Seed of Ambition

"Why is everyone silent? Is what Li Qing said wrong?" Su Xin looked down at the silent crowd and asked.

Li Qing rubbed his slightly reddened eyes and chuckled sheepishly, "Boss, don't mind me. I was just grumbling, talking nonsense."

"Li Qing, you weren't talking nonsense. What is wrong with wanting money? I, Su Xin, will speak openly today: I joined the Flying Eagle Gang for money and for power!"

Looking down at the crowd, Su Xin shouted, "You are all fine men! Who wants to be a laborer for their whole life, watching others drink and eat meat while you yourself can't even afford chaff and vegetables?

Once you enter the jianghu, it is as deep as the sea. Li Qing was willing to risk his life to leave a seed for his Li family—do you have the guts to do the same!"

"We do!"

The eyes of the gang members below turned bloodshot. Even the veterans who had been in the Flying Eagle Gang for years were stirred by Su Xin's words and roared in response.

"Having guts isn't enough! You must have strength! Even if you have the heart to eat meat, you don't have the life to enjoy it!"

Su Xin drew the heavy sword from his waist and slammed it into the ground; the three-finger-thick marble floor shattered instantly!

"Only with strength can you have ambition. The position I, Su Xin, hold today was not earned through luck, but through strength!"

Su Xin pointed toward the east. "The seven-story Shenglong Pavilion in Changde Ward is the tallest and grandest restaurant in the entire Changning Prefecture. In the past, only princes and young masters could stand on the top floor and overlook the land.

Now, the number of people in Changning Prefecture qualified to step onto the top floor of Shenglong Pavilion is less than ten. But I, Su Xin, swear today that within three years, I will stand there and trample the entire Changning Prefecture beneath my feet!"

Dominating!

The gang members below were stirred to a fever pitch by Su Xin's words.

If anyone else had said this, they would inevitably be mocked for overestimating their own capabilities.

But as someone who had secured his position in Happy Forest within a month and successfully assassinated Dai Chong, becoming a hero-like figure in the Flying Eagle Gang, Su Xin had the right to say it.

Just as Su Xin said, the position he held today was not earned through luck, but through strength!

"Starting today, I will take turns teaching you internal arts and martial techniques. If you want to climb higher, you must first have the strength to stand up!

Remember, I, Su Xin, do not raise trash. If you want to drink and eat meat, if you want to stand higher, you must train until you die and fight until you die!

Those who just want to slack off and collect their monthly pay, don't blame me for being heartless—get out! You can go to the city gates and carry sacks, and you still won't starve to death!

Now, I will ask one last time: do you want to eat meat, or do you want to crawl back to the shanties in Joyful District to eat chaff and vegetables!"

"Eat meat!"

"Eat meat!"

"Eat meat!"

The group of gang members shouted with bloodshot eyes. Everyone present, except for Li Huai, even the cunning and slick Huang Bingcheng, had red eyes and joined in the roar.

The words Su Xin spoke to them today were things no one had ever told them before.

Even the veterans who had been in the Flying Eagle Gang for years had never heard such words.

The high-ranking members of the Flying Eagle Gang would only tell them to be loyal to the gang and that the gang would not treat them unfairly, yet in the end, they only learned how to be slick, how to steal, and how to fear death.

But now, Su Xin was teaching them what ambition was!

This was a seed—a seed that could take them further. Even if their talent in this life was limited, as long as this seed sprouted, they would never be as mediocre and useless as they were before.

The high-ranking members of the Flying Eagle Gang dared not say these things because blind, loyal fools were easier to control than ambitious men, even if the former appeared lifeless.

But Su Xin was not afraid. To him, as long as his own strength was sufficient, no matter how strong others became, they could only look up at him from beneath his feet.

Within the hall, the seeds of ambition began to sprout, and the atmosphere had been completely ignited. Su Xin smiled secretly.

These people were still easy to fool—or rather, they were just too simple. A few words were enough to stir the desires in their hearts.

In his past life, Su Xin had held mobilization meetings for hundreds of employees.

Talking about ideals, discussing life, speaking of struggle, plus promotions, raises, and marrying a wealthy beauty—it would take nearly an hour of chatter to barely stir up any atmosphere.

Compared to those slick, street-smart individuals from his past life, these gang members who had crawled out of the slums and some who couldn't even read were undoubtedly much easier to manipulate.

"From now on, one-third of you will go to patrol Happy Forest as usual, and the remaining two-thirds will come to the training ground to practice internal arts and martial techniques. Li Huai will be responsible for teaching you real combat and killing."

Huang Bingcheng had already worked out how to rotate these nearly two hundred people yesterday. He sent away those who needed to patrol and stuffed the rest into the training ground behind the hall.

This training ground was originally just a backyard, and it felt a bit crowded with over a hundred people, but they could barely move around.

"Old Huang, go tell Boss Liu and the others later. Spend some money to rent their backyards as well; they don't use them anyway."

Next to the Happy Forest hall were the Drunken Moon Pavilion and an inn. Their backyards were useless, used only for storing some sundries. Su Xin figured he could probably get them for free if he asked.

