After resting for half an hour, Liu Weian finally forced himself to stand up through gritted teeth. Fortunately, all the nearby Carrion Zombies had been wiped out; otherwise, if one happened to stumble over now, he'd be as helpless as a dragon trapped in a muddy pond. The wound in his chest was deep—after half an hour, it was still bleeding.
He dug out two Strength Seeds from nearby corpses and swallowed them. Only then did the bleeding finally stop. As for healing… that would take a while. He hacked open more than a dozen walking corpses just to get to one seed—their skulls were as hard as stone, and even his blade was chipped by the effort. Eventually, a pea-sized Strength Seed dropped out.
His eyes lit up. He was used to seeing rice-grain-sized seeds, but this one was larger—it instantly lifted his mood. Holding his breath, he dug out the flesh sac from the corpse's chest, his heart racing.
Compared to the typical sacs found in Carrion Zombies, this one was darker and more solid, exuding a weighty pressure. Generally speaking, the stronger the creature, the better the loot—but there were always exceptions. Empty sacs weren't rare either. Having nearly been killed by this walking corpse, Liu Weian knew just how dangerous it was. So his expectations ran high.
"Don't disappoint me…" He cut the sac open with a swift motion.
Ding!
Something small and black clattered to the ground. Liu Weian picked it up and was momentarily stunned, then broke into a grin of disbelief and elation. A ring—it was a ring!
Rings were part of the accessory category—rare drops, but always valuable. In stores, the cheapest one went for ten gold coins.
As he slid the ring onto his finger, a stream of information surged into his mind. Instantly, he understood—it was a Spatial Ring, one of the rarest types.
And it wasn't small either—a full cubic meter of storage space. Based on market rates—0.3 cubic meters going for 130 gold coins—this ring was easily worth at least 350 gold coins, possibly more. The price didn't scale linearly—the larger the space, the more exponential the value.
This changes everything. Now he could store Strength Seeds with ease. Even heavy coinage wouldn't be a burden anymore.
After organizing everything, Liu Weian returned to Stone City with the others. Sun Shouwu wasn't in the store. He'd been out early and returning late these days, clearly busy with something. Over the past ten or so days, Liu Weian had only seen him three times. While Black Ox and the others unloaded the goods, he knocked on Sun Lingzhi's door.
Sun Lingzhi was Sun Shouwu's younger sister and co-manager of the "Heals the Undying" pharmacy. Their names were fitting—Lingzhi (Ganoderma) and Shouwu (Fo-Ti). If they had another sibling named Renshen (Ginseng), they'd have the complete herbal trifecta.
"The door's open, come in," a clear voice called from inside.
He stepped in and saw Lingzhi working at a station. It wasn't a bedroom but a full-blown laboratory. She was a certified alchemist, eyes locked on her concoction and wholly focused. She didn't even look up at his entrance, only gesturing for him to wait.
She was working with a glass-like test tube, half-filled with red liquid. Tiny particles floated within as she slowly added unknown powders using a silver spoon. Her expressions changed with each reaction—joy, frowns, confusion.
The liquid gradually turned green—an unnatural shade that looked like it came from a swamp. Soon, it began to bubble violently as if boiling. Lingzhi's expression turned grave. Her brows furrowed, her nose twitched, lips pursed. She was completely absorbed, and Liu Weian found himself entranced, momentarily forgetting why he was even there.
Pssst—
A puff of white smoke shot out. Then a foul stench filled the air. Lingzhi rushed to lower a safety net and turn on the exhaust fan, but she still inhaled a bit. Her face paled, and she swayed unsteadily.
Liu Weian sprang forward, catching her just before she collapsed, and carried her out of the room.
He had also inhaled some of the fumes, but being further away and having consumed Corpse Cores in the past, his body had developed some resistance to toxins.
This was the first time in his life he'd held a woman in his arms. Her body was soft, smooth, and warm. A faint fragrance filled his nose, and for a second, he wished time would freeze.
But clearly, that wasn't going to happen. Lingzhi let out a low moan and opened her eyes.
"I'm fine now."
"Oh!" Liu Weian let go as if electrocuted and took a step back.
