Chapter 15: The Foundation_2

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At that very moment...

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Three arrows like lightning, one after another, caught everyone off guard as blood spurted violently, dazzlingly bright.

"Ahhh!!!"

Immediately, a pitiful scream pierced the air, and Liang Sanjiang fell back into his gilt chair, limbs skewered by powerful bolts, pinned firmly in place, the excruciating pain causing his eyes to bulge, nearly splitting at the seams, unable to hold back his cries.

"Big brother!"

"This..."

Caught off guard by the sudden change, the thunder swift and violent, a group of leaders—staring at the horrifying screams of Liang Sanjiang—didn't know what to do, when suddenly they saw...

"Swoosh!!!"

"Thud!!!"

The sound of something piercing the air, then flesh, followed swiftly one after the other; everyone's pupils shrank, terrified by the gruesome splattering of blood.

Atop the gilt chair, Liang Sanjiang slumped like mud, limbs penetrated by powerful bolts and yet another arrow entering his mouth, through the brain, severing the thread of life completely.

"Big brother!!"

Seeing this, the crowd finally snapped to attention, their bodies instinctively jolting up as they turned to look outside.

As their gazes shifted, they saw a figure stride in from the hall, majestic like a towering mountain, brimming with Evil Qi.

"You..."

The crowd was terrified, speech stuck in their throats.

Yet the newcomer did not care, smoothly drawing the Nine-Ring Blade from his back, the ominous blade reflecting a fearsome sharpness that made everyone wince, adding to their terror.

"All of you, come at me together!"

With those words, the slaughter began anew, transforming the Hall of Righteous Gathering into a storm of blades and a tempest of blood.

...

Shortly thereafter, the clamor of fighting inside the hall subdued, while the chaos spread like wildfire outside, engulfing the entire stronghold.

"Thud!"

In the Hall of Righteous Gathering, with the final blow, a cold gleam flashed, and instantly blood sprayed crimson, a body severed from its head.

Xu Yang stood alone in the hall, holding the heavy blade, his gaze sweeping around the room, now filled with lifeless bodies and severed limbs.

As the only survivor in the hall, looking at Xu Yang, whose blade was unstained by blood and whose edge was intimidating, the middle-aged scholar's legs went weak, and he fell to his knees, bowing his head, his voice trembling as he said, "My lord, I greet you, Li Da of the household. Congratulations, sir, on taking over the estate of the Hundred Broken Mountains..."

"Ha!"

Xu Yang laughed, sheathing his blade, and looked at the man kneeling before him: "You do know which way the wind blows."

"Thank you for the praise, great leader!"

Feeling that there was no intent to kill from the other party, the middle-aged scholar felt slightly relieved and spoke with forced composure: "That Liang Sanjiang was a frog in a well, stubborn and self-righteous, actually daring to be the enemy of the household leader, truly seeking his own death..."

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"Enough with the nonsense!"

However, Xu Yang had no time to listen to the other side's flattery and cut to the chase, asking, "Where is the storeroom?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged scholar didn't dare to waste words any longer. Struggling to stand, he said with trepidation, "The storeroom of the stronghold mainly contains ordinary goods. Liang Sanjiang, being selfish and greedy, kept all of the extraordinary treasures and valuable loot in his private stockpile, along with numerous divine weapons and martial arts manuals. Please follow me, Leader…"

He didn't question why Xu Yang was so devoid of martial virtue, going against his word of moving out after three days and showing up today instead, shamelessly using strong bows and sharp arrows to ambush and kill the unsuspecting Liang Sanjiang.

Because this is how the Martial World operates, where the victor is king. To say anything else would be meaningless.

Hundred Broken Mountains, Heavenly King Peak, henceforth had a new master!

Xu Yang's plan had taken a crucial step forward.

Ever since he took over Qingfeng Stronghold and had established a certain level of power and a solid foundation, he began to reveal the advantages of being a transmigrator. Relying on technologies such as fine salt, soap, and colored glaze, he obtained a large amount of wealth.

This wealth was not hoarded in his hands but constantly transformed into power. On one hand, he spent a fortune to obtain martial arts manuals from famous masters and various sects, enriching his own martial foundations. On the other hand, he purchased grain, meat, weapons, and armor, training his followers and strengthening the stronghold.

