After returning to the headquarters, Su Xin opened the porcelain bottle and took a look. Inside were indeed ten pills of a faint yellow color, giving off a rich medicinal fragrance.
Still, it never hurt to be cautious. Who knew whether Old Wolf had given up yet, or had tampered with the pills somehow?
But even if he went to ask someone at an apothecary, it would be no use.
How would they recognize pills secretly concocted by a major sect of the Martial Arts World?
After pondering for a moment, Su Xin suddenly thought of a way to check. He wasn't sure if it would work.
He entered the System Space and asked the system, "I got a bottle of pills outside. Can you identify them for me?"
The system replied, "Yes. The system can authenticate anything the host obtains in the outside world and rate it according to the system's star ranking."
Su Xin smiled. This really was an unexpected bonus.
There were many hidden functions in the Great Villain System that had yet to be uncovered. If Su Xin didn't ask, the system wouldn't volunteer the information.
"Good. Identify this bottle of pills for me and tell me whether there's anything wrong with them."
The bottle appeared on the large screen in the System Space, followed by a series of details.
"Shaolin Temple's secret Small Restoration Pill. Refined from forty-nine kinds of herbs using a secret method. A simplified version of the Great Restoration Pill, it can accelerate the flow of true qi through the body, strengthen the blood and qi, and aid cultivation. Overall rating: two and a half stars."
Shaolin Temple existed in this world too, though it was very far from Changning Prefecture, here in Xiangnan. He hadn't expected to come across something from Shaolin Temple today.
Changning Prefecture was in the Southern Barbarians' territory, and people here knew very little about the Central Plains' Martial Arts World. Su Xin had asked Huang Bingcheng about it, but he only knew a little.
To them, Changning Prefecture was their whole world. Why go to the trouble of asking about things that had no use to them?
So Su Xin had only occasionally heard a few scattered words about the Central Plains' Martial Arts World. Even so, he knew Shaolin Temple was a sacred ground of the Buddha Sect and held an extremely high reputation in the Martial Arts World.
Since the Small Restoration Pills came from Shaolin Temple and the system had rated them at two and a half stars, they were pretty good.
Su Xin had now opened up sixty acupoints. With the help of these ten Small Restoration Pills, he estimated he could complete his push into the Post-Heaven Mid-Stage within ten days.
"The poor study literature, the rich practice martial arts"—that saying wasn't a joke.
Without this bottle of Small Restoration Pills, it would take Su Xin at least a month to break through to the Post-Heaven Mid-Stage. Now he could do it in ten days.
The seven-story Shenglong Pavilion in Changde Ward was the largest restaurant in all of Changning Prefecture. Even if you had money, that didn't mean you had the standing to enter.
Each floor of Shenglong Pavilion required sufficient status and standing to gain access.
Sha Feiying, leader of the Flying Eagle Gang, only had the standing to reach the sixth floor. As for the seventh, fewer than ten people in all of Changning Prefecture were qualified to enter.
At that moment, three middle-aged men were drinking together on the seventh floor of Shenglong Pavilion, looking down at the people below.
Changning Prefecture's Three Gangs and Four Associations included the Flying Eagle Gang, Green Bamboo Gang, and Jiangyang Gang, the weakest of the lot.
The Four Associations were the Iron Blade Association, Blood Garment Association, Divine Wind Association, and the strongest of all, the Three Heroes Association.
The three middle-aged men were the three leaders of the Three Heroes Association.
Most of the Three Gangs and Four Associations had weathered more than a hundred years of ups and downs. Some had even passed through three or four generations. Only two had been founded in recent decades: the Flying Eagle Gang and the Three Heroes Association.
The Three Heroes Association had been founded even more recently than the Flying Eagle Gang, barely more than ten years ago.
Yet in just over ten years, the three of them had turned the Three Heroes Association into Changning Prefecture's largest gang. That alone spoke volumes about their strength and methods.
"Have you heard about that new chief lieutenant in the Flying Eagle Gang?" asked one of the middle-aged men, his face stern.
He was Meng Changhe, one of the Three Heroes Association's three leaders. He managed the gang's personnel and taught martial arts to its members, giving him the greatest authority among the three leaders.
Another man, thin and gaunt, with a vicious saber scar across his face, said, "He's not yet twenty, but he's already killed Dai Chong of the Green Bamboo Gang and Boss Chen. That's no ordinary strength.
"And he's even beaten Luo Zhen of the Green Bamboo Gang, which makes him all the more extraordinary. Luo Zhen came from the Weiyuan Escort Agency, and his master was the agency's chief armed escort, 'Soul-Severing Spear' Lin Luoyuan—a genuine Xiantian Martial Artist.
"Su Xin was able to beat Luo Zhen, so the strength he's shown is definitely not all he has. He may be even stronger."
The scarred man was Duan Xiao, one of the three leaders. He oversaw battles against other gangs, much like the Flying Eagle Gang's War Hall.
The War Hall, however, was a specially trained group meant to follow an elite route. The Three Heroes Association's gang battles were directed by Duan Xiao himself. It was said he came from a military background, so he was well versed in troop formations and battlefield strategy.
The last of the three leaders was the youngest, appearing to be only around thirty. He wore a scholar's robe and was extremely well-groomed. He looked less like a gang boss and more like a young master from a prestigious family.
This man was Ning Luojun, one of the Three Heroes Association's three leaders. It was said he really had come from a fallen martial arts family, but had been expelled after committing a grave offense.
Though Ning Luojun had a refined and gentle appearance, he was the most terrifying of the three leaders.
After the Three Heroes Association was founded, it was this seemingly pampered young master, Ning Luojun, who had made Changning Prefecture run red with blood using his Soul-Departing Hook. More than a hundred people had died at his hands.
