Transaction

Three days later, within Xuzhou City, on streets bustling with heavy traffic.

Fu Junzhuo walked ahead in a daze, followed by Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, who were equally lost and listless.

Though three days had already passed, and Bao'an Hall had undergone multiple rounds of cleansing, burning, disinfection, and other procedures, the three still felt a thick stench of blood hanging in the air, impossible to disperse.

Everything that had happened three days ago was carved into their hearts; they could see it the moment they closed their eyes.

"I've decided!"

Kou Zhong suddenly stopped, clenched his fists, and said, "I'm going back to take a master!"

"Take a master?"

Xu Ziling froze, staring at him in astonishment. "Take whom as your master?"

"Of course, Divine Doctor Xu—no, Mister Qingyang!"

Kou Zhong clenched both fists, his eyes full of yearning. "With a flipped hand, he summoned clouds; with an overturned hand, he brought rain. Laughing and talking, he swatted that bastard Yuwen Huaji into a dead fly. A real man ought to be like that! I must take him as my master, master martial arts like his, shake the world, and roam the martial world..."

"What kind of nonsense is that? I told you not to read so many of those idle books!"

Xu Ziling was speechless as he looked at the excited Kou Zhong. "You think he'll accept you just because you go ask?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

Kou Zhong turned back, his expression utterly serious. "I asked around already. Mister Qingyang has always accepted disciples widely. More than half the disciples at Bao'an Hall came from poor families or were orphans, just like us. If Mister Qingyang could accept them, he could naturally accept us too. Xiao Ling, let's go together?"

"This..."

Hearing that, Xu Ziling fell into hesitation as well.

Fortunately, Fu Junzhuo came back to her senses in time. "You must not!"

"Must not?"

Kou Zhong looked at her in confusion. "Why, Mother?"

"This..."

Fu Junzhuo hesitated before finally saying, "This man is unfathomable. His scheming and cunning are even more terrifying. He is an exceedingly dreadful, exceedingly dangerous existence. The two of you must never become entangled with him."

"Is he?"

Kou Zhong tilted his head. "But I think Mister Qingyang is a good man. Look, he healed your injuries, Mother, swatted that bastard Yuwen Huaji to death, and even gave us a copied version of the Longevity Art. He's practically the greatest good man under heaven."

"You don't understand!"

Fu Junzhuo dearly wanted to explain, but she did not know where to begin. She could only say, "In any case, listen to Mother. Never become entangled with this person. He is dangerous—very, very dangerous!"

"This..."

Kou Zhong hesitated.

"All right. We'll do whatever Mother says."

Seeing how solemn Fu Junzhuo was, Xu Ziling sided with her and persuaded Kou Zhong, "Mother would never harm us. Besides, since Divine Doctor Xu sent us out, it means he had no intention of taking us as disciples. There's no point in going back now. We might as well properly cultivate the Longevity Art with Mother."

"This... all right."

Hearing that, Kou Zhong did not insist any longer, though he was somewhat disappointed.

Elsewhere, in the dungeon beneath the Xuzhou Government Office.

Yuwen Huaji wore prison clothes, his face pale as he stared uncertainly at the man before him.

"Well? Have you thought it over?"

Xu Yang sat before him and said with a light smile, "One book for one life. A very fair transaction."

"..."

Yuwen Huaji was silent for a while before finally saying, "The original manual is in the hands of the clan lord. I can only hand-copy one for you."

"That's fine!"

Xu Yang nodded. "One book for one life. Yuwen Chengdu, Yuwen Wudi, Yuwen Shiji, Yuwen Zhiji, as well as the many experts, guard soldiers, and private troops of your Yuwen Clan—all of them may be traded for."

"..."

Yuwen Huaji fell silent again. Only after a long time did he say, "I don't have that many."

One book for one life sounded simple enough, but how many supreme martial arts like the Ice Profound Force, capable of "Spirit Condensation Dao Integration," existed in the world?

Though Yuwen Huaji was the Second-in-Command of the Yuwen Clan, with authority to draw upon the Yuwen Clan Treasury and even reach into the Imperial Treasury, and though he had accumulated quite a bit of private wealth while roaming the martial world in recent years, he still lacked the means to ransom back Yuwen Chengdu and the other Yuwen Clan experts.

Now he finally understood why Xu Yang had shown mercy three days ago. Not only had he spared his life, but he had merely captured, rather than killed, the Yuwen Clan's experts. So it was all for kidnapping, extortion, and ransom.

If he could, he truly did not want to let the other man have his way.

But that "if" did not exist. Including himself, the Four Great Masters of the Yuwen Clan, Chief Strategist Yuwen Zhiji, and a group of trusted aides, private troops, and guards had all fallen in Xuzhou City.

Though the Yuwen Clan possessed a vast family fortune, it could not endure such losses. Therefore, no matter what, he had to pay the ransom.

But he did not have that many supreme martial arts!

What should he do?

Yuwen Huaji was caught between a rock and a hard place.

After a moment, he cautiously asked, "Would gold, silver, grain, and fodder do?"

Xu Yang smiled. "They would."

"How much?"

"For the Four Great Masters of the Yuwen Clan, each requires one martial arts manual equivalent to the Ice Profound Force. The rest may be redeemed with gold, silver, grain, and fodder. Those at aura qi require ten thousand taels, those at True Qi require five thousand, and those with Inner Force, along with the guard soldiers..."

