The two men entered the Wind and Cloud Arena with the intention of teaming up to attack Hong Lietao,but how could Su Xin allow them to succeed?
With a pointed finger,Su Xin's instantaneous force was like thunder,emitting sharp whistles.It directly shattered the weapon in one person's hand,forcing him to step back.
The other person,feeling helpless,also retreated more than ten steps under the pressure of Su Xin's force,no longer daring to act recklessly.
One of the forceful fingers crashed in front of Yan Shuheng,creating a small hole several feet deep in the blue stone bricks beneath his feet,with cracks spreading within a few steps in diameter!
A bead of cold sweat formed at the corner of Yan Shuheng's temple.Although he knew that Su Xin couldn't kill him in public,the sense of powerlessness when facing an innate martial artist made him extremely uneasy.
Is he still an innate martial artist?Faced with an innate martial artist,that feeling of powerlessness almost drove him insane.
Su Xin ascended the arena,saying coldly,"What's this?Has the Wind and Cloud Arena's rules changed?Can't you fight one-on-one without resorting to a group attack?"
The innate martial artist whose weapon had been shattered by Su Xin shouted,"Mo Chentao has already lost,but Hong Lietao is still relentlessly seeking his life.His actions are so vicious;shouldn't we save him?"
Su Xin sneered,"Ridiculous!This is the Wind and Cloud Arena,not a friendly match.Who said killing is not allowed here?If you're beaten to death on the stage due to your lack of skill,you deserve it.If you're so afraid of death,go home and drink milk,why bother wandering in the martial world?"
"You!"The martial artist was left speechless,his face turning red under Su Xin's rebuke.
Su Xin looked at the restless Yan Zhongheng and others and said coldly,"If you insist on causing trouble,I,Meng,am willing to take it on.I'm not afraid of a prolonged battle.However,life and death are fated.If you lose your life on the stage,don't blame me,Meng,for being ruthless!"
The subordinates of Yan Zhongheng,who had been defeated by a single strike from Meng Qingze earlier,fell silent.Facing this person who ranked high on the leaderboards and defeated three opponents at once,they lost their confidence.
In a protracted battle,they had over ten innate martial artists on their side.That gave them some confidence.But now,Meng Qingze seemed enraged,and entering the arena meant a life-and-death struggle.Who would dare to be the first to seek death?
As the saying goes,one does not kill a friend on the path,and if they were to fight a final battle,they wouldn't mind facing this person who was already worn out.But for the first match,they decided to let it go.
Yan Shuheng said coldly,"Step back!This round,you win.You can choose the trade route."
As Su Xin had mentioned earlier,Yan Shuheng also didn't want to linger here with them.A year's time was enough for them to travel the route twice.Fighting a life-and-death battle with Yan Qingxue's subordinates here was obviously an unwise choice.
Now,even Yan Shuheng,the party involved,had no intention of continuing the confrontation.The others naturally had no objections and willingly let Yan Qingxue make the choice.
"I choose the trade route to the south of Xiangnan,"Yan Qingxue said softly.
Yan Zhongheng and others were puzzled.It's not that the trade route to Xiangnan was bad;it was just too ordinary.The route to Commercial Mountain City was too close,requiring three to four months for a round trip,even with the large trade caravan.If they were fast,they could even make three or four rounds.
However,precisely because of this,the profits of Xiangnan's specialties in Commercial Mountain City were not particularly high.Every year,other Central Plains trade caravans would penetrate into Commercial Mountain City and nearby places to collect these specialties closest to the southern barbarians.
Only some small trade caravans without the capability to venture deep into the southern barbarian areas,fearing encountering bandits,would purchase and trade these goods in Commercial Mountain City.
Among the thirteen trade routes,the six routes leading to the Central Plains were the most profitable.Choosing any of them would yield profits ten times higher than that of the Xiangnan route.
Considering all this,Yan Zhongheng and others were confused.Yan Qingxue should know these facts,so why did she choose the trade route to Xiangnan?Was there some hidden plot behind it?
However,for the time being,the crowd couldn't think of any suspicious points and readily divided the remaining trade routes.They were ready to hit the road.
On the way back,Hong Lietao said to Yan Qingxue in a deep voice,"Miss Yan,I apologize for today's incident."
Although he was a bit impulsive,he wasn't a fool.If he had publicly killed Mo Chentao today,it would inevitably attract trouble from the Mo family of Canglan Valley,which could affect their plans.
So,he felt a bit embarrassed about his impulsiveness.
