Chapter 237: Chapter 197 Final Payment
The Mo Si Clone lay quietly in the cave, motionless, without any response.
Too full? Indigestion?
Li Ang raised his eyebrows in surprise, focusing more intently on the changes occurring within the Mo Si Clone. He observed that Mo Si was using the finest threads to repeatedly cut through the metallic runes and further crush the residue.
The entire devouring process lasted over two quarters of an hour. When the consumption was complete, the dark golden color on the surface of Mo Si was somewhat more pronounced than before.
There’s no significant overall change; it’s still in the Fourth Stage of evolution. But an additional ability has emerged...
Li Ang mused for a moment, controlling the Mo Si Clone. He extended a tendril and, following the faint sensing, released Spiritual Power.
BUZZ—
The air wobbled and transformed, slowly sketching out a shape similar to a "door" in front. The door was one meter wide and two meters tall. Through the blurred air, one could faintly see the lush mountain forest behind it.
This is... Li Ang stared, dumbfounded. "An arbitrary gate?"
What appeared in the cave indeed resembled an arbitrary gate from the memories of the Otherworld. Crossing it would take one directly outside to the forest, and one could return again.
After dozens of tests, Li Ang gradually figured out the usage range, characteristics, and limitations of this new ability.
First, the opening and maintenance of the arbitrary gate required the consumption of Spiritual Power, with the energy cost dependent on the distance. With Li Ang’s current total Spiritual Power, he could open an arbitrary gate to a distance of about ten miles.
Second, the arbitrary gate could only lead to places he had seen with his own eyes, personally visited, or knew specific information about. Without any information, the arbitrary gate would lead to the nearest known location.
Third, only one arbitrary gate could exist at a time. After closing, there would be a certain cooling period, and if the arbitrary gate was attacked or too far from Mo Si, it would automatically dissipate.
The limitations and advantages are quite clear, Li Ang thought. The limitation lies in the need for preparation time before release; it cannot be too far from the Mo Si Clone or myself and has a long cooling time, making it unsuitable for use in front of enemies. The advantage is that long-distance teleportation barely causes any fluctuation in Spiritual Power. Within minutes, it could deploy a whole team of Death Soldiers to the Great Ming Palace or other strategic locations, making it very difficult to predict. It’s practically a godsend technique for assassination. Whether for escaping or pursuing, it is quite useful. If I had this ability when we were at the outpost outside Chang’an City, there would have been no need to worry about the garrison’s pursuit. I could have hit and run at will.
Li Ang was quite satisfied with this newly acquired ability. After all, it was derived from the inscriptions on the Bronze Earthenware Vessel, compensating for the loss caused by its explosion.
Mo Si can acquire abilities by devouring Mutated Objects, just like the Cultivators from the Evil Path Sects of Former Sui. The key is there are no side effects; it doesn’t shorten life, nor does it turn one into something neither human nor ghost. But what is the standard for devouring? Items like the Spirit Summoning Paper and Bitter Realm Lotus only drew Mo Si’s attention without inciting a desire to devour. Only the Green-black stone statue from Huai Rui of Victory Square and the bronze inscriptions from Qi Shui Village were directly devoured by Mo Si. Even the Mountain Rat Claw didn’t manage to draw Mo Si’s attention.
Li Ang pondered for a while. The standard for Mo Si’s devouring likely isn’t the formation time of the Mutated Objects—the Bitter Realm Lotus could date back to before the introduction of Zen to The Central Plains and was considered very ancient. Could it be the material? Does Mo Si tend to devour Mutated Objects made of metal or jade materials? That didn’t seem likely either, as the metal weapons like the Triangular Spear, forged by the Academic Palace Doctors at Li Ang’s request, hadn’t aroused a strong desire to devour in Mo Si.
Li Ang thought for a while and, unable to find an answer, decided to let it go.
「In the following period」
He mainly busied himself with three things.
One was Chai Chai’s examination process—she managed to pass the retest smoothly with the Spiritual Power of the Qi Sensing Realm, and now she was preparing for the final exam. As in previous years, the specific topics of the Academic Palace final exam were strictly confidential, known only to a few Doctors. And even if one knew the topics, if you couldn’t answer, you still couldn’t answer.
As for the second matter, it was the hatching of the Red-eyed Purple Lady Bee. Following the sparse descriptions in the Hundred Beasts Studies books, Li Ang created the most suitable temperature and humidity for the bee eggs as possible, and finally hatched three larvae. However, it would still take three months for the larvae to cocoon and turn into adults.
