Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

Chapter 191: A Deal You Absolutely Can't Refuse

A few days later, a strange thing happened in the city.

The Governor's Office suddenly launched an attack on the Xue and Xiao families.

The two companies had just acquired thirteen shops in the south of the city, but a single official document confiscated them all.

The reasons given were presented in a grand and respectable manner, including allegations of illegal business operations, inaccurate tax payments, and over-limit land use, each with verifiable evidence. However, it was clear to anyone with discerning eyes that these accusations were cobbled together to find fault.

The merchants in the city were all taken aback.

The Xue and Xiao families are two of the four great families of Tianyan City, and most of the businesses in the south of the city are related to them.

The governor's office's move wasn't just about cutting off thirteen shops; it was a slap in the face to two families.

Everyone thought that the Xue and Xiao families would argue their case and take it to the governor to settle.

Who knew?

The result, however, surprised everyone.

After the two companies had thirteen shops confiscated, they remained completely silent, as if they had tacitly approved of it.

Like a guilty thief, he tacitly accepted the punishment.

They didn't even dare send a messenger to the governor's mansion to deliver a plaque and sound out his intentions.

This is strange.

The speculation and discussion in the public suddenly became like a pot of boiling water.

It gurgles and bubbles endlessly in the streets and alleys, in teahouses and taverns.

Soon, the news leaked out from who-knows-where.

The Xue and Xiao families have offended someone.

It wasn't the Governor's Mansion that they offended, but a rising star from Cangwu.

Chen Ping.

When this name first came out, most people didn't recognize it.

There are plenty of students in Cangwu, and every year a few stand out. But as the news spread and more details emerged, even the storytellers in restaurants and teahouses started to fabricate stories about this name.

"Ladies and gentlemen, do you know who this Chen Ping is?" The storyteller struck his gavel. "He came from the lowest level of laborers, a canal worker! He entered Cangwu at the age of eighteen, and in less than a year, he directly crossed the Dragon Gate and cultivated to the first level of Yuan Gang."

"I heard that the Xue family invited two Yuan Gang masters to test him, but they never came back."

"Not just two? I heard it was four! Four Yuan Gang cultivators, all killed by him!"

In the restaurant, a self-important, down-on-his-luck scholar, emboldened by alcohol, slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

He shook his head and recited two impromptu doggerel lines on the spot.

"A dragon emerges from the muddy river, and with a single stroke, it cuts down all the winds of the southern city!"

Upon hearing this, the diners at the next table burst into laughter.

They all pointed at the scholar, laughing and cursing, saying, "What kind of rubbish poem did you write, you pretentious pedantic scholar?"

But jokes aside.

The name Chen Ping has truly become known throughout Tianyan City.

Those who know the inside story won't laugh out loud in the restaurant. Four Yuan Gang.

They weren't defeated by him, they died by him.

Two were in the open, and two were secretly watching; not one remained.

Chen Ping used the lives of four Yuan Gang warriors to sharpen his sword, which he then pointed at the outer courtyard competition.

Those in the know were all amazed, saying that the ruthlessness of this young man was not what one would expect from a nineteen-year-old.

What's even more astonishing is another matter.

Among the city's military garrison, there were several soldiers who had followed Chen Ping to Bali County. One day, they got drunk and started boasting about their past in a tavern.

It refers to Chen Ping's investigation into the murder of the county magistrate in Bali County.

He vividly described how he suppressed Liu Dali, a master of internal energy, with a single kick; how he killed fifteen martial artists of internal energy level in one night; how he wiped out the Black Sand Bandits who had been entrenched for many years with just one sword; and how he single-handedly intimidated the Lei family. He embellished the story with vivid details.

"You didn't see it. How old was he back then? Eighteen?"

"Killing fifteen people in one night—just think about what that means."

"What a jinx!" After these words spread, those in the city who were originally just observing gained a deeper understanding of the name Chen Ping.

This is not a martial artist who only focuses on practicing his skills.

This is someone who dares to act, is good at scheming, and once he's done his thing, he acts without leaving a trace.

......

In the eastern part of the city, in a private room of a teahouse.

Four young people sat around the table.

Xue Fengsheng, the eldest grandson of the Xue family, sat by the window, holding a teacup, and looked at the person opposite him with a smile.

"Miss Lu, as the younger generation, it is indeed not appropriate for us to comment too much on the dealings between our elders in the court and in the business world."

He put down his teacup, his tone unhurried and calm, revealing a smooth and tactful approach to appease the situation.

"Besides, weren't those thirteen shops now given to the Huai River Merchants Association under Chen Ping's command by the Governor's Office?"

Sitting opposite was Lu Xi, the daughter of the Lu family and Lu Zhenshu's younger sister.

