50: The strategist's plan

"Oh, Lin Yi? Who is this? Could it be some martial Dao teacher from Dongshan Martial Academy with a massive fortune? Otherwise, how could I get hundreds of thousands of silver taels from him?"

Hearing the elegant scholar's words, Lu Chong asked in confusion.

He wasn't like Wan Hu, a Martial Artist who had always lived in Dongshan Prefecture City. Furthermore, Wangwu Mountain was quite far from Dongshan Prefecture City, and he was usually busy. How could he have the time to pay attention to a Genius like Lin Yi?

After all, no matter how formidable those geniuses of Dongshan Martial Academy were, under normal circumstances, becoming a Third-Rank Martial Artist was already good enough. Even those with the hope of becoming a Second-Rank Martial Artist were quite rare.

And he, Lu Chong, was a Third Rank Peak powerhouse, someone with the prospect of breaking through to Martial Dao Second Rank. He was incredibly powerful, so why would he care about a little brat who hadn't even grown up yet?

Unless the other party was a peerless Prodigy with First Rank potential; only then would someone like Lu Chong receive the news immediately.

"In response, Big Boss."

Seeing this, the elegant scholar chuckled and explained:

"This Lin Yi is not some martial Dao teacher from Dongshan Martial Academy, but a Disciple who recently appeared there. Moreover, he is a country Disciple from a small county under Guangling Prefecture."

"However, although this boy comes from a poor background, his talent is extremely extraordinary. Not only did he display Extreme Strength Minor Achievement and a cultivation level close to Sixth Grade Middle Stage upon entering Dongshan Martial Academy, suppressing all the other academy Disciples into submission."

"Just one month later, he suppressed many Disciples again in the Dongshan Martial Academy's monthly competition, achieving the rank of second in the academy, only below that peerless Genius of the Lin Family, Lin Tianqing."

"Then another month later, his strength actually grew rapidly again, reaching the Martial Dao Sixth Grade Peak level and the Fourth Grade Martial Art Perfection Realm of martial arts skill. He even boldly defeated the Lin Family's Lin Tianqing in the recent Dongshan Martial Academy year-end competition, becoming number one in the academy. His talent is truly incredibly remarkable!"

"Not bad!"

Hearing this, Lu Chong also nodded slightly, acknowledging:

"Military Counselor, according to what you've said, this Lin Yi's talent is indeed somewhat extraordinary. Even compared to myself in my youth, he might be slightly superior."

"If he continues to develop with this momentum, in a few years, he might indeed have a great hope of becoming another Martial Dao Second Rank powerhouse in our Dongshan Prefecture!"

"But then again, even if Lin Yi's talent is strong, he's just a brat right now. He probably doesn't have much money in his hands, right?"

"And since his background is humble, even if we kidnap him, I'm afraid no one would be willing to cough up hundreds of thousands of silver taels at once to ransom him. How am I supposed to get those hundreds of thousands of silver taels from him?"

"Hehe, Big Boss has misunderstood."

Hearing Lu Chong's doubt, the elegant scholar smiled smugly and said:

"That Lin Yi indeed has no money and no background, but although he has no background, he has talent!"

"You must know that as a sect founded over a thousand years ago, the Heavenly Mountain Sect has many great families and factions within it."

"Although these families and factions stand united when facing external enemies, their internal competition for various resources and interests is extremely fierce when there are no external threats."

"And for a Genius like Lin Yi, who has a great chance of becoming a Second Rank, any Family or faction within the Heavenly Mountain Sect would certainly value him highly."

"In this situation, as long as Lin Yi is willing to sign a contract with those great families and completely sell himself to them, then with how much they value him, let alone hundreds of thousands, they could easily provide a million taels or even more!"

"And as for this, those Heavenly Mountain Sect higher-ups would certainly be happy to see it happen. They might not actively push for it, but at the very least, they wouldn't hinder Big Boss too much."

"By then, won't more than half of Big Boss's 1.1 or 1.2 million silver taels be gathered?"

"Oh, it can actually be done like that?"

Hearing this, Lu Chong's eyes lit up.

As a Bandit, he had naturally done things like kidnapping for ransom before.

However, in normal times, no matter how noble the status of the person he kidnapped, he would usually only demand a maximum of one hundred thousand silver taels and leave it at that.

After all, those great families in Dongshan Prefecture were not to be trifled with. If you truly provoked them and they decided they didn't want the hostage anymore and insisted on going to war with you, the losses would be far more than just a mere hundred thousand silver taels.

Besides, everyone was essentially making a living in this Dongshan Prefecture. Although they belonged to the black and white paths, they would inevitably cross paths.

If the other party was sensible and willing to pay the silver, then his Qingfeng Stockade naturally couldn't go too far. Otherwise, it would be difficult for his Qingfeng Stockade to survive in Dongshan Prefecture and Wangwu Mountain.

So for a moment just now, he hadn't even thought about gathering the silver through kidnapping.

But now, this Lin Yi had no background yet possessed incredible talent; he was simply a perfect prey bestowed upon him by the heavens!

Once he was kidnapped, then his wuxin pill and this Martial Dao Second Rank would truly be within reach!

