Chapter 14: Chapter 13: System Mall
Qing Yu lay on the ground, the fatigue from his injury making him feel drowsy and ready to sleep.
"Host has killed for the first time in reality, achieving the 'First Blood,' rewarded with one Basic Lottery draw."
"A slaughter that could hardly be called perfect, the host has slain over forty people, not for so-called justice, but for personal needs, treating human lives as trifles. A perfect fit for villain characteristics, reward of 200 Villain Points."
The cold mechanical prompt woke Qing Yu just as he was about to fall asleep. He struggled to get up, using his sword to prevent himself from collapsing.
"Next, it's time to reap the rewards."
Practicing swordsmanship by slaughtering bandits is one thing. Qing Yu could be said to have no experience fighting enemies, having relied on certain tricks to obtain his previous legacy. These underhanded methods, which were not presentable, could be used momentarily but not relied on for a lifetime. It was said that noble scions trained with living targets; such cruel practice could deepen their understanding of techniques.
Although Qing Yu had gained Yin Zhiping's Martial Arts Enlightenment, enlightenment was one thing, and bodily habits were another.
For now, practicing swordsmanship on people was considered an evil path, but the effectiveness was outstanding. Moreover, the people Qing Yu killed were all wicked mountain bandits; his heart, which was originally not soft, felt no ripples when killing such men. The only side effect was likely that the originally upright and neutral 'Quanzhen Swordsmanship' was trained with a murderous aura, not aligning with the righteous path.
The other reward, Qing Yu chuckled, was, of course, money.
"I hope the money these bandits looted is enough for a hundred gold coins needed to open the mall. Given my current injuries, I don't have the strength to wipe out another bandit den."
His exterior wounds weren't serious; martial artists have much stronger bodies than normal people. Knife wounds that would require careful healing in his previous life were trivial to the current Qing Yu.
The internal injury was a bit troublesome. The main issue stemmed from forcibly practicing the 'Exorcism Swordsmanship' mental method.
The foundation of 'Exorcism Swordsmanship' comes from the 'Kuihua Treasure,' which explicitly states at the beginning: "To train this Divine Skill, one must castrate oneself with a knife. Without castration, heat will arise. Starting from the body, igniting the flesh, traveling upwards erratically. Even if the heat subsides, the injury does not."
Lin Pingzhi had once been unwilling to accept this and attempted to practice the 'Exorcism Swordsmanship' without castration, almost resulting in deviation leading to paralysis or death.
Qing Yu's injuries came from what was mentioned about "Even if the heat subsides, the injury does not." Fortunately, he only ran it for a moment and timely redirected the energy with the orthodox Taoist mental method 'Quanzhen Heart Method,' a prompt remedy that would recover with a bit more rest.
Humming a tune, Qing Yu first went to check the spoils outside the village master's gate, which included a thousand taels of Patterned silver.
'Hmm, very good, these silver taels alone should be equivalent to a hundred gold coins.'
Nodding his head, Qing Yu said, "System, submit the task."
"Verifying, host has obtained one thousand silver taels, estimated value equivalent to a hundred gold coins. Task: 'First Pot of Gold,' completed, system mall unlocked."
"The system mall is now open. The host can purchase consumable items from the system's collection, and use Villain Points to have the system help complete any flawed or incomplete martial arts.
Additionally, the system mall will randomly refresh ten limited-time items each month. If the host is not satisfied with the random items, they can spend Villain Points to refresh, with the first refresh of the month costing 100 Villain Points, the second 200, and so on incrementally.
Host can exchange money for Villain Points at a rate of 1 gold coin for 1 Villain Point.
1 gold coin = 10 silver taels = 1000 copper coins = 10000 Wen copper coins. (Exchange rates use the Tang dynasty's decimal system, simple and clear.)"
"Is this a villain system or a pay-to-win system?" Qing Yu couldn't help but curl his lip.
"Money can make a ghost push a millstone; money and power have always been the primary culprits of corruption. As a legacy holder of a villain, the host certainly can't be without these two elements." Very well, very powerful, Qing Yu was somewhat at a loss for words.
And moreover, one gold tael worth one Villain Point, from wiping out Wohu Village entirely I got 200 Villain Points, but the money I plundered was only worth 100 Villain Points, which could only be exchanged for a Basic Lottery. To get a Basic Lottery with a thousand silver taels is pretty challenging if you're looking to get strong by splurging on gold coins.
"Open the system store and let's see what's available for purchase," Qing Yu commanded.
The store opened, and Qing Yu immediately noticed the first item flashing with intense golden light. According to the base color classification of copper, silver, gold, this must be a four-star or five-star item.
Item: Dragon Essence
Star Level: Five Stars
Effect: Upon ingestion, gain the power of a dragon; consuming seven will transform you into a dragon, irreversible.
Price: One hundred thousand points
"It's so expensive; you need only ten thousand Villain Points for a high-level lottery that could draw a Five-star item. One hundred thousand points… That would be enough for a super lottery."
