Chapter Ninety-Seven: Departure

Under He Song’s verbal threat and the killing intent in his eyes, the lecherous bandit, who had still been pretending to be a maid, felt his heart turn cold in an instant and understood that He Song had seen through him.

Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not fathom why a mere lecherous bandit like himself would be targeted by an Immortal Master.

Could it be that the Immortal Master wanted to learn his craft?

His mind in turmoil, he did not dare defy He Song.

“Yes, yes, I can speak properly. Immortal Master, please calm your anger, please calm your anger.”

As his voice returned to a man’s, his body also changed, and after a series of crisp clicks as bones shifted out of place, the petite maid transformed swiftly into a burly man.

Though he had no beard, He Song could not possibly connect the hulking figure before him with the delicate maid from moments before.

The difference in build was far too great. If not for the fact that a man turning into a woman made certain things difficult to conceal, He Song might not have seen through him at all.

Seeing this, a trace of interest flashed in He Song’s eyes.

The martial art this lecherous bandit had learned seemed to have genuine merit, not some common and worthless trick.

“Recite the martial art you learned for altering your body and appearance.”

Seeing that the other man was so obedient, He Song casually waved his hand, and a thin sheet of paper appeared before him.

At the same time, spiritual power surged between his fingers as he prepared to leave writing upon it.

Although he had already searched the bandit’s body and found the manual for the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art, He Song still needed to verify that what he had obtained was genuine.

Soon, under He Song’s interrogation, the lecherous bandit recited the entire text of the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art.

He Song jotted it down at will, compared it with the manual, and, confirming that nothing was missing or wrong, cut off one of the man’s hands.

Ignoring the renewed screams that burst from the bandit’s mouth, He Song ordered him to recite it again.

Thus, after three recitations, the lecherous bandit had been reduced to a mere stump.

He Song then asked where the cave was in which he had obtained the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art and the Thick Earth Art.

After getting the location, He Song nodded and burned him to ash with a fire spell.

He then gathered the ashes into his storage bag, cleared away all traces of the scene, and turned to leave.

This man was a lecherous bandit.

To He Song’s mind, once his identity had been exposed, death was unavoidable.

And not only that, but he could not be allowed to die too easily.

In this mortal world, which was much like the ancient age, a lecherous bandit could bring countless households to ruin.

Against such a man, He Song could kill without the slightest burden on his conscience.

Moreover, now that he had obtained the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art from the man, He Song needed to keep it secret.

What kind of person could keep a secret forever?

The answer was as simple as ever.

Only the dead could keep secrets forever.

After acquiring the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art, He Song did not go searching for the chance encounter at the place the bandit had mentioned. Instead, he hurried all the way back to the Immortal Market without stopping.

Do not be deceived by the fact that in Salt City, He Song regarded mortal martial artists as little more than weeds and had slain two evildoers in a single day.

As a cultivator, He Song knew very well exactly how much strength he possessed.

Against ordinary martial artists, he naturally had no pressure at all.

But if he ran into an evil cultivator, with cultivation as modest as his, he would likely have no choice but to pray that the other party had never learned the Earth-Shaking Art, while using Earth-Escaping Art to flee for his life.

Therefore, once he had achieved his goal, leaving the mortal world at once and returning to the safety of the Immortal Market was the top priority.

Several days later, He Song stood in his quiet chamber, operating the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art and using its secret method to control the muscles and bones throughout his body.

Very quickly, He Song’s originally handsome features underwent a tremendous change.

At the same time, his height shrank by more than half a head.

Aside from the fact that his spiritual aura remained at the sixth level of Qi Refinement, He Song had, at this moment, been transformed into an entirely different person.

When he came before a bronze mirror and looked up, a simple, honest-looking youth appeared in the reflection.

He was not tall, but his frame was solid and tightly knit; paired with his earnest face, it made him seem at a glance like someone inexperienced in the world.

Then He Song once more activated the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art, using its secret method to manipulate the muscles and bones of his entire body.

Instantly, his honest face changed again.

Before long, a handsome young gentleman appeared in the bronze mirror.

Though he lacked a suit of white robes and a white folding fan, his appearance alone was already enough to make one’s eyes light up.

“Not bad, not bad. With this secret art, and if I add the Breath-Concealing Art as well, even someone who knows me well will be unable to recognize me.”

After changing his appearance several more times in front of the bronze mirror, He Song restored his original handsome looks. With a trace of self-satisfaction in his eyes, he thought to himself with quiet delight.

Now he was already a well-known talisman master.

If a large amount of spirit stones suddenly appeared in his hands, it would no longer arouse suspicion.

Moreover, as a talisman master with formidable combat power, he would naturally not invite unnecessary covetousness.

Thus, now that he had also learned a secret art capable of altering his body and appearance, changing his looks before selling spirit rice had become He Song’s top priority.

Although he had already raised the success rate of his low-grade Thick Earth Talismans to over fifty percent, the spirit stones on him were no longer so desperately tight.

But who would ever complain about having too many spirit stones?

Last year, after collecting his annual stipend and using more than a hundred spirit stones from it to buy a great deal of talisman-making materials, He Song’s success rate in making low-grade Thick Earth Talismans had already risen above fifty percent.

As for low-grade Golden Light Talismans and low-grade Swift Step Talismans, however, their success rates were still not high.

To rapidly raise the success rates of the low-grade Golden Light Talismans and low-grade Swift Step Talismans to above fifty percent, a great many spirit stones would be needed.

Ordinary talisman masters generally earned spirit stones by relying on one type of talisman whose success rate was already sufficiently high, and then used those spirit stones to continually improve the success rates of their other two talismans.

In this way, they could also quickly improve their talisman-making skills.

And through that, they would become true talisman masters.

A true talisman master required a success rate of over fifty percent for all three low-grade talismans.

As for He Song, now that he had grown enough spirit rice to sell at any time without fear of exposing anything, the best solution was naturally to sell the spirit rice quickly for a large amount of spirit stones, then use those spirit stones to strengthen his means and improve his talisman-making success rate.

By acting this way, he would be able to gain tremendous improvement in a very short time.

Having made up his mind, he immediately put it into action.

He Song activated the Muscle-Refining and Bone-Molding Art, using the secret method to control the muscles and bones throughout his body.

Very quickly, a clean-cut youth slightly taller than He Song, with a calm and indifferent face, appeared in the bronze mirror before him.

After observing himself from left to right, and then using his spiritual eye technique to inspect once more, finding no flaw at all, He Song finally nodded in satisfaction.