It is said that wild snakes often find themselves victims to a whole host of parasites. In particular, many parasites can easily be found on their skin, causing discomfort to the snakes. Some wild snake species will bite themselves to soothe the discomfort, even using their large fangs to pick out some of the larger parasites.
Yesterday afternoon.
The second elder of the Wun Clan sat solemnly in a quiet room, his legs crossed. He gathered soul energy from all over his body beneath his chest. He could feel the sword energy that the great elder had planted in him pulsating there.
He would not allow his life to be left at the mercy of someone else’s hands. It was a suffocating feeling that he could not get used to, as someone so important and influential. His word was the law within the Enforcer’s Hall. He had never had to bow down to anyone in this fashion.
He didn’t even dare breathe too loudly in the presence of the great elder.
Of course, the second elder never ever reflected on what he did. He only remembered the whole incident with burning resentment, swearing to exact revenge one day.
“Martial soul, descend,” soul energy surged out of his body. One would have finer control over their soul energy after summoning their martial soul. This was why most martial artists would summon their martial souls before they engaged in battle.
It’s not that he could not control his soul energy without it, but rather, summoning his martial soul would make the whole process easier.
The second elder drew his serpentine sword, his face heavy and solemn. He held the sword with both hands in reverse grip, the tip of the blade pointing toward his stomach. He took a deep breath, steeling his expression as he shouted loudly, “Lethality: Palliative Sword of the Serpent’s Bite.”
The second elder pushed the tip of the blade into his body. A surge of soul energy was channelled to the blade's tip, causing it to light up. The sword energy the great elder had left in his body was instantly detonated. However, the detonated sword energy did not spread out throughout the second elder’s body. Instead, a strange attractive force came from the sword, absorbing all of the chaotic sword energy.
“Ugh!” Fresh blood rose from the second elder’s chest and came out of his mouth as a result of the injuries sustained by his meridians. Drops of crimson stained the floorboards. However, color returned to his cheeks after he spat out the blood. It was obvious that he felt much better now.
The wooden doors were suddenly pushed open. Wun Ping rushed clumsily into the room and dropped to his knees in front of the second elder. His hands trembled aimlessly in front of him. He had no idea what to do as he asked anxiously, “Dad, are you okay?”
Wun Ping knew he must not let anything happen to his father. If anyone were to find out that something had happened to the second elder of the Wun Clan, Wun Ping himself would be finished the very next morning.
He was more than well aware of that fact.
The second elder quickly sat down to meditate and recover. He had no time to respond to Wun Ping. He needed to inspect his body’s condition first. His mental energy circulated throughout his meridians. He noticed that the injuries near his lungs were more severe. It was mostly damage to the meridians, resulting in the erratic flow of his soul energy.
It would take more than half a year for an injury like this to heal naturally. As expected of someone who was one step away from becoming a Martial General. The great elder had reduced him to this state with one simple move. He truly could not underestimate that old man.
He slowly evened out his breathing and replenished all of his soul energy before opening his eyes to look at Wun Ping. He slapped him across the face and said resentfully, “Useless boy! If you hadn’t broken the rules that day, I would not have ended up like this.”
Wun Ping felt immense guilt when he heard this. His hatred toward Wun Fan only grew even further. The thought of murder flickered in his mind. He would make sure that there was nothing left of that brat to bury if he ever got the chance to corner him.
The second elder was still very weak. Even his words seem to lack strength, “I will take a look at some pills over at Hundred Treasure Halls sometime in the next few days. Hopefully, they have some pills that deal with meridian injuries. It will help me recover faster.”
He knew his own son well enough, so he gave him a strict order, “You must not find any trouble with Wun Siu Lan and Wun Fan in this time. If anything else happens, even I cannot keep you from punishment, do you understand?”
Wun Ping nodded eagerly. He might be arrogant, vain, and unlikeable, but he always listened to his father. He had never been disobedient to his father, not even once in his life.
Thus, the second elder had been able to remove the great elder’s control over him. He had regained freedom, at the cost of injured meridians.276Please respect copyright.PENANAc4igqFstU4
The second elder was sitting on pinpricks inside the Thousand Relics Auctions’ auction hall. He saw Wun Ching Yeung and Hung Yun Zak appear before the auction started. He expected that the two of them would each purchase a Pill of Meridian Fortification. The second elder wasn’t too concerned. There were still two more. However, he never expected someone to go after the third pill so eagerly. Yu Sap Bat, leader of the Green Wolf Band. Even the second elder had heard of this man. Vicious, decisive, murderous and incredibly lustful. It was said that Yu Sap Bat showed no respect even to the mayor, Hung Yun Zak.
He kidnapped, robbed and murdered people in Green Sea Forest. It was rumored that he had over a thousand kills to his name. There was no doubt that he was one of the biggest dangers of Green Sea Forest. The second elder didn’t wish to have much to do with a bandit as dangerous as him.
However, the second elder never, never expected the seller to come up with this trick for the bidding of the final pill. Typically, most auctions would be won by the highest bidder. However, some items were auctioned at a fixed price. Whomever’s bid reached the fixed price first would win the item. The second elder thought to himself, “Money is tight right now. I only have around 9,000 gold coins on hand. Things are going to be even tighter if I bought the pill for 8,000 gold.”
The second elder’s face was ugly. He stared at the pill in Chan Goh Shue’s hand like a venomous serpent staring at its prey. He was deep in thought for a moment, only listening as the price continued to rise.
Compared to the second elder’s reaction, Wun Fan was clapping his hands and cheering in the private room, “Haha! What a brilliant idea from that old man!”
However, Chan Chi Yuet rolled her eyes. Her tone and her expression betrayed dissatisfaction. She pouted as she said, “He’s not an ‘old man’. He’s the Grade Nine appraiser here. We call him Uncle Goh.”
“Appraiser?” Wun Fan rubbed his head in confusion.
Chan Chi Yuet seemed to have expected this reaction. She explained slowly.
There were all sorts of wondrous relics in the world. Naturally, there were both fakes and genuine articles as well. As such, there was a need for someone who could discern the authenticity of any item. This job landed on the shoulders of the appraisers. Typically, the reputation of an appraiser was very important. They, more than anyone, placed significant importance on trust and honesty, for their name was a guarantee. If any appraiser was to appraise an item without any proper basis, they would find themselves out of a job.
Wun Fan only learned about this job now. He couldn’t help but be impressed, but he didn’t think too much of it. He was very satisfied with Chan Goh Shue’s actions. He might not have asked him for his permission to do all this, bu it wasn’t hard to see that the maximum market price of this pill was only around 5,500 gold coins. Chan Goh Shue’s actions had indeed raised the sale price of the Pill of Meridian Fortification, increasing the profits of both Wun Fan and Thousand Relics Auctions. It was a win-win.276Please respect copyright.PENANAuEVltcR5FD