Su Yuan Did It Too

As for the affairs of the South City Patrol Station, all of them were pinned on the Jiguang Society.

From Yun Xu, he learned that Wei Che had indeed been the one to release the Monsters, and that the Wolf Monster had ultimately been slain by them.

Under his watch, Ji Haoyang naturally had no chance to smear Su Yuan's name.

Yet in the end, this black pot still landed on Su Yuan, the sole remaining captain of the Eighth Patrol Squad.

Rumors outside all claimed that he had released the Monsters.

However, Su Yuan did not care in the slightest and continued at his own pace.

"Spend, spend!" Once Yun Xu's silver arrived, Su Yuan's fortune had surpassed one thousand taels.

He tucked away the banknotes and followed Old Liu, who happened to be heading out to discuss business, to the largest Treasure Horse Chamber of Commerce in the Inner City. He also wanted Old Liu to use his discerning eye to help inspect the goods.

"Little Su, are you really not planning to reveal that you're the founder of Building Blocks? With your reputation as Chief added in, business could become even better," Old Liu sighed.

"A person should learn to be content." Su Yuan now had income flowing in from two sources. He no longer had any intention of working as a laborer, and his output was also dwindling.

Old Liu could only shake his head helplessly.

The craftsmanship of other carpenters could now barely keep up, but none could imitate Su Yuan's ingenuity.

For instance, the four-wheeled little carts that had exploded in popularity some time ago had been made by Su Yuan using the shells of supercars from his previous life as models, turning them into Building Blocks—things like "Farrari" and "Lamborghin"...

Their designs were dazzlingly cool, and they had swept through the city like a storm.

"How about this? You provide the designs, and we keep the same profit split. What do you say?" Old Liu proposed again.

Su Yuan nodded, indicating that it was fine.

After all, who would ever complain about having too much money?

Upon entering the Baoma Trading Building, he found its layout similar to a large shopping mall from his previous life.

The lower floors gathered all kinds of goods, while the upper floors housed restaurants and private rooms.

The building bustled with people, and its shelves were laden with a dazzling array of goods. One Building Blocks display area was surrounded by children, and the "Lamborghin" in the center was priced at a full twenty taels.

"So expensive." Su Yuan raised a brow.

"There's little stock now. Some people want to collect the entire set, so naturally the price has been driven up," Old Liu explained.

Su Yuan understood at once. A price increase was good—the one making money in the end was him.

After verifying their identities, the two went straight upstairs, first arriving at the Monster-materials section.

Su Yuan headed directly for the second-tier Monster area. Numerous materials carried steep prices, starting at dozens of taels apiece.

Unfortunately, he saw no materials related to the Star-Falling Python or Iron-Bone Mountain Boar.

On second thought, since those two materials benefited the cultivation of those two martial arts, the several Lineages that controlled those techniques surely had them in their collections.

It seemed he would still have to find a way through the Chai Family, and while he was at it, demand the subsequent portions of the technique.

In the end, Su Yuan selected a piece of snakeskin priced at fifty taels.

The leather was tough and cold, gleaming with dim blue-green scales, its edges trimmed quite neatly.

He planned to make a pair of gloves from it. Su Yuan had learned from Yun Xu that she had recognized him through details of his hands.

Afterward, Su Yuan moved to the weapons section. He currently relied mainly on close-quarters combat and had no immediate need for weapons, but he could take a look first.

It was more important to save his silver for cultivation resources.

Blades, swords, spears, and halberds on the racks gleamed with cold light, each in a different form.

Su Yuan swept his gaze across them before it finally settled on a pair of black knuckle dusters.

The knuckle dusters were entirely dark and dull, their edges sharply defined. Simple cloud patterns had been carved around the finger holes, while the inner grip was lined with soft leather. They felt heavy and fitting in his hand.

They were priced at one hundred and eighty taels.

Everything here had clearly marked prices, with no one standing guard. Once one had chosen an item, payment had to be made at the front counter. Bargaining was basically impossible, and quality depended entirely on one's own judgment.

Su Yuan suddenly spotted a round helmet with a price tag of two hundred taels.

The helmet wrapped the head tightly, leaving only the eyes, nose, and mouth exposed. Its outer surface was densely covered in short, thick spikes.

He tapped it lightly with a bent finger. The sound was dull yet solid. Then he caught sight of the supplier's mark: the Shan Family.

Could this be a specialized weapon for cultivating the Golden Horse-Head Technique? he thought, then left the area.

He moved on to the pill section.

He now held a first-class citizen registration, so there were no longer any restrictions on his pill purchases.

He first took a bottle of Break Strength Pills, which cost a full five hundred taels.

Then he spotted Force-Shifting Pills. These were pills that assisted Savage Strength Martial Warriors in cultivation. They could forcibly guide the strength already produced in one area to stimulate the Blood Qi in other regions, accelerating the spread of strength throughout the entire body.

They cost fifty taels each. Su Yuan bought another four, and his fortune was immediately cut in half.

