novelraw Chapter 247: What a Mess This Turned Out to Be
Chapter 247: What a Mess This Turned Out to Be
“Relax.”
“It is nothing serious.”
“It is only the guardian beast of one branch helm of the Five Poison Sect, not the sect’s true guardian beast. If one day you kill their Golden Snake, Silver Scorpion, or Seven-Colored Spider, then you will truly be in mortal danger.”
Old Seven spoke half-jokingly to Su Wangchuan. “Those creatures are treasured by the Five Poison Sect. I heard they have been raised for many years. A single drop of their venom is worth a fortune. If you kill or injure one of them, the entire Five Poison Sect will tear you to pieces.”
“Old Seven.”
“I truly had no idea that giant bear had such a background.”
Su Wangchuan spoke honestly, smiling bitterly. “If I send it back now… would it already be too late?”
“Send it back?”
Old Seven burst into laughter. “If you did that, you would only be delivering yourself to them.”
Then he patted Su Wangchuan on the shoulder.“Do not worry. A mere branch helm of the Five Poison Sect cannot do anything to our Caobang. Those little poison-playing brats cannot overturn Sanhe Commandery! I will publicly announce that the giant bear was hunted by our hall. You just go back and tell your men to keep their mouths shut and not talk nonsense. The Five Poison Sect would not dare deal with us openly.”
“Thank you, Old Seven.”
Su Wangchuan immediately cupped his fists in gratitude.
With Old Seven voluntarily taking responsibility for the matter, he felt much more relieved.
Then he suddenly realized something.
He had come to deliver a gift… yet somehow it seemed he now owed Old Seven a favor.
What a mess this had turned into!
Fortunately, Old Seven rewarded merit and punished faults fairly. Extremely pleased with the giant bear pelt, he said:
“This giant bear pelt is a rare treasure. It counts as a merit you have earned for the hall. Tell me—what reward do you want? I can grant it.”
Su Wangchuan’s eyes lit up.
“Your subordinate would like to request several martial arts manuals for the brothers under my command.”
“Not bad. At least you remember to cultivate the men under you. That makes you far better than those helm leaders who only know how to line their own pockets.”
“Take these.”
Old Seven tossed five tokens made of special material toward him.
“These are vouchers for the Armory Manual Vault. One token can be exchanged for a single Third-Rank martial art… or for ten Second-Rank martial arts. How you arrange it and what you exchange them for is entirely up to you.”
“Thank you, Old Seven!”
Su Wangchuan beamed with joy.
According to black market prices, this was equivalent to a reward worth three hundred taels of gold. But Third-Rank martial arts were nearly impossible to buy on the market. Used well, the value was closer to a reward worth a thousand taels of gold.
Giving away the giant bear pelt had truly been the right choice.
After bidding farewell to Old Seven, he immediately visited the Armory Manual Vault and used one token to exchange for the 《Black Tortoise Art》. He then returned to the branch helm and handed it to Bai Yuhui.
“Thank you, Senior Brother!”
Bai Yuhui accepted the 《Black Tortoise Art》 with both hands, thanking him repeatedly while admiring it with undisguised delight.
“This is worth at least two hundred taels of gold. Senior Brother, did you exchange the giant bear pelt with Old Seven for it?”
His gratitude was written plainly across his face.
Su Wangchuan waved his hand and smiled.
“You were the first person under my command to break through to Second Rank. Of course I must invest in you fully. Besides, Captain Bai has treated me well. Helping you is only proper.”
“Stabilize your cultivation as soon as possible. Once you do, I will see about securing you a Deputy Helm Leader position. With that status, you will be able to receive a Third-Rank martial art.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother!”
Bai Yuhui was even more moved.
“Oh, right.”
“Senior Brother, I told my sister about our operation clearing the Snake Den at Blackwind Stronghold. She said you are both bold and meticulous. If you could pass through the giant bear incident so easily, your future achievements will surely be remarkable.”
Receiving such praise from Captain Bai naturally pleased Su Wangchuan.
But when he remembered Old Seven’s words—that the giant bear had been the Five Poison Sect’s guardian beast—his temples throbbed.
He forced a smile.
“Your sister has returned to Sanhe Commandery?”
“Not yet. She should still be on the road. It seems she took on an escort mission along the way. It will probably take three to five days.”
“A Fourth-Rank martial artist still escorts caravans?”
Su Wangchuan found that somewhat puzzling.
“It seems the client is a relative of an official connected to the Qingcheng Sect. It was a mission arranged by the sect, so she could not refuse.”
Bai Yuhui explained further.
