Cultivating in Different Professions

Chapter 156: Chapter 118: The 11th Under Heaven

In a valley in the eastern outskirts of Wuling City.

Dozens of corpses were laid out in neat rows.

In front of the bodies, twenty to thirty constables were gathered.

On the ground before them lay a messy collection of items, all recovered from the remnants of the Fragrance Sect.

The most conspicuous among them were two wooden boxes, one large and one small.

The large one was a full four feet long, while the smaller one was over a foot in length.

”Sir, these were taken from the bodies of the Fragrance Sect remnants, and these were found in their camp.”

Chen Song explained the origin of the items.

The items found on the Fragrance Sect remnants were a motley assortment: loose silver, silver notes, Healing Elixirs, mirrors, and even a woman’s undergarment.

Su Mu merely glanced at them before telling Chen Song to distribute the silver.

In his current position, a few hundred taels of silver were no longer worth his notice.

But for Chen Song and the others, receiving several dozen taels each was like another windfall, and they were all grinning from ear to ear.

While the constables were dividing the silver, Su Mu’s gaze fell upon the items recovered from the Fragrance Sect’s camp.

These were the real treasures.

Su Mu first picked up the small wooden box and examined it closely.

On the bottom of the box was a small character: Hu.

A cold smile touched the corners of Su Mu’s mouth.

’Is this the price the Hu Family paid to hire the Fragrance Sect?’

’The Hu Family... they just won’t let it go!’

A thought surfaced in Su Mu’s mind: should he pay another visit to the Hu Family and set a fire?

Tonight’s battle made him realize he was even stronger than he’d imagined. Not even a Blood Transformation Realm expert was his match.

However, there were also differences in power among those in the Blood Transformation Realm, and the Hu Family might well have someone even stronger.

’First, I’ll collect some interest,’ Su Mu snorted coldly to himself. ’I’ll settle the rest of the debt slowly.’

His Autumn Water Saber had been destroyed in tonight’s battle. That was another debt he had to record under the Hu Family’s name.

After confirming the wooden box wasn’t trapped, Su Mu slowly opened it.

Inside the box was a thick stack of silver notes, each with a denomination of one thousand taels. A quick glance suggested there were at least one hundred thousand taels in total.

Having been through several house-raids, Su Mu could be considered a man of the world, but one hundred thousand taels was comparable to the entire fortune of a typical wealthy merchant in the Outer City.

The Hu Family truly lived up to its name as one of the four great families of the Inner City. They were so extravagant, willing to spend one hundred thousand taels of silver to buy his life.

’Am I really that valuable?’

Su Mu mused. Besides the silver notes, the box also contained two pearls the size of a baby’s fist, which also looked priceless.

After looking them over, Su Mu closed the box again. The Fragrance Sect wasn’t fortunate enough to enjoy these things, so he would gladly accept them.

Su Mu’s bad mood from the destruction of his Autumn Water Saber improved slightly. With one hundred thousand taels of silver, he could buy another fine saber, which could be considered a meager compensation for his loss.

After stowing the small wooden box, Su Mu reached out and opened the large one.

His eyes lit up the moment he saw what was inside.

Given the shape of the wooden box, Su Mu had already had his suspicions, but seeing the real thing still came as a pleasant surprise.

Inside the box lay a long saber, about three feet in length.

The saber’s design was somewhat reminiscent of a Tang-style saber from Su Mu’s previous life—a straight saber with a slight curve.

Though still sheathed, the saber exuded a palpable chill. The black scabbard, material unknown, had a metallic texture and was engraved with ancient, simple patterns.

Su Mu reached out, took the saber, and drew it with both hands.

SHING!

With a foot of the blade drawn, its edge looked as thin as paper, and its sharpness was overwhelming.

”A fine saber!”

Su Mu couldn’t help but exclaim in praise.

With a slight exertion of force, he drew the long saber completely from its scabbard.

Su Mu swung it casually.

PFFT!

With a soft sound, the long wooden box was split in two. The cut was smooth and clean, and a deep gash was left on the ground.

Throughout the motion, Su Mu felt not the slightest resistance.

The Autumn Water was already a renowned saber, but Su Mu felt that the one in his hand was even sharper.

’The Autumn Water was just a saber the Wang Family rewarded its guards with, but this one was used by the Hu Family to hire a Blood Transformation Realm expert. Of course, there’s no comparison,’ Su Mu thought to himself. ’They destroyed my Autumn Water, so this saber will serve as a perfect replacement.’

Su Mu couldn’t bring himself to put the saber down, stroking its blade carefully.

Near the hilt, he discovered two small, ancient characters.

After careful inspection, he saw that the two characters read ”Thunder Shock”.

”’To hear the shocking thunder in the silence’... This is the Thunder Shocking Saber?” Chen Song, having finished distributing the silver, came over to Su Mu’s side. He happened to see Su Mu identifying the two ancient characters and leaned in curiously, exclaiming in surprise.

”You know of it?”

Su Mu looked up at Chen Song.

”Of course, I do!”

Chen Song said excitedly, ”There probably aren’t many Martial Artists in Wuling City who haven’t heard of the Thunder Shocking Saber!

A former Governor of our Wuling City’s Taiping Bureau, named Zhao Jinglei, used the Thunder Shocking Saber as his personal weapon.

Over a hundred years ago, Wuling City was attacked by a beast tide. Governor Zhao used the Thunder Shocking Saber to slay a Tier Three Demon Beast in a single strike, shocking the world.”

’Tier one, Blood Transformation; tier two, Rebirth; tier three...’

A look of shock appeared on Su Mu’s face.

”Someone once created a ranking of all the Divine Weapons in the world, and the Thunder Shocking Saber was placed eleventh.

Everyone says that if Lord Zhao Jinglei hadn’t fallen later, the Thunder Shocking Saber’s rank would have been even higher, given his talent and power.”