IWYTBW - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Besides Parents, Those Who Give Money for No Reason are Enemies.

On the other side, Yi Zhen had already returned to the Rong household. He had been out for the better part of the day, exchanging only a nod with the old butler and saying nothing to anyone else. Anji had been planning to dig for some news when he was caught off guard by Yi Zhen’s surprised gaze. 

“Ah, you haven’t left yet?”

Anji was at a loss for words. “Oh, so you thought I’d already gone?”

“Ah…” Yi Zhen scratched his head. “But after that whole thing with Ai Ling, I thought…”

With a sly smile, Anji cut him off, “Well, while Miss Ai Ling’s ordeal is behind us, Mr. Rong’s situation is still very much unresolved. It’s not every day I get a chance to stay a bit farther away, so I’d like to relax a little, if you don’t mind.”

Yi Zhen nodded, a knowing look crossing his face. “Got it. No slacking off during work hours, might as well go tend to the fields instead.”

“If you’re not proactive after work, you’ve got a problem with your mindset!” Anji replied, chuckling and giving him a playful secret signal. After Yi Zhen bid him goodbye and left, Anji suddenly remembered something.

Oh, what was it I wanted to ask again?

With less than a month to go before the preliminary rounds of the Heroic Champions Tournament, only those with physical and mental fitness rated at least C can qualify. 

Yi Zhen had signed up online first—the registration fee of three hundred credits put a significant dent in his already limited personal funds. He ended up being a meager kit to collect saliva and fingerprints. After sending off the samples, it took a full week before he received a participant wristband and his preliminary exam number.

Counting it all up, just within the Central Star’s Competition Zone , he was already ranked two millionth. Rough estimates suggested that at least ten million hopefuls across the galaxy were taking part, with twenty competing planets prepared and on standby. 

Such a massive scope left Yi Zhen feeling that it was a bit unreal.

But it was too early to ponder such things; his stock of hidden weapons was insufficient. The foundational piece yielded enough material to produce twelve Blood Tribulus, but he also needed to buy more kinetic energy springs from She Xin. Thankfully, he still had a bit of that crystallized snake venom left for later use.

Opening the manual on the 《Illusory Body of Mo Luo》Technique, he began to study the elusive lightness skill he had finally gotten his hands on. 

“Everything seen in the world—people may speak of self, of sentient beings, of lifespan, of good and bad fortune in this world—these various views are all rooted in the concept of self-perception. The arising of self-view, the birth of self-view, the transformation of self-view…”  

“Ah, it's all quite complicated, not easy to grasp at all,” he mused.

Much like the 《 Jade Alchemy of the Eastern Sea 》, the 《Illusory Body of Mo Luo》was another absurd martial art; circulating inner strength throughout the body, it allowed the user to transform their form into an intangible black mist that slipped through tiny cracks. But the more bizarre the martial art, the happier Yi Zhen was. It meant that when facing an adversary, they would have a harder time discerning his true capabilities.

Adding a lightness training course to his schedule, Yi Zhen dove into drafting blueprints. In order to do your job well, one must first sharpen their tools. He didn’t have a mecha, though his chosen career path, an assassin, wasn’t well suited for mechas anyway. He could only fight alone, and that was Yi Zhen’s greatest disadvantage.

He pulled out the 《 Book of Poisons 》, searching for the next concealed weapon he could create. The Snow Wax Needle looked promising; the White-Cheeked Gold-Ringed Snake Arrow could work, pairing well with the designs for the new bows he’d acquired. As he flipped through the pages… he thought the Heart-Piercing Thorn could be useful too, but he’d need to consider the recipe carefully.

As for poisons? Truth be told, most deadly toxins outlined in the 《 Book of Poisons 》 were designed for killing, and considering his current repertoire,  those intricately concocted venoms were just less helpful for Yi Zhen. Conversely, functional poisons like the Heart-Eating Gu Poison and the Tianma Powder captured his attention more keenly.

Exclusive Side Quest ④: ‘A Thousand Poisons and Many Wonders’ Triggered

Quest Content: Cold-hearted and merciless, that’s my style.

