"Has Shang Dingye not been found yet?"

Inside the Jade Void Palace, at the territory of the Shang family, one of the Twelve Sect Mansions.

Wisps of incense smoke filled the surroundings.

Shang Yinju, in charge of guarding the family territory, stared grimly at the family member who came to report.

"Yes, since that day when Shang Dingye, the Grandmaster, was lured away by a mysterious person, he left the city and has not returned.

Afterwards, we searched every place he frequented but found no clues..." the family member reported solemnly.

"A dignified Grandmaster! Just disappeared like that! Even in the entire Qingchuan Prefecture, this is unprecedented!" Shang Yinju said angrily.

The Patriarch left with earnest instructions to guard the family well, but now with a Grandmaster missing, he still felt helpless until this moment.

"According to the clues, who did Grandmaster Shang Dingye have the most conflicts with lately?" Shang Yinju asked in a deep voice.

"It was Daoist Zhang Ying of the Celestial Treasure Palace and the Ning family Grandmaster, Lord Ning Hongli, who supported Zhang Ying," the family member quickly replied.

"Zhang Ying... Ning Hongli..." Shang Yinju's expression grew dark, "Could it be that the Ning family is taking this opportunity to target our Shang family? But it can't be... Shangguan Feihua has rules; anyone who breaks them now is courting death."

"Could it be the Righteous Alliance?" asked Shang Jinxiu, frowning. She was a Grandmaster expert assisting her brother Shang Yinju in guarding the family territory.

After the clan head left, only the siblings and Shang Dingye were the three Grandmasters of the Shang family.

Now Shang Dingye's disappearance is a heavy blow to the entire Shang family.

"Regardless, let's capture all the suspects first! With the reason that a Grandmaster from Jade Void Palace is missing, the Twelve Sect Mansions will cooperate no matter what." Shang Yinju said sternly.

"The one with short-term conflict is Zhang Ying, so let's investigate him first.

Besides, Ning Hongli is hard to handle, but without Yue Dewen, Zhang Ying is just a useless person good only for cultivating literature. As long as we persuade Shangguan Feihua, everything will become easy." Shang Jinxiu nodded in agreement.

"But... Shangguan Feihua is most concerned with rules and is extremely inflexible... To convince him, we must tailor our approach..." Shang Yinju pondered for a moment and suddenly a thought flashed in his mind, coming up with a plan.

"We can act this way... Shangguan Feihua will surely agree, and by then, if we really can't find the culprit, we'll use Zhang Ying as a scapegoat!" He clapped his hands, moved closer to his sister, and explained in a low voice.

*

*

*

Zhang Rongfang changed his form, with some of his own people disguised at the prefecture office, already adept in this task.

He himself slowly followed the crowd, leisurely strolling through the streets of Qingchuan Prefecture.

Wherever there were more people, he squeezed his way in.

"Hey there, anyone come on, one by one, big money for participating! Seeking guidance for those below third rank, first come first served!"

"Xu family's arena, limited participants, get paid when you make a move, the first in the city!"

On the gray-white square, which was overall circular, stood a relaxed sculpture of an old Daoist riding a bull and holding a duster at the center.

All around were martial arts competition platforms.

The platforms were surrounded by numerous idle onlookers who loved excitement.

At this time, Zhang Rongfang approached one of the platforms.

Standing tall, he maneuvered through the crowd, watching two figures exchanging blows on the stage.

Meanwhile, he continuously sniffed the air around him.

He was looking for a target with Essence Qi deficiencies to replenish.

He had a prior hypothesis.

Since he replenished parts lacking Essence Qi, he wondered if he could absorb it in small amounts multiple times, instead of absorbing it all at once and leaving someone dead.

If this is feasible, his hunting range would be much broader and not limited to just villains.

The fight on the platform was intense, both participants demonstrating around second-rank speed and strength.

The crowd shouted and got red-faced with excitement.

Zhang Rongfang leisurely glanced around.

Before long, he suddenly paused, his gaze cutting through the crowd and landing on a pale-faced, richly dressed young man.

The young man's skin was nearly translucent, devoid of color, visibly weak as he chatted with those beside him.

After just a few sentences, he had to catch his breath.

Crucially, Zhang Rongfang smelt Essence Qi emanating from him.

Though faint, it was definitely there.

Immediately, Zhang Rongfang approached him.

Thunk.

Pretending not to watch his step, he walked quickly, keeping his head down, lightly bumping into the young man's arm.

In a split second, his fingers brushed against the young man's defense, absorbing a small quantity of blood.

The young man gasped in pain, turning to look for him, but it was too late.

Zhang Rongfang had already blended into the crowd and vanished.

Leaving the young man clutching his bleeding hand, quickly bandaged by those around him.

Not far away, Zhang Rongfang stepped into an alley, raised his hand, and gently licked the blood on his fingernail.

A wondrous sensation surged through him once again.

Yet the sensation didn't last, fading quickly.

"As expected... still too little?" Zhang Rongfang glanced at the Essence Qi completion section.

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly.

Remarkably, there was a change! From the previous 78, it had already risen to 80!

"It actually works!?" He quickly turned, searching for the young man he bumped into.

Silently, he approached from behind.

This time, however, he couldn't detect any Essence Qi fragrance from the young man.