Hearing Duan Xiao's words, Ning Luojun shook his head. "I see it exactly the other way around. Su Xin's methods are far more impressive than his martial arts.
"Sha Feiying's heart is narrower than a needle's eye, yet he's actually willing to let such a young man rise to the position of chief lieutenant. Su Xin really is no simple figure."
Meng Changhe tapped the table. "Whatever the case, Su Xin is clearly no pushover. I've decided to recruit him into the Three Heroes Association. What do you think?"
Duan Xiao and Ning Luojun both nodded.
This wasn't the first time they'd had this kind of discussion. Poaching people from other gangs was one of the Three Heroes Association's main strategies.
The Three Heroes Association's approach was actually much like the Flying Eagle Gang's. They didn't waste their efforts teaching internal arts to low-ranking members either.
But there was one thing the Three Heroes Association did better than Sha Feiying: they never spared any expense when recruiting talented people with great strength.
The Flying Eagle Gang had once been powerful too, but to protect his own position, Sha Feiying had ruthlessly slaughtered nearly half of the chief lieutenants.
If those chief lieutenants had survived, their strength would now be at least on par with that of Lin Fuhu and the other two hall masters.
The three leaders of the Three Heroes Association were far more confident than Sha Feiying. Whoever they recruited, they would provide wealth, beautiful women, or martial arts—whatever the person wanted.
Thanks to that, the Three Heroes Association's power had snowballed over the past decade or so.
The Flying Eagle Gang had no chief lieutenants who had broken through to the Post-Natal Initial Realm, while the Three Heroes Association had more than thirty chief lieutenants, each of them at the Post-Heaven Mid-Stage.
Su Xin had strength, potential, and youth. He was exactly the sort of person they wanted to recruit.
Ning Luojun said, "We can try to recruit him, but judging from this information, Su Xin is a man with plans of his own. I suspect he won't agree so easily. It'll be like when we tried to recruit Luo Zhen—he turned us down outright."
Meng Changhe smiled confidently. "They're not the same. Luo Zhen is already getting on in years and has no great ambitions. He only wants to stay in the Green Bamboo Gang with his brothers and live a life where no one dares to provoke them. Of course he wouldn't want to come to the Three Heroes Association as a subordinate.
"But Su Xin is still young. He has ambition, and the Flying Eagle Gang clearly can't help him realize it. Our Three Heroes Association can."
Ning Luojun considered it, then said, "All right. Send someone to try, then. Have Zhang Heng go. He's steady and mild-mannered, so he's the right person to persuade Su Xin."
Meng Changhe frowned. "Zhang Heng is managing our trade with the barbarians by himself right now. He's the only one who gets along with those mountain barbarians. That lets us buy their goods more cheaply. They won't deal with anyone else. Why don't we send someone different?"
"Who else?"
Meng Changhe clapped his hands and called out, "Chong'er, come up here!"
A series of thudding footsteps sounded. A young man of about twenty came up, his face full of pride. He bowed to Ning Luojun and Duan Xiao. "Meng Chong greets both uncles."
Of the Three Heroes Association's three leaders, only Meng Changhe had a son: the young man standing before them, Meng Chong.
"Second Brother, Third Brother, Chong'er is getting older. I've been planning to have him familiarize himself with the gang's affairs, so let him go this time," Meng Changhe said with a broad smile.
Ning Luojun hesitated. "But Chong'er has too hot a temper. He could easily ruin the negotiations with Su Xin."
Duan Xiao nodded as well. They knew their eldest brother's son too well. He was full of faults, most of them instilled in him by years of being spoiled.
Meng Changhe shook his head. "Chong'er knows when to be careful."
He turned and scolded Meng Chong. "Be polite when you meet Su Xin. As long as his demands aren't unreasonable, agree to them outright.
"This young man is one of the rare talents of his generation in Changning Prefecture. What's more, he has over a thousand men under him and controls a whole ward. We must get him under our control."
Meng Chong nodded, though no one could tell whether he'd taken the words to heart.
Seeing Ning Luojun and Duan Xiao remain silent, Meng Changhe laughed loudly. "Since neither of you has anything to say, Chong'er will go this time. Come, I'll take you to pick out a few reliable men first."
With that, Meng Changhe led Meng Chong downstairs, leaving Ning Luojun and Duan Xiao behind to exchange dark looks.
"Our eldest brother is rushing things this time. He wants to secure a future for his son, but there's no need to gamble with the gang's interests," Ning Luojun said gravely.
Duan Xiao rarely spoke, but this time he chimed in. "The Three Heroes Association belonged to the three of us before, and it still belongs to the three of us now. As long as the three of us are alive, it'll always be ours!
"Our eldest brother isn't just rushing things this time. He's going too far!"
PS: Many thanks to reader Nanchendadi for the generous tip. This is the first time I've received so many, and I'm honestly pretty excited!
But I really can't accept those update tickets. Updating too much before the book goes on sale can really hurt its recommendation period. Some authors post two chapters of 4,000 words, while I post two chapters totaling 6,000 words. That means my recommendation period is at least a week shorter than theirs, maybe even more. I really can't manage extra chapters. It's not that I don't want to update; I just can't do it.
Still, I promise I'll post a lot when the book goes on sale. I'm working hard to build up a backlog now, and I hope all of you readers will support me then.
I'd also like to thank the readers Gucheng Fengchuixue, Liu Xiao, Gao Chengguang, Gao Shengnan, and Xiao Luoyanchen for their tips, as well as everyone for your recommendations. No matter how many tips or recommendations you give, they're all support for me. Thank you, everyone.
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