"The super lottery can only be obtained through system tasks. Therefore, Villain Points can only be used up to Five Stars. Among Five-star items, Dragon Essence is also very high-end. If you were to lottery, there's no guarantee even with ten high-level lotteries," the system explained.
"Forget it, can't afford it anyway," Qing Yu muttered while browsing other random items.
And then…
The broken Dragon-slaying Saber, Dongfang Bubai's embroidery needle, Monkey Wine, the beef from the beef soup…
What crap, do they have to be so trashy? Qing Yu thought about how these trashy items were part of the system's offerings and felt disinclined to gamble on the lottery ever again.
"By the way, system, you said I could use Villain Points to complete Martial Arts. Can I complete the Exorcism Swordsmanship and do away with the requirement that needs one to be a eunuch?"
"You can. Five hundred Villain Points."
"How many do I have right now?"
"Two hundred fifty points." Two fifty, what an awkward number. Unfortunately, robbing thugs isn't valuable anymore. After robbing so many people in Yang City, I didn't even get a single Villain Point.
"Exchange all these silver pieces for Villain Points." Qing Yu gestured grandly, exchanging all the silver; a thousand taels, too much to carry away anyway.
After the exchange, having 350 Villain Points, Qing Yu contemplated, "Still not enough. Right, I haven't searched the bandit's den." Previously, when I stormed into the village and dispatched the Second Master, I was too busy tending to my wounds to prepare for the Grand Master and didn't get the chance to loot.
Half an hour later, Qing Yu, dragging his exhausted body, rummaged through the village from top to bottom. Along with the mountain bandits' pocket change, there were only slightly over five hundred fifty silver taels in total.
Qing Yu didn't believe it and searched again. Finally, in the Grand Master's room, he found a thick ledger.
Flipping through the ledger, "So, this bandit leader's name is Sun Man. He had quite a bit of money, where did it all go… Tsk, turns out this guy is a collateral relative of the Sun Family; all the leftover money went to the Sun Family."
"Big loss, what a waste of effort…" It's frustrating to think that after such an arduous push, the loot shrank by more than half, you can imagine how Qing Yu felt. At least, the purpose of opening the system store and training in swordsmanship was achieved. With that thought, Qing Yu felt slightly consoled.
"Such a hard life..." Qing Yu sighed and left, knowing he probably couldn't use his hands for the next couple of days.
Before leaving, he set Wohu Village on fire to prevent anyone from detecting his tracks from any clues, Qing Yu was always deeply wary of Mr. Mo.
"Wo Hu Mountain doesn't have that many trees; it shouldn't catch fire, right..." mumbled someone guiltily.
Chapter 15: Chapter 14 Dawn is Coming
Qing Yu gathered 550 taels from the bandit village, keeping 50 taels for contingencies and converting the remaining 500 taels into 50 villain points.
Wohu Village was three miles from Yang City, and Qing Yu had traveled swiftly using Qinggong. However, now Qing Yu forcibly used Exorcism Swordsmanship, and despite overcoming the aftermath, he felt completely drained. Using Qinggong to travel was out of the question, but since there were horses in the village, Qing Yu casually rode one and set the rest free.
Still, riding a horse had its own challenges, and since Qing Yu had never ridden before, his first experience left him feeling battered. Ancient roads were unlike modern cement paths; the bumpy ride back to the inn made Qing Yu feel as if practicing with the Exorcism Swordsmanship could be done directly.
Even though his legs were so sore they could hardly close, Qing Yu endured the pain, changed into clean clothes, and went out to buy some golden sore medicine from a drugstore. He felt if he died from wound infection, he would be pinned to a pillar of shame in transmigrator history.
After busying with these chores, the sky gradually darkened.
Qing Yu collapsed on the bed, staring blankly at the patterns on the canopy above, "A day has passed. Although I gained a lot today—enriching my enemy encounter experience, unlocking the system marketplace, and even advancing to Postnatal Fifth Realm—it's still not enough.
This strength could deal with a few mountain bandits or robbers, but it is far from sufficient against disciples from a great sect like the True Martial Dao Sect. Even though those two Zhenwu Sect members were sent to watch me, a minor figure, they might also be disciples with no prospects within the Zhenwu Sect."
"It's a pity I'm still short 100 villain points. Otherwise, with the Exorcism Swordsmanship, my chances of winning would greatly increase, even if their realms are one or two levels higher than mine."
"Host, considering it's your first time accessing the marketplace, the system can exceptionally allow you to convert one lottery draw into villain points. You still have one Basic Lottery draw which can be exchanged for 100 villain points, would you like to make the exchange?" The system came just in time, like charcoal in snowy weather.
Qing Yu sat up excitedly, regardless of the pain in his injuries, and said immediately, "What are we waiting for? Exchange it now. Then I'll have 500 villain points, right? Complete my Exorcism Swordsmanship."
"Basic Lottery exchanged for 100 villain points. Conversion complete.
Executing completion of Martial Art 'Exorcism Swordsmanship', completion successful, transmitting…"
Though it was a cold, mechanical synthetic voice, at that moment in Qing Yu's ears, it sounded immensely affectionate.
