Chapter 100: You Can Know the Skin and Bones, but Not the Heart

Before Li Jing could finish, Zhang Kuang cut him off, his voice still devoid of any emotion. “If you want to kill Qin Haoxuan, then I will kill you first. I don’t care if you’re a Purple Seed. Anyone who tries to kill him, I will kill them.”

An instinctive chill went down Li Jing’s spine, quickly followed by a surge of his own anger. You’re a Purple Seed, but so am I! I came to you in good faith to form an alliance, and this is how you speak to me? Who’s afraid of who?

“Senior Brother Zhang, it’s not yet certain who will be killing whom!” Li Jing shot back, then stormed out of the room.

Standing under the cold moonlight, he felt that Zhang Kuang had surpassed him not only in cultivation, but also in his state of mind. He was secretly unnerved.

What kind of astonishing fortuitous encounter could have transformed the boy who once wanted to grind Qin Haoxuan’s bones to dust into someone so composed?

He concluded that Zhang Kuang’s encounter must have been so extraordinary that it had given him the confidence to disregard both Qin Haoxuan and Xu Yu, leading to this newfound maturity.

Zhang Kuang has his confidence, but I do not, he thought, returning to his room. How can I cut off Xu Yu from Qin Haoxuan’s support? His gaze fell upon the shattered teacup on the floor, and a thought flashed in his mind. “The monkey! It’s the monkey! If I kill the monkey, Qin Haoxuan loses his income, Xu Yu can’t make her powder, and her cultivation will slow down!”

Basking in the warm morning sun, Qin Haoxuan stretched his limbs. He felt refreshed after a full night of absorbing spiritual energy. “What a warm sun,” he sighed. “It’s been a while.” After enjoying the warmth for a moment, he turned his gaze to Pu Hanzhong.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Pu asked with a smile that deepened the wrinkles on his face.

“Senior Brother,” Qin Haoxuan said, pulling several packets of Qi-Circulating Powder from his robes, “I’ve made a lot of this powder recently, and I’ve even sold some. You must take these.”

Pu Hanzhong slowly shook his head, his refusal firm. “Junior Brother, I’m already a man with one foot in the grave. This powder can’t help me break through, nor can it extend my lifespan. You are the one who needs it, as you haven’t even grown a leaf yet.” He took a few steps back. “I won’t take it, so don’t say another word.”

Qin Haoxuan let out a long sigh. He had no choice but to put the powder away. He lay down on a rope hammock strung between two trees, gently swinging back and forth, enjoying the rare spring warmth.

Pu Hanzhong watched him with a fond smile, though he was still puzzled as to why, after a month of showing signs of a breakthrough, his junior brother still hadn’t grown his first leaf.

Just as they were enjoying this rare moment of peace, a disciple in a brown sect robe, at the Twentieth-Leaf Realm, approached them. His chest was embroidered with “Ancient Cloud Hall – Liu Huan.”

He looked at Qin Haoxuan with a hint of arrogance. “I have ten mu of high-grade spirit land where I’m growing spirit ginseng,” he said, getting straight to the point. “I have no time to tend to it. I’ve heard your monkeys can help with watering, tilling, and pest control, so I’ve come to hire you.”

Annoyed at being interrupted, and having little goodwill for the Ancient Cloud Hall to begin with, Qin Haoxuan simply held up two fingers.

“Fine,” Liu Huan said without hesitation. “But spirit ginseng is not like a low-level herb. The methods for caring for it are different. You should come and take a look.”

Qin Haoxuan shook his head. “I don’t have time. I leave all the farm work to Little Gold. I’ll have him go with you.”

“And if something goes wrong with my spirit herbs…”

“Nothing will go wrong,” Qin Haoxuan cut him off, then summoned Little Gold.

The monkey’s cultivation speed was far faster than his own. In less than two months, Qin Haoxuan felt he would no longer be a match for it in a fight.

What was most incredible was that the monkey could even consume Qi-Circulating Powder. One night, it had woken up, snatched a packet, and begun to cultivate, a basin-sized vortex appearing above its head.

Since then, it had regularly “borrowed” powder, and its power had skyrocketed, allowing it to expand its workforce to two hundred apes. Despite its strength, it remained completely devoted to Qin Haoxuan.

Liu Huan’s eyes lit up when he saw the monkey. “So this is the famous creature,” he said. “Well, if it doesn’t do the job properly, I’ll be holding you responsible.” Qin Haoxuan just smiled, confident that Little Gold’s intelligence was more than a match for the task.

After Liu Huan had left with the monkey, news of the new, high-profile client quickly reached Li Jing. A murderous glint flashed in his eyes. Just as he was contemplating how to kill the monkey, one of his followers came to him with an idea.

“Senior Brother Li,” he said, “do you remember that disciple, Yan Dong, who was offended at the market a month ago? He’s from the Ancient Cloud Hall, and he’s known to be sinister and ruthless. I also know that he’s good friends with Liu Huan. If we could get him to poison the monkey’s food, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Li Jing’s eyes lit up. “If this succeeds, you’ll be well rewarded,” he said. He then sent the follower with a verbal message for Yan Dong: poison Qin Haoxuan’s monkey, and not only would he be rewarded, but he would also get his revenge.

Yan Dong, who had been stewing in his hatred for a month and a half, was thrilled. He immediately agreed, beating his chest and promising to handle the matter perfectly.

He found an excuse to send Liu Huan away from his own field, then snuck in and sprinkled a colorless, odorless poison—one he had refined himself, potent enough to kill a Fourth-Leaf cultivator instantly—onto the dried figs left out for Little Gold’s lunch.

Little Gold, though intelligent, was naive to the wickedness of the human heart. It ate the figs and, in an instant, began to foam at the mouth, its face turning a deathly purple-black as it collapsed to the ground, its breath coming in shallow gasps.

The Mighty Apes, seeing their leader fall, panicked. With an animal intelligence, they lifted the unconscious monkey and began a desperate run back to the Spirit Field Valley.

Liu Huan’s field was far away. By the time the apes arrived, night had fallen. Qin Haoxuan was just seeing Pu Hanzhong off when he saw the troop of apes running toward him.

He looked closer and saw them, panting with exhaustion, carrying the limp, purple-black body of Little Gold, the poison already having spread through its entire system.

(End of Chapter)