In the vast, white System Space, Su Xin said, "I want to draw my mission reward."
The system said, "One draw from a designated reward category is available (two stars or higher, below three stars). Please choose from the six categories."
Without hesitation, Su Xin said, "Martial arts."
The wheel on the giant screen spun continuously. Figures flashed past one after another, until at last a man with ugly features and a gloomy expression appeared before Su Xin.
"Congratulations, host. You have drawn the character Wen Xue'an, who comes with eleven martial arts, including Grudge Extreme Palm, Hate Extreme Fist, Momentum Sword, and Five Tigers Door-Breaking Saber. Character rating: two and a half stars. Martial arts ratings: one and a half to three stars. Since this draw is a special mission reward, Villain Points cannot be used to specify the draw."
Su Xin thought for a moment and murmured, "Wen Xue'an. So it was him."
Mention the name Wen Xue'an, and most people probably wouldn't recognize it. But mention Number Seven Under Heaven, and everyone would surely remember.
He was one of the most hated villains in Heroes, and also a deeply pitiful figure.
But as the saying went, every pitiful person had something hateful about him.
Wen Xue'an was the son of Mo, the sixth concubine of Wen Zhang, a high-ranking official of the former dynasty. His mother had come from humble origins, suffered endless grievances, and eventually died in sorrow.
He was often bullied by his half-siblings as well. On top of that, his ugly appearance and gloomy nature made him even more disliked.
In the end, he had become so depraved that he tried to lay hands on his own half-sister. He was cast out of the Wen family, and later trained bitterly in martial arts, becoming the first expert at the side of the treacherous chancellor Cai Jing.
Although Wen Xue'an was known as Number Seven Under Heaven, his strength wouldn't even have put him among the top seventy-seven. He called himself "Number Seven Under Heaven" simply so others wouldn't discover his true abilities.
What truly made Wen Xue'an's strength surge was becoming Yuan Shixian's disciple and his favorite student. Yuan Shixian taught him many martial arts from the Zizai Sect.
Looking at the description on the giant screen, Su Xin felt a little troubled.
Number Seven Under Heaven was actually a pretty good character. He knew many secret martial arts from the Zizai Sect, passed down by Yuan Shixian.
But he had also learned common techniques such as Five Tigers Door-Breaking Saber. And since the system wouldn't let him specify his draw this time, there was still a good chance he'd end up with those junk techniques.
"By the way, why is Number Seven Under Heaven rated at two and a half stars, while his martial arts can reach three stars?"
Only now had Su Xin noticed that the martial arts a character carried could actually be rated higher than the character himself.
The system replied, "A character's star rating is determined by his own strength, while the rating of the martial arts he carries depends on how completely he learned them.
"I've told the host before: for example, the original version of the Nine Yin Manual is rated at four stars. If the host draws Ouyang Feng, he will only receive the reversed version of the Nine Yin Manual, rated at three stars, while Ouyang Feng himself is rated at three and a half stars.
"If the host draws Yang Kang, he will receive the fragment of the Nine Yin Manual known as Nine Yin Skeleton Claw, rated at two stars, while Yang Kang himself is rated at one star.
"Number Seven Under Heaven is like Yang Kang. The Momentum Sword he created by merging all his martial arts is rated at three stars.
"He secretly learned part of Yuan Shixian's Heartbreak Arrow Art. Although it was only a fragment, it can still be rated at three stars."
"Fine. Let's draw the martial arts now."
Number Seven Under Heaven carried so many martial arts that if Su Xin was lucky enough to draw something like a fragment of Heartbreak Arrow Art, he'd come out ahead.
A wry smile crossed Su Xin's face. He had thought this reward would be a freebie, but in the end, it still came down to luck.
The halo flickered among the eleven martial arts, then slowly came to a stop.
"Congratulations, host. You have successfully drawn Hate Extreme Fist and Grudge Extreme Palm. Since the attributes of these two martial arts complement each other, they have been combined into one. Rating: two and a half stars."
"Not a fragment of Heartbreak Arrow Art, but still pretty good."
Getting Hate Extreme Fist and Grudge Extreme Palm was a decent result. Both techniques were signature arts created by Yuan Shixian and taught by him to Number Seven Under Heaven. Their power was formidable.
Most importantly, these two techniques made up for Su Xin's lack of variety in martial arts.
Great Sumeru Sword Style leaned toward defense, which didn't suit Su Xin's style very well. Although he had trained his mastery of it to a high level, the more he used it, the more awkward it felt.
Jing Wuming's Fast Sword was suited to killing with a single strike. If the sword that left its sheath failed to gravely wound the opponent, the next strike would be weaker.
That vicious, unpredictable Fast Sword was better kept as a trump card.
After leaving the system, Su Xin went out and called for Huang Bingcheng.
Huang Bingcheng stared at Su Xin in surprise. Wasn't the boss going into seclusion? How had he come out so soon?
"Old Huang, leave Master Li's arrangements to you. Pay him the same monthly wages as the rest of you. But remember one thing: you can have him handle tasks, but don't let him hold power."
