled at the peak of the Fourth Realm, was stimulated by this external force. Like a runaway horse, it began to violently surge through her meridians.
Su Yueli gritted her teeth and immediately activated the breathing rhythm taught by Lu Chen, forcefully guiding this massive flesh and blood essence to slam hard against the solid barrier of the Fifth Realm.
Once, twice, thrice...
With the help of the medicinal power of the Third Realm demon beast's essence blood, the barrier that had been like a dead wall finally began to show cracks.
Time trickled by. Two hours later.
Crack—
Su Yueli felt her skin, flesh, tendons, and bones undergo a thorough marrow-cleansing and bone-tempering process under the nourishment of the violent blood qi.
Like steel tempered a hundred times, her body became completely unified, solid as iron.
Clear, light, and with a significantly enhanced sense of power!
Fifth Realm, Martial Opening!
Su Yueli slowly opened her eyes and exhaled a long breath.
Clenching her fists, she felt the terrifying destructive power radiating from her palms, which was several times stronger than that of the Fourth Realm. A deep sense of surprise flashed in her eyes.
This demon beast essence blood was indeed a rare and wonderful treasure!
Its medicinal power was so overbearing and pure, saving her from spending a long time in bitter cultivation and refinement.
At this thought, a complex emotion welled up in Su Yueli's heart.
In the past, she had never even heard of such a good thing in Qingzhou City, yet the children of the noble families in the imperial city could drink it like water!
Having wealth and power was truly wonderful.
If she had also had access to such top-tier cultivation resources when she first entered the martial path, she would probably be far beyond the Fifth Realm by now, and might even have touched the threshold of a Seventh Realm martial artist.
No wonder these martial artists in the imperial city, who looked to be only around thirty, could reach the Third or Fourth Realm.
One had to know that she had followed Lu Chen, practicing in the mountains for decades, just to reach this level.
As expected, resources... would always be the most brutal barrier on the path of martial arts.
This was true for both the immortal path and the martial path.
Outside, night gradually fell.
In a dark alley outside the inn, two masked figures in black quietly appeared.
They were precisely the two Fifth Realm martial artists sent by the Pang family.
The two hid in the shadows, their eyes fixed on the private courtyard Su Yueli had rented.
“Are you sure you investigated thoroughly? Is it here?” the man in black on the left asked in a low voice.
“No mistake. The Pang family's informants watched that woman walk inside with their own eyes.”
The man in black on the right had a sinister look in his eyes as he cautioned, “When taking action in the imperial city, we must resolve it as quickly as possible. Absolutely no traces can be left behind.”
Under the feet of the imperial palace, the rules were strict.
If they caused a major disturbance and drew the attention of the patrolling Golden Armor Guards, or if the imperial family traced the matter back to the Pang family, the consequences would be severe.
The man in black on the left sighed helplessly, a trace of resentment flashing in his eyes.
“This world is so damn unfair. We do all the dirty and exhausting work. If we fail to kill them, we'll definitely have no good end when we go back. But if we do kill them, and the higher-ups investigate in the future, the family head will definitely push us out to take the blame or even silence us to appease the imperial family.”
“At best, our martial arts will be crippled; at worst, we'll lose our lives. Left or right, forward or backward, it's a fucking dead end!”
The two looked at each other, seeing the desolation and helplessness in each other's eyes.
This was the fate of being a low-level lackey for others—their lives were as cheap as grass.
The man on the right sighed. “Alright, stop complaining. People like us, born of humble origins and without Bone Talent for the immortal sects, this is just our fate.”
He pointed to the left. “You slip in from the left and deal with that kid named Lin Ye. I'll go in from the right to slaughter that woman.”
The other nodded.
Having made their plan, the two instantly scaled the courtyard wall, slipping toward their respective targets from the left and right.
At this moment, inside the room of the inn's private courtyard.
Having just broken through to the Fifth Realm, Su Yueli, who was focusing her mind to stabilize and consolidate her realm, suddenly opened her eyes.
The room was pitch black, her eyes shining faintly as she frowned. Her gaze swept toward the tightly closed wooden window.
Why was there killing intent again...?
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