In the book "Laughing in the Wind," Master Fang Zheng once said in the 30th chapter: The manual (referring to the Kuihua Treasure) not only contains vast and profound Martial Arts but is also extremely perilous. It's said that the hardest part is the first barrier; once the first barrier is breached, the rest aren't as difficult. All Martial Arts progress step by step, and it gets increasingly difficult as one progresses. The most challenging part of the Kuihua Treasure, however, lies in the very first step, where the slightest deviation during practice could either kill or cripple.
Therefore, once the first barrier is crossed, the subsequent cultivation, whether or not one castrates oneself, becomes immaterial.
For this reason, Qing Yu had seen many speculations in his past life while browsing forums, such as abstinent practice or engaging in Dual Cultivation... all sorts of wild ideas.
When he received the completed martial arts information from the system, Qing Yu felt suddenly enlightened.
The sunflower faces the sun; the Kuihua Treasure, although eerie in execution, contained supreme Yang internal energy. If the Nine Yang Divine Skill is nine Yang, then the Kuihua Treasure was ten Yang. However, the rule of heaven and earth is nine Yang and six Yin. Just as the Dou Wine Monk had judged the Nine Yin Scripture, saying its extreme Yin brought disaster (the Monk surely didn't know the Sanskrit Summary, probably thinking he is Xuzhu, that fake monk). The same principle applies here: lone Yin does not grow, lone Yang does not last; even from Yang to Yin, it's nine Yang and one Yin, which can transform like Taiji to be suitable for the human body.
The founder's imagination was astonishing, combining inner energy with lust/fire, driving the inner energy with lust/fire to reach supreme Yang. Otherwise, how could a weakling cultivate such supreme Yang energy?
After cultivating supreme Yang energy, the overwhelming Yang fire would harm the body. Therefore, like the martial arts of the "Martial Arts Zen" known as the Marriage Dress Divine Skill, effort is needed to blunt its sharpness before its power can be employed.
Using lust/fire to drive the inner energy and then removing its source blunts the edge, allowing a retreat from ten Yang to nine Yang, from Yang to Yin, suitable for the human body.
Yet the combination of lust/fire and inner energy isn't easily managed with conventional methods. Even temporarily sealing the acupoints related to lust/desires or using drugs to suppress them would be dispersed by the inner energy.
Therefore, apart from martial artists who have mastered Martial Arts reaching a balance of Yin and Yang, others can only resolve this by castration. However, castrating oneself during active cultivation is extremely dangerous; after all, lust/fire cannot be easily retracted, plus, there's no time to stop bleeding during active cultivation. The only way is to castrate oneself first, then take an exciting drug (aphrodisiac), to ignite the fire. This fire, rootless water, will naturally dissipate after reaching a certain intensity.
With all this said, Qing Yu still couldn't overcome the first barrier of Exorcism Swordsmanship alone, but fortunately, the 500 villain points weren't for nothing.
Qing Yu crossed his legs and silently practiced the mental method, feeling the fire spread throughout his body, his body stiffening, on the verge of succumbing to deviation.
"System…"
A mysterious great force entered his body from the unknown, bringing a refreshing sensation, and True Qi naturally generated in his Dantian, setting things on the right track.
Next was the conversion of Inner Strength, transforming the Inner Strength from the Quanzhen Heart Method.
As the Kuihua Treasure allowed beginners to experience a process only mastered by high-level martial artists who had attained a balance of Yin and Yang, the purity of Inner Strength was extremely high, which is why merely having the heart to harm one's fellow disciple, regardless of poor aptitude, would lead to rapid advancement thereafter.
After cycling the inner energy through several Celestial runs, Qing Yu opened his eyes, and in that instant, it seemed as if two sharp lights shot out.
"Divine Transformation." Suddenly, the room was filled with ghostly multiple shadows, and Qing Yu's figure transformed myriad times, darting back and forth.
Shortly after, Qing Yu stopped, looking down at his own hands, "I feel... I am full of strength…"
Of course, Qing Yu knew this was just an illusion brought about by the rapid advancement of martial skills. This mental method started at a very high level, involving reaching the Innate Realm to achieve Yang from Yin and balance Yin and Yang. Initially, it unlocked the Hand Three Yang Meridians, Foot Three Yang Meridians, and other six root meridians among the Twelve Meridians, and along with another previously unlocked meridian by Qing Yu, more than half of the Twelve Meridians were already unblocked.
Moreover, Qing Yu felt that unlocking one of the Extraordinary Meridians was not far off.
Without hesitation, Qing Yu kept going, swallowing a Meridian Opening Pill obtained from Mr. Mo and practiced throughout the night. By the dawn of the next day, he successfully unblocked the Chong Meridian, advancing to Postnatal Sixth Realm.
Thus, only the governor and conception vessels among the Extraordinary Meridians remained to be unblocked.
"It's time to pace myself. If I'm not careful and overshoot, I'll exceed the limit line set by Mr. Mo's wager, and that would be bad."
Qing Yu opened the window and looked out at the slightly bright sky. Dawn was upon them, and the world was about to burst into light.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
9 Power
stone 
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