Holding Jia Lie Bi's apology gift, Ling Feng secretly rejoiced. Now he had somewhere to keep his gold coins.
That was right. Ling Feng had obtained the low-grade Storage Ring from Jia Lie Bi purely to store his gold coins. Whenever he needed to buy something, he could pay straight from the ring instead of swaggering through the streets with a huge sack of gold, drawing eyes and inviting trouble.
"May I ask what your third request is?"
Pained by his losses, Jia Lie Bi only wanted to finish paying these war reparations as quickly as possible. He did not want to see Ling Feng anymore.
"For the third request, I want the Jia Lie Family to help me gather aged medicinal herbs, pills, Dou Techniques, and other cultivation resources. Of course, whatever these resources cost, I'll pay for them. And if you handle this well, I can agree to help you deal with the Xiao Clan."
Ling Feng hesitated briefly before stating his third condition. This time, however, he sweetened it with an enticing reward.
Although he knew the Xiao Clan had Yao Chen and Gu Xun'er protecting it, and he could not destroy it completely yet, he could still make life miserable for it and weaken it.
Jia Lie Bi, however, had no idea he was being used. All he heard was that Ling Feng was willing to help him deal with the Xiao Clan. Instantly excited, he hurriedly asked, "Do you truly mean that?!"
"A gentleman's word cannot be overtaken even by a team of four horses!"
Ling Feng grinned. "There's no need to doubt me. As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Xiao Clan killed my father. If you don't believe me, you can investigate."
At those words, Jia Lie Bi's heart stirred, but he still had his doubts. He could not help probing, "Actually, with your strength, wiping out a mere Xiao Clan shouldn't be difficult. Why join forces with our Jia Lie Family?"
Jia Lie Bi was cautious. He knew that with Ling Feng's force of a hundred Da Dou Shi, destroying the Xiao Clan would be no difficult matter. Thus, he suspected Ling Feng's motives.
Ling Feng heard the implication behind Jia Lie Bi's words. His expression chilled, and he deliberately spun a tale. "Simply wiping out my enemies would rob me of the pleasure of revenge. I want to watch the Xiao Clan sink into crisis step by step, helpless to do anything, until it finally meets its destruction."
At this point, Ling Feng changed tack, loosening the reins to tighten his hold. "Jia Lie Bi, if you're unwilling, I can always approach the Ao Ba Family. Just don't regret it later."
Sure enough, Jia Lie Bi could no longer remain composed. "I agree to all three requests."
Jia Lie Bi understood Ling Feng's strength perfectly well. If Ling Feng truly helped the Jia Lie Family, it would be an opportunity for his family to soar. How could he willingly hand that opportunity to someone else?
"Very good." Ling Feng grinned, as though he had expected this all along.
"Urgh..."
Just then, Jia Lie Ao, who had been beaten unconscious, began to wake. The moment he saw Ling Feng, his mind cleared and his anger surged.
When he saw that his father was also there, wild delight appeared on Jia Lie Ao's face. He immediately glared venomously at Ling Feng and shouted, "Ling Feng, you're dead! Father, kill him!"
Having sensed Jia Lie Ao waking, Jia Lie Bi had been about to check on him. At those words, his soul nearly fled his body in fright.
Fuck! How did I end up with a son who screws over his own father? If I'd known, I wouldn't have chased that moment of pleasure. I should've shot it onto the wall instead of letting this wretched brat be born.
While ten thousand profanity-spewing alpacas thundered through his mind, Jia Lie Bi's hands did not hesitate. With a sweep of his hand, an energy wind blade blasted Jia Lie Ao unconscious again.
Poor Jia Lie Ao had not even had time to figure out what was happening before he was lying like a corpse once more.
"This wretched son of mine doesn't know his limits and is far too arrogant. I'll hand him over to you to deal with as you please. Do whatever you wish, as long as he doesn't die."
And just like that, Jia Lie Ao was mercilessly sold out by his own father.
The western courtyard of the Jia Lie Residence.
These were the guest quarters Jia Lie Bi had arranged for Ling Feng. After the two reached their agreement, Jia Lie Bi invited Ling Feng to stay at the Jia Lie Residence.
