In this world, gold was valuable while silver was cheap. One tael of gold could be exchanged for a hundred taels of silver.

A Black Crystal from a Stone Skin Realm beast was worth five hundred taels of silver, so Jiang Che ultimately received two hundred thirty taels of gold in exchange.

The gold came in the form of small bars.

Each bar weighed ten taels, and there were twenty-three of them in total.

Holding the gold, Jiang Che couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of security.

In the days that followed, Jiang Che practiced the Eight Sufferings Vajra Zen while also coming to the Seven Stars Gang to test medicines.

Zhang Jinghuai had him test everything imaginable, both the drugs he was supposed to and those he wasn’t.

He even had him test a whole range of poisons.

Jiang Che’s career as a human guinea pig was supposed to be over.

But Zhang Jinghuai suddenly came up with a new plan.

"Poison Technique?"

Jiang Che asked with a frown.

"That’s right. I recently got my hands on a fragmented manual. It records how someone in ancient times integrated poisons into their Qi Blood, eventually mastering a Poison Technique. Once mastered, every punch and kick carries a deadly poison, making it incredibly powerful! So, kid, want to learn it?" Zhang Jinghuai asked, his face full of anticipation.

"I’m not learning it. What if I’m sparring and accidentally poison someone to death?" Jiang Che rolled his eyes.

"Hey, don’t worry! According to the manual, the poison is controlled by your thoughts. You won’t have to worry about the toxins leaking out by accident!" Zhang Jinghuai explained.

"So what’s in it for me?" Jiang Che asked.

"You’ll be stronger. Isn’t that benefit enough?" Zhang Jinghuai said with a blink.

"Old man, don’t think I can’t see what you’re up to! You’re not even sure if this Cultivation Technique can be mastered, but you’re too scared to try it yourself, so you want me to be your test subject, right? I’m not doing it!" Jiang Che rolled his eyes.

"You brat, what’s there to be afraid of? You have an Innate Iron Body—are you scared of getting hurt? Besides, even if you screw it up, you think I can’t patch you up?" Zhang Jinghuai said, growing anxious.

"My reward." Jiang Che held out his hand.

"You little brat... Fine! What do you want? Name it!" Zhang Jinghuai said with resignation.

"You’re the one who said it, old man! I haven’t decided what I want yet, though. I’ll let you know when I think of something!" Jiang Che said with a laugh.

"Fine, but only on the condition that it’s something I have or can get my hands on. I can’t help you if it’s too difficult!" Zhang Jinghuai added.

"Don’t worry! It’ll definitely be something you can get," Jiang Che said, patting Zhang Jinghuai’s shoulder reassuringly.

Progress on the Poison Technique did not go smoothly.

The fragmented manual was missing a page—the one covering the specifics of the poisons.

Based on his experience, Zhang Jinghuai concocted a variety of different formulas.

But not a single one was successful.

’Strange... which poison am I supposed to add?’ Zhang Jinghuai stared at the fragmented manual, lost in thought.

"You take your time thinking, old man. I’m heading out!" Jiang Che called out before leaving.

Jiang Che went to a teahouse.

He ordered a pot of Biluochun tea and listened to the conversations around him.

The topics of conversation were all over the place, and while nothing was particularly important, Jiang Che listened with great interest.

Suddenly, a group at one table started talking about Moon Viewing Mountain.

Jiang Che began to eavesdrop intently.

"...Missing? You don’t think they ran into that Force Integration Level Black Beast, do you?"

"Who knows? But that Hunting Team was full of veterans. They wouldn’t have been so reckless."

"I heard... they ran afoul of the Mountain God!"

"The Mountain God? Are you serious?!"

"Sigh, who can say for sure what happens on that mountain? Otherwise, how could an entire Hunting Team just vanish without a trace? Not a single sign of them has been found!"

"So, have any of our people from the Hunting Hall been to Moon Viewing Mountain recently?"

"Nah, they seem to have enough Black Crystals for now. They’ve been going to Coiling Dragon Mountain to gather Snake Eggs instead."

...

After listening for a while, Jiang Che realized they were talking about a Hunting Team from another Gang that had gone hunting on Moon Viewing Mountain, only for the entire group to disappear.

Although they mentioned a Mountain God.

But Jiang Che thought that was unlikely.

He had, after all, encountered the Master of the Black Abyss and knew that some supernatural things did exist in this world.

But he still felt deep down that the world couldn’t be filled with that much superstition and folklore.

He suspected the group had either run into a fearsome Black Beast or had fallen victim to extreme weather, poisonous miasma, or venomous insects.

Still, it served as a reminder for Jiang Che to be even more cautious the next time he went to Moon Viewing Mountain.

Of course, he wasn’t going to give up hunting just because of one rumor.

For one, he was already very familiar with the terrain of Moon Viewing Mountain. Even if he ran into danger, he could escape in time.

For another, his own strength was nothing to scoff at. Not only was his Qinggong decent, but he also had his Iron Body skills, his Transformation, and other aces up his sleeve.

Even if he encountered danger, he should be able to hold his own.

On top of all that, he had his life-saving Divine Technique: Omen.

If he was scared even with all that, he might as well just lock himself at home and never go out.

After listening a while longer and hearing no other valuable information, Jiang Che left.

Back home, Jiang Che began to practice the Eight Sufferings Vajra Zen.

After completing the eight extremely bizarre movements, Jiang Che stopped.

[Eight Sufferings Vajra Zen: Minor Achievement (1/200)]

’I’ve finally reached Minor Achievement...’

Jiang Che took a moment to feel the changes in his body, discovering that this Iron Body skill was quite different from others.

Other techniques focused on strengthening the skin and muscles to resist blows.

This one, however, made his body more pliable.

He found that some of his joints could be bent to extremely unnatural angles without injury.

Of course, this didn’t mean his joints were loose or unstable; they remained exceptionally firm and solid.

Furthermore, he felt that his internal organs also seemed to have grown stronger.

It was worth noting that other Iron Body skills rarely strengthened one’s internal organs.

This discovery made Jiang Che realize just how valuable it was.