I have successfully created the Blood Tribulus and enhanced its capabilities above the initial version, expanding its range from 20-30 meters to at least 100 meters.

Next, I need to bolster my other weaponry! With current resources as the base, let’s whip up three or four more weapons!

Quest Rewards:

Unlimited Quiver x1

Alloy High-Pressure Crossbow x1

The quest had been issued, leaving him with only one pressing thought. — He was out of money.

The inheritance left by his late husband[e/n: Lol yeah the whole widow thing… totally didn’t forget...] was off-limits, and he had no intention of touching it. Now he had to hustle hard to earn some credits to alleviate his financial woes. If he hadn’t been living in the Rong household, allowed to rely on their training facilities and resources, scraping by on just six thousand credits in personal savings wouldn't have kept him afloat—he’d likely have been forced to sleep under some bridge eating bland rice—if such bridges even existed in this interstellar era.

[If you were willing to trade even just a little of what you have,] Tai’a said, [you could become one of the wealthiest people around.]

Yi Zhen hesitated. “It’s easy to say that, but…”

It was true; whether it was the concepts surrounding toxin extraction or pure elemental metals—he had been practicing the nuances of extracting gold and, if successful, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to concoct a longevity elixir without much fuss, lifting him above the commoners. He could raze the galaxy's greatest miracle workers to the ground without breaking a sweat.

Setting aside these metaphysical achievements, he also had a heap of lethal poisons and outlandishly tricky weapons… 

He had treasures at hand but couldn’t showcase them to the world; everything was too scandalous, shocking enough to alter the very fabric of reality, and he lacked the strength to safeguard it all just yet.

But favors must be repaid.

He redirected his gaze toward the glass case in the corner, where the Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion sensed his prying look and hurriedly peeked over. 

Yi Zhen smiled. “Come here.”

The Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion hesitated for a moment before nudging open the glass case and scampering onto the table, hopping to Yi Zhen's side. 

Gazing warmly at it, Yi Zhen fished out a flower-winged cricket from his Panther Pouch, feeding the little creature with delicacy. The scorpion gleefully munched away, and as it savored its treat, Yi Zhen absentmindedly rubbed its carapace, unbothered by the lethal venom residing in its little body. “If I feed you, will you share some of your venom with me?” he proposed in his softest tone.

Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion: Stop Chewing.jpg

The scorpion halted its chewing, staring in growing contemplation. 

Yi Zhen quickly negotiated. “Next month, I’ll take you to another planet, and you won’t have to stay cooped up inside this cage.”

“You can hunt freely next month, roam around in nature, tormenting anyone at will…” Yi Zhen painted a picture like an eager business mogul drawing up his startup pitch on a whiteboard. “What do you think?”

After a moment of thought, the deal was struck. 

For the scorpion’s unique venom, Yi Zhen knew it had to be stored in a specially crafted jade bottle, or else it would corrode its vessel. He didn’t want the raw substance, however; so he diluted it using jade toad fat and water, converting one drop of venom into a full bottle, and then beckoned Tai’a to contact Sha Baitian[e/n: See chapter 8, ‘pharmacist’ who bought the Grey Rabbit antidote from YZ].

This concoction would have been a treasure worth a fortune in the martial arts circles of millennia past. 

Before long, Sha Baitian replied. “You’re that… Rong Fu[e/n: The fake name YZ gave him]! You finally came to find me!”

Yi Zhen responded, “Sorry, sorry! I’ve been busy these past few days. Now that my affairs have been dealt with... I wanted to thank you properly for the detoxification formula you gave me previously. Drop me an address, and I'll send you something.”

Sha Baitian sounded dubious. “What exactly are you sending? You didn’t get messed up with the detox formula, did you? Are you trying to get revenge?”

Yi Zhen was at a loss for words. “If you don’t want it, just say so!”

After a moment, Sha Baitian let out a weak laugh. “Just kidding! The first time I met you, I knew you weren’t the type to renege! Besides, even if you wanted to harm me now, what difference does it make? I’m already this far down…”

Yi Zhen raised an eyebrow, baffled. “Brother, could you not just launch into exposition like that?  If you were an NPC, my next question would be ‘Do you need help?’”