Although Master Li had thrown in his lot with Su Xin, he was a man who had betrayed his former master.
Su Xin was willing to make use of such a person, but he wouldn't give him any real responsibility.
You betrayed Third Master Hu for profit today. Would you betray me for profit someday, too?
Huang Bingcheng nodded. Even if Su Xin hadn't said anything, he hadn't planned on being friendly to Master Li.
He'd only just joined the boss, and now he's trying to steal my thunder. What a piece of work.
After giving Huang Bingcheng his instructions, Su Xin left Happy Forest and returned to his little courtyard.
He hadn't had a moment's rest since attacking Happy Forest. It was time to take a break.
When he got home, Xin'er sat inside with a glum little face, listening to a lesson from an old tutor. The moment she saw Su Xin, she threw herself into his arms and pleaded pitifully, "Brother, can I skip my lesson today? I haven't seen you for so many days. Why don't you teach me swordsmanship instead?"
During the few days Su Xin had been attacking the Green Bamboo Gang, Xin'er had been forced to listen to the old tutor's dry lessons every day and write several hundred characters. She had long since had enough.
As soon as she saw Su Xin return, she rushed over to complain.
The old tutor spotted Su Xin and immediately grew nervous. "Boss Su, Miss Xin'er is clever and gifted; she's just a little restless. If she doesn't buckle down and learn to read and write, she'll find it even harder to study once she's older."
Su Xin was the boss of a gang, while he was merely a failed scholar who scraped by teaching students and writing letters for people. He didn't dare offend Su Xin, afraid Su Xin might think he was deliberately being harsh with Xin'er.
"All right, sir, I understand. But studying should be balanced with rest. Let Xin'er have the day off."
"Brother, you're the best!" Xin'er immediately clung to Su Xin, hopping up and down with excitement.
"Then this old man will take his leave." The old tutor felt very uncomfortable around a man as fearsome as Su Xin.
"Enough with the begging. You're allowed to play for one day. Tomorrow, you'll keep studying and learning to read and write with your tutor." Su Xin chided her.
"Oh, I know." Her little head, which had been held high just moments ago, drooped again.
After sending Xin'er off, Su Xin returned to his room to get some sleep.
Playing mind games with an old fox like Sha Feiying had been exhausting.
The next day, Su Xin woke up refreshed. Instead of going to Happy Forest, he headed straight for Yongle District.
Things had stabilized at Happy Forest, but Yongle District was newly conquered territory. Most of Su Xin's men were stationed there, so he needed to go and take charge.
Whenever Flying Eagle Gang members encountered Su Xin along the way, they stopped to bow, their eyes filled with undisguised admiration.
They had good reason. The previous day, an order had come down from the gang, appointing Su Xin as a chief lieutenant of the Flying Eagle Gang.
Su Xin was only seventeen. A seventeen-year-old chief lieutenant—that was an astonishing age for such a position.
Even Sha Feiying, the gang leader's son, was about the same age as Su Xin. If he had been appointed chief lieutenant outright, the gang members would have had plenty to say about it.
But no one could object to Su Xin's appointment. He had earned it through solid achievements!
At the entrance to the Yongle District branch, Huang Bingcheng hurried over when he saw Su Xin.
"Boss, why didn't you rest a few more days? You could have left things here to me." Huang Bingcheng wore an ingratiating smile. It might have seemed like flattery, but that was simply his way.
"I trust you to handle things, of course. But in martial arts, you either advance or fall behind. That's especially true of Postnatal Realm body tempering—you have to keep honing your body every moment. I need to train, and the brothers under me can't slack off either. Is the training ground at the Yongle District branch ready?"
Back when the Green Bamboo Gang had been in Yongle District, there had been no need for a training ground. The courtyard behind the branch had been used to store sundries.
When Su Xin took over the branch, he had Huang Bingcheng send people to clear out the courtyard and turn it into a training ground.
"It's been ready for a while. The space is a little small, so we're planning to expand it. Otherwise, there won't be room for all the thousand-odd brothers."
Su Xin nodded and asked, "Have any of the new recruits broken the rules?"
Huang Bingcheng looked a little embarrassed. "There have been a few. But Li Huai and his men caught them and punished them severely.
"Li Huai's men were pretty ruthless, but I reckon those guys won't dare do it again for the rest of their lives. The merchants know now that you weren't just talking, boss."
The merchants of Yongle District had originally been unhappy about Su Xin changing the rules for collecting protection fees and raising the monthly fee to fifty taels of silver. But after seeing how severely he punished his men, they had nothing more to say.
When the Green Bamboo Gang had been in charge, the protection fees had been lower, but low-ranking gang members constantly harassed the merchants.
As the saying went, it was easy to deal with the King of Hell, but not with his underlings. A few taels of silver would be enough to get those men off their backs, but they came around several times every month. The money they extorted wasn't much less than the monthly fee, and they disrupted business besides.
Now Su Xin's men were strictly disciplined, with Li Huai's people keeping watch. Unless you wanted to stop working under Su Xin, who would dare break the rules again?
Before you continue