Great Sumeru Sword Style

The next morning, Su Xin woke up and saw Xin'er still sleeping there like a little pig. He didn't disturb her, but went straight outside.

Outside, two sharp-eyed members of the gang whom Huang Bingcheng had assigned were standing guard.

Huang Bingcheng had originally assigned four men, but Su Xin felt that was unnecessary, so he left two on duty and had the other two take turns keeping watch at night.

Seeing Su Xin come out, the two gang members hurriedly bowed respectfully. "Boss Su."

Su Xin nodded, took out one tael of silver, and pressed it into one man's hand. "Go buy ten meat buns and a jin of soy milk. Use what's left to buy yourselves some wine. Keeping watch all night must have been hard."

Ten meat buns and a jin of soy milk cost only eleven copper coins, so nearly all the rest was a reward for them. The two gang members were overcome with excitement.

"Thank you, Boss Su!"

Su Xin was a little surprised by how excited they were. It was only a small reward. Was there really any need to get so worked up?

What he didn't know was that when Liu Sandao had been their leader, he had been far stricter with them, beating and cursing them at the slightest thing.

Liu Sandao was not cut out for greatness. Back when he'd been a low-ranking gang member, he'd been well-connected and acted like a magnanimous hero toward everyone.

But as soon as he rose to power, he showed the face of a petty man drunk on his own success. He had little authority, yet threw his weight around like a big official.

They had seen Su Xin's performance in the Drunken Moon Pavilion. The ruthless streak he'd shown had made them shudder.

They'd thought they'd ended up with another vicious leader this time, but who could have guessed that Su Xin would be so amiable in private—and so generous that he casually handed out a whole tael of silver as a reward?

For low-ranking gang members like them, one tael of silver was enough to live on for a month.

Back in his room, Su Xin saw that Su Xin'er was still fast asleep, so he entered the system first.

The System Space was a sea of white. The large screen was no longer blank. One line now read: Villain Points: 10.

Congratulations, Host. You've taken your first step and come closer to your goal of becoming the strongest villain.

Newbie mission completed. Main mission activated.

Main Mission: Posture of an Overlord (I)
Mission Details: A great man cannot go a day without power, and a petty man cannot go a day without money. If you want power, you must first acquire wealth. Time limit: six months. Earn ten thousand taels of silver.

Penalty for Failure: Randomly lose one permanent technique you have already learned.

Mission Reward: One intermediate draw, 200 Villain Points.

"Ten thousand taels of silver! Tsk, tsk, that's no small sum."

At present, Su Xin's main source of income was collecting monthly fees from the merchants in Happy Forest—in other words, protection money.

Normally, the monthly fees came to only a little over five hundred taels. Liu Sandao had managed to scrape together several thousand taels during his time in charge only because he'd squeezed them mercilessly.

But if Su Xin did the same, all the merchants in Happy Forest would go bankrupt in less than two months.

He'd have to come up with a good plan if he wanted to earn ten thousand taels.

Besides, Su Xin really did need money right now.

A gang couldn't grow without people, but it needed money even more.

Without money, did you think those gang members would draw their blades to help you cut people down? You'd be lucky if they didn't turn their blades on you.

"By the way, why is the penalty for failing the main mission so light? I only lose one technique. But the penalty for failing the newbie mission was losing an arm," Su Xin asked.

The penalty for failing the newbie mission was actually worse than the one for failing the main mission. Su Xin seriously believed that made no sense.

"If the Host can't even complete the newbie mission, that proves you're too useless. Better to die early than waste time."

Su Xin: "..."

"By the way, I should still have one beginner draw left. I want to draw."

With the arrival of a new day, Su Xin naturally had another chance at a beginner draw.

Beginner draws were rather useless, but for Su Xin, who had nothing to his name, even drawing a Qi Nourishing Pill would be pretty good.

The wheel on the large screen began to spin. It didn't land on a pill or a technique, as Su Xin had hoped, but stopped in the miscellaneous-items section.

"Congratulations, Host. You drew a piece of embroidery sewn by Dongfang Bubai. Rating: one star."

Su Xin's face darkened. What use did he have for this thing? He wasn't Yang Lianting.

He chose to discard it. After thinking for a moment, Su Xin said, "I still have ten Villain Points. Give me another beginner draw."

Su Xin already had internal energy and a combat technique, but his repertoire was far too limited.

Jin Wuming's Quick Sword was powerful, but its strength lay in just a few qualities: the unexpected, ferocity, and viciousness.

The system had already said that Su Xin's Quick Sword couldn't reach one hundred percent proficiency. The style of the swordplay was too distinctive.

Su Xin's Quick Sword had a weakness. Once his opponent analyzed it and found a way to counter it, Su Xin would be at his wits' end if he had no other tricks.

Not everyone could be like Li Xunhuan with his flying daggers, winning the whole world with one move.

The wheel spun rapidly. Techniques, consumables, pills... At last, under Su Xin's hopeful gaze, the pointer slowly passed the empty space and barely landed on the techniques section.

The large screen showed a young man wearing a long robe and head wrap from the northwestern desert, holding a strange sword with a round guard.