"Haha! Good!"

Thinking of this, Lu Chong laughed loudly:

"Military Counselor, this plan is truly a brilliant one. You've easily obtained so much silver for this Great King; you truly are the Mister Zhiduoxing of my Qingfeng Stockade."

"However, while the plan is good, there is still one difficulty: how do we enter the Prefecture City to kidnap Lin Yi?"

"You must know that Dongshan Prefecture City is a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Let alone Second Rank experts, there are even several First-Rank Masters in the city."

"Furthermore, Lin Yi lives in Dongshan Martial Academy, which is a vital area of Dongshan Prefecture City, not far from the City Lord's Manor. With the strength of our Qingfeng Stockade, it's simply impossible to kidnap him under the noses of the many experts in the City Lord's Manor."

"As for waiting for him to come out? Who knows when he'll come out? And even if he does, if he only wanders around the vicinity of the City Lord's Manor, how are we supposed to make a move?"

"Hehe, Big Boss, rest assured!"

As soon as Lu Chong finished speaking, the elegant scholar immediately stroked the few strands of long beard under his chin and smiled smugly:

"Since I've given Big Boss this idea, I naturally have a way to help Big Boss solve this problem."

"True! Lin Yi living in Dongshan Martial Academy is indeed hard to kidnap. But the fact that he's hard to kidnap doesn't mean his close relatives are!"

"Does Big Boss still remember that I previously told you that although Lin Yi's talent is extraordinary, he comes from a remote small county called Qinghe County under Guangling Prefecture, and both his father and mother are from that small county?"

"And now, along with Lin Yi joining Dongshan Martial Academy to practice more than two months ago, his parents have also given up their house in Guangling Prefecture City and have now returned to live in Qinghe County."

"In such a small county, the defensive forces are basically pathetically weak. Let alone powerhouses, there isn't even a single Sixth-Rank Martial Artist."

"When the time comes, as long as our Qingfeng Stockade sends some men, capturing Lin Yi's parents will be as easy as reaching into a bag to grab something."

"And with Lin Yi's parents in our hands, why would Big Boss worry that Lin Yi won't obediently deliver the silver?"

"Haha! Good!"

After hearing the entire process described by the elegant scholar, Lu Chong was completely excited this time:

"Military Counselor is truly a Divine Being! Truly exhaustive in calculation! Not only did you come up with such a brilliant plan in such a short time, but you've even considered every single detail for this Great King."

"With the Military Counselor here, why should I worry about not getting the wuxin pill? Why should I worry about not achieving Martial Dao Second Rank? Hahaha!"

Lu Chong laughed loudly.

"Congratulations, Big Brother! Best wishes, Big Brother!"

"With the Military Counselor's brilliant plan, Big Brother will surely succeed this time, successfully obtaining the wuxin pill and achieving Martial Dao Second Rank!"

Seeing this, the leaders of Qingfeng Stockade also laughed loudly.

After everyone had laughed for a while, Lu Chong suddenly turned his head and shouted at the handsome young man beside him:

"Jian'er!"

"I am here, Father!"

Hearing this, the handsome young man immediately stepped out of the line, cupped his hands, and bowed respectfully to Lu Chong.

"Mhm, you heard the plan the Military Counselor just mentioned, right? The matter of capturing Lin Yi's parents this time is of great importance. If ordinary people went, I wouldn't be at ease."

"As for these uncles of yours, although I trust them completely, their strength is too great; they are at least Fourth-Rank experts."

"If I let them go, it would be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. If word gets out later, it might even make the heroes of the Jianghu laugh."

"So this time, I will send you to lead a team to Qinghe County to capture Lin Yi's parents. Can you accomplish this?"

"I can! Thank you, Father, for entrusting this heavy responsibility to me. I will certainly not fail my mission this time and will definitely capture Lin Yi's parents and bring them back!"

The handsome youth Lu Jian answered with cupped hands, his voice powerful and resonant.

"Mhm, go then!"

Seeing this, Lu Chong also nodded with a smile, his eyes flashing with light.

The reason he sent his own son this time was not actually because he feared those heroes outside would laugh at these leaders.

After all, who were they?

Bandits!

And for Bandits, killing, arson, robbery, and kidnapping had always been perfectly natural; what was there to talk about jokes or no jokes?

The real reason he sent his own son was entirely to allow him to perform a great service and increase his prestige, so that he could smoothly succeed him after he passed away in the future.

After all, although this son of his was not a mediocre person, his talent was still somewhat insufficient. In the future, he would probably only become a Martial Dao Fourth Rank at most, and wouldn't even be able to achieve Third Rank.

And while Fourth Rank strength isn't considered weak, how could he suppress these arrogant and fierce generals under him?

So starting from now, he would cultivate Lu Jian step by step and increase his prestige in the stockade bit by bit.

When Lu Jian's prestige in Qingfeng Stockade reached its Peak, then even if these subordinates had any ideas, they wouldn't have any way to act on them.

"Hehe, competing with me? You guys are still a bit too green!"

Looking at this group of leaders whose faces were full of excitement but who actually harbored their own hidden agendas, Lu Chong couldn't help but show a smug smile on his face.