I manage female characters in all the heavens.

Zhu Wushi remained motionless, but a terrifying suction force enveloped the man in black like an invisible prison. He coldly shouted, "Arrogant! Who sent you? Speak!"

However, the man in black seemed to have anticipated this, and the moment he uttered the terms of the deal, his body leaned back.

Faced with the terrifying suction force of the Divine Marquis, he not only did not resist, but instead reversed his cultivation technique and actively released his true energy, generously giving it to the Divine Marquis.

He spat out a mouthful of black blood, which splattered onto the clean floor. His eyes quickly became unfocused, his body went limp, and his life was extinguished in an instant.

Zhu Wushi's suction force failed, and his face became even more gloomy.

He reached out and grabbed the jade box, his fingertips trembling slightly as he opened it.

The box was lined with brocade, and a shriveled, unremarkable bean lay quietly inside.

Zhu Wushi gasped for breath, carefully picked up a bean, and examined it closely.

Its shape, color, and even the faint, strange medicinal fragrance... were exactly the same as the one he had fed to Su Xin back then.

It's truly heavenly cardamom!

Ecstasy and doubt clashed within him.

He suddenly looked at the dead man in black on the ground, pulled off his mask to examine his face, but found that his features seemed to have been smoothed out by a great force, and he could not recognize him at all.

Even his entire body, including his skin, bones, and flesh, showed signs of artificial alteration, destroying his original appearance and making it impossible for him to find any characteristics that could be used to verify his identity.

Zhu Wushi's face was gloomy. He had seen this method before. It was a kind of evil ninjutsu from Japan. When cultivated to a high level, it could completely change a person's appearance and even gender.

This person did not master the ninjutsu themselves; rather, it was forcibly modified by someone else, making its original form impossible to ascertain.

“Japan…” Zhu Wushi’s eyes were cold and burning with anger.

Damn it, there are too many schools of ninjutsu in Japan that have mastered this technique, it's impossible to figure out who did it!

He turned his gaze back to the jade box, pulled out the brocade inside, and sure enough, found a thin piece of silk underneath.

The inscription contained only one line of small characters: "Tomorrow at Hai hour, thirty li west of the city, at the abandoned mountain god temple. This Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom is a sincere gift to the Divine Marquis, but if you want the last one, you must exchange it for the Absorption Technique."

The handwriting was neat but unremarkable, clearly an attempt to conceal the truth. There were no clues on the body that could identify the person or their origin, and even the teeth contained poison sacs, indicating that the person was beyond dead.

Zhu Wushi held the thin silk and the fragrant cardamom, pacing back and forth in the study for a long time.

The other party's actions were so secretive and decisive; the assassins sending the message were clearly to prevent him from following the clues.

They not only knew about the Absorption Technique, but also about his deepest desire—Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom.

This was a carefully orchestrated scheme against him.

To go or not to go?

If we don't go, this might be the only chance to save Su Xin.

Two of the three Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom pods have already been used, and only the last one is needed to save Su Xin's life. It's truly a godsend.

Going there would undoubtedly be stepping into an unknown trap. What the other party wants is the Absorption Technique, a martial art of great importance that must not be lightly passed on.

But... pure heart.

The image of Su Xin's pale yet gentle face appeared in his mind, and Zhu Wushi slowly loosened his clenched fist.

For Su Xin's sake, he would brave any danger, especially since he was invincible and fearless of any ambush.

He could kill 30,000 men, let alone 300!

"Tianya and the others must not know about this." Zhu Wushi's gaze swept across the quiet courtyard outside the study.

Duan Tianya, Guihai Yidao, Shangguan Haitang...

He trusted his adopted sons, daughters, and spies, and had devoted himself to training them over the years. He believed that even if they knew he possessed the "Power Absorption Technique," they would not think badly of him and would even help him keep it a secret.

However, the fewer people who know the secret of the Absorption Technique, the better. Throughout history, trust has never been able to withstand the test, and he did not want to test his three masterpieces now.

