"It’s you!"

From the passage, a man slowly walked out.

"You’re not poisoned?!"

The Medicine Maniac stared at the newcomer, his face instantly turning ugly.

Chu Ming’s gaze locked on the Medicine Maniac, and the [Sword Gourd Spirit] spread outward, covering the entire underground space.

This space was truly enormous. He’d previously sensed a space and the aura of an exotic beast below, but never expected that this space was actually comparable in size to the minefield above.

But—aside from a single strange Seven-Star Flower and one big gray rat, there was nothing else in this vast underground space...

No, that’s not right!

Chu Ming’s eyes suddenly contracted.

The [Sword Gourd Spirit] detected a vast cache of Jingyan salt mine hidden on the other end of the underground space, more than the combined output of all three main mine shafts.

Moreover, he sensed Jingyan salt of even higher quality. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Salt exclusively supplied to the Imperial Family—premium Jingyan salt!

The underground salt not only compensated for the minefield’s loss, but could also greatly boost overall output.

An unexpected windfall—these salt stores would at least be enough to shut up some ’big shots.’

"I bear you no ill will. I only came here for that exotic beast. If you want it, I can give it to you!"

The Medicine Maniac saw the man wasn’t speaking and tentatively tried to negotiate.

"Give it to me." Chu Ming’s tone was calm.

"You can have it, just let me go."

"Give it first," Chu Ming paused, then spoke, "Don’t even think about poisoning me—it’s useless."

The hand the Medicine Maniac had hidden behind his back froze.

"If you don’t listen, don’t blame me for acting." Chu Ming’s voice was icy cold.

[Sword Gourd Spirit] blanketed the area; every move of the Medicine Maniac was under Chu Ming’s total control.

The Medicine Maniac, who was about to try poisoning again, found his hand once more paralyzed, face shifting gloomily.

"You’re not Xiao Jianxin," The Medicine Maniac abruptly said.

Chu Ming stayed silent.

"I originally thought Xiao Jianxin had broken through, which is why he could slay those three from the Blood Evil Sect. Turns out, I was wrong. Even if he did break through, Xiao Jianxin couldn’t have such powerful perception."

The Medicine Maniac pulled the sack containing the exotic beast off his back and threw it straight out.

"The thing’s yours. Let me go now."

Chu Ming caught the bag but didn’t move as if he had no intention of letting the other pass.

"What do you mean by this?" The Medicine Maniac felt a bad premonition.

"There’s something else." Chu Ming’s expression remained indifferent.

"What?"

The Medicine Maniac tensed up, palm holding poison, looking ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

The Seven-Star Divine Flower was tied to his lifespan; he’d never hand it over!

"The Seven-Star...Flower." Chu Ming’s tone was still flat.

He didn’t know exactly what flower the Medicine Maniac had picked, but he’d seen its seven-starry petals.

"You’re pushing me too far!"

As these words fell, the Medicine Maniac’s face instantly twisted, his right hand flashing with a cold glint like a blade while his left fired a jet of dark green liquid.

This poison, called ’Life-taking Liquid’, was a product of his painstaking effort—far more potent than what he’d used on the notebook during the day.

If a Meridian Unlocking Realm Martial Artist so much as touched it, their meridians would break, cutting off the flow of Qi, and their organs would collapse.

This was his never-before-revealed trump card—one potent enough to seriously wound or even kill someone at the Meridian Unlocking Realm!

Chu Ming stood calmly in place, not dodging or flinching.

The Medicine Maniac’s eyes blazed fiercely; poison and dagger struck simultaneously.

"Courting death!"

Next instant, however, his expression changed drastically.

Both attacks hit nothing but air.

"An afterimage!"

"Impossible!"

The Medicine Maniac’s pupils contracted sharply. His back felt a cold, stabbing chill.

"You’re already dead."

Then came a voice by his ear that made his very soul shudder.

"I..."

Sweat seeped from his forehead as the Medicine Maniac stiffly turned around.

A silver needle was pointed at his forehead, less than half a pace away.

