In the residence in Wanhua City.
Lin Sheng pinched his brows, alleviating the mental fatigue caused by activating his Heart Monkey Talent.
Although consuming a large number of Star Insects had reduced this mental fatigue, it was only a reduction.
Especially the appearance of the Phantom Demon Beast cast a shadow over his heart.
"Such a lingering presence..."
He softly muttered to himself.
Recalling the monster in the black mist he had seen on the low mountain outside the city just now.
If he hadn't activated the vertical pupil between his brows, he wouldn't have detected the Phantom Demon Beast's approach at all.
Clearly, activating the vertical pupil between his brows could significantly enhance his perception.
"No, using 'perception' isn't quite accurate. To be precise, it should be the perception of malice."
"It's like the danger perception talent of the adult Caiyu Worm, but with the vertical pupil activated, I can clearly perceive the malice directed at me."
"This Phantom Demon Beast's Magic Seed should be the same one from last time. After all, the Phantom Demon Beast was sealed by the Blood Demon Grand Formation, so it's impossible for it to continuously breed Magic Seeds and even pass through the formation's Seal."
Although he didn't understand how this Phantom Demon Beast managed to escape the siege of Linjiang Prefecture, he knew very well that he couldn't just sit and wait for death, because from that previous encounter, he had already sensed deep malice from the Phantom Demon Beast.
However, the Phantom Demon Beast did not choose to approach just now but left directly. Obviously, even after escaping the experts of Linjiang Prefecture, its state was not good, perhaps even weaker than when he saw it with Huang Quan previously.
And compared to before, he had not only broken through in cultivation but had also integrated with a powerful Spirit Beast like the Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey, greatly enhancing his strength.
"So, after sensing this, that Magic Seed clearly knew that in its current state, it couldn't take me down. That's why, after a slight hesitation, it quickly left."
After a series of deductions, Lin Sheng quickly guessed the reason for the Phantom Demon Beast's departure.
His somewhat nervous mood relaxed at this moment. Clearly, although this Magic Seed escaped from the experts of Linjiang Prefecture, it was definitely severely injured and wouldn't recover easily. Moreover, there were many experts in Wanhua City, and it wasn't far from Linjiang Prefecture City. This Phantom Demon Beast wouldn't dare to act recklessly here. Even if it could absorb the flesh and blood of living beings to recover, it would definitely be cautious and restrained.
"Strength, I still need to speed up the improvement of my strength."
Lin Sheng thought to himself, feeling a greater sense of urgency about improving his strength.
Of course, he quickly had someone spread the news that the Phantom Demon Beast Magic Seed was still around. Attracting the attention of Linjiang Prefecture would naturally lead them to search for the Magic Seed's whereabouts again and destroy it.
Of course, there was actually an easier way to resolve this matter.
That was to directly inform Qi Ning through the channels of the Dark Star Organization. With Qi Ning's strength, dealing with this Magic Seed was naturally not difficult.
However, as a high-ranking member of the Dark Star Organization in Linjiang Prefecture, Qi Ning was naturally busy with affairs on a daily basis. It was also impossible for her to follow him all the time, and the Phantom Demon Beast might reappear at any time.
Furthermore, there was another point, which was that this never-ending Magic Seed, Lin Sheng really wanted to personally crush... grind it into pieces.
Suppressing his thoughts, he began to experience the feeling of activating the Heart Monkey Talent this time.
It was already confirmed that the Star Insect's effect was not bad, able to weaken the side effects to a certain extent. This time, he persisted for ten breaths of time and also discovered the vertical pupil's function of detecting malice.
He also roughly realized that the vertical pupil between his brows seemed to have more than just this one ability; there should be other peculiarities, but they still needed to be explored.
"It's just that the consumption of these Star Insects is a bit too high." His gaze fell on the damaged wooden box. The Star Insects that were originally full were now only about half remaining.
It seemed that it was only enough for him to activate it once. Using Star Insects could extend the activation time of the talent and also reduce side effects. If there was enough supply of Star Insects, he could adapt to the Heart Monkey Talent faster.
Thinking of this, he felt a headache. The value of these Star Insects was not low. One tael required nearly a hundred taels of silver. Calculated this way, it was quite a bit more expensive than the value of ordinary Spirit Beast meat.
In the wooden box he got from Tianxiang Restaurant, there were about three jin of Star Insects, with a value of around 3000 taels of silver.
As soon as he thought of this, Lin Sheng felt money flowing like water, truly not easy to spend.
During this time, he spent a lot, and the nearly 20,000 taels of silver he had left now was less than half.
"Also, avian Spirit Beasts. It's hard to say when I'll be able to buy suitable avian exotic beasts through the channels of the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall. It seems I still have to find a way myself..."
