82: The Secret of the Nine Taoist Secrets

“Excellent! Not only has my mental energy recovered, but it has also grown significantly stronger than before!”

Su Can was overjoyed. He knew that the fragments of information in his mind had played a role, and he quickly immersed his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness.

As his consciousness entered the Sea of Consciousness, countless pieces of information and images immediately enveloped him, vast and hazy, making him feel dizzy and disoriented.

Fortunately, this time he was mentally prepared in advance. He gathered his thoughts and found the general outline of all this information.

Even so, he expended a lot of mental effort just to get a rough idea, and for anything he didn't quite understand, he relied on his own imagination to fill in the gaps.

“From this general outline, it turns out that the Daoist Nine Secrets are nine applications for exerting the power of cultivation, not cultivation techniques!”

“For example, the ‘Dou’ (Fight) character secret describes the ultimate combat methods. Learning its fighting techniques allows one to evolve various offensive divine arts, turning decay into wonder!”

“Then there’s the ‘Bing’ (Soldier) character, which broadly talks about how to refine treasures into soldiers, or craft tools into weapons. In terms of novels, it’s the art of artifact refining and manipulation!”

“And the ‘Zu’ (Assemble) character, on the other hand, deals with various techniques for restrictions, talisman creation, and the combination and application of large and small formations.”

However, despite knowing these things, Su Can couldn't delve any deeper.

Because each of the Nine Secrets contained countless pieces of information, and with his current mental strength, he couldn't support browsing and studying them.

“What a pity, there are no cultivation methods after all.”

Su Can took a deep breath and regretfully withdrew from his Sea of Consciousness.

In just this short amount of time, his mental energy had been significantly depleted.

And recovering mental energy required the combined sublimation of solar essence and lunar power to be effective.

But the solar essence and the refined True Yuan stored in his body had already been used up earlier.

So Su Can could only descend from the mountainside and return to his courtyard.

Sitting in the courtyard, looking up at the bright moon and brilliant starlight, he could only stare, not daring to absorb any more.

“Without a cultivation technique, the speed of my body's autonomous transformation and strengthening is simply too slow. Forcibly continuing to absorb would cause my body to collapse from the strain!”

Su Can shook his head and sighed. He knew that some things couldn't be rushed, so he simply stood up and headed to his bedroom, preparing to rest.

But just then, his phone suddenly rang.

Su Can took out his phone and saw, his brows involuntarily raised, Hong Lei!

“It’s this late, why is he calling?”

Su Can was a little puzzled. He pressed the answer button and then heard Hong Lei say in a somewhat low voice, “Young Master Su, I’ve had an unexpected situation here that I think you might be interested in.”

“What kind of situation?” Su Can asked curiously when he heard this.

Hong Lei said, “Today is Yun City’s annual ‘He City’ convention. Just now, someone at the He City convention found a gold-inlaid jade Buddha. Somehow the news leaked, and he was pursued by several martial artists. He just happened to escape into the Dynasty Club!”

“That person is also a martial artist?” Su Can’s eyebrows raised when he heard this; he was indeed interested.

After all, something pursued and stolen by martial artists was definitely not as simple as an ordinary jade Buddha.

“That’s right, the person being pursued is also a martial artist. Yun City, where you might not even encounter one martial artist in several years, unexpectedly has so many this time.”

Hong Lei chuckled twice: “However, that martial artist who escaped into the Dynasty Club was already on his last breath. He managed to escape into the women’s restroom, but he was discovered by our people!”

“Now this jade Buddha is at the Dynasty Club. I wonder if Young Master Su is interested in coming over to see what mystery it holds?”

“Alright, since I have nothing to do, I’ll go over.”

Su Can was indeed quite curious and left immediately.

Once in the car, Su Can didn't hang up the phone. He said to Hong Lei, “Perfect, while I’m driving, tell me about ‘He City.’ Although I’m from Yun City, I’ve never heard of He City.”

Hong Lei said, “Actually, what’s called He City evolved from Jiang City. It’s a water-based trading market that has been around for hundreds of years. Originally, in ancient times, it was a secret trading place for salt smugglers!”

“Later, as it spread, it was imitated in various places and gradually formed a secret trading market, which is essentially the same as a black market!”

“Such markets are generally only known to people in the underworld and martial arts circles, as well as some prominent wealthy families.”

“So that’s how it is. What can be found at He City?”

Su Can asked while driving.

“He City has everything, similar to Panjiayuan in the capital. Anything can appear: treasures, antiques, jade, curiosities, you name it!”

“Antiques, jade curiosities?”

Su Can’s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. Many protagonists in novels have the ability to see through objects, identify treasures, find overlooked items, and get rich.

Since he possessed divine consciousness, which was basically no different from seeing through objects, could he also find some overlooked treasures?

Thinking this, Su Can’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Hong Lei, what time does Yun City’s He City start, and what time does it usually end?”

“It starts at nine and basically ends around eleven-thirty.”

Hong Lei’s answer made Su Can’s eyes light up. It was only a little past ten now, so if he hurried, he could still catch the tail end of the market.

Thinking of this, Su Can said directly, “Alright, I understand. Let’s hang up. I’ll go to the Dynasty Club to see the jade Buddha first. Get ready in advance, and then accompany me to He City later.”

“Understood, Young Master Su!”

Hong Lei hung up the phone after speaking.

Su Can’s speed also sharply increased.

Ten-odd minutes later.

Su Can ran through more than a dozen red lights and rushed to the Dynasty Club in a flurry.

As soon as he got out of the car, Hong Lei and Li Yanbin, along with a group of subordinates, were already waiting at the entrance of the Dynasty Club.

Without a word, Su Can went straight to the point: “Where is the item?”

“Gongzi, the item is in the office upstairs. Please follow me.”

Hong Lei said respectfully, leading the way.

Su Can hummed in acknowledgment and walked through the door, surrounded by people, like stars circling the moon, as he ascended to the top-floor office of the Dynasty Club.

Upon entering the office, Su Can saw a young man lying on the floor.

Su Can’s divine consciousness swept over him, and he knew the young man was beyond saving.

Many of his bones were broken, he had been struck in the chest, his ribs were fractured and had pierced his lungs.

Moreover, his arm and waist also had multiple stab wounds from knives and daggers, and he had clearly lost too much blood and was already unconscious.

“This person can’t be saved. Bury him later.”

Su Can looked back at Hong Lei, then pressed on, “What about the jade Buddha? Bring it out for me to see.”