Chapter 53: Accepting A New Apprentice_i

Li Xuan was stunned. Meng Chong, this young man, single-handedly skewed the entire ethos of Wu Country. Moreover, his way of revenge was truly ingenious! The way his mind worked was too unique, something an ordinary person could never comprehend! A bounty of a hundred thousand taels of gold, no wonder even Shi’er and the followers of Heavenly Mother Sect were enticed. He was walking through the treasury. Who wouldn’t be tempted seeing him?! Meng Chong was also somewhat dumbfounded, surprised, he exclaimed: “So much has happened? And, I’m worth a hundred thousand taels of gold?” He was also tempted, even to the point of wanting to sell himself! “Yes, a hundred thousand taels of gold!” Shi’er nodded, looking at Meng Chong as if he were seeing a goldmine. Gulp! Meng Chong swallowed a mouthful of saliva, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and said, “Let’s cooperate!” What? Shi’er was dumbfounded, cooperate? “You escort me to a county government office in Wu Country, collect part of the bounty, then intercept me halfway, and again deliver me to another county government office, continue to collect the bounty, again intercept me… and so on…” Meng Chong’s eyes flashed brightly, continuing: “Avoid sending me to prefecture city, it’s too dangerous and not easy to break in. Just send me to the county magistrate's office, even if they would be eager for merits, and would still be able to give a part of the bounty, even if at their own expense. “The Emperor of Wu wants to draw and quarter me, but the county office would not kill me. I think this is a safe move. “We can split the bounty, forty-sixty. You get sixty, I get forty, how about that?” Shi’er was stupefied and shocked at Meng Chong’s unconventional thinking. No wonder he was the one who could come up with a revenge scheme that an ordinary person couldn’t even dream of coming up with – a plan to assassinate the Emperor of Wu, which resulted in his Meng Family being implicated and killed. Li Xuan looked at Meng Chong, a bald hunk of a man, with his unconventional thinking. Planning to fleece the county governments of Wu Country, huh? A normal person would never think of such a scheme. Suddenly! A light bulb moment flashed in Li Xuan’s mind. He looked at Meng Chong with a completely different expression. A person with such an ingenious mind isn’t he the perfect candidate to be his disciple? His future disciple was right in front of him! With such a thought, his mysterious aura grew stronger, and the image of an obscure cultivator became even greater within seconds. He reached out his hand and grabbed Meng Chong’s arm. While squeezing Meng Chong’s arm and shoulder, he then said: “Excellent, excellent. Young man, you have an exceptional framework and are a martial arts genius. Would you like to become my disciple?” 𝑅å𐌽ô𐌱Ёṧ Shi’er was shocked. This senior wanted to accept Meng Chong as his apprentice? The thought of how they were planning to capture Meng Chong for the bounty made him break into a cold sweat. Thump! Meng Chong immediately knelt down and respectfully kowtowed, “Disciple Meng Chong, greets master!” “Good, good, very good!” Li Xuan was overjoyed, his face beaming with happiness. Meng Chong’s mind is smart, and his thinking is unconventional. No doubt he could successfully cultivate the technique Li Xuan devised. Looking at the muscular and bald Meng Chong, Li Xuan already had ideas on what kind of cultivation technique to teach him. After accepting a disciple, Li Xuan lost interest in continuing to stroll around. He was preparing to take Meng Chong back to his residence when he suddenly thought of something. He turned to Shi’er and said, “Does your Heavenly Mother Sect have treasured herbs like the Nine Leaf Ginseng and Thousand Year Mountain Ginseng?” He suddenly thought Xu Yan was able to perceive qi and blood, rapidly increasing the speed of his skin and bone refinement. It probably has something to do with consuming Nine Leaf Ginseng and Thousand Year Mountain Ginseng. Since he has accepted a disciple, the start of foundation building should be cased with treasured herbs like the Nine Leaf Ginseng. It should make for an easier introduction to cultivation. Although