The master of that silver needle stood there calmly, as if raising his arm required no effort at all.

Just what kind of perception and reaction speed is this?

The Medicine Maniac stared at the Silver Spirit Needle, his expression becoming incomparably complicated.

"Why didn’t you kill me?" His voice was low, trembling despite efforts to hold back his fear.

The Medicine Maniac could sense the silver needle before him could absolutely kill him. But what he couldn’t understand was—his opponent hadn’t done so.

"We have no enmity." Chu Ming put away the Silver Spirit Needle and said indifferently, "Give me the Seven-Star Flower and you can go."

A Meridian Unlocking Realm expert and a poison master—the kind that, if simply killed, would be a waste. Better to let the Blood Evil Sect believe he was the Medicine Maniac and vice versa.

If the two sides ended up fighting, all the better.

The Medicine Maniac’s expression turned ugly as he wrestled with a difficult decision.

Hand over the Seven-Star Divine Flower or not?

If he handed it over, he’d have to start all over in searching for materials to refine something to prolong his life.

If he didn’t, there was a high chance he’d die right here today...

Weighing profit and risk, he sighed, and most unwillingly produced a wooden box with the Seven-Star Divine Flower inside.

"I hope you keep your word. Though I’m no match for you, if it comes to a desperate fight, I’m confident I can seriously injure you." The Medicine Maniac’s tone was old and bleak.

"You mean that poison you just tried?" Chu Ming’s eyes flashed, "Tell you what—let’s trade. I’ll give you the Seven-Star Divine Flower in exchange for your poison formula."

Though he’d already picked up some of the Medicine Maniac’s ’mixing insights’, there were always hidden trump cards never written in any notebook—like the poison he’d just tried, which never showed up in the notes.

"?"

My Seven-Star Divine Flower, for my poison?

The Medicine Maniac felt something stuck in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Clearly, both things are mine...

How did a change of phrasing turn it into a trade—one where I’m bound to lose no matter what?

But, if I can really swap the ’Life-taking Liquid’ formula for the Seven-Star Divine Flower, maybe this trade isn’t so bad...

After a brief weighing of pros and cons, the Medicine Maniac reached a new decision.

"You’re a Meridian Unlocking Realm expert. If you give your word..."

"A promise is a promise," Chu Ming said.

"Alright."

The Medicine Maniac put away the wooden box with the Seven-Star Divine Flower and took out a rolled-up beast hide. "On this hide, you’ll find the formula for ’Life-taking Liquid.’"

Chu Ming didn’t touch it directly; rather, he first used [Sword Gourd Spirit] for microscopic inspection. This time, the Medicine Maniac didn’t play any tricks—the hide contained no hidden poison.

"Life-taking Liquid... extracted from a hundred types of toxins, breaks the meridians, poisons the Qi, destroys the internal organs..."

What a potent poison.

Trading a Seven-Star Flower of uncertain use for such a vicious poison recipe—worth it.

The only trouble was that some of the ingredients for ’Life-taking Liquid’ would be hard to find.

Still, it wasn’t a huge concern.

After reading the beast hide, the recipe for ’Life-taking Liquid’ fragmented into data, sinking into his Sea of Consciousness—Book collection Lake—where it started to be deduced and optimized, as if evolving into an even more advanced formula.

"Can I go now?"

"Mm." Chu Ming nodded lightly.

The Medicine Maniac immediately flickered, a shadowy gust swirling as he shot into the passage, vanishing—his speed was astounding, as if terrified someone might change their mind.

After a cup of tea’s time, when the Medicine Maniac’s aura had left the range of [Sword Gourd Spirit], only then did Chu Ming exit the underground space, taking the exotic beast’s corpse and beast hide scroll with him.

He first returned to his lodgings, burned the beast hide bearing the ’Life-taking Liquid’ formula into ashes, then called over Shen Yu and Meng Zhen.

At this moment, inside a room, the two men stared dazedly at the ground.

