Chapter 14: The Hundred Poisons Manual

At dawn, Shen Lian stepped out of his quarters, heading straight for the house he’d purchased earlier in the western district of the market. As for the three homes in the eastern district, one had already been destroyed, and he had no intention of keeping the other two.

Passing through Black Rock Alley, he saw the law enforcement team and a crowd gathered in front of a burnt house. The property was registered anonymously, so it wouldn’t be easy for the law enforcers to find him. Besides, they likely weren’t inclined to search for anyone.

In the western district, Yuanshan Alley, Shen Lian sat cross-legged on his bed, calming himself after his first real combat.

“I need to prepare more clothes, preferably ones that conceal my face.”

“Men die for wealth, birds for food…”

He let out a long sigh, reflecting. Had his knowledge of talismans been incomplete, he would never have been able to utterly destroy the three intruders.

With a clang, Shen Lian tossed a pitch-black magical artifact onto the floor nearby. They were all lower-tier first-grade magical items, badly damaged by talismans; if he could get ten spirit stones for them, that would be fortunate.

Next, he took out a scorched spider from his storage pouch—a blood venom spider, likely early first grade. Burned as it was, it wouldn’t fetch much.

This time, he’d truly suffered a loss.

Examining the spider’s corpse closely, Shen Lian noticed a split in its lower jaw, as if something was hidden inside.

With a click, his defective flying sword was put to use again, prying open the spider’s jaw.

A storage pouch fell out.

Whoever owned this spider had stashed the pouch inside its mouth. Low-grade storage pouches lacked restrictions and could be opened by anyone.

Shen Lian poured out the contents.

A small heap spilled out: nine talismans of various kinds, two of them mid-tier first grade; a dozen bottles and jars; one hundred and ten spirit stones; a cultivation manual titled Water Origin Technique, suitable up to the seventh level of Qi Refinement; and a damaged treatise on poison-making.

He uncorked one bottle—an acrid, sour stench filled the air.

“Corpse Rot Water.”

He recognized it instantly.

Clearly, these assailants were seasoned hands.

After inspecting each bottle and jar, Shen Lian determined most contained poison.

Holding the battered treatise, he eagerly read through it.

“Hundred Poisons Manual.”

It detailed spiritual poisons capable of harming even Foundation Establishment cultivators, starting from the early stages of Qi Refinement.

Seeing its contents, Shen Lian was astonished. He recalled hearing soft rustling and airflow in the room earlier—likely, the three intruders had released poison as soon as they arrived.

Fortunately, his caution had led him to prepare a breath-holding talisman in advance.

Later, the Fire Talisman consumed everything in the room, burning the poison away.

With this Hundred Poisons Manual, Shen Lian felt he’d made up for his losses. The manual was perfect for someone as cautious as he.

Three days later, Shen Lian ventured out, purchasing several sets of robes and spiritual ink, then going to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall to rent two rooms. This time, luck wasn’t on his side; there were no vacant houses near Yuanshan Alley.

Once settled, Shen Lian resumed his efforts in drawing Miasma Dispelling Talismans.

After all, Azurewater Sect was a Golden Core sect. With so many itinerant cultivators arriving, how could they not supply Miasma Dispelling Talismans? Moreover, the shopkeepers along the merchant street were cleverer than monkeys—no telling how long the talisman’s profit would last. Shen Lian had no certainty. If he didn’t hurry, those who ought to feast on mutton would soon be left with nothing but soup.

With the help of spirit stones and Yellow Sprout Pills, Shen Lian produced ten talismans in a single day without interrupting his cultivation. It wasn’t his limit; rather, after drawing ten, his spiritual energy was depleted.

At that point, refining spirit stones was faster than ever.

He planned to refine one Yellow Sprout Pill every five days—not to save spirit stones, but to avoid building up resistance.

Across countless cultivation worlds, fellow cultivators agreed that before sixty was the best window for breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

This world was no exception.

A Qi Refinement cultivator typically began their path around the age of ten. With good fortune and no shortage of resources, one could break through a level every one to five years.

Before sixty, everyone had one chance to attempt Foundation Establishment.

For most itinerant cultivators, their breakthrough frequency depended on whether they managed to acquire spirit stones at any given time.

Shen Lian began his cultivation at eleven. His parents were itinerant cultivators too, before meeting an untimely end.

Now, at thirty-five or thirty-six, he’d spent twenty-five years reaching the third level of Qi Refinement.

All because he was poor.

But things had changed—now he possessed spirit stones.

As night fell, Shen Lian gripped a spirit stone in each hand, steadily refining spiritual energy.

“I wonder when a courtyard in the central district will become available,” he mused as he cultivated.

The next day, near noon—

Tap, tap…

“Those inside, come out and register!”

The door was knocked upon.

Creak—

Hearing the commotion outside, Shen Lian felt calm and opened the door.

He saw an Azurewater Sect steward standing in the alley, while other law enforcement cultivators knocked on doors up and down the street.

“No one’s inside this house.”

“This tenant’s still alive.”

The law enforcers spoke, and the steward cross-checked his records and marked accordingly.

As for the empty houses, the enforcers simply tossed everything inside out into the alley.

Fortunately, cultivators kept their valuables in storage pouches; the abandoned rooms contained only bedding and daily necessities.

Shen Lian realized this must be the “market reorganization” Wang Yang had mentioned.

The alley housed over thirty families; things were thrown out from twenty of them.

Whether these people had perished or simply failed to return in time, he didn’t know.

With more than half gone for good, Shen Lian became even more convinced not to recklessly venture outside.

“Listen up—the rent will rise by eight spirit stones next month.”

“If you can’t pay, don’t worry, Azurewater Sect shows mercy outside the law—you can go set up a shack at the edge of the market. Azurewater Sect guarantees your safety.”

“Of course, you build your own shack, and the monthly land fee is only two spirit stones.”

The steward’s announcement brought a chorus of silence from the cultivators in the alley.

Living in a house, you risked being gutted by demonic cultivators; building a shack outside would only make it easier for them.

After the steward finished, he ignored the alley dwellers and moved on to the next street.

“Eight spirit stones a month—how is anyone supposed to survive?”

“Looks like next month I’ll really have to build a shack.”

The cultivators muttered to themselves once the steward had gone.

Shen Lian said nothing, preparing to close the door and resume his cultivation.

Just then, his gaze drifted across the alley and caught a figure emerging from a nearby house, momentarily stunned.

The sight left him in surprise.

An acquaintance!