This woman was only in her early twenties. Although her face was beautiful and refined, her long, slender eyebrows and eyes revealed a heroic spirit.

She was wearing a plain-colored dress, with a short sword hanging diagonally at her waist.

His sitting posture was as upright as a pine tree.

In terms of facial features, he bears a slight resemblance to Lu Zhenshu.

She looked at Xue Fengsheng across from her, her tone indifferent.

"Regardless of who owns those thirteen shops now, you two families have kicked me when I was down. What good will you expect from me?"

Xiao Shan sat to the side, tall and imposing, dressed in a black robe, with rugged features and a calm demeanor.

He put down his teacup and spoke.

"We have gathered here today not to discuss matters that have already passed."

He looked at the group of people.

"The problem now is that Chen Ping killed four Yuan Gang masters by himself, and we don't know his background."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xi let out a cold laugh without any mercy, his face full of schadenfreude. "That's because your two families weren't careful enough to provoke that madman. You only brought trouble upon yourselves. What does it have to do with my Lu family?"

Xue Fengsheng ignored her and turned to look at Wang Zhaoyao beside him.

"Brother Wang."

"Let's not beat around the bush. In the upcoming outer courtyard competition, I will use all the resources and promising players of the family to try my best to force out Chen Ping's true strength."

"And you must completely eliminate this scourge in the arena of the grand competition."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhaoyao's two sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"He has Sui Guan and Qin Ya protecting him. I crippled him, and Cangwu was furious."

Xiao Shan spoke calmly at this moment.

"You need not worry about that, Brother Wang."

"This year's outer court competition is of a much higher standard than in the past. My Xiao family just received news from the capital that a young lady and a young master from the Cui family will personally come to Tianyan City to observe the competition and take the opportunity to select retainers worthy of cultivation."

He looked at Wang Zhaoyao.

"You, Wang Zhaoyao, are a rare natural-born superhuman in the entire Great Wei." "As long as you can defeat the currently popular Chen Ping in the arena and demonstrate your value, you will surely be noticed by those two noblemen and become a retainer of the Cui family."

"Once you become a retainer of the Cui family, no matter how furious Qin Ya is, he would never dare to question you for the sake of a cripple!"

He paused, his tone turning serious.

"Chen Ping killed two of my family's retainers and seized my shops. I have already remembered this grudge. I would like to trouble you, Brother Wang, to cripple this scoundrel."

Lu Xi sneered, "That's my family's shop."

Wang Zhaoyao frowned.

"Given his fearsome reputation, and having entered the Yuan Gang realm before me, his strength should already be approaching the second level. Even if I could borrow a trace of divine power, it wouldn't be easy for me to cripple him in an instant."

Xue Fengsheng put down his teacup and smiled.

"Brother Wang, there's no need to belittle yourself. Even a trace of innate supernatural power is far superior to true intent. No matter how strong true intent is, it is ultimately an extension of martial arts, while supernatural power is the power of rules."

He looked at Wang Zhaoyao.

"There is an insurmountable chasm between the two."

Wang Zhaoyao didn't reply, holding his teacup, his gaze fixed on the tea, but he didn't drink. Xiao Shan spoke up: "Besides, you're not fighting alone. In the first few rounds of the competition, the three of us will wear him down, force him to make moves, force him to use his true power, force him to reveal the details of his internal energy. By the time you meet him, he will have already fought several rounds, his internal energy will be more than half depleted, and we will have already figured out most of his trump cards."

He looked at Wang Zhaoyao, his tone indifferent.

"You only need to face an already exhausted opponent at the very end."

Lu Xi leaned back in his chair, coldly observing the three of them without saying a word.

Wang Zhaoyao remained silent for a moment, then raised his head.

"Can your three families withstand him?"

Xue Fengsheng's smile remained unchanged: "In this generation of my Xue family, there are three promising talents who have reached the peak of the Transformation Realm and are about to break through to the Yuan Gang Realm. They have all condensed more than twenty Gang Yuan. They can't withstand him, but they can easily hold him off for two or three rounds."

Xiao Shan said, "My Xiao family also has two. Adding the three from the Xue family, five people taking turns attacking, even if we can't beat him, it'll be enough to give him a hard time."

He glanced at Lu Xi.

"Where is the Lu family?"

Lu Xi looked at them and sneered.

"Chen Ping also has the Qinglin Society by his side. You guys know how to use a tag-team approach, but he doesn't?" She looked at Xue Fengsheng and Xiao Shan.

"Although the Qinglin Society members are individually weak, they have a lot of people. You use your players to wear down Chen Ping, and they use theirs to wear down your top players. In the end, both sides are half-dead, and neither side gains an advantage."