A gray rat about the size of a housecat, with spiny fur like steel needles, razor sharp fangs and claws...

"An exotic beast!" Meng Zhen took a deep breath, asking incredulously, "There was actually an exotic beast hidden beneath the mine?!"

"Every part of an exotic beast is treasure. Fur, bones, fangs and claws can be refined into formidable armor and weapons. Its flesh is also a supreme tonic for Martial Artists."

"A tonic?"

Shen Yu’s eyebrows rose, "So if you eat it, you can train your qi and blood faster?"

"Not just faster, it can even help you break through Martial Arts bottlenecks!"

Meng Zhen squatted by the big gray rat, examining it with growing awe.

"This exotic beast’s bones are hard as gold and iron, its organs a dim color; its strength is at Tier Three."

Exotic beasts are split into first, second, third, and fourth tiers—corresponding to Martial Artists of the Blood Circulation, Strong Bone, Refining the Internal Organs, and Meridian Unlocking Realms...

"Tier Three exotic beast?" Shen Yu didn’t quite understand what was special about that.

"Put it this way," Meng Zhen pointed at the rat’s claws, "Weapons refined from these four claws can pierce the defenses of a Refining the Internal Organs Martial Artist at the Early Stage."

Then he picked up the rat’s hide, "Skin it whole, and you can make Heart-Protecting Armor, enough to block attacks at the Early Refining the Internal Organs stage."

"And this flesh—Old Shen, if you eat it, I guarantee you’ll reach mid-level of the Blood Circulation Realm in no time!"

"That amazing?!" Shen Yu’s eyes instantly lit up.

"Exotic beasts are extremely rare, let alone one that can be killed. Chu Chief Clerk truly lives up to his name." Meng Zhen couldn’t help but praise again.

Chu Ming looked at the two and chuckled quietly, "Brother Shen, you’ll definitely get your share."

Exotic beasts truly were rare, but to him now, they didn’t have much use anymore.

When he first sensed the beast, he’d already planned—its flesh would be divided among Housekeeper Fang, Shen Yu, Feng Yuan, and Little Shan, etc.

As for fur and other materials, they’d be refined into weapons and armor later.

"Right, Brother Shen, I need your help with something."

"Just say it." Shen Yu was in high spirits at the thought of eating exotic beast meat.

"I discovered a vast cache of Jingyan salt in the beast’s underground den."

"What?" Shen Yu’s eyes sharpened, "How much exactly?"

"..." Chu Ming pondered, then said, "Enough to equal nearly five years’ total output of the three main shafts combined."

He’d thought about hiding the underground salt, but that was only for an instant.

Mining salt was hard work and time-consuming, and Jingyan salt didn’t fetch much silver. Better to report it, both to silence the higher-ups and profit himself.

"Are you sure?!" Shen Yu was shocked.

"Mm." Chu Ming nodded. "There’s also some premium Jingyan salt."

"Premium Jingyan salt?!" Shen Yu’s eyes popped, face full of disbelief.

There was a brief silence—then Shen Yu burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! When you think there’s no way out, another path appears!" Shen Yu was elated. "Didn’t the Fifth Prince want to take advantage and trip you up? Let’s see how he tries now."

"Five years’ output, on top of premium Jingyan salt—Chu Ming, Chu Grand Registrar, once this is reported, you’re probably in for another promotion."

"Sixth Grade... no, no, I think you’ll be ranked the same as your old brother here."

"..."

Discovering a new mine was no lesser a merit than increasing existing Jingyan salt output.

This underground salt was as good as directly boosting output—and vastly so for Chu Ming.

With premium salt for the Imperial Family as well, these merits would definitely be relayed through the Commandery Mansion to Qin Capital, and the Fifth Prince—even if he wanted to make a fuss—wouldn’t dare to do so openly.

That night, Shen Yu dispatched an urgent letter to the Commandery Mansion, demanding delivery straight into the hands of County Magistrate Xiao He.

He believed Xiao He would see the merit reported all the way to Qin Capital, straight into His Majesty’s ears.

...