The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#673 - Make the most of everything

"Information?" Lu Jing raised his eyebrows.

“That’s right. The money you have won't be enough to buy a flying sword. Why not try your luck with some information? You know that the Department of Celestial Observation has lost many flying swords, right? Some have been recovered, but others haven't. I happen to have some information about those lost flying swords.”

Shopkeeper Jin tried to entice him. "If you find one, the flying sword will be yours. What do you think?"

“How much is one piece of information?”

“The expensive ones are one hundred and twenty copper coins, and the cheaper ones are seven copper coins. Since you are new and this is your first time doing business with me, I’ll give you a good price of six copper coins,” Shopkeeper Jin said generously.

However, Lu Jing thought of something and asked, “You don’t only sell this information to one person, do you?”

Shopkeeper Jin chuckled, “Of course not. If you don’t find the flying sword, I will definitely sell the information to the next person. Otherwise, wouldn’t the flying sword be lost forever?”

“So, the cheaper the information, the more people have already searched for it, but they all returned empty-handed,” Lu Jing said.

Shopkeeper Jin nodded. “I knew I couldn’t hide it from you. Hahaha, that’s the idea. Otherwise, how could a piece of information cost only six copper coins?”

Lu Jing pondered for a moment, “Then give me one.”

“Hmm?” This time it was Shopkeeper Jin’s turn to be surprised. “Since you already guessed that the cheaper the information, the harder it is to find anything, you still want to buy it? To be honest, I’ve had this information for thirty-nine years.”

“Thirty-nine years ago, that’s not too long ago, is it?”

“Then do you know how long I’ve been running this place?”

“How long?”

“That long?”

“Yes, two hundred years is enough time for many things to happen. The previous houses may be gone, the clansmen who originally lived there may have moved away, and the family heirlooms may have been sold… In short… you better not have too much hope.”

As Shopkeeper Jin spoke, he pointed to the scroll on the bookshelf that recorded elixirs.

“I was just joking with you. You didn’t earn those copper coins easily. If I were you, I would buy some elixirs that you can use for cultivation.”

“I don’t need elixirs. I’ll still buy the information you mentioned.”

Lu Jing poured the remaining five Department of Celestial Observation copper coins from his money bag onto the table.

Shopkeeper Jin looked at Lu Jing again, making sure he wasn’t joking, before picking up the copper coins on the table, checking them one by one. After checking, he said, “Let me say this first, once my information is sold, whether you find the flying sword or not, it will not be refunded.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t blame you if I don’t find it.”

Seeing Lu Jing agree, Shopkeeper Jin threw all six copper coins into the mouth of a copper toad in the corner that was as tall as a person.

Then, he patted the copper toad's head and shouted, “Three, Seven, Nine, Eight!”

After a while, the toad suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a piece of paper.

Lu Jing picked up the piece of paper, unfolded it, and saw the following written on it.

“Flying Sword Information — Xin Dao Fu, sword cultivator, third-rank inspector of the Department of Celestial Observation, disappeared in Baima County during the investigation of the Dragon King’s concubine selection case in the twelfth year of Gan You. He carried with him the flying sword Stubborn Stone, two chi six cun long, gray-black in color, forged by Fan Xian Chun, who is also missing.”

Only sixty words, nothing else.

Shopkeeper Jin was still shaking his head on the other side. “After Xin Dao Fu disappeared, the Department of Celestial Observation sent people to Baima County, but unfortunately, they didn’t find anything. I’ve sold this information to at least eight inspectors, and they couldn’t find any valuable clues either. First, the time has been too long, and second, the sword Stubborn Stone is quite special. On the surface, it looks black and inconspicuous, making it even harder to find.”

Lu Jing didn’t say much, he just put away the note.

The reason why he finally decided to buy the information was, of course, not to try his luck like others.

After all, so many people had already tried their luck, and the era was too long ago. Conventional investigation methods probably wouldn’t be of much use.

Six Department of Celestial Observation copper coins were equivalent to six thousand taels of silver.

Even though Lu Jing now had hope of escaping poverty, he wouldn’t be willing to use such a large sum of money to gamble without any certainty.

And his reliance was the Sinan that Kui had given him earlier.

That Sinan could locate flying swords within a twenty-mile radius.

Lu Jing had previously relied on it to find the small green sword. Later, when he went out, Lu Jing would also carry this thing with him, wanting to see if the Sinan could help him find a few more flying swords.

Unfortunately, this was just wishful thinking. Kyushu was so big, and there weren’t too many flying swords lost outside. It wasn’t so easy to encounter them.

But now it was different. He bought information from Shopkeeper Jin, so he now had a range.

So, for the next period of time, Lu Jing took Baima County as the starting point and began searching with the Sinan. In addition, he continued to plant ginseng on the mountaintop, striving to pay off the huge debt he was carrying as soon as possible.

In addition, he began to learn weapon refinement from Chi in the remaining time. In short, Lu Jing's life suddenly became tense and fulfilling again, and he was often so busy all day that he couldn't see anyone.

But even though he could hardly squeeze out time to sleep, Lu Jing didn't forget his promise to Dongmen Weilan.

Every five or six days, he would go to help her cultivate the Myriad Poisons Returning to the Source.

And since escaping death from poisoning that time, Dongmen Weilan had also benefited from the misfortune. Her cultivation of poison arts had been very smooth, and her progress could be said to be rapid.

From a third-rate martial artist, she had transformed into a second-rate expert.

Moreover, unlike ordinary second-rate experts, Dongmen Weilan’s true energy carried poison, making it even harder for those who fought her to resist.

But the girl still didn’t have much of a smile on her face, because when she sparred with Lu Jing, she still couldn’t do anything to him.

No matter how hard she tried to activate the Myriad Poisons Returning to the Source, she couldn’t gain even the slightest advantage. The higher her cultivation, the more clearly she could feel the strength of the man opposite her.

Lu Jing gave her the feeling of an iceberg, with only a small part of it exposed above the water. If you continued to explore downwards, you would find that you couldn’t find where the other end extended to.

And Lu Jing, who had just entered the Celestial Pivot Ranking, was already so strong. Dongmen Weilan couldn’t imagine how terrifying those righteous experts who had been on the Celestial Pivot Ranking for decades would be.

She couldn’t help but feel a trace of doubt about whether she could successfully take revenge after mastering the Myriad Poisons Returning to the Source.