Chapter 54: Searching for Him a Thousand Times Over, Kill!

In the blink of an eye, it was the first day of the eighth month!

Immortal Master Wang imparted his cultivation once again, delivering a long-winded lecture that Luo Zhou listened to intently.

Luo Zhou planned to consolidate his progress for another two months, aiming to advance to the ninth level of Body Tempering by the first day of the tenth month.

According to the Omniscience, after a period of time, he would recover some of his dissipated True Qi.

Luo Zhou hadn't cared much before, but this great battle had changed him; he needed to have some real trump cards up his sleeve.

At the very least, two strands of Weak Water Qi to execute "Three Thousand Weak Waters," and two strands of Tide Qi to execute "Turning Rivers and Seas" would suffice.

His gains these past few days had been minimal.

For some unknown reason, Zuo Sanguang's mental state had not recovered, making it impossible for him to engage in his "Heroic Games."

Luo Zhou looked at his students and felt his mouth watering; there was nothing he could do about it.

He had searched the Flower, Bird, Fish, and Insect Market for a long time but still hadn't found the Protector of the Jellyfish Holy Son.

He had to find him first. The opponent was too strong; he would avoid him for now and slowly devise a plan. If he were to get injured, he would take advantage of the man's illness to take his life!

However, Luo Zhou had already thought of a method over the past few days.

Once Immortal Master Wang finished imparting the cultivation, Luo Zhou left the Dao Academy and headed toward the Flower, Bird, Fish, and Insect Market.

This place had already become his base of operations.

Upon arriving, many people greeted him.

"Young Master Luo, you're here!"

"Hey, Brother Zhou!"

Luo Zhou responded to everyone individually, smiling broadly.

He had been coming here frequently lately, spending money generously.

Having earned the nickname "Skull-Crusher" during the Sea Beast Calamity, how could he not be famous?

"Young Master Luo, I have a Green Silkworm I just found up on the mountain. Could you take a look for me?"

"The mountain" referred to Great Xuan Mountain. They were all mountain foragers who went up to collect various spiritual items and venomous insects.

Asking him to "take a look" was a tactic; if it truly was a high-quality insect parasite, they intended to sell it directly to Luo Zhou.

Luo Zhou possessed the talent of the Insect Emperor, making him a veritable expert in insect parasites, and he had gradually built a reputation here.

Looking at the newly found Green Silkworm, Luo Zhou sensed it silently.

Shaking his head, he said, "No divine soul, no prominent bloodline, and its consciousness is unclear. It's trash—just a mutated silkworm. Feed it to the birds!"

The man wailed in grief, but he trusted Luo Zhou's judgment.

Luo Zhou cast a casual glance at Zhuo Dan, who was nearby.

Zhuo Dan was the servant tasked with looking after his spiritual pets. He came from Great Xuan Mountain and was a local mountain native.

His parents had given him the official name Li Zhuoshan, but everyone preferred to call him by his local mountain name, Zhuo Dan.

Zhuo Dan nodded slightly, having everything arranged.

With a wave of Luo Zhou's hand, it began!

He had been searching for the Jellyfish Protector in this market for nearly half a month without success.

Although Luo Zhou had categorized and repeatedly analyzed everyone in the market using his abilities, he couldn't pinpoint exactly who it was.

He couldn't exactly follow Zhang Youzhi's example and just kill everyone, could he?

Then he would try a different approach.

Protectors loathed conflict and irritation; so, he would create irritation for him.

If the man had a mental resonance, he could use it to find his whereabouts, lock onto him, and kill him!

Zhuo Dan moved quietly.

A youth named Li Qiu had set up a small stall for minor gambling, such as playing Pai Gow.

Zhuo Dan and several friends gathered around the stall to play.

For some reason, they suddenly erupted into an argument.

Though they were originally good friends, they began hurling insults at each other over a few copper coins, even coming close to a physical brawl.

For a moment, the surrounding area became a chaotic clamor.

Luo Zhou sat to the side, sensing silently.

After fifteen minutes of commotion, there was still no mental voice.

When the time was up, the arranged market administrators appeared and began shouting at them.

Immediately, the youths settled down and stopped arguing.

Indeed, these people were all arranged by Luo Zhou.

He had only instructed Zhuo Dan; the details were handled by the boy.

As long as he was paid, this kid didn't ask questions and worked efficiently; he was quite talented.

It was a pity he lacked innate spirituality and was a mountain native; his qualification review had failed, preventing him from entering the Dao Academy to cultivate. Otherwise, he would surely have awakened post-natal spirituality.

