Practice begins with immortality

Jinyuan City, a prosperous and flourishing city, was one of the five wealthiest towns in Gao State. Its streets crisscrossed with shops and bustling with people, creating a bustling scene. Here, merchants gathered, supporting each other and banding together for support, gradually forming the renowned Jinyuan Merchants' Guild.

The Jinyuan Merchants' power was immense, their intricate web of relationships stretching like a spider's web across much of Gao State. Not only did they command influence within Jinyuan City, but even the county magistrates of many other cities were inextricably linked to this merchant group. Such a powerful presence would naturally alert the Gao State's ruler, the Marquis of Gao, and lead to his suppression.

However, this is a transcendental world, where nothing can be measured by common sense. Despite the wealth of the merchant clans, their military might is at best at the level of perfected Blood Refining. Blood Refining, in essence, simply involves strengthening one's own flesh and blood essence through practice. Even the most skilled martial artists in the mortal realm mostly remain at this level. However, some exceptionally gifted individuals, through their own efforts, may break through their limits and reach the realm of perfected Blood Refining. Among the enigmatic 108 sects, some specialize in the art of blood and slaughter. These schools cherish such undiscovered talents, often recruiting them as their disciples and carefully nurturing them.

In short, no matter how rich or powerful the merchant group is, they are still just ants when facing Gao Hou, who has power above the secular world.

Marquis Gao was a vassal appointed by the Xuan King and a member of the Xuan Dynasty royal family. He undoubtedly possessed experts at the level of Huagui and Yindan. With them around, Marquis Gao naturally wouldn't care about a small merchant group. Furthermore, when Marquis Gao needed money urgently, the merchant group became his money bag, allowing him to claim whatever he wanted.

However, there are also some unwilling people in the merchant group. As they have a lot of worldly resources, they also have the opportunity to come into contact with extraordinary forces...

The Zhang family was a member of that large merchant group. However, in recent days, their family had been experiencing setbacks.

Half a year ago, the third son of the Zhang family mysteriously disappeared. Since then, bad luck has been happening to the Zhang family one after another.

Zhang San's sudden disappearance struck the Zhang family head like a bolt from the blue, sending the once healthy head of the family sprawling onto his bed. The entire Zhang family was plunged into chaos.

In reality, if a dandy like Zhang San, who spent his days idle and uneducated, were to disappear without a trace, it would normally be considered a tragedy and forgotten. After all, the Zhang family head had eighteen children, thirteen of whom were sons. Even the loss of such an insignificant individual wouldn't have caused the Zhang family head so much worry that he fell ill.

But at this critical moment, Zhang Yi, the eldest son of the Zhang family, stood up and declared that his father had been overworked with family affairs for many years and was now ill. As the eldest son, he should personally serve his father and forbade his brothers and sisters to visit. This action undoubtedly provided an excuse for his brothers and sisters to accuse Zhang Yi of deliberately poisoning their biological father in order to seize the opportunity to dominate the Zhang family business.

Several powerful individuals among them actually ordered their recruited warriors to engage in a fierce armed conflict. For a moment, the sounds of shouting and fighting echoed throughout the streets, drawing the gazes of passersby and causing them to flee in terror. Beyond this shocking fight, unspeakable rumors spread like wildfire. For example, a son of the Zhang family master was allegedly engaging in an unethical and immoral relationship with his concubine. This scandal was inadvertently discovered by the third son of the Zhang family, who was subsequently murdered by those with ulterior motives...

"What a mess this is!" In a secluded corner of the city, Wang Bai couldn't help but blurt out complaints after successfully reading some people's memories.

Afterwards, after some careful consideration, Wang Bai thought to himself: "In this case, then Zhang's father must be in Zhang Yi's hands. Well, I might as well just break in and get to the bottom of the matter. He is ill, and it won't be difficult for me to cure him." With this idea in mind, Wang Bai set out on the road to Zhang's house.

After leaving the mansion, Wang Bai spent three days traveling to Jinyuan City. Initially, he planned to find Zhang San's family and offer them a body cleansing as compensation. This way, he would no longer owe the original Zhang San anything. After all, he wasn't the real Zhang San, and naturally, he had no feelings for the original Zhang San's parents and relatives. Furthermore, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Wang Bai altered his appearance, restoring it to its original form.

..............................

The Zhang Mansion was a magnificent, sprawling mansion, covering nearly a hundred acres. From afar, its vermilion walls resembled a winding dragon, tightly encircling the entire residence. At this moment, before the gates of this imposing mansion, nearly a hundred sturdy warriors stood in a tense standoff.

The nearly one hundred people were clearly divided into four distinct groups, each wearing their own unique attire and wielding a variety of weapons. Their expressions were gloomy, and their gazes seemed to fly when they met. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, and it felt like a fierce battle could break out at any moment.

At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared among the group of warriors. It was Wang Bo, who walked through with a calm demeanor and a swagger. Surprisingly, none of the warriors present noticed his presence.

Speaking of the Xuan Dynasty, it shared many similarities with the Zhou Dynasty, Wang Bo's previous life. Here, besides the almighty Xuan Tianzi, who could be called King, the princes below him were known as Dukes, Marquises, and Earls, depending on their rank. Furthermore, the court also housed the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, along with numerous scholar-officials.

The so-called "guests" were talented individuals with special skills or extraordinary abilities, hired by the powerful. In this martial world, one of the only two criteria for selecting a guest was personal martial prowess. Those with superior martial arts skills would be favored and employed by the powerful.

However, from Wang Bo's current perspective, the guests at Zhang's residence were at best ordinary people with some strength and martial arts skills. There were very few people with abundant Qi and blood, reaching the so-called "Blood Refining Realm" in this world.

The original body's studies and martial arts were intermittent, and he didn't understand the guests in the mansion and basically acted bossy, which caused the powerful martial artists in the mansion to deliberately distance themselves from him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have run away from home without a bodyguard.