Thinking to himself, he quickly fell back into cultivation.
Time passed quickly, and another half a month went by.
In the residence, Lin Sheng's body was flushed with blood, and the blue veins on his skin bulged like winding blue snakes.
His breathing was extremely heavy, each inhale and exhale bringing out streams of almost materialized white mist.
And in front of him was an empty, exquisite porcelain bottle.
After a long while, as another heavy exhale sounded, Lin Sheng opened his eyes. A bloody light flashed in his eyes, and a hint of ferocity appeared on his face, but it quickly disappeared, and his complexion returned to calmness.
"This Ape Embryo Skill is indeed a Demonic Technique, and it does affect one's temperament, especially when cultivating deeply, it easily arouses the tyrannical emotions in one's heart."
"This point is somewhat similar to the integrated Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey. No wonder cultivation progresses so rapidly; they are all of the same kind."
Lin Sheng muttered to himself.
After cultivating for this period, he already felt the edge of a Breakthrough. Now, he was only one opportunity away from breaking through. He was confident that within a month, he would be able to successfully enter the Blood Transportation Realm.
He raised his palm, and a faint blue light appeared on his index and middle fingers.
Then he pointed at the small porcelain bottle in front of him. When it was still about an inch away from the small porcelain bottle, there was a crisp sound, and the small porcelain bottle shattered in response.
"Qingniao Chasing Star Finger has finally reached the second layer."
A smile appeared on his face. His cultivation plan involved handling some miscellaneous matters during the day, such as cultivating exotic beasts or reporting to the Seven Forms Sect.
Then it was the cultivation of Qingniao Chasing Star Finger and Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm, while the evening hours were all used to cultivate Ape Embryo Skill. Due to the strong Physique bonus of exotic beasts and the endurance bonus, he could basically go a week without sleeping with little impact.
"The effect of this Blood Qi Pill is indeed good, no wonder they dare to sell it for eight hundred taels of silver a piece."
The empty small porcelain bottle in front of him contained the Blood Qi Pill he bought from the largest pharmacy in Wanhua City. It was said to have a good promoting effect on breaking through to the Blood Transportation Realm. With the intention of giving it a try, he bought one, and it did have some effect during cultivation.
"It's just a pity that the money is almost spent."
In half a month, besides purchasing pills and various supplies, he also bought a batch of Star Insects, resulting in his savings being basically used up.
"It seems I need to find a way to make money again..."
Shaking his head slightly, Lin Sheng exhaled.
In addition to the progress in cultivation, his Heart Monkey Talent could now last for thirteen breaths when using Star Insects, which was also an improvement.
"But where should I start with making money?"
While thinking, various possibilities flashed through his mind.
The simplest was to accept missions from the Dark Star Organization, where contributions could be exchanged for money.
Besides that, he could also start from the Seven Forms Sect. There were also some tasks and errands within the Seven Forms Sect that Disciples could accept, and they could also be exchanged for money. The difficulty of the missions was much lower compared to the Dark Star Organization, and of course, the rewards were also much lower, but the advantage was safety.
In addition to these two aspects, there was also the option of accepting bounties from the Imperial Court's wanted list, which was the Red and Black Ranks that Huang Quan had mentioned at the time.
Those on the Red Rank were all experts and vicious individuals with fierce reputations throughout the entire Northern Yan Kingdom.
The lowest cultivation level on it was a great expert who had entered the Bone Transformation Realm, and there were also quite a few in the Divine Form Realm. The Imperial Court offered extremely generous rewards for these vicious criminals on the Red Rank. Not to mention killing a Red Rank vicious criminal, as long as one could provide the location information of a Red Rank vicious criminal, they could receive a large bounty after verification.
As for the Black Rank, it was much lower, basically issued by the Fu City government.
However, those who made it onto the Black Rank were generally not weak in strength and were not comparable to ordinary Martial Artists of the same level.
After all, how could someone who could escape the government's pursuit be an ordinary person?
Since coming to Wanhua City, he had often heard people mention these vicious criminals on the Black Rank. The bounties for these vicious criminals were also quite generous, often starting at ten thousand taels of silver.
Because of this reason, there were professional bounty hunters in the Fu City area who made a living by taking on Imperial Court bounties and obtaining generous rewards. There were also many arrogant young talents who, whether for high bounties or to showcase their strength, would basically collect information on some wanted criminals on the Black Rank. However, how could those who made it onto the Black Rank be ordinary people? Most of them didn't gain much advantage and instead lost their lives in vain.
