Martial Arts Across the Heavens: Becoming a Martial God Starting from the Big Boss in Tangshan

Chapter 254 One foreigner, one hundred taels

Prince Yi's Mansion, a secret room.

The flickering candlelight cast long shadows of the three people.

Prince Yi sat in his grand chair, a letter clutched in his hand, his face ashen. The more he read, the angrier he became, until he slammed the letter on the table: "They're all useless! Ambitious fools!"

Ao Bai and Bu Ting stood at the lower end of the table, exchanged a glance, and cautiously asked, "Your Highness, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Prince Yi snorted coldly and tossed the letter over: "Read it yourself! Those two audacious bastards, Yuan Shikai and Chen Wen, actually dared to ask me for money, making outrageous demands!"

Ao Bai took the letter, quickly scanned it, and his expression changed drastically.

Bu Ting leaned closer to take a look and gasped, "One hundred taels?! One hundred taels for a foreigner?!"

His eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief: "This is outrageous! A hundred taels could buy several young girls!"

"The Boxers are nothing but a bunch of stray dogs, how dare they make such outrageous demands? Aren't they afraid of dying?!"

He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "Your Highness, I am willing to lead the army and wipe out these ignorant fools!"

Prince Yi gave him a cold look: "Look carefully, Chen Wen has been captured by them. You go to wipe out the Boxers, what if they kill Chen Wen?"

Bu Ting's face froze, and he opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.

Ao Bai frowned and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, something's not right."

"Yuan Shikai was no weakling, but Chen Wen was even more unfathomable."

"It's said they almost killed Yuan Shikai back then, so they should be even stronger. And both of them are incredibly shrewd; how did they end up in this predicament?"

"There's something wrong here."

Prince Yi said fiercely, "Of course there's a problem! A huge problem!"

"Those two guys definitely let themselves be arrested on purpose, just to get money!"

"Even the price of one hundred taels for a foreigner might be an exorbitant amount they themselves are demanding!"

"They really dared to ask!"

"These two are too lawless! They must be taught a lesson!" Bu Ting said angrily.

Prince Yi abruptly stopped, turned to stare at him: "What are you lecturing me about?"

"I told you long ago, he possesses a unique and miraculous medicine. Until you have the ability to control him, you can only be controlled by him!"

Bu Ting's heart trembled, and he quickly lowered his head: "This subordinate knows his mistake, this subordinate misspoke."

Ao Bai tentatively asked, "Your Highness, could it be—you really are going to give money?"

Prince Yi remained silent for a moment, then snorted coldly, sat back down in his armchair, his expression uncertain: "Here!"

"Anyway, it's the imperial court that's paying for it, not me."

He paused, a cold smile appearing on his lips: "Besides, the imperial court doesn't need to pay; they can just raise taxes and squeeze those lackeys dry."

Ao Bai and Bu Ting exchanged a glance, neither daring to respond.

Prince Yi suddenly changed the subject, the gloom on his face vanished, replaced by an undisguised excitement.

He stood up, walked to the corner of the secret room, and looked at a figure standing quietly.

That was a burly man!

With broad shoulders and a muscular build, his eyes were like lightning, and his muscles were bulging all over his body. He stood there like an iron tower.

"Look."

Prince Yi pointed at the burly man, his eyes burning with fervor: "This is a research result that Chen Wen gave me before he left."

"I gave him a hundred soldiers, and after they were given that miraculous medicine, one of them reached the Ming Jin level!"

Ao Bai and Bu Ting stepped forward and carefully examined the burly man, their eyes filled with shock.

"Ming Jin?!"

"An ordinary soldier can reach the Ming Jin level just by taking medicine?"

Prince Yi laughed heartily: "Putting everything else aside, as long as we have a few more strong men like these to form a large army, we'll be invincible! Sweeping across the world will be just around the corner!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke: "Don't even mention a hundred taels for a foreigner, even more would be worth it as long as it works!"

Ao Bai frowned and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, isn't this mortality rate too high?"

He carefully chose his words: "You gave him a hundred people, and only one succeeded. Of the previous twenty or thirty death row inmates, he succeeded with two—this ratio is not right."

"Could Chen Wen have done this on purpose?"

Prince Yi's smile vanished, and he snorted coldly, "Of course I know he did it on purpose. That brat has no good intentions."

"But who can mess with him when he has this unique skill?"

He paused, a smug smile playing on his lips: "However, I've already accelerated my search for a doctor who understands both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Once I find such a person, I'll infiltrate their ranks and secretly learn their techniques!"

Ao Bai's eyes lit up: "Your Highness is brilliant!"

Bu Ting suddenly realized, nodding repeatedly: "So Your Highness had a plan all along! Once we master the method of refining the divine medicine, let's see how arrogant Chen Wen will be then!"

Ao Bai then asked, "But Your Highness, what should we do during this time? Should we continue sending people to him? Won't we lose a lot of manpower during this period of successfully stealing his skills?"

Prince Yi said calmly, "Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles."

"Selecting one out of a hundred is already quite good. We have plenty of elite troops from the Eight Banners; every extra one is a bonus. No worries, keep sending him test subjects!"

Ao Bai and Bu Ting felt a chill run down their spines, and cold sweat broke out on their backs.

One in a hundred — that is, one hundred lives for one strong man.

Prince Yi spoke casually, but to them it was like a thunderclap.

One hundred strong men, that's ten thousand lives!

Moreover, if Prince Yi is willing to sacrifice even his soldiers now, what about in the future? Could he also lose them?

Prince Yi ignored their thoughts, turned around, walked to the window, opened it, and looked out at the deep night.

A night breeze blew in, carrying a hint of coolness.

He suddenly murmured, "I heard that Tan Sitong wrote a book, what's it called—'Renxue' (On Benevolence)?"

Ao Bai and Bu Ting exchanged a glance, wondering why he had suddenly brought this up, and dared not answer rashly.

Prince Yi continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Emperor was very pleased with the new policies and intended to implement them.

He squinted, gazing towards the Forbidden City in the distance, where the brightly lit palace was the residence of Emperor Guangxu.

A meaningful smile slowly appeared on his lips: "The government is indeed outdated; it's time for a new policy!"

Time passed day by day.

The underground chamber at the entrance of the Boxer Rebellion altar was brightly lit.

Lin Heier sat cross-legged, his aura flowing around him, much more composed than he had been ten days ago.

She slowly finished her practice, opened her eyes, and a glint of light flashed in them.

"His internal strength has improved again."

She murmured to herself, her tone full of disbelief.

In just ten days, her martial arts skills improved in a way that was equivalent to three years of hard training in the past.

The teacher's teachings truly have the power to turn the rotten into the miraculous.

Not far away, the leader of the Blue Lanterns was wielding a short blade. In the flashing light of the blade, the initial stiffness was gone, and every move was fluid and graceful.

The four bandit leaders were also practicing their skills, and their auras were much stronger than before.

Yan Zhendong stood aside, looking at these people with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Sir's methods are truly unpredictable."

Liang Kuan chuckled: "Of course! The master said that as long as we are willing to learn, he has a way to make us stronger."

Outside the private room, a commotion erupted.

Several Boxers carried in two foreigners, bound hand and foot, their faces beaming with excitement: "Master! We've caught two more! They were preaching outside the city; the brothers waited three days to catch them!"

Yan Zhendong waved his hand: "Take it in and give it to the master."