Lin Zhuliang roared, fierce on the outside but cowardly within, "Hurting me means making an enemy of the entire Lin Lineage, do you understand?!"
"If you know what's good for you, let go of me right now and apologize to this young master."
"From now on, our well water won't mix with your river water, and we can both live in peace..."
Just then-
"Ding-dong, God-Level Choice System successfully triggered. Host, please choose from the following options." "Option one: disregard the threat and settle your grudges as you please." "Reward for this option: the 'Bronze Skin and Iron Bone Body,' effective immediately, and access to a 'personal warehouse' for the host." ... "Option two: release your hold and agree to reconcile with the other party." "Reward for this option: two hundred and fifty copper coins."
Bu Wuchen strongly suspected that the "two hundred and fifty copper coins" in option two were brimming with mockery and malice.
He chose the first option without the slightest hesitation.
Buzzz...
The next instant, a faint bronze sheen lit up all over Bu Wuchen's body, vanishing in a flash.
Originally, when he cracked Lin Zhuliang's arm bones in his grip, his own hand had ached faintly too.
After all, every force had an equal and opposite reaction!
It was like someone gaining a boxing champion's punching power without gaining those arms tempered through countless trials.
Under those circumstances, if that person punched an opponent in the face with all his strength, he would indeed knock the enemy flat, but his own hand bones would inevitably suffer injuries too.
Now, however, with the "Bronze Skin and Iron Bone Body," Bu Wuchen could freely unleash his suddenly surging strength of nine oxen and two tigers, without ever worrying about "killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of his own" again!
So he tightened his grip a little more, making Lin Zhuliang howl in agony.
Bu Wuchen himself wore a simple, innocent expression as he asked, "Um, would breaking your arm and completely tearing apart all pretense of civility with the Lin Lineage have v-very serious consequences?"
"No shit!!"
Lin Zhuliang's voice was frantic and furious;
Listening closely, one could even hear a hint of tears!
The pain had actually made the bastard cry!
He forced himself to hold on and said, "My Lin Lineage is one of Blood Dragon City's three great Lineages."
"Hurry up and let go, then apologize to this young master, or you're dead! Dead, do you understand?!"
Lin Zhuliang had thought that once he revealed his identity and background, Bu Wuchen, who was like rootless duckweed in Blood Dragon City, would surely become afraid.
After all, even a mighty dragon could not overpower a local snake!
Besides, he did not think the youth before him qualified as a "mighty dragon."
Who would have thought that the youth in plain cloth would grin? "Heh heh, hearing you say that really makes me want to give it a try."
"Huh?"
"T-try what?"
Lin Zhuliang had a bad feeling.
"Naturally, I want to see just how badass the wrath of the 'Lin Lineage,' one of Blood Dragon City's three great Lineages, really is!"
"What? You..."
Crack!
This time, it was no longer Lin Zhuliang's arm that snapped, but his neck!
With that, the crisis was resolved, and the dust settled.
"He was a young master of one of the so-called 'three great Lineages of Blood Dragon City,' after all. He should have plenty of good stuff on him, right?"
Here, Bu Wuchen began gathering his spoils at an unhurried pace;
Over there, neither the old servant A Chun nor the maid Wan Xiaoyao had recovered from their shock.
They had never imagined that their young master, an inveterate wastrel back in the imperial capital who had wallowed in self-pity after being banished to a border city, could show such a tough, ruthlessly decisive side.
Especially the maid Wan Xiaoyao-
She stared somewhat dazedly at Bu Wuchen as he busied himself "looting the bag," unable to help wondering whether everything before her eyes was an illusion.
The girl lowered her head and rubbed her eyes hard.
Then she kept them shut, not daring to open them again.
She seemed worried that the moment she opened her eyes, the young master who had "sat bolt upright from his deathbed and slaughtered in all directions with invincible valor" would be back in bed, once again barely breathing and on the brink of death...
Wan Xiaoyao took a deep breath, as though she had finally made up her mind.
She pinched her cheek hard, its skin already as fair and warm as jade without a trace of makeup-
"Hiss, ow, ow, ow!"
Grimacing from the pain, she summoned every ounce of her courage and opened her eyes-
"Young master... is still there?"
"Young master is still there, still there! Hahahaha, this isn't an illusion! Waaaah..."
The little maid wept for joy.
Meanwhile, Bu Wuchen's delighted grin almost stretched to his ears. "Heh heh, as expected of the Lin Lineage's second young master. Even the 'pocket change' in his sleeve pouch amounts to three gold and twelve silver;"
"And there's a money note worth a thousand gold coins. I've struck it rich!"
The memories his predecessor had left in his mind gave Bu Wuchen a fairly clear understanding of prices in this world-
On the Yinglong Continent, one gold equaled a hundred silver, and one silver coin could be exchanged for a hundred copper coins;
One "copper coin" could further be divided into ten tiny "copper bits," whose purchasing power was naturally only a tenth of a copper coin's.
In Blood Dragon City, out on this frigid frontier, merely a dozen or so silver coins could cover an ordinary family's food, clothing, and daily expenses for two or three years!
For cultivators, however, casually buying some ingredients and medicinal herbs that replenished blood and Qi, increased strength, and aided cultivation could burn through a dozen silver in the blink of an eye.
Thus, "the poor study letters, the rich practice martial arts" was more than an idle saying in this world...
And the thousand gold Bu Wuchen had just obtained from "looting the bag" was definitely an enormous sum!
"Huh? What's this?"
Bu Wuchen discovered that Lin Zhuliang also carried two books close to his body.
Gilt pages, large characters in wild cursive;
When he looked at them, the pages seemed to possess a wondrous magic that seized the soul!
Just as Bu Wuchen focused his eyes for a closer look, two crisp system notifications suddenly rang in his ears-
"Ding-dong, the 'treasure appraiser' ability, one of the host's 'all-purpose special professions,' has automatically activated, identifying the item before you as a unique-copy middle-grade mortal-tier cultivation method: 'Fierce Tiger Soul-Searing Astral Force.'" "Ding-dong, the 'treasure appraiser' ability, one of the host's 'all-purpose special professions,' has automatically activated, identifying the item before you as a unique-copy middle-grade mortal-tier mystic technique: 'Flame Tiger Fist.'"
Bu Wuchen's eyes instantly lit up. "Damn, compared to that thousand-gold money note, these two books are the real treasures!"
For any cultivator, cultivation methods and mystic techniques could both be considered the most essential cultivation resources!
A cultivation method could, to a great extent, directly affect how quickly a cultivator advanced through realms, as well as the ultimate ceiling of their cultivation;
Mystic techniques were ingenious ways of using Mystic Qi, allowing cultivators to unleash greater combat strength through the execution of individual moves and forms.
On the Yinglong Continent, cultivation methods and mystic techniques both had clearly defined tiers of strength;
From lowest to highest, they were: mortal tier, mystic tier, spirit tier, earth tier, and heaven tier.
Each tier was further divided into three grades: low, middle, and high.
On this unremarkable, frigid frontier, many cultivators practiced cultivation methods and mystic techniques that were nothing more than an unranked jumble of martial skills.
Those that truly qualified for a "grade" were few and far between.
And middle-grade mortal-tier cultivation methods and mystic techniques absolutely counted as heavyweight resources for the vast majority of Blood Dragon City's cultivators...