Lin Sheng had also thought about finding some wanted criminals on the Black Rank to claim bounties, but considering that most of these people had hidden whereabouts, regardless of their strength, just finding them was troublesome. Compared to that, the Dark Star missions were more efficient.
While thinking, he had already gotten up and pushed open the door.
Coming to the front courtyard, he saw Wang Dehai sitting by the stone table in the courtyard, talking animatedly with Xiao Shi.
"What's wrong? Why do you have time to come over today?"
Lin Sheng said lightly, with a smile on his face.
"Gongzi!"
Wang Dehai and Xiao Shi quickly got up when they saw Lin Sheng come out and respectfully called out.
"Is there something you need this time?"
Lin Sheng waved his hand, his gaze falling on Wang Dehai.
Wang Dehai was a smooth and worldly person, and his mind was not focused on martial arts cultivation. Originally, he planned to buy a shop and let Wang Dehai manage it.
However, with Cao Ying there, he simply let Wang Dehai go over to help. That shop was busy with its opening, so Wang Dehai coming over at this time must have been for something.
"Gongzi, I came over this time because Manager Cao asked me to bring this month's share."
"Share?"
Lin Sheng was startled.
"Yes, the share is a total of two thousand one hundred taels. This is the paper currency."
While speaking, Wang Dehai had already taken out several pieces of paper currency from his Pregnant and handed them to Lin Sheng.
Looking at the two large-denomination paper currencies of one thousand taels and one small-denomination paper currency of one hundred taels in his hand, Lin Sheng felt a sense of unreality.
If he remembered correctly, Cao Ying's shop should have just opened for a month, so how could she directly give him over 2000 taels?
As if seeing what Lin Sheng was thinking, Wang Dehai puffed out his chest and explained with a flushed face.
"Manager Cao Ying has quite a wide network and many connections in this Wanhua City. Coupled with Gongzi, your background in the Seven Forms Sect, she made several big deals as soon as she opened, which resulted in such a harvest."
"Also, Gongzi, I calculated privately, excluding daily expenses, this month's profit should be around three thousand taels. The income I brought this time accounts for seventy percent of the profit."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng rubbed the smooth paper surface of the currency with his fingers, his brows slightly furrowed.
He clearly remembered that when he agreed to be Cao Ying's retainer, the share was only twenty percent. He didn't expect her to send seventy percent in the very first month.
"Manager Cao also asked me to bring a message to Gongzi. She said that Gongzi is currently at a critical juncture, and this money is for Gongzi to use in case of emergency. Don't worry about anything else." Wang Dehai seemed to remember something and added another sentence.
"Not bad, she's indeed a natural businesswoman. No wonder she was able to thrive in the city before."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng smiled and did not refuse.
Since the other party was showing goodwill, why refuse?
Although over 2000 taels of silver was nothing to him now, one must know that this was just a newly opened shop. To have such a large profit was something he hadn't expected before.
Before, the Cao Family operated several shops in the city. With such a foundation, it was not impossible for Cao Ying to make a comeback with her methods, but the speed was indeed much faster than he had originally anticipated.
Among the Cao siblings, the younger brother was a fool, but the older sister Cao Ying did have some ability. Thinking of this, Lin Sheng also began to value this business, which he had not paid much attention to before, a little more.
If managed properly in the future, it would also be a good source of income, and the advantage was its stability.
He knew that most of the direct Disciples in the Seven Forms Sect basically had their own businesses in the city, otherwise, it would not be enough to support their usual cultivation expenses.
"Go back and tell Cao Ying, if there's any trouble, just notify me."
Lin Sheng's gaze fell on Wang Dehai, and he stuffed the one hundred taels of paper currency into his hand.
"I understand, Gongzi."
Wang Dehai grabbed the paper currency and quickly nodded in agreement, his smile widening.
On the other side.
Wanhua City, Ginkgo Street, Listening Moon Building.
"Sister, we only earned less than 3000 taels of silver this month, and you gave so much money to that Lin Sheng. Aren't we losing a lot? We clearly agreed on a twenty percent price before."
Cao Luan was looking at his sister and complaining.
"And didn't we already find out that although Lin Sheng is a direct Disciple in the Seven Forms Sect, his Bloodline potential is only rated as lowest."
Da da da...
At this time, Cao Ying was manipulating the abacus in her hand, the beads moving quickly as she calculated something. Hearing Cao Luan's words, she threw out a sentence without lifting her head.
"Xiao Luan, although Gongzi Lin's Bloodline rating is not high, in many cases, you can't just look at the Bloodline. I believe Gongzi Lin's achievements will not be worse than others."
She stopped her movements, looked at her brother, and said earnestly,
"If many people don't invest when they are insignificant, opportunities will quickly slip away until they are out of reach..."