In truth, Zuo Sanguang was also a mountain native, but the Zuo family had moved into the city hundreds of years ago and were now a prominent household. With their wealth, entering the Dao Academy was easy.

The youths stopped arguing, and everything returned to calm.

As if fearing the administrators, Li Qiu moved his gambling table to a different location.

Being young, they held no grudges; the boys soon began playing together again.

Watching them, Luo Zhou smiled. In Yue Cangqing's writings, it was recorded that Cuiling City was divided into four types of people.

The first were the Great Xuan Mountain natives: wild, instinctive, and brave in their struggles, but somewhat dull.

The second were the islanders from the Fuyu Sea Kingdom: cunning, cruel, and untrustworthy. Once subdued, they were exceptionally obedient, but given the chance, they loved to betray and overthrow their superiors.

The third were the migrants from Ningze County: the main ethnic group of Cuiling City, hardworking, honest, kind, and patient, though easily bullied.

The fourth were the people from the Eastern Mountains across the sea, coming from Qingyu County: bold, straightforward, loyal, and great lovers of alcohol.

Zhuo Dan was a Great Xuan native, and Li Qiu was an islander from the Fuyu Sea Kingdom.

Looking at the description of the four types of people, the true meaning was that there were no true "locals" left in Cuiling City.

The original natives had all perished during the Great Collapse.

As for why the "Great Collapse" was never spoken of openly—was it hidden through euphemism?

Most likely, it was caused by the great war between the Heaven and Earth Dao Sects!

After reading Yue Cangqing's book, Luo Zhou felt immense admiration for the True Person of Cuiling.

The book was handwritten by Yue Cangqing when she was only in her teens, yet she had investigated every inch of the hundreds of miles surrounding Cuiling City.

With heaven, earth, and man in alignment, she had completely mapped out the terrain!

Luo Zhou resolved to emulate her spirit.

Over there, another argument broke out.

The Flower, Bird, Fish, and Insect Market was not large; after four such arguments, the commotion covered the entire market.

It didn't take long, however. In less than a hundred breaths, Luo Zhou heard a familiar mental voice.

"Sigh, what are they shouting about? These little brats trying to act like adults playing cards... it's just a few copper coins. A bunch of ants, so annoying!"

The mental voice was somewhat raspy.

His death curse was somewhat effective; hearing that voice, he knew the opponent was injured and had not yet fully recovered.

Luo Zhou let out a long breath and quickly sensed.

Under the operation of Omniscience, he spoke

"Luo Zhou, target locked: Granny Wang!"

He never would have expected it to be Granny Wang.

Granny Wang was an elderly woman with white hair and a face full of wrinkles, well into her seventies. Her children had all died during the previous Sea Beast Calamity.

She had been selling goldfish in the market for countless years.

She was exceptionally charitable; whenever she saw a child, she would say they reminded her of her own children and would give them one or two small goldfish. How could it be her?

But the Omniscience lock confirmed it—it was her!

After searching through the crowds a thousand times, it turned out to be her!

As for her children dying in the sea beasts—perhaps her children were the great sea beasts themselves!

Omniscience sensed silently and gave Luo Zhou a judgment: the target was not strong, at the Qi Refining stage, and her blood and qi were injured.

In a sect that had been wiped out for seventy thousand years, what great cultivators could possibly remain?

His death curse would still have an effect on her. He could kill her!

Luo Zhou rose abruptly and charged straight over.

He arrived behind the youths and slapped each of them.

"Shut up, you little rascals! What are you shouting about? Instead of learning good things, you're learning to gamble. Believe it or not, I'll break your legs!"

The stall-keeper, Li Qiu, was still defiant, eyeing Luo Zhou sideways.

Luo Zhou pressed down on his head, pinning him to the ground instantly.

Li Qiu let out a cry and actually pulled a sharp dagger from his robes.

Luo Zhou snatched it away and squeezed it in his palm, crushing the dagger into a ball of iron.

Li Qiu was instantly too terrified to move.

He shouted, "Big brother, I surrender! I surrender! We won't play anymore!"

Luo Zhou nodded and said, "Remember this: if you dare to gamble or cause such a ruckus again, I will hit you every time I see you!"

"Big brother, we were wrong!"

Luo Zhou nodded and turned to leave, without even glancing at Granny Wang.

She was already locked on; he would kill her sooner or later!

But in the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to use her to practice a bit of rewarding good and punishing evil!