"Kid..."

Old Baker said impatiently, "Don't make me use force!"

He glanced sideways at William Grant and threatened, "With your measly skills, I could chop your damn head off with a single sword strike!"

"My master is a guest elder of Lianyun Sect, and Apothecary Zhu is my martial uncle. You'd better not do anything rash."

William Grant slowly backed away. He understood now—people like Old Baker live hand to mouth, are short-sighted, and even the smallest profit is enough to provoke their viciousness.

He had to be careful; the other guy really might attack.

Reminded by William Grant, Old Baker calmed down a bit. He snorted, "Don't bother with that nonsense. My purple datura flowers are not for free!"

"Fine, I'll pay ten Deer Antler Pills for these purple datura flowers."

William Grant didn't want to argue with him. Once he finished refining the Bewildering Powder, he wouldn't have to fear Old Baker anymore.

He'd let him have his way for today.

Old Baker's eyes darted. "No way, twenty Deer Antler Pills!"

"Forget it, then."

William Grant took two more steps back, waving his hand dismissively, signaling Old Baker to take the purple datura flowers and leave quickly.

Seeing how resolute William Grant was, Old Baker could only agree reluctantly.

He spent two more spirit stones to buy twenty Deer Antler Pills.

As he left, Old Baker specifically warned William Grant not to sell the Deer Antler Pills to anyone else!

After this confrontation, William Grant became even more aware of how dangerous Old Baker was.

As soon as Old Baker left, he hurried to light the fire and start refining the Bewildering Powder.

With the Wind and Moon Mirror, William Grant raised his Bewildering Powder skills to the master level. Combined with his previous alchemy experience, it took him less than a day to produce the Bewildering Powder.

A large handful of powder, as fine as dust, looked almost transparent and colorless, emitting a faint, elusive fragrance.

William Grant used a small gourd he had prepared in advance to store all the Bewildering Powder, screwed the lid on tightly, and sealed in the powder's properties.

He had just taken a White Dew Pill, in case of poisoning.

The White Dew Pill couldn't directly detoxify, but it could protect the mind, ward off evil, and condense qi. Although not a direct antidote, it was more than enough to resist a low-level drug like Bewildering Powder.

Yet, just now, after catching a faint whiff of the powder's scent, he felt the world spin and almost fainted on the spot.

The master-level Bewildering Powder was far more potent than he had imagined.

William Grant realized this could be troublesome. There was no antidote for this stuff, so he had to be extremely careful when using it. If he knocked himself out before anyone else, that would be a real joke.

It seemed that using Bewildering Powder for self-defense wasn't such a clever idea after all.

He needed to come up with a safer, more reliable way to protect himself.

William Grant took out the Wind and Moon Mirror; all his stats had increased slightly.

His Ice Arrow and Flame Burst spells had both reached the proficient level.

But according to Old Baker, these spells were too slow to cast and hard to use effectively in combat.

Old Baker might have questionable character, but as a cultivator who often hunted in the mountains, he was rich in combat experience and probably had no reason to lie.

William Grant felt a bit uncertain. These two spells looked powerful, but would he actually be able to hit anyone with them? And if he did, how much damage would they do?

He really had no confidence at all.

Old Baker also said that swords and knives were still the most useful!

William Grant glanced at the pine-patterned longsword by his bed. With his clumsy swordsmanship, he'd probably die even faster in a fight.

The super-fast hand speed of his Lightning Dragon Subduing Hand helped with swordplay, but didn't actually improve his skills.

"Wait a minute..."

Suddenly, William Grant had a flash of inspiration. He thought of a certain sect leader who castrated himself and practiced a peerless sword technique, and to take advantage of his speed, switched to using embroidery needles.

His Lightning Dragon Subduing Hand didn't give him much of an edge with a sword, but it should make flicking flying needles very easy.

William Grant had seen some videos of people using flying needles, flicking them with their fingers and relying entirely on wrist strength. He'd found it quite amazing at the time.

With his Lightning Dragon Subduing Hand, this would be a piece of cake.

Thinking of this, William Grant grew excited.

He packed up his things, brought along several talismans, and fastened the pine-patterned longsword to his diexie (a type of belt).

A diexie is a multifunctional wide belt that can carry various items. The sword is hung on the diexie using a jianzhi.

A jianzhi is the sword's nose, a hook set into the scabbard. This way of wearing a sword is more stable and makes it easier to draw.

Although William Grant wasn't skilled with a sword, wearing one projected a tough image, which could deter trouble.

He held a Golden Body Talisman in his left hand, hidden in his sleeve. Feeling fully prepared, he finally left the house.

He'd been here for a while now, and the farthest he'd gone was next door to Old Baker's place.

Leaving home, William Grant walked slowly along the yellow dirt road.

The houses on either side were built without any unified plan; whether made of brick or earth, they all looked haphazard, and the courtyard walls came in all shapes and sizes, making the place look especially chaotic.

Firewood, bricks, and all sorts of miscellaneous items were piled everywhere along the road, along with countless bits of household trash, heaped up randomly and attracting swarms of mosquitoes and flies.

William Grant was no stranger to this kind of scene. His old home in the countryside had been like this, only here it was even messier and dirtier.

He passed a few cultivators along the way, and everyone kept a cautious distance. But there were two female cultivators who looked at William Grant with great curiosity, their sparkling eyes showing a strong interest in him.