The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 369 - 230: Exchange of Interests_2

Chapter 369: Chapter 230: Exchange of Interests_2

After the discussion, both parties felt quite good.

Li Yan also felt a bit sentimental.

The purpose of the Captain Bureau in monitoring the pugilistic world was to maintain stability, preventing anyone from gathering followers to foment rebellion with a single command.

While iron-fisted methods were certainly in place, there were also unavoidable exchanges of interests.

For instance, the Divine Fist Association was a product of such interest exchanges; at least local martial arts escort agencies needed the court’s recognition to conduct business peacefully.

But these exchanges of interests also depended on the persons involved.

Back at Xianyang Burial Mound, they had informed Chang Xuan of crucial news, allowing him to be promoted to Thousand Households for a mere sum of silver...

In Shangjin City, Yunyang garrison’s Thousand Households, Huang Wenzhong, initially tried to suppress them using official authority. However, Li Yan remained adamant and eventually helped Lv San lift his warrant...

And now, they could even get a former Hundred Households to help them secure the right to use firearms...

The same goes for the Taixuan Orthodox Sect.

From high above, to now seeking to use their power.

Step by step, as their strength had increased, they had finally gained the qualifications to negotiate with others!

The former Hundred Households, of course, did not know what Li Yan was thinking, holding the letter, looking at it left and right under the firelight, frowning tightly at times, falling into deep thought at others, clearly pondering how to use it to break the situation.

Li Yan and others, meanwhile, continued to clean up their spoils of war.

The old beggar’s erhu, which Lv San took a liking to and had learned for a couple of days while at Manchuan Pass, was taken by him as his Magic Artifact.

This instrument was somewhat similar to Li Yan’s Cloud Thunder Divine Drum; it too could perform spells through sound, but this one was better at communicating with spirits.

Hence at the Yan family residence, the old beggar had used the erhu to drive the snakes to attack.

In Lv San’s hands, its power was even greater.

Besides that, hidden inside the erhu was a sword, sharp and tough, and also possessed some demonic-banishing power.

The old Taoist, controlling the Human Skin Puppets, only had trivial and worthless items on him, having probably invested most of his wealth in those Human Skin Puppets.

However, Sha Lifei chuckled and gathered the gongs and drums saying, "Brother Yan has a drum, Brother Lv has an erhu, and I strike the gong. When we roam the pugilistic world, we can perfectly pose as a musical band."

Li Yan couldn’t help but laugh silently and saw Sha Lifei moving to turn over the old Confucian scholar’s bamboo wooden box, quickly stopping him, "Don’t touch it recklessly; it’s filled with Gu Worms and Gu Poison!"

Sha Lifei turned pale and promptly withdrew his hand.

"Lv San, be prepared."

Li Yan said as he placed the bamboo wooden box at the entrance of the cave.

Lv San got the hint and immediately patted the demon gourd.

Originally, tonight’s encounter would have been a great opportunity for the demon gourd to show off its power, but with the sudden fierce wind and heavy rain outside, even if the Poison Bees were deployed they wouldn’t be able to fly steadily, so he hadn’t used them.

And these Gu Worms and Gu Poisons, were all food for the demon gourd.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

A dense swarm of Poison Bees flew out.

Li Yan swiftly sliced open the bottom of the bamboo wooden box.

In an instant, various bizarre bugs swarmed out.

Some looked like spiders but had scorpion tails...

Some were as small as grains of rice, jumping around randomly upon hitting the ground...

Others were like nematodes, twisting into knots as soon as they emerged...

Buzz!

The swarm of Poison Bees surged up and down, devouring the Gu Worms cleanly and even burrowing into the wooden box, smashing open the yet unopened bottle caps.

Whether it was Gu Worms or poison powder inside, they consumed them all completely.

Li Yan and the others knew nothing about Gu Techniques, so they could only deal with it in this crude manner, also increasing the toxicity of the Poison Bees.

The old Confucian scholar had clearly been a cunning and venomous character, even hiding Gu Worms in the crevices between the books, but they were all cleaned up too.

After thoroughly cleaning up, Li Yan finally picked up the books.

There were three books in total.

One was named "Herbs and Insects Classic," handed down by a Gu Granny in Xiangxi, not only detailing Gu-making and deploying techniques but also discussing a lot of herbal and insect knowledge.

Gu Technique depended heavily on the environment. Places like Xiangxi Jungle, Lingnan, Ten Thousand Mountains, Yun Gui, and the South Seas were more prevalent with such practices.

One needed not just to be taught but to learn from childhood.

Li Yan and his group were too busy with their own traditions and naturally would not learn it, but browsing through in their spare time could broaden their horizons.

The second book was more interesting, named "Mystic Discourses."

This book was written by a Confucianism scholar from the Mystical Sect during the Song Dynasty, compiling many mystic tales of the Sect; some were factual, while others were rather bizarre, even those of the Mystical Sect found them absurd.

The last book, however, was a thin volume, unnamed.

Li Yan flipped through it briefly, and his expression immediately turned grave.

This was a Secret Technique that came from the "Eternal Immortal Vault"!

The name of the Secret Technique was "Plague God Immortality Method"; it involved using oneself as a Gu Vessel, cultivating seventy-seven types of malignant Gu inside one’s body, and subsequently burying oneself in moist earth like a zombie.

On a daily basis, one had to worship a Demon God named "Wen Jiu" morning and evening, and every first and fifteenth of the lunar month, leave the hiding spot to feed on human blood to nourish the Gu Worms inside the body.

Of course, there was a quicker method.

That involved conducting human sacrifices!

The image of the Demon God Wen Jiu was also sketched above, used for worship: his body resembled a human, dressed in red and barefoot, but his head looked like a camel’s.

Clearly, it was a demon.

Accompanying this immortality method were several cruel and vicious techniques, all fierce Gu Techniques; just reading them made Li Yan shiver.

Without any hesitation, Li Yan and Sha Lifei spoke briefly before directly throwing_Entire Reasoning Revised_For_Evidence_of_Absolute_Relevance_of_Particulars_Entirely_Revised_and_Defined_ the book into the campfire to burn it.

He was not afraid of killing, but the techniques described were so chilling that it was no wonder the Mystical Sect prohibited them; such things should not exist in the world.

Watching the book burn to ashes, Li Yan felt no joy.

Although the book was old, its appearance suggested it was only about a decade or so old.