I Want to Inherit the Grandmaster's Treasury

At first, Prince of Liao had no intention of letting Murong Xuan and Lu Xingshi leave. Murong Xuan held political value, while Lu Xingshi was a rare and formidable general.

But seeing that things could not be forced, he ultimately had no choice but to let the two go.

Above all, he feared that if he kept pressing them, Lu Xingshi would lose his temper.

If his attempt at recruitment turned them into enemies instead, the loss would outweigh the gain.

In the end, he could only painfully let them leave.

Some of his advisers had suggested eliminating the threat entirely. Since they could not be used by them, it would be best to prevent them from being used by their enemies.

But that idea was immediately rejected. It was certainly a fine idea in theory, but the question was: who would kill them?

Lu Xingshi had slaughtered his way through ten thousand Barbarians alone. Unless they mobilized a full army against him—but if they truly did that, they would inevitably become the laughingstock of the realm and provoke resentment among the martial world and military officers alike.

So someone was a little too capable in battle, and because he refused to join you, you surrounded and killed him with an army? Then if others wished to retire into seclusion or resign from office someday, would they suffer the same fate?

Instead, only by seeing them off generously, giving them gifts of gold, silver, silk, and other valuables, could Prince of Liao spread his reputation as a man who cherished talent.

Anyone who truly believed that those who submitted would prosper while those who defied would perish would usually end up with no one left.

"Master, what are we supposed to do with all this stuff?" Lu Xingshi looked at the piles of packages. He could put them in his Inventory, but that would not be appropriate. Besides, Prince of Liao had even given them a carriage, so there was no need to worry about fitting everything.

"Take it back to Langya Pavilion. What else can we do? It is Prince of Liao's gesture of goodwill, after all." Murong Xuan had no better solution either.

"I was thinking of selling it all off halfway there for banknotes, then cashing them out at a money house later." Lu Xingshi found it troublesome. He preferred traveling light.

"..." Murong Xuan had realized that his disciple's mind seemed rather different from what he had imagined.

"If that won't work, then forget it. Oh, right. Before, I fell off the cliff behind Langya Pavilion, got caught in a tree, and found a cave. Inside were the Eternal Youth Longevity Art and a letter for you. I started practicing the Eternal Youth Longevity Art already, but I haven't read the letter yet." Lu Xingshi pulled the manual and envelope from his clothes and handed them over.

"Wait a moment. Let me process this." Murong Xuan's mind could not quite keep up. He understood every word individually, but when they were put together, the whole thing was absurd.

"Tell me, how exactly did you fall off a cliff? Langya Pavilion is not remotely on the way to that cliff, unless you climbed up there and jumped off yourself." Murong Xuan recovered and immediately saw through Lu Xingshi's logic. Did he really think he could fool him with that?

"That's not important. What matters is the letter and the manual." Lu Xingshi changed the subject.

Murong Xuan took the letter but not the manual. He had not even mastered the Longevity Spring Return Art yet; how could he have the mind to continue practicing the Eternal Youth Longevity Art?

Upon opening it, he found that it had been left behind by the Grandmaster who had caused Langya Pavilion's internal conflict years ago.

"What does it say?" Lu Xingshi leaned closer and asked curiously.

"Read it yourself." Murong Xuan did not keep it from Lu Xingshi. Langya Pavilion would belong to Lu Xingshi in the future anyway, so it made no difference whether he read it sooner or later.

Lu Xingshi took it and read through it. It was roughly about how the man had deeply regretted his actions back then, deserved to die for his crimes, and how the internal conflict had been some melodramatic affair.

"This Grandmaster seems to have left behind a treasure vault. As the Young Pavilion Master, can I inherit it early?" Lu Xingshi seized upon the key point in the letter.

He had seen all kinds of melodramatic plots before, but a treasure vault was something he had truly never encountered.

"Can you not use the word 'inherit'? It makes it sound like I'm already in a coffin." This old man, Murong Xuan, always found endless things to complain about when he was with Lu Xingshi.

"Use a different phrase. Something like returning things to their rightful owner..." Murong Xuan corrected him.

"Fine, then. Do you know the way?" Lu Xingshi asked.

The letter naturally recorded both the location and the method for opening the treasure vault.

"I know the way, but we have to return to the Central Plains first," Murong Xuan said.

"I know. You've traveled more roads than I've eaten salt." Lu Xingshi offered the saying.

"No, I prefer bland food. I can't eat that much salt." Murong Xuan felt there was something strange about Lu Xingshi's metaphor, as though it had been crudely stitched together. How could roads and salt possibly go together? "Fine. Oh, right, Master, do you know..." Lu Xingshi went on to tell him about the Golden Crow, Bei, and the like.

"I know of Bei, but I do not know about Golden Crows or Qiongqi. Mutants are fundamentally just unusually gifted beasts; there are not that many myths surrounding them," Murong Xuan explained.

"But why are you killing Mutants for no reason?"

Murong Xuan already knew that Lu Xingshi possessed invincible strength, so he was not particularly concerned for Lu Xingshi's safety. What concerned him was why Lu Xingshi was killing Mutants.

"Mutants are good stuff. I took the Bear Gallbladder from that Bearman before, and consuming it can improve a person's Physical Constitution. I was thinking of getting some for you—then I can be Number One Under Heaven, and you can be Number Two Under Heaven." Lu Xingshi looked as though he were saying, See how filial I am?

Murong Xuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "At my age, why would I need to improve my Physical Constitution? You should eat it yourself."

He did not care whether he was Number One Under Heaven or Number Two Under Heaven. Having lived so long, he no longer cared about such empty titles.

Of course, he could go without it, but Lu Xingshi needed the title of Number One Under Heaven. In the martial world, all anyone pursued was fame and profit.

Langya Pavilion had vast wealth and did not lack such a small amount of profit, but Lu Xingshi needed fame. He could not remain unknown for his entire life.

However, after what had happened in Saibei, Lu Xingshi's reputation would probably begin spreading before long.

This matter could not be covered up. Prince of Liao might be able to keep his own Soldiers quiet, but could he keep news from the Barbarians from getting out?

"I can't use it anymore," Lu Xingshi said wistfully. He wanted to increase them too, but he had discovered that one hundred points was the limit for Three-Dimensional Attributes. He could not modify them any further.

Unless he learned more about the mass of incomprehensible code and data within his body and could create his own patches, he would not be able to continue improving.

"Oh, your Physical Constitution is too strong, so the medicine's effects are negligible for you." Murong Xuan understood, then added, "But there is no need to waste it on me. I can use such a rare treasure for trade."

Physical Constitution had always been a major issue in martial arts. It was not simply a matter of dragons birthing dragons and phoenixes birthing phoenixes; dragons and phoenixes could also produce something lesser.

The Imperial Court and major sects both possessed pills that could improve one's Physical Constitution and aptitude, though most were quite limited in effect.

"What could we trade it for? A complete inheritance or something?" Lu Xingshi perked up.

"That would be possible." Murong Xuan had not expected Lu Xingshi to want such things. "What do you need them for?"

"To bring forth the new from the old. I've finished reading the inheritances of Langya Pavilion and the books in the Jade Library. I plan to innovate and create my own martial arts, so I need a large number of inheritances," Lu Xingshi said directly.

Although Langya Pavilion claimed to contain everything under the sun, most of the martial arts it had collected were not the techniques of famous sects. They largely came from minor sects or circulated through the martial world.

If the techniques of a famous sect were leaked, it would become a matter of life and death.

And naturally, the martial arts inheritances Murong Xuan could trade for would not be the original inheritances of famous sects either. They would likewise have been obtained from elsewhere.