Blood-Red Horse Spirit Beast Lifespan: 12/60 Realm: Fetal-Breathing Fifth Layer Talent: Toughness (Mortal Grade), Blood-Drop Sprint (Earth Grade) Toughness (Mortal Grade): Endurance +20%; better able to withstand hunger and pain. Blood-Drop Sprint (Earth Grade): Consumes vital blood to unleash a burst sprint, increasing speed by 100%.
"Now this is a true Spirit Beast!"
Liao Cao rode it as it charged in like the wind from beyond the limits of sight, its speed far beyond that of any ordinary horse.
Its coat gleamed brightly, its frame was powerful, and the tuft of red mane atop its head was exceptionally eye-catching.
Yang Genshuo glanced at the Blood-Red Horse's attributes. Liao Cao had already met with Yang Shi.
It was Yang Shi's first time seeing Liao Cao in such a hurry. Usually, he was always calm and steady.
"Shopkeeper Liao, what matter required you to ride through the night to my estate?"
Liao Cao flipped off the horse, his face covered in sweat.
"Brother Yang Shi, a great disaster is about to befall you!"
"Hm? What happened?"
"Just now, news came from the Jade Dragon Commandery headquarters of my Treasured Goods Pavilion. Three days ago, a Half-Step Innate Realm swordsman from the Ge Family began searching for the maker of Fasting Cakes. He is now headed for Azure Dragon County."
Yang Shi raised his brows. Before he could speak, Huzi behind him had already raised his whip and cracked it against the ground with a snap, roaring:
"You treacherous bastard, you sold out the Yang Family! I'll whip you to death today!"
Yang Shi raised a hand to stop Huzi.
"Don't act rashly. Treasured Goods Pavilion has always had an excellent reputation in the martial world. Treasures are accepted without asking their origins, and payments are made promptly. Boss Liao, can you give me an explanation?"
Liao Cao sighed. "That is indeed how it works in the martial world, but what if they are not people of the martial world?"
"The Ge Family? Could it be..."
"The Jade Dragon Immortal Clan—the Spirit-Plant Ge Clan."
"I see." Yang Shi no longer blamed Liao Cao, because he knew Treasured Goods Pavilion was merely a mortal force. Expecting them to stand toe-to-toe with a cultivation family for his sake was impossible.
Liao Cao cupped his hands. "Though my Treasured Goods Pavilion cannot help Brother Yang keep this secret, headquarters dispatched the Spirit Beast Blood-Red Horse, which travels a thousand li a day, specifically to bring me this message and help Brother Yang avoid disaster! This is the limit of what my Treasured Goods Pavilion can do."
"That Half-Step Innate Realm swordsman is still on the road. He should arrive in about two days. There is still time to flee. Please quickly gather your valuables and leave this place at once!"
Liao Cao sincerely advised Yang Shi, guilt written all over his face.
Yang Shi took a deep breath, quickly processing the sudden news.
"Then what about our tabletop game teahouse..."
At that moment, Jiang Xiaobai also emerged from her room, her face pale. It was the fruit of her and Yang Shi's joint efforts. She had personally cleaned every corner, carefully wiped every card, and even carved Three Kingdoms Kill preparation zones into every table.
Huzi looked at the vast estate. After so many years of wandering, this was the first place he had found that felt like home. He clenched his fists fiercely.
"Brother Shi, I'll fight that Ge Family to the death! None of them will get out alive!"
Liao Cao said anxiously, "Do not act on impulse! As long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!"
Yang Shi was thinking. Thinking.
Yang Genshuo was thinking too.
"An undeserved calamity? No. A common man is innocent, but possessing jade becomes his crime. Selling things that did not belong to that era was bound to trigger a butterfly effect. I just never expected these Compressed Biscuits to catch the eye of a cultivation family."
"Spirit Rice, Spirit Fruit—whatever they casually planted would be far better than this stuff, wouldn't it? Eat too much of this and it only chokes you. Spirit Food can strengthen the body and replenish spiritual energy."
"How strange."
He racked his brains but could not figure out what appeal Compressed Biscuits held for a spirit-plant cultivation family.
But at this moment, he and Yang Shi shared one understanding: the other party definitely did not come with good intentions!
It was like a modern army encountering a backward tribe. They would never sit down to discuss trade with the chieftain. Instead, they would eliminate anyone who refused to submit and become the tribe's masters directly.
Without the strength to resist them, all that awaited was plunder.
"How do we break this deadlock?"
Yang Genshuo's mind spun rapidly.
As Yang Shi thought, he repeatedly looked toward the sky, but the familiar golden hand of his ancestor and its words never appeared.
It seemed he would have to rely on himself. Yang Shi did not know whether his ancestor was in secluded cultivation or deliberately testing him.
The Thirty-Six Stratagems began turning over in his mind.
