One more catty, one more attribute point

The atmosphere in the Red Mansion was bustling.

Even Su Heng, who generally had little interest in such performances, felt that his trip was worthwhile after watching.

The grand event continued until the Hour of Hai, around eleven o'clock at night.

Only then did it conclude and the crowd gradually dispersed.

Chen Murong had drunk a bit too much wine and was already somewhat tipsy.

Su Heng first escorted her back to the small courtyard of Jiangyue Pavilion, then returned to the registration area to collect the items left behind by the Demon Suppression Bureau.

This was a huge wooden box, one meter wide and over two meters long.

It looked like a large coffin.

If one were not proficient in martial arts, a normal person would indeed struggle to lift such a massive box.

Back in his separate courtyard, Su Heng opened the box, most of the contents of which had been gathered from the secret stash of the Xu Family.

Gold, silver, antiques, and precious jewels.

These worldly riches occupied the majority of the space within the box.

But these were precisely the items that Su Heng cared least about; they were burdensome to carry, yet felt somewhat wasteful to discard.

Forget it...

He would find time to store them at Su Li's place.

The most valuable items in the secret stash of the Xu Family numbered only three.

The first valuable item was the Demon Summoning Powder that Su Heng had previously encountered, enough to fill a jar. As the lid was opened, a faint dust scent permeated the room, mostly ineffective against humans.

But for demons, it possessed a significant attraction.

The unintelligent demon slaves or newly aware demons would be provoked into aggression by the scent of the Demon Summoning Powder.

Even the more intelligent demons,

upon encountering the Demon Summoning Powder, would become irritable.

Beyond a large jar of the finished product, there were also instructions for making the Demon Summoning Powder.

Su Heng briefly glanced at them; some of the ingredients listed were so unfamiliar that he would have to seek help for their collection and preparation if needed in the future.

The second valuable item was a transcendent martial arts technique called "Minor Five Elements Fist."

If the Green Wood Longevity Technique was first-rate and the Pure Yang Skill was third-rate, then this "Minor Five Elements Fist" would be somewhat second-rate.

It was not an incredibly profound boxing technique.

But the advantage it offered was its breadth, with some of its boxing principles appearing quite noteworthy to Su Heng.

Su Heng carefully set it aside, planning to delve into it when he had time in the future, possibly gaining some insights.

As for the third item, it was the heaviest and the most valuable in the entire box.

It was a giant blade nearly two meters in length.

The giant blade was dark red in color and not sharp; the blade even had noticeable nicks as if it had been through many fierce battles. The most peculiar aspect was the material of the weapon, which felt neither like metal nor jade but resembled some special type of bone.

Yet when held, it was two to three times heavier than steel of the same volume, making it extraordinarily heavy.

"A weapon made from the materials derived from a demon's body?" Su Heng was somewhat delighted.

He had previously considered using knives or swords, but there were two issues to consider.

The first issue was that even weapons forged from Hundred-refined Steel could not withstand the intensity of the battles he currently faced. The second issue was that weapons forged from ordinary materials would lose some kinetic energy in the transmission, making them less lethal than bare fists.

Weaopns forged from some special materials could solve both these issues.

Like the longsword in Su Li's hand.

Not only was it tough, but it also enhanced the martial artist's own strength to a certain extent. Su Heng had previously played with two of them.

Unfortunately, that sword was too delicate.

Held in Su Heng's hand, it did not resemble a sword, but rather a dagger.

On him, it looked particularly clumsy, which made Su Li laugh uncontrollably.

The sword inside the box was very nice; both its weight and size were well-suited for the current Su Heng.

Inside the box, there was also a leather sheath that could be tied around the body.

Made from wild beast hide, it was very new and must have been specially placed there by Su Li.

Su Heng infused his strength into the dark red long sword, and in an instant, the blade seemed to burn with a dark flame, raising the temperature of the room significantly.

"The efficiency of force transmission is around seventy to eighty percent, still inferior to Su Li's sword, but still quite good," Su Heng said as he tucked the dark red sword into the leather sheath and slung it on his back.

Take it out, put it back.

He repeated it several times, all very conveniently, without encountering any jamming issues at critical moments.

Feeling something was missing, Su Heng pondered and then his eyes lit up, "Right!"

"It needs a name," he thought for a moment and then quickly came up with an idea, "Ghost of Sorrow, that's a very good name."

Su Heng was very pleased with the name he had chosen.

When fighting, he always relied on brute force to overpower his opponents, so whether he used a sword or his fists didn't make much difference to him.

He continued to look through the items in the box.

Apart from the Xu Family's secret treasure, there were also gifts from the Demon Suppression Bureau.

These included copies of cultivation techniques, medicines, precious materials, and so on; Su Heng pulled out a small booklet to browse through.

This booklet contained information about the power dynamics in the surroundings of Baihua County.

It included both noble families and demons.

For Su Heng, who was unfamiliar with the area, this booklet was very valuable.

But for now, he did not plan to spend his energy on studying it; he had more important things to do, so he would wait until tomorrow.

Carrying "Ghost of Sorrow," Su Heng left his room.

The night was clear, and the moonlight was beautiful.

"A perfect night for killing," Su Heng mused. He estimated that the Luo Family members should all be back at home by now after the festival, relaxed and unsuspecting. The timing was ideal for an attack.

So, without further hesitation, he immediately began his action.

*

*

*

Meanwhile.

In an underground palace within the Luo Family's earthen fort, terrifying growls could be heard.

The dim light in the crypt flickered, the fiery red candlelight swayed back and forth, and the chains hanging from the ceiling clanged, with hooked ends bearing several dried and withered corpses. In the center of the palace, between nine giant stone pillars, was a huge circular blood pool with a diameter of over five meters.

A nearly three-meter-tall giant, bathing in the blood pool, had skin that was a strange blue-black color, with lush hair, protruding fangs, and blood-red eyes.

His face was ferocious, and from his boar-like protruding mouth came uncontrollable painful groans.

"I'm so hungry…"

Next to him, several Luo Family elders held trays, their faces pale as they approached.

On the plates, fresh, viscous organs were piled up like a small mountain. Judging by the yellow fat smeared on them, these organs seemed to have been freshly harvested from living bodies, some of them still twitching incessantly.