Martial Saint with Passives

The air, thick with dust, was choked with the sickeningly rich stench of blood.

Jiang Che frowned, looking at the mangled pile of flesh on the ground that no longer resembled a human.

Suppressing the churning in his stomach, he held his breath and began to carefully sift through the viscous, gory sludge.

First, he pulled out a few shredded scraps of gold notes, smashed to a pulp by immense force.

Then, he felt several broken shards of a porcelain bottle. Any remaining medicinal powder or liquid had long since mixed with the filthy blood.

Next, his fingertips touched something cold and hard.

It was half of a Token engraved with strange patterns, also shattered into several pieces.

Jiang Che felt a little frustrated.

’My transformation went out of control and destroyed everything! I didn’t get a single useful thing!’

Just as he was about to stand, he noticed something reflecting light.

’What’s this...’

Jiang Che picked it up and saw a small, date-sized stone that glowed with a faint green light under the moon.

’It wasn’t even damaged by all that smashing earlier...’

Jiang Che squeezed it hard but found the small stone didn’t budge in the slightest.

With his current strength, an ordinary stone would have been crushed to dust long ago.

’I don’t know what it is, but it might be something good. I’ll find someone to appraise it another day...’

Jiang Che carefully put the small stone away.

Not coming away empty-handed improved his mood slightly.

After quickly gathering his scattered belongings, Jiang Che didn’t linger. His figure flickered a few times and vanished at the end of the ruined alley.

As for the pile of flesh, it was so mangled that no traces of cultivation techniques could be discerned, let alone its origin traced. This saved him the trouble of destroying the corpse.

However, the vexation in Jiang Che’s heart refused to dissipate.

This person from the Demon Sect had actually tracked him so precisely, identifying him as the one who killed their undercover agent in the Golden Leaf Forest!

’It’s just like the Wuxiang Alliance... Do they put a mark on you when you kill one of their people?’

As he sped along, Jiang Che checked his body. His Qi Blood, Qi Force, skin, and bones...

He scanned himself inside and out several times but couldn’t sense anything abnormal at all.

’Can’t find it... I can’t find anything!’

He had really stirred up a hornet’s nest! The trouble with the Wuxiang Alliance was still unresolved, and now he had thoroughly provoked the Demon Sect!

Wait, the Wuxiang Alliance?

Jiang Che suddenly recalled that ever since he had killed the Wuxiang Alliance’s Number Five and Number Six outside Lin Yuan City, they had sworn revenge. But after he entered the Cangyun Sect, there seemed to be no further activity.

Was the Cangyun Sect’s power too great a deterrent, preventing them from entering? Or was the mark being blocked by some power within the Sect?

Or perhaps...

They were gathering their strength in the shadows, preparing to deal him a fatal blow?

’Whatever. It’s useless to think about this now.’

Jiang Che took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

Ultimately, it all came down to a lack of strength!

He had to break through to the Bone Forging Realm as soon as possible!

Otherwise, if he encountered an opponent at the Refining Organ Realm, he probably wouldn’t be able to win even after his transformation!

’But at least I won’t have to leave the Sect for a while...’

He subconsciously touched the heavy money pouch in his robe, feeling a little more at ease.

’Once I reach Bone Forging Great Success...’

Jiang Che’s gaze hardened.

’I’ll come back out and take care of you damn lingering ghosts!’

His figure accelerated through the night like an arrow released from a bow, shooting toward the Cangyun Sect’s gates without a backward glance, soon melting completely into the deep darkness.

...

Back in his small courtyard in the Cangyun Sect’s Inner Courtyard, Jiang Che closed the door and finally let out a true sigh of relief.

The intangible sense of sanctuary within the Sect temporarily shielded him from the dangers outside.

He calmed himself and began to take stock of his gains.

First were the gold notes.

There was the initial Tributor payment from Yin’s Cloth Shop: three thousand taels.

Next was the four thousand taels he plundered from the lairs of eight bully gangs during his night raids.

Then, there was the fifteen thousand taels he found in the Iron Bone Gang’s Ba Hui’s stronghold.

Ten thousand of that was the ransom the Yin Family had been forced to pay, which Yin Rong and his wife insisted on giving him.

Adding the five hundred taels he had left over from before.

Jiang Che did a quick calculation and couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.

A grand total of twenty-two thousand five hundred taels of gold!

This was a vast fortune the likes of which he had never possessed! It was more than enough to support his cultivation needs for a long time, purchase subsequent Cultivation Techniques and Elixir Pills, and even compete for a spot in the Cloud Mist Ridge.