"Shopkeeper Liao, can you find me an Innate Grandmaster Realm expert? I am willing to pay a great sum to have him kill this swordsman."
The third stratagem of the Thirty-Six Stratagems—kill with a borrowed knife.
Liao Cao shook his head.
"Leaving aside whether I could find an Innate Grandmaster Realm expert for you, Bluestone County has not seen one in many years. Those devoted to martial arts have all gone to Jade Dragon Commandery to seek masters and learn their arts."
"What about before? Among the hundreds of thousands in Azure Dragon County and the surrounding villages, not one person achieved the Innate Grandmaster Realm?"
"Before... there was one Innate Grandmaster Realm expert five years ago, named Liu Wuhen. He was from Bluestone County. After achieving great mastery in martial arts, he returned and founded his own school, intending to take disciples and pass on his legacy. But later, his daughter suddenly contracted a vicious illness. After failing to find a cure, he vanished. It is said that he went in search of immortal medicine for his daughter. His whereabouts remain unknown to this day."
Yang Shi looked somewhat disappointed upon hearing that.
After pondering for a while longer, Yang Shi seemed to have come up with a new plan.
"Shopkeeper Liao, I have two questions for you."
"Ask away! I will tell you everything I know!"
"First, does the Treasured Goods Pavilion in Jade Dragon Commandery know who made the Fasting Cakes?"
"No. They only know they came from the Treasury Pavilion in Bluestone County."
"Then that swordsman will definitely come to find you first before he can find me, correct?"
"Yes, but I cannot help you conceal it. Once he comes, I must tell him your location. Otherwise, my entire family... That is why you should leave now. Go somewhere I do not know. The world is vast. As long as you no longer sell those Fasting Cakes, the Ge Family Immortal Clan may not be able to find you."
"Very good. Second question: how strong is this Half-Step Innate Realm?"
"At the Half-Step Innate Realm, one's physique has been tempered to perfection, and inner force spreads throughout the entire body. Body and qi merge into one in a state of consummate mastery. Only a breath of Innate True Qi remains before one enters the Innate Grandmaster Realm."
"How many times stronger are his physical abilities than mine at the Body Tempering Fifth Layer?"
"The Body Tempering Tenth Layer has its first five layers devoted to Body Refining and its latter five to Qi Nurturing. A Half-Step Innate Realm physique is only about twice as strong as the fifth layer, but with inner qi flowing and martial arts to assist it, he can strike with ten times the force of the Body Tempering Fifth Layer."
"Good. Wait for me a moment."
After hearing this, a bold idea was about to burst forth in Yang Shi's heart. He strode quickly toward the ancestral hall.
A while later, Yang Shi strode back out. He looked at Liao Cao, his gaze sharp as a sword.
"Shopkeeper Liao, that day in the teahouse, you asked Shi who in Bluestone County could be called a hero. Shi said he did not know. How did Shopkeeper Liao respond?"
Liao Cao pondered briefly before blurting it out.
"A hero is one who harbors great ambitions and fine strategies in his belly, with a heart that contains the universe and the will to swallow heaven and earth. In Bluestone County today, only Lord Shi and I are heroes."
"Hahahaha! Good! Then today, I ask Brother Liao—will you join Shi in becoming such heroes?"
"This is absurd! Those were words from a storyteller's tale. How can they be taken seriously? How could the two of us possibly stand against a Half-Step Innate Realm swordsman?"
"I have a plan that can kill that Half-Step Innate Realm swordsman! But I need Brother Liao to enter the game himself."
Liao Cao sucked in a cold breath, unable to understand where Yang Shi found the confidence to speak of killing a Half-Step Innate Realm martial artist.
"Even if you can kill that swordsman, how can you contend with the Ge Family Immortal Clan? Brother Yang, in the end, we are merely mortals! Run!"
"Do you truly think my Yang Family is a mortal lineage?" Yang Shi shouted.
He spread his hands, and spiritual energy surged through the sky, forming a spiritual cloud above their heads.
Patter, patter...
Under Liao Cao's astonished gaze, Spirit Rain drifted down.
The fresh Spirit Rain washed away the worldly dust upon them.
"Immortal magic!?" Liao Cao said in disbelief.
"Brother Liao, you... will you take up my Yang Family's immortal destiny?"
"Immortal... immortal destiny?"
Liao Cao's heart pounded wildly. His hands trembled, his face flushed crimson, and his entire body shook with excitement.
Immortal destiny—an opportunity that countless people would never encounter in their entire lives!
The rise and fall of the Liao Family over the next hundred years rested on a single thought from him!
Then he thought of those miraculous Fasting Cakes, Alpenliebe Candy, and chocolate. Other than immortal methods, who else could make such things?
"Liao Cao... is willing to enter the game himself!"
Both Yang Shi and Yang Genshuo before the screen smiled.
The seventh stratagem of the Thirty-Six Stratagems—create something out of nothing.
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