"..."

Yuwen Huaji was silent for a while in the face of Xu Yang's terms, but ultimately nodded. "As you say, sir. I will personally write a letter and send it to the Yuwen Clan. The required items can be dispatched soon. I hope you will keep your promise."

Xu Yang smiled and said no more. He directly had someone bring the Four Treasures of the Study, then rose and left the prison.

As he had said before, killing was merely a means, not the goal.

Yuwen Huaji bore him no deep grievances, so there was naturally no reason he absolutely had to kill him.

On the contrary, a living Yuwen Huaji could bring him greater profit and greater benefits.

These ransoms were merely one part of that.

Beyond that, he needed Yuwen Huaji alive and returned to Yang Guang's side, to fulfill his historical mission: throw the realm into turmoil and open the game of Dragon Contention.

For that reason, he had half-sold and half-given the surviving Yuwen Clan experts, guard soldiers, and private troops back to him.

As for whether this would be letting a tiger return to the mountain?

Whether it was the Yuwen Huaji of history or the Yuwen Huaji of the novels, neither had met a good end. Xu Yang would not even need to deal with him; others could clean him up completely.

So what tiger was there to release, and what mountain was there to return to?

Unless, after returning, he immediately mobilized all the Yuwen Clan's strength and persuaded Yang Guang to send troops against Xuzhou, wagering the final national fortune of the entire Great Sui Dynasty—only then could he pose even a certain degree of threat.

But would he do that?

Obviously not!

Because it would bring him no benefit whatsoever. As one in power, rationality and cold-bloodedness were indispensable traits. Only profit could drive him, not personal grievances, love, hatred, or resentment.

He could not possibly take such a tremendous risk and wager his entire family fortune on a gamble with Xu Yang that would leave him grievously weakened even if he won.

Therefore, after returning, not only would he not come looking for trouble with Xu Yang, he would also contract the Yuwen Clan's forces, avoid further clashes with Xu Yang, and preserve his own strength as much as possible. Only then could he gain a foothold in this turbulent age of wind and clouds.

Xu Yang believed Yuwen Huaji had the brains for that. Even if he did not, the others in the Yuwen Clan would make sure he did.

If there was truly any hidden danger, it was that some of Xu Yang's secrets would be exposed—for example, how he had substituted the plum for the peach among Xuzhou's great clans, secretly forged Guard Iron Armor, and already taken Xuzhou firmly into his actual control.

If this news spread, the great clans throughout the realm would surely feel endangered, regard him as their greatest enemy, and perhaps even rise together to attack him, determined to eliminate him as quickly as possible.

After all, such methods were too horrifying, too extreme. They had already touched the bottom line of the great clans.

But there was no helping it. Xu Yang had no choice, because this world differed from the previous Great Zhou World.

In the previous Great Zhou, the historical point came after the Sui-Tang Era, in the Song-Yuan Era. After a series of upheavals, the power of the great clans had been greatly weakened. The separation between the martial world and the imperial court, neither wholly apart nor wholly connected, was the best proof.

But this world was different. History was now in the Sui-Tang Era. Through the four hundred years of the Eastern and Western Han, the great clans had already sunk their roots deep. Then came the Three Kingdoms and Wei-Jin Periods; the illegitimately founded Sima regime and the implementation of the Nine-Rank System drove the great clans' power fully to its peak.

Even the Five Barbarians' Invasion that followed did not affect this. On the contrary, it further strengthened the great clans, leading to today's Four Great Clans, Five Surnames Seven Clans, Eight Great Clans, and Guanlong Nobility—each and every one a colossal entity with a heritage spanning centuries, nearly a millennium.

This showed the strength of the great clans. Great Sui had perished after only two generations; aside from Yang Guang being such an utter disaster, his establishment of the Imperial Examination, which the great clans resisted, was also a rather important factor.

Therefore, in this world, Xu Yang could not do as he had in the Great Zhou World during the Hundred Broken Mountain period—win the tolerance of the great clans through profit-sharing, business dealings, and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Because those bastards had been kings and overlords for too long. They had turned into a pack of insatiable jackals and starving tigers, wanting to swallow every scrap of profit whole. They had no desire to share with Xu Yang, even if the split was seventy-thirty, eighty-twenty, or even ninety-ten.

And Xu Yang did not possess absolute martial strength. He could not, as he had in Great Zhou, challenge the masters of every sect, suppress the martial world beneath heaven, and force all factions to accept his existence.

Left with no alternative, he could only employ some extreme measures: replace the blood of Xuzhou's great clans, substitute the plum for the peach, and control them from the shadows.

If such matters spread, he would surely become the public enemy of the realm.

But it did not matter. His wings were now full-grown, and the great momentum was already in his grasp. Moreover, he stood at the threshold of an era, in a time when the realm was descending into chaos. Even if the great clans throughout the realm were hostile and targeted him, they could not shake his foundations. At most, he would have a few more enemies. To him, the difference was negligible.

Everyone could simply rely on their own methods.

As for sealing off the news...

There were no walls in this world that did not let the wind through. Even if he silenced Yuwen Huaji and the others forever, the many abnormalities surrounding the Battle of Xuzhou would still arouse suspicion. With a little investigation, analysis, and deduction, others could still reach the answer. There was no point.

Thus, Xu Yang chose the most cost-effective approach—ransom transactions: release the captives and take the money!