Tie Niu had finally broken through into Savage Strength this month. He would treat these as a gift for him.

Su Yuan now understood strength more deeply. Both his own traits and the Cloud-Covering Art could assist in moving strength, so his Savage Strength cultivation would undoubtedly speed up.

At the same time, strength could be depleted.

It could recover in a short time, but prolonged and excessive expenditure would affect one's martial cultivation.

Gao Mian had once spared no cost in expending her own strength to aid his cultivation. In truth, that had slowed her own progress, and warmth rose in Su Yuan's heart.

"Sister Mian, you have to hold on."

After that, Su Yuan purchased some materials Yun Xu and the others needed before finally leaving the Treasure Horse Chamber of Commerce.

On the way back, Su Yuan once again became a baleful star everyone avoided like the plague.

Although the Jiguang Society generously admitted that the matter of the Patrol Office had been its doing and stated that it would take responsibility for it,

it had also begun deliberately undermining the prestige of the Chief and the others. Whenever any disaster occurred in the city, it dumped everything on their heads, passing the black pot back and forth.

He had only just shaken off Ji Haoyang, and now the entire Jiguang Society was smearing his name in the shadows.

The long-forgotten insulting nickname, Lecherous Carver, had also been dug up again.

Great Liang, meanwhile, could not even be bothered to refute the rumors anymore and simply let them run wild.

A rumor needed only a mouth to spread, while refuting it could run a man's legs off.

"Did you hear? Another Monster lost control in North City. Su Tieniu showed up, and Su Yuan did it too!"

"East City caught fire. I saw Su Yuan and Huang Tong there."

Such voices rose and fell throughout the streets and alleys.

At the Su Family Old Residence, Yun Xu and the others still had not left.

They had plainly begun treating this place as a new stronghold.

"Junior Brother Su, you're back. Those rumors outside..." Yun Xu came forward to greet him, worry written across her face.

"Senior Sister, I'm already used to it. The worse my reputation becomes, the more it helps me earn Great Liang's trust. Let's practice martial arts." Su Yuan sounded optimistic.

Hearing this, Yun Xu felt even more tenderness and guilt toward this junior brother she had newly accepted.

If not for her, Su Yuan might not have embarked upon this most arduous and perilous path in the first place.

Su Yuan did not mind. Ji City was ruled by Great Liang; if he wanted to climb upward, he would inevitably go through such things. One could only say that calamity and fortune depended on each other.

Su Yuan handed the supplies he had purchased to her, then continued sparring with her to practice the Cloud-Striding Palm.

"Senior Sister Yun, I possess two types of strength. Can I conceal one of them, such as keeping my Vajra Strength from being exposed?" Su Yuan asked.

Yun Xu pondered for a moment before replying, "If the Cloud-Covering Art is cultivated to great mastery, it can conceal fluctuations of strength. But it requires the cooperation of Cloud-Striding Strength to achieve seamless perfection."

Su Yuan sighed softly. "That's somewhat regrettable. How great it would have been if I had cultivated the Cloud-Striding Palm from the start. Its transformations are subtle and exquisite. Great Liang martial arts only know how to charge straight ahead—crude and brainless."

Only now did he understand why the Cloud-Covering Art had progressed so slowly. It turned out he lacked Cloud-Striding Strength.

Ji Haoyang repeatedly nodded from the side. "Senior Brother Su is right."

He had accepted the fact that he could not defeat Su Yuan, but Su Yuan's strength did not mean Great Jing martial arts were weaker than Great Liang's.

"Have you heard about that martial gathering between the two Liang nations? They say it will not only compete with those martial schools that surrendered, but will also sincerely invite underground Martial Warriors like us to participate. They make it sound so pleasant—setting aside old grudges, discussing only the martial path, friendly sparring, exploring the road ahead together. They even explicitly state that they will never arrest Jing Martial Warriors, and the victors will receive generous rewards," Zhou Xing suddenly said.

The others all nodded.

Anger shone in Yun Xu's eyes as she said, "Set aside the hatred between the two nations? Easy words! How could such blood-deep enmity possibly be set aside?"

Ji Haoyang nodded as well, then asked Su Yuan, "Senior Brother Su, will you participate?"

Su Yuan shook his head. "I'm not a pure-blooded Liang Person. In their eyes, I'm merely a useful dog, unworthy of taking the stage."

Zhou Xing sighed. "I only hope those people in the martial schools do not submit. At the very least, they should give their all in the arena. They have some promising talents too, such as Wang Jin and Hu Chuan. They broke into External Force some time ago."

"If it were truly fair, I really would want to take the stage and let them know the might of Great Jing martial arts!" Ji Haoyang clenched his fist.

As the three discussed it, Su Yuan merely lowered his eyes in silence. He continued practicing his palm technique with focused calm and swallowed a Break Strength Pill.

[Cloud-Striding Palm:999/1000 (Second Layer)]

[Cloud-Striding Palm:1/2000 (Third Layer)]