Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Sizzle.

Under the moonlit night, Chu Liang merely flicked his finger, and a crimson-gold spark shot out. It landed on the wine-jar monster, which was heavily shrouded in yin qi.

There was what sounded like silk being ripped. The wine-jar monster was suddenly pretty much incinerated, turning into a ball of fire that rose into the sky and then dissipating into nothing. All that remained at the spot where the wine-jar monster had been was a faint trace of dragon breath.

The yang qi in the Divine Dragon Fire was so intense that it could be considered the nemesis of ghastly creatures like that, which were filled with yin qi. It was extremely effective against them.

While dealing with the wine-jar monsters, Chu Liang assessed how his cultivation was progressing. He was currently at the fourth realm of the Mount Shu Sect's cultivation legacy, the second realm of the White Dragon's cultivation legacy, and the first realm of the Inferno Dragon's legacy.

It was a bit chaotic for one person to cultivate three cultivation legacies. In fact, it was rare for people to cultivate two cultivation legacies, and even rarer for there to be someone cultivating three cultivation legacies like Chu Liang.

The reason was that the enhancements from the different cultivation techniques often overlapped.

For example, by cultivating the Mount Shu Sect's Divine Nine's Profound Mental Cultivation Technique to the fourth realm, Chu Liang's vitality, qi, and spirit had all been elevated to the level of an average cultivator at the fourth realm. The Mount Shu Sect's cultivation techniques were well balanced; they didn't bring about outstanding enhancements in specific aspects, but neither were there any weaknesses.

If Chu Liang were to switch to the Penglai Supreme Sect's cultivation technique now, he would have to start cultivating from the first realm again. However, doing that would not be of much benefit to him, as the enhancements would overlap with the ones he had already gotten from cultivating the Mount Shu Sect's technique. That meant the enhancements to his vitality, qi, and spirit would be minimal unless he cultivated the Penglai Supreme Sect's cultivation technique to the fourth realm too. It was only at that point that new enhancements might appear. Even then, they would be quite limited.

Ultimately, it was a waste of energy. It would be much better to spend that energy on advancing to a higher realm with the first cultivation technique. Only cultivators at the pinnacle of the sixth realm who could advance no further would switch to a different cultivation legacy. That was what Old Fei had done in the past.

On the other hand, it might be more beneficial if Chu Liang were to cultivate the martial arts of the Great Astral Sect. Martial arts focused on enhancing qi and blood, which did not overlap with the enhancements he had gotten from the Mount Shu Sect's cultivation technique. Thus, some cultivators took up martial arts as a secondary cultivation legacy, but they would not invest the same level of energy in it.

However, the dragons' cultivation legacy was quite different. Its distinctive feature was that the dragons' cultivation techniques didn't use up a lot of energy, and the enhancements it gave differed greatly from those that could be gained from human cultivation techniques. Chu Liang had benefited greatly just from cultivating to the first and second realms using a dragon cultivation technique.

Having a human cultivation legacy as the primary cultivation method and a dragon cultivation legacy as the secondary cultivation method made for an exceptional cultivation system.

So, why had so few people done this before? Well, it's not that they didn't want to.

The reason was that dragon cultivation legacies were too difficult to obtain. There were only a few True Dragons in the world, and those capable of forcefully acquiring a True Dragon cultivation legacy didn't need one, whereas those who needed one would not be deemed worthy by the dragons. There were very few in history who were like Chu Liang, managing to gain the full favor of two True Dragons.

Moreover, unlike human cultivation legacies, dragon cultivation legacies provided vastly different enhancements, so it didn't matter that Chu Liang cultivated the cultivation legacies of two True Dragons. The White Dragon primarily enhanced qi, blood, and spiritual energy, while the Inferno Dragon enhanced divine fire and dragon breath, leaving Chu Liang with a powerful seed of fire.

The Divine Dragon Fire was a top-tier divine fire on par with the Phoenix Spirit Fire, ranked just below the Samadhi True Fire. The difference was that the Phoenix Spirit Fire's spiritual nature leaned toward yin, focusing more on the destruction and annihilation aspects of the Dao of Fire. Those who cultivate this Dao to the highest level would find the Great Dao of Incinerating Heaven.

On the other hand, the Divine Dragon Fire's spiritual nature leaned toward yang, focusing more on the blazing and illumination aspects of the Dao of Fire. Those who cultivate this Dao to the highest level would find the Great Dao of Heavenly Radiance.

Now that Chu Liang was proficient in using these two divine fires, he had gained some insights into the Dao of Fire.

"Huh?"

After killing the last wine-jar monster, Chu Liang noticed something was off.

He muttered, "I haven't been here for four days, so including tonight's, there should be fifty of them… Why are there only forty-nine?

"Did one get stolen?"

…

Chu Liang searched up and down the stream, but he still couldn't find the missing wine-jar monster.

The pleasant monster-hunting journey ended with disappointment.

One wine-jar monster could be exchanged for one Intoxicating Spirit Flower Seed. The seed would eventually grow into a plant with flowers. The flowers would bloom and produce more seeds, continuing the cycle for generations. The leaves of the flowers could be turned into Fragrance of Enlightenment, making them worth a fortune altogether…

The more Chu Liang calculated, the more he felt he had suffered a huge loss.

How infuriating.

