With the entire feng shui cycle fully established, the once-faltering Apricot Forest Suspended Pot Formation regained its vitality. After securing the Medicine King Jade Statue and backfilling the earth, Zhao Ze led his team toward Changsha City.
To avoid unnecessary complications, such a massive group could not enter the city. Fifty miles outside Changsha, Zhao Ze ordered the unit to halt. In these sensitive times, bringing so many people into the city would undoubtedly be asking for trouble. He commanded his newly refined Soldier Puppets to fell trees and set up a camp right there on the mountain, instructing them to remain hidden. All food and water were to be scavenged from the mountains; they were strictly forbidden from descending and exposing their identities.
Only after settling everything did he take Zhang An and the original Soldier Puppets down the mountain to return to the main road. As they entered Changsha City, passing through an alleyway specialized for livestock slaughter, a sudden idea struck him. He found a butcher and specifically purchased hearts, insisting on slaughtering the animals himself. The butcher was puzzled, but seeing that Zhao Ze was willing to pay, he agreed, dismissing the man as a harmless eccentric. Zhao Ze selected various livestock—oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules—and used the Shadow of the Hundred Yin Beasts to extract their hearts, concealing them within the shadows for future use in crafting beast spirits. After collecting several d…
Chapter 259