"Are you sure we should do this? It doesn't feel honorable," Pearyin said as she looked at me.

"Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures," I said, deflecting her argument. "With the city under the coup, we can't afford to act like idiots."

Not that I had any intention of following the idea of honor this new world had in the first place.

Luckily, Pearyin was a waitress just a week ago rather than a martial artist who had been indoctrinated for years, which meant she cared about my opinions more than the expectations of her new station as a high-ranking martial artist. "I understand," she said.

"Do you remember the plan?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm going to rush at the Snow Blossom Apothecary, and threaten them to give me the manuscript while laughing like crazy. Then, I'll take down the people that attack me without killing them, drop the smoke bomb after a minute, and escape to the temporary safe house."

"Exactly," I said as I looked at Pearyin, though she certainly didn't look like herself at the moment, not with the layers of makeup she had on. She looked like an old, sickly woman, with a very visible diseased left arm.

I wore a similar disguise, looking like an old, suffering man under my cloak.

I wanted them to search for a team of crazed, hopeless apothecaries after the attack.

Luckily, it was still dark, which made their job of catching anyone even harder.

We were at the Snow Blossom Apothecary for two reasons. The first reason was to add to the chaos. My little trick with the Tiger Fist made people tense, but I preferred them to be a little more distracted if I were to have any hope of extracting Elsana from the siege.

The second reason was simpler. I ran out of herbs. Pushing Pearyin to the Peak of the Skin Refinement realm consumed my stockpile of herbs, and more importantly, the snow essence I stored in the Inventory. I needed a superior stockpile to refine more pills.

After living there for a week, I knew exactly which untouched herb storages to hit, and which gardens to harvest. Get in, collect, get out. All I needed was a minute.

Pearyin might be inexperienced, but with her Peak Skin Refinement cultivation, a minute was easy. I had already scouted the compound. With the most valuable items already removed, they left the task of guarding the place to Muscle Reinforcement experts.

Even if Skin Refinement experts reacted, I doubted they would dare to attack a desperate expert of unknown style.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yes, Master," she said, and I moved to the other side of the compound, ready to move before she acted. I didn't want to waste the opportunity. Whatever was about to go in the arena was my best chance to make a difference, I wanted to be ready for it.

And, even if that failed, having a variety of pills I could use wouldn't hurt.

"Hey, old lady. Stop, you can't walk in here," a guard shouted.

"Give me the Snow Blossom Art, or I kill all of you, you pathetic worms!" Pearyin shouted in reply, followed by a loud thud. Like a body slamming against a wall. I could hear the nervousness in her tone, but I hoped that her sudden appearance was scary enough to distract the guards.

"She's a Skin Refinement expert! Call reinforcements," the guards shouted while the compound suddenly exploded in fear. Some guards moved to help, and some actually retreated to a distance. The important part, they stopped paying attention to the compound.

I infiltrated the compound and moved toward the inner garden, pulling some of the most precious plants off the ground as I moved toward the storage room, using snow essence to preserve their effect and protect myself from poisoning.

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The large bag I prepared was already half-full when I arrived at the storage room I had been targeting. It was locked.

"Why not a little gift," I said as I used a distinctive Demon Claw technique to break the lock. I had already framed Tiger Fist for taking the Volcano Hammer, which made revenge from Demon Claw a believable response.

I didn't expect to create some kind of civil war with that trick, but there was no harm in spreading some distrust. I was sure that it could be useful sometimes.

The irony of using frat house prank tactics during a civil war was delicious.

As I plundered the storage room, only taking the things I needed rather than the expensive stuff, I couldn't help but be annoyed at the fact that my Inventory only worked one way. It would have been very convenient to stuff everything inside.

Once I filled the bag, I closed the door and retreated, the whole operation not even taking thirty seconds. Hopefully, they wouldn't even notice my burglary for a while.

Pearyin already retreated back. Meanwhile, I used my movement speed advantage to arrive at the meeting spot before her. I even circled around to make sure there was no one following her before I showed myself. "Good work."

"Thank you, Master," she said, still breathing hard after the encounter. With the adrenaline rush she experienced, it was understandable. It was her first real fight, yet she took down existences she wasn't even supposed to be able to look at. "What now?"

"Now, I want you to take off your disguise, take the bag, and go back to the house while staying hidden."

"What about you, Master?" she asked, worried.

I caressed her cheek as I chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I have a couple of errands I need to finish, then I'll return. Just meditate and wait for me."

She left, but I had a different plan. Still in my disguise, I wanted to see if I could add some more chaos in the mixture, knowing that, if the worst happened, I could escape. While refining pills, I had also made smoke bombs, as well as some fire starters that would put napalm to shame, and I was still faster than them.

I moved toward where they were gathered "Surround the area. She can't be too far away," someone shouted, unaware that we had long emptied that area. The disciples spread, and I moved behind them.

In the darkness, coming from the opposite direction they had been approaching, taking Muscle Refinement artists down was trivial. Just a dash and a grab, followed by a needle sinking to a critical acupuncture.

Volcano Essence was useful in forging weapons, its scorching heat destroying the impurities in the metal. It was even more useful destroying acupuncture points and meridians, ruining their cultivation permanently before I left them down, to be discovered by their allies.

I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as I did that. It ruined their life, but it was still easier than killing. They might not consider it a mercy, but that was not my problem.

I had taken down eight Muscle Reinforcement martial artists in less than a minute, five city guards, and three from Tiger Fist. I had the opportunity to take down a few Demon Claw Disciples as well, but I deliberately avoided them.

After all, I wanted some inconvenient questions to be asked.

"Gather together. Someone's attacking us," one of the Skin Refinement artists shouted — the loudness of his shout was high enough to reveal his cultivation — and the disciples started to gather toward them. Of course, he just thought his disciples to be unconscious, and not their cultivation ruined.

That was a surprise for the future.

I moved to his location faster than his allies. I was glad to see that he was an instructor of the Tiger Fist, which meant my little ploy wouldn't be ruined.

I deliberately kept my face revealed, which was covered in scars and boils. "Tell your superiors to give me the Snow Blossom manuscript, or you won't be the only one," I said.

"What are you talking about, you madman? How dare you fight against us —" he started, but switched to a devastating attack when I continued to rush forward. "Tiger's Revenge!" he shouted even as he used a Skin Refinement realm attack.

Too bad for him, that I knew that attack better than him. Rather than pulling back like he expected, I rushed forward, dodging it easily, and stabbed his arm with a needle, which not only delivered a poison, but also a blast of Volcano Essence.

It wasn't enough to disable him completely, but it was still enough to take away the use of his arm for a moment. "What did you do —" he started as he found his arm not working. The only reason I was able to stab through the defenses of a Skin Refinement martial artist was the quality of the needles that I received from the System.

Profound Peak-Grade was truly magnificent.

"Just something to make sure my lesson stuck," I said as I stuck close. He tried to defend against me, but his attacks were easy to predict, and even easier to counter. My knowledge of Tiger Fist, combined with my martial talent, made the achievement trivial.

Ten seconds was all I needed to destroy his cultivation completely. "Remember. I want the Snow Blossom manuscript at the city gate tomorrow morning, or I get serious."

With that, I threw a smoke bomb on the ground and moved away while they were coughing madly.

This was a fascinating achievement. Unfortunately, I still remembered that random true cultivator that I came across when I arrived in this world, and the shimmering barrier that kept the manor safe from an army was another reminder.