The third matter was the aftermath of the abnormal changes in Qi Shui Village. The garrison and the Yu Kingdom’s Court claimed that the earth dragon turning over in Bingzhou was a normal phenomenon and that the common people needn’t panic. However, the people of the Ghost Market didn’t believe this explanation at all.
Firstly, if it were merely the earth dragon turning over, there would be no need to mark off such a large uninhabited zone.
Secondly, many had seen the Cultivators from the Taiyuan Wang Family deploying en masse at dusk that day, hardly appearing to be guarding against an earthquake.
Thirdly, rumors stated that a blue column of fire shot straight into the sky that night.
And most importantly, the timing of the earth dragon turning over coincided closely with when the Taiyuan Wang Family canceled its commission in the Ghost Market.
Thus, in the minds of the people in the Ghost Market, it was clear that the Taiyuan Wang Family had stirred up something tremendous they couldn’t manage and had to pay a hefty price to ask for the garrison’s help.
The intelligence sold by the Tea Tasting Pavilion was more detailed. For instance, the blue fire column was likely intensely burning super-grade Karmic Fire. The center of the earth dragon’s activity was west of Bingzhou, and so on.
There’s no more detailed information. It seems both the Taiyuan Wang Family and the garrison have imposed a gag order, Li Ang thought silently, controlling his Mo Si Clone as it entered the secret room of the Ghost Market’s Tea Tasting Pavilion.
He had already contacted the tea master to have someone from the Taiyuan Wang Family come over to negotiate the subsequent remuneration. At the time, Wang Linian had stated that if the mutation could be resolved, the original remuneration would increase tenfold to a total of four hundred taels of Fine Gold. This was money he couldn’t simply ignore.
CREAK.
The wooden door opened. The liaison from the Taiyuan Wang Family, upon seeing Li Ang boldly sitting on the secret room’s stool, opened his mouth wide in disbelief and said, "Why is it you?!"
"Hmm?" The Mo Si Clone arched an eyebrow. "Should it not be me?"
"Ah, no, no." The liaison from the Taiyuan Wang Family hurriedly waved his hand, stuttering, unsure how to respond.
He had heard part of the truth about the mutation from his family. He had thought that the recipient of the final payment would be a beneficiary designated by Li Ang, but he had not expected Li Ang himself to appear so unconcerned in the Ghost Market to personally demand the final payment.
The liaison was extraordinarily shocked. From a brief description in a family letter, he had learned how terrifying the mutation was and that Li Ang had faced it firsthand. And he had only spent a few days healing before returning to Chang’an from Taiyuan County? Or could it be that he had not been injured at all? If this person is only at the Postnatal Martial Artist realm, I’ll eat my hat!
Regardless of the shock and disbelief in the liaison’s heart, Li Ang directly tossed out a slip of paper, calmly stating, "As per the agreement with your Wang Family’s Wang Linian, four hundred taels of Fine Gold are to be delivered to a location I designate seven days from now. I will go to receive it."
"Uh, yes, of course." The liaison quickly glanced at the slip of paper. Four hundred taels of Fine Gold was a significant sum, even for the Taiyuan Wang Family. Seven days was just enough time to gather and transport it to Chang’an. Clearly, the other party also had a clear understanding of a great clan’s capabilities.
And the designated location, a hidden underground Dark River in the Ghost Market, was sufficiently concealed and beneficial for both parties.
Li Ang nodded and casually inquired, "By the way, how are Chu Haoman and the others?"
Despite past conflicts, he rather admired Chu Haoman for his willingness to sacrifice himself and casually asked whether the other party was dead or not.
The liaison cautiously said, "Mr. Chu and the others are all fine. Cultivator Yu was slightly injured but has also healed."
"Oh." Li Ang’s tone remained unvaried. He left a message, "If there are future commissions, contact me at the Tea Tasting Pavilion," and then stood up, walked out of the secret room, and left the Tea Tasting Pavilion.
The Wang Family liaison nodded in agreement, watching Li Ang’s figure disappear around the street corner, his mind filled with thoughts about how to win him over.
The inheritor of the Nine-headed Snake Demon... What would interest such a person? Cultivation Techniques? Power and status? Treasures and secrets? It’s said that the disciples of the Nine-headed Snake Demon are natural pirates who prefer to drift at sea rather than dwell on land for long. Perhaps I should offer him a large ship? Surely it can’t be money? Such a mysterious and elusive great figure would hardly be concerned with trifling gains.