“Besides, without a stable source of income, my sister often takes missions from the government or escort agencies. Sometimes she even waits at restaurants for wealthy patrons to hire her… The Land-Clearing Team works the same way, except their cargo is usually less valuable and the risks are lower.”
Su Wangchuan nodded silently.
The Land-Clearing Team had a strong reputation, but in reality it was not easy for them to make money.
Every escort mission had to be carefully screened by the studio—selected through repeated vetting to ensure the risk was not too high before they would accept it.
But because of that, the payment for such missions was generally quite low.
After months of hard work, purchasing a single Second-Rank martial arts manual could wipe out all their earnings.
“Your sister hopes you can stay at the Caobang’s Sanjiang Branch Helm. First break through to Second Rank, then focus on cultivating the 《Black Tortoise Art》. When the time comes, there will definitely be a place for you here.”
Su Wangchuan painted a promising picture for him.
“Yes! Thank you, Senior Brother!”
Through Chen Ergou, Su Wangchuan gathered everyone who had participated in the operation.
He distributed at least one hundred taels of silver to each person as a bonus, and everyone was overjoyed.
Then Su Wangchuan issued a strict gag order. He explained the giant bear’s identity and forbade anyone from discussing it outside.
Everyone accepted the order.
After they all left, Su Wangchuan returned to his room and attempted to create a martial arts manual for 《Archery》.
The result…
was extremely exhausting.
After consuming 100 points of internal energy and spending three hours, his mind felt hazy and drained, as if he had just completed a brutally difficult academic exam.
A basic martial art manual was not expensive. One copy sold for only one hundred taels of silver.
To exhaust himself like this for such a small amount of money truly felt unpleasant.
It also delayed his training.
He sat cross-legged and cultivated the 《Black Tortoise Art》 for two hours. As his internal energy gradually recovered, Su Wangchuan completely abandoned the idea of continuing to produce 《Archery》 manuals for profit.
He found Chen Ergou and instructed him:
“Bring me two brothers who practice the 《Black Tiger Fist》. One Quasi-Martial Artist and one Martial Artist.”
Better to focus on training.
He did not lack money.
There was no need to suffer like this.
“Yes!”
Chen Ergou quickly returned with two men.
Both had followed him from the Yulong Gang.
One was a Quasi-Martial Artist, the other a full-fledged Martial Artist.
Standing in the courtyard of his residence, Su Wangchuan removed his leather armor, chainmail, and upper garment, revealing sharply defined muscles.
He instructed the two men:
“From this moment on, I will choose one of you to assist me in sparring. You will help me train a body-protection technique.”
“Helm Leader, what should we do?”
Both men cupped their fists.
Su Wangchuan tossed aside his clothing.
“Use the 《Black Tiger Fist》. Attack with your full strength. Do not hold back.”
Then he pointed at the Quasi-Martial Artist disciple.
“You start.”
As he spoke, he activated the 《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》.
He already had his own training method for body-protection techniques.
But now it seemed far too slow.
Su Wangchuan glanced at his health. It had reached 490 points. After activating the 《Black Tortoise Art》, it climbed to 570 points.
He wanted to test whether a different training method might work.
By using real sparring partners, he hoped to accelerate the cultivation of his body-protection technique.
After all—
his defense was already very high. Because of the 《Black Tortoise Art》, he also had much stronger control.
As long as a Quasi-Martial Artist’s attacks could produce training effects, even if he took dozens of punches and lost some health, those superficial injuries could easily be healed with the 《Qingcheng Heart Method》.
The Quasi-Martial Artist was named Chen Kun.
Without hesitation, he assumed the opening stance of the 《Black Tiger Fist》.
“Helm Leader!”
“Your subordinate is coming!”
“Mm.”
Su Wangchuan planted himself firmly in a Horse Stance and activated the 《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》.
Entry-level 《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》 increased defense by five points. Combined with his natural defense of 9.4, his total defense reached 14.4, allowing him to withstand attacks with a force of up to 43 points.
Chen Kun’s 《Black Tiger Fist》 had already reached the realm of Practice Makes Perfect. Each punch and kick carried more than 250 kilograms of force.
Yet when they struck Su Wangchuan, he did not move at all.
Occasionally, his health dropped by one point.
After three or four dozen moves, Chen Kun was panting heavily. However, the experience bar had not budged at all.
“Not enough force?”
“Stop.”
“You take over.”
Su Wangchuan ordered Chen Kun to step aside and pointed at the full-fledged Martial Artist, Zhang Yao.
The man’s knuckles were clearly defined, his gaze sharp.
He cupped his fists crisply. “Your subordinate obeys!”
Then he assumed his stance, and the wind of his fists rushed forward.