18: Level 3 Body Refining, Wuwang City

[It turned out that Fat Second Master and his men were originally just a group of local thugs in Tianxing City. It was Xiao Su who had guided them onto the path of cultivation and had them run the slave trade here.]

[“This makes more sense.”]

[You implanted the Slave Gu into Fat Second Master and the others. Due to an insufficient number of Slave Gu, you randomly disposed of a few unlucky bastards.]

[Then, you turned your gaze back to Xiao Su. Having taken a palm strike from you, she was already breathing her last, taking more breaths out than in.]

[“Goodbye!”]

[You killed Xiao Su.]

[Since you couldn't completely control her at this point, there was no longer any need for her to exist.]

[You searched Xiao Su's body and found quite a few Spirit Stones and another gemstone.]

[You questioned Fat Second Master and his men, but found that none of them knew the origin of this gemstone.]

[You returned to the slave market with Fat Second Master and his men, instructing them to keep running things as usual.]

[The next day, the slave trade got back on track, and everything began to operate as normal.]

[Only now, the mastermind behind the slave market had changed from Xiao Su to you.]

[You began your immersive cultivation.]

[Since you now had a supply of Spirit Stones from Fat Second Master and his men, your cultivation speed increased significantly.]

[However, this was still not enough.]

[At least, for you right now, it was far from enough.]

[You needed to reach a higher Realm as quickly as possible before the Great Abyss Dynasty launched its massive invasion of the Great Wu Dynasty.]

[You had Fat Second Master and his men expand their business operations.]

[As long as any wealthy marks entered Tianxing City, they were to report to you immediately.]

[Just like that, days passed one by one.]

[Your cultivation grew increasingly refined.]

[Five years later, you broke through to Third-Stage Body Refining.]

[At the same time, your sphere of influence expanded significantly.]

[By this time, you were already considered a prominent figure with some status in Tianxing City.]

[However, you were not satisfied.]

[Instead, you continued to expand your sphere of influence.]

[You raised the cultivation of the first few people controlled by the Slave Gu to the Foundation Establishment Realm, allowing each of them to hold their own.]

[Although the Slave Gu was gradually losing its effectiveness by now, they had no choice but to remain submissive to you, a Third-Stage Body Refining cultivator.]

[Just when you thought everything would continue to progress in an orderly fashion, an accident occurred.]

[One of your lackeys, a thug named Da Hei, accidentally ambushed and killed a Disciple of the Profound Sword Sect.]

[Although this Profound Sword Sect Disciple's cultivation was not high, he was the son of a Profound Sword Sect Elder. Consequently, the Elder learned of his death the moment he died.]

[Fortunately, Crisis Awareness was triggered. Sensing that this was not a place to linger, you left Tianxing City before the Profound Sword Sect's deacon could arrive.]

“It's actually this powerful?!”

Watching the scene unfold in the simulation, Su Xuan's eyes widened.

In this simulation, Crisis Awareness had saved his life time and time again.

The previous times had been fine, as those impending crises occurred right before his eyes; it wouldn't have been long before he sensed the danger himself.

But this time, it had truly forewarned him far in advance.

“It seems those Spirit Stones weren't wasted. A blue talent is indeed far more powerful than the previous white and green ones.”

[After leaving Tianxing City, you began to retrace your steps back to Xuanhe Village, intending to take your parents and leave the southern region of Great Wu before the Great Abyss Dynasty's massive invasion.]

[A month later, you returned home.]

[Your parents were overjoyed at your return.]

[Taking advantage of their high spirits, you proposed your plan to take them to the Great Wu imperial capital, Martial King City.]

[They hesitated slightly.]

[Seeing this, you revealed your cultivation and informed them that you had already joined the Martial King Sect, which was established by the Great Wu Dynasty's imperial family, and that you had returned this time to take them to enjoy a life of ease.]

[Hearing your explanation, they gladly accepted.]

[In the days that followed, your parents began to sell off their property.]

[Meanwhile, you secretly began to observe the situation in Xuanhe Village.]

[Upon making inquiries, you discovered that Tang Chui had rarely shown his face since returning from a trip five years ago.]

[Your courage grew slightly.]

[You began intentionally or unintentionally heading near the Azure Heaven Grass.]

[You discovered that a budding sprout had appeared near the Azure Heaven Grass.]

[You immediately realized something was wrong.]

[This extra sprout was highly likely to be Tang Chuan, who would obtain a new life in three years.]

[You wanted to kill Tang Chuan, but at the same time, you knew that Tang Chui was a Peak Nascent Soul expert. Even if he was currently in closed-door cultivation to heal his injuries, he was highly likely keeping an eye on this place.]

[You were not at a dead end; instead, you had a bright future ahead of you. So, after a moment of hesitation, you ultimately chose to abandon the idea of killing Tang Chuan.]

[A few days later, your parents had sold off all their property.]

[They asked if you could bring along other relatives.]

[After a brief hesitation, you refused them.]

[After all, you had not actually joined the Martial King Sect as you claimed. Going to Martial King City this time was merely to seek a place of refuge; how could you have the energy to look after others?]

[Of course, you didn't completely close the door either. Instead, you promised them that once you had established a firm foothold in Martial King City in a few years, you would return to take the rest of the clan.]

[After preparing the carriage and daily necessities for the journey, you set off.]

[Since your parents were only in the Body Tempering Realm, your pace along the way was very slow.]

[Only after three months did you arrive near Tianxing City.]

[You had your parents continue their journey while you secretly slipped back into Tianxing City.]

[After making inquiries through various channels, you learned that shortly after your departure, a Profound Sword Sect Elder had tracked down Tianxing City. This person possessed a Nascent Soul cultivation. Shortly after entering the city, he had soul-searched the thug who killed his son.]

[Following that, this person went on a killing spree, completely wiping out your entire gang.]

[He also posted notices throughout Tianxing City, offering a bounty for your whereabouts.]

[You felt a bit panicked.]

[Subsequently, you hastily left Tianxing City.]

[Fortunately, the rest of the journey went quite smoothly.]

[Two months later, you arrived at Martial King City.]

[It truly deserved its reputation as the capital of the Great Wu Dynasty; even the Spiritual Qi in the outer city was significantly denser than in other places.]

[Using the money you earned in Tianxing City, you purchased a residence in the outer city of Martial King City.]

[This was not because you didn't want to buy property in the inner city, but rather because you well understood the principle of not flaunting one's wealth.]

[Although you were currently at the Third-Stage Body Refining Realm, while you could lord it over others in Tianxing City, it was far from enough to make an impression in Martial King City.]

[You planned to keep a low profile and quietly Cultivate.]

[You began to Cultivate the Great Wilderness Beast God Scripture and spent a heavy sum of money to purchase a Liefeng Dapeng from the Beast Taming Pavilion.]

[An adult Liefeng Dapeng is a Tier 3 Yao Beast. The shopkeeper claimed that it possessed a trace of the True Spirit Golden-Winged Great Peng's Bloodline in its body. If this trace of Bloodline could be activated in the future, it could evolve into a Tier 9 Yao Beast, the Golden-Winged Great Peng.]

[Of course, you also knew that this was absolutely impossible.]

[If this Liefeng Dapeng had even the slightest hope of advancing, it would never have fallen into your hands.]