The young man was handsome, but his brows carried a fierce, haughty air that made him unpleasant to look at.

"Congratulations, Host. You drew the character Chu Zhaonan, who comes with seven techniques, including Wind Chasing Sword Technique, Great Sumeru Sword Style, and Tianshan Sword Technique. Ratings range from one star to one and a half stars. You may choose a random draw, or spend 20 Villain Points to select a specific technique."

"Chu Zhaonan? So it was him."

He was the wielder of the Dragon-Roaming Sword among the Seven Swords, and one of the three great sword masters of the early Kangxi era.

Su Xin hadn't read much of the Liang School novels in his previous life. He'd even first encountered the most famous of them, Seven Swords, through the television series.

In the Zhao Wenzhuo version of Seven Swords, Chu Zhaonan's character had been changed considerably. He was portrayed as a hero who endured humiliation and bore a heavy burden.

In reality, however, the man was a genuine villain.

Though Chu Zhaonan was one of the Seven Swords, he was arrogant and vile, a man who abandoned his principles for personal gain.

First, he pursued the heroine Fei Hongjin and helped her resist the Qing. When he couldn't win her over, he betrayed his companions and defected to the Qing, becoming a lackey of the court.

"Last time, selecting a specific draw only cost five Villain Points. Why does it cost twenty this time?" Su Xin asked.

The system replied, "The character drawn last time was Yin Zhiping, whose highest-rated accompanying technique was half a star, so selecting a specific technique cost only five Villain Points.

"This time, Chu Zhaonan is rated one and a half stars, and his techniques range from one star to one and a half stars. Selecting a specific technique therefore costs more Villain Points."

Su Xin shook his head. "They really don't leave a single loophole. I'll draw randomly. This guy does come with a lot of techniques—seven of them, in fact. It's a pity their ratings aren't very high."

Chu Zhaonan's master was Zen Master Huiming, founder of the Tianshan Sect Northern Branch. He knew nearly all of the Tianshan Sect's techniques.

But Liang School martial arts came from a low-martial world, unlike Huang School martial arts, which came close to fantasy. It was only natural for the ratings to be lower. Su Xin thought it over and accepted that.

The wheel spun again, and the system's cold voice rang out. "Congratulations, Host. You successfully drew one volume of Great Sumeru Sword Style. Rating: one and a half stars."

Great Sumeru Sword Style was a sword technique created by Ling Mofeng, the Divine Radiance of Tianshan. It drew upon the idea of containing the vastness of the universe within a grain of sand.

It combined offense and defense, with intricate variations. Every move and every form was flawless.

It wasn't the Wind Chasing Sword Technique Su Xin had wanted, but Great Sumeru Sword Style had a great advantage in defense. It could make up for the defensive weakness of Jin Wuming's Quick Sword, so it was still a good result.

A little later, the gang members outside had bought breakfast and brought it over. Su Xin patted Su Xin'er's cheek. Only then did she rub her face and sit up, looking bleary-eyed.

"Ah! Meat buns!"

The moment she saw the steaming meat buns on the table, all traces of sleep vanished from Xin'er's face. She immediately grabbed one and stuffed it into her mouth.

Su Xin poured her a bowl of soy milk and tapped her gently on the head. "You didn't even wash your hands. Aren't they dirty?"

With a bun stuffed in her mouth, Xin'er squinted her big eyes into happy crescent moons. She didn't answer, just kept shoving buns into her mouth.

A little girl's world was simple. As long as she had good food and her older brother by her side, she was happier than she could be any other way.

After breakfast, Su Xin told his men to fetch Huang Bingcheng.

Su Xin had become a small-time leader recognized by the higher-ups of the Flying Eagle Gang. As the first person to pledge himself to Su Xin, Huang Bingcheng now stood below only Su Xin and above dozens of others.

While Su Xin had slept through the night, Huang Bingcheng had gotten to enjoy the feeling of being in charge. He'd called in the more than sixty gang members under Su Xin, one by one, and lectured them to his heart's content.

"Boss Su, you called for me?"

"Sit." Su Xin pointed to Su Xin'er. "This is my younger sister, Xin'er."

"Well, look at that! What a pretty little girl!"

Huang Bingcheng grinned as he praised her. But with his looks, he seemed more like a creepy old man trying to lure a little girl over to see the goldfish.

Xin'er answered politely, "Hello, uncle."

Huang Bingcheng's face immediately darkened. Heaven above could bear witness: he had only just turned thirty today. How had he become an uncle?

Besides, he called Su Xin his boss, while Su Xin's younger sister called him uncle. How had he suddenly ended up a generation below them?

"Call him big brother." Su Xin smiled.

"Oh, hello, Brother Huang." Su Xin'er looked at Huang Bingcheng's conspicuously prematurely aged face with confusion, but obediently called him big brother.

Su Xin patted Xin'er on the head, then said to Huang Bingcheng, "Find a few men and come with me to Wang's Pharmacy."

"If you need medicine, just say the word. I'll have them buy it."

A cold glint flashed through Su Xin's eyes. "I'm not buying medicine. I'm going to make someone give back something they took!"