"You two cunning foxes, tricked me into coming here to work like a horse, but I, being the bigger person, won’t hold grudges against you..."

Just at that moment, footsteps could be heard from within the hall.

Hot on their heels, Tie Chuming’s voice rang out:

"Father!!"

Tie Lingyun shot up and saw Tie Chuming throwing herself into his embrace like a homing swallow returning to the forest.

"My good daughter, have you suffered?"

Tie Lingyun carefully held his daughter, patted her shoulder, and let her go, examining her closely:

"Did that damn ghost Wen Fusheng mistreat you?"

He noticed that Tie Chuming was injured, but remembering that Chu Qing had said earlier that she was almost killed by Hua Meiren, the injuries seemed to be in line.

"Well... I wasn’t really mistreated."

Tie Chuming spoke truthfully, though Si Ye did attempt to silence her in the Celestial Secret Net Array,

after all, it was Chu Qing who stopped him.

Since then, she had been treated pretty well... even during last night’s chaos, she was well-protected.

Now, seeing her father, even though she felt a bit wronged inside, she knew this was still Luochun Manor and it wouldn’t be appropriate to complain in front of Wen Fusheng.

Tie Lingyun nodded at this:

"Good, good, as long as you weren’t wronged."

After saying this, he looked at Wen Fusheng:

"The matters you talked about, I will keep them in mind.

"Today, since Luochun Manor has a lot of matters, I won’t stay here to be a bother; I will take my daughter and leave..."

After these words, he turned to Chu Qing:

"If you ever have the time, come visit our Iron Blood Hall."

"Sure, if the time permits, I will certainly trouble you with a visit."

Chu Qing clasped his fists in return.

"Great!"

Tie Lingyun laughed heartily, and with a flick of his sleeve:

"Let’s go!!"

Chu Qing and Wen Fusheng escorted them to the gate, watching as they rode away on horseback, and only then did the two exchange a glance.

At this point, there was only one loose end left in this matter.

Without saying a word, they went directly to find Sang Qing.

Si Ye had been guarding there all along, not leaving a single step.

Chu Qing and Wen Fusheng went into the house for not much longer than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and soon the two came out.

But both of their expressions were not pleasant.

Chu Qing said with a dark face:

"You didn’t tell me your Soul-Piercing Finger could kill someone."

"...The Soul-Piercing Finger can cause such pain, how could it cause no harm? Where would you find a technique that only makes someone suffer alive?"

Wen Fusheng pursed his lips.

The two had just gone in to interrogate Sang Qing, mainly asking about Prince Mu and the Celestial Evil Cult.

However, Sang Qing had limited knowledge about Prince Mu and wouldn’t say a word about the Celestial Evil Cult.

In a fit of rage, Wen Fusheng used the Soul-Piercing Finger on him again.

As a result, Sang Qing, already heavily injured, had barely recovered from the first Soul-Piercing Finger, and now another one left him bleeding from his orifices and dead.

Thus, even though Chu Qing’s task of the killing order was completed,

very little was obtained from Sang Qing’s mouth.

After Sang Qing’s death, Chu Qing had yet another available treasure box, which was a Hidden Weapon Treasure Chest.

This left Chu Qing quite disappointed.

Originally, he thought this killing order would allow him to gain some Inner Power.

But... there were five treasure boxes in total, and none contained Inner Power.

But now, talking about anything else is useless.

Chu Qing simply bid farewell to Wen Fusheng, intending to go back to open the boxes first.

Wen Fusheng nodded, letting Chu Qing leave first; he had something to say to Si Ye...

Chu Qing didn’t bother with what the two had to say, returned to his yard, sat on the bed, and opened the system interface.

[Mission: Killing Order!]

[Current Progress: Three.]

[Reward One: Choose one from the available Martial Arts Treasure Chest.]

[Reward Two: One chance to upgrade a treasure box.]

[Available Treasure Box: Sound Skill Treasure Chest, Exotic Studies Treasure Chest, Hand Technique Treasure Chest, Protective Treasure Chest, Hidden Weapon Treasure Chest.]

Looking at these five options, Chu Qing first eliminated the Hidden Weapon Treasure Chest and Hand Technique Treasure Chest.

He had already obtained the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms for the hand technique, and as for the hidden weapon... although the Little Li Flying Saber had reached the level of a Bright Artifact, it was essentially still the Flying Knife Art.