Chu Liang headed back and rested for the night.

The next morning, Lin Bei went to find him with some news. The son of Taotie City’s city lord wanted to meet Chu Liang. He had put in a very formal request for a meeting through the Foreign Affairs Hall.

The person in question was already at Heaven-Reaching Peak.

Chu Liang couldn't help but laugh. "Heh."

Just a few days ago, he had gone to the City Lord's Residence in Taotie City to find the young city lord, only to be led to that ancestral relay waiting room.

In the blink of an eye, the city lord’s son had now come looking for Chu Liang instead.

It's truly like the saying, "For thirty years, the Yellow River flows to the east, and for the next thirty years, it flows to the west. Do not treat the youth with disdain just because he's poor, for times are ever-changing…" and you never know who may suddenly find a powerful backer.

Chu Liang stood up. "I'll go right now."

"Didn't you say last time that he ignored you and left you hanging? Why not make him wait a bit?" Lin Bei asked.

Chu Liang shook his head. "No point."

He could have arranged a meeting time in advance before coming over, but he just came straight here, clearly intending to let me make him wait a bit to vent my anger.

So, even if I make him wait a whole day, he's probably mentally prepared for it.

Nevertheless, Chu Liang didn't play along. Instead, he swiftly went over to Heaven-Reaching Peak and entered the private room the Foreign Affairs Hall had prepared for them.

He got there so quickly that the son of Taotie City’s city lord was quite surprised to see him.

Huyan Bin[1] was dressed in a long brocade robe, with a jade belt around his waist and a folding fan in his hand. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he had the air of an aristocrat. His cultivation level was neither high nor low, somewhere between the middle to late stage of the fourth realm.

It wasn't bad for someone in their early twenties, but considering the near-limitless resources he had access to in Taotie City, that meant Huyan Bin was considered only averagely talented within the ranks of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten.

Despite his average looks and talent, he had been rumored to have romantic ties with many beautiful female cultivators in the world of immortality cultivators. It was likely due to his outstanding unique talent.

"Oh? You're here, Young Hero Chu?" Huyan Bin said, standing up to greet Chu Liang.

"City Lord Junior, you seem very surprised," Chu Liang responded with a smile, extending his hand.

The two men warmly shook hands for quite a while before sitting down.

This left Lin Bei, who was standing behind Chu Liang, stunned. Those who knew them would understand they were rivals meeting for the first time, but those who didn't might think they were long-lost brothers reuniting.

Aren't they treating each other a bit too warmly?

"To be honest, I knew about your visit to Taotie City last time, but I didn't meet you then. So, I feel a bit ashamed coming to see you today," Huyan Bin said, addressing his error without any hesitation.

"Oh!" Chu Liang waved off the notion that it was anything to be offended about. "It's nothing! Back then, I wanted to see you for a favor, and now you want to see me for a favor. Let's not bother with trivial matters."

"You are indeed intelligent, Young Hero Chu," Huyan Bin praised. "I've always thought highly of you, and you've not disappointed my expectations."

Chu Liang felt puzzled. "Thought highly of me?"

"That's right. I've always had many grand plans that I wanted to put into action, but I've struggled to communicate across the nine provinces. When I saw your announcement in The Seven Stars Gazette, I suddenly realized that it could be done this way!" Huyan Bin exclaimed with a clap of his hands. "That's when I took notice of you. After that, I investigated your background, and I got a huge shock. In just a few months, you've amassed a fortune using various innovative methods. You're truly a genius!"

"Not a genius, just someone standing on the shoulders of a giant."

Huyan Bin thought the giant that Chu Liang referred to was the Mount Shu Sect, so he smiled and said, "Young Hero Chu, you're truly modest. While it's true that the fostering you've received from the sect must have played an important role, not all disciples would have such innovative ideas."

Huyan Bin's expression turned serious. "So, when I heard about your plan for Red Cotton Peak, I immediately felt a sense of crisis. If it were someone else, a small market like that wouldn't be a concern to Taotie City. But seeing that you're the one in charge, I had this inexplicable feeling... that in time, it might actually threaten my family's position. That's why I decided to block your efforts."

"In that case, I'm flattered," Chu Liang replied with a soft smile. "So, what exactly brings you here today? Please speak your mind. I'm all ears."

"Then I'll get straight to the point. Taotie City will lift all restrictions and even allow some of our shops to open branches on Red Cotton Peak. However, the Whale Gang's businesses cannot leave Taotie City."

After a pause, Huyan Bin added, "I truly didn't expect that you would become sworn brothers with Chief Xu of the Whale Gang. But even if it's because of that relationship, moving all of the Whale Gang's businesses to Mount Shu would be a huge loss for both the Whale Gang and Taotie City... It's simply impractical. However, since this issue arose because of me, I've come here in person to inform you that I will lift all the bans. I just hope to maintain the status quo."

Chu Liang suddenly asked, "Is that all you have in mind?"

"Hmm?" Huyan Bin responded. "Do you have any other ideas?"

Chu Liang said without hesitation, "Give me another three hundred thousand Vermillion-Bird coins."

"Huh?"

1. In case any of you remember this guy’s name, we realised that his surname is Huyan, not Hu(It’s not clear in Chinese because there’s no space), so this will be his name moving forward. ☜

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD