Mo Juren, the leader of the Jingjiao Association?
Li Xunhuan had naturally heard of him.
He was a rising star in Jiayuan City, and the Jingjiao Association was no ordinary gang, either.
What Mo Juren was best known for was his looks and personality.
Cold and arrogant.
What brought him here?
“Show him in.”
A short while later, at Li Garden’s reception hall.
Li Xunhuan stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the room, gazing at the framed calligraphy Yue Emperor had written—“A Chancellor’s Household”—as he waited for Mo Juren to arrive.
“My lord, Mo Juren has arrived.”
At the sound of the announcement, he turned around.
Another person now stood in the reception hall. He wore a black robe, had a tall, slender build, and possessed a handsome, elegant appearance.
No wonder Old Demon Han called him a peerless beauty.
Mo Juren couldn’t agree less. If the City Lord weren’t so low-key, there’d be no way he could have earned the reputation of being a handsome beauty.
He raised both arms, laid one hand over the other, and bowed.
“Lord City Lord.”
“Have a seat.”
Li Xunhuan’s eyes held a smile.
Doctor Mo, who saved lives and healed the wounded; the sinister, treacherous Ghost Silver Hand?
Both the righteous and the unrighteous had to act according to your wishes?
Mo Juren grew even more respectful.
“Lord City Lord, the Iron Fist Association has been acting tyrannically and has damaged Jiayuan City’s reputation. I’m willing to help ease your burden.”
Li Xunhuan gave him a strange look. You’ve got some nerve.
You’re the one with ulterior motives, wanting to swallow up the other gangs, and you’re saying it’s all for my sake?
That was well said. Now stop talking.
Seeing that Li Xunhuan said nothing, and remembering his fondness for treasures, Mo Juren immediately understood.
“Lord City Lord, this is the Yellow Dragon Pill recipe.”
“Oh?”
Li Xunhuan paused. This was good stuff.
He took it and looked it over. Hmm, he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
The Scales, activate.
【Mortal Grade, Yellow Dragon Pill recipe,】
Not bad.
Pill recipes were worth more than pills. He figured he could trade it for some good stuff.
“Hmm, you’ve put me in a difficult position.”
A conflicted expression appeared on Li Xunhuan’s face as he tapped his fingers on the table.
“My lord?”
“How about this? Go back for now and let me think it over.”
Mo Juren was dumbfounded. He’d accepted the gift but wasn’t going to do anything?
As for “thinking it over”…
He wouldn’t take that seriously.
It was how he himself fobbed off his subordinates.
When he said he’d think about it, he actually had no intention of doing anything.
He became even more respectful.
“Please give me your instructions, my lord.”
“The Iron Fist Association’s leader brought me two Yellow Dragon Pills just yesterday.”
“You want me to pay more?”
“How could you think that?”
Li Xunhuan widened his eyes and objected.
“I’m not asking for your money. I’m using your money to handle things for you. I haven’t spent a single coin.”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
Mo Juren suddenly understood.
He promptly took out five or six items.
“My lord, these are, um, things I just found in the garden. I figured you must have lost them, so I’ve brought them back.”
A promising student, indeed.
It really was worth being City Lord. Thanks to the Yue Emperor.
“Association leader Mo…”
“My lord, just call me Old Mo.”
Old Mo?
Good idea. This henchman was pretty useful.
“Old Mo, I’ve long been fed up with the chaos in the city. The Iron Fist Association, the Iron Spear Association—there are too many gangs.
Three gangs are enough.
Do you understand what I mean?”
Mo Juren was overjoyed. He leaped to his feet and promptly declared.
“My lord, rest assured. I’ll bring clear skies back to Jiayuan City.”
“Hmm, not bad. Jiayuan City needs young people like you.”
Li Xunhuan put extra emphasis on those words.
Mo Juren understood instantly.
“It’s a crime to possess a treasure. These people stole your treasures, my lord. They deserve to die. I’ll make sure they’re returned to you.”
“Good. Go on.”
Li Xunhuan lifted his teacup, seeing his guest out.
After Mo Juren left, Li Xunhuan picked up the items beside him, elated.
The common folk sure were happy today.
What other city lord demanded treasures and got his hands dirty himself?
So low-class.
Mo Juren would live to the age of thirty-seven. He didn’t have much time left.
Li Xunhuan had to speed up Old Mo’s rise to supremacy.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with him picking up a little loot from behind the scenes.