Su Xin didn't teach them too much in the morning, only having them memorize the internal cultivation manuals to go back and practice slowly. After all, this was a matter of talent; although everyone could practice, the results varied from person to person.

For example, Third Master Hu and the three hall masters were about the same age, but Third Master Hu had failed to open his thirty-six acupoints for decades, while the three hall masters were already Postnatal mid-stage martial artists who had opened seventy-two.

The spiked short staffs that Su Xin had asked Huang Bingcheng to forge yesterday had all been completed by several blacksmith shops working together, and each person began practicing the Dog-Beating Staff Technique with one in hand.

The eight-character mantra of the Dog-Beating Staff Technique was simple, but mastering it still required long-term practice.

The real highlight was in the afternoon, when Li Huai began to teach them true life-and-death combat.

Li Huai had once said that he had never learned any sword techniques; all his martial arts were honed through life-and-death struggles, boiling down to nothing more than three words: fast, ruthless, and accurate.

But these three points were the foundation of any martial art—simple yet practical.

This method was similar to Jing Wuming's Quick Sword. Su Xin had actually considered giving the Jing Wuming's Quick Sword manual to him.

However, Jing Wuming's Quick Sword was too unique; others simply could not get started with it. If Su Xin hadn't received the 5% proficiency bonus from the system, he likely wouldn't have been able to learn it either.

As for the Great Sumeru Sword Style, it did not fit Li Huai's style. Forcing him to learn it would not only fail to increase his combat effectiveness but would also hinder his own fighting style.

Since Li Huai could not cultivate either of the two available martial arts, Su Xin had no choice but to wait until he found something more suitable for him.

He was not afraid of Li Huai betraying him, because Li Huai had never been one of Third Master Hu's men.

Third Master Hu and Li Huai were, at most, merely using each other; it was Ji Gang who was truly Third Master Hu's man.

Given Li Huai's personality, it was unlikely that any superior would ever groom him as a trusted confidant.

Only Su Xin didn't take it to heart. In his view, a person with Li Huai's personality was actually the safest, because he required very little. Without an enormous temptation, he would not easily betray anyone.

In his past life, Su Xin had managed hundreds of people and had nearly ten years of management experience; what kind of person hadn't he seen?

The veteran engineers at his company were all arrogant and conceited, but in reality, they were the easiest to manage.

On the contrary, it was the people who smiled all day and were respectful to your face who would stab you in the back the moment you let your guard down.

Li Huai's method of training the gang members was brutal.

It would be more accurate to say that it wasn't training at all, but rather one-sided abuse.

He had five gang members step forward and attack him with spiked short clubs, while Li Huai held only a wooden sword.

Five against one, yet those five gang members were being poked and whipped by Li Huai until they were howling in pain.

Even with a wooden sword, the edge would leave a bloody welt when whipped with Li Huai's strength, and every poke resulted in a bruise.

He would beat all five of them one by one before telling them what they should have done, then he would beat them again and repeat the process until those five could spar with him for over ten moves before he would switch to the next group.

This method made the gang members miserable, but because of what Su Xin had said earlier, they endured it even through the pain.

Because no one wanted to crawl back to the slums to eat chaff and vegetables!

Watching for the entire afternoon, although some cried out in pain, not a single person complained. Su Xin nodded in satisfaction.

Li Huai's method was indeed much crueler, but it was also very effective.

The only merit these men under him had was that they were young and strong, but if they really started fighting, they probably wouldn't even have the combat power of the street thugs they had just replaced.

Their foundation was too poor, so he could only use this method of pulling up seedlings to help them grow quickly.

"Old Huang, tell everyone later that they don't need to go home to eat. After training, they can eat here. There will be plenty of meat buns every day, but no alcohol." Su Xin found Huang Bingcheng and gave the order.

"These little brats have really accumulated virtue in their past lives to have met a boss like you." Huang Bingcheng immediately stepped forward to butter him up.

Su Xin shook his head and said softly, "Not necessarily. Perhaps they committed sins in their past lives?"

Huang Bingcheng scratched his head, but Su Xin had already walked away.

In the following days, the training proceeded in an orderly fashion every day, with Su Xin in charge in the morning and Li Huai teaching them combat techniques in the afternoon.

Although the gang members were tortured to the point of misery, the results were immediate.

At the very least, out of these nearly two hundred people, any one of them could now spar with Li Huai for over ten moves.

One had to remember that just a few days ago, it took five of them to barely withstand ten moves from Li Huai.

During this time, others also wanted to join the Happy Forest, but Su Xin rejected most of them, keeping only a small number with decent physical conditions, about twenty people or so.

It wasn't that Su Xin didn't want more people, but taking on any more would likely invite unnecessary trouble.

An ordinary minor leader only had a few dozen men under him, or at most a hundred.

Su Xin's two hundred-plus men had already far exceeded the limit. One had to know that Third Master Hu only had about six hundred men in total.

If a minor leader's headcount is almost catching up to a major leader's, what are you trying to do? How could Third Master Hu just let it slide?

For now, Su Xin did not want to have a falling out with Third Master Hu. Although the two were already at odds, at the very least, the outward appearance of respect still had to be maintained.