She leaned back in her chair, her tone indifferent.

"With that kind of playing style, you might as well give up and go to sleep."

Xue Fengsheng did not refute.

He turned to look at Wang Zhaoyao, his voice slowing down.

"Brother Wang, Chen Ping is no longer alone."

He put down his teacup and tapped his finger lightly on the table.

"He is now the flag bearer for those peasants in the Foreign Languages ​​Department."

He looked into Wang Zhaoyao's eyes.

"As long as the flag stands, the momentum will not dissipate. The influence of those students from humble backgrounds is growing stronger and stronger. The Qinglin Society has grown from a dozen or so people to dozens, and now nearly half of the students in the outer academy are close to them."

He paused. "You crippled him in the competition, and the flag fell. Once the flag falls, the momentum dissipates."

"Wouldn't those peasants be completely at our mercy then?"

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Lu Xi.

Wang Zhaoyao listened quietly until the end.

Suddenly he laughed.

A flash of crimson light appeared in his eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

He joked, "Brother Xue, you're being unfair, using me as a knife."

He picked up the teacup and slowly took a sip.

"I'm not running a charity. Defeating Chen Ping is fine, but crippling him is not an option for me."

Xue Fengsheng remained silent for a moment.

Since the other party did not give a direct refusal.

That means that as long as there are enough bargaining chips, everything is negotiable. He gritted his teeth and asked bluntly, "Brother Wang, let's be frank, what other bargaining chips do you want?"

Wang Zhaoyao did not hesitate, as if he had already made up his mind.

"Your Xue family possesses three Flame Essences, a crafting weapon, and a secret martial arts manual."

He turned to look at Xiao Shan.

"Your Xiao family has three pieces of Green Flame Bamboo, a scroll of secret martial arts, and a shop."

The room was quiet for a couple of breaths.

Xue Fengsheng's smile froze for a moment.

Xiao Shan's fingers paused on the teacup.

Wang Zhaoyao stood up, straightened his sleeves, and added another sentence.

"Furthermore, if no one from the Cui family attends the competition, this agreement will be void, and the payment will not be made."

He smiled and looked at the two of them.

"Brothers, go back and think it over carefully." "If you've thought it through and feel this deal is worthwhile, send these things to my Wang family's residence before the competition begins."

"On the day of the competition, I will do my best as you wish."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the door.

Lu Xi also stood up, glanced at Xue Fengsheng and Xiao Shan, said nothing, and followed them out.

The door closed.

Only Xue Fengsheng and Xiao Shan remained in the room.

The tea smoke curled upwards, but no one spoke.

After a long while, Xiao Shan took a deep breath, put down his teacup, and said in a low voice, "The price is a small matter. What if he doesn't go all out after we've given him the item?"

Xue Fengsheng took a sip of tea, his face expressionless.

"Wang Zhaoyao walks the path of invincibility, undefeated from childhood to adulthood. Whenever he makes a move, he always goes all out."

He put down his teacup.

"Moreover, once the day of disaster occurs, victory or defeat is decided in an instant. Even if he wanted to back down, he couldn't stop it." He glanced at Xiao Shan.

"Don't worry about those little things. Go back and tell your family to prepare the consequences."

......

evening.

Inner Courtyard, No. 6, Xuan Character.

Chen Ping sat at his desk in the inner room, pen in hand, casually jotting down his insights into martial arts on a piece of paper.

He went through the Baguazhang techniques in his mind several times. He noticed that they had some similarities with the Liangyizhang's power generation methods. He noted down a few key points and prepared to try them out on the training ground the next day.

As I was writing, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.

Three times.

Urgent and impatient, as if urging someone to open the door.

Chen Ping put down his pen, straightened his clothes, and got up to open the door.

The door opened. Song Ge stood outside the door with his hands behind his back, his narrow eyes half-open and half-closed, a casual smile on his lips.

And behind Song Ge.

There was also a young man standing there. He looked to be in his early twenties.

His appearance was plain and unremarkable, even somewhat bland.

But he was dressed in fine clothes, with a jade pendant of excellent quality hanging from his waist, and his fingers were fair and clean, clearly never having touched the hilt of a knife.

Chen Ping glanced at him.

never seen it.

Not a top-tier student.

Song Ge glanced at Chen Ping and twitched his lips.

"This is Liu Xiao, the third son of the Liu family, the councilor of the Governor's Mansion of Tianyan City."

He put his hands behind his back again and stood there casually outside the door.

Those narrow, half-open eyes suddenly fixed on Chen Ping. (The tone of his voice...)

It exudes a sense of casualness and generosity.

"We've come today to offer you a business deal."

He looked at Chen Ping.

"One stroke."

"A peasant like you absolutely cannot refuse such a deal."