"What a huge sum of money!" Jiang Che couldn’t help but whisper, a look of sincere delight on his face.

With this money, one of the biggest obstacles on his path to the Bone Forging Realm had been removed.

Besides the gold notes, there was also a pile of miscellaneous loot.

The Martial Arts Secret Manuals he’d plundered from the gangs and Ba Hui were mostly Qi Blood Realm Techniques, with a few pages of True Skill Fragments mixed in, none of them very valuable.

However, with the Erosion Sun Scripture’s Dissipating Technique in hand, he could master these Low-Tier Cultivation Techniques and then use the Dissipating Skill to convert them into pure Qi Blood Strength, accelerating his cultivation. So they wouldn’t go to waste.

As for the Elixir Pills of unknown origin, Jiang Che decided not to touch any of them. He would disguise himself later, find a reliable pharmacy to appraise them, and sell them all for cash.

Finally, he took out the strange little stone that glowed with a faint green light, the one he had picked from the bloody remains of the gray-robed Demon Sect member.

Under the moonlight, it was cool to the touch and abnormally hard, having withstood the violent blows of his Black Armor Form without a single scratch.

Jiang Che toyed with it for a moment, his confusion growing.

This item was definitely unusual, but as for what it was or what it did, he had no idea.

In his current situation, he didn’t dare take it to be appraised.

What if it was something extremely precious that attracted covetous eyes?

Or what if it was a unique token of the Demon Sect, which would only arouse suspicion? Both scenarios would be highly problematic.

"I’ll hold onto it for now. In the future, I can look through the ancient texts in the Scripture Pavilion, or wait until my Realm is higher and find a way to investigate it then."

Jiang Che carefully put it away. It was too risky to go out now; he’d deal with it later.

After taking stock, Jiang Che was well aware that although he had acted with just cause, delivering justice on behalf of heaven, he had also stirred up a fair bit of trouble.

First, he had wiped out eight gangs, and then it turned out the Iron Bone Gang had a faint connection to the Taiyuan Sect.

Rather than waiting passively, it was better to report to the Sect proactively, explaining that his actions were a last resort to protect his Tributor client.

「The next day.」

Jiang Che rehearsed his explanation and went to the main hall of the Yunhai Courtyard to request an audience with his master, Xu Qingshan.

Inside the hall, Xu Qingshan was still dressed in a black Daoist Robe, a few strands of silver at his temples making his face appear even more gaunt and distinguished.

He sat cross-legged on a prayer cushion, his aura as deep as the ocean. As his eyes opened and closed, his gaze was calm yet seemed capable of seeing through a person’s heart.

Seeing Jiang Che enter, he nodded slightly.

"Disciple pays his respects to Master," Jiang Che said, bowing respectfully.

"What is it?" Xu Qingshan’s voice was flat.

Jiang Che gave a concise account of how he had eliminated the eight gangs for Yin’s Cloth Shop and had been forced to deal with the Iron Bone Gang to save his client.

However, he omitted any mention of his Black Armor Form or using the Dissipating Technique to raise his cultivation.

He only emphasized that he had made progress in his cultivation of the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Technique and, combined with his opponent underestimating him, had been lucky enough to counter-kill the powerful enemy.

Finally, he took out a Brocade Bag containing five thousand taels in gold notes and presented it with both hands:

"Master, although I acted to save someone, this series of killings may attract criticism and could even implicate the Sect in our relations with the Taiyuan Sect. This is a small token from me; I ask Master to help smooth things over."

Xu Qingshan’s gaze swept over the Brocade Bag, then fell upon Jiang Che, lingering for a moment.

Jiang Che instantly felt an invisible pressure wash over him, as if even the circulation of his Qi Blood had stagnated for a second, but it quickly dissipated.

"Take this gold back," Xu Qingshan said. His voice was still level, but it held an undeniable authority. "They were just a few bandits steeped in evil. If you killed them, you killed them. It is only right and proper for a disciple of my Cangyun Sect to protect their Tributor client. The Taiyuan Sect won’t care. A trivial matter like this is not worth mentioning, and you certainly don’t need to spend money to avert disaster. The honor of the Three Great Sects will not be stained by a few low-life gang members."

Hearing this, a weight lifted from Jiang Che’s heart.

Indeed, in the eyes of a true behemoth, these villainous gangsters who could dominate the lives of ordinary people were nothing but dust.

"Yes, disciple understands," he said, putting the Brocade Bag away.

Xu Qingshan’s gaze lingered on Jiang Che once more, this time with a hint of scrutiny and an imperceptible trace of surprise.

"You... used a Dissipating Skill?"