After giving it some thought, Ling Feng finally accepted. After all, a thatched hut was fine for experiencing a different way of life, but for a long-term stay, it could not compare to the comfort of a spacious house.
Besides, Ling Feng thought of how his mother, Liu Qingqing, had toiled for half her life. It was time she enjoyed herself.
What was more, he was now cooperating with the Jia Lie Family. He would be relying on Jia Lie Bi to gather his cultivation resources, so living with the Jia Lie Family would be convenient.
Thus, without overthinking it, Ling Feng brought his mother along and settled in. When Liu Qingqing woke and learned of Ling Feng's abilities, she did not believe it at first. But faced with the Jia Lie Family's changed attitude toward her, she finally began to believe it a little and stayed as well.
Yet everything still felt like a dream to her, something she hardly dared accept. At that moment, she had pulled Ling Feng into her new bedroom for a private conversation.
"Feng'er, is this real? Why does it all feel like I'm dreaming?"
"Mother, it's real. Just put your mind at ease."
"Feng'er, how did you suddenly become so powerful? Why do I feel like even the Jia Lie patriarch is a little afraid of you?"
"Mother, Jia Lie Bi isn't afraid of me. He's afraid of my teacher. I became this powerful because of my teacher, too. You have no idea how incredible my teacher is..."
To coax his mother into enjoying her new life without fear or worry, Ling Feng practically exhausted his brain cells. He recalled a classic character from his previous life and used that character as the model for a fabricated story.
Liu Qingqing was completely taken in by Ling Feng's tall tale. She stopped overthinking things and settled in with peace of mind. Of course, for her safety, Ling Feng specially assigned ten Shadow "Sevens" to protect her.
At noon.
After receiving the first batch of cultivation resources from the Jia Lie Family, Ling Feng went straight into his bedroom, closed the door, and prepared to cultivate and improve his strength.
"This is a tier-three fire-element Fire-Swallowing Fox Magic Core. A second-grade Empty-Empty Pill, three-hundred-year-old polygonum ginseng..."
Looking at the large pile of cultivation resources laid out on the bed, Ling Feng's eyes shone. "Jia Lie Bi does have some ability. He got me this many medicinal herbs and Magic Cores so quickly. Now I won't have to worry about lacking cultivation resources."
Ling Feng grinned, feeling utterly delighted. With the Creation God Pen, he was like a tiger given wings. Whatever he wanted, he could have.
Not enough money to spend? That was not a problem. With a casual stroke of his pen, Ling Feng could produce a small mountain of gold coins.
Overpower me with brute force? I'll drown you in a sea of fighters and wear you to death!
"Well, damn. He even got me five-hundred-year-old virility grass. But I'm in the prime of my youth. I don't need that sort of tonic. Besides, eating this might not increase my Dou Qi-it might just make my pillar hold up the heavens. I'd better save it for now. Overdoing the nourishment wouldn't be good. I can use it later when I'm feeling depleted."
He gently placed the herb, which looked somewhat like a chive, back into its medicinal box.
Then Ling Feng looked at the other cultivation resources on the bed, sat cross-legged, and prepared to get down to business.
"I'll start with the polygonum ginseng. This herb is three hundred years old. Its medicinal potency should be enough to activate the power of the Taotie bloodline."
With that thought, Ling Feng picked up the ginseng-like herb and began gnawing on it.
"Fuck, it's so bitter and astringent..."
The first taste had not seemed too bad, but as he chewed it thoroughly, Ling Feng found it exceptionally difficult to swallow.
"Why does this herb taste so awful?"
Most of the herbs Ling Feng had consumed before were licorice-type herbs, along with some fruits. They had also been relatively young, with medicinal potency nowhere near that of the polygonum ginseng, so they had been easy enough to swallow.
The three-hundred-year-old polygonum ginseng was so potent that its taste suffered, but its effects were astonishingly fast. Ling Feng had swallowed only one mouthful of its juice before heat began spreading through his whole body, and the vortex within him started spinning rapidly.
Not daring to hesitate, Ling Feng hurriedly entered a cultivation state, chewing and choking down the entire polygonum ginseng with a miserable expression...
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