Yun Ziliang said, "Now that you have a body, the Divine Status of Peng Hou is in Xuan's hands. He will certainly use it to designate you as Heavenly Vault God Level.

But your abilities are still weak, only at the level of eight sticks of incense. You might not be able to protect this Divine Status. With the Forbidden Land, you'll have a sanctuary where no one can find you, avoiding a lot of trouble."

"Moreover, your Tattoo Tree Clan has always been reclusive, rarely connecting with the outside world. You've favored seclusion since ancient times. Now that the town is resealed by the Forbidden Land, it won't disrupt your clan's way of living."

Peng Sheng carefully considered Yun Ziliang's words and found them reasonable, so he stopped worrying about Peng Town falling into oblivion again and continued playing chess in peace.

Yun Ziliang was terrible at card games but extraordinarily skilled in chess. He ruthlessly defeated Peng Sheng in two consecutive rounds, leaving him utterly routed.

Just as he was preparing for a third game, Zhou Xuan and Zhao Wuya returned to the shop.

"Brother Peng, Lao Yun, you two are quite relaxed, playing chess here, aren't you?"

As soon as Zhou Xuan entered the room, Peng Sheng quickly stood up and cupped his fists toward him. "Brother Xuan, your immense kindness and virtue toward the Tree Clan—our people will never forget in a thousand generations. Should you ever find yourself burdened with trouble, the clan will undoubtedly dedicate everything to aid you."

"You heap so much praise on me, it's making me feel a bit embarrassed."

Zhou Xuan placed both hands on Peng Sheng's shoulders, carefully examining his new body, much like someone helping a friend pick out clothes in a shop. He commented, "The flesh is a bit loose—perhaps it's been too many years and it's suffered the ravages of time. But no worries, we still have Miss Qiang."

"Miss Qiang, Brother Peng is here. After all these years, his own body feels a bit unfit for him. Can you tailor it for him?"

"No problem."

Miss Qiang instructed Zhou Xuan to prepare the necessary materials: twelve buckets of black dog blood and six fresh corpses that had been deceased for no more than seven days.

"Once you've got all that, toss the dog blood and corpses into a pool to create a Blood Pool."

"Consider it done."

After Miss Qiang laid out her requirements, Zhou Xuan instructed the Tattooed Clan members to get to work.

Gathering the materials wasn't difficult. As for black dog blood, there was a slaughterhouse nearby that supplied plenty for free—they didn't even charge a cent per pound. Take as much as needed, no problem at all.

As for the corpses, those were even easier to come by. This was East Market Street, the most famous funeral district in Mingjiang Prefecture—

Corpses were abundant, and surely there were grieving families willing to exchange their loved one's remains for cash. Zhou Xuan just needed to offer a higher price.

"Yes, Xuan Ancestor."

The Tattooed Clan members bowed to Zhou Xuan and went off to handle the task.

Zhou Xuan and Zhao Wuya, meanwhile, didn't idle around. With twelve buckets of black dog blood needing to fill a pool, they had to find a large enough one for the job.

Fortunately, there was already a suitable pool in the backyard of Zhou Xuan's shop.

He led Zhao Wuya and Little Fuzi to the backyard. The three of them grabbed buckets and began scooping out the water from the pool.

Inside the pool, there were still dozens of swimming fish.

Zhou Xuan first picked up the largest one.

This fish was fierce, thrashing powerfully in Zhou Xuan's arms, its tail whipping rapidly.

"This fish is my Fortune Fish."

Zhou Xuan explained to Zhao Wuya,

that back when he first felt the links the Ancient Clan had imposed on him, he had experienced a profound sense of helplessness, as though trapped in an invisible fishing net.

On that very day, a fisherman happened to be selling fish on the street. A ferocious fish jumped out from a tear in the man's fish basket. Zhou Xuan saw himself in that fish and resolved that no matter how tight the Ancient Clan's net, he would tear a hole and break free.

From that day onward, Zhou Xuan raised the fierce fish in his backyard as a daily reminder to himself. Over time, fearing the fish might grow lonely, he instructed Little Fuzi to buy more companions for it from the market.

Some of the new fish ended up as victims to the fierce fish's appetite, while others became its playmates, chasing and frolicking together in the pool.

But today, with plans to create the Blood Pool, these fish had to be cleared out.

He placed the fish from his arms into a bucket and told Little Fuzi, "Fuzi, the two of us can handle clearing out the pool. Take these fish to the river and release them back into the wild."

Given Zhou Xuan's reputation in Mingjiang Prefecture, he had no shortage of fish to eat. Moreover, the fierce fish held symbolic meaning for him, so he naturally wanted them to have a good ending too.

"Today is the day you return to your river home."

Zhou Xuan patted the bucket lightly, smiling as he spoke…

…

One by one, the fish were scooped out. Little Fuzi borrowed a cart from Sister Cui, tied the fish bucket to it, and, along with Mu Hua, pushed the cart to the East Market River two miles away to set the fish free,

Meanwhile, Zhou Xuan and Zhao Wuya finished emptying the water from the pool,

just as the clan members returned with the "materials." One corpse after another was thrown into the pool,

and buckets of black dog blood were poured in.

Zhou Xuan didn't forget to ask the clan members, "Did you pay for all these materials?"

He worried that the Tattooed Clan, being isolated from the outside world for so long and living self-sufficiently, might have lost their understanding of "transactions."

As it turned out, Zhou Xuan's concern was warranted.

"When they heard the corpses and dog blood were for you, Xuan Ancestor, they said there was no need to pay."

"And you really didn't pay them?"

"Uh…"

The two clan members scratched their heads, apparently unable to understand what they did wrong.

"You're both such blockheads."

Zhou Xuan stepped out of the pool and, from Zhao Wuya's satchel, pulled out his wallet. Recalling the black market price for corpses he overheard from the neighbors recently, he counted out 1,300 Jing Country dollars and handed it to the two clan members.

"Take this money and give it to whoever sold you the corpses—200 per corpse, six in total is 1,200. The remaining 100, buy some supplements—milk, eggs, pork or something—and split it among the six families."

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