Sha Baitian shouted, “I do need help! Do you have money? I really need money!”

Yi Zhen mirrored his urgency. “What a pure yet heartfelt plea! But you must be dreaming, cause I need money too!”

An unexpected silence hung between them. 

Sha Baitian exhaled faintly, “Anyway—thank you. That gray rabbit antidote you gave me from the last encounter helped me through a rough patch, but things have gone sideways since... Maybe I am really not suitable for working in the black market. My clients have gone elsewhere, and my competitors are finding cheaper suppliers. I simply can’t lower my prices anymore…”

“Then raise your prices,” Yi Zhen suggested casually.

“Raise the price? How? Selling what?” Sha Baitian shook his head. “That potent Giant Thorn Tree Oil and royal jelly I sold you were precious materials, right? But other black market pharmacist can source them easily. To have anything to raise prices with, you'd have to know a master pharmacist. Knowing an A-Class Pharmacist, you could walk all over the black market in the capital.”

An A-Class Pharmacist? Yi Zhen recalled Li Wenge, the man Rong Hongxue had summoned that day—wasn’t he an A-Class Pharmacist? 

“Listen here,” Yi Zhen said as he held the vial, “I’m not a pharmacist[e/n: I put Li Wenge as an A-Class Alchemist in ch13, it could be pharmacist instead, I’m changing it on my version-], but I do know how to make poisons, poison is the only thing I make, really. This vial is yours to set any price on, and I can guarantee you it’s worth every drop—if you dare to accept it.”

Sha Baitian was left in shock. “You…!”

“I’m not one to leave debts of gratitude unpaid,” Yi Zhen insisted. “Don’t you need money? Just give me an address.”

Sha Baitian sent over an address. Yi Zhen glanced at it, calculated the shipping costs, and replied, “Just to be clear, you pay the shipping. I don’t have much money right now.”

Originally, Sha Baitian still had illusions about Yi Zhen, but now the illusions were shattered, and he protested in dismay. “How can a guy who even asks for postage to be paid be so arrogant!”

Yi Zhen ignored the grumbling and insisted on repaying the favor. 

Once he disconnected the communication, he returned to his crafting station. 

Spreading the designs for both the Celestial Wolf Bow and the Hawkeye Bow before him, he compared their various attributes diligently. The Celestial Wolf Bow was inscribed with “Night Shot at the Celestial Wolf,” while the Hawkeye Bow bore the words “Strike the Dawn and Split the Rainbow”—one was ruggedly simple while the other looked razor-sharp.

Tai’a chimed in, [The building material of the Celestial Wolf Bow is extraterrestrial iron, capable of invoking the luminal energies of distant stars to chase targets from miles away. The Hawkeye Bow communicates with its user’s intent, automatically aiming its arrows at sighted foes.]

“Yes, both bows have their merits,” Yi Zhen admitted, rubbing his temples. “But how do I merge both their strengths? One that can shoot a target across vast distances while honing in automatically...”

If he could craft such a bow, it would become his primary weapon, allowing him to maintain an edge in the Heroic Champions Tournament despite his lack of a mecha.

By now, the moon had risen high in the sky. Yi Zhen was determined to stay awake, disassembling the designs for both bows, listing out and modeling each component, attempting new combinations and arrangements. 

Just then, a notification ping from his light brain caught his attention: a notification of a significant transaction. 

Yi Zhen jumped in surprise. “A massive transfer into my personal account... wait, who on earth just sent me two million? Did someone send this to the wrong account, or … do I need to call the police?”

Was it Sha Baitian or She Xin[e/n: for some reason I was stubbornly convinced it was Xing, but it’s not! Fixing...]…? Wracking his mind over the possible culprits, just as confusion threatened to overwhelm him, Tai’a said, [Player, I recognize this account.]

Yi Zhen asked, “Oh really? Who is it?”

[Based on the last digits,] Tai’a replied, [this is Rong Hongxue’s personal account.]

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