With these two skills, it is more than enough for now.

Among the remaining three, however, Chu Qing was a bit troubled.

"The Protective Treasure Chest should be able to yield a Protective Divine Skill...

"Protecting oneself is indeed necessary.

"But what kind of Exotic Studies can the Exotic Studies Treasure Chest produce? What strange secret technique could it reveal?

"This chest probably came from Shi Ye... appears that the Killing Order intentionally offered specific treasure boxes.

"His Netherworld Rebirth Technique could indeed be considered a strange martial art."

While balancing his thoughts, Chu Qing looked towards the Sound Skill Treasure Chest.

"Sound Skills... Sound Killing Technique!

"This chest probably came from the first Prince Mu obtained.

"It’s just that he died too quickly, and whatever ability he had wasn’t known before I beheaded him in one go."

Looking at this sound skill, Chu Qing couldn’t help but think of Cao Qiupu’s Seven Rhymes Celestial Sound Sword Technique.

The combination of sword technique and melody, where sword and sound resonate together, truly is an exceptionally brilliant approach.

But regrettably, until now, Chu Qing had never seen Cao Qiupu exert his full strength.

Amid these three chests, after much hesitation, Chu Qing eventually gave up on the Exotic Studies Treasure Chest.

He really couldn’t imagine what might come from it... even if it did turn out to be some bizarre technique, it might not offer much enhancement to his current self.

Rather than risk choosing it, it’s better to pick between the Protective Treasure Chest and the Sound Skill Treasure Chest.

The reason he didn’t discard the Sound Skill Treasure Chest was because sound skills might include Inner Power.

If it was something like Lion’s Roar, it would only be a method of exerting force.

But if fortune smiled... and yielded something like the Celestial Dragon Eight Sounds, then it certainly would come with complementary Inner Power.

In such a case, it would undoubtedly bring exceptional enhancement to oneself.

As for the Protective Treasure Chest, the benefits it could bring were equally obvious.

The logic is similar to that with the Sound Skill Treasure Chest; any profound Protective Divine Skill tends to integrate both internal and external cultivation.

"What should I choose?"

Chu Qing found himself wavering between the two options.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally stood up with a sigh, wrote two balloted papers, placed them in a cup, and shook it... but after two shakes, he gave up.

His Inner Power was so profound he could hear every movement of the papers.

It looked like sheer luck, but it was no different from a prepared exam.

"Forget it, for now, I don’t lack offensive martial arts, but I am missing a Protective Divine Skill.

"Since there’s this opportunity now, I’ll choose... the Protective Treasure Chest."

Chu Qing washed his hands in the water basin and, having made up his mind, sat back down on the bed.

He chose the Protective Treasure Chest with firm resolve.

[You have one chance to upgrade a treasure box, would you like to use it?]

"Use it!"

No need to sleep on it?

Without any hesitation, Chu Qing made his choice.

[Use successful!]

[An unopened Protective Treasure Chest is available, would you like to open it?]

"Is that all?"

Chu Qing was slightly stunned: "Where’s the upgrade effect?"

He scrutinized the lines closely but found no indication of how the upgraded treasure box differed.

He felt that his knockoff system probably played another trick on him.

However, at this point, whether it was a trick no longer mattered; having made a choice, he went ahead and opened it.

[Open successful, obtained Protective Divine Skill: Undying Golden Body!]

Chu Qing’s heart fluttered slightly; for a moment, he thought of a martial art that encases one in Protective Gang Qi.

However, he remembered this martial art had a vulnerable spot under the armpit.

As this thought crossed his mind, a stream of Inner Power Heart Techniques rushed into his mind.

Immediately, he sat cross-legged, feeling a surge of powerful energy well up from his Dantian, merging with the Inner Breath of the Mingyu Scripture in the blink of an eye.

Chu Qing furrowed his brows slightly, as these two strands of True Qi were indeed from different paths, and though now merging, they were still incompatible in many ways.

The Undying Golden Body also comes with its own Inner Power technique.

Chu Qing was fortunate enough to experience once again that painful yet exhilarating sensation of acquiring Inner Power.

First, he comprehended the entire Inner Power Heart Technique, attempting to fuse it with the Mingyu Scripture.

Then he suddenly paused...

"Wait... where is the vulnerable spot?"