This matter must be handled by him personally and in secret.

The next day, around 9 PM.

Zhu Wushi changed into an inconspicuous dark gray casual outfit, and without any attendants, he left the Dragon Guard Manor silently, like a shadow blending into the night, heading straight for the west of the city.

Thirty miles away, in the desolate wilderness, the dilapidated mountain god temple stood alone under the moonlight, its crumbling walls covered with cobwebs.

Zhu Wushi drifted into the temple like a ghost, his sharp gaze sweeping over every corner.

The temple was empty, with only broken statues and dust covering the floor.

Zhu Wushi turned his gaze to the back of the statue.

"The Divine Marquis has arrived." A figure dressed in the same black as the man from last night slowly emerged from the shadows behind the statue, his voice equally hoarse and flat.

Zhu Wushi stood with his hands behind his back, his imposing aura as deep and majestic as if he were the master of this place.

"I have examined the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom and it is indeed genuine. I can give you the Absorption Technique, but I must see another Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom first." He stated his conditions directly, attempting to seize the initiative.

The man in black shook his head: "My Lord, you are wise enough to know that the Heavenly Fragrance Bean is neither on me nor here."

Zhu Wushi's eyes turned cold: "You're playing me?"

"I wouldn't dare," the man in black replied calmly. "It's just that the Divine Marquis is unparalleled in martial arts, invincible under heaven. If we bring Doukou with us, I'm afraid the deal might not even go through before the Divine Marquis kills us and steals her away in one move."

"Therefore, the cardamom is stored in another safe place. Please ask the Divine Lord to write the complete mental formula of the 'Absorption Technique' on this specially made silk."

As he spoke, he took out a roll of pale gold silk and an ink brush from his bosom and placed them on the half-fallen offering table beside him.

"The Divine Marquis may have written down the cultivation method in advance and brought it with him, but we don't want that copy. Please write a copy for us now, so that you don't deceive us with a flawless fake."

Zhu Wushi's heart sank. He had actually spent time preparing a fake Absorption Technique that looked quite convincing, but the other party had seen through it!

"Write down the cultivation method, and you'll take me to get the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom?" Zhu Wushi sneered. "If you take the cultivation method but can't hand over the cardamom, or give me fakes, wouldn't I lose both my wife and my army?"

This could really cost your wife dearly!

The man in black had a plan: "God Marquis can write down half of the cultivation method first and leave it here for my companions to check. I will then immediately take God Marquis to the next reception point."

"Once we arrive there, another person will meet us and inform us whether the first half of the cultivation method you wrote down has been verified as true."

“If it’s true, then we’ll have someone else guide us; if it’s false, or if the Divine Marquis causes trouble midway…” He paused, “then the deal is terminated, and the Divine Marquis will never know the whereabouts of the second Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom.”

"Moreover, the secret of Shenhou's possession of the Absorption Technique will no longer be a secret."

Zhu Wushi's face remained ashen.

The other party had considered everything very carefully, using a relay system to spread the risk, making it impossible for him to seize Doukou or force him to reveal her whereabouts by controlling a single contact.

Every step he took hit his weak points—his concern for Su Xin and his fear of the secret of the Absorption Technique being revealed.

Most importantly, the other party had clearly calculated that he valued Su Xin far more than the Absorption Technique, and was betting that he wouldn't dare to gamble with Su Xin's future.

Silence spread through the dilapidated temple, with only the mournful sound of the night wind blowing through the broken walls.

Zhu ignored the intense inner struggle.

Handing over the Absorption Technique carries unpredictable risks; but refusing it could extinguish any hope of Su Xin's revival.

With Gu Santong freed, Cao Zhengchun missing, and Yunluo rising up, the political situation became delicate, and his original plans were no longer in motion. Whether he could even sit on the throne was still uncertain.

But if we can save Su Xin and live happily ever after with her, then whether we sit on this throne or not is not so important.

Ultimately, his obsession with Su Xin overcame all caution.

He walked to the offering table, picked up the ink brush, hesitated for a moment, and then began to write on the pale gold silk.