Lingzhi frowned slightly, then pulled out a red pill from a jade vial and swallowed it. In less than ten seconds, color returned to her cheeks. With a flick of her hand, the vial vanished. She looked straight at him.
"You needed something?"
Liu Weian was impressed. He hadn't noticed her take out the vial, but he clearly saw her put it away—into a green jade bracelet. It was undoubtedly a spatial item.
Gear was rare. Spatial gear was legendary. Encountering two such items in one day was not luck—it was the Sun Family's wealth and power. The spatial ring he fought tooth and nail to get? Sun Lingzhi wore hers like a casual accessory. Life really wasn't fair.
He brushed away the envy and got to the point. "I wanted to ask—do you accept Walking Corpses?"
"Walking Corpses?" Her eyes sparkled. "Where are they? Take me to them!"
This girl was something else. Most people—especially women—wanted nothing to do with corpses. But her reaction was like she'd found treasure.
Since he wasn't sure if they'd buy it, Liu Weian had set the corpse aside, not placing it in the warehouse. Lingzhi squatted down and examined it, occasionally poking it with her fingers like it was an artifact, completely fearless.
Its face was shriveled and black like tree bark, covered in corpse scars, fangs protruding, fingernails long and sharp. Its frame was bigger than a typical Carrion Zombie. A strange smell emanated from its body—still foul, but milder than the rot of other undead. Lingzhi prodded the mouth with a stick and noted the lack of a tongue.
She stood up and said brightly, "Not bad. I'll take it. Four and a half silver coins. Bring me as many as you have—the more, the better."
"Deal," Liu Weian nodded. Not that he had a choice. Lingzhi wasn't like her brother. Her word was law.
He wanted to stay and chat more, but Black Ox and the team had finished unloading. With no excuse left, he had to leave reluctantly.
Stone City had changed in just a few days. It was more vibrant, had expanded outward, and new shops had popped up. Where there used to be one store per industry, now there were two or three in the more profitable ones—equipment shops, clothing, materials. Inns were multiplying too; there were four already.
More shops meant better prices—for players.
"Move it! Out of the way!"
A horse-drawn carriage barreled through the outer gate, the driver cracking his whip without slowing down. The crowded street became chaos as people scrambled to avoid it. Liu Weian was jostled several times and nearly fell. Angry shouts filled the air. Someone looked ready to rush forward and fight the driver—until a friend yanked him back.
"Are you nuts? That's a He Family carriage."
The hothead immediately went silent and slinked away. The He Family—Liu Weian remembered them from his first business deal. Rich folks really lived differently. Most couldn't afford an ox cart, let alone a two-horse luxury carriage.
"Damn nouveau riche…" a muttering voice said from the crowd. "So arrogant. You don't see the Wang, Li, or Zhao families acting like that—and they've been around for centuries."
Liu Weian turned his head in thought. Stone City now had stores linked to the Wang, Li, and Zhao clans—old money, centuries of history, and influence across the Three Great Planets.
In the Han Dynasty, there was a saying: the Six Great Clans—Liu, Li, Wang, Zhao, Zhang, and Yang—controlled the empire's economy. Offend their patriarchs, and not even the emperor could save you.
But Stone City was just a remote outpost with few monsters. Why were such powerhouses suddenly taking an interest?
Something wasn't right.
Liu Weian scanned the crowd. Lots of new faces—and many were clearly elite fighters.
How did he know? By their gear.
Boots, armor, swords—all emitting a dark glow, indicating top-tier black-grade gear. A few weapons even had a subtle green shine—that was green-grade equipment, the next level up. He'd seen one before in a store—it cost over 30 gold coins.
"Something big's about to happen…" Liu Weian muttered and turned into the equipment shop.
Now that Walking Corpses had appeared in the cemetery, they were far more dangerous than Carrion Zombies. His old arrows couldn't keep up. If he needed three arrows per enemy now, what would he do if faced with three at once?
Time for an upgrade.
Tri-Point Iron Arrow:
Arrowhead forged from fine steel, tri-point design.
Shaft crafted from ten-year red date wood.
Price: 20 copper each.
Liu Weian ordered 100—20 silver coins gone in an instant. As he stepped out of the shop, he couldn't help but sigh:
"Every shot I fire is money flying through the air..."