As if it had all been an illusion.

'So, it turns out that even a little blood sampling is possible!?' Zhang Rongfang seemed to have discovered a new dawn.

If this is possible, then it means...

The first thing he thought of was not something else.

But about that unrivaled fragrant master uncle in Jade Void Palace!

If possible...

He immediately suppressed the thought in his heart and continued to wander the streets, searching for other individuals.

It was confirmed that blood completion actually only requires a little blood to achieve its purpose.

Previously draining evildoers was more because of that fascinating feeling which makes one unconsciously indulge.

Thus, Zhang Rongfang began swiftly searching throughout Qingchuan Prefecture for all the living people he could smell the scent of flesh.

Time slowly passed.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had gone by.

The Shang family hadn't moved yet, seemingly brewing something.

But Zhang Rongfang here had undergone quite some changes.

He named the mansion given by the Jin family as Agarwood Mansion.

After receiving a few visitors from the Jin family, he clearly felt what it means to have people change once their tea gets cold.

After Yue Dewen's demise, the previously overly enthusiastic Jin family had cooled off quite a bit.

But perhaps because of the previous investment, the Jin family was still somewhat polite, maintaining their effort to win him over.

But the other families were different.

The Twelve Sect Mansions previously had people coming to visit, boldly stating to contact them anytime for anything.

But after the news of Yue Dewen's demise spread, all these people were gone.

In the garden.

Zhang Rongfang sat cross-legged on a cushion behind a rockery, facing the morning sun, practicing breathing exercises.

Lately, he grew fond of cultivating here because the rockery behind just happened to conceal the lump on his back.

With the soul-searching around the city these days, Zhang Rongfang's blood completion level had officially reached as high as 85.

This was achieved by finding more than a dozen people he could smell the scent from.

And in the past few days, wherever he went in the city, he couldn't detect any scent anymore.

It seems that ordinary people's blood completion is no longer effective for him.

Similarly, as the blood completion increased to 85, Zhang Rongfang could feel that although his overall physical quality and strength hadn't improved, the purplish-red lump on his back was growing larger and flatter.

'A normal tumor should bulge outwards and grow larger, but why is this tumor... getting flatter?'

Zhang Rongfang wondered in his heart.

But faintly, he felt that the lump was not a bad thing, but undergoing some sort of transformation.

"Daoist, are you looking for me?" At this moment, Zhang Yunqi quickly approached from the right side of the garden, cupping his hands in salute from a distance.

"Uncle Yunqi, is there any news from Great Capital?" Zhang Rongfang asked in a deep voice. He never believed his master could die so easily.

Thus he kept directing the Rebel Sect members to collect relevant information.

The Rebel Sect members were best at blending into the environment, disguising identity, and gathering intelligence.

"Celestial Treasure Palace has been forcibly occupied by Zhenyi Sect, your senior brother Zhang Qingzhi mysteriously disappeared and is suspected of escaping. Zhenyi Sect and Western Sect have pushed Great Dao Teaching's seat out from Jixian Institute, replacing it entirely with their own people, and Spirit Emperor seems not intent on stopping it."

"Additionally, our people received news that the Shang family seems to be making some moves recently. Due to our shallow foundation, we couldn't acquire higher-level information."

"The Shang family... don't mind them, what's the next main ingredient I need?" He was currently poised to break through the third level of Golden Toad Skill Chasing the Sun phase, the next being Devouring Heaven.

Even though Devouring Heaven might be entirely fictional progression, he still wanted to attempt it.

"Well... the ingredients you've ordered aren't available on the market, they are all high-aged rare herbal medicines, some of which haven't been seen for decades.

In Qingchuan, it seems...." Zhang Yunqi hesitated.

He looked up at Zhang Rongfang.

"However, regarding the previous task of finding people with special physiques, we've made progress."

"Oh?" Through extensive hunting earlier, Zhang Rongfang discovered that the blood and flesh effective for him mainly belonged to people with special talents.

So he instructed Zhang Yunqi to help in finding such groups.

This way, it could greatly shorten the blood completion time.

"At Mingguang Phoenix Garden, there's a young woman with an extraordinary memory who can remember everything at a glance and excels in understanding, progressing rapidly whatever she learns.

But unfortunately, she was born extremely frail, unable to endure even walking for long." Zhang Yunqi said gravely.

"The blood?" Zhang Rongfang asked solemnly.

He had long instructed Zhang Yunqi and the others to collect a drop of blood from such individuals to bring him if encountered.

Whether it was the target he lacked could be discerned just by smell.

"Here." Zhang Yunqi swiftly took out a small porcelain bottle, gently shaking it made water sounds.

He walked closer and handed over the bottle.

Zhang Rongfang received it and pulled out the wooden cork.

Instantly, a rich fragrance filled his nostrils.

This fragrance was only slightly lighter than that of the master uncle!

Strongly suppressing the urge to drink it in one gulp, Zhang Rongfang raised his head.

"Where is the person?"

"You intend to go now?" Zhang Yunqi hesitated.

"Leave now, the sooner the better!" Zhang Rongfang stood up, this time having an intense curiosity about what the lump on his back actually was.

He had a strong premonition.

If successfully completing the flesh from this young woman, perhaps he could know what exactly the lump on his back was.