Immortal Cage - Chapter 47: Refining Pure Spirit Stones
After hearing the news about the Poison Sect's leader from the old man at the gambling house, Yu Lie bid farewell and left.
Turning onto a street, his expression immediately turned grim.
Yu Lie suddenly remembered that the last time he worked for the Poison Sect, he had coincidentally encountered Gao Ji, the big shot there. And it was the Poison Sect leader himself who casually mentioned that someone was looking for him.
"Now it seems that when Gao Ji went to the Poison Sect, it wasn't just for a free meal, but to gather information about me. Knowing oneself and the enemy ensures victory and safety."
Yu Lie sneered inwardly, grateful that he had sensed something amiss at the time and decided to gather the money owed by Gao Ji, despite the risks involved.
Otherwise, the trip to the gambling house might have led to significant trouble, offending many people!
Contemplating this, Yu Lie pushed aside these distractions. Gao Ji was already dead, and the gambling house owner feared the Poison Sect leader, intending to befriend him. There should be no more trouble ahead; it was all in the past.
Yu Lie squinted his eyes. "That guy surnamed Du has beaten Gao Ji twice in a row. It seems he was quite confident before starting the gambling!"
Apart from betting on individual wins or losses, in the gambling house, one could also bet on someone's consecutive wins. The possibility of losing was significant, but once successful, the payout was substantial.
With Du Liang, the Poison Sect leader, involved in this matter, Yu Lie didn't need to think much to realize that he must have sold his information and conspired with Gao Ji to profit from this situation.
Upon learning this, a coldness immediately arose in Yu Lie's eyes.
But after careful consideration, he suppressed this coldness for the time being.
Yu Lie planned to pretend not to know about this matter and continue to deceive Du Liang. This way, with the enemy in the light and him in the dark, Yu Lie could gain more time for peaceful cultivation.
When he completed the third transformation, Yu Lie would also become a middle-ranking Daoist. By then, whether it was challenging or verifying the truth, it would be as easy as turning one's hand.
On the street, darkness enveloped the sky.
Yu Lie hurried towards his home, carrying two miscellaneous spirit stones in his pocket...
On the other side.
The gambling house owner did not deceive Yu Lie. Du Liang, the Poison Sect leader, returned home with a gloomy expression.
As soon as he entered the house, Du Liang scolded, "Where is everyone, where have they all gone!"
Footsteps sounded, and a petite figure ran out of his house, immediately offering wine and kneeling to help Du Liang clean his hands and rinse his mouth.
Pfft! Du Liang spat out the wine in his mouth and said coldly, "Clean the floor. Otherwise, tomorrow I will send you to the pill room to continue being my medicine slave!"
"Yes, yes." The person holding the wine knelt even lower, sticking out their buttocks, and continued to wipe the floor.
Du Liang snorted and walked past the person, who secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Just when the person thought they might suffer less humiliation in the future, they suddenly trembled, enduring the pain and continued to scrub the floor.
Du Liang cursed, "A mere middle-ranking Daoist, causing me to lose so many spirit coins! Damn it, they all deserve to die!"
"Especially that guy surnamed Gao, saying I should bet on his consecutive wins four or five times, guaranteed profit. Bah! For the sake of stability, I only bet on him twice, almost losing everything!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier Du Liang became. He felt an urge to go to the gambling house and demand an explanation. Why could they change the gambling list at will? Wasn't that bullying the honest people!
But he was just a middle-ranking Daoist, at most, he could show off his power in the Poison Sect and squeeze the medicine slaves, but he didn't dare to cause trouble at the gambling house.
Moreover, the gambling house had the right to adjust the gambling list, which was one of the risks of betting on consecutive wins. However, the gambling house rarely made adjustments, and even if they did, they would provide reasons, but the money would not be refunded.
If Du Liang really went to argue with the gambling house, he would also worry about exposing his collusion with Gao Ji, which could lead to trouble from the gambling house.
Frustrated, Du Liang felt increasingly uncomfortable. And when he was unhappy, someone else had to be unhappy too.
In the room, the person cleaning the floor became even more fearful.
Immediately, Du Liang turned his attention to Yu Lie:
"I thought this guy was really Fang Lao's man. I didn't expect that he had offended Fang's skinning back then. I was actually fooled by him. Now it seems that even a small loan to Gao Ji dares to plot against him. This guy surnamed Yu doesn't seem to have much background."
"But, where did the ten thousand coins in his hand come from? This person is just a newly promoted lower-ranking Daoist."
Du Liang frowned, pondering. He suppressed his evil thoughts and made a decision in secret:
"Anyway, Yu Lie doesn't know me. I have to be cautious and test step by step."
"Hmm... no rush!"
In the room, Du Liang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat relieved.
In the stone house where Yu Lie resided, after returning discreetly, he immediately covered the entrance and took out the two spirit stones given by the Poison Sect leader.
He searched around his stone house, trying to find a suitable place to hide the spirit stones.
But after a thorough search and trying various locations, Yu Lie felt that none of them were secure enough.
Spirit stones contained spiritual energy. When carried by a cultivator, they could be concealed to some extent by the cultivator's own aura. However, if left outside the body, even if buried deep underground, it could still be troublesome for certain cultivators with special abilities to locate them.
Yu Lie had been carrying the two spirit stones for a long time, and without a storage method, the risk was even greater. He might attract unwanted attention and bring about fatal consequences.
Yu Lie furrowed his brow. "Should I go to the town's official money house and store them there?"
There was an official money house in Heishui Town where one could store money and items, with the added benefit of earning interest on deposits, just like in Yu Lie's previous town.
However, storing and retrieving goods there came with a cost. They charged a fee based on the value of the item, at least a ten percent handling fee. And although Yu Lie trusted the official money house, he didn't trust the staff inside.
Storing the spirit stones there might directly expose the fact that he possessed two spirit stones.
The next moment, Yu Lie thought of the bronze cup he often used to hold fish. He took out the cup and played with the spirit stones in one hand and the cup in the other.
"If the spirit stones are placed inside the cup, will they undergo any changes and turn into pure spiritual energy? In that case, can they still be used for cultivation?"
Contemplating this, Yu Lie's eyes suddenly lit up.
He thought, "Spirit stones have different qualities. The ones in my hand are just miscellaneous spirit stones. If they undergo a transformation inside the bronze cup, will their quality change?"
Immediately, Yu Lie's mind became restless. If this were true, the value of the cup would increase significantly!
Actions speak louder than words. Yu Lie looked at the two spirit stones in his hand and immediately took out a knife, ready to experiment. Even if he wasted some, he could afford it.
For the transformation called "Copper Muscle Iron Bone," only one spirit stone was needed.
Perhaps because the Poison Sect leader's family was truly wealthy, the spirit stones he received were larger than the ones distributed in the town, enough for Yu Lie to experiment with.
Even if Yu Lie failed in his first attempt, he would need to rest for several months before trying again. By then, he estimated that he wouldn't have to wait long before he could obtain his second miscellaneous spirit stone in Heishui Town.
Suppressing his distractions, in the stone house, Yu Lie carefully and boldly began the work of refining the spirit stones.
His mood was suddenly filled with anticipation!