Chapter 61: The Strategist

Returning to his room, Su Tang took a Spirit Nourishing Pill and swallowed it. He immediately sat at the head of the bed and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing. After a moment, he felt clusters of hot air rolling in his chest and abdomen, traveling through the Spirit Veins of his body and moving through his limbs and bones.

Changes occurred in his brain region as well. The rotation speed of the two Spirit Souls clearly increased, and their brightness strengthened.

After about ten minutes, Su Tang slowly opened his eyes. The effect of the medicine was very good, but it seemed it was still not enough.

The old servant had explained it clearly: taking one pill every seven days or every three days was only the limit for the vast majority of people; special individuals could increase the dosage as they saw fit.

Su Tang opened the box again, took another Spirit Nourishing Pill, and swallowed it.

Repeating this process, Su Tang eventually took five Spirit Nourishing Pills in total. He finally felt he was reaching his limit. The hot air rolling in his body had turned into torrents, rushing and whistling, while his joints constantly made crisp popping sounds.

Su Tang took a deep breath and entered a state of meditation.

On the path of Cultivation, although Su Tang had no teacher to guide him, he possessed an advantage that ordinary people could not compare to. That towering giant tree had passed down countless experiences to him.

For example, Su Tang knew that entering meditation was divided into levels. The first level was called “the Self,” which was shallow meditation. Except for oneself, everything else was forgotten and discarded, as if heaven and earth no longer existed.

The second level was called “No Self,” which was deep meditation. One forgot not only the world but also oneself; everything returned to chaos.

The third level was called “True Self,” which was absolute meditation. The world existed, and he existed; the world was him, and he was the world, with no distinction between them.

As for whether there were levels beyond that, Su Tang did not know, because that towering giant tree had only reached the third level of meditation.

What Su Tang entered now was deep meditation. He forgot everything, asked nothing, cared for nothing, heard nothing, and saw nothing, letting things be.

By the time Su Tang opened his eyes again, the sun was high in the sky, and it was almost noon. He stretched his body and slowly stood up. As his toes touched the ground, he felt an extremely light sensation, as if he could float away with the wind.

Wisps of Spiritual Qi flowed around his body and then quietly disappeared into the air. Whether Spiritual Qi could be released externally was the only standard to distinguish a Martial Artist from a Battle Fighter. Many Battle Fighters could rely on unique Battle Formulas to control Spirit Tools for long-distance combat. Tie Canglan, whom Su Tang had killed in the Black Forest, was a Battle Fighter.

Of course, a true Battle Fighter would not be like Su Tang, unable to control the released Spiritual Qi and letting it simply vanish.

Su Tang walked to the window, pushed it open, activated the Night Cry Bow, and slowly drew his arms back.

A stream of force shot out, making a piercing shriek, and disappeared into the sky hundreds of meters above.

Su Tang smiled. When he first started refining Night Cry, he could only fire one or two arrows before the Spirit Soul of Night Cry became dim. Now, the released stream of force was not only stronger and faster, but the Spirit Soul of Night Cry still emitted a brilliant golden light. He estimated that firing over a dozen arrows in one breath would be no problem.

Spirit Nourishing Pills were indeed great things!

Su Tang walked to the table and picked up the Sword of Taisho. It was still very heavy. He tried to lift the sword with his right hand, pointing it far ahead, and the tip of the sword trembled slightly.

Su Tang sat on the chair and slowly drew the Sword of Taisho. Suddenly, he seemed to see clusters of spider-web-like veins on the Sword of Taisho. He paused, looked closer, and saw nothing again—only a blade as smooth as water.

Su Tang narrowed his eyes, recalling the previous state and constantly adjusting himself. After about a minute, he saw the spider-web-like veins again. Moreover, Spiritual Qi was flowing back and forth between the Sword of Taisho and his arm.

Su Tang had a feeling that those spider-web-like veins were the blood vessels of the Sword of Taisho. However, the vessels seemed to have been cut by something before, like a long worm cut into two pieces.

No matter how glorious the past of the Sword of Taisho was, at this moment, it was merely a dead object.

Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Xi Xiaoru walked in. “Little San, what are you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything,” Su Tang said, sliding the Sword of Taisho back into its scabbard and placing it on the table.

“We clearly heard it just now,” Zhou Qian said as she followed her in.

“It wasn’t me; someone outside must be firing signal arrows,” Su Tang then changed the subject. “Big Brother, why do you look a bit unhappy?”

“It’s because of that bastard named Ruan!” Xi Xiaoru immediately became gnashingly angry.

“What happened to him?” Su Tang asked.

“He won’t give us our plates!”

“Isn’t our number already enough?” Su Tang found it strange.

“He said you are an unregistered Martial Artist and don’t count, so you have to go to him for an assessment,” Xi Xiaoru said.

“Then… should I go over now?”

“Don’t go!” Zhou Qian said. “He is doing this on purpose!”

“Why is he making things difficult for you?” Su Tang asked.

Zhou Qian and Lu Feixia both looked at Xi Xiaoru without speaking, their expressions complicated, while Xi Xiaoru said hatefully, “None of you men are any good!”

“Big Brother, you can’t entirely blame him…” Zhou Qian murmured.

“Then should I blame myself?” Xi Xiaoru exploded on the spot.

“No, no…” Zhou Qian shook her head hastily.

“Hmph! No plates, then no plates!” Xi Xiaoru said. “We can just give ourselves a commission, right? Fine, our commission for today is… to kill all those colorful carp in the Ruan Family garden. Let’s go, move out!!”

“Wait a moment,” Su Tang said quickly. Although he wanted to repay Xi Xiaoru, he could not waste his limited time on a meaningless game.

“What? Are you scared?!” Xi Xiaoru frowned.

“With you as my Big Brother, what would I be afraid of?” Su Tang smiled. “I understand what you mean. You want to force that guy named Ruan to bow to us, right?”

“Exactly, exactly!” Xi Xiaoru nodded repeatedly.

Su Tang understood that the power held by Xi Xiaoru’s rival was likely similar in nature to the Miaodao Pavilion. This made things much easier; after all, it was his area of expertise, and he was very proficient in the rules and operational patterns of such business.

“I have a way, but… it might involve doing some things that cause public outrage. I’m worried…”

“Doing things that cause public outrage? Are you serious?” Xi Xiaoru asked.

“Is it that serious?” Zhou Qian was also curious.

“Yes,” Su Tang nodded. “I might have to offend many, many people, and I might have to fight many, many battles…”

“Hahaha…” Xi Xiaoru laughed loudly and patted Su Tang’s shoulder hard. “I love doing that kind of thing the most! Tell me, what do we need to do?!”

“I need to understand a few things first,” Su Tang said. In an instant, he had transformed into Xi Xiaoru’s strategist.