Su Ping, striking later but arriving first, appeared behind the black mist.
As the surrounding air inevitably fluctuated, the black mist abruptly halted outside the window, seemingly sensing something, its blurry face attempting to turn around.
But!
Su Ping had thoroughly studied the Profound Truths of practical combat from Grandmaster Martial Artists.
No nonsense, no wasted time.
Upon catching up to the black mist, he threw out six Thunder Fire Pearls with both hands!
The face under the black mist had only turned halfway…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Thunder Fire Pearls had already exploded on it!
As if fearing the power of the Thunder Fire Pearls would be weakened by the black mist, preventing a one-hit kill, Su Ping had already drawn his Red Flame Wooden Sword as he threw them, unleashing a full-power strike amplified by his Cultivation Qi Training Fourth Stage!
A sword light descended from the sky, cutting through half the night sky, astonishing the patrolling teams nearby and the City Lord who was in a tall building, unable to sleep, drinking with his wife.
The City Lord's eyes widened as he watched the lingering image of the sharp sword light, his trembling hand setting down the wine bottle:
"Are the Immortal Sect's Cultivation Qi Training Third Stage Immortal Masters already that strong? That sword strike, in the past, would have required at least Cultivation Qi Training Middle Stage to unleash!"
"Or rather, has Inspector, he had a Breakthrough in Jinque City instead?"
In the backyard, outside the wing room.
Su Ping, with the help of the Spirit Rat's perception, confirmed that the black mist had lost its aura before slowly landing.
Then, without approaching, he first prompted Ling Rat Xiao Hui to leap forward and investigate.
Under the explosion's smoke and dust, the black mist had dispersed, revealing a badly damaged corpse of a small old man, barely recognizable as human.
Su Ping let out a long sigh of relief; the power of the Thunder Fire Pearl seemed to be something these low-level Cultivators couldn't withstand!
Yet, he felt a faint sense of surprise.
As the black mist dispersed, Ling Rat Xiao Hui, upon approaching, discovered that within the damaged small old man's body, something seemed to be hidden.
At the same time, what was placed on his chest, could it be a Storage Pouch?
Thinking of this, and after confirming again that the fellow was thoroughly dead, Su Ping reached out and grabbed the corpse, then looked at the crowd who had opened their doors and rushed out due to the loud noise, saying:
"A mere evil Cultivator attempted to cause trouble, and I happened to kill him along the way."
"I will check to see if there are any abnormalities with the opponent. All of you go back to sleep, and remember not to go out!"
Leveraging the prestige of having killed an evil Cultivator and the recent loud noise, Su Ping's words gained several points of persuasiveness, causing those who were watching the excitement to quickly hide back in their wing rooms.
Immediately, Su Ping ignored the arriving City Lord's Mansion guards, carrying the corpse back to the quiet room.
Inside the quiet room.
Su Ping first meditated to fully recover the magical power consumed by that sword strike.
Then, he looked at the corpse.
This was his first time as a Cultivator to search a corpse.
There was no other way; Su Ping's cultivation in the previous twenty years was simply too low; as a Cultivation Qi Training Early Stage, he didn't have the confidence to accept combat missions at the Merit and Demerit Hall.
He first pulled out the Storage Pouch—hmm… it was the exact same model as his own.
That saved him the trouble of any cracking process.
This kind of Storage Pouch was like a wallet; anyone who got their hands on it could open it.
"Only two Spirit Stones? Poorer than me!"
"Hmm? Immortal Cultivation Essential Books: Qi Training Volume?"
Su Ping took out a wooden box, looking at the cover of the box with a startled expression.
This was one of the best-selling books in the Immortal Sect Market's Hundred Arts Workshop.
It was just a bit expensive, and Su Ping hadn't been willing to buy it.
Moreover, learning only by reading books rather than Jade Slips was less efficient and more difficult, requiring a higher talent threshold.
Opening the wooden box, Su Ping saw the scrolls inside:
"Common Questions and Answers from Cultivation Qi Training Early Stage to Late Stage"
"Abundant Living Through Self-Sufficiency: Talisman Volume"
"How to Identify Common Spirit Medicine and Spirit Objects"
"Abundant Living Through Self-Sufficiency: Artifact Forging Volume"
Su Ping looked at these four books, and after a slight pause, he suddenly re-examined the corpse.
"This corpse's identity is problematic!"
"An evil Cultivator among Loose Cultivators couldn't possibly be so wealthy!"
Although Su Ping's words were harsh, they were the reality of this region.
Those with good Spiritual Roots generally went to the Immortal Sect, and any stragglers would be picked up by various Cultivation Families.
Those who could only be Loose Cultivators each had their own flaws and hardships.
With cultivation levels only at Cultivation Qi Training First or Second Stage, they were still being exploited to their limits.
Even if they became evil Cultivators, they couldn't earn enough Spirit Stones to buy these books!
"So, the truth has come out!"
"This person, most likely, is also an Outer Sect Disciple like me!"
"I just don't know what they encountered to become like this, even attempting to ambush those qualified Disciples!"
Su Ping's eyes involuntarily looked at the person's wrist.
Well, this person no longer had the forearms, so he couldn't see the Immortal Sect mark.
Su Ping continued to search, finding a Jade Slip hidden deep within the person.
This Jade Slip was entwined with a wisp of black Qi that could only be detected with Spirit Rat vision.
This made Su Ping vigilant, and without hesitation, he put it back into the newly acquired Storage Pouch.
For the time being, Su Ping would not consider this Jade Slip.
Then Su Ping sighed, making a Daoist salute towards the corpse with both hands:
"I don't know who you are, or why you became like this."
"Considering we might have been fellow Disciples, I will recite a Rebirth Mantra for you!"
As Su Ping chanted softly, Ling Rat Xiao Hui, following Su Ping's instructions, took out a bottle of Ming Huo, opened it, and poured the liquid onto the corpse.
Then, with a puff, it ignited!
The high-temperature flames, capable of melting steel, instantly turned the corpse into charcoal, finally reducing it to a small pile of non-combustible material.
"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, Fellow Daoist, now you don't have to worry about your body being used for evil deeds."
"And no one will know that Fellow Daoist was once an evil Cultivator."
"This can be considered a favor for receiving Fellow Daoist's books; if you know about it in the afterlife, there's no need to specially come and thank me."
Su Ping was quite satisfied with the gains from this action. After sending off the unknown Fellow Daoist, he opened the books and began to read.
Unlike reading miscellaneous books and Mortal martial arts, books involving Cultivator knowledge required reading and understanding each character one by one.
Because the characters on the scrolls were not Mortal script, but a type of magical script.
Each character, when slowly viewed, would form a vivid series of pictures in the observer's mind.
It was just that prolonged viewing would deplete one's essence, Qi, and spirit; normal Cultivation Qi Training Early Stage Cultivators couldn't read for long before needing to rest and adjust their state.
This was also one reason why it was inferior to Jade Slips.
Su Ping, however, chose to directly use external help!
life spirit medicine in his left hand, magical power Spirit Medicine in his right.
Exhaustion of essence, Qi, and spirit preventing further reading?
That didn't exist; with Su Ping's current Cultivation Qi Training Fourth Stage cultivation, even if completely drained, he only needed one milliliter to revive to full state!
And he could utilize the duration of the effect to read at full efficiency!
"My reading efficiency can be ten times that of others."
"But this talent…"
"There's always a feeling that my brain understands, but my hands protest, saying I don't understand."
"However, the content of the Qi Training volume is still within the realm of comprehension. In that case, if I read it a few more times and try more in the future, perhaps I can also learn a few skills to achieve abundant living and self-sufficiency!"