the cultivation technique may be different, the first realm is also the Qi and Blood Realm. And it’s also for blood refinement. Undoubtedly, Meng Chong’s physical condition was much stronger, and his qi and blood were more robust than Xu Yan’s were at the beginning. If he had treasured herbs to aid in his cultivation, he could undoubtedly reach the entry level much faster. Although he didn’t have the herbs, the Heavenly Mother Sect had many top-notch martial artists and considerable followers; they should have these treasured herbs. “Yes, yes, senior!” Shi’er was overjoyed at hearing this. This was a chance to curry favor with the hidden expert. Merely rare medicinal herbs, they can’t transform them into nobles. “Bring some over!” Li Xuan said without mincing his words. “Yes, yes, elder!” Shi’er hastily nodded. Li Xuan looked satisfied. He wasn’t worried that Shi’er and the rest would run away. Where could they run? “The little girl from your Heavenly Mother Sect, have her come over when she has time.” Li Xuan continued to order. “Yes, yes!” Shi’er was caught off guard and hastily agreed. As for whether the Heavenly Mother would come or not, that was not his concern. As long as he agreed to the elder’s instructions, that was enough. Li Xuan, satisfied, nodded his head. With his new disciple, Meng Chong, he returned home. Inside Yunshan County, Li Xuan just received a new disciple. Within the prefecture city, Xu Yan once again displayed his divine might. He beat Kou Ruozhi and other Heavenly Mother Sect experts one by one, beating them until they couldn’t utilize even one-third of their martial arts skills for half a month. Kou Ruozhi was utterly wrecked. What kind of people are they? We’ve bowed down and submitted, but still they beat us half to death! Xu Yan’s reasoning was just too brutal. “You guys are a bit too powerful. I’m afraid my father can’t control you, so I beat you half to death to weaken you. “I didn’t kill you because I feel like you’re still useful; it would be a waste otherwise. “This is called… turning waste into treasure!” Xu Yan said solemnly. Kou Ruozhi and the other Heavenly Mother Sect experts were crumpling inside, just because of this reasoning, he beat them half to death! What do you mean we are a bit too powerful? You’re giving us too much credit! “What’s that? You can’t accept it?” Xu Yan raised his eyebrow, staring at Kou Ruozhi and said, “The look in your eyes seems like you can’t accept it!” Kou Ruozhi turned pale, hurriedly responded, “I accept! I accept! From the bottom of my bones, I accept!” He started fearing Xu Yan a bit, not understanding why this kid always misunderstood people. Was that the look of defiance? Damn it, I was just wincing from the pain! “As long as you accept.” Xu Yan was satisfied and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped and turned around. He glared at Kou Ruozhi and said angrily, “Your bones accept, but does your heart not accept?” He imagined that Kou Ruozhi, deceitful and cunning, only verbally submitted but didn’t mention whether he did in his heart! He must have other thoughts in his mind! Kou Ruozhi looked a bit wrecked, cursing in his heart. What’s wrong with this kid? Why is he always targeting me? “I accept! I accept! My heart, my mind, my whole body, everything accepts!” Kou Ruozhi hastily swore. The other Heavenly Mother Sect experts were all curled up on the ground. Despite their bodies aching severely, they didn’t dare to tremble in fear of causing a misunderstanding with Xu Yan. “Good as long as you accept.” Xu Yan turned and left. The city of Donghe County was still in turmoil, with a craze for seeking experts cropping up. Nobody was working in the government office; Jiang Pingshan had settled in Xu Family’s house, effectively being held under their control. Xu Yan dealt with all the potential threats and high-ranking martial artists within and outside the city, subdued them thoroughly so that they couldn’t practice martial arts for half a month. Only the Xu Family’s guards retained their full strength. Before heading to the capital city, to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, he explicitly reminded his parents that they could hide in Yunshan County if the situation changed..