His brushstrokes flow like dragons and snakes, each character brimming with genuine energy; ordinary people simply cannot imitate his spirit.

He wrote down the basic principles of the Absorption Technique, the practice route, the absorption techniques, the methods for neutralizing foreign energies, and even some of his unique insights, all of which are genuine.

However, regarding the most profound and core secrets of the Absorption Technique, such as how to efficiently refine different types of true qi to make it pure, and how to merge spirit and true qi to form higher-level true qi when one's skill is too profound and loses control, and then forcibly compress it to resolve the crisis and enter the highest level of the Absorption Technique, he paused slightly and subtly made some ambiguity and deviation.

Those who have not personally cultivated to an extremely high level will find it difficult to perceive the subtle errors, and may not be able to discover them even after ten or twenty years.

If one were to cultivate the Absorption Technique to an extremely high level according to this method, the cultivator would basically be dead.

He was determined to make a deal, but he also had to have a backup plan. Iron-Blooded Marquis would never suffer such a loss in silence!

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the silk was covered with densely packed characters.

Zhu Wushi put down his pen, rolled up the silk, and handed it to the man in black. "The first half is unnecessary. I'll give you the whole book. Take it. Now, lead the way."

The man in black took the silk scroll, carefully examined its appearance, and placed it behind the statue after confirming that everything was in order.

He didn't check the content, nor did he have the expertise to understand it; the verifier was someone else.

The reason he wanted to leave with Zhu Wushi immediately was to prevent Zhu Wushi from taking down the obviously higher-ranking verifier on the spot.

“My Lord, please come with me.”

The two left the deserted temple one after the other and traversed the rugged mountain forest.

Soon, another man in black entered the temple and took away the cultivation technique written by Zhu Wushi.

Zhu Wushi possessed over a thousand years of internal energy, making his spiritual sense incredibly strong; he detected the event even from hundreds of meters away.

He sighed inwardly, "They're really cautious. They even let the assassins take the technique away first to verify it elsewhere. We can't catch them red-handed."

It's entirely conceivable that after the man in black took the cultivation technique, it would probably have to change hands several times before it reached the actual user.

He didn't actually come alone this time; he brought Yagyu Tajima-no-kami along and had him hide in the shadows.

The task of obtaining the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom was naturally undertaken by Zhu Wushi himself, while the task of tracking the cultivation technique to find the mastermind was naturally assigned to Yagyu Tajima-no-kami.

Yagyu Tajima-no-kami is a seasoned veteran who has worked for him for over a decade. Although they haven't communicated, he would certainly understand this and make the right choice.

The man in black was quite skilled, but to Zhu Wushi, it was nothing special; he was able to follow him with ease.

After traveling about a hundred miles, they came to a secluded mountain stream, where there was a simple woodcutter's hut with a faint light shining through.

The man in black stopped outside and said to Zhu Wushi, "Lord Shenhou, please come in. The next person is inside. He will inform you of the preliminary results of the cultivation technique verification and continue to guide you. My task ends here."

After saying that, he didn't go into the house, but turned around and quickly disappeared into the forest. Immediately afterwards, an explosion came from the forest. It turned out that he had hidden explosives and blown himself up so that there was no body left. The level of secrecy was extremely high.

Zhu Wushi narrowed his eyes slightly and pushed open the door to enter.

The room was simply furnished, and under the oil lamp, another man dressed in black stood quietly waiting.

Upon seeing Zhu Wushi enter, he cupped his hands and said, "Divine Marquis, after preliminary examination, the cultivation method you wrote is unimpeded and is indeed a profound and superior mental cultivation method. Its effects are consistent with the legends. Please follow me to the next place."

Zhu Wushi felt somewhat relieved. At least the other party had initially acknowledged the authenticity of the technique, which also meant that they had experts on their side who could understand and verify it.

He said calmly, "Let's go."

And so, overnight, Zhu Wushi, led by several men in black, went to four different places and met with four different contact persons.