【Mortal Grade pill recipe, Forget-Worry Pill】
Not bad. Now that he had this recipe, he wouldn’t have to work so hard to collect pills anymore.
【Mortal Grade Body-Refining Technique, Elephant Armor Technique】
A familiar face.
【Mortal Grade Body-Refining Technique, Tyrant Armor】
Ouyang Feitian was still one of Mo Juren’s underlings at this point, so it was no surprise he had this technique.
【Mortal Grade pill recipe, Golden Marrow Pill】
【Mortal Grade pill recipe, Clear Spirit Powder, a supreme antidote】
Three pill recipes and two Body-Refining Techniques.
It was clear that Old Mo had quite a fortune.
After all, he hadn’t even brought out the technique he considered his most valuable possession.
Keep up the good work, Old Mo.
Li Xunhuan returned to the cultivation chamber.
The process of cultivating the Elephant Armor Technique was too painful, and it would make him ugly. He wouldn’t practice it.
As for Tyrant Armor, considering what happened when Old Demon Han took Ouyang Feitian’s head with a single sword strike, he wouldn’t practice that, either.
With a thought, two illusory shadows of cultivation methods appeared on one side of the Scales, while countless divine abilities and cultivation methods appeared on the other.
He searched through them, but found nothing worthwhile.
Too bad he couldn’t redeem just individual levels of a cultivation method.
Otherwise, he could get the first few levels of the Eight-Nine Profound Art or the Great Ninth-Rank Heavenly Immortal Art and become invincible step by step.
In the end, he redeemed the Swimming Dragon Sword Technique.
A flash of light passed, and information about the sword techniques appeared in his mind.
The sword techniques were methods for the Qi Refining Stage. They weren’t sword riding techniques that let you fly around, but techniques for wielding a long sword against enemies like a Mortal.
The advanced part was using spiritual power to drive the sword, with the body acting as an auxiliary.
To put it simply, these sword techniques could stand against flying sword techniques, rather than being crushed like a Mortal’s.
They could also break spells when attacking.
A single sword strike could pass through minor spells like the Body-Protecting Technique without difficulty.
Li Xunhuan liked it very much.
The Mortal World was just too focused on spellcasters.
He wanted to do something romantic and stylish.
He didn’t keep the three pill recipes, either. He traded them for three recipes of the same grade.
Now he had six pill recipes.
That was the joy of having a cheat: he didn’t need to rack his brains collecting pill recipes like Old Demon Han.
There was just one drawback.
Tiannan was impoverished and had few Spirit Herbs. On top of that, the new pill recipes called for spirit medicines that didn’t exist in the Mortal World, so he would have to grow them himself.
In such a situation, the Little Green Bottle was a great aid.
He could collect spirit medicines and refine pills while trading ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Herbs for Great Treasures.
Li Xunhuan wasn’t just going to use one cheat; he was going to use two.
He had already decided to sell the pill recipes to Old Demon Han in the future.
Little Han wouldn’t need to become Han Paopao. Having him farm would be just fine.
A cultivator of the Dao of Caution running away all the time? That didn’t fit the style at all.
..
While Li Xunhuan practiced swordsmanship, transformed his spiritual root, and quietly served as City Lord, the outside world was in turmoil.
Mo Juren had stepped onto the stage of history.
A born overlord.
Through vertical and horizontal alliances, and campaigns east and west, the Jingjiao Association gradually became one of Jiayuan City’s three dominant powers.
Meanwhile, Li Xunhuan reaped many rewards.
【Mortal Grade cultivation method, Little Li’s Flying Dagger】
【Mid-grade first-tier cultivation technique, Wind God Leg】
【Mid-grade first-tier cultivation technique, Soaring Heaven Treading Waves, secret technique of the Rakshasa Hall】
【Mid-grade first-tier magical artifact, Flying Dagger】
【Low-grade first-tier magical artifact, Azure Edge Sword】
【Low-grade first-tier spell, Sharpness Technique,】
Old Mo had done a great job this time.
There was one thing he wasn’t satisfied with about the chaos in Jiayuan City.
The Black Fiend Sect’s regional head for Lan Prefecture was Daoist Qingwen of Crouching Ox Mountain.
The cultivation resources Jiayuan City was sending up were getting fewer and fewer.
He wanted to talk to Li Xunhuan about it.