In a world with no extraordinary powers and low martial arts, the power of money was extremely strong. Xu Yang's no-cost-spared and generous investments were naturally effective. Not only did his own martial arts improve rapidly, but the stronghold's strength also grew swiftly.

Unfortunately, wealth is not omnipotent. Soon, Xu Yang encountered a bottleneck—both in his martial arts progression and the development of the stronghold.

There is no need to elaborate on martial arts. With money invested and skill traits, in just a few years, Xu Yang had cultivated Inner Strength and mastered many martial arts. However, the cultivation of True Qi that followed Inner Strength was a jealously guarded secret of the major sects.

Although he had an Attribute Panel and skill traits like a golden finger, these skill traits could only turn decay into magic, not create something out of nothing. At least for now, the skills and traits he had developed couldn't achieve that.

Therefore, he could only offer a high reward for the purchase of martial arts from famous masters and True Qi cultivation methods.

However, while he didn't secure any mana point, trouble knocked at his door first. Liang Sanjiang was one of those envious onlookers.

Just as with martial arts cultivation, the development of the stronghold encountered similar issues. Little Yellow Mountain was too small, and Qingfeng Stronghold was even smaller. Even though he had taken in many fugitives from the mountains and attracted many poor people to join, he could not change the fundamental issue of size. Soon, he reached a bottleneck and became the target of contention by officials, bandits, and various other forces.

To break out of this situation, he decisively took action against Hundred Broken Mountains.

Hundred Broken Mountains, stretching from the Southern Dynasty to the north and located in the Central Plains, is one of the main thoroughfares for north-south traffic. The mountain ranges are continuous, vast and deep, rife with bandits, thus merchants passing through often suffer robbery, which led to the mountain's name, 'Hundred Broken'.

Liang Sanjiang, a True Qi expert and a bandit leader, thirty years ago had forcefully united the bandits of Hundred Broken Mountains and became one of the chieftains over sixty-three provinces in the south and north, known as the Heavenly King of Hundred Broken Mountains.

After taking the Heavenly King Peak, Liang Sanjiang secured the support and loyalty of all bandits in Hundred Broken Mountains. His power was extremely formidable. The imperial court sent troops to eradicate him multiple times, but they always returned without success, boosting his reputation even further, shining brightly as if he were the sun at its zenith.

He had set his sights on the recently risen Qingfeng Stronghold, not realizing that Xu Yang also had his eyes on his Hundred Broken Mountains.

For Xu Yang, as long as he killed this man and seized the foundation of Hundred Broken Mountains, he could then occupy a naturally defensible territory, no longer fearing any encirclement campaigns by the court or officials.

Besides, controlling such a critical traffic route would enable him to collect profits from north-south trade. Coupled with commodities like fine salt, soap, and colored glaze, becoming the wealthiest in the land would be effortless.

With money, one can make the gods come through. Soon, the issues with martial arts cultivation would be resolved, and his progression to a True Qi Grandmaster would face no more obstacles.

Therefore, after Liang Sanjiang sent men to his door, Xu Yang decisively took action. First, he set a three-day meeting to distract attention and then stealthily entered Heavenly King Peak. Outside the Hall of Righteous Gathering, he shot and killed Liang Sanjiang.

Over the years, he had diligently practiced martial arts, not only cultivating the basics of Inner Strength, but with the aid of martial arts, his archery skills had also improved significantly. Combined with the Butcher's technique and the Iron Bamboo Bow that he meticulously crafted and was difficult for others to draw, even Liang Sanjiang, the True Qi Grandmaster, could not withstand his ambush and died on the spot.

With Liang Sanjiang dead, the outcome of this battle was without suspense. The remaining dozen or so stronghold leaders, the strongest only possessing Inner Strength, were like clay chickens and pottery dogs against him, not worth one blow. In a moment, they were all cut down by his Nine-Ring Blade, which could easily slice through iron like mud and cleave through steel armor. Hundred Broken Mountains thus changed hands.

With the foundation of Hundred Broken Mountains in his grasp, he was like a bird soaring into the sky or a fish leaping into the ocean. Casting his gaze upon the world, he faced no more constraints.

In such a way...