Yan Qingxue smiled and shook her head,"Brother Hong,don't say that.I'm already grateful that you chose to help me.Similarly,if anything happens to you,I'll stand by you."
Hong Lietao was slightly moved.With his eccentric personality and few friends,he had even driven away Yan Zhongheng and others who tried to recruit him.However,with Yan Qingxue,he felt her sincerity.Compared to Yan Zhongheng's group,who seemed to want to use his strength,Hong Lietao felt that he had indeed made the right choice.Even Tao Qian and Nie Fang felt warmth,at least following Yan Qingxue meant they didn't have to worry about being schemed against behind their backs or getting involved in petty power struggles.
Seeing this scene,Su Xin shook his head slightly.He disapproved of Yan Qingxue's sincere approach because being sincere doesn't guarantee reciprocation.However,he couldn't deny that Yan Qingxue's approach was undeniably more comfortable,even though it was not suitable for Su Xin.He firmly believed that the most important thing for his subordinates to wholeheartedly follow him was self-interest.
After returning,Yan Qingxue,under the guidance of Liang Bo,began organizing the trading caravan.However,Su Xin and his group couldn't assist,so they could only watch.Building a trading caravan involved not only assembling a team of warriors but also a large number of laborers to transport goods,along with numerous carts and animals.
As Su Xin planned to monopolize all the specialties of the southern barbarians,the entire caravan needed to be considerably large–hundreds of carts and over a thousand pack animals.There were also more than five hundred innate martial artists.Su Xin assigned Fang Hao,who seemed smart,to communicate with these martial artists and organize them into teams for the upcoming journey.
Although it sounded simple,the details were complicated.Yan Qingxue had received teachings from Liang Bo on these matters before,and this was her first practical experience.Surprisingly,she learned very quickly,almost grasping everything Liang Bo explained.
Su Xin also noticed that Yan Qingxue seemed to have a talent for business.When Su Xin explained his monopolistic strategy last time,others didn't fully understand,but Yan Qingxue grasped it almost immediately.
Once everyone was ready,Liang Bo brought an accountant with ten large boxes,each containing a million taels of silver.This was the startup capital given by Yan Emperor Nine.Each person received a million taels,and the accountant,who was Yan Emperor Nine's trusted confidant,would accompany them.His role was to supervise and ensure that only the allocated million taels were used for purchases.If anyone used their own money,it would be considered a failure.Despite being an ordinary person,everyone obediently respected him.
Yan Qingxue expressed some concern,"We only have a million taels of silver,and we've prepared so many carts and horses.I just calculated,and with this million taels,we probably can't even fill up a tenth of the carts."
Su Xin whispered,"If you buy at normal prices,a million taels of silver won't get you much.However,this time,we are not purchasing at normal prices."
All the specialties in Changning Prefecture were priced according to Su Xin's own set rates.How much profit was there?Su Xin was well aware.He didn't intend to stick to the prices he had set;this time,he planned to buy at a lower cost.
Yan Qingxue nodded.As long as Meng Qingze was confident,she felt reassured.
Everything was well-prepared on Su Xin's side,and they were ready to depart.However,the atmosphere on Yan Shuheng's side was unusually solemn.
Mo Chentao had been severely injured by Hong Lietao's strike.Although he hadn't died,he was seriously wounded.Immediately after,Yan Shuheng sought the best doctor in Commercial Mountain City to treat Mo Chentao.After more than an hour,the doctor came out and shook his head,"Young Master,although his life is not in danger,that strike was too severe.It directly severed his chest bone and meridians.While I managed to reconnect them,the sword energy has already entered his body,shattering most of his meridians.Healing will be extremely difficult;at least,I have exhausted my abilities and can't do anything more."
The doctor was the best in Commercial Mountain City,specializing in treating injuries of martial artists.If he couldn't help,then even seeking renowned physicians from the martial world wouldn't make much of a difference.
Yan Shuheng looked troubled,"Is there really no way to treat him?What will happen to him in the future?"
The doctor shook his head,"I have exhausted all my methods.Although he won't become disabled,he won't be able to use the power of an innate martial artist.He won't even be able to utilize true energy;otherwise,it would tear his meridians apart.It's practically irreversible."
After saying this,the doctor left,leaving Yan Shuheng with a gloomy expression.Although Mo Chentao wouldn't become disabled,not being able to use true energy meant he was equivalent to an early-stage innate martial artist at best.For Mo Chentao,who was